A new machine

Hello, everyone.

I did promise to explain the meaning of the hydrangea in Chillicothe, MO, in a future post. This is it.

The first picture was a complete surprise to me, as I had thought that Hamilton, MO, was way too far from our path to be visited. But...we were doing really good time, the weather was perfect, the roads weren't bad, and when we got to Joplin, MO, my sweet DH decided to make a left and head towards Kansas City. That road was really beautiful, though a bit crowded for a few minutes. Once we got outside the urban area of Joplin the traffic became smoother. When we got to Kansas City, it got a bit thick again, as one would expect, but on the other side of the city it was lovely driving again. We took a right at Cameron (pretty, small town) on US36 which our car's map assured us is the Chicago-Kansas City expressway. I don't know why Chicago needed a really good road to Kansas City--as I'm not familiar with local history--but it was certainly a well-maintained highway. We rolled into Hamilton (a really tiny town) at about 4:25 in the afternoon and found the main store of the Missouri Star Quilt Company collection of stores. As it happened, this was 30 minutes before closing time. 

The ladies at the store were friendly and helpful and DH mentioned that I should also get a souvenir T-shirt while we were there. The fabrics are lovely. I could easily see a future visit earlier in the day to explore the other 12 or 14 fabric stores as well. Several charm packs, the T-shirt, and a layer cake later, we left. 😃 And that's how we ended up at Chillicothe for the night. (It was down the road in our direction of travel.) Chillicothe is about the same size as Cameron, if I can go by the type size on the map.

When we got to our destination we picked up this. She's a Singer 66, made in New Jersey, and she's 100 years old. There is a missing part, and the belt is broken, but for a gal who sat unloved for so many years (how do you lose the movable cover for the bobbin?) she's looking pretty good. We wrapped her mechanics in bubble wrap, then tucked them inside the table, then wrapped the wood and the wheels of the table in bubble wrap for her ride to her new home.

She has already had her first oiling in our house. And when the new belt comes, and the new bobbin cover and the assorted bobbins I also ordered, we shall take her for a spin.

I can hardly wait until I quilt the first quilt on her!