Saturday's Simmering and Another Sewing Machine

Hello, all.  I didn't expect to post this weekend.  I did get stuff done for FIUF but just couldn't get myself to write the post.  I have a couple of chronic illnesses that some times win the battle but never the war.  Yesterday was a day they were winning the battle.  So....that is life.  On to more interesting things.

I have a lot of stuff simmering in my mind today.  I got my BOM blocks done.  Sort of. 

You will notice no two are alike.  I only needed four but I kept trying to get it right.  I really don't like the instructions for this.  We will see how they look with all the others but they may be redone.

I also got the other pin cushion done.

If this looks familiar it is because I made one in February.  Then I get to my BOM meeting last month and we are supposed to make one for the class.  I obviously used the scraps from this month's block.  I didn't like how big the other one was and thought maybe it would look like a flower if I made it from brighter fabrics and smaller.  No such luck.  My sister says it is still ugly.  Sigh....guess SHE won't be getting it for Christmas.

I also completed the top for the baby quilt I was working on.  I don't seem to have any pictures of it with the embroidery but I put on the corners but here is the butterfly I did on three of the corners.

Two of them are in variegated blue instead of pink and have green in the wings.  I like how they look.  I will post the completed quilt after I am finished quilting it.  Maybe THAT will be next weeks FIUF.

I don't think I have posted about this.  Last winter I bought a several sewing machines.  Among them were a Singer 99K.  It looked terrible when I got it.  The cord was nearly rotted off.  The buyer had assured me he had tested it.  Once I saw it, I had to wonder about his sanity doing that.  The case was in pieces.  I am still not clear how they got it in the box "together".  She was missing the slide to cover the bobbin.  I bought her for the attachments and for parts.  My husband took one look and had other ideas.

One evening while I was at work he rewired it.  As he worked on my FW one Sunday afternoon, I cleaned on the 99K.  He then waxed it.  I had ordered some replacement parts.  We had her running.  She needed a new base.  He built her one.

Warning:  Shameless bragging here. That base is built from lumber he sawed and milled himself from around the farm.  The surface is oak and the sides and drawer fronts are walnut.   If you look closely at the surface you can see he inlaid a walnut pinstripe when he joined the boards.  Her base is longer to the left than a typical 99 but after seeing my FW and 301 he felt I needed that space to work.  Not one to waste anything, he added drawers to each end.

The drawer on the right is perfect for bobbins, screw drivers and a pack or two of needles.  Since we are both such tightwads so frugal, I had some leftover fleece binding from making neck gators for some bikers.  We glued that to the underneath edge to raise it up enough that the drawers pull out without binding and it does not scratch the table.

I have been waiting to receive the Singer belt.  I could get an orange/red one with no problem but I wanted black.  Should be here Monday or Tuesday.

Okay, one last simmer.  I am thinking of doing a large, single block quilt.  I have seen them as stars but I am thinking of doing a Jacob's Ladder.  Each section of the 9 patch would 17.5".  So, it would still need borders to make it bed size.  My only reservation is that each section is bigger than the space on my quilting machine.  I am a little concerned about my ability to quilt it in a way that would really pop.

I am going to link up with Find a Friend Friday at Sew Many Ways.   She has been to the Machine Quilting Expo and has some beautiful photos today.  Be sure to check out her blog. It is amazing.  Hopefully, you (and I) will find a friend!

Keep stitchin' and stirrin'!

Mary