We had a new visitor to our Friday Sew Day. She brought in a Juki TL2010Q that she’d purchased at the Sewing Expo back in March. This machine had been sitting in her closet because she couldn’t get it to work. (There’s no Juki dealer in our area.) She’d tried videos and read through the manual, but none of it made sense to her. After about 5 minutes, I had her stitching. That Juki is one sweet machine!

Remember that vintage sewing machine class I attended with my SIL in late August?

Well…

Many vintage machines like the Singer 66, Singer 99, Singer 221, etc. are side loading. Most, if not all, of the modern semi-industrial straight stitch only machines from Juki, Janome, Brother and Baby Lock are side loading.

Check your needle.

Chances are, you either have the wrong size/type of needle, have inserted your needle incorrectly, or have the thread going in the wrong direction. A side loading bobbin means you need to thread the needle side-to-side instead of front-to-back. Yes, your needle is turned 90 degrees left or right, depending on how you are supposed to thread your needle. Check your sewing machine manual. Chances are, it’s threaded left to right. This means the round side of the needle is facing the bobbin assembly and you place the thread through the eye of the needle in a left to right motion. A Singer FW and Singer 301 thread the exact opposite way – right to left.

Tip: If that fancy needle threader on your modern semi-industrial machine gives you fits, thread the needle the old-fashioned way – flashlight, magnifying glass and/or a piece of white paper behind the needle.

RIP Mrs. Wingfield. God speed. May you no longer be in pain.

To Tressa: I wish you peace, my dear friend. You’ve been caring for your Mom ever since we met back in 2015 at Riverside Intermediate. Prior to this, you looked after your sick grandson. You are a brave, incredibly caring person. I am privileged to call you my friend. Once things are settled, take some time to rest and figure out what you want to do. It’s your turn. You’ve certainly earned it!

XOXO, your bossy “little” sister from another mother

Ding! Text message from our local quilty home stating the shop lost its lease and is closing. Big sale now through Saturday. Wait-what? Sadie’s about to lose her quilt shop? She absolutely adores the owners and enjoys our biweekly visits. Hubs just reminded me I need to take Charlotte to redeem her gift certificate this Saturday. Now to text her mom.

Meanwhile, I sincerely hope this text was a mistake. (Updated to add: No mistake. The shop is indeed closing on SATURDAY, 11/12 and I think everything is going away, including the online biz. Not sure about the long arming services.) No mention of closing was made when I was in the shop two weeks ago. I know things have been tight for the shop, but didn’t realize closing down the brick & mortar side of the business was on the horizon. I will definitely miss visiting and sew days with the staff.

This leaves ONE quilt shop within a 30 minute drive of my home. The thing is this particular shop’s not necessarily the friendliest place to visit. It really depends on who’s minding the store. So thankful for my sizable fabric stash. Guess I’ll be joining my Friday sew day ladies in ramping up the online shopping for quilty stuff when necessary.

Sadie at “her” quilt shop.