ginapina

As per usual time is flying by too quickly for me to catch it. March was a really great month so I was hoping to recap some of it here.

It started out innocently enough. I was searching craigslist for sewing machines, as addicts often do, when I came across a beautiful little green Singer that I could not resist. It is not uncommon for me to find an old machine I want, but this one was really calling out to me so I met up with the owner and brought the machine home with me.

Isn’t it cute? It is a Singer 185k with a 3/4 sized body. Not sure if the small size means it is for beginners/kids or just people without much space, but for me the small size means ADORABLE.
So, when I was picking up this little gem the seller mentioned a few online forums that she visits for help on restoring and repairing vintage machines. One in particular, the Texas Roundup group, was going to be having a meeting very soon to swap stories, repair tips and machines! I then found myself joining the group and then driving the hour or so away to meet and greet the other vintage sewing machine enthusiast.

I knew I wasn’t going to BUY anything, but I did not know that I would end up coming home with even more machines! Nobody twisted my arm, but how could I leave beautiful old machines like this behind when the owners were offering them up for free? These are not in perfect working condition, but for the most part would not take much to get up and running and will be great machines for tinkering with. I also took in a machine I had been having problems with, a Pfaff 360 in a case, and got some great tips on getting it working better! It was so worth the drive out to meet this group. I really learn so much more from people face to face than I ever do from hours of researching on my own. I made sure to tell them that and how much I appreciated them too.

I was especially tickled by this man who took every single last orphaned sewing machine and loaded them into his old truck to take home. He says he has a garage FULL of old sewing machines! One woman I met who had brought an interesting hand crank machine from the 1850′s said that she had ~15 treadle (pedal power) machines at home! Phew! I am beginning to feel a bit better about my sewing machine addiction. I guess that is what allowed me to willingly bring home 3 machines that aren’t working. I may have just been tricked by the Devil himself.

Now onto the good stuff. My family this year for my 28th birthday completely blew my mind and bought me the sewing machine I have been drooling over- a Singer Featherweight!!!

OH MY GOD! I LOVE THIS MACHINE! This little beauty is my new best friend. Only half the weight of my Singer 201  (14 lbs vs 30 lbs)  and the base folds up and the whole thing fits into the cutest little case for easy transport. Not to mention the machine they bought for me was literally PRISTINE. I have never before seen such a beautiful finish on a Singer. All of the ones I have or have seen before this had been worn down to a matte finish, but this one is shiny as can be!

Some people have been confused, but this thing will NOT be replacing my other machine, no no no.. this is different. The little featherweight does not have near the power of my other machine, but it is perfect for doing patchwork late at night or for traveling to a sewing class or friends house with. In fact I have already taken it over to Sean’s house and it tickled me completely to finally get to sew over there although it did seem so much louder over there then it did at my place.

As if that were not enough! My family got me this beautiful amazing gorgeous stack of fabric that I have been wanting since I first laid eyes on it at Quilt Market- It is the newest line designed by Jay McCarroll called Habitat and it is incredible and full of magic. I could go on and on about the designs, the scale of the prints, the colors, etc. OR I could tell you that this fabric just beat out hundreds of other fabric lines in a ‘Modern Fabric March Madness‘ competition that was held on the Fat Quarterly blog. Yes that is right, the votes are literally in and Habitat is the current favorite fabric for modern sewists. Did I call it or what?

I often put my newest or favorite cuts of fabric up on my design walls to ponder and admire as I sew. Usually when people come into my sewing studio their eyes kind of glaze over and I am often found waving fabric around saying hey look at this new fabric! which will be met with an, ‘oh? pretty.’ type response. Well everyone who saw this fabric set up on the wall had to stop and say OMG I LOVE THIS! and then it was ME acting too cool for school, “oh yeah, that? Yeah that is amazing isn’t it?” I can’t wait to cut it all up and sew it all back together and order yards and yards more!

If you are intrigued I encourage you to head on over to Jay’s blog and also read the write up that True Up gave Habitat which linked to a video that Jay made about the line:  Part 1,  Part 2.   If you already love it you will ‘superlove’ it even more after watching them and reading about his design inspiration.

I already have some little taste test Habitat pouches listed in my shop! Check them out if you need a little Habitat in your life.

A lot of love and thanks goes out to Pink Chalk Fabrics as well, which is where my smart family bought this fabric. They said Kathy was super sweet and amazing. I tweeted while at Quilt Market that ‘Any shop that buys the entire Habitat line is my new favorite’ and well, Pink Chalk is definitely on my favorites list now! Pink Chalk really stocks a lot of other amazing fabric too and I love the thought of my fabric coming from a little island on the West Coast.