NOT Feeling Guilty!

I have countless projects on the go at the moment. I am making 2 Sister's Choice quilts, one for a commission for a family friend and a gorgeous blue and neutral one that may or may not be a gift (I've yet to decide if I can part with it). These are some of the commissioned blocks, made in Moda Community fabric. Sorry it's blurry, the light in my craft room isn't great. 

                              

I am still making my Carolina Chain quilt, which Is nearly finished and which I add to when I have new fabric to add to the scrappy look. This is it when it was half done, I only need another 16 blocks to finish.

                                        

I have a half square triangles quilt that I haven't touched for about 2 years. I have a scrappy string quilt that has stalled because I can't decide on a layout, a disappearing nine patch that I got quite far on before I realised I just hate it and some wild and goosey blocks that I can't be bothered to continue with at the moment.

Then, I have about 7 finished tops that need quilting. So, that's about 14 unfinished projects. So, I don't know why I got the urge to start an economy block quilt on Friday and a log cabin quilt on Saturday. 

The economy blocks are going to be my reward for when I have finished a couple of quilts, so I only made 2 blocks to test the sizes, etc. and I gathered some fabric and put it away for later. That is my version of restraint. The 2 blocks in the middle row are sewn, the others aren't. 

                                

    But, the following day the urge to make a Log Cabin (I've never made one) got too much. I gathered a load of blue and aqua fabric and got cutting. I cut 2" strips into 2 1/2", 4", 5 1/2", 7" & 8 1/2" lengths and cut some 2 1/2" squares for the centres. I made 14 blocks that day and another 20 since then. 

                                

Playing with the layout...

                               

I have 34 blocks, I am thinking of making 120, they will finish at 8" each and a 10 x 12 layout will be 80" x 96". Or, I might make it single size, not sure yet. I'm obviously as indecisive as I am ill disciplined. 

They Don't Make 'em Like They Used To - Part 2

I have been looking on eBay for another vintage sewing machine to fix up for about a month. I thought I wanted a 185k, they are small but powerful and I like the fact they aren't black. The UK ones are tan.

I looked at a few and nearly bought one nearby for £9.95 but it had no lead and no way of testing it unless I paid nearly £30 for a new lead. Then I stumbled upon this beauty;

It's a Singer 306K in a model 40 Queen Anne, walnut burr cabinet.

I saw the auction about an hour before it ended, it was at £20 and I waited for as long as I dared before bidding. I won it for £37.78 but paid £40 when we collected it.

Because of the age the sellers didn't give me the power lead, incase it wasn't safe electrically, they hadn't mentioned this in the listing but I still think it was a bargain. I managed to get a power lead on eBay for £14 but it meant I had to wait another week to try it out.

I only needed a power lead, not a foot pedal, because the machine is knee operated and the controller is held on a bracket in the cabinet. The lead arrived yesterday and I tested it out, it ran very smoothly and made a nice stitch but after about 10 minutes it suddenly started running on its own and I had to unplug it.

I did some research and discovered the problem was the capacitor in the control pad in the cabinet. Apparently, they used to fit capacitors in the foot pedals to prevent the machines from causing interference with TV signals but they aren't necessary now. I know, I found it hard to believe, too. Anyway, when they get old they can cause power surges which make the machine run when you don't want them to.

So, I removed the control pad from its bracket inside the cabinet, unscrewed the 4 screws that hold the cover on and looked for something that wouldn't look out of place in the Delorian.

I unscrewed 2 screws, removed the wires, rescrewed the screws and took out the 2 "battery" looking things. Then I put everything else back together and tried it again. It works perfectly! 

The 306K has 6 pattern cam discs that give different stitches like zigzag, satin stitch, blind hem, arrow stitch, domino stitch and waves. You change them by turning the large silver knob on the front.

You adjust the needle position and stitch width on the black dial and the stitch length is the lever below, which is also your reverse stitch lever. 

I did think cams would be fiddly and complicated but they are easy to use and work well. 

The bobbin for the 306K is vertical and is accessed by lifting the machine, which isn't as awkward as I was expecting. The serial number is located near the bobbin;

The 306K was made between 1954 and 1961 and mine was one of the first ones made in 1954. It was top of the range in its day and so was the cabinet. It would have cost a LOT of money in 1954.

 

I paid;

Machine cost - £40.00

Power lead - £14.00

Repairs (parts & labour) - £0.00

Total = £54.00, bargain! 

They Don't Make 'em Like They Used To - Part One

5 years ago I bought a 1972 Singer 413, in a table, for £1.00. I got it on eBay and it was only 2 streets away. It didn't stitch at all, which suited me perfectly because what I really wanted was a challenge. 

I certainly got one. I took off the top cover and found that one of the gears was totally perished.

That little brown thing is supposed to bigger and fluted but it had crumble to almost bare metal. A quick search online and £9.50 later and I had a lovely new one. Thank goodness Singer parts are relatively easy to get. 

Fitting the new one was a challenge, 2 hands aren't really enough to hold onto small parts and then fit them into a tight space, whilst holding other parts of the machine in place. I had to use pliers, a screw drive and haemostats just to reach into the machine. 

After much dropping and a bit of bad language I fitted the gear, put everything back in place and then had to adjust the timing. It took about 2 days of fiddling. The Internet was a massive help with this and I now have a fully working machine, with table for £10.50.