A herd.
If you are a quilt addict, you may develop a love of sewing machines, and accidentally end up with a herd!
It's like any other addiction I suppose. It started with just one sewing machine ... a basic Janome with no frills, purchased in 1990 for $300. I took my first quilting classes with that machine and sewed the guts right out of it. It is still kicking around here somewhere, but it has been retired.
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| Ny nephew helping me to clean my Brother 1500 |
Then I realized that I really liked quilting and I needed a real work horse for machine quilting. So I bought machine #2 - a Brother 1500 that supposedly sews 1,500 stitches per minute. It has been such a fantastic machine and I love it. If it ever dies, I will immediately replace it with one that is exactly the same.
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| Janome Jem Platinum |
One Christmas Santa brought me machine #3 which is a lightweight portable machine called a Janome Jem Platinum. This is a great machine to take to classes. It is also the only machine I own that does a zigzag stitch, so I use this one for sewing batting scraps together, and anything else requiring a zigzag (like making fabric bowls).
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| 1901 Singer Treadle |
Then I started to covet a "people powered" treadle machine and purchased machine #4 - an amazing 1901 Singer. I love this machine and it is set up in my dining room. I have a scrappy project that I only work on with this machine whenever I get the urge to treadle, which is usually in the winter.
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| White Featherweight |
Just after I bought the treadle machine, a wonderful friend surprised me with machine #5 - a beautiful collector's white featherweight machine, which I love but don't want to sew on it too much for fear of wearing it out. It is so cute and makes a perfect stitch even though it is over 50 years old. I call her Sweet Baby Jayne (after my sister who is the same age).
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| Blue White |
Then an old singer found it's way to me... I've never mentioned it before on my blog because I was embarrassed that I adopted machine #7! I started to wonder if I had some sort of "problem"! But really this is a beautiful piece of furniture and it's in my dining room. I haven't had much time to get the machine working well yet. In addition to being a pretty machine, it's a lovely piece of furniture (being modeled by my Granddog Max).
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| Twin 301 Singers |
I was given machine #10 by a colleague/nurse/friend that needed it out of her basement. So we moved it from her basement to mine! The irons are a mess, but I am still hoping to be able to revive that old gal (photo to come).
I found machine #12 in a thrift shop. Charity is a black 1952 Singer Featherweight 221. She is a cousin of Sweet Baby Jane machine #5. It's not politically correct to have a favourite machine, but if I did have one, this would be it!
In 2015 I attended a TOGA event to learn more about vintage machine restoration. It was mind blowing, and I don't even know how it happened but I accidentally brought home two more "fixer-uppers". Here is the trunk of my car with machine # 11, #13 and #14.
Perhaps I have to admit that I may have a "problem"!
Machine #15 is my Domestic Goddess and was acquired in December 2015! As well as making a lovely stitch, her claim to fame is her beautiful face plate.
How many sewing machines does one quilter need?
Well, you only need 1, but you sure can enjoy a herd which can grow to include as many machines as your budget and storage space will allow!
How many sewing machines does one quilter need?
Well, you only need 1, but you sure can enjoy a herd which can grow to include as many machines as your budget and storage space will allow!
