Treadling Along!

While I treadle along and look out the front window now and again...the birds feed to the right and then take off again on their way! They are nesting now, but I don't know where!  I'm working bit by bit on my string quilt! So super easy and I get to use those scraps that otherwise would have turned to dust over the years! I'm liking how it's coming along and it goes so fast!

While I treadle -- Chef is up to his regular in the kitchen and in this case out on his grill! So super easy - I showed him this one! The meat is just pounded out and then a Laughing Cow triangle is spread out over the meat. A couple of asparagus spears that have been steamed a bit are then put in the middle and rolled up. Once grilled, they are sliced and plated! The peppers are just a combination of different cheese - anything you have - and a few cubes of feta. A bit of greek seasoning is added as garnish. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over and put it on the grill until the cheese starts to melt! Delicious! The Cesaer salad is from scratch. None of your bottled dressing here! Chef makes the BEST cesaer salad! It's a sure sign of summer when we get "grilled" for dinner! We do grill though out the year, but of course more so when the sun is still high and evenings are extra long! Gotta love summer!

Bon appetite! and of course...Happy Quilting!

Margo

Gertie refurbished

She sews beautiful! I had to break in the belt though, and THAT was a lot of foot peddling! I heard you could stretch the belt before you put it on, but I didn't want to end up with a floppy belt. The belt worked great when winding the bobbin, but with sewing it was very stiff. 

I did some reading and found out that using violin Rosin  would help! I had no idea what it was and luckily we have a music store within a couple of blocks of us! It was about $5, so I was ok with that. This is what it looks like:

 It is like a little puck that looks like a deep red color. It is very hard. You hold this little puck behind the leather belt and treddle until it coats the back of the belt. What it does, is helps the leather grip the wheel. Gripping the wheel, helps to make the needle go up and down. How is that for a very simple explanation! I think those experts out there are laughing at my explanation -- but as long as someone get's it, that's all that counts! This little puck was NOTHING like I imagined it would be! This is what the puck looked like when I was done:

After peddling for a bit, it loosened so it was easier to peddle! I figure if it take a bit of work, it will count as exercise! Hah!

You will notice on the first photo of Gertie, the finish looks ok. When you get closer, it seems to be a matte finish! I did the best I could with my limited knowledge. I read quite a few blogs of vintage owners taking apart everything, but I was terrified to do that! Remember when I took my mom's machine apart when I was little and no one could put it back together and an expert had to be called! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

so.... I did the best that I could!

  First I used Autosol Metal Polish

... then followed up with 

Finally I used an auto polish to buff. Trust me, There was a lot of elbow grease and I was impatient to work on her. Photo below is a closeup of the finish. It's been worn through the years. I tried a few different products.

This photo is with the flash. you can see little mottled spots. They were more prominent before the deep clean. 

This photo is without the flash and you can see there is finish that has flecked off.

The last bit was followed up with auto polish from our Auto Body friend. I'll have to keep trying, but as long as she's clean and smooth, I'm not too worried!

From a distance she may not be brand new! But she's brand new to me and I love her! She will be in the family for many years to come and I am sure that my dad is happy that I adopted her!

I took a week vacation this coming week so I can do some quilting! I have been quite tired lately when I get home from work, so this week is a chance to re-charge those creative cells and spend some time with Chef!  I'll try and update my progress!

If there are any vintage owners out there, I would love to hear your input on how to get your babies shiny!

Happy quilting everyone!
Margo

Meet Gertie!

This is Gertie! I found her on Kijiji! For years I have been looking for the one my dad refinished, never to find her. This is the second one I went to see and she's a beauty! I know I have a lot of work ahead of me to get her ready -- but she stitches beautifully now. The owner brought her from Belgium. Chef and I did some research and we believe she's a model 128. The manual that came with, said Model 27, but the serial numbers don't match. All the parts are working, but they need a good cleaning. The previous owner would put her down without taking the leather belt off, thus stretching the belt a bit too much. Easy repair. Gertie dates back to 1926. Her serial number indicates they made 20,000 of these babies, so she's not really "rare" at all. She has a vibrating shuttle and she has a shuttle ejector button. That's all I know for now! 

Her cabinet is quite nice, but certainly not the original. She's been refinished somewhat, but it will do for a long time before I decide to get a better job done. You can see the decals on the machine are still all there. 

 Her shank has a screw that is permanently in there. We have some WD40 soaking right now in hopes that the screw will come off so we can try the other feet! A little box came along with the machine with all these feet! You'll notice there are a couple of duplicates in there! I will have to see if I can find a manual on line for it. Otherwise I am really happy with it!

 She needs a good cleaning -- I am still looking for instructions on THAT part! I heard my dad's voice in my head as I was taking a bit of her apart saying, "Remember when you took Mom's Singer apart and we had to take it to the repair shop?" Those memories are making me take a step back and do a little bit at a time as I learn.

 Look at all that gunk! Wonder how old that gunk is?

The inside gears don't seem too bad. Off the bat she sews really nice. I tried to wind the bobbin, but of course you need the belt -- so I had to handwind it!

It's my first crack at a vintage machine! If anyone out there has any suggestions on how to go about servicing her, I would sure appreciate the input!

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Margo