It's time for our Spa Day

 

 

As the holiday gets closer and closer, I'm reminded that I've always suggested doing a Spa Day on your precious little FW between Christmas and New Year's day.  That's tradition for me.  After all, every six months we do need to take care of our machine(s) to keep it (them) running well.

I get asked this question all the time.  'Do I need to give all my machines a Spa Day every 6 months?  Some of them haven't been out of the case since the last Spa Day.'  Well, let's use a bit of common sense here.  If the machine hasn't been out of the case, it doesn't need another full Spa Day, does it?  You'll want to check it all out and for sure give that one drop of oil in the bobbin race before you sew.  You know that spot.  You are supposed to put a drop of oil there every morning when you start sewing.  But, use your better judgement.  If your FW has been working for you quite a bit, a Spa Day does seem appropriate.

What's going on with the FW Club stuff?  Well, the Sew-in-Days are running full swing.  I'm so looking forward to the December 23 get together.  I know!  It's so close to Christmas but I'm planning on this day being for ME!  I'll need a day to just sew and relax and get a belly full of laughs with my FW besties.  Come and join in.  You'll be sew glad you did!  And, for 2024, we'll be meeting every 4th Saturday of each month.

And, the email to March FW Retreat/Workshop participants has gone out.  I've gotten replys from many.  Thank you so much.  The rosters aren't finalized yet because I'm still waiting for a few to reply.  We do have a waiting list but do email me if you'd like to be added.  Sometimes I work through the list pretty quickly.  Email to the waiting list group will go out next week.

Are you ready for Christmas?  New Year 2024?  I'm working on being ready.... I'm close!  I just want you all to know how thankful I am for all of you.  I've found my mission is life because you all have made me feel special.  I do love the FWs and want to rescue every one.  I want your machine to sound lovely and stitch a perfect stitch.  I know that most machines can get to that point.  And, I'm so proud that so many of you have gotten so comfortable with your machine, fixing what needs to be fixed and just gaining so much for doing that.  Life is good.  Let's keep learning and living to the fullest.  Happy Sewing with your Sweet little Featherweight machine.  And....

Happy Holiday to All!

I've had an OOPSIE again!

You would think that a person skilled in repairing our little FW sewing machines wouldn't be a klutz, right?  You would be wrong.  I've done it again, fell and broke a bone in my left wrist almost 3 weeks ago.

It's not so bad, really.  I'm so totally right handed that I don't need my left hand for much.  But, I do need it sometimes.  With my left wrist in a cast I can't open a bottle of water or twist off a pickle jar lid.  I do love my pickles.  I can't carry a box of machine parts.  Thank goodness I can carry a FW case with a FW in it.  I still need to do that from time to time.  I don't recommend carrying the FW by the handle but sometimes, like being in a cast, you just have to.  Be careful though.

Thank goodness I got all the FWs repaired and cleaned that were on my workbench before this happened.  I have all of those back to their owners except one.  That one gets returned at the FW Maintenance class in a few weeks.  The workbench is empty of customer machines at the moment. My machines will have to wait for awhile!

The dr says 6 to 8 weeks and I should be fine.  I'm hoping for the 6.  It's a busy season coming up.  The end of October with Halloween is really coming on fast and November might be my most busy month of the year for me.  I have 2 FW Club classes, 3 FW maintenance classes, and a presentation to do for a quilt guild in Ohio.  Yup, busy month. And, let's not forget about Turkey Day and, the day Santa comes to town!  2024 will burst in with a blast and we'll hop onto the 2024 whirlwind for future fun things just like we do every year about this time.

Is your FW all cleaned up and ready to finish up all those Christmas gifts you decided to make back in the spring? I've decided to stop planning Christmas projects.  It just adds to my stress and I'm stressed enough.  It's a good thing I didn't do that this year, right?

One thing I wanted to tell you about is checking your motor belt on your FW.  This one has a kink in it from sitting so long in a closet, the basement or maybe the garage.  A kink doesn't help the motor give a smooth turn.  You might think about trying out the Super Belt if you haven't done so already.  Send me an email about them.  I can chat all day about the advantages to putting a Super Belt on your FW.  So, if you need to clean up your machine, think about coming to a maintenance class or maybe a Sew-In day. We can talk about what you'll need to do.  I won't be able to come to the October meeting but I plan on being at the one in December.  Because we are having the last FW Club meeting in November, we won't be having a Sew-In day that month.

The Final FW Club class will be November 3rd or 5th.  I have a lot planned for us.  Go over to the Class Schedule tab and you can read about what we'll be doing.

Okay, guess I'll go see what I can accomplish with this green thing on my arm.  If you have any questions or just want to say, hi, email me or comment here.  Have a great day!

Such a pretty time of year

 I guess we will start to get some cooler weather now.  It certainly has been a bit steamy the last couple of days.  I really can't remember a time that we were still picking things in the garden after October first.  I'm not complaining.  We certainly have enjoyed the fresh veggies.

With holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I start thinking of sewing stuff.  And, the first thing with planning to sew is to pull out a featherweight to clean up. Sometimes it's a FW that I own that  needs to be cleaned so it's ready to sell.  Sometimes it's a FW that a customer has asked me to deep clean for them.  Not everybody wants to do that dirty job.

When you open up the spool pin cover, you get a good idea of how badly a FW needs a good deep cleaning.  I was told this machine had been serviced.  I don't know who serviced it or how long ago it was done.  My work was cut out for me. Where do I begin? 

First, you have to remove all the old gunky grease.  I use a wooden toothpick and get as much as I can.  Don't use a Q-tip because you don't want to leave fuzzy fibers in your gears.  Sometimes I use a wooden skewer if there are wads of grease farther than what a toothpick will reach.

Once I get as much old grease out as  possible, it's time to squirt some kerosene on the gears and use a toothbrush or lint brush to finish getting everything clean.  Then I use a rag from an old t-shirt to wipe everything clear. Use a clean toothpick to wipe every tooth of the gear you can reach.

Of course, the gear under the machine needs the same attention.  Usually the bottom gears aren't quite as bad.  Don't run the machine until you've put a new dab of grease on those gears.  And when I say a dab, I mean a small amount about the size of a green pea.

There is still a lot to do before any machine is totally cleaned.  I thought you all might like to see the very first step to getting a FW back to the best condition possible,

If you have any questions, email me.  jdquilts123@yahoo.com

If you need to order parts, go to the featherweight shop through my link:   https://singer-featherweight.com?aff=70.

There will be 2 basic and 1 advanced maintenance classes at the Quilt Patch in November.  Check out all that information on the Class Schedule tab on the right.

And, get out and enjoy the fall colors.  Mother Nature sure does a great job turning our green world into a spectacular display.

Here we come again-- Fall, Holidays, School classes!

 When that calendar page gets turned to September, my memories turn back to all the years I taught school and new students coming into my classroom, ready for a new year of learning.  After 30+ years of doing that, you don't forget.  But, now, September just means cooler weather is coming and more fun sewing days are ahead.

The August FW Club Retreat/Workshops were a hit again this year.  Two groups on two weekends add up to lots of fun and many things getting made.  We changed things up a bit this time and had a white elephant exchange, a raffle but we still had our 'bring it and take it' activity as well.  I was able to teach tension cleaning and adjusting, bobbin assembly problems and how to adjust your belt for excellent motor speed.  Let me share a few pictures of some quilt tops that got finished during our time together.

At the earlier gathering, we were treated again with a High Tea dinner.  What fun that always is.

If you'd like to attend one of the FW Club Retreat/Workshops, send me an email. jdquilts123@yahoo.com.  I would be happy to give you information and get you on the waiting list.  Yes, the retreats are full for the coming year but I have yet to have a retreat that doesn't have some adjustments made.

Just to remind you, the FW Sew-In days are happening the 4th Saturday each month and I hope you have been able to attend.  The next one is Sept 23 at the Quilt Patch in Tecumseh, Mi.  Go to their website to sign up.

Okay, I'll try to catch up soon and get back here to give a hint or two about your FW and issues you might have.  Email me if you have questions.  Let's enjoy the pretty fall colors as they begin and hope to see you at the quilt shop on the FW Club Sew-in day.

Exciting New Changes

That's right!  You read that correctly.  There are some exciting new changes for the Featherweight Club members and I know that many of you reading this will want to know.

The traditional style of Featherweight Club monthly class is being phased out.  But the new monthly gathering for the Featherweight Club is beginning soon.  The owner of the Quilt Patch and I sat down with all the ideas from the April FW Club attendees and we've come up with Sew-in days for all of you.  Here are the details.

WHY:  This is a great opportunity for the FW Club members to meet up and sew together with their pretty featherweights on a Saturday each month.

WHERE:  The Quilt Patch in Tecumseh, Mi

WHEN:  Starting in June, 2023, the QP FW Club Sew-in days will be the 4th Saturday from 10am-3pm.  So, they will be June, 24, July 22, August 26, Sept 23, and Oct 28.  There won't be a Sew-in Saturday in November because the final traditional FW Club class will meet on either Nov 3 or Nov 5.

WHO CAN COME?:  All the members of the jdquilts123 FW Club are invited.  Of course you need to call the Quilt Patch (517-423-0057) and get on the participation list.  There's room for 30 members each Sew-in day.  FW Club members are those that have taken the basic FW maintenance class with Jean or have come to one of the FW Retreat/Workshops.   If you haven't done either of those things yet, you can come as a guest one time.  I highly suggest you sign up for a maintenance class so you can attend regularly.

WHAT TO BRING:  This is like a one day retreat so bring your machine in good working condition.  There won't be repairs made or anything like that on this Sew-in day.  Bring whatever project you want to work on.  Bring yourself a lunch for mid-day.  You've got the room for the day so bring what you need.

COST:  $10 for one day's attendance.  There isn't any obligation to attend all summer, or all fall, etc.

BONUS:  Those FW Club Sew-in Day attendees will be given a 10% discount on that day only.  It will be a great day to shop as well.

Isn't that exciting?  I know I can't attend every month but I will plan on being at as many of the Sew-in days as possible.  When I can't attend, Lorraine, the QP owner will be the leader.  I know I'm going to be wishing I could be at every Sew-in day.

Okay, there's more news, too.  I've encouraged so many of you to get things for your FW at the FW      Shop located in Kooskie, Idaho.  It's a great place.  You can find just about anything you need for your FW and they will talk you through solutions to FW issues or give you a utube to fix things.  The            Featherweight Shop has started an affiliate program for people like me that plug their products and        services.                                                                                                                                                      

There is a link that you can go to and purchase items and I will receive a small stipend for recommending the shop.  The link is,  https://singer-featherweight.com?aff=70.

Using the link does not cost you anything other than having to go there to purchase.  I'm learning about it, too.  So, if you have questions, send me an email:  www.jdquilts123@yahoo.com and I'll find out answers for you.  If you don't want to use the link, that's fine, too.  I still recommend the Featherweight Shop for all your FW needs.

One more exciting bit of news.  The Little Brown Bird quilt pictured at the top of my blog won a lovely ribbon at the Sauder Village Quilt Show in May.  The Traditional award goes to the quilt showing outstanding workmanship.  I'm a proud quilter.  Thanks for all the encouragement from my quilting friends along the way.  I'm really glad this one is done.

I encourage you to go over to the pages on the right side here.  Check out the FW Club News or the Class Schedule.  Information changes on those pages from time to time.  And, go out there and have a great sewing day, too.  We all need those!

Happy Holidays and Time for a Spa Day?

 I've been so bad about not posting again.  It seems that I have a pattern of that.  Will 2023 be better?  I just don't know.  But I did want to wish you all a very happy holiday and remind you what week this is.

Every year between Christmas and New Years, I give my featherweights a spa day.  Yup, it's that time.  People ask me all the time if I do all my machines that week and the answer is, no!  How do I decide which to do?  Well, if I haven't used a machine in 6 months, I don't do a spa for that machine until I'm ready to use it again.  If I just did a Spa day recently for some reason, you don't need to do another Spa day this soon.  So, I'm taking a machine with me while we're on a winter vacation.  I'll do that machine  when we arrive at our destination and before I sew with it.  So, there you go.  You should Spa any machine that gets regular use and hasn't been Spa-ed for 6 months.

And, after you get your machines all done, sew something with them.  I know I plan on doing that.  I'm going to start a new quilt now that Little Brown Bird is over and done with.  It took me 8 years to finish my LBB so something less stressful is really sounding good.  I'm going to start a fall quilt kit that I bought before Thanksgiving.  I usually don't buy kits but this one spoke to me.

I'm going to start a Hawaiian Sunbonnet Sue as well.  I've had the pattern since 2015 but I haven't started it yet.  I'll keep you posted on my progress. I'm going to make it a bit different than what the pattern calls for.  Don't we all do that?

So, I'm hoping all of you had a fabulous Christmas.  I hope the New Year brings all of us some great quilts to make and other projects as well.  I'm so looking forward to my small vacation before our FW Retreat/Workshops in March and our FW Club meetings in April.  As soon as I get a couple of maintenance classes set up for spring, I'll post it on the Schedule page.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR, all.  May your sewing days be many and your non sewing days sparce.  Love you all!