Monday, January 06, 2014

First post of 2014


There was going to be a last post of 2013 but I spent Dec 31 and Jan 1 with friends in their NY City pied a terre, which has no Internet access.    

For those of you following my sewing room clean-up saga, I spent the past week in that room and it now looks relatively civilized, except for the cutting/ironing table.  Mostl of the drawers below that surface have been emptied and eithere pitched or sequestered somewhere else.  I just have to take out what is behind the cabinet doors (a Singer 99, which is a 3/4 size workhorse and comes in a nifty carrying case.

But how many sewing machines does a person need?  I have this one, which I suppose I should use once in a while because it sews a nice straight stitch; my Viking 210, which is only 14 lbs and if I ever need to drive somewhere to teach I can take it; my wonderful, quiet old Bernina 1020 which is so quiet.  I use it only for piecing and it is in my studio.  Finally, my Janome 6500 in my sewing room at home.  I quilt on this one.

Enough of this tangent.  I arranged all my threads in the beautiful antique Red Star thread cabinet my friend Audrey gave me a decade or more ago.  I am SO proud of myself. How long they will stay organized? Don't know, but for now they are a visual treat.
The threads in the bottom are so old they break if you pull them, but they are beautiful.  The next up are my brand name threads and now I can see what I have (as in too many of a coupleofcolors I never use).  The top are the small spools of brand name threads and the top drawer, which you don't see, is full of gorgeous old spools of silk threads, which I also don't use but love to look at.
My scissors, seam rippers, and other tools are in the middle drawer, which does not have a glass front.

Fast forward to Jan 6 and I am in Chicago, where it is -11F degrees, up from a low of 18 below zero when we landed a few hours ago.  In my nice warm hotel room at the moment, but will have to walk to the restaurant next door for dinner.  I was wearing five layers under my coat, including a hooded sweatshirt and in addition, two scarves. On my feet, a pair of furry clogs (no socks, of course) and my feet were so hot on the plane that I had to take them off.  Brought my Birks with me for indoor wear:-)).

Tomorrow morning, lecture at the guild and my body is in east coast time so I will read for a while and call it a day.

5 comments:

Linda Swanekamp said...

Keep the 99! It is not that big and it is such a little workhorse. I have one and a Spartan (economy 99) that I made into a handcrank. You cannot find a machine like this today that will crank through a lot of layers with a beautiful straight stitch.

Lori R. said...

I have a machine that looks exactly like that! Runs, but needs to be cleaned and serviced. It weighs a ton - definitely not a featherweight, even though it's about the same size.

Unknown said...

Keep everything. If it warms your soul and makes you smile and sigh with contentment...it must stay. That's why my wee shed will remain cluttered...

Judy Sall Fiber Art said...

Congrats on your clean-up efforts! I love the threads... I keep messing up my studio, then cleaning, then messing... little by little, I'm making progress using up some stash, but it's still a mountain of fabric!
Stay warm in Chicago... hopefully the arctic blast will ease up quickly.

quiltcontemplation blogspot said...

Happy New Year! Love your thread display and share your ability to collect thread inadvertently. I gave away three machines this year to a neighbor who will find a good home for them. I just did not need a herd of machines. not to worry I kept a few. Lately I but only gray and tan thread. It works with almost everything.
stay well.

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