Powerless Sewing...

What do these sewing machines have in common? Not only are they vintage machines, they are all hand crank models. The quilter provides the power to operate them. Our guild recently enjoyed a presentation by Linda Wade of Treadles and Treasures, Spring Hill, FL. Linda and her husband brought these heavy, all-metal machines, along with a treadle machine and many of her quilts made exclusively on her treadles. Linda shared with us a number of reasons she prefers to sew on a treadle, including being able to sew during a power outage. Quite a few members had memories or experience with treadle machines. Do you?

There were many impressive bits of information about the old machines, but we were most impressed with what Linda has done with them. She pieces and machine quilts full size quilts on her treadles (she has 12 working ones). And when I say she machine quilts, I mean free-motion! Really!

You can see the background stippling she accomplished in this photo. Because the feed dogs cannot be dropped, Linda sets the stitch length to zero and uses a hopping foot to free-motion. She zips right along and gets good results. She even machine embroidered the floral design in this block on her treadle! Linda, her husband Gene, and her father all work together to collect and restore these lovely old machines. She can even create a computer-generated decal transfer to replicate the beautiful designs that have worn off an old machine.

And here's a card we gave Linda- I thought the image suited her. We all enjoyed her lively and interesting presentation. Linda's enthusiasm for these wonderful vintage machines was infectious.