Slowing down

Things are slowing down.  The last graduation t-shirt quilt has been delivered to Julianne.  Whew!  These are the last four.  Of course there are always more waiting in the wings, but the rush is over.  :-)

Duke blue!

Arkansas red.

When I started cutting sashing I wasn't sure about the pastel blue in this one but it seems to work because the shirts are interesting.  I like it!

I spotted another sewing machine on Craigslist that I just HAD to have.  (send The Tramp a sympathy card.)  We drove out to a Chapel Hill address to look at it.  It was nice to get out and go for a drive in the "country."  I especially enjoyed getting out from under the trees and seeing the sky.  We drove over Jordan Lake.

I only had my cell phone but I had fun snapping photos.

And this is what we brought home.  A Singer 500 "Rocketeer" in what I've since found out is the Fairhaven cabinet.

Drool.

And the full compliment of attachments with the storage box.  Also lots of bobbins....and the manual!  Very cool.

Unfortunately the dwelling it lived in was mostly empty and must have been unoccupied (no heating or cooling) for quite a while.  The mold and mildew smell was awful!  As soon as we got back into the car I had to use my inhaler.  And we drove much of the way back home with the windows open.  Yuck.  The machine and cabinet were banished to the screen porch for a couple of days until I had a chance to wash them down.  A lot of brown came off the cabinet, maybe nicotine?  And also some of the painted on woodgrain.  I'm in love with the machine but I'm undecided about what to do with the cabinet.  It could be nice after sanding and painting.  Hmmmmm.

This Singer book, copyright 1949, was with the machine.  I had fun looking through it on the way home.  It is very much of it's time.  Yikes!   You can imagine.

I think if you click on this you'll be able to read it.  When I get a chance I'll share some other "interesting" selections from the book.  :-)

I'm still behind on my houses but I thought it was time to select the sashing and cornerstone fabrics.  The Tramp helped me out and we decided to go with a light blue sashing and green for the cornerstones.  I can't wait to put a few together to see how it looks.

Since the foundation paper pattern came from The Netherlands the blocks measure in centimeters.  8.5 to be precise.....with 1/2 centimeter seam allowances.  Well geez.  None of my rotary cutting rulers have even a hint of metric on them.  What to do, what to do?  Ah!  Cut my own template.  So length of the sashings is now easy to cut.

But the width!  Oh dear.  Without giving it any thought (or reading Jeanneke's directions), I jumped right in and started cutting 1.5 inch widths.  Hmmmm.  Is that right?  Oops.  She is using 3cm (1.18") as her width.  Okaaaaay.  Now what?  Do I go with the narrower width or just keep on with what I'm doing.  Do I have enough fabric???  Ohhhhhhhh my poor head.  Math is never my best subject.  I have to work my way through the calculations talking to myself the whole time.  Crossing out, restarting and getting generally confused trying to combine inches and centimeters.   Thank goodness for the Convertbot app on my phone and for the patience of The Tramp!

Whew!  If....it's always a big if....I've got it all right I have enough fabric!  Yay!  But even so I've hopped online and ordered another yard.  Better safe than sorry.

No wonder she snores.  :-)