Feline Friday

What?  I know I'm adorable!

Oreo

I left this folded quilt on the couch and Tiger has decided that it is his new bed.  You would not believe all of the cat hair we have been brushing off these long haired cats.

Cupcake ran outside last week, just to eat grass.  It was a nice day of Spring and today is so cold!

Let's keep it real here.  Ignore my messy house and the glare on my glasses please.  This is usually how I look when I blog.  Muffin insisted he needed to sit on my lap!

I am linking up with Sarah Did It! for Feline Friday.
http://sarahdidit.blogspot.com/2017/03/feline-friday-33117.html

Have a great weekend ya'll!
Missy

Singer Class 66 and 99 Machines

Today I want to talk to you about Singer Class 66 and 99 sewing machines.  

First I want to let you know how to find out what year your sewing machine was born in.  You need to go to ISMACS to get that information.  Here is the link.    It stands for International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society.  All you need is the serial number on your machine.

My first machine pictured here is the Singer class 66 treadle with Lotus decals.

This was a machine I wanted for a long time!  I looked up the serial number and it is a 66K born in 1910 in Clydebank, Scotland.  From what I understand, most of the Lotus decals were manufactured at the Scotland plant although some were made in America.  They made 6500 of these machines that year,  She is 107 years old and works great!  These machines were made as treadles, handcranks, and later motors were added.  I wonder how my Scottish machine ended up in America?

closeup of the Lotus decals

My next machine is also a Singer Class 66.  The decals on this machine are called Red-Eye or Redhead.  It is more commonly called Red-Eye because the decals look like a big red eye.  The proper term to use is a heated discussion among collectors.
My machine was born in 1918 here in America.  All of the machines with this decal were made in America.  She will be 100 years old next year and I still use her all the time.  I put her in an old sewing machine cabinet since she did not have a base.
Not all Class 66 machines have these pretty decals on them.

She was not an original hand crank, she was converted.  I have an interesting piece of information I just learned.  The way you can tell an original hand crank from a reproduction hand crank is by looking at the handle.  It will be either wood or ceramic.  The one below is wood.

If it is a reproduction, it is plastic, like the one below.

This hand crank is on my Singer Class 99.  A 99 is exactly the same as a 66 except that it is 3/4 of the size.  These are excellent machines and I highly recommend buying one if you come across one.  They make perfect stitches and will sew through just about anything.  I converted her from an electric machine because her knee bar was missing.  A knee bar does the same thing a foot pedal does except you press with your knee.  See that little hole on the right of the base?  That is where the knee bar goes.  

My machine was born in 1925, she is 92 years old!  Since she is in a base and smaller than my other machines, I use her as my "travelling" machine.  She has some beautiful decals also.

Please excuse the basket of clean laundry that needs to be folded!

Class 66 and Class 99 machines will use a class 66 bobbin.  You can see what a class 66 bobbin looks like here.  A class 15 bobbin is the most common bobbin used nowadays.  They have a lot of little holes around the outside.

You can see the inside of a class 66 machine here.

You can get more information about these machines from Alex Askaroff here. 

If you have any information to share, please feel free to!
Missy

Book Review "How To Pack"

How To Pack by Hitha Palepu is a very informative book about how to pack efficiently for any trip.

 First of all, isn't that just the cutest book cover?  The book is also small, making it easy to carry with you if you want.

 It is a nonfiction book about packing  for a trip.  Have you ever wondered how to get everything packed into a carry on bag or how to pack for your whole family for a trip and get it to fit in the trunk of your car?  This book is mainly focused on the business individual traveling for business, however she does cover all kinds of trips.   I am going to apply what I have learned from this book to packing on quilt retreats and for vacations.

If you like to travel, you will like this book and find it helpful.

You can find more information about the author, Hitha Palepu, here:  http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2117409/hitha-palepu/

You can get more information, and order, the book here:
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533670/how-to-pack-by-hitha-palepu/

I hope this review was helpful!

Missy

This book was provided by Blogging for Books for me to review.

Feline Friday

Custard and Oreo sleeping this morning.  They will always welcome a belly rub though!

 Muffin practically pushes me out of the bed in the morning so he can have my spot.  That red pillow is the "cat's pillow".  If it is not on the bed, they will wake us up looking for it.  I used it for Pippi when we got her at four weeks old and she slept on it with my hand on her in case she woke up needing to go potty.  I would have to take her because she was so little and being potty trained.  Muffin always snuggles up with her Muffin.

 Muffin is eight months older than Pippi and helped me raise her.  They are now best buds.

 Last week I made Molten Lava Cakes for the first time.  They were a lot easier to make than I thought.

  I did not have enough ramekins or custard bowls to bake them in, and used my clear Pyrex storage bowls.  They worked perfectly!

Not all of them turned out right, I think that I needed to cook them a couple of minutes longer.  I got the recipe out of my Better Homes and Garden cookbook.

Have a great weekend ya'll.  I have a Ladies Bible Study today at my church.  The only other thing I have planned today is finishing up 25 nine patch blocks for a block exchange.

Missy

Singer 15 Japanese "Clones"

 I wanted to talk about my Japanese made sewing machines.  They are made to usually resemble the Singer class 15 machines.  After WWII, the United States gave the patent for this machine to Japan.  It was to help Japan get back on it's feet economically.  These machines are from the 40's, 50's and 60's.
Here is a close up view of the army green machine, who is a Premier.  It belonged to a dear friend of mine.
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2013/11/another-new-machine.html

I decoupaged her cover.

 They were often given American sounding names to appeal to American consumers.  Unfortunately, some people like to collect the name plates, which is why so many machines are missing the name plates on them.  You are not technically supposed to call them clones because it is just a term that collectors like to use.
I have a close up and more information about my tan machine here:  http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2013/10/japanese-15-clone.html

I was able to get some very interesting information on the black machine, she is a Dressmaker Special from Leonard's Department Store in Fort Worth, TX.
A better picture and the information is here:
http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/2013/03/dressmaker-special-sewing-machine.html

Large retailers would purchase machines and have the company name on them, some even had their own machines like the Sears Kenmore.

I have been wanting a blue machine for a while.  She is my newest.  I am going to turn her into a a hand crank because her motor sparks and the foot pedal is missing.  My neighbor across the street picked her up for me at an auction, he only paid $5 for her!  I love her white cabinet.

These Japanese machines were very well made, quiet, and run smoothly.  Japan also gave us a lot the colored machines.  The Japanese manufacturers made a lot of improvements to the machines which were also heavily influenced by German machines.

I have to apologize about my awful phone pictures.  My husband really needs to get my camera fixed.

The North East Texas T.O.G.A. (treadle on gathering academy)is coming up April 7 and 8, Friday and Saturday, in Lone Oak, TX.  If you would like more information about it, they have a Facebook page here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/NortheastTexasToga/

If you have any information to add, I would love to hear it!

Missy

Sew Sweet Bee Block

Our queen bee for the Sew Sweet Bee this month is Cathy from a A Quilting Chick Blog.

She picked the block "first Kiss" designed by Podunk Pretties.

I really like this block.  I broke my finger, but luckily I already had the majority of the first block sewn.  I went ahead and tried sewing the second block together also.

The little iron my husband bought me at Christmas is perfect for ironing open seams.

This is a block that needs to be laid out every step of the way to make sure it does not get messed up.

I'm not really sure what happened to the block on the left, well, I guess it has to do with trying to sew, cut , and iron with a broken finger!  I'll be sending Cathy the block on the right.

I broke my finger by slamming it in a window and then the window got stuck up with my fingers stuck in between the panes.

Be sure to check out Cathy's and Lea Ann's  blogs, you will really like them!

Missy

Spring Sonnet

"Spring"

Gone is the freezing cold,

Winter has lost it's icy hold.

The sun has sprung forth to stay,

And nature will come out to play.

The insects are starting to toil,

Worms tunneling through the soil.

Nature's workers are the ants and bees,

Lots of insects for us to see.

Daffodils pushing through the dirt,

Flowers of every kind and sort,

Reaching, grabbing the sunshine,

Budding grass and trees won't be left behind.

This beauty God has created,

To keep our soul captivated.

The robins and bluebirds come out to fly,

And our senses soar on high!

by Missy Shay

Feline Friday on Quilts

It has been cold here lately.  I made my husband start a fire and then I pulled the chairs right by it.  Cupcake thought it was the perfect spot, she could sit on the stool with her front paws on my leg.  Of course she ended up in my lap.

 Instagram has been having a quilt-fest this month with each day a different topic.  Yesterday was a picture of a quilt with a loved one, my family are terrible about sending me pictures, so I had to take a picture of my cats using my husband's quilt.

 Here is a picture of Tiger and Squeeky on a quilt I won in a raffle from Confessions of a Fabric Addict .

 One day the subject on the Quilt-fest was solid colors in a quilt.  This was perfect, my solid colored cat on a quilt with solid colors.  This is an utility quilt my grandmother made me when I was a little girl.  Yes, it is polyester!  I don't think there is any batting in it either.  It is tied.  I used to go to sewing bees with my grandmother, at her church.  They would have me crawl under the quilt, then hand the needle to me so I could pass it back up to them, so they could tie the yarn.  I loved it!

Today, the quilt-fest was favorite quilt book.  How could I pick just one book?  I love books.  I just grabbed these six off the shelf.

I just wish I had more time to make more of these quilts, bags, and aprons.

Thank you joining me and my kitties today!

Missy

Winner announced!

I drew the winner for my giveaway this morning.  I wrote everyone's names down on a piece of paper and had my student draw a name.  Goodbye Peeps won the journal!  Congratulations!

Remember that if you did not win, Shalana is having giveaways on her blog and Instagram every Friday this month.  All her journals are also half off in March.  She has journals for men and women, be sure to check it out!

You can buy her journals on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=shalana+frisby

You can also buy from her website here:
http://www.123journalit.com/p/shop.html

Her Instagram is here:
https://www.instagram.com/shalanafrisby/


You can enter her blog giveaway here:
http://www.123journalit.com/


Thank you to everyone for entering!

Missy

Picture of Vintage Sewing Machines/Or My house the Museum

Last week I shared pictures of the projects everyone brought.  Today I will show you how I set up my sewing room and living room in anticipation of talking about my machines.  I will share information about the machines in several posts, this is just an overview.

The first pictures are of my sewing room.

Singer 66 Redeye hand crank next to attachments and a puzzle box

Singer 16 Industrial Treadle

Singer 66 with Lotus decals

Singer Featherweight

Japanese 15 style "clones"

My design wall on the right, and the quilt I'm working on draped over the TV

Featherweight, Industrial head, modern Janome, Japanes 15 clone(dark green)

Japanese 15 style "clones"

My living room

Singer Model 12 treadle

New Home converted to a hand crank

On the coffee table Singer 99 converted hand crank

I forgot to take a picture of the Franklin treadle I had in front of the fireplace
You can see a picture of it here:  

Counting my two toy sewing machines and one electric not shown, I have 16 sewing machines.  I'll give more information about the machines in later posts.

How many sewing machines do you have?

Missy