How Was Your Christmas?

Christmas was a VERY busy time for me this year.  In November I was invited to return to a Holiday Shopping Open House the weekend before Thanksgiving.  One of my daughter's friends, Lani Harmon, sells Mary Kay Cosmetics and opens her home to around 10 vendors over a weekend.  We display our goods, sell and take orders.  It's a fun, relaxed atmosphere with food and music.  I always make new friends and meet up with old friends.  I got quite a few orders that weekend.  I also had orders from my Etsy shop and orders from local customers.  I was sewing everyday right up to two days before Christmas.

I made a lot of lace Christmas ornaments.  Everyone seemed to love those.

Another popular item was kitchen towels.  One of the most popular was one with the Fruits of the Spirit on it.  These towels are a wonderfully soft, absorbent,100% cotton waffle weave.  This design, as well as other scripture verses that I have, are so colorful they will match any kitchen. This particular design came from a collection by Designs by JuJu. I have several scriptures that are wonderful for towels. 

  

 My Mom's favorite verse is Isaiah 40:10.  I didn't have a towel with that so I made one for her.  I didn't arrange them in an artistic arrangement.  She is 90 and would rather have it just plain.  Below  is the towel I did for her.

 Some of these verses are great on burp cloths and blankets also. Bright, colorful and just plain Happy!

Once I finished all of my sewing, I turned my efforts to baking and cleaning.  Three days before Christmas.  Christmas Day arrived and I was so looking forward to all of the family being at my house.  My son brought my elderly parents who live 30 miles away.  My mother is 90 and my dad is 94.  Mom is almost always cold, so when she started complaining of being cold, we put a blanket over her.  We were waiting for my daughter and her family to arrive.  Mom started having severe chills.  I knew she was starting to run a fever.  I took it but it was normal but I suspected it was going to go up.  I was running back and forth from the living room where mom was to my kitchen, trying to get dinner ready.  

Just as my daughter and her family were walking in the door, Mom started vomiting.  She didn't bring up large amounts but it kept happening.  We hurriedly opened presents and got our dinner.  Mom was continuing to go down hill.  We had a heating pad on her and a wool blanket.  Her temp went up to 102.  At this point, I didn't want her to go back home without being seen by a doctor.  I knew she was dehydrated and she was getting a little confused.  I knew that I couldn't get her in the hospital by myself so I told my daughter to call an ambulance.  Mom and I arrived at the ER around 6 PM.  Blood work and a CAT scan of her belly showed nothing.  They wanted a urine sample and kept waiting for her to go but I kept telling them she was dehydrated.  They finally listened to me and hung a liter bag ( 1000cc) of NSS.  She still didn't have to go so they catheterized her and only got 400cc back.  I thought they should have given her more fluid but they didn't.  They discharged her at 2AM.  At least the fluids lowered her fever and she was more alert.  We drove to my house to pick up my husband. He did not want me on the road by myself at that time in the morning.  My son had already taken my father back home.   I got in bed at 4AM.

The next morning I awoke early :-( with a terrible sinus headache.  I called mom at 10 AM and found that she had still not urinated since they had catheterized her.  She does not like to drink a lot.  I threatened her with a return visit to the hospital to get more fluids.  By noon, she finally started urinating on her own.  She was weak but doing okay.  I don't think it was a stomach virus because she didn't vomit large amounts or have diarrhea.  In addition, no one else in the family got sick and her blood work did not indicate a virus.

Not the Christmas I had planned but it could have been worse.  I am thankful for all of God's protection through all of that.  In addition, I have terrible back pain almost everyday.  For the first time in a long time, I had no pain while I baked and cleaned.  And no pain for the 8 hours I had to sit in the terrible chair in the ER.  That was definitely a gift from God.

On a VERY happy note, two years ago today our little Pixel came to live with us. He is a 4.9lb pure bred Yorkie. He was rescued from a puppy mill and had never been out of a cage in his 5 years of life.  His fur was long and matted.  Every touch from a human was terrifying for him.  He didn't know how to run or jump off of anything.  Now he hops up and down off the sofa and gallops everywhere.  He's still a little nervous in new situations but is SO much better than when we got him.  He absolutely adores my husband.  Here are some Christmas pictures of him and of our pug/terrier mix, Tommy, and two of our precious grandchildren opening presents.

 The picture below was taken a couple of weeks before Christmas when we were decorating the tree.  I put Pixel in the hat and he didn't mind so I laid him on the sofa.  He stayed in that hat for over an hour.

                         

 These pictures were taken Christmas Day.

                                          

 Our grandson is 2.  He would very gently rip the paper off a present with encouragement.  The minute he saw something in the package , he'd say " WOOK!"   Our granddaughter, opened one present and disappeared.  We wondered where she had gone.  How many 4 year olds walk away from opening presents????  We called to her and discovered that she had gone back into the kitchen to snag another  Sweet Roll.  They are a delicious yeast roll I've been making for many years.  They are loaded with butter and sugar so I only make them for special occasions.  We have no idea how many she ate that day.  She absolutely loved them.  It made me so happy to see another grandchild enjoying a family tradition.  Don't you think you'd love these rolls?

I hope your Christmas was filled with many blessings and was a little more calm than mine was!

Weddings, Showers & House Warming Gifts

The invitation arrived!  You are thrilled for the happy couple.  You send a positive RSVP.  Now what will you get them?  You look on their registry.  Many of the items in your price range have already been purchased.  You want to get them something practical and useful but unique.  How about something personalized?

 Many of these designs will work well on towels, blankets, pillows, flags, etc.

 

Towels can have a simple one letter monogram,  a three letter monogram, one letter with some simple designs added, or full names .  I will work to help you find the perfect font to fit the personality of the bride and groom.  I've been embroidering the towels from Sam's Club and have found them to be thick, and thirsty.   The embroidery thread is bleach resistant and durable. The towel will wear out long before the monogram does!  They make such an elegant gift.

A bride approached me with a unique request.  She had some dainty little antique linen napkins that she wanted embroidered for her and to give as gifts to the mothers of the bride and groom, and grandmothers of the  bride and groom.

  Their colors were periwinkle and celery.  She chose a font and thread colors.  The top picture is of the ones for the bride and groom to carry.  The picture to the right are the ones for the parents of the bride.  The center one shows how the mother's looked when folded and the far right shows how it looked when she opened it.  What a wonderful unique gift for this bride to give!  They can be used and will always be a reminder of their beautiful wedding.

Napkins .Another wonderful and unique gift!   This customer found these beautiful napkins and napkin rings and had me embroider the one letter monogram.  This bride can set a really nice table when she entertains.

 Pillow cases.  Is an entire sheet set out of your price range but just giving pillow cases is not your idea of a nice gift?  How about embroidered pillowcases?  The top case belongs to my husband and me.  I love using them.  They are sateen.  The bottom case is of 600 thread count Egyptian Cotton.  I found them on Amazon.

Garden Flag

I bet no one will give the couple a garden flag.  The flag can be one sided or two sided.  It doesn't have to have a butterfly.  I can help you choose a design.  I sell these in my Etsy shop where you can see the other colors in which the durable flag material comes.

How about some kitchen towels to fit the personality of the recipients?

 This was purchased for a couple who love to hunt.






The Fruits of the Spirit are needed to maintain any successful relationship.  These towels are not only pretty and practical but a wonderful reminder.

 

I love this kitchen towel.  It belongs to my husband and me. 

We love coffee and Slow Lane Cafe is a website my husband used to have and also our e-mail address.  We love those moments when we can sip a cup of coffee and take life in the slow lane.

The following designs are great for showers and weddings also or as a housewarming gift.  So don't feel as if you need to give another set of glasses, baking pans, or a toaster.  Get your imagination going and lets come up with a unique gift that is sure to be a big hit with the recipients!

How My Machine Embroidery Is Done

I really didn't have a clue as to how to do machine embroidery and applique' when I got my machine.  I knew you used a computerized sewing machine, bought some designs, and hooped the material.  But I really knew nothing else.  I just knew that I loved the results I had seen.

I purchased my machine and took lessons.  Then I started embroidering.  I thought my first attempts were wonderful but experience certainly helps and I'm still learning.  As with so many things, the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know.  Technique varies according to what is being embroidered but I've show the basic steps in this post.

In addition to purchasing the machine, I purchased threads.  I now own almost 100 colors and always see more that I want.  Then I needed several different types of stabilizer and many designs!  I've lost count of the designs I own and am always buying more.  I would estimate that I now have at least 500 designs and maybe more.  And then there was another big purchase, software.  I have a program that allows me to change the colors, size, shape, and eventually digitize some of my own designs.  I can then put everything together as the customer has requested, make it into a jpeg image and e-mail it to the customer to see if they like the design before I stitch it.

I just finished some cute towels for a client.  She owns her own basket making business and also teaches classes.  She gave me her business card so I could see her logo.  I searched for basket designs for her and she chose one.  I then added her logo.  She ordered towels and had them sent to me. She wanted some with her logo and some without to give as gifts to fellow basket weavers. Let me show you step by step how I embroidered her towels.

The first thing I do with almost all items is wash them.  Towels are usually 100% cotton so there can be some shrinkage.  Then I mark the towels to show exactly where I want the embroidery to be placed.  Then pen I use is temporary and will disappear when sprayed with water or if just left alone for several days.  

 Next, I turn the towels over and spray them with some temporary adhesive and place a piece of stabilizer on the back.  For these towels I chose a stabilizer which will tear away easily and the remainder will wash away.

 Now I'm ready to place the towels in the hoop.  I was able to use a medium size hoop for this design. 

 I have to be very careful to get the towel into the hoop so the design will be straight.

After I get it into the hoop, I lay a grid on top to check my marks and be sure the towels  are straight.

With towels or any material with a deep pile, I apply another stabilizer on top of the towel.  This allows the stitches to lay on top of the pile.  This stabilizer dissolves totally when wet.

 When the design was chosen, I used the software to match the colors with threads colors that I own.  This particular design uses 11 different colors so I line them up in the order in which they will be used.

 Now it's time to attach the hoop to my machine.

 The machine stops after each thread color is completed and I then change threads.  In the above picture, it is stitching with the third thread color.

 Thread #4

 Thread #5

 Thread #6  Some threads stitch for 6 minutes in this design, others stitch for 1 minute.

 Each thread starts to add dimension, detail and depth to the design.

 Thread #7

 Periodically I stop and cut threads.  I call them connector threads.  As the machine moves from one area to the next, it just draws the thread with it.  You don't want all of those connector threads on top of the design.

 Thread #8 , the roses.

 Thread #9, the  outlines of the roses.

 Thread # 10 is the petal of the black eyed susan, and thread #11 is the center of those flowers. It takes 33 minutes of actual stitching to complete the

15, 609 stitches in the design.  With thread changes and some trimming it will take around 1 hour to complete this towel.

 I remove the towel from the hoop and look at the back.  There are many threads to trim.  I have tiny little scissors with sharp points to get under those threads.

I also look at the front and trim any remaining threads. Now it's time to put the towels back into the washer.  When they are wet, I turn them over to the back to see if any more stabilizer needs to be removed.  To me, it is easier to remove it when it is wet.

Here are the finished towels.  The thread will retain it's pretty color through many, many washings.  They can even be bleached without taking the color out of the thread.