Chloe, in her post, Tuning Up An Old Treadle Machine, at Tangled Thread, brought back memories of sewing and quilting with this machine in my childhood.
  Ah!  The old treadle sewing machine!  That’s what I learned to sew on.  My mother had one; my aunt and grandmother had one; my 4-H sewing leader, Aunt Mary, had one.  I spent many hours at the treadle machine in each of these locations sewing.
In fact, we have one today that someone gave us.  We don’t use it for sewing, but have at various locations used this as a plant stand or side table.  …read more

With our modern computerized sewing machines, some so automated they’ll sew without you touching them, many quilters may not realize that there once existed “people-powered” or non-electric sewing machines.  I learned to sew on a treadle machine, so called because there was a flat plate, about 12x 9-inches square under this machine on legs that turned the needle and enabled us to stitch items.
When these sewing machines were invented in the mid-1800s, they were the height of modernization.  Seamstresses were delighted they no longer needed to stitch clothing and quilts and do mending by hand. 
Finally my 4-H teacher bought a …read more