Well, Christmas is only one week away so I've had to step up the cookie baking to get it all done in time to send cookies to the grands and great grands. It's a tradition I still enjoy and the grands and great grands seem to be pretty happy to get them.
But with all the busy happenings as we get closer to the actual holiday, I think I need to send out a reminder here. Do you remember that it is suggested that you grease and lube your featherweight every 6 months? Well, for some reason end of the year and middle of the year (June) seem the perfect time to do that and it's a habit now for me to do it between Christmas and new year's day and then again on my birthday in June. Okay, I don't know how you are going to remember doing this in June but maybe I'll remind you again.
Go ahead and clean off any grease from the gears with a toothpick, an old toothbrush or a cotton cloth that was in the rag bag. If you see any globs of grease inside in places other than the gears, clean that off, too. Then put new grease (a glob about the size of a sweet pea) on the gears and turn them around to get a bit on every part. Wipe off any excess with your finger and you turn the gears around one more time. You don't need extra grease on gears because a lot extra just gets thrown around inside the machine and you don't want that to happen.
Now, you'll need to remove the old motor lube from the lube spots and replace the old with nice new lube. Use that little plastic tube that came with the motor lube to remove the old but do be careful to not push that plastic tube beyond the spot where the lube stops and the felt wick starts. Just be gentle. Now fill that lube spot with the new lube and you're ready to go for another 6 months.
Are you oiling all the spots that need oil every 8-10 hours of sewing? I do hope so. I listen to my machines carefully and they tell me when they need oil. They sound different. When the new oil is in place the sound is music to my ears. So if you aren't doing it already, listen to the sounds your machine makes. They speak to you if you're willing to listen.
Okay, I'm off to finish up my cookie baking for this year. I hope you have all your quilting projects for Christmas DONE!. I do have a couple of little things to finish and I'll share later but I'm getting so close to being finished and ready to clean the house and cook the big meal that I just need to keep busy to finish everything up.
I'll stop in later in the week to check and see how you all are doing with your preparations and remind you of the things I do to keep my FW running smoothly once again.
I haven't used my Featherweight in a few years. I will remember to oil & lube her good before the next time I do. I think I would like to use her to piece my scrap quilt that I will start in 2018. Feels right to use the Featherweight given to me by my Mom & Dad, to make the quilt from scraps saved by my Mom. Maybe I will leave her set up on one of my cabinets so I can use her when ever I have a slice of time to sew a bit on the scrap quilt. Rather than putting her away each time. Hmmm...sounds like a plan.
ReplyDeleteQnC
That does sound like a plan, QnC. At the moment I have my FW set up with the 1/4" foot and my Viking with the walking foot. I just switch from one machine to the other instead of changing feet. I do like piecing with the FW so much better than my newer machines. The FW makes such a lovely accurate stitch and she sings to me when she stitches. Music to my ears.
ReplyDeleteI have my 301 set up with the walking foot, my 403 with the zipper foot (for sewing down those flanged bindings), my Viking Lily with the 1/4" foot. But after reading your post I realized that I have been "neglecting" my Featherweight. So, yes, I think I will set her up to sew the scrap quilt on and use my Viking for the other quilts planned for 2018. One way to sew on several projects at once.
ReplyDeleteQnC
I know your precious FW will be happier, too. They love to work for you.
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