A mini quilt & a Treadle

Superman Mini Tumbling blocks

My week vacation is a thing of the past. Busy week at work last week and if today was any indication it won't be letting up any time soon. I did get some sewing time in the last few days of my vacation. I made this mini tumbling blocks quilt for a rocking chair Chris had as a toddler that now sits in a corner in our living room. Top completed and basted in under 2 days and it's been waiting for me to quilt and bind since.  I made some mistakes and to go back I would made the medium value a solid but I do like it and even more importantly Chris really likes it. I finally got back to it this past Sunday afternoon. I stitched in the ditch (or in some places near the ditch...) I'm about half done - then I got sidetracked and so it sits some more. I really want to finish it up this week. (picture is cropped so you don't see the back and batting hanging over and the black is even all over)

We had a garage sale on Saturday and while chatting with the neighbours I pulled out my Puppy love and the half done mini quilt. My next door neighbour's son will be 3 at the end of July. He loved Puppy love and kept saying it was his. If it wasn't my very first quilt I would have given it to him. I will have to find something fun and bright for him and see if I can get it done in time for his birthday. Apparently I'm a glutten for over extending myself. I can't seem to resist taking on new projects when I already have a plateful waiting for me to start!

So what did we do with some of the cash from the garage sale? We bought a 1892 Singer 27 treadle we've been eyeing for a while. The pictures posted in the ad were a bit deceiving - it looked a bit dull but otherwise near mint. Since taking my own pictures for this blog - it really does photograph better than it looks especially if you play with the picture a bit (top is raw photo, lower is tweaked with an editor). What we bought is a bit worse for wear, had been passed down the generations in the same family and has been an ornamental piece for many years. All the working parts of the machine were free moving so I'm thinking of it as a diamond in the rough .. On our way home we discussed its shape and thought we'd do some light work to clean it up and keep it original. After further inspection in the bright lights of the sewing room which is a far cry from the soft lighting where we saw it and with all the time in the world to really look at everything (she was on her way out to meet friends), the top is a mess.

It's cracked/splintered  with lots of sharp bits and the rest has that ripple/bubble going on which indicates water damage, deep circle stains (I'm thinking it's from potted plants), the knobs on the doors are not original and the coffin cover is cracked and nailed on at the top. So in harsh light of reality, Chris is going to refinish the entire top so its smooth and catch free, try to find knobs more in line with what was there originally and clean & shine her up to look like a brand new penny. Not sure what he'll do with the coffin cover (top picture) if anything, I know he's disappointed how much work is required to make it usable but I have no worries that when he's done his magic this will be the star of my sewing room.

So the plan this week is to finish up Superman mini quilt and start working on Dick and Jane quilt. Oh and clean up my sewing room, finish organizing my stash, blog more often, ... LOL if I get one of those off my list I'll be happy.