Brit Bee Weekender 2016

What took me so long to tell you about our awesome Brit Bee Weekender?  Who knows.  Life gets in the way.  It has been wonderful re-living it all as I write this post :)  Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start: 

I was incredibly lucky to join the Brit Bee weekend hosted Feb 19-21!   Super Susan was kind enough to pick me up from Birmingham airport and bring me to her home on Thursday night.  On Friday morning as she made cake and lasagne (I drank tea) and then pre-cut her projects and packed her stash (I chattered away).  We popped in the car and arrived at our retreat house by early Friday afternoon.  There would be 8 other lovely ladies joining us that evening for a weekend of sewing, chatter, encouragement, a baby shower, a birthday celebration and delicious food.  I was so lucky to be able to join in.  

The house was lovely with one massive living room with dining room and kitchen.  The dining table fit all 10 sewing machines.  They were total work horses...except for my little featherweight.  She stuck out, but sewed like a champ all weekend long.

Joining me were some of my favorite sewing people - Di and Trudi, who make such a wonderful team....

Hadley, Laura and Fiona who were total pros at organizing everyone's quilt top to be balanced with the colors evenly distributed....

and then many other wonderfully funny, smart ladies like Susan, Ceri, Liz, and Ange.   We quickly settled in, threw fabric over every surface and started cutting/sewing.  Thank goodness there was plenty of kitchen counter space for trimming and three or four ironing boards set up through the living space.  We all had plenty of floor room, too, to set out our blocks before piecing tops together.

The total added bonus for me, but not Hadley, was Murphy.  He was a curious, kind, playful one year old pup who was MASSIVE, fluffy and friendly.  When I was missing my own Molly through the weekend, he was happy to have my attention and scratches.

Stay tuned this week and I will tell you about the pretties I made! 

Sewing Machine Surprise!

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A few weeks ago two friends, Anne Marie and Murray, came to visit us here in Galway.  They arrived with a super duper surprise box for my birthday.  A present from them was completely unexpected!

At first glance, you can guess what's hidden inside....

It's the most gorgeous antique sewing machine!  This sewing machine was Murray's mom's machine.  She used to make dresses in the 60's and 70's with it when Murray was growing up.  Sadly, Murray's mom passed on several years ago and the sewing machine was left unattended in the home house.  As Murray's two brothers were not interested in using it, Murray scooped it up and brought it to Galway!

Now, we made a deal.  If any of Murray's children, nieces or nephews ever wanted to re-claim it I would return it immediately.  Until then, it's on loan here at my house.

It's a gorgeous Sovereign with an immaculate paint job and gleaming metal.

Get a load of the face plate!  It was perfectly oiled too and sews like a dream.  Amazing.

I love that it has a little knob for Embroidery, Silk or Normal.  I guess I'll just stick to Normal, then.

And, of course, it has a super little drawer PACKED with all of the original bits and bobs...feet, bobbins, thread, screwdrivers, etc.  Perfect.

So, here's the question.  Do any of you know anything about Sovereign machines?  I have a little serial number on a plate that claims it's made in Ireland.  Or at least the motor is made in Ireland.  I've done a little Google searching, but found very little information out there.  Does someone have a resource I could check out?  I'd like to know a little more about it...like what year was it made?  Is it really Irish?  I'd be grateful for any links you could share!