Featherweight – Antiques – TOO MUCH FUN!
Posted By drsao on July 3, 2008
I am really excited – on July 20 – I am getting a Singer Featherweight 221 – all the way from England from Graham Forsdyke (who I understand is the King of the FW and of the antique world – thank you, Peggy, for that insight!) I have been wanting a little sewing machine to take to classes and on retreats…….and I considered a little green HELLO KITTY Janome – but then I decided that I really wanted a Singer Featherweight. However, I was a bit reluctant to buy one on E-bay! At the VIRGINIA SCRAPPERS Sew-In on Saturday I just happened to be sitting by Peggy (there are no accidents in this life) and Mr. Forsdyke had sent her one for someone who never claimed it. AND…the rest is HISTORY! I will post a picture when I get it! TOO MUCH FUN! Here is a little blurb from the internet.
Singer Featherweight Portables
I think it will look something like this! |
by Carolyn M Ybarra
ISMACS News
Issue 27
SLEEK AND shiny with a simple, elegant, and compact design, the Singer 221 – nicknamed “Featherweight” – is the semi-precious jewel of the sewing machine world.
For those who collect toy machines, it’s too big, weighing in at 11 lbs 1 oz. (5.0 kg). For those who collect antiques, it’s too new, having been manufactured in the United States between 1933 and 1964 (with the white-colored 221K version made in Britain from 1963-68). For modern seamstresses, it’s too basic, sewing only a straight stitch without even a reverse setting on early models.
Even during the years of its manufacture it was sometimes ignored by the sewing public, as looking too much like a toy, and being too expensive for depression-era and wartime pocketbooks.
For modern-day quilters, the Singer Featherweight, like the baby bear’s bed in Goldilocks, is “just right”.
Quilt tops are pieced together from small scraps of fabric using quarter-inch seam allowances. Quilters, therefore, value a machine that can sew a straight lock stitch without the slight zig-zag that characterizes the straight stitch on most modern machines.
The featherweight, although constructed of aluminum and thus very lightweight, runs smoothly and quietly due to its well-balanced rotary-hook mechanism. This lightweight machine that comes with its own handy case (resembling and roughly the size of an old-fashioned cosmetics case or record case) is also valued for its portability, by those who attend classes and conferences with fellow quilters around the world.
Finally, its sleekness, elegance, and mechanical simplicity appeals to the design sense of women and men who appreciate the beauty of color, line, and texture in their quilts. Now collectors are starting to take notice, too.
Star Struck – GETTING READY FOR MY BONNIE HUNTER CLASS
I decided to make my Star Struck Quilt (in Bonnie Hunter’s Class August 2 in Williamsburg, VA) using my leftover stash of VINTAGE HOLIDAY fabric – and since the pattern is on the Quiltville.com website, I went ahead and made a couple of blocks. Yes, I think I am going to like this. I am having TOO MUCH FUN!
Rearranging Furniture
Then, I got this URGE to rearrange my sewing area – sometimes the MOVING FURNITURE BUG just bites me! So here is my sewing and cutting area – it is almost like having a new room! Isn’t it amazing what moving a bit of furniture around can do for your spirits! Seriously, this really made me happy!
TOO MUCH FUN!
PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT
Inspired by my “new” work area, I decided to start sewing together the blocks for my PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT (my Orange Crush is at the long arm quilters already.)
And of course Cuddles tried her best to help! She actually gets BETWEEN me and my sewing – in fact she just sits herself right smack dab on my sewing machine! You can see how I actually accidentally sewed some of her tail fur into one of my quilt blocks! She just APPEARS out of no where!
SHOPPING
Since I was having so much fun, I decided to expand my fun with a little shopping – so I went to The Quilter’s Corner to get my BLOCK OF THE MONTH pattern and fabric! I will have fun making this – maybe later tonight!
ANTIQUES – ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS
Since I was ALREADY OUT SHOPPING and having TOO MUCH FUN I decided to stop by a cute little MIDLOTHIAN ANTIQUE MALL – very near the quilt store! And yes, I found treasures…..a basket, refrigerator jar, and fabric!
I just HAD to have this cute little basket to keep my bargello strips organized in (I absolutely LOVE BASKETS – it is on my LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS!)
And definitely on my LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS is old refrigerator jars. Before Tupperware – people used to store leftovers in these. I use them for my sewing supplies….and this latest one is to store my pincushion in (since CUDDLES takes the pins out of my pincushion and carries them all over the house – I figured that this would be the pefect solution!)
When I saw this fabric, I just had to buy it…..
I just KNEW that I would think of something to do with it!
Birth of a Sampler – LAST BORDER – Corner Pieces
My last project today was to make the four corner pieces for the final border on my BIRTH OF A SAMPLER QUILT……each block is 20″ square!
All of the excitement was just TOO MUCH FUN for Cuddles – she fell asleep on my bargello strip! I guess I will have to work on something else! 🙂
TTFN and HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA –
have a happy and safe 4th of July everyone!
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