Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A Quilting Tradition....My Great-Grandmother's Sewing Machine

My parents came to visit last weekend and look what they brought with them!  It's my great-grandmother's White Rotary sewing machine! She was a prolific quilter and I'm honored to have her machine.  


It is certainly well traveled, coming from Pennsylvania, with a stop in New Jersey, then a rest in North Carolina, and finally on to Florida.  Thanks so much to my sister and her husband, to my parents, and to my grandmother and aunts and uncles for taking care of it, and for working hard to get it to me here in Florida. 




 We gave it a gentle surface cleaning to get some of the grime off over the weekend, since its been stored in various garages and extra rooms over the years. Once I do some more research, I plan to get it cleaned up some more, or maybe even working at some point, with some help form my DH and the boys.  Anything with moving parts is right up their alley!
   


 I know the machine was made in 1923 in Cleveland Ohio, but I need to learn much more about how it works and where to find parts, if they are available.  Does anyone know where I can find some good sources of information or replacement pieces?  I'd appreciate any help or tips you could give me!



The drawers were filled with old spools of thread other interesting finds.  A sewing time capsule!



Here it is after my dad, my DH, and the boys put it together.  It had to be taken apart to fit in the car to make the trip to Florida.  
Along with the sewing machine, my family sent down some old quilts too.  Once they are cleaned up a bit I'll share some pictures.  Right now I'm soaking one in Vintage Textile Soak to see if I can remove a few stains.  I've used this soak on some older linens before, but never a quilt.  Has anyone had any luck with it?   I think I'll go check on that quilt right now!  Thanks for letting me share my 'new' sewing machine with you! 

16 comments:

Cheryl said...

What a fabulous inheritance! Given to someone who can appreciate it! Enjoy!

Izzy said...

What a great gift! Those old machines sure looked amazing didn't they?

Aimee B said...

Oh, it's beautiful!

regan said...

Congrats on the family heirloom machine! How nice it is where it belongs now.....in the home of quilter!

Linda said...

What a treasure!!!! AND quilts too!!! Christmas came early. :-)

Kelli Fannin Quilts said...

What an awesome family heirloom!! And love the time capsule of spools, etc. Too cool.:o)

Carol said...

What an incredible treasure...oh the stories it could tell. I'm so excited for you!

Abby and Stephanie said...

What a very special treasure. It's a real beauty. I'd be so excited with the contents of the drawers! Looking forward to seeing the quilts.

Kim Brackett said...

That's such a special thing to have. I love the cabinet. I have a White machine that looks like that, but I haven't even begun trying to restore it. I hope you can get yours working well so you can enjoy using it.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful gift to have your great grandmother's sewing machine. Good luck in your search to get it working properly.

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

What a beautiful piece of family history! And I saw that you won a book... I forget where I saw it though! Congratulations on the book win!

Needled Mom said...

What a gem! You will enjoy having it so much and perhaps you will have to create a quilt on it - just for fun!!!

Brandie said...

i also inherited my Grandmother's White machine.I contacted the company and they sent me a manual of it. I have their address but I can't remember where I found their number, Google?
Here is their address White, 31000 Viking Parkway, Westlake, Ohio 44145
They were very helpful in identifying the years and model. Good luck!

Shannon said...

How special. I love it. You are very lucky. What a lot of history.

Wonky Girl said...

Beautiful Treadle! Lots of info at Treadle Lady (google treadle lady).
I purchased from her a while back. She is fast to respond to questions. So glad there are more people out there to restore and save thesse wondeful vintage machines. I have several and I'm just starting to learn how to restore.

Houseelf said...

Oh how wonderful! It is lovely to hear of how this treadle machine has stayed in your family. I will have to share to 2 I have. One is in one of the cupboards in the craft room. The other has a sewing machine stood on it.

The drawers look like a delight. I found a stick of diplomatic wax in mine! I hope you have a lot of fun with it. My 1907 Singer Ornamental will do the tough jobs which modern machines struggle with.