My bed quilt finished!

TaaDaa!

I have finished the quilt I call "Dark Nightz" -an adaptation of the Jan Mullens classic quirky scrappy quilt. I love this pattern and go back to it often. This one started in February but got put aside for other quilting projects which had priority. I finished it just before Christmas.

I am proud of this because I quilted it on my Domestic Sewing Machine -and this is a BIG queen size quilt. I used a Quilt as You Go method in which I made six panels which stretched across the bed, and quilted them, and then sewed them together. It was just about manageable, although my shoulders hurt on the last day when I was connecting the whole quilt and pushing it through my machine.

I finished it with a scrappy black and white border, and the back is very scrappy panels of whatever I had that was long enough.

I quilted it in straight lines which look like the pattern used in tartan rugs!

A pile of scrappy blocks back in March 2014.

Blocks were sewn in strips and then three of the strips sewn and quilted before joining.

Now I need to make a couple of pillow cases to go with this quilt!

My new Singer -Aunty's hand crank comes home

 We have been cleaning out a relative's house after the death of my cousin.
Aunty is now very elderly and will be living in a supported accommodation unit near us.

In the linen cupboard was a sewing machine which no-one was particularly interested in.  I opened the case with the original key which was still attached, and this is what I found -a 1935 Singer Hand Crank sewing machine in the most perfect condition.  All accessories.

You can imagine my excitement! I love the gold detailing and the shiny steel fittings. I adore the fact that this precision piece of engineering works smoothly and well. I am impressed that it is entirely hand operated so that, like my treadle sewing machine, it can operate entirely on human power.

The box has a shipping label which says that Aunty brought it with her to Australia from the UK in 1967.

I am over the moon with joy.

The only thing is, I now have my lovely Bernina. 

I have a Bernette which is a 'stand by" machine -very simple for others in the house to use. 

I have my lovely Treadle. 

I also have a 1950s electric Singer.  

Lovely machine, but I haven't paid to have it serviced yet and the lock on the case no longer works.

 It is bigger than Aunty's machine -and heavier.

Too many machines for one small house! 

What would you do?