Monday, April 10, 2017

T.O.G.A. Treadle-on Gathering Academy

This past weekend I went to the North East Texas TOGA.   It is a great time to learn more about vintage sewing machines and some great projects!  We don't get much sewing done, unless you stay late on Friday or come in on Thursday.  We got there Thursday night, so after unloading my machines, we went to the hotel.  I stayed there all day on Friday until five o'clock, many stayed later,  especially ones who were staying at the retreat center.  Saturday I was there from morning to after 8:30 pm.
 We had lots of laughs with the "Cranky" Lady (short for hand cranks).
 We learned some great information about the Spartan sewing machines.
We had a young girl with her grandmother.  She made her first quilt block!
 We had lots of fellowship while we worked on our projects.
 The majority of people brought their hand crank sewing machines to work on, a few brought their treadles.
 Over a hundred came over two days.  It is a free form set up, you can come and go as you please.
 We had a couple of ladies who helped us learn how to fix our broken machines.  Thank you Margaret and Lisa!

 Of course we had vintage machines!  Some were for sale and some were to look at. I have more pictures on my camera, which I will share later.

 I loved seeing everyone's special doodads and pin cushions!
We had a lot of demos on our machines, sewing, and quilting!
How to make easy prairie points by Diane.

Twist and Shout, putting your blocks on the diagonal.

 How to make cute cloth bowls by Margaret.

 How to make Scandinavian Stars by Sandy.

 English Paper Piecing.

 All about bobbin tensions by Margaret.

How to change a treadle belt.

 Pincushion and clips holder demonstration by Sue.

 Pinking attachment demo by Deborah.
I missed a couple of the demos unfortunately, there were many more.

We also had a sewing machine parade.  I came in second place with my float.  I did a theme on the home since the machine I used was my New Home.
Here are the other floats.


 This was the RAF (Royal Air Force) machine so she went with that theme for her float.
We also had a raffle, quilt raffle, and BBQ brisket dinner.

I'll share some more detailed posts later.  If you would like to find a TOGA in your area, look here:
http://treadleon.net/fleamarket/events.htm

If you would like to plan your own TOGA, here are some ideas:
http://treadleon.net/fleamarket/makeatoga.htm


If you are interested in Treadle sewing machines or handcrank sewing machines, these are a great way to learn more and meet some people who share your interest.  If you have ever been to one, I would love to hear about it!

Missy

8 comments:

  1. What a fun time with wonderful people. It was my first TOGA, though I've restored treadles for over 30 years. I loved it and look forward to next year.

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  2. Looks like a great time was had by all!

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  3. Oh how fun! So much to learn!
    I went to an event in Michigan and learned how to convert a tailed machine to a crank.

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  4. Such fun - it's a retreat and a ton of classes all mixed in together. I LOVE the float/parade idea. If you won 2nd, which machine was first?

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  5. What a wonderful gathering! Too bad I live so far.

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  6. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Looks like you and others had a lot of fun. I attend the NETOGA which is a much smaller group but still lots of fun. Would love to someday make it to other TOGAs.

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  7. Great pictures! I know you had fun! The floats are great!

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  8. Wow. So much stuff to look at and do! Sounds like a lot of fun. The floats are hilarious. Thanks for sharing!

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