They Love Me. They Really Love Me!

I hope that everyone had a joyous Christmas and a fantastic New Years. Things were quiet here in the frozen tundra for the holidays. Not a bad thing sometimes.

I had a great Christmas. I received some great sewing gifts. Nothing says love than a sewing related gift! My husband commissioned his friend Paul to make this child's garment stand for me. I either had to lay my garments on the floor and photograph them or I put them on a hanger and hung it on a kitchen cabinet knob. Not good. So I've been wanting this for maybe two years. So a few months ago he emailed Paul to see if he would be able to make my garment stand. I wanted something that I could hang toddler/infant and girls clothing on. I needed something simple but Paul went all out and used cherry and black walnut wood. I think it does the trick. You'll be seeing my garment stand in action as time goes by. You know my sewing room is a disaster when I take projects into the dining room.

Whitney and Joshua sent me some heirloom cotton hanks. Last year, Whitney was introduced to Luc from Fine French Laces. Luc is from the Netherlands. He does a few shows in the United States each year. I used to visit his booth in Chicago but that show is no longer there. Last year, Whitney, Jeff and I went to the Houston Quilt show and Luc was numero uno on my list to shop at. Whitney went back to Houston this year and purchased more lace for Luc. I haven't done any heirloom sewing for maybe five years. But, I have been replenishing my stash so I'll have plenty of fine French laces when I need to do another christening gown.

Lauren crossed several items off my sewing list. I wanted a more functional storage container. One that I could also bring to quilt camp. The rolling container that I have has slightly larger drawers so I wanted something a little bit smaller to hopefully organize more efficiently.

My next gift from Lauren was something that I've also been wanting for some time. I had a large gift card for both Hancock Fabrics and Jo-Ann fabrics but Hancock's won't allow use to use coupons on it and Jo-Ann's always has theirs at 10-15% off an inflated price. One day Lauren was badgering me to send her some ideas for Christmas and I went on Amazon to show her what I wanted and my bias tape maker was marked down temporarily and about $22 cheaper than normal AND about $50 cheaper than Jo-Ann's. I haven't used it yet, but trust me, it will get a work out.

Finally, a favorite magazine. I missed the September issue this year. I've been wanting a subscription and missing that issue made me put that on my list. A sewist can take a lot of inspiration from all the designer clothing and accessories from Vogue. I can't wait until it comes right to my door. Thanks Lauren!

Now, I need to get to work and put my new toys into use.

Christmas 2010 Recap

Here's a little belated Christmas post. Our Christmas was very low key and quiet this year. We stuck with our traditions. Only, this year, it was just Jeff and I venturing out into the tree farm. No arguments over the perfect tree. I had the only say in the matter.
We went to Christmas Eve mass. Just three of us, Jeff, Taylor and I. Then headed over to our favorite German restaurant. Ever since the girls were little, we would take them for a drive around town to see all the Christmas lights. We needed to have something to occupy their time while we waited for Santa to come. This year, I told the family that we should head home after dinner and change clothes then head out to see the lights. As I entered the house, I could hear Jeff and Taylor both say "Oh no". I knew it had to be the tree.
This was the second time in 32 years that our tree had fallen over. I stood there looking at all the glass on the floor. I knew that treasured ornaments had been shattered. I looked at the glass ornaments that had belonged to my parents. Ornaments that I had hung on the tree as a child. I wanted to cry. You see, I think we humans want to have something tangible to hold onto to remind us of loved ones. My father is gone and my mother is not in optimum health. As I stood there looking at all the glass, I heard Boris Karloff going off in my head.

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,

Was singing! Without any presents at all!

He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming!

It Came!

Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-fee ice-cold int he snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?

"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

 And he puzzles three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

 Christmas would come to the Polenske house tree or no tree. Being able to hold a belonging from a loved one who is no longer with us is comforting to us. However, the memories that we store and hold in our hearts cannot be broken or taken away. They are there forever. Christmas is not about the packages or bags. It's about what we believe and what's in our hearts.

FSL Ornaments

I don't do a lot of free standing lace designs. I really don't need multi-colored lace bowls and doilies around my house, but too each his own. I do like the ornaments though. When I can, I like to include a handmade ornament on a gift. The designs are from Stitch Delight. I'm quite happy with them. I made the peacock ornament for Joshua. I was afraid to try the design with metallic thread. Metallic thread is known to shred and cause major frustration. I decided to slow the machines speed down by three notches. I stopped the design when it was time to switch to the metallic thread and inserted a metallic needle. Perfect results. I think slowing the speed really help the thread from not shredding. I'll have to make some more of these. The metallic thread is so expensive so it's nice to have something to use it on. There are some loose threads on the ornaments. I probably should have trimmed everything up before I took the picture.

A Few More Christmas Projects

These are just a few items that I worked on over/for Christmas. The knitting needle roll-up I used the vintage McCall's fabric. I made this for my boss. I made a roll-up for Taylor and it goes together pretty quickly and easily so I thought Connie might like one for when she travels.

The pillowcases were for my history major daughter Whitney. During the last retreat, I went to the quilt shop in Sister's Bay and saw this fabric. Actually, Laurie Ceesay saw it first and I decided that it might work for a present for Whitney. Laurie probably had her pillowcases made immediately. I had to get up at 5 on Christmas morning to finish making them and then wrap them.

The polar fleece blankets were made for friends of Lauren. She needed a little gift to bring back so we thought the embroidered blankets would be quick and easy. The stitch out for the names took a while because I think the font was about 3 inches high.

Christmas Eve 2009

We are like every other family, we have developed Christmas traditions and have held these for many, many years. I started some things to help me with my sadness and loneliness when I moved away from my family. I also needed to come up with ideas to keep the girls busy on Christmas Eve to tire them out. We do not open any gifts until Christmas morning. Christmas Eve night is family time only, no presents.

We go to Christmas Eve mass then we make our way to dinner. It can be kind of hard to find a restaurant open on Christmas Eve. We used to go to Olive Garden but haven't been there since the German restaurant opened up. I think we have been going to Old Bavarian for over 12-13 years now. Last night, Christina, the owner, came up to use twice and said she knew it was Christmas since we were here. We do go to Old Bavarian at other times throughout the year but it may be just Jeff and I that go, not the entire family. Jeff's aunt was able to be with us this year. She has always been a trouper no matter what we come up with.

After dinner, we used to bring the girls home to change out of their clothes. We all used to put on pajamas and our winter coats then drive around town to see the Christmas lights. We would make a thermos of hot chocolate to bring with us. It is very calming to drive around the city with Christmas music on and not to many cars out. When Arlene is with us, she also changes into her pajamas. This year, we didn't go home to change we just went right away after dinner. As we drive around there is lot's of laughter. I don't know if it's the togetherness or the multitude of beers that were had at the Old Bavarian.

The evening comes to a close. The lighting displays were spectacular this year. I may just have to go back for a second viewing. We drive Arlene home. Now we can put the cookies out for Santa and all change into our jammies. It was a beautiful evening spent with family. I go to bed thinking about how one baby changed the world.

My Neighbor Gifts

After making Jodi's gift bags, I can't say that I was gun-ho to make more. But as time was getting closer, I wasn't any closer to coming up with anything unusual so I decided to steal my sister's idea. Luckily, I only had five bags to do. Well actually six, my husband asked for one more after I finished these so off to Hobby Lobby tomorrow for another bag. The ribbon is a little gawdy but that is what was close by and I didn't want to rummage in the basement.

In my gift bags, I added the two containers of pancake mix that Jodi used, the old-fashioned mix and the cinnamon mix. I put in a bottle of pure maple syrup, Door County Christmas coffee sample pack and some English breakfast tea. Whew, another year done. I hope my sister let's me know what she is going to do for her neighbors sooner next year!

My Tote Bag Mini Tutorial

When I started to work on the tote bags for my neighbors, I decided that I would take a couple of pictures. I was telling my sister Jodi what went into making the bags and I think it was a little confusing since she doesn't sew or embroider. It may look easy and quick but not necessarily so. With machine embroidery, I do like how you can embellish so many things. I hate the prep work involved with embroidery. I also hate sitting and babysitting the machine. Yes, some projects I can walk away or sit at one of the other machines and sew while the D1 is embroidering. But there are many projects that you have to be watching the needle at all times. Any time I have something turned inside out like the tote bag or onsies, I stay at the machine. Anytime I am embroidering on something thick or strange, like the tote bags, pet mesh, an insulated lunch bag, I stay at the machine.

The first thing that I need to do is to make my center of the tote bag. I want the center of my design to be about 4 inches below the top of the bag. I also want the design to be centered between the handles. I am using a water soluble marker. With the tote bags, I will be turning them inside out. It makes the job a little easier because you can see the fabric that you don't want to embroider and keep it out of the way. I am using a hoopless technique with the bags. This means that I won't be placing the tote in the middle of the hoop. I will put my stabilizer in the hoop then tighten the screw. A few reasons to go hoopless is so you don't get hoop burn on your project. I also don't want to hoop something thick as I might break or stretch out the hoop.

Because I won't be hooping the bag, I do need to do a few things to make sure that the tote bag is stable while it is stitching out. I also don't want it to shift away from the markings and cause my designs to be off center. After my stabilizer is hooped and marked, I spray some Sulky KK2000 on the stabilizer. This is a temporary adhesive. I also try to put straight pins in as long as I feel that the pins will be totally out of the way of the needle. The final stabilizing technique I employ is the use of the fix or basting stitch. This stitch will baste around your design perimeter. Ok, now that that is all done, time to do the stitch out.

The thing I wanted to show everyone is why I need to stay there. You can see that there isn't a lot of room and I have the back of the tote bag to keep out of the way. If you aren't paying attention and this fabric gets in the way of your design, it can be a bear to pick out. The needle is moving at a rapid pace and can put down hundreds of stitches in a minutes time.

Taylor's Gift

This year I wanted to make sure that all three girls got something handmade. Taylor was a little bit of a challenge but I decided to make her a knitting roll up. This was very quick to whip up. I think it took about an hour to make. The only problem I had was finding the double bias binding in blue. I think it comes in white and black so I bought the white. In case anyone in interested in making a knitting needle roll-up, here is the site that I found the directions on. http://tostetoes.com/knittingroll.htm

The Polenske Family Tree

Jeff and I have had 31 Christmases together as a married couple and not one of them has involved an artificial tree. In fact, there have only been maybe three years that we bought our tree from a tree lot. Our tradition has been to get everyone dressed warm and put on the Santa hats then drive out to a tree farm. This year, we drove up to Sobieski, Wisconsin. This tree farm was just an beautiful, idyllic place. I felt somehow back in time when Christmases were simpler. This was just a tree farm but I just kept thinking about some of the wonderful old black and white Christmas movies while I was walking through the property. I think we'll hit this farm again next year. The trees were well taken care of. We spotted a tree about 30 seconds into the drive on the property. Taylor refused to let us stop the truck and look at it. She said that this was too easy and we had to spend more time looking for a tree. There have been a few times when we have been out at a farm for 2 hours trying to find the perfect tree. I had found several that fit our criteria. I look for a grinch type of tree, very tall and narrow. This year's adventure took less than one hour.

St. Nick Finally Arrives

St. Nick finally made his way over to the east coast. You would think that he would get to the eastern coast of the United States first since he's coming over from the Netherlands. The children in the Fox Cities area leave out their shoes the night before St. Nick arrives. In New York, St. Nick doesn't fill shoes with goodies (no, not even Manolo Blahnik's). He fills casserole carriers with candy. You can't run to catch a cab in NYC if you have goo from Peppermint Patties stuck to the inside of your stiletto's.

The casserole carrier is fairly simple to make. You start with the embroidery design on one placemat. You add the handles to the other placemat. Stitch out a buttonhole then stitch the two together. The really cool thing about this project is that it is made with a button that I bought at the Antique Mall. I was somewhat hesitant to use such a neat button but I thought it looked nice on the casserole carrier.

Now, all this talk about St. Nick reminds me of a young Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn in the original Miracle on 34th Street movie. Susan (Natalie Wood) is watching Santa Claus (Edmund Gween) with a little girl who just came from a war orphanage in Holland. Santa Claus is able to speak with the little girl in Dutch and the two of them sing a song about Sinterklaas. This is the beginning of Susan starting to believe that Kris is real. This scene warms my heart every time I see it.

Sinterklaas, kapoentje
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje
Dank je Sinterklaasje

Christmas Totes

My sister Jodi called last week and asked if I could help her out on her neighbor gifts for Christmas. She wants to put together a package with pancake mix and syrup. I think she saw something similar either in the Land's End or LL Bean catalogs. The bags in the catalog had a monogram on them. Jodi was hoping for the last name. I initially told her that I couldn't do the names, they would be too long for the bag. I had searched for a font that would work for the bags. I decided at the last minute to stitch out the entire last name. It was a little difficult to keep the bag out of the way of the needle. If I had oodles of time and desire, I would have taken the bags apart to embroider then stitch them back together. That would have made things easier. I usually press the items before I embroider but somehow I missed that step yesterday. The Christmas pine letters came from Sonia Showalter Designs. The rest of the name is a font called Melody from 8 Claws and a Paw.com. The letters don't quite look like they match but they both are the same font. Now all I have to do is to find a box and get them in the mail for Jodi.

Today's Thrift Store Score

Every now and then, I try to stop into one of the thrift stores to search for vintage patterns. Today I got lucky. I didn't really find what I set out to find, but a score none-the-less. I happened upon some Barbie doll patterns. Three of them were from 1965. Sweet. I'm not sure why I'm excited about this. Barbie doll clothes are a bitch to sew. They are so small.

I also found a Christmas pattern. I bought this same pattern 28 years ago when my daughter Lauren was born. I have used the Christmas stocking pattern for all the girls and some of the relatives. Several years ago, I discovered that a piece was missing. I had made up two stockings with a piece that I drafted but it just didn't look quite right to me. About a year ago, I stumbled upon the pattern on Ebay. I was thrilled at what I got it for. Maybe $5 plus shipping. Today I saw it for 25 cents. I decided that I should not turn it away. Three patterns would hopefully insure that I could be making these stockings for a long, long time.