In a post back in March, I talked about the making of my first quilt – a crazy quilt that I called, Crazy About Chickens. I talked about making this quilt on my Grandmother’s treadle sewing machine. This is a picture of that machine.

While my Grandmother was still alive, she gave me her Singer sewing machine. She owned newer, more sophisticated sewing machines since the Singer, but this was my favorite. This machine has character and personality. This machine is the one that I remember fondly while growing up. I was allowed to sew at this machine when I visited with my grandparents. As I look back on it now, I guess I was helping my grandmother “stash bust”! I will never part with this machine, even though, like my grandmother, I have own more modern sewing machines. There is no machine that can sew a more perfect straight stitch than this machine!

My grandfather sold sewing machines for Singer at one time and it was while he was selling for Singer that he bought this machine for my grandmother. Sometime after purchasing this treadle machine, my grandfather converted it to electrical power. It now has a light and foot peddle. A very modern addition to a very traditional machine.

Thanks to the Singer website, you can now look up the year and location your machine was manufactured, just by cross referencing the serial number on the front of the machine.

My machine has the serial number JB134596. According to Singer, she is a French Canadian–manufactured in 1936 at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada!