Search Results for: featherweight

I had a problem with one of my featherweight sewing machines while at the quilt show in Michigan a few weeks ago. It was completely my fault, and although it’s a bit embarrassing, I want to share it here to hopefully be of some help to others.

I own two Singer Featherweights: one beige and one green ~ and I love them.

My grandkids have learned to sew on them, and I enjoy taking them on retreats. But I actually don’t sew on either of them very often ~ and that’s a big part of the problem.

I use my Bernina all the time, clean and oil it regularly, and take it in for maintenance when needed. When I bought my featherweights I had them immediately cleaned and checked. Since then, because I don’t use them often, they haven’t been back. I’ve known for years that machines that aren’t used regularly need to be maintained and taken in more often because they just sit, but I’m ashamed to say I completely failed to do this.

So, Cathy and I were sewing away on our sweet little machines

and she mentioned that she’s named all six of hers. Lucy was the one she’d brought along. I realized mine needed a name too and decided to name her Lettie Belle, after my husband’s grandmother Aletta Belle.

Things were going along well when suddenly Lettie Belle let out an unnerving screech. Cathy asked when the last time was I oiled her and I blushed with shame. Fortunately Cathy brought her travel pack of oil along. I had my manual and I turned to the proper page:

and oiled the top and bobbin area. Then I took off the face plate to the left on the head of the machine and oiled all the spots there too.

But the screech continued. Cathy asked if I’d oiled the bottom. The bottom? Oh – that would be on the next page. Duh.

I unscrewed the bottom plate:

and once again I followed the diagram to oil properly.

Well, at least I was now up to speed. We turned her over and ~ that screech again! Ugh.

We determined the sound was coming from the head and took the faceplate off once again.

Now I need to let you know how grateful I am for Cathy. She’s a featherweight whiz. She’s taken all the classes and has even bought a number of machines in pieces and rebuilt them. She waxes their outsides and lubricates their insides. And yet she was kind to me in spite of my foolishness. So, she sat in front of Lettie and was able to add some additional oil where she determined something was still rubbing. It worked! What a blessing!

Lettie hummed along beautifully for the rest of the trip. She’s now visiting Brad at Sew Much More and getting the tender loving care she deserves. I also took in her sister Ardis Mildred ~ named after my grandma. I guess I need to purchase two more featherweights so that our remaining grandmother’s names, Irma and Selma, can be immortalized 😊.

The moral of the story: clean and oil all your machines, and take them in for their needed spa treatments regularly.

After meeting Claudia in the Finkel building in Paducah (I introduced you to her in last week’s post), I continued down the vendor aisle and met Kari. She owns a shop and custom quilting business in Anna, Ohio (click here to visit her site).

We started talking and as I looked around her shop I came upon a crazy green featherweight. I love featherweights and I love green. It was gorgeous!

I asked her if she had it custom painted and here’s her story (I’m paraphrasing):

Kari found this machine for sale on the internet and fell in love with the color, but she knew she really didn’t need another featherweight, so she passed it by. But she kept thinking about it, and thinking about it, and she even told a good friend about her obsession with the green machine. Her friend told her to just buy it because she obviously wanted it. Kari put it off a while longer and finally decided she had to have it, only to discover it had been sold. She was so disappointed ~ until her friend stopped by and handed it to her 😁. Now that’s a GOOD quilting friend!

After hearing her story I asked her about the beautiful designs on her featherweight, and she told me her machine had tattoos. They are actually decorative decals that Kari carried in her booth ~ and I knew I had to have them! She had a number of different patterns, but the one she’d chosen was my favorite too. I bought a pack and couldn’t wait to tattoo my own machine. Kari reminded me to check out her van in the back parking lot when I left and it was worth hunting down.

As I began to unpack after our return from Quilt Week, I found the tattoos and dropped everything. They are removable but not reusable, and they went on easily. You may remember I decided to name my machines after my grandmothers, (Mike’s and mine) because my friend Cathy suggested it on our trip to the UP of Michigan. So Aletta was first:

She looked as beautiful as I’d hoped. Then Ardis was next:

Delightful! At this point I could tell that Irma was feeling left out, and she had the largest areas to fill. So it was her turn:

Doesn’t she look just like one of those designer machines? How can a person have this much fun for under $30. But wait, Selma went all the way to Paducah with me. I couldn’t leave her out.

At this point I thought I was done, and I had one small tattoo left. Hmm. I looked across the room and saw my HQ Sweet 16. She didn’t have a name or a designer touch. So I christened her Melvina after the only great-grandmother I’d known, and she got the last pretty piece. It may be small, but whenever I look up at the screen I smile. (I think she may be winking at me)

Now all my girls match!

I didn’t find the decorative decals (tattoos) on Kari’s site, but she recently posted on her Facebook page about them and I’m sure you could get them if you got on her page.

The maker of the tattoos is Urban Elementz and you can click here to find the tattoos on their site.

If you decide to tattoo your machine please send me a photo ~ and the story!

We had a drizzly ride from Hamilton to Branson, but the scenery was still lovely. This was my first time visiting this fascinating city and when we arrived it felt like we were on one of the many attractions/rides. The city is built atop many hills and the roads through town often resembled a roller coaster 🤣.

I took these next photos for my grandkids, but if you’ve never been to Branson, I think you may find some of them entertaining. Like the Aquarium:

And the wax museum:

And of course you’d expect to find the Titanic here:

It seems there was something bigger than life around every corner.

This quilt show was billed as the 100th American Quilters Society show and it did not disappoint. Cathy and I were anxious to take a class with Judith Baker Montano, so we did that the first morning ~ even before we saw the quilts!

Her hand-stitched landscapes are amazing, and her class was delightful.

Crazy quilting is more of Cathy’s passion than mine, but I loved hearing Judith’s stories and learning her techniques.

After class I couldn’t wait to get to the competition quilts (my favorite part of every show), and I was overwhelmed by the creativity and quality of the entire exhibit.

Photos of the winners are available on the AQS site and blog, each one was deserving of the ribbons awarded their makers and I know you’ll enjoy seeing them all by clicking here. I think all of the quilts were winners just by getting into the show – and we were winners because we got to see them 😊. As usual I’d like to share a few of my favorites.

The “Best Traditional Design” winner was nice from a distance,

but amazing and rather untraditional up close (those are 1″ squares!). It was very 3D, and it “blew my mind”. This quilt was truly “Beyond Reason”:

I have friends who are really into selvedges, and this was a very innovative variation by Mayleen Vinson:

The next quilt was my favorite of the large quilts and it didn’t have a ribbon. I loved everything about the design from a distance,

and it was just as spectacular up close. The border is what I call a threaded border – just contrasting stitching!

To take the threaded borders to another level ~ this is a wholecloth threaded quilt! Every portion of the design is thread!

The bright circles were all stitched in contrasting thread before layering and quilting, and then the quilt was quilted. The circles looked as if they were stuffed (trapunto) and I don’t know if this is the case, or if two layers of batting were used (wool on top) to achieve the effect. No matter which, the results were striking.

I have always admired Cynthia England’s quilts, and I think this may be my favorite to date:

The previous quilts were all in the large quilt categories. Then we went into the wall quilts and this pictorial quilt was my favorite. I’ve been working a lot with shadows lately and Isabel Munoz, from Spain, did a phenomenal job of using value to get amazing shadows.

The next quilt came all the way from Italy. Don’t you just love Ulla’s water?

AQS also featured a number of great exhibits and challenges like this one:

It was such fun to try to guess the song each note conveys, and it was a crowd pleaser. Wish I’d thought of it 😊 ~ I’d love to have participated by making a note, but we had a fun time trying to guess each one.

The “Light the World” challenge from SAQA was very intriguing. Here are a few of my favorites:

The entire show was a feast for the eyes. We were over~stimulated, over~inspired, and hungry. The vendors would need to wait until the next day so we could try out Paula Dean’s restaurant in the mall across the street. It was yummy!

We headed back to the hotel very well fed and ready to do a bit of sewing (yes, we brought Lucy and Irma, our sewing machines, along).

The next morning we spent some time supporting the wonderful vendors.

Then we walked over to the outdoor mall next to the river and were blessed to arrive just in time for the fountains to dance in rhythm to our national anthem. It was beautiful ~ and everyone in the crowd was singing along with their hands over their hearts. It brought tears to my eyes.

We realized the next day that all over Branson at noon, our National anthem is played ~ what a blessing!

After a delicious lunch of pizza at the Mellow Marshmallow, we drove to the Sights and Sounds Theater to experience Queen Esther.

It was one of the most moving performances I’ve ever seen. Cathy and I enjoyed it very much.

We had one full, and very rainy day left in Branson, and decided to spend it thrift shopping. Branson has oodles of thrift and antique stores. It was so much fun.

That night Mike warned me that they were predicting massive snowfall overnight in Wisconsin. We headed out Saturday morning not knowing what to expect, and what we got was sunshine the whole way. The Arch in St. Louis was beautiful.

And by the time we got to Wisconsin the roads were clear and a lot of the 7″ that fell earlier had already melted. A great ending to a wonderful trip. Thanks Cathy!

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And speaking of shows and exhibits. This weekend was the Crazy Quilters Show in Mukwonago, WI. I was honored to be one of the judges of the show. There were so many wonderful quilts and the decisions weren’t easy. Once all the quilts were hung each judge was asked to pick a favorite. I narrowed it down to two. And the ribbon went to 2,307 Logs in My Cabin by Joan Ledanski:

I’m a green and orange girl, so the colors grabbed me, but I must admit ~ I love everything about this quilt. Wish I’d made it 😁. Congratulations Joan!

I also want to share my second choice because it will make you smile:

Cats was made by my friend Dorothy Livernash, but I didn’t know that until I’d made my decision and was allowed to peek at the label on the back, along with this silly kitty:

The Crazy Quilters also invited our ThreadBender group to display our Curves Ahead quilts. It was the first time they’ve hung together and I think they looked great!

And one last photo! My dear friend Wendy at Sew Much More in Waukesha, asked if we’d like to exhibit our prizewinning Travel Poster quilts in the classroom at the store. Of course we said yes.

If you’re in the store, please stop by and see them for yourself.

What a quilt-filled March I’ve had! Can’t wait for April ~ Paducah here I come!

Our ThreadBenders group recently had a great opportunity to exhibit some of our quilts in a lovely show in Marquette, MI. My friend Cathy’s sister lives in the Upper Peninsula, and that’s how Cathy found out about the show. She did the legwork to get our quilts entered and delivered way up north for the show this past weekend. Then she invited me along to see the quilts and bring them home afterwards. It was a bit snowy, windy and cold, but the sun was shining and the scenery was beautiful. I especially enjoyed this sunset from our motel room window.

Each member was welcome to enter a number of their quilts and encouraged to choose some from our recent challenges. The show’s staff did a great job of keeping our quilts together as exhibits. This was the first time we were able to use our ThreadBenders banner – with all the blocks in place (click here to read a post about it).

And our quilts got a lot of interest.

As with other shows ~ I’d love to show you all of the quilts, but I only have room for a few of my personal favorites. I hope you’ll enjoy them 😊.

A Place in Our Hearts by Christine Jenkins

Flower Power Galaxy by Karen Dill was made using raw-edged reverse applique. I’m intrigued!

African Nightmare by Carol Mihalko. Carol said it was a nightmare because it took her a year to complete.

The next quilt is also by Carol and is entitled Yooper Row by Row. The rows are of sites in the upper peninsula and, if you’re not from the area you may not know that Yooper is a term for the UP.

There were quite a few quilts made using gradation/ombre fabrics, and I couldn’t resist sharing a few:

Aurora by Carol Bowling

Good Vibrations by Cynthia Yackel

This next one was made for a challenge to put words on quilts, and Karen chose some of my favorites from the book of Galatians.

Fruits of the Spirit by Karen Maki

My Girl by MaryJo Busch is a favorite of mine. MaryJo is a ThreadBender, and talented long-arm quilter, who made this quilt for a challenge in a different guild. She recreated a piece of art hanging in a local hair salon using Shiva Paintsticks ~ in the style of Degas. Lovely!

The vendors were also great. My favorite was Rae Warner.

Rae is a retired art teacher who creates the most fascinating dolls. Their faces are drawn with colored pencils and each one was a delight. Esmerelda just had to come home with me.

I began this post with a the view from our motel room. Here are a few photos of the inside:

Yup ~ Cathy and I brought our featherweights and spent the evenings stitching away 😁. We’d purchased kits for Santa wreaths on a previous adventure and it seemed like the perfect time to get ’em done.

It was a great motel room and it even had a wheeled table that was just right for our machines.

Thanks to Barb and Lynn, and all the members of the guild, for making our quilts look great!

Stay tuned for finished photos of our Christmas wreaths, and a lesson I learned about featherweights!

My niece Kaitlin is an amazing artist. Her business is entitled: Lyon Road Art – the Intersection of Art and Anatomy. In college she took a combination of fine art and med school courses and earned a graduate degree in Biomedical Visualization. Her story is fascinating and you can read all about it by clicking here! She has found her niche in the art world and specializes in abstract anatomical watercolor and oil paintings. Her work has graced the covers of Radiology today magazine and hangs in hospitals, art galleries, medical clinics and homes throughout the world. Here are just a few of her wonderful pieces:

I am in awe of her creativity, talent, and compassion for people. I remember her telling me a story years ago of a woman suffering with Crohn’s Disease who wanted to see something beautiful in the midst of her struggles. Kaitlin did a lovely watercolor painting of a colon for her.

I hope you’ll visit her site and explore her fascinating art at: https://www.lyonroadart.com/.

Well, this week’s post is actually about Kaitlin’s daughter Rosemary. Earlier this year Kaitlin called to ask if I’d teach Rosie to quilt. I was thrilled! I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to teach other children in my family how to sew and they’ve each made a doll quilt as their first project. Sommer was the most recent quilter and in the post I wrote about her stitching adventure, I included links to all of the other kid’s stories. If you’d like to read about them please click here!

So Kaitlin and family arrived on a Sunday afternoon. The “men” hung out upstairs and Rosie began by choosing 12 fabric squares from my box of charm squares. I love that she chose florals.

She began to sew them together, but she’s a bit taller than the other kids were when they learned to quilt

and my featherweight on the bench didn’t quite work with her long legs. “Sew” she moved to my Bernina and did great! She learned good hand position and speed control.

The quilt was finished in less than 2 hours. Rosemary and Jill doll were both happy 😃 .

What a joy it is to share a passion with kids ~ especially kids you love ❤️.

Do you have any photographs of children you’ve recently taught to quilt that you’d like to share? Please email them to me at: .

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And – I want to share a photograph of a unique thimble Karen sent me after last week’s “Digitabulist” post.

Here’s her comment:

“Just read your latest blog and I too have a small thimble collection. I love your little house with all the cubbieholes to display them!!

The photo attached is a thimble made of bone with an etched rose that I found at a scrimshaw shop in Ephraim, Door County that has since gone out of business.  The owner also had a shop on Mackinac Island that also closed, unfortunately.  I used to love going there every time we traveled to Door County.” 

Lovely. Thanks Karen!