Eleanor was my first sewing machine.  She was a New Home. I got her for my 12th birthday (or maybe it was 13th?).  She was already almost as old as me.  But no older.  Which doesn’t make sense, because I can’t find any records of New Home machines manufactured after 1955.  But I seem to remember something about Janome using the New Home name in the US, so perhaps that is it? Eleanore is named after Eleanor of Acquitaine.  They could both do just about anything, both had long, hard lives, and were both well travelled. Eleanore the sewing machine lived in Oregon for the first decade or so of her use. Then she was shipped to Hawaii for me to have, where she lived for another almost 10 years. Then she got mailed to California for me to use during university. Finally, Mr Dreamy to-be packed her in a really, really big suitcase, with lots of fabric, and she travelled to New Zealand to live out the rest of her days. Unfortunately, the cold, …