Bits and Pieces

Vi asked how to find the chat room...for some reason today you have to scroll wayyyy down to the bottom of the screen to find the chat link.
The sewing machine in my previous post is a Singer 15-91. It is very similar to the Singer 201-2. Both have a gear-driven motor (no belt) which gives the machines considerably more power than the belt-driven machines. Both are straight-stitchers only. I like the 15-91 for machine quilting for it has a vertical bobbin which makes for better tension when doing free-motion quilting. Of course, you need to replace the pressure foot with a simple plastic darning foot - you can pick one up for minimal cost at most sewing machine stores. The advantage of the 201-2 is that it has a longer arm space...sorry I don't have either machine set up at the moment so can't measure them for you. I have one of each...the 201 once belonged to a dear neighbor and I can't part with it. And since I machine quilt with the 15-91, I can't part with it either.
I currently use my Singer 403 (a tan 1960s machine) to do my major piecing...not that I've done much piecing lately...we're retired and I've taken on tooooo many volunteer activities. If you are curious about any of these machines, simply go to ebay and do a search. Please beware, however, that if you get toooo interested in vintage Singers you'll become addicted (ask Pat in Rockport) and you'll find your sewing room full of machines that you LUV and can't stand to let go. I've downsized to seven machines. Six are Singers, including a Featherweight and a Singer 301 (another marvelous machine which is portable and weighs only six pounds more than the Featherweight). The seventh is a vintage Viking which has wonderful decorative ZZ stitches and lovely tension. The very nice thing about vintage machines (prior to mid-60s) is that they were all-metal (no plastic gears to break or wear out) and maintenance is a simple process of cleaning and oiling periodically.