Tanner’s Orchard

(Left to right: Shelly, Lori, Debbie, Joyce, Sue and Michelle)

God often puts wonderful people into our lives (or I meet them by stalking them, right Lori? ) I found Lori (second from left) blog hopping one day. I tracked her down, and she was gracious enough to trust that I wasn’t ‘totally’ crazy, and Louie and I met her and her husband Dan at Poopy’s. Gee, that was three years ago. We have gone on a few motorcycle rides with Lori and Dan since, but she has also invited me to meet some of her friends. What a gift and blessing that has been!

Last year in May, she invited me to a ‘blogger’s breakfast’ in Oregon, Illinois at White Pines Forest State Park. There I met Shelly, Debbie, Joyce, and a couple of other ladies.

In February of this year, Lori and Joyce invited me to join in on a craft retreat. It was held at the house of one of Joyce’s friends. She just lent us her house! How cool was that? She wasn’t there, and just invited us to move right in! It was sew much fun. I met Sue at the craft retreat. Sue was new to quilting then, and starting her first quilt (I think). You should see the quilts she has created since! Beautiful!

A month or so ago, Lori invited me to join her, Joyce, Shelly, and Sue to go to Tanner’s Orchard in Speer, Illinois. It seemed like such a long time to wait to go, but the date finally arrived. There, we met up with Debbie, who lives not far from there. It was so good to see her.

Tanner’s Orchard was absolutely wonderful. I could have sat inside for hours, just soaking up the aroma of bakery items, candles, and all the wonderful smells of the gift shop. The grocery part had lots of good things. I bought Cider donuts to share with the quilting girls in a few weeks. I brought them home and put them in the freezer. I bought Louie black licorice (YUCK!) and he loved that! I bought a jar of apple salsa (YUM!!), some small packets of coffee and the candle you see sitting on the table. It’s called Great Pumpkin, and it smells DELISH!

We stopped at a cute little gift shop on the way home, (Can’t remember the name) and I bought this neat sign. You will have to enlarge photo to see it, and even at that, the picture is not great, but it is really difficult to photograph such a long sign. Love what it says though.

THAND YOU for the food before us, FRIENDS beside us and LOVE between us.

I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going to put it when I bought it, but it worked out to be just about perfect right under my mirror in the kitchen.

It was a wonderful day, and I am thankful for the gift of friendship.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Michelle

Christ, who said to the disciples "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends "You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others. They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by Friendship God opens our eyes to them. They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good Friendship, increased by Him through the Friendship itself, so that it is His instrument for creating as well as for revealing.

C.S. Lewis

Wrong Numbers Make Me CRANKY

Especially if it’s 11:30 at night, after I have been asleep for a few (or more) hours, and it’s the WRONG NUMBER…AGAIN for the second time in a week….and I need to mention that the phone it came from, was the same phone that called and woke me up last week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phone calls in the middle of the night scare the HELL out of me, but leaving the ringer on is necessary for emergencies. The phone ringing in the middle of the night makes my heart pound against my chest, because I don’t know what is going to greet me at the other end (like what kind of emergency is it going to be.) I also have to get up, and stumble to the phone that is charging in the bathroom.

I needed to find a solution for this, so WRONG NUMBER would not wake me up again! I googled for a solution and found out you cannot block an incoming number unless you block ALL incoming calls, or call your cell phone provider and have them block a certain number for a fee. I sent the caller a ‘not so nice’ text asking him to QUIT calling me, like he did last week, as I don’t like being woke by a someone calling a wrong number, and that some of us have to work and get up at 4:30am!

Then, I followed the directions of a genius who was nice enough to offer information I had not thought of. Add Wrong Number to your contact list, choose a ring tone especially for him (or leave it the same…doesn’t matter) and set the volume for that caller to SILENT. (Ah…silence is golden….golden….)

Thank you brilliant person! Now maybe I can go back to sleep!

Sweet dreams!

Michelle

Singer Fashion Mate 252

I visited this ‘mate’ on three different occasions and the last time, I brought him home. (Don’t ask me WHY I call it a ‘him’. Just seems to fit.) Louie actually asked if they would take any less than the marked price because he was missing some pieces, and the fact that he had been sitting there for several weeks. They knocked 1/3 of the price off, which didn’t probably hurt them, since the next stop for this guy probably would have been the landfill. They only keep things so long, then they move them to the BIG BROWN metal box next to the building.  We actually only bought him because the foot control and cord looked very nice. I had no idea I would even be considering keeping the machine, but then Louie asked me if I tried it to see if it worked.

He was cold, and dirty, and DRY. He had lost his pressure foot, and pressure foot screw. His spool pin was also broken off. I went to my handy dandy parts box and found replacements. He also lost his sliding needle plate. I ordered a replacement since I did not have one of those. While I worked on him, I taped a piece of a plastic cool whip lid over the bobbin.

I had to play with the tensions for awhile before I got them where I was comfortable with them. He only has two stitches besides straight stitch….the zigzag and the blind stitch. He also  has ‘left’, ‘middle’ and ‘right’ needle positions. He has an adjustable pressure foot dial, which goes from DARN to NORM to MAX. As  you can see, I turned the dial to DARN, set the stitch length at zero, and tried some free motion stitching on my C-Fold towel! I wound a bobbin too.

Here’s his backside.

I think this machine dates from around 1971, but I will stand corrected if anyone has any more information than I do. The machine was built in Italy and the motor was built in France. I found a free pdf manual for it HERE.

Thank you Singer Co dot com! If YOU need a manual, check and see if Singer has one for you!

Be blessed and have a great Sunday!

Michelle

What was new at Singer YESTERDAY, is at Michelle’s house TODAY!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My husband got me JUST WHAT I WANTED!!!!

He got me an ALTERNATOR for my van! Woo hoo!
I had an interesting ride to work this morning. The first half of my 1 mile trip (give or take a smidge) went pretty uneventful, but the last half was very interesting! I was at the top of a hill on Matteson street at 5:48am, when my direction/outside temperature display disappeared. Then my radio quit. I knew then I was in trouble. It was like a re-run of THIS TRIP! My lights started to dim. I stopped at the stop sign, then turned right and  proceeded down the road. My radio came back on, then went off again. I keep saying ‘Oh Sh**, Oh Sh**” hoping I could make it all the way to work before I ran out of juice. I got down to the driveway of the work parking lot and turned on my signal. No signal, no radio, headlights were blinking off and on. I drove down through the parking lot and I lost my headlights completely. I prayed ‘Oh God, please let me get this thing parked before it quits.’ I parked it in the dark, and shut if off. I tried to start it again, and NOTHIN’ Doin’! I called Louie and told him what happened. I told him it was either the battery or the alternator, but my guess was the alternator. He said I was probably right.
He came to get the van on his break. He brought the booster pack, strapped it under the hood and drove the van back to work. He put it on the tester and the battery was good. He checked the charging system and it read weak. He turned on a few things, and it went to very weak. Yep. Alternator. He changed it out in the parking lot during his lunch, so I didn’t have to pay labor charges. He’s my hero!
It was a pretty expensive gift, and it wasn’t on my list of wants, but it WAS just what I wanted, because without it, I had no van, no transportation, and no freedom to come and go as I choose…so see? I guess it really WAS what I wanted!
God took good care of me this morning by letting me get to work before the van died. He also took care of me by letting this happen in town, and not 40+ miles away while I was out junkin, or ‘who knows where’ and away from help. Timing is everything, and I’m glad it happened now, and not later.
Hope your day was wonderful.
Be blessed,
Michelle

My Singer Story Website

What fun!!! THIS website takes the serial number from your pre-1970 Singer Machines and produces a certificate for you to save pdf, and/or print. Here is the certificate for my Singer Red Eye sewing machine!

Now I need to go get the serial numbers off all of my other Singer Sewing machines, but not until after I go for a motorcycle ride with my sweetie!

Have fun checking out your Singer sewing machines!!!

Have a GREAT Sunday!

Be blessed!

Michelle

Does anyone remember the line in the Singer advertisements, ‘What’s New for Tomorrow is at Singer today!’?

Blessed Day!

First, there was Quilting, which was full of food, friends and  LAUGHTER! (What happens at quilting, STAYS at quilting!)

We all started a quilt today using the same pattern. We are making the quilt Dutch Breeze, from the September/October 2010  McCall’s quilting magazine.  Here is one block from each of us. Most of us chose scrappy, so probably no two blocks will look alike. Row one left to right: Margaret, Michelle, Ronelle. Row two: Leslie, Renea, Polly. Bottom block: Kate. They are all beautiful. I can’t wait to work more on my quilt! (click to enlarge)

After quilting, Louie and I went to the Quad Cities. I decided that today was the day I was getting my shingles vaccination whether I had to pay for it myself or not. Too many people I know have had shingles once or more, and I don’t want to join them. I was PLEASANTLY surprised when I was only charged a $25 copay. Paying outright would have cost me $203.99. Thank you Lord for that blessing!

Next we went to Red Robin for supper. We picked up my sister on the way to the QC’s and took her with us.

…and finally, we went to see Courageous at the Cinema 53 theaters. Awesome Awesome Awesome…(did I say Awesome?) movie. Wonderful! Go see it, especially if you have children at home.

Hope your day was as wonderful as mine.

Be blessed,

Michelle

Choose you this day whom you will serve……As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

Sewing Machine Shelves

Yesterday when we were close to a Lowe’s store, we stopped and bought shelves and brackets so we could hang two shelves in my quilting room to display my vintage sewing machines. This morning, Louie and I hung the shelves.

Before, I had one shelf that went about 3/4 the way across this wall. It wasn’t good for much. You can see where the paint is a different color, just where it was.

We drilled into the concrete and anchored the brackets to the wall…..

….we added the shelves and touched up the paint (don’t look too close!)…

…and I added the machines. Top Row: Singer 404, Singer 500A, Singer 503A, Domestic Rotary. Second Row: 401A, Zenith straight stitch (Japanese made) badged machine, Singer 285J, Singer Featherweight 221 and Singer Toy Machine.

I think there may be a couple machines on the shelves that you have not seen yet. This one is a Domestic. I’m not even sure where I picked this one up, but it was at a ‘junk shop’ somewhere. It reminds me of a machine that a friend of my dad’s gave to me when I was about 10. I don’t know what happened to my machine, except that it was kept at my dad’s, and when he passed away, the machine was missing. I could never forget the smell of the machine and the case, and this machine holds those memories. Incidentally, it won’t sew, because I can’t get it to pick up the bobbin thread. I played with it for awhile and tried to adjust the depth of the needle bar, and in doing so, I removed the whole left end of the machine, including the needle bar and the pressure foot all in one unit. It is not precision, if you get my drift. I really don’t care if it sews or not. It’s the memory for me. It also is a rotary machine, so a rubber wheel that is attached to the shaft of the motor rolls against the hand wheel to make it sew. It’s an oldie, and it was an oldie when I received the gift from my dad’s friends when I was about 10. (No need to do the math….it was DECADES ago!) This machine is actually aluminum and not heavy at all.

This machine is my garage sale Featherweight. Louie found it at our neighbor’s garage sale last fall. This is the first time I have had it out of the case for display, and I didn’t oil it or even run it until today. Those machines are just so darn cute!

I’m not sure you saw my toy Singer either. I got it at the Salvation Army in Marion a year or so ago, for $20, I think. This is the first time I have had it out of the box to display it.

After the shelves were up, the mess was cleaned up, and Louie got back from his Sunday pool leagues, we went for a motorcycle ride. I wore a long sleeved shirt with a light jacket, and it was just right for riding. We rode from Maquoketa to Monmouth to Cascade to Worthington and Dyersville, then down to Dubuque and home. We stopped at Save-A-Lot in Dubuque for a few things and by the time we got home the sun was on it’s way down. There were lots of cold spots in the last 40 miles, but it was a beautiful ride. We were out about 3 hours. There won’t be many riding days left, so we have to take rides when we can.

What did you do today?

Have a wonderful week, and be blessed!

Michelle

Singer Genie 354

Yesterday, Louie and I went junkin’. Yea, kinda hard to believe, huh? He asked me where I wanted to go first. We planned to go check out a junk shop that I found on Craigslist in Moline, but I told him I wanted to stop at Goodwill in Bettendorf first.

The first place I look while in thrift stores is the furniture, looking for sewing machine cabinets with possible machines. Sometimes the cabinets are empty. The second place I look is the shelf of electrical and electronic devices.

Yesterday, I was walking from one side of the store (furniture) to the other side of the store (electrical), quickly scanning the shelves as I went, and talking to Louie about some other subject, when I saw Genie from halfway across the store. The conversation went dead to my ears, I grabbed Louie, pointed ahead, cupped my hand over my mouth, and said, ‘There’s a Singer Genie on the shelf!!!’ (He later teased me about how what he was telling me was so UN-important…sorry honey!)

I grabbed her off the shelf and couldn’t get her cover off fast enough. I plugged her in and pressed the foot control. She sounded good! There was a lady right behind us, who was LURKING, watching our every move. As soon as she saw that I had claimed it as my own, she asked, ‘What did they have on that for a price?’ We told her, and she went on her way, disappointed, I am sure! I would have probably cried! She missed getting Genie, by mere seconds!

Genie was dirty and dusty, so she got a bath last night while I waited for supper to get done cooking.

This morning, I wound a bobbin and sewed some test stitches. She is really a nice little machine! She is a 3/4 size portable ‘on the go’ machine. Some say she was the ‘70’s version’ of the Singer Featherweight. She has nowhere near the value of a Featherweight, but she only weighs 18.8 pounds.

Her sliding cover also houses her foot control. The manual and accessories are missing, but they also are meant to slide into this same compartment.

The bottom cover snaps closed to keep in the foot control.

The cover slides on from the left…..

…the panel flips up and snaps closed, and the the spool pin pushes down into the machine.

Her hand wheel has a cute funky little ‘70’s design, because, well, she was built in the 70’s. From what I can find on Google, the Singer Genie 353, and following model 354, with an additional special stretch stitch, were built around 1973.

Most girls don’t like showing their ‘backsides’, but I’m sure Genie does not mind.

 I’m sorry….I can’t help myself. Ever since I found Genie, this song keeps going through my head.

..You stepped into my life from a bad dream, making the life that I had seem suddenly shiny and new…Oh Genie, I’m so in love with you….

It looks like another nice day. Hmmm…what shall Michelle do today?

Have a great Sunday, whatever you do!

Be blessed,

Michelle

Acts 9:36-42

New Living Translation (NLT)

There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!”

So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Tabitha had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up!  He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.

The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in the Lord.

Modern Home Deluxe Black

A few weeks ago when Louie and I went junkin’, we brought home three machines. Yes, I said three. This one, this one, and this Modern Home Deluxe sewing machine in black. (Remember, I also have a pink one and a blue one which are very similar.)

I finally got it out to clean and oil and test sew. It’s a fast one…..

…and has a beautiful scrolled end cover plate. It will be displayed in our basement living area near all the other sewing machines. I missed this one on my walk through GW. My husband pointed it out to me, so if we start tripping over sewing machines, it’s HIS fault!!! I couldn’t leave it, you know!!! (ok, maybe I could have…..)

It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful, sunny fall day. Looks like a great day for junkin’! Enjoy your weekend, whatever you do!

Be blessed,

Michelle