Doom Progress and Why I Don't Sew on a Treadle

I'm half way through my Project of Doom quilt!  I'm cheating a bit in the order I do the blocks.  The embroidery is holding me up a bit, so I've been doing the blocks with fewer books and more paper piecing in them.

I've also completed another step (148 HSTs) in Lazy Sunday.  I have 96 HSTs to go.

 

To see more design walls: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2013/02/11/design-wall-monday-6/

 

I was interested to see Bonnie Hunter's post yesterday where she explained why she sews on vintage machines.  I have a treadle machine.  We paid to have the cabinet refinished, and I love it as a beautiful piece of furniture. 

 

 

 

  This belonged to my husband’s great aunt. It sat unused on her back porch for many years. Then it spent about 15 years in his grandfather’s garage. The machine is junk, missing pieces and rusty. But we had the cabinet refinished, and it is beautiful now. I didn’t take before pics, but one of the drawers had a mouse nest in it, so you know it was bad!

 

We did not chose to have the machine inside the case refurbished because I knew I never wanted to sew on a treadle machine again.  I learned to sew on my grandmother's treadle machine when I was about 8.  When my grandmother died, before my parents were even married, my aunt got her 'good'  electric machine, and my mom got the treadle.

 

My mom sewed exclusively on a treadle machine until I was 10 years old in 1972.  My mom's first electric machine was a Bernina 830, and that was the first electric machine I learned to sew on.  It was amazing to me.  It could zig-zag, sew backwards, make button holes, specialty stitches, all things the treadle couldn't do.  It was easy to buy bobbins for the Bernina.  My mom only had a few bobbins for the treadle, and she was unable to find others that fit her machine.  The Bernina had lots of feet.  It was fun to sew on.  And it worked great, no matter what the humidity in the house.  The treadle had a leather belt which expanded and contracted, depending on how much water was in the air.

 

The Bernina was  also much quieter than the thumpity, thump of the treadle and could sew faster too.  Both machines had what quilters call a 'pretty stitch'.  It had honestly never occurred to me that any sewing machine didn't have a pretty stitch until my MIL mentioned that treadle machines had a pretty stitch. 

 

Best of all, it had a knee lifter for the presser foot.  My mom taught me to use the knee lifter when I was about 10, and I've used it all the time since then.  I feel a little naked when I sew on a machine without the knee lifter.  Even when it isn't attached to my machine, my knee automatically tries to use it.

 

I now sew on a Bernina 1260.  It is about 17 years old.  I get it cleaned about once a year, and while it is in the shop, I use my son's 40 year old Bernina 830.  I guess you could consider that a vintage machine, but it is a far cry from a treadle. 

 

Bonnie said all she needs is a good straight stitch for quilting.  I  need a knee lifter and a needle up/down button to be happy when I'm piecing.

 

I never knew my grandmother, but I know she stopped sewing on a treadle machine when she got her electric one.  My mother stopped sewing on her treadle when she got her Bernina.  So I guess I am connected to my grandma and mom in a weird way by eschewing the treadle for a modern machine. 

 

I have a house full of antique furniture, and I appreciate that there are people who love old sewing machines.  I'm just not one of them.