my new toy

Actually it's only new to me!  It's a Singer 221 Featherweight sewing machine...manufactured in 1948.

Ever since I started quilting, I have noticed a few quilters using these as their portable machine to take for classes and group sewing days.  

It really is a light weight machine..only eleven pounds. It's very small.  So cute!

After seeing stuff on the internet from quilters who love and praise these little antique machines, I started looking up more information on them.  The Singer Company produced over 3 million of them from 1933 to 1968...so it's not hard to find one...especially when you look on ebay...and it's late at night and your husband is out of town.  It's so easy to click that "Buy it Now" button!

It's perfect for doing patchwork because it only does a straight stitch, and the stitches are neat and perfect!

The foot pedal almost looks like it's missing something, maybe a cover? But it works fine.

This machine came with it's carrying/storage case and a couple of feet and plenty of bobbins.  Also some spools of thread were in there.

There wasn't a manual with it, but I easily found it on the internet and just printed it out.

I needed it for the threading instructions. I was surprised that the needle gets threaded from right to left. I think every other machine I've used it's left to right, so I assumed all were like that.

It's going to take some getting used to, so I'm going to be using it to finish up some blocks for a baby quilt...all the while imagining who else has sewn with this machine through the years and what they might have made.