When a student pulled out her HUGE dress shears today we all had a HUGE laugh!
I swear--- I’d thought I’d seen big scissors before, but this pair is GINORMOUS!
In her own defense she said ---
“But I never ever lose them! They are too big to get buried!”
Not only are they huge, but they are heavy!
Do not drop these on your toes!
We had to put them up next to some “regular” scissors, albeit small ones --- just to show you the size comparison --- take in to note the lines on the ruler, these are about 11” inches long.
And did I mention they are HEAVY!??
Today’s lunch lecture was a hoot --- the cord kept falling out of the microphone…..The holders I had were volunteers from the house staff…..there was a lot of moving around on stage to get the 250 or so people in the audience a good view of the quilts ---it got funnier and funnier – it’s good that no one fell off the stage!
I got this shot of everyone before I went up on stage….does this make me nervous? Absolutely!
This was only part of the crowd, just the part I could fit within the screen on my camera!
Blogger still won’t let me do iphone-o-grams. Not sure who/how to contact who I need to. Picasa must have a department that deals with this? I’m frustrated ----like my hands are tied behind my back. It’s not always convenient to wait for a laptop to make an update ---AUUGHH!
It’s not the end of the world, but I sure miss little updates here and there!
Yesterday’s class – what a FUN time! It was the perfect low-key day to start off this wild and whacky Hershey Quilt Odyssey weekend. ((And if it weren’t for the fact that this is the second time I’ve taught here,, I probably never WOULD have learned to spell ODYSSEY! HA!))
So what did we get up to?
We started with CUTTING. And that turned on light bulbs for many!
Then we did test seams and found how what quite a few THOUGHT were 1/4” just were not!
And we started sewing better!
We spent the morning making checkerboards, and had open discussions on the difference between dividing fabrics simply by light/med/dark and how those medium colors can really muddy the waters, and switched into talk about about how I like to stick with two categories only --- NEUTRALS or COLORS and the difference I find with separating my fabrics this way.
After lunch we switched gears…and moved on to basic paper piecing for the tree trunk sections for the block. It’s only 3 seams --- but within this little unit is the perfect way to teach someone the basics of paper piecing and how fun it could be!
Time went fast ---we filled it to the very end!
Let’s get this day started! I’m setting up my lunch time lecture at 8am --- starting Smith Mountain Morning class at 9:am….the lecture happens at 12:15pm and after that –back to Smith Mountain Morning for the afternoon!
Good thing there’s lots of chocolate around!
Debra, I hope you read this!
I just got a message from Mary at Mary’s Quilt Shop in Bedford and said they have found your “missing item!”
They are holding it for you or will mail it to you if you need them to.
Please email marysquiltshop@comcast.net or call them at 814-310-2278.
They don’t have an address or number for you, but said you stopped by because you read my blog every day and they hope you read this post too!
So that’s the LOST part of this post!
How about a FOUND PART?!
Yesterday while in MILLERSTOWN PA ((Don’t ask me why I called it Millersburg yesterday, there are a heck of a lot of burgs in PA!)) I spied this little round wooden case and I had to check it out:
Oh BOY!
I found the key tied to the top handle, put it into the lock, not sure of what model of machine I’d find inside or what kind of condition it might be in…..I lifted the lid, and:
Oh my goodness! This is a rare find for me! The first thing I see is that it has the “matte” or “godzilla crinkle" finish. Thinking it is a 99k --- I look a little closer. Look at the bobbin winder! Look at the bobbin cover area…it has a shuttle/bullet bobbin! This thing is really cool!
It's a 128!
I was also amazed at how black the bobbin cover slides are. Later this afternoon I found my way to the Featherweight booth here at the show and was telling them about it, and I wound up taking it up to their booth---
Here you can see a close up of the rough matte texture, and the dirty bobbin shuttle area!
I haven’t done the research on the serial number yet. The faceplate on the side is also as black as the bobbin cover slides:
I did some quick web research and this is what I found according to SingerSewingInfo.Co.UK:
‘Blackside’ Machines
During the period 1941 to 1953 Singer occasionally produced what are known as ‘Blackside’ models. Unlike the standard machines, many of the normally bright plated parts utilised a chemically blacked finish instead. This is thought to have been in response to shortages of nickel and chromium.
It is a characteristic of these machines that there seems to have been no hard and fast rule as to which ‘Blackside’ parts were fitted. Generally needle plates, bobbin covers and faceplates etc. would all be Blackside, but various knobs, levers, screws etc could be either bright or black. At the same time Singer also produced a range of accessories, tools etc and even bobbins that were blackside. Generally blackside components had the same Simanco part numbers as their bright plated counterparts.
I don’t have a manual for it – it’s been sitting a long time and runs pretty gunky, but the light lights up! I don’t have an electric shuttle bobbin machine, and there are not oodles of these around, so I’m happy to have found it!
Oh…and this is the fun part – it was marked $45.00, and the booth was 20% off, so I got it for $36.00. STEAL!
Tomorrow is Crazy Day ---full day Smith Mountain Morning workshop, with a luncheon lecture for 236 quilters – the largest luncheon lecture ever held so far at Quilt Odyssey! Holy Moly.
Happy Thursday Evening, Everyone!
So I’m back in my room for a few ---
I had enough of my dinner left from last night out that it became lunch with the addition of an apple and a beverage.
The little cafes and places downstairs are MOBBED with quilters all trying to have lunch at the same time! I’m thinking tonight’s dinner better come with a doggie bag too, because who wants to waste half or a lunch period waiting in line?
As for ME? I’d rather be back in my room sewing! ((Which I’m going to do as soon as I post this))
It’s not the APP for my phone that is causing the problem. Picasa Web Albums is the problem. And I bought more storage, but it somehow still isn’t letting me post by phone, and I don’t want to see the iphone-o-grams become a thing of the past --- do you? It doesn't matter which app I use, it still says I have "exceeded limits".
I’m looking for info. Maybe it just takes time for my account to reflect that I have bought extra storage.
So here we are, all sewing our brains out! This is a stress-free class…we spent the morning making 9 patches and checkerboards. We talked about cutting. We talked about seams and how to adjust them. My hope is that these little persnickety things we have to do to get our units to turn out the right size to begin with will be something that will help the quilters in the future on OTHER quilts.
These things don’t just apply to THIS quilt – but to everything we piece from here on out!
These gals are a room full of fun! The strips are flying and there is lots of laughter and chatter overriding the hum of the machines.
They are even having fun at the ironing stations!
((And luckily they are not setting off any heat detectors in the ceiling!!))
So anyway ---I’ll keep trying to figure out what to do with the iphone-o-grams. I loved their convenience for instant posting. I don’t really want to go back to just one post a day ---sometimes those “gotta have Ben & Jerry’s NOW!” posts from the phone just have to happen.
In the mean time – looks like it’s going to be a quicky lunch time update like this one ----and hopefully you will still feel like you are here with all of us, just piecing away!
And for the next hour and a half, until class resumes at 2pm – you can just imagine me sitting HERE piecing away!
Happy to just BE with BEA!
How long does it take YOU to drive what should take you 3 hours to get to your designated destination!?
I left Wellsboro around 10am, and got here about 4pm. Not bad. 6 hours! LOL!
Of course, I was stopping here and there and going off the beaten path and treating the whole day as a treasure hunt.
I remembered from last time that with the summer season in full swing, Hershey Lodge has a heavy turn over of rooms daily, and it is nearly impossible to get checked in to a room much before 3pm. So I got here about 4, and had the check in line insanity to wait in. Oh well!
I enjoyed my time wandering here and there…..what’s better than Old Barns or Antique Malls? How ‘bout Antique Malls IN Old Barns!
So, this one was only about 8 miles off the designated route!
I found this lovely circa 1890-1900 Bow tie…so excited over how bright those fabrics are!
These neon prints are SO fabulous! and I love the shirting stripe used as the background!
Look at these yummies!
I loved this album quilt for the fabrics it had in it also ---wide striped sashings make this one really interesting!
Lots of great indigo blues!
Another 9 mile jaunt off my route landed me here! I think the town was “Millersburg” but I can’t be sure ----
I fell in love with this old singer in a cabinet that came complete with a 1935 dated coupon book for lessons and tune ups!
No, I didn’t buy this machine, but I loved the coupon book….I get the feeling we are out of luck though, they are only good if they are still attached to the book, and only good for 1 year from date of purchase!
Remember my talking about quilts with signatures the other day? Here is one that had more signatures than I could count! This was a very special memory quilt – I hate that it isn’t with a relative or someone who knew the owner ---
Puss in the Corner blocks are surrounded by signatures embroidered in redwork.
See how the last names are in pairs? Must be Mr & Mrs!
This is ONE HUGE QUILT! I couldn’t get enough space to lay it completely out, but I was able to unfold it enough to expose the center panel and the whole story became more clear!
Made by the Members of the Primary Department of Messiah Lutheran Sunday School, 1912.
VERY COOL!!!!
It’s time for me to get this day going and go make myself acquainted with 24 students who are no doubt waiting for me outside my class room ---have a great day, everyone!
