Big Business That Doesn't "Get It"

I was surprised last weekend to have a notice (aka advertisement) pop up on my Face Book page indicating that Pottery Barn is now selling vintage sewing machines for decorative purposes.

In near disbelief, I followed the link and ended up here: http://www.potterybarn.com/products/found-sewing-maching/popup/more-views.html

They claim the machines were manufactured in Europe from the 1920s to 40s. In addition to German-made Singer, they have Durkopp, Phoenix, Victoric, Gritzner, and Kohler--although the buyer doesn't get to choose.

Pottery Barn is selling them for $199 each.

I contacted Pottery Barn and pointed out that...

Even if this machine were inoperable, it usually takes very little to
make them work. Even without a motor, they can be treadled--and with
minimal care they'll last longer and work as well or better than any of
the "new" sewing machines on the market.
Seems more than a bit crazy to me!

Pottery Barn replied:

Thank you for contacting Pottery Barn.

We apologize for any inconvenience.  Pottery Barn does not sell sewing machines.  Please provide more information regarding your inquiry,so we may assist you.

If we may be of any further assistance, please contact us via email.  Alternately, you may contact our Customer Service Department directly at 1-800-922-9934 from 5:00 am to 9:00 pm (PST), seven days a week.

Kind regards,

I replied by sending them the link and saying it certainly looked like it was for sale.

They wrote me back and said:

Thank you for contacting Pottery Barn.

We apologize for any confusion.  These sewing machines are meant for decorative purposes only. 

If we may be of any further assistance, please contact us via email.  Alternately, you may contact our Customer Service Department directly at 1-800-922-9934 from 5:00 am to 9:00 pm (PST), seven days a week.

Kind regards,

So, I wrote them again:

That is exactly the point!  You've taken machines that could easily be repaired so that they will sew for another 40 to 100 years (much longer than any currently available "modern" plastic wonders will sew) and have created overpriced "decorative" items!

They replied:

Thank you for contacting Pottery Barn.  We regret to learn of your disappointment that we are selling sewing machines from the 1920's to 1940's for decorative purposes.  While we do not know for sure, we suspect these were determined to no longer be functional and have been successfully repurposed.

However, we appreciate your feedback and will forward it to our Buyers for their future buying decisions. 

If we may be of any further assistance, please contact us via email.  Alternately, you may contact our Customer Service Department directly at 1-800-922-9934 from 5:00 am to 9:00 pm (PST), seven days a week.

Kind regards,

Okay, they don't get it.  Here's what I get:

I do believe in using vintage sewing machines.  I love their engineering, and mechanics, and the fact that with a little attention (aka oil) they're willing to work well decade after decade, often for well over a century. It breaks my heart that these are being sold at inflated prices for some rich person to have around for "cute" when there are so many people in the world who would be thrilled to have them to use.

Sadly, I also get that a few resources and the will to make a profit mean that some very usable machines will be merely "decorative." 
 

Whoop, Whoop or Little Whoop?

This quilt is for a very special young man, and I've been struggling with it for a long time!  The young man has been dealing with a rare form of muscular dystrophy since he was just a little guy.  He's also dealing with depression and some heart problems--they often accompany the MD.  His mom suggested purple, black, and white.

The feathered star is one I hand-pieced about 20 years ago, drawing around each little plastic template.  I showed this in a previous post with a lot of violets that I'd pieced around it.  Today I finished piecing the Lincoln's Platform blocks and put the rest of the top together.  I think the top is done now, but could change my mind.  If I had more of the black on white clock and gauges print,  I'd probably add a white and violet border on the right and bottom, but I've used all but a few tiny scraps of that fabric, so I can't do that.

It was a good day for sewing since we had loud, roaring winds all day. I turned on the stereo, but even it didn't drown out the howling winds.  We know we are surrounded by mountains, but they were obscured by the dust today.  Some of our good friends headed out for a week in Alabama a couple of days ago, and I really wish we could have gone along with them!

I'm linking to Sara's blog. If you visit her post, you can also visit some other people who accomplished lovely things this week.

Minimal Accomplishments

Not much accomplished in the way of quilting or knitting.

Finished the St. Patrick's Day socks one night this week, started some springy pink ones (which would be a lot farther along if I had spent less time looking at patterns), and am *still* in the process of stabilizing "Fowl Play."
Too bad I have to spend so many hours a day commuting to and from work--for that matter, it's too bad I have to spend so many hours working in order to have enough money to buy insurance and scrape by.  On the other hand, it's nice to know that I'm working at something that makes life better for kids and families.
Sunshine, lovely sunshine here, accompanied by spring winds, of course!
Oh, I'm linking up to Sara's blog, although I almost feel guilty for doing so.

Green?....

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

Back during the wicked weather of January and early February, I began these so I'd have something green and special to wear for St. Patrick's day.  I'm thinking it's likely that too much time was spent while I watched a few movies with my hands were pausing.  Anyway, they're not quite long enough, so I can't wear them today.  (I'm wearing a Kelly green knit top instead.) 
And for my green activity, I'll be working on some quilts using one of my people-powered sewing machines (PPM).  That counts as green, right?

I thought I might have lunch at my outdoor table since we're supposed to have the warmest day we've had thus far this year.  But we also have high winds and regional fire danger, so I'll have to be content with eating inside, since I wouldn't want my lunch to blow to the next county! Here's our current wind/fire danger map, courtesy of www.weatherbug.com

I'm taking comfort in the fact that it's still yellow and not red--which is what we'll see later this afternoon.

Have a fun St. Paddy's Day.

Pressing Matters.....

I spent literally hours pressing quilt tops and backs today.  Tomorrow I plan to layer and baste them for treadle quilting.
I thought I had a backing for the one shown, but I don't, so it won't be one of the ones that gets basted tomorrow.
This quilt top was made by my mom's aunt, Bessie Hyatt of Ozawkie and Dennison, Kansas,  It has a few pieces of fabric scraps from my clothing and that of my mom, and a couple of pieces from my sister's clothing scraps. I think I recognize fabric from a couple of shirts Mom made for my dad and brother.  Aunt Bess and Uncle Ralph had no children, but they did have five nephews and nine nieces.  Most of the nieces sewed their children's clothing and saved their fabric scraps for Aunt Bess. Of all of Aunt Bess's quilts and quilt tops, I think this has the fewest of our scraps.  The latest scraps I can identify are from when I was in upper elementary school. As far as I know, I'm the only grandchild who became a quiltmaker. 
Aunt Bess refused to give me a quilt because I didn't get married. (Shame on me!)  One time when we were visiting her in Dennison in the mid 1980's, I begged her to at least let me have a quilt top. She finally brought out two or three, and I chose this one.  The irony is that once I had it home and looked it over, I realized it just wasn't worthy of weeks or months of hand quilting.  As I was growing up in Central Illinois, Aunt Bess was my inspiration to become a quiltmaker, something I dreamed about from the time I was two and a half.  By the time I realized that her skills were mediocre at best, I had made several quilts. Aunt Bess made quilts for 60 or 70 years, and her skills never improved.  Isn't that sad? I folded it and put it in a box, thinking it was unlikely ever to become a quilt.

Back in the 80's I repaired a quilt top in the French Bouquet pattern that she'd given Aunt Louise and added borders in a fabric that was the closest I could come to a reproduction fabric.

 Instead of the nine-patch block, Aunt Bess had pieced tiny eight-pointed stars with one inch sides.  She probably got the pattern from the Kansas City Star, Capper's Weekly, or another farm paper.
She had given it to my Aunt Louise when she got married around 1945. After I repaired the fraying stars and added the borders, Aunt Louise eventually had it quilted by some ladies near Wichita.

However, memories of those endless hours of piecing to repair Aunt Louise's quilt failed to inspire me to take on my own quilt top from Aunt Bess.  I'd almost forgotten about that quilt until I pulled out the Tulip Top that I quilted for my niece. Then I realized that although it wasn't worthy of hand quilting, I could certainly machine quilt it.

Like many of Aunt Bess's quilts, this one had a plain white sheeting border.  The corners are blocks made from fabric in a green, white, and orange stripe that my mother made for me in sixth grade; I'm sure she thought it would help me not look so fat.  The interesting thing is that one of the corner blocks is pieced from three strips of that fabric.

At one time I thought I'd add a print border, but the top is so big already, that I'm not going to add another border.  I'll bind it in a 30's print, or several different prints.  However, it won't be one of the ones I layer tomorrow because I'm too tired after all those hours of ironing to search for fabrics and piece and prepare a batting.

I have the happy opportunity to have brunch with a dear friend (the recipient of the Soleil d'Hiver quilt) tomorrow, and then will go to the church to layer and baste the quilts.  For those who wondered, Mary was surprised and thrilled with the quilt.....

Color Issue Resolution, etc.

Hand pieced feathered star--each piece traced around a piece of template plastic--over 20 years old.  What to put with it?  It's so old that I don't have red-purply fabrics to put with it.  My sister-in-law said one of my nephews who has dealt with some pretty serious health issues since he was a toddler would love a prayer quilt in purple, gray, and white.  I've been trying to come up with one for over a year.  Of course, the additional challenge is that I didn't want to fill it with lots of "flowerdy" prints (Southern expression).  I finally just rounded up a bunch of violet/purple fabrics knowing I would have to follow the plan that enough variety in fabrics can make any combination work.  So, I reached this point last weekend, but too late to post for Sara's Whoop!  Whoop! celebration--I'll link up this week.
And then I'll go work on the next step.
My hope is that over the next week I'll get several quilts layered for quilting.
Our one week "spring break" got off to a delayed start when I realized I'd left some papers I'd need inside my classroom.  Went back to get them and as soon as I'd closed the car door, I realized I had my school keys in my hand but had locked the car keys in the car!  Thanks to help from another teacher and a fairly local locksmith, my departure was delayed by only a little less than an hour.  It's been eight years since my keys have been locked in my car--by a seven year old daughter who endured years of my saying, "Keep the keys in your hand or your pocket."  She's not-so-secretly thrilled that she feels entitled to spend the next few years saying the same thing to me!  The one bright spot, aside from how quickly the locksmith arrived, is that it cost a few dollars less than it did eight years ago.  Still cost a hunk of money, however.
My plan was to put all thoughts of school behind me for a few days, but I barely slept last night for thinking about it!  I mustn't let it mar my few days away.
The signs of spring apparent where I live are high winds and fire danger.  I'm hoping that over the next week we'll also see some signs of spring flowers emerging.  Those always brighten my outlook!

Finished: Le Soleil d'Hiver

 It's finished, including binding.
My original plan was to quilt a curvy feather that included not only the blue solid but also the two adjacent borders.  But when I tried that, it was immediately clear that the feather wouldn't even be recognized if it extended into those borders, so I ripped it out and placed them just in the blue.

 It was clear that the narrow borders of the blue china were so busy that no quilting would show up, so I just quilted a kind of pussy-willow design in those borders.  (Do people still grow pussy willows?  I loved them when I was growing up.  And if they still grow them, have they renamed them something else?)
Here's another quick look at the seashell quilting....

 and at the ribbons & feathers on a Michael Miller Fairy Frost star.

 In order to see the details, you may have to right click on the next triangle and open it in a new tab.

I used a sunshine yellow on most of the quilt, but a blue for the feather in the blue border.  I used white thread in the bobbin, and it turned out pretty well, that is, very little show-through of the top thread on the back. Then I cut the binding from the same blue as the border.
Finished just in time for another winter storm to move in.  I wanted to take it to church to give my friend this morning, but I hadn't finished tacking down some of the binding on the back.  (Have another idea for binding on the next one.)
Whoop! Whoop!  Sarah's challenge is helping me stay focused on finishing a little bit each week rather than being frustrated that I don't get more done. I'm also linking up with Karen at Sew Many Ways. (Or I will, if I can get Mr. Linky to cooperate!)
Happy quilting......May you find a lot of sunshine in this long, long winter.

Whoop, Whoop! For My Friends......

I've accomplished very little, I thought....
I started these socks--got only this far....

 And they were going to be much too big so I ripped them out and will have to start over.
However, tomorrow is quilt dedication Sunday at church, so when the Victory Quilters met today, we spread out the quilts for tomorrow's dedication.

 We ran out of room at the front of the church and ended up spreading them on rows of chairs at the side of the sanctuary.

 On the sound control booth at the back of the sanctuary....

 And on the back of the last rows of chairs.  People will have to move forward a little tomorrow morning.

 This quilt was made by Judy in wonderful seashore theme fabrics and was one of my very favorites; it's one that needs to be seen in person--the colors are so subtle that I'm betting the fabrics sold better in quilt shops than on-line!

Judy and I both counted; there are fifty quilts.  [Three more quilts came in Sunday morning, so 53 were dedicated.] Spread out as they are, there will be plenty of room for people to spread out and lay hands on them as we pray for healing for the recipients.

Our quilt ministry began to make prayer quilts for people with cancer.  It has expanded to include church members and people we know who are facing other serious health challenges too.

So many beautiful quilts, so many hours of prayers, and much anticipated healing.

Clarification: Almost all these quilts have been made by four of us.  Occasionally someone takes a quilt kit, assembles it, and gives it back to us.  Two or three other ladies take them and sew down the backside of the binding. Because they are not distributed until they are blessed in a church service, and because we don't hold a blessing service until the stack of bless quilts is getting low or until we are running low in an area of potential need (this time we were running out of quilts for children, and we rarely have children with a need), we do not have a quilt blessing every month.  We just keep making quilts and praying and are always surprised to see so many quilts when we do the dedication service.  I think we each make more than we realize we make--so the dedication service is an important opportunity to see the new group.

Le Soleil d'Hiver - Report 5

A lot more quilting has been done--although there is still lots more to be done. I do find it amazing that although my feet are very busy treadling, it's so easy to forget that my feet and legs are almost as busy as my hands and eyes.

 I love the way the yellow Michael Miller Fairy Frost looks when quilted and when it is photographed.

 Another thing I love about these Lake House fabrics is that they look as if they've been painted with delicate lines of pearls--how perfect for a Chinese inspired fabric!

 This is what I came up with for quilting the long printed panels.  I was thinking feathers, but completed it's more like a blend of feathers and seashells.
Below are photos of several sections of the back of the quilt since sometimes that's where the quilting shows up best. The first photo is of feather/seashells on the back of the panels.

 Although I used very fine thread for the stabilization, for the quilting I'm using Fil-Tec Glide, a sunny gold on top and a pearly white in the bobbin.

 And I do love this class 15 treadle and its lovely high capacity bobbins.

I'm guessing that if I were still hand quilting, I'd be lucky to have finished one of the star blocks in a day of quilting.  These are taking about 20 minutes each--and all 15 are done.
We were fortunate to have sunshine today, but since my sewing studio catches only morning sun, I can say with certainty that this quilt does produce the feeling of the winter sun.  I'm thinking that even in warmer weather the balance of the blues and yellows will echo the sensation of cooler sunny days.

And to think that 10 days or so I had no idea this quilt would look like this......

If you came to this post from another website or another blog, you might want to click on the header at the top of the blog to read other posts about progress on this quilt.
And remember that you can see more details if you right click on any photo and open it in a larger view in another tab or another window.

Another Soleil d'Hiver Update

That's it....just three blocks....well, all the stabilizing stitching is done.
Still haven't made a decision about how to stitch the setting triangles.
The blues and yellows are so cheerful.--As was the sunshine over much of New Mexico this afternoon...in great contrast to the intense winter weather earlier this week....But it isn't that far in the distant past--it was 5 degrees this a.m.--at least that was above zero!

Click the little blue "Whoop! Whoop!" button to the right of my blog to go visit some of the other projects that have progressed this week--or to post your own progress.

If you followed a link to this post and want to see more of this quilt, just click the main title to the blog to see more posts and progress reports on the development of this quilt.

Tiny Update - Soleil d'Hiver

Maybe this should be called Update 1.5.

Still trying to find time to finish the basting.

Update #1 - Le Soleil d'Hiver

Struggled most of the day yesterday getting the really simple border and backing done.

Instead of the medium blue, I wanted to use a rich Kona blue--but I've either misplaced it or used it for something else.

For the backing I used a stripe that looks a lot like a French ticking, only it's closer to broadcloth weight. I liked the idea of using that for a quilt with a French name.

I still had to add some yellow and blue patches to widen it. That yellow "bump" above is a little appliqued sunshine heart.

Then I couldn't find the batting I wanted to use. So I pulled out another piece (same brand, but I'd used part of it), tossed it into the dryer to flatten. Left it stretched over the sofa all night. Now it's almost 3:00 p.m. and I need to get it layered and basted so I can stabilize it and start quilting, the fun part.I do love the borders on this quilt--they have a kind of primitive/spontaneous look. I was remembering an antique red and white quilt that I haven't seem for years. This is the second time I've attempted this and now realize that the antique quilt must have had five borders instead of three--so I'll try that another time.


Sweet Teen is heading out to a Super Bowl party with the extended family of one of her friends in a little while. My plan is to quilt and try to avoid thoughts of early rising and long commutes to school tomorrow. (She has two more days off since her school had already scheduled a professional development day and a day for parent conferences.)

If you're not into football and would like to watch a movie, may I suggest "Second Hand Lions" (2003).  My daughter pulled out the DVD this weekend, and I realized that it is one of my favorite movies.  Only thing it lacked was a treadle sewing machine to hem up the old guys' overalls.

I'm telling myself to just do what I have to do--because I am so very grateful for the days I had to be good to myself and for my home-made quilting retreat.

Stay warm, dry, and safe, friends.