Fall is here in the Tennessee Valley, the weather is just wonderful! Fall colors are showing and the beautiful yellows, reds and oranges that are everywhere are just show stoppers! The only time I year I like better than fall is early spring, when everything turns green, that tender lime green of new growth. Ok, so I guess you get it. I love the colors of the seasons.. most of them anyway. They are so refreshing. I have lived in places where we didn’t have four seasons, except on the calendar and how I really hated it. But of course you know Dorothy said it best, “there’s no place like home”.

Big news this fall, the latest Creative Machine Embroidery Magazine is out, November/December 2011 and my Turkey kitchen towel made the issue! This is a standard applique that I turned into a “free standing” applique and a towel topper. The designs was made to be applied to fabric. I used a wash away stabilizer instead of fabric and appliqued it adding a backing and inserting the towel. It was just one of the crazy ideas I get sometimes between 11:00 pm and 2:00 am when my brain can’t be quiet enough to let me sleep. Some of those ideas cause me to think……………….”hummm.. I wonder what would happen if???”… this time.. what I thought would happen did and was a very successful venture. If you are somewhat interested in machine embroidery you may want to check out this issue and download the design from the CME link. http://www.cmemag.com/index.html

The design is from Sew Many Designs and thanks to Dave and Marilyn I was able to use the design for this article. Thank you D&M… I appreciate your support!!! The article also shows a couple of other applique designs turned into a towel topper as well, all from Sew Many Designs. The main thing you have to know to do this is if the applique is large enough to tuck the towel inside, many are, so just go play with it and find out, it was loads of fun.

Thank you CEM for approving of my “what if” project enough to publish it in the current issue.

Word to the wise.. watch out for future issues. I know what some of them will have in them.. but I’m not telling!!!

Until next time… keep those machines hummin’..

Kathy

I love antique sewing machines, let me rephrase that. I love sewing machines, new, old, antique, computerized, you name it. I am the proud owner of two such antique machines. One, a Singer treadle that I purchased at auction about 30 years ago when we lived in Pennsylvania, the second, not as old nor as pretty, I purchased about 5 years ago when my next door neighbors were having a yard sale. They couldn’t tell me much about it except a family member used to sew on it. I don’t know that they knew who it had belonged to or really cared. Maybe they just didn’t remember. I am not sure.

Both the husband and wife have passed away and now their daughter lives next door. She has become a friend and as we were chatting outside one evening last week she said asked if I had ever seen one of the old “peddle” type machines. I told her I had and that I owned two. She continued to talk and said her grandmother sewed on one, she remembered it sitting in the hallway at her grandmother’s home and that grandmother let the kids push the peddle while she sewed. She continued to say that she really didn’t know what had happened to that machine. I told her that her parents had sold it at a yard sale. She continued on, saying that she had never known where it went, what happened to it, who had it, etc. As we talked, I asked what her grandmothers machine looked like and did she know what brand it might have been. She, not being a sewest, said that she didn’t know but thought she would recognize it if she ever saw a machine like it again. At this point I had not told her that I had purchased the machine from her parents. I invited her to come inside and let me show her my antiques. We walked into the bedroom where I have that particular machine; I removed the items that was on the top of the cabinet, immediately her face told the story. She then began to cry, as she knew it was in fact the machine that her grandmother had sewn clothes for her and her sister and brothers. She immediately said she would like to buy it back. I told her it wasn’t for sale, but that I would give it to her. It is part of her history, not mine. Afterwards, I felt so good that I am able to give her back a piece of her family history. I realized that her parents didn’t think a lot of the machine; to them it was something that they didn’t use, and no longer needed. To her it is a link to her beloved grandmother, long since gone. I just hope that my grandchildren someday think of me, and remember me sewing for them with such fondness!!
If you are interested to see a picture of this machine, go to the “Fun Stuff For Sale” area of my page and look under “Sewing Machines”!!!

Summer has officially arrived and I have been busy as a bee. I hope everyone enjoyed the wonderful spring weather while it lasted; now we are in the heat of summer and it is just stifling! Have you noticed?

I have been busy as can be, sewing up a storm. I am hoping to add a few pictures of some things I have finished the last few months.

I have more exciting news to add. I have another article published in Creative Machine Embroidery. Ok, big deal, right? Well, it is to me, so thank you for indulging me the right to tell you about it. Actually, I am proud of what I have accomplished but am hoping to not stop there. I do have more plans for CME in the future and who knows what is next!!! (Well I do.. but can’t tell right now!!) If you are interested, pick up a copy and take a look. I was told by a fellow embroider that she never reads CME because it is to “basic” and she is “way past all that”. When I told her about my first article, she said surprisingly… “Well, I don’t know how to split designs.” Guess it wasn’t so basic after all huh? Even if it is, no one is born knowing how to embroider and sew, it is a learned trait not an inherited one, and those of us you do it, all had to learn somewhere. I am just proud that I can share a little of what I have learned in this area. The current article is all about placement, putting together small embroideries in a small hoop so that it appears to have been stitched in a large hoop. Sure using a large hoop and putting the designs together with your software on your computer is much easier, but, if you don’t have that option, there are other ways to create the same look.

The last couple months have been just crazy. I have had both of my computers crash, seriously crash. We were in the middle of mourning the death of my hard drive when my laptop overheated and crashed. So now I am in the process of trying to learn a new operating system. I have learned the importance of backing everything up and am trying to figure out how to navigate through three external hard drives, multiple thumb drives and a ton of CD’s to get things back up and running. I think anyone that has had this type of computer issues can feel my pain.

Does anyone subscribe to Creative Machine Embroidery?  I do  it is a great magazine full of inspiration and techniques.  You can really learn alot reading this and other embroidery type magazines.  It is always full of fun ideas and things to do and how to do a lot of things you maybe have wondered about. 

 My exciting news is

taaa daaa drum roll please..

that I have an article in the current issue.  It is all about splitting designs.  I took a simple Viking design and divided it into three pieces to enable people with smaller hoops to stitch out larger designs.  It was pretty easy, the real trick is where you divide your designs and being able to move the designs to where you need them to fit back together.  Knowing your machine well really helps.  Part two is Janome designs that I took and cut into four equal parts.  I then took one section and repeated it four times to make a new design.  Out of one design you get a minimum of four new designs.  The pictre of the table runner really didn’t explain what it was all about.  It is a take off from the Four Patch Posy quilt pattern.  You stack up four layers of fabric, matching the design perfectly. You then cut your squares, each stack is sewn back together with four matching cuts and it makes a whole new pattern or design, a kaleidoscope affect.  Using the designs the same process is completed but instead of cutting fabric I cut designs.  It was a lot of fun to do.  I hope you will read the magazine and see what I am talking about.  Contact me if you have questions or comments. 

Until next time

Kathy

A number of years ago I was talking with some friends at a sewing class and we were talking about what we had made and what we had plans to make.  I kept saying, yep, I have one of those started, and yep, I have one of those started too. One person that was there said to me, “Don’t you EVER finish ANYTHING?”  Well she was certainly rude and crude, but knowing her I knew that she was just that.   Since I don’t want to ever call names, as that would be rude,  I’ll just call her Mrs. Rude.

 However, thanks to Mrs. Rude, I started a sewing diary.  She made me second guess myself and made me really think about things, … DO I EVER FINISH ANYTHING?  Well, I knew I did but it made me think hard about it and made me want to keep track of what I do with my time. I knew that many times I finish something then it is given away, or it is a class sample and may hang in a shop for 3 to 6 months.  In both cases it is out of sight therefore it is out of mind.  I decided I should start writing down everything that I finish, not what I start but what I actually do finish. 

A couple  months later in this same group I told them about my sewing diary and everyone just loved the idea of it, everyone except Mrs. Rude.  She said, WELL!!! YOU CAN”T MAKE A QUILT IN A DAY!!!…  as a quilt was one of my latest entries.  I informed her that I did not make a quilt in a day… but actually you can, and I have… but I was just putting the date in my diary that I  finshed a qult,  I explained again that  I am just trying to keep track of what I finish.  Ok, let’s say I started a quilt last year or year before… but I just got it finished… binding on…. lable attached… it is done!! YEAH… so I write in my dairy “Quilt”… with a discription, for… with a name of who is  for or what it is for and the date! 

Fortunately enough I started my sewing diary at the beginning of the year.  My goal was to finish one thing a week.  Ok… in a year’s time one thing a week, take off a couple weeks for vacation and holidays I should have somewhere between 45 to 5o items finished by the end of the year.  Not a bad number since some items take much longer to complete that others.  Well, in July that year we were meeting again and I thought I might give a “report” on how the sewing diary was working out for me.  I sat down and numbered the items.  Ok… so one entry was”hemmed pants”.  After that entry there was the number 5, so is that 1  item or 5,?   I decided it should count as 5 items since it was 5 different things.  The next entry was “Poodle Skirts” X 10…. For the local community theater.  Ok, 1 or 10?  Of course I made 10 poodle skirts so therefore it was 1 job but 10 items.  I continued counting and my number of “finished” items was well over 300.  I was totally shocked to say the least!!!   I knew that no one would believe me so I just decided to not  say a word about the sewing diary.  Mrs. Rude would surely have some rebuff about it so I decided not to go there.  Who needs that anyway? 

 I have continued each year to start a new sewing diary.  I do wish I had kept all my my dairies all these year, I am on year number 11 and each year my numbers are well into the 100′s.  I would actually love to know the number of items I have finished as I can’t even remember all of them anymore. 

I encourage all of my sewing friends and students to keep a sewing diary.  I tell them the story about Mrs. Rude saying, DON”T YOU EVER FINISH ANYTHING???”  How she wasn’t a friend, was rude but really gave me something to think about and made me think of a nice way to keep track of what I make, finish and do with my time. 

Keeping a sewing diary is a great way to see just what you do accomplish, a nice way to pat yourself on the back without seeming to brag to anyone.  However, since I now have such a great group of sewing buddies and students, who mostly turn into buddies as well, we all discuss our diary openly. 

We all are so surprised at how much can be accomplished and sometimes we discuss is that one job but several items and how do we count it.  Usually we decide that hemming a pair of pants is 2 legs but only 1 item, therefore 1 item, 1 count, hemming 5 pair of pants is 10 legs but still only five items, even if they are all for 1person or 1 job.  Is it great to have such a great group who loves what they do and you share that love and all have a great understanding about what we are all so involved in.  How lucky we are. 

 By the way, either Mrs. Rude or I one have moved on and we are no longer associated in the same circles, for which I am proud.  Anytime you are around a rude or negative person it rubs off and we all know that no one wants to be around someone like that.  I much prefer being with my happy group, being happy and supportive, having fun and counting our accomplishments. 

 In case you are wondering, I am up over 50 items already for this year.  I have been busy but not as busy as I am every year.  I took some time off this summer and have enjoyed doing some other things.  However I plan to reach at least 100 by years end.  I hope you will join me.  If not, remember your sewing diary is just for you and your benifit, sharing with others is an option.  Do it, you will be glad you did! 

Until next time, 

Kathy

How exciting is this??? We are expecting new grandchild and it’s a girl, this December, just before Christmas!  Anna Elizabeth just couldn’t hide this last time and made her presence known.  Two ultrasounds last week confirmed that she is in fact a she!  Let’s hope they are totally positive, although I realize that sometimes girl readings can be wrong and she could turn out to be an Alex instead of an Anna.  I would be happy either way but  I am totally excited to have another little girl to sew for. 

Actually I started my sewing last week, have a day gown that is in need of buttons to be finished.  I will haul it off to the fair on Friday and see how it goes.  It is a Lynn Holyoak design, that I took a class from her at the Martha Pullen School several years ago.  It is white batiste with soft green leaves and peach bullion flowers between the buttons holes.  I made this same gown for Natalie and Lucas with the same HAND embroideries, but think their gowns were embroidered in white.  The bottom of the gown is supposed to have a drawstring tie but I decided to edge this one with lace.  I am thinking she probably needs a slip and maybe bloomers under it since she will be a winter baby. 

Oh yes, I said HAND, those who know me know that I am always saying that HAND embroidery is a four letter word!! And yes undisputedly so it is.  Besides the obvious meaning I am inferring that hand embroidery is not a good thing when you have great embroidery machines.  However, sometimes I just love to do some hand work and this is an easy design so I use it quite often, for special babies!  I’ll try to get a picture posted soon, as soon as it is totally finished.  I can’t wait to show it off, but would like most of all to show it with baby Anna Beth in it… well I guess that will be for a later date!

Oh, in case you are wondering, they chose the name Anna, just because they liked it.  Dwight didn’t know that was the name of my grandmother, which I think is kind of kewl that they chose it and that it actually is an old family name.  Elizabeth is Sara’s middle name, and if I am not mistaken it is also her mothers’ middle name.   I am sure they didn’t realize that it is also my brother’s daughter’s middle name as well.  When they were talking about names but had not decided I told them they did not have to name the baby after or in honor of anyone, just choose a name that they liked and that was a good strong name to give a precious child.  I think they have chosen wisely, I can’t wait to meet her in person.  I know December will be here before long and she will be here.  I just hope that I am ready for her, I have so much sewing to do before she gets here. 

I still have things to finish up for the fair this Friday.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute but hey, I do my best work under pressure!  I’ll be back after the fair to let you know how my projects stood up to all the talented women in Lincoln County.  Wish me luck!   

Until Next time!!

several years ago, my daughter decided she wanted to collect thimbles.. which is a neat thing to collect if you sew and like that sort of thing… dust collectors they are.. but they are fun to pick up.. and cam be pretty cheap.. less than $2 some places.. up to $15 or more at other touristy places.. (Touristy??? is that a word???)

 My dear Melissa decided after she got started with her collection….that I SHOULD collect thimbles too!  So it started.. now three small shadow boxes full later…I am still looking for them..and am collecting like a good Mom should…. lol.. that is if a Mom that sews and likes that sort of thing.. even if they are dust collectors..  

 I drove to Ft Leavenworth KS to drop Dwight off.. but they didn’t keep him…. at least not for long….. hummmm that is another story.. back to the thimbles..

 We were staying 8 miles from the fort in Missouri.. sooooo…. I hopped on the interstate one day after I had dropped him off.. landed in St Joseph.. not that far away actually.. found a Missouri thimble there.. but no Kansas one.. well.. TOTO.. FYI…..I wasn’t in Kansas.. so what did I expect????.

On Friday before we left on Saturday morning.. I told him that I had gone to the big quilt shop there in the town of Leavenworth (great shop.. another story.. but look at their website the name is Quilters Quarters)…and the only thing I had not done was to find a Kansas thimble… well….we headed straight to the PX (Post Exchange for those non military related folks out there)… and we found a pewter one.. that has Ft. Leavenworth on it.. for $15.. nope.. that would not do.. to expensive and was not the state.. but was Ft. Leavenworth instead.. I really want to collect states….sooo….we drove all over Kansas City, Kansas or was it Kansas City, Missouri?????  who knows.. I think the two run together.. some imaginary line is there somewhere.. that means a lot to some.. nothing to others… I never saw it.. although I was looking… but really trying to find a Kansas thimble was my mission..well there was just none anywhere to be found… I was beginning to think they don’t make them with Kansas inscribed on them… so we gave up.. I said I could contact a friend that lives nearby and has a son in Kansas City ….. (not sure which one) whom she visits quite often and maybe she would send me one.. $2 bucks cost $4 postage.. still less that the $15 one at the PX… and it would be the STATE.. I would be sure to tell her I wanted STATE… and being the good friend she is.. she probably would send me one post haste..

 I am sure we used more than $15 in gas money.. and of course had to stop a couple of times for a drink or snack along the way.. so in the end the $15 Ft. Leavenworth sounds pretty cheap about now.. but alas it was too late.. and we didn’t make it back to the PX. 

 After we got home.. the first thing I did was that I made a LIST.. List are good things.. I like list.. I do a lot of  list.. now if I can figure out how to keep up with them..that woudl be just great….. oops.. another story coming from that.. but not now..

 I found that I already have a Kansas and at least three Missouri ones.. well.. my thing is this.. I only want them from where I have been.. which is a good thing.. but do I need three from the same state??? just different places????  it seems I have several duplicates.. not just Missouri.. and have nowhere near the ones I really really want.. since I want STATES.. more than I do  places.. the bad thing is.. I don’t even have four of the seven states that I actually lived in and none of the foreign countries.. I thought that might mean I would have to revisit those places.. until… untill..

I remembered  a fireworks/gas station/convienience store on the interstate not to far from where I live that has ALL 50 states.. So I have made another list and plan to make a trek over there one day soon to finish my collection to date.. without the countries but at least get the states I am missing.. and the good thing is.. the ones they have are only 99 cents each.. I won’t break the bank.. but can pick up all those I am missing..

oh, by the way… I talked with a friend who lives in Oklahoma.. (got three of those).. the one who has a son in Kansas City.. thought I might ask her to send me a Kansas state one.. told her the saga.. she said she would have settled for the one from the PX!!!

Go Figure.. 

 hugs as always

Kathy

Summer Daze

Although you can’t tell it by the heat index, summer is slowly drawing to a close.  I have been quite remiss in posting but have given a great bit of thoughts about doing so.  I read a number of other blogs and wonder why I am not blogging?  It is because I really don’t have that much to say?  No, surely not!  This has been a busy summer for me, for us, let me see if I can catch you up to some point about what my life has been like this summer. 

We started way back in April with a vacation week to Disney with our daughter, Melissa and our  son-in-law,  Tom along with our two grandchildren, Natalie and Lucas.  It was a fun filled week with Micky and the Princesses, the grand children are just the right age to enjoy it. I highly reccomment anyone with small children or  grandchildren to take the time (and money) and take the kids to such a magical place.  Their little faces were so much fun to watch as they enjoyed their time there.  Watching their Mama and Dad was precious too.  It is so grand to be able to see your children, enjoying their children. 

Melissa did a wonderful thing for me for Mother’s Day.  She made a hardcover scrapbook with pictures of the week, with a sweet message in it about our time.  She is the sweetest of daughters, so kind and thoughtful, she too is just precious and special.

Although my grandchildren are only 4 and 5 they were the best kids in the park.  Ok, so I know, everyone thinks their kids or grand kids are the best ever, but I at telling the truth about this, they never complained about being hot, tired or hungry.  We always ready to go see something new or ride a ride.  The worst thing they did was sigh when they were to small for some of the rides in some of the parks or when they had to wait while Mom and Dad, or Mimi and Papa rode something but they never complained.  As soon as that was taken care of, off we were to do something fun for them, after all it was their week!  And in case you are wondering, we did find Nemo!

One other very exciting thing happend while we were in Florida this year.  I recieve a text from my son, Dwight, who lives in Virginia followed by and excited phone call wanting to know if I had seen the text.  I had not but immediately checked to find no words, just a picture of a pregnancy test that said PREGNANT!!!  I knew that my son and daughter-in-law  Sara were wanting to start a family and knew immediately that they have!!! Baby D is due in December, just like his dad.  I am  hoping it is a week or so before Chrismtmas, as we know first hand what it is like to have a “Christmas baby”,  but you and I both know baby will decide when the final date arrives, that is  if he/she is like any of the other Durmon’s I k now.  We should be finding out baby’s gender Septemer 1st.  So far two ultrasonds have not been successful.  Let’s hope baby is a little more cooperative  September 1st.  That will be a whole new blog I am sure!!!

There is so much more to tell about our times and travels this summer, but that will have to be for another day.

Computer issues come and go.. however, they usually do not go quite as easily.  The problems with Emboss It Volume 1 and Wing It have been corrected.  It took me quite some time to understand how to “fix” the issues and almost no time at all to do the job.  After finding and isolating the problem areas, figuring out the appropriate “fix”, saving the files took longer than anything.  The whole issue is stitch length and density!  OK, most all of us that sew understand stitch length, that is until it comes to stitch length within and embroidery design!  The angle of the stitches in question made the length longer than some machines and software wanted to handle.  That being said, I changed the angles and then adjusted the density to “fix” the problem.  Making sure that all the affected files were indeed replaced was a big issue in the fact that I was worried about not fixing ONE… then needing to go through the process again.  Hopefully all are fixed and CD are once again available.  Since the CD’s have been out for months, and I have only had two customers say that they had a problem I don’t feel to badly about it all.  I do hope that if anyone else has any issues that they will let me know right away.  As stated before, I  will gladly replace CD’s if they need to be replaced if only you will contact me. 

Thanks again everyone for testing and for patients in dealing with the afore mentioned issues.

Unfortunately I have found a glitch in my Wing It! CD… thanks to some awesome students/buyers/friends…that have purchased Wing It!  and brought the issues to my attention.. and even have so kindly helped me trouble shoot it.  Also because of them letting me know about the problem…. (you know who you are!!) I am working on the issue as we speak… in certain formats there are some places in the letters that do not stitch properly.. however it  is only an issue  in some formats.. so if you are having issues and if you can.. try another format… then… please, please, please do let me know what you have going on.   I will get back to you with a revised edition as soon as the editing is finished!!   To those people who have had issues, thank you for not being to terribly upset!!  Your kindness is truly appreciated. 

until next time….

Kathy