Quilters Connection

05/28/2025

Had to move a student to a class later in the year, so I now have TWO spots left in my Two-Day Advanced Featherweight Maintenance Workshop on June 14-15 in Olympia WA. A pretty great way to spend a weekend in June and learn information that carries over to any sewing machine you work on.

For more information including the topics covered, or to sign up with your FW-BFF click on the link below.

This thirteen-hour class over two days will cover everything the user needs to know to maintain their machine in top working order. This is a hands-on, advanced level class in which you will bring your own Featherweight, and learn the following:Day one covers the basics:

07/14/2024

Day 1 of our 2-day Featherweight Maintenance Workshop is in the books. Eight machines now sewing smoothly and quietly!

Day 2 starts in 30 minutes. Great group of people and we had a good time at the group dinner last night.

The outdoor lunch spot worked out great. One of the attendees parked their trailer on our RV pad so it takes her nearly 30 seconds to get to class! 😁

06/13/2024

We had a great slant needle maintenance workshop today. Lots of 401’s and 500 series machines on the tables! Quilters Connection, Olympia WA.

10/22/2023

What's new? I added some cool new books to my website.
First up is a beautiful reprint of the blue-covered user manual that came with the 1954-57 Featherweights. Really nice reproduction of the original manual.

Next, I also added the later manual which came with most of the white 221 Featherweights! Again, a brand new, excellent quality reproduction. Same size, colors, and content.

And finally, I will also be carrying the Student's Manual of Machine Sewing by Singer. This is a really cool reproduction of the September 1935 booklet that has tons of useful information including threading instructions for the Type 27 vibrating shuttle machines, plus 15-91, 66, and even the Singer 101. Includes photos of the Featherweight and the 24-80 chain stitch machine, as well as 4 pages of photos of the cabinets available at the time.

I have plenty of both the FW manuals in stock. If you are interested in the Student's Manual go ahead and order it now, but be patient as the printer is improving a couple of the photos and I will have the updated version in about a week.

More to come in the future, including MAYBE reprints of the penguin manual if there is enough interest.

https://www.quilters-connection.com/shop/Featherweight-Parts/Books-and-Manuals.htm

06/11/2023

Another successful hunting and gathering trip with my lovely wife.

03/27/2023

Singer Slant Needle Maintenance Workshop - April 1st

Summer is still a dream but we are suddenly in summer-like busy mode! Back-to-back open houses earlier this month, our Featherweight Maintenance workshop yesterday at Shiplap Quilts here in Olympia, and now our slant-needle class this coming Saturday.

Have you been wondering how to disassemble, deep clean, lubricate, and adjust your Singer 400 or 500 series slant-needle machine? Come join us for a fun day of learning as we dive into these iconic machines, in the only one of these workshops I will have this year. We only have three signed up so far so it will be a smaller group with plenty of individual help and attention as we service these cool machines.

To learn more or register visit my website here: https://www.quilters-connection.com/module/class/301277/singer-slant-needle-400-and-500-series-workshop

Bring whatever you have, 404 straight stitch (one of my favorite machines) or one of the zigzags. Or if you don't have one you can pick one of mine to service and maybe take home with you if you love it!

Following the groundbreaking and successful Singer 301, Singer introduced slant needle models in the 400 series, and then the 500 series "Rocketeers" These advanced new machines were capable of not only zigzag stitches but also decorative "fashion" stitches, either built-in or with the addition of c...

03/02/2023

Got a few open seats for the Singer 301 Maintenance Workshop in Olympia this Saturday, March 4th. For more info or to register go to https://www.quilters-connection.com/module/class/192847/singer-301-maintenance-workshop

If you have already attended this class in the past (at my shop) and want to take it again, you can FOR FREE if there are still seats available Friday morning. PM me if you want to come take it again!

Everyone knows about the Singer 221 Featherweights. Quilters love them for their beautiful stitch, light carry weight, and vintage style.Some folks have discovered the wonderful Singer 301, which shared some of the Featherweight's features, and introduced new ones in a Singer portable machine, such....

02/19/2023

Shelley has been wanting to get back to teaching quilting classes. Last night she completed the last session of her first class since moving back to Washington!

She taught a Beginning Quiltmaking class to the staff and some customers of Shiplap Quilts here in Olympia. These photos show the happy student's quilts near completion, with only the hand binding left to do in most cases. All the work including the quilting was done on the students' machines.

She will be teaching Beginning Quiltmaking again in our shop, and also again at Shiplap Quilts' Olympia location starting March 31st. Watch our website for announcement of the dates, and click on this link to information and registration for the class at Shiplap.

https://www.theshiplapquiltshop.com/pages/classes-kits

01/22/2023

Just a reminder to the western WA peeps that our monthly open house / sip-n-sew is today from 2-10 at our shop in Olympia. End time is earlier than usual so come early!

We had to move it to today because yesterday Shelley taught the first of a 4-week beginning quilting class at the Shiplap Quilts center here in Olympia. If you have ever wanted to get into quilting or even basic fabric cutting and sewing techniques consider signing up for the next one which will probably be in April.

Quilting, espresso machine machine, and pastries all under one very large roof!

01/04/2023

Ran into something interesting today with a friend of mine who was having trouble timing a Singer drop-in bobbin machine. I had luckily seen it before and remembered it so I was able to get her on the right path. It could happen in a Featherweight so it is worth mentioning here.

She was timing the machine after what was probably an unfortunately needle-to-pin accident, and could not get the loose hook shaft to turn enough to move the hook into position. She had loosened the set screws on the hub of the gear but the shaft still would not turn freely. The problem was that the set screws in the gear hub had been turned in so tightly at the factory that they had turned up burrs on the hook shaft. The burrs allowed some rotation of the gear but not once the burr passed the set screw hole. At that point the gear would not move around the shaft.

The solution was to insert a steel punch slightly smaller than the set screw hole and peen the shaft until the burr was flattened back down to the shaft. It required using the punch to move the gear around while lightly tapping the hammer to the punch. Once the burrs were knocked down the gear could be freely turned to any position (actually the shaft and hook could be turned inside the stationary gear).

The machine was a later plastic body Singer. The plastic gear hub had THREE set screws that held it to the shaft, unlike two on the FW and most other vintage Singers. That told me that the gear slipping timing on the shaft was enough of a problem that Singer knew about it and added a third set screw. And that the design and quality on those later machines was not what it was on the FW or else they would have made the shaft out of a better and harder material so it would not deform under the set screws.

The FWs have a flat on the hook shaft for the hook itself. The hook shaft on the gear end does not have a flat, to allow for 360 degree precise positioning for correct timing.

If you ever have to time a FW (which you likely never will since they RARELY go out of time on their own) and can't turn the hook shaft in the gear hub, a burr on the shaft may be your problem.

11/07/2022

Beautiful Featherweight display at Shiplap Quilt Shop in Tenino Washington. Serviced by us and ready to sew!

https://www.facebook.com/TheShiplapQuiltShopandCoffeeHouse

09/25/2022

Monthly open house / run-what-ya-brung Saturday. Pretty eclectic mix here in my shop today. Culinary chaos ongoing. Going to be a long night!