The little Singer Model 40K hand crank arrived this week and I’ve been having a ball with it! It came on Friday and I was ecstatic when I opened the box and saw how beautiful it was. It came with the original packaging, a case, instruction manual, scissors and a needle threader. The best part is that all the parts are there! When I was looking on Ebay I saw many toy Singers but a lot of them were either very overpriced or missing one part or anther. I feel like I got a great steal for $50 on Etsy from a vintage toy seller. Here is the little cutie…

Notice the price…it could be yours in 1960 for $14.95!
Right out of the box, it made a beautiful chain stitch and a perfect 1/4″ seam…

I was so excited that I set it up on the kitchen table and I made all these units…

And then it stopped working. Sigh. Cry. Curse. I was so sad. I threaded it again, changed the thread spool, oiled it, tipped it upside down to see what was up. When I looked under it, I could see that the little hook that should catch the thread when the needle passes under the plate, was not catching the thread so no chain stitch could be completed. I played around with the only needle the machine came with by taking it in and out of the clamp a few times and miraculously by 11pm that night, it was back making a beautiful chain stitch again! I went ahead and ordered some new needles on Ebay and I will change out the old one when they arrive just to be safe. So I was back in business and the next day, the machine and I went out by the pool and I stitched outside while the kids swam!

Two people have asked me what I will do with all those 2″ blocks that I am seaming together and I really have no idea. The joy is in using the machine. I have dreams of a postage stamp quilt but maybe a tote bag will do. Right now, I’m happy to use the hand crank and have a portable sewing machine that I adore. If you think you’d like one as well, be sure that the machine you purchase has all of its parts like the spool holder and the seam guide. Those seemed to be the items that were missing on a lot of them.

Ok, now on to the dream list…Gretchen of 120 Blocks has been talking about her quilting dream list. Read her post HERE.

She is making a list of the quilts she would really like to make. This inspired me to do the same. I realized while writing the list that the quilts I was talking about are all the quilts that I have the patterns for here already. I just haven’t made them yet. There are one or two that I’d like to make that I don’t have the patterns for and that would be a Modern Maples quilt and a baby puffy or biscuit quilt. Here goes:

Lighthouse quilt by Dottie Krueger. This one is a big wall hanging and I have several fabrics set aside for it.

Love Notes quilt….working on it currently

Sunshine Pineapple Quilt by Vicki Stratton and Barbara Jones

Winter table runner, don’t know the name of the pattern but it looks complicated and I do have the fabric.

Song Bird Trio by Quilt Lily

Forget Me Not by Zebra Patterns

Bird of Paradise by Zebra Patterns

Life’s a Beach and Snow Scene by Cynthia England

Farmer’s Wife quilt in 1930 repro fabrics

Grandma’s Sewing Machine water color mosaic by Mim Schlaback

Pineapple Hawaiian Quilt – I have pattern and have started but it’s needle turn and ya know…’nuf said.

I also have 2 felt applique projects on the list and two cross stitch projects on the list.

I think there are more quilts that I’d like to make that I don’t have the patterns for but I haven’t really delved into those yet. I’ll keep working on that list.

So…what’s your dream list? Care to share? I’d love to hear from you…
Sandi