The photo above is of my very first sewing machine, a Singer 640 Golden Touch & Sew given to me by my mother. I used it to make my first quilt projects, “quillows” for my niece and nephew circa 1995, and then to make pieced quilts for them and others.
The fabric sitting underneath the machine is of unknown origin. I may have gotten it at a thrift store or a yard sale. It is corduroy, and I still have that piece. I never figured out anything to “make” with it, since it is so small. And since it is corduroy, it really isn’t appropriate for cutting up and using in one of my scrap quilts.
I’ve been sewing a lot over the past few weeks, and my current favorite piecing machine is located just above the only HVAC vent in my sewing room, which could be nice, but it has caused some issues with my dry eyes (blowing air a lot when it was super cold with the snow we got a few weeks ago).
I also like to keep my thread snippers directly in front of my machine for easy access. But when I set them down, they make a real racket as they settle on the table.
So the other day, I went looking for that scrap of corduroy fabric – and I found that I hadn’t gotten rid of it (as I often do when I find I no longer have a “use” for something, and I haven’t used this scrap in years and years).
I set it under my machine, hanging down over the edge a good bit, and voila! I’ve solved two problems with this delightful little scrap of printed corduroy. No more annoying noise when I set my snippers down, and the air is mostly blocked from my face from that vent, but still allowed easy access into the room (necessary because it can be quite cold in there in the winter and warm in the summer).
It feels like it must be my favorite fabric of all time because I’ve kept it and used it from my very first sewing machine through now. 😀