My First Sewing Machine

Everyday Mom would fill a quart jar with fresh milk and put it in an old rusty baby stroller and John and I would push it over to the Coffers. Sue would invite us inside their cabin to rest a while and always had something interesting for us to see. Mr. Coffer used to spend his evenings whittling tiny toys for us from various things. He made the cutest tiny baskets from peach stones, tiny little yokes for John's toy cows and many other things. Some days we would watch as they set their printing press for another page of the book "Horse Hair in my Soup" they were printing that chronicled their journey across America.

After we had rested a bit we would start back home, during the spring and summer we would gather flowers along the road to present to Mom once we got home, she always loved the wild roses saying that they make the entire house smell sweet and fresh, there were larkspurs and bluebonnets, and if nothing else there was always the option of a dandelion bouquet.

One day when we got there, Sue showed me a treadle sewing machine they had found somewhere and asked me if I would like to have it for my own. She wrote a note to Mom about it, handed it to me, and we headed for home. There was no dawdling along the way this time as we ran until we were out of breath and then walked the rest of the way.

When we arrived home Mom read the note and told me that John and Sue wanted to give me the sewing machine as a thank-you for supplying them with milk everyday. And once Daddy has time we can go pick it up.

I could hardly wait until Daddy came home to tell him the news. He listened as I excitedly told him all about it and sensing my eagerness offered to hitch Jim to the spring wagon and go fetch it right away.

The following days were spent learning how to sew. Mom let me go through her fabric scraps and cut pieces to make nine patches. Once I had made enough nine patches she sewed them all together for a quilt top for me. Which is now being used on Sailor's bed.


I still use the sewing machine too. What started out as the most exciting thing ever for a little six year old girl, is still my first choice to use whenever I want to sew anything. I suppose it always will.