Last year, I don’t remember when, I had an idea to use up some of my scraps by making scrappy 6 1/2 inch pineapple blocks. The idea is to eventually make enough of them for a queen size quilt. Only problem is I am slow at paper piecing which is the method I am using. I actually worked off and on all day on one block!! Of course the rest of the day I was blowing my nose so maybe it is possible I could have finished two blocks instead if I wasn’t grabbing Kleenex? I am estimating right now that I need about 256 blocks to make a quilt that is about 100 x 100 inches large. I have 5 finished – 4 of them from last year LOL.
my 5 blocks. Some of the color choices weren't perfect as I had several dark colors too close to the same shade next to each other, but I will be more careful in the future - none of these are getting tossed out!! and I'm not picking them apart either 
With so many blocks in a quilt I really don't think anyone will notice a few bad color choices here and there.
I will continue to work on this quilt for several years I bet. I had sore fingers from quilting and just didn’t feel like working on any of my other projects today so went back to this one. I used the Singer Featherweight. I thought I needed some practice with the machine as I had not used it since Bea had worked on it. The machine worked great although at first I thought I was going back to the same old problems with tension but then realized when I put it in the storage bag that I had bumped the upper tension dial. Got that back to where it should be and practiced threading and putting the bobbin in and then got started sewing.
Learning how to use my new phone has been interesting. There are aps for everything it seems but I do not want to spend money on buying them. We found one ap for the weather channel that is free and you select gps and it finds the location wherever you are and tells you what the weather will be and shows you a weather map too. That sure will come in handy when we are traveling.
I will select the winner for the give away tomorrow and then mail it out on Monday – good luck and thank you to those who participated. You still have time this evening if you want to get in on it.
The bag I sent for to store my featherweight in when I am not using it is larger than I thought it was! I checked the measurements – but oh well – extra room in the bag for supplies but that will make it too heavy for my weak elbows to carry. But not a problem, quite a few years back I had gotten a collapsible wheel carrier for a different sewing bag set up that I had. It had been put away in the closet but I found it, dusted it off and it is back in use! Good thing I tend to hold onto things for awhile.
the bag on it's little wheel cart. The little stand goes up when not in use. The black straps are elastic and pull over the bag to hold onto the cart.
The bag has three outside pockets – plenty of room for cords and extension cord too. Inside the top of the bag are two zipper pockets. I have left the machine threaded right now to remind myself how to thread properly until I know for sure I won’t forget!! That happens when you do not use a machine everyday.
If it looks like it will be too loose (no strap to hold in place) I will get a couple pieces of foam and cut to fit along the sides to hold it tight in the bag. Mainly though this is a place to store it and for taking to a sewing night now and then. The insert and the stack of books for the table level are stored in the bag for now too so I won't loose track of them.
Sugar and Spice in progress. This one won't take real long to quilt it is about 43" x 49" I think. I am doing a simple cross hatch and outline around the flowers.
a close up
And what have I been doing today? Me and my John Deere have been busy cutting and mulching! I do not mind cutting grass and over the years I have been the one to do it most of the time because of the long hours Mike always worked. I get some good thinking done on my John Deere Now of course if I had a push mower I sure as heck wouldn't be doing it!!
I have the cushions out for the warm weather and have already made use out of the this area and the porch - what a nice relaxing area (until the loud traffic goes by - at least that is not continuous out here)
When I got my singer featherweight back in working order (or should I say got myself in working order ) I faced the problem of where would I sew with it. As you all know I have a small sewing room and I do not want to have to put a new table out. My SewEzi table has an acrylic piece that fits around the Janome just right. That is how you order them. With each sewing machine you need an acrylic piece that fits around it. The height on the table also has height adjusters. The Janome and the Featherweight are not the same height which meant in order to use the table for both machines I would also have to adjust the height each time I would switch machines. After a couple hours of thinking it over I decided to go ahead and order the acrylic piece to match up with the featherweight and find something that can be tucked under the machine to adjust the height.
I can’t believe how fast the SewEzi people are – I ordered the piece on Tuesday evening and it arrived today!! How is that for fast service. Right now I have two books that happened to be handy and 2 Connecting Threads catalogs that were handy and stacked them under the machine and it was exactly right. I measured the stack and it is exactly 5/8″ so that means next time we pick up some plywood or something of that sort I will get a piece and have Mike cut it to fit the base of the featherweight. Then whenever I switch out machines I do not have to do any adjusting of the height on the table- which really, really would be a pain to do.
This is how the Janome sits in the SewEzi table and what the acrylic plate looks like - each is fashioned for the base of each machine.
you see these white cylinder pieces - there are four of them. These are what need to be adjusted for the height of each machine - now you can see why I say I don't want to do that and that it would be a pain to do.
these are the new height adjusters that arrived with the plate - they really and truly are a pain to use. Here is the new acrylic plate for the featherweight.
The temporary height adjuster to test the theory out
this is how the featherweight sits in the SewEzi table with the temporary height under it. When I have a piece of wood or whatever I find that is the right height that piece will always be put with the acrylic plate so they are always together handy to use. This will be so much easier and quicker to do than adjust the height with the pieces you are supposed to use with it.
I’m glad I went ahead and measured and decided to order the plate. It will be so nice to just switch out the machines and not to have to find another space to set up in. I have ordered a bag to keep the featherweight in and I already have a travel case for the Janome so whenever I switch out machines I will just place it in it’s bag and it will be out of the way (which means under the quilting frame) and yet close by to switch back out again when I want it.
Continue reading about The Singer Featherweight 221 and the SewEzi table
