A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Silk Scraps

The creative alternative to net curtains - a window at Whitchurch Silk Mill in Hampshire, which I visited on Friday with my friend Kate.

A Well-Travelled Machine

On Wednesday I took a trip to Hampshire to stay with my friend Kate, and this sewing machine came with me, strapped in securely to the back seat by the seat belt.  A while ago we arranged that I should get a machine on behalf of Kate's friend Lara.  Lara had fond memories of her mother's machine, and I was more than happy to jump into the thrills and spills of Ebay.  I did warn Lara that I might not find the ideal machine for a while, but as it turned out, this Singer 99K cropped up almost straight away. The price was right, I was the only bidder, and it was for personal collection only. The seller was in Surrey, about three miles from my brother, so he collected it for me.  It lurked for a while at his house, until I brought it home in the boot of the car.

It looks remarkably like my star machine, the 1927 Singer 99K, and has all the extras - the original manual, extension leaf and tin of attachments.

The serial number dates it to 1939.  It is in superb condition.  Apart from a bit of fluff and dust here and there, it barely needed cleaning.  Checking it over, cleaning and oiling took barely half an hour.    

It looks like one of those machines that was bought, used a few times, and then put away. Perhaps the date has something to do with it.

So, after travelling from Surrey to Somerset and then to Hampshire, this machine has now found its way to Lara.

Happy sewing Lara!

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 46 - Rudbeckias Everywhere

Nine tenths of the quilting is done on the latest cradle quilt, and it should be finished and bound by next week.  This quilt hasn't been plain sailing, even though I have already made two very similar ones.  One of the problems is that I haven't tried quilting the flowers upside down, so I have had a little more bulk to the right hand side of the needle than I prefer to work with.  And also the backing fabric is too thin, so rumples are becoming a feature on the back.

All will be confessed next week.

Here goes for week 46...

Many thanks to Julie, Bernie, Carole,  Ida and Quilt Musings for linking up last week to show their free motion quilting projects.  

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France and Macau have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - On a Street in Dorchester...

... you will find a branch of Barclays Bank

... with a difference.

Welcome to the latest followers, SkiWheel, Sevda Sahin and Penny Peberdy - thank you for joining!

Bookshelf

Tucked in the corner of the sewing room is the bookshelf, with all the knitting and sewing books that I have accumulated over the years.  All the old books I have from the 1940s and 50s have such similar titles that I have lost track of which is which.  I can be riffling through a second hand book shop and come across a book and not be sure whether I have it already.

Hardly surprising then that I have ended up with two different editions of Complete Needlecraft by Agnes M. Miall.  She's everywhere, either on her own...

... or co-authoring with Irene Davison and R. K. and M. I. R. Polkinghorne.

I love these old books for a great number of reasons, not least for the authoritative no-nonsense way in which they are written.  Would you dare argue with anyone called Polkinghorne?  Especially when there are two of them.

So that you can share in the pleasure, I have decided to write reviews of the books, so anyone who decides they really must have their own copy can start scouring the internet for the best deal.

Any nominations please for which book I should review first?

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 45 - Making Another Cradle Quilt

This is the start of a new cradle quilt, similar to the pink one I finished last month.  I have done a strip of squares again, with straight lines of quilting down each side to keep the squares smooth.

Each square has a leaf coming from a wavy stem.

The squares are in rich shades of yellow, blue, pink, purple and red, all cut from the same fabric.  I bought some fat quarters of Japanese prints at the Malvern Quilt Show in 2012, and this is the first time I have used them.  

In the spaces between the strips of square I am doing rudbeckias.

Meanwhile, on the back I am doing pleats.  I thought that if I used a lighter material for the backing I might end up with a more lightweight quilt.  Instead I am getting that rumpled home-made look.  No self respecting baby is going to care, so I'm not going to either.

Here goes for week 45...

Many thanks to LeeAnna, Claire, Marly, Judy, Julie and Stitchin at Home for linking up last week to show their free motion quilting projects.  

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France and Macau have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Linking up to Angie's blog A Quilting Reader's Garden for WIPs Be Gone
and Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday.

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Pink Camellia

There is something slightly hypnotic about the arrangement of the petals.

Welcome to Aileen Kline, the latest follower - thank you for joining!