Ashland Treadle Sewing Machine

Since I haven't made much progress on the Wildberry Vine BOM quilt I thought I would tell you a bit about my treadle sewing machine. I bought this machine from an antique dealer the next town West of me. He's one of those individuals that keeps all of his treasures in a barn and every now and again he opens his barn doors for us curious souls. Unfortunately, he does not advertise and since I bought this machine four (4) years ago, I have not found him open. I do drive by every now and again to look for signs, but nada.

Sadly, I know very little about the company who manu-
factured the machine. I did a search and found nothing. As you can see, it's in an impeccable shape. There was some damage on the top of the cabinet from what my husband thinks was alcohol. Once the original finish was removed, he was able to see that the wood had not been damaged at all but only the finish. To maintain the original look of the cabinet, he was able to duplicate the original finish by using an old refinishing technique involving a lot of "elbow grease". I will say the cabinet looks beautiful. You can see the wood grain and finish on some of the photos. This machine is in my sunny "Yellow Room". I keep the cover closed, it's a lot easier to dust.

I had one pre-requisite for a treadle machine, it had to be functional and come with attachments. I will admit that I'm quite please with this find. I had been looking for a treadle for quite some time. I found that there were lots out there, but very few with attachments. I wanted to be able to make a quilt on a treadle machine, so you can understand the importance of attachments. It even has what I think is a ruffler. It was missing a belt, which is not uncommon given the age and wear and tear of the machine. I was able to purchase a leather belt at an old Amish General Store in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

This little gem came from the Estate of Esther Fischer and I will say that she took very good care of her machine. The drawers had not been cleaned out. You can imagine how exciting it was for me to go through someone else's sewing cabinet drawers. This woman had bits and pieces of patterns she had made as well as old medicine bottles to keep odds and ends. I have numerous original sewing needles for the machine and lots and lots of bobbins. Buttons, yes she had lots of buttons as well as attachments for an electrical Singer sewing machine. I have the manual for the treadle and the electrical one (that I do not own). It's obvious that no one had bothered to look in the drawers. Oh I have to tell you that I also have the original key to the drawers. An old fashion key, it's a beauty.

So there it is, a treasure I am so pleased to have purchased for a song. I think the gentlemen just wanted to get rid of it and there I was!