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machines

I took a class this weekend (Thursday night show-n-tell, aka "trunk show", and Friday actual class time), and during the class the instructor, who also happens to be a representative for Bernina made the comment that in Europe people actually trade their old machines in for new ones. (Like trading in a car) But in America the reps laugh that the Americans only collect machines. And we all paused, then sheepishly laughed.

So I found it a bit funny today when one of the quilting blogs I followed asked how many machines people owned, as well as the story behind them.

I have an old singer that belonged to my Grandma White. She was having problems with the tension when she gave it to my mother while I was in high school. Mom had my uncle, who had been a sewing machine mechanic for Arrow Shirt Factory, look at it. He made some adjustments to it, but before she could finish sewing a garment the problem had returned. I "inherited it", and my mother-in-law took it to a man who repairs all the old machines she has bought over the years. He said it was working fine, but I ran into the same problem. Half of all the seams sewn have to be ripped out because the tension won't work correctly. I read several things online offering suggestions from trying a specific kind of bobbin (hard to find due to the age of the machine) to actually replacing some of the hardware inside. But the  machine sits inside this incredible desk-like cabinet, which I have stuffed full of things, and the machine still sits inside.

Singer was having a sale around the same time we gave up on making it work, and my mother-in-law actually purchased my "first" machine for me. I think we paid around $150 for it. It worked well for many years, until I started quilting with it. I almost killed the motor, and the free motion work I was doing ruined the needle holder. Yikes! It was becoming dangerous, so I upgraded to a Janome 8900, designed for quilting. But I still kept my old Singer because while it refuses to quilt, it can still do basic seams.

And  my dream Janome 8900, which is not cheap and VERY heavy, is not ideal for taking to class. At the same time I was supposed to teach a young girl to sew who was unable to use her legs, so I purchased a small machine with a start/stop button from Hancock's (also a Janome) that was very inexpensive. After I learned to use it with the button and not the foot pedal, the family decided not to do the lessons. So I kept the machine to use for classes and quilt meetings. It's lightweight and does basic seams okay, so it protects my larger quilting machine from traveling abuse.

When Bobby's aunt (his dad was one of 10 kids and 6 of them were girls) died, no one else in the family wanted the old pedal sewing machine. I think it was purchased the first year Bobby's parents were married, because my mother-in-law remembers teaching Bobby's grandma how to use it. Go guess who has it? :) There was a receipt inside where the belt was replaced in 1982. I've not tried to sew on it, though I did make a skirt on one in China. It took me a long time to get the rhythm down of pumping the pedal back and forth while sewing with my hands. My Chinese friend who owned the machine kept saying "It's just like riding a bicycle!" I thought she was implying it was easy, though now that I look back on it I don't remember learning to ride a bike as being that easy, so maybe she was simply reminding me that it took practice and coordination - both things I'm not great at.

Then a few months ago my mother-in-law gave us back a Featherweight Singer (very lightweight machines that quilters used years ago because they could take it to quilt gatherings; it came in a small metal suitcase) that we gave her several years ago for her birthday. She's no longer quilting, and decided it should be returned. I know many older quilters prefer them because they are simple and "make beautiful stitches."

So I have three machines that semi-work, and three that work well.  That's kind of sad. We have a friend who would call that hoarding. I have actually considered gifting my Grandmother's to someone, but I'm not quite ready to do that yet, especially since I do use it as a desk in my quilting room. Maybe one day.

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