I'm not one of those people that stumble upon things like this. I'm the person that is always hearing about how others are stumbling upon such great finds. "I was at a garage sale and picked up a 1920 featherweight in pristine condition for $20." Nope. Not me. Until now. :>) 
My hubby and I were driving across town to pick up my sewing machine from its annual cleaning and tune up when I saw a treadle sitting in the middle of a dirt parking lot of a junk store. He turned around so I could look at it. Little did I realize at the time that this machine was meant to come home with me. So off I go to look at the machine while off he went to haggle about price (isn't that what all guys do?). I knew the machine was meant to be mine when I got a small splinter in my finger from the lid. So while he haggled (which I knew was useless since the seller of the machine was on her mobile device showing him how "cheap" he could get parts for it) I went inside to pay. Came out a few minutes with someone to help load it up into the back of my Outback.While we were picking up my sewing machine from the dealer, I had one of the technicians come out and take a look at my new treadle. He was really impressed with it. It moves smoothly and easily. The belt did snap, but I purchased a new one before I left. I also got a quick lesson on how to use the shuttle/long bobbin system on the machine. I have never seen anything like it before. There was one plate missing from the bed of the machine. The technician did a bit of digging and came back with half a dozen plates for treadles. We found two that fit mine....which I purchased.
My treadle is missing one castor wheel. I went online and was able to find (and purchase) one to fit it. That is now on its way. I also found a few more long bobbins for it. Those are also on their way. The only thing left is to spend an afternoon with it getting acquainted.....which I am looking forward to. :>)
Of course that will have to wait until I finish up my Bundling Board quilt. The Buggy Barn outdoor quilt show is this weekend. I so want to have my quilt in it.....but I don't know if that will happen or not. While the top is done.....and I did sandwich it......and machine quilt it.....and bind it......I'm still working on it. Why? Because when I machine quilted it I used a serpentine stitch for an all-over 2" grid pattern. Loved the way it looks, but was not happy with the way the applique was laying. It was flat in some places, buckling in others. So I had this crazy idea of simply hand quilting all the applique using #8 perle cotton and a big stitch. "Shouldn't take all that long." Right? Wrong. It takes me about 8 hours to quilt one block.....and there are four large blocks to do. While I'm not the fastest at hand quilting there are places on the block that really slow me down. Like where I'm quilting through layers of applique and seams. I have managed to get two blocks completely done and am half way through the third block. There is still time for me to finish it completely and have it in the show. The only question is will my quilting finger hold up? I'm hoping it will. It would be such a thrill to see my quilt in this year's show.
