You may remember my January 17 post "What is all this stuff and how did it get into my house?" Well, the situation has worsened. There is now 3 people's stuff in a house that was already overstuffed with 2 people's stuff. How in the world can this have happened? I was just beginning to clear out the clutter when my life turned an unexpected corner. Then my son moved into the house to help me out; help both of us out, really. Have you seen any of those television shows about people who hoard newspapers and such, how their homes are like labyrinths? My house looks a lot like that now. But we (Josh and I) are dealing with it slowly as he has the time and I have the inclination so I'm sure I'll be able to post a good report soon. Or eventually. I'm kind of taking things one day at a time right now, sometimes one hour at a time.

This is how special a son I have. It's been raining non-stop for several days here in Central Florida. Remember the song "Rainy Days and Mondays?" No sunshine for days in a row isn't good for my psyche, let alone my temperament. Last evening Josh came in from work, soaked and miserable, and said, "Hey, Mom! I brought you something." What he'd brought was a container of chopped liver and a loaf of New York rye bread. Amazing how a schmeer (or two or three) will cheer me up! Such a good boy!

Maybe you also remember my January 3 post, "Yes, it WAS a good year!" where I mentioned that my favorite niece was expecting her first and long awaited baby.

After a long, tough labor and then a C -section on May 8 that sweet little girl joined the family, which had an empty space longingly awaiting her. Mother and daughter are doing fine. Daddy is, of course, proud as punch and my sister is glorying in the joy of a new grandchild. I'm excited to have another whack at the pile of little girl fabric in my sewing room and the mass of baby themed embroidery designs on my computer. It's a good thing and, according to her maternal grandmother, Eliza is a good baby. Practically perfect, I suspect.

I had a real treat last weekend. My close and long-time embroidery friend, Dawn Wenner was part of a "sparkle-embroidery" cruise that was leaving from Port Canaveral. She came in 2 days early, so we had dinner together on Friday evening and I got to mingle with lots of old friends on Saturday. One of the gals brought along a quilt she had made using embroidery designs and applied cyrstals from Dawn's web site. It was so beautiful I was really glad that I always carry a little camera in my purse so I could take pictures to show you. Amazing, don't you think?

What as Ann been up to the past couple of weeks? Well, I bought a refrigerator and moved all the food into and the magnets onto the new refrigerator. I built a glass door cabinet from IKEA; have yet to assemble its pair. Where would I put it? I finished up with Social Security (Whew!) Drove round trip to Clearwater to visit another long time, at least a couple of years before AnnTheGran, embroidery friend, Lee Alpern. And, of course, spent time with friends last weekend. It was the first time I'd driven on the highway in as long as I can remember and I'm glad the kids made me get a GPS unit for the car. Just in case you were worried.

I think that's it for now. I'm glad I've gotten over my first "real" post since, well, you know. Until next time, y'all take care of each other. TTFN

Although I haven't posted in my blog for more than 10 weeks, you all have always been close to me in my thoughts and I've felt your warm collective hug. With the help of your prayers, warm thoughts, words of condolence and encouragement I've been able to somehow get through the dark days since Bill died and I lost both my heart and my champion. I'm doing okay; I have bad days and not so bad days and I'm sure it won't be long until I have a good day. I'm kept busy with all the telephone calls and paperwork that I have to go through and getting the house ready for my son who will be staying with me for a while. I try to get at least one thing done each day, and once I've done that one thing I let myself off the hook for the rest of the day.

It feels as if a simple "thank you" is not enough to express how grateful I am to all of you who have called me, sent cards or posted their condolences on line either in the forum here or in the guestbook of the funeral home or our local newspaper. Your numbers are overwhelming and I'm astonished by how many friends AnnTheGran has made all over the world during the past twelve and a half years. Your support has never been so evident or so appreciated. Thank you.

Ways to save!

I’m not unaware of or unaffected by the present state of the economy and I know that this isn’t the time to be asking you to spend money on non-essentials. On the other hand, when times are difficult it’s more important to connect with friends and take time out for ourselves. In order to help you do that we’ve come up with a couple of ways to save on the registration fee for the upcoming AnnTheGran Community Circle.

1. Bring 3 and you come free! Yup, just round up 3 friends and you can come for free, or get together with three friends and divide the saving among the four of you.
   
2. Oh, you came to the Community Circle last year? That makes you an alumna (or alumnus!) and you qualify for the $60 alumni discount.
   

Now there is a downside: you mayn’t combine discounts. Choose the one that’s best for you. If you're unsure about how to take advantage of either of these discounts, contact support@annthegran.com and put "Community Circle Registration" in the subject line. 

Now about digi-scrappery . . .
I’ve enjoyed seeing a few of you getting into digital scrapbooking and visiting my "other home" at Gotta Pixel. Stacy has been writing some really terrific tutorials to help you get started. I have several graphics programs: Photoshop, Elements, Paint Shop Pro and others that I use with photographs, preparing graphics for embroidery digitizing, web site design, etc., but for scrapbook layouts I use a simple program called FotoFusion. All of the layouts in my Gotta Pixel gallery (I'm ScrappyStitcher" there) and FotoScraps gallery (and I'm PurpleCow there) were created with FotoFusion. Recently I spent a few days in Atlanta helping a few embroidery friends get into digital scrapbooking with that program. Now these are women who have worked with computers and graphics for embroidery and web site design for years and who have several of the graphics programs I have, so they’re all very bright and no slouches in the art department. Yet, they needed a little help getting started. Believe me when I say a “little” help. Once I got them started they just took off. Anyway, that got me to thinking that maybe there are some of you who would like to get into digital scrapbooking but you’re a little intimidated by the software and might feel more comfortable with a simple scrapbooking specific program than with a complicated graphics program. FotoFusion is a simple program to use and the learning curve is nearly flat. You can download and use the program for as long as you like before purchasing. The only difference between the trial version and the registered version is that you can’t save your layouts in the trial version. There’s a video demo on the web site and a really friendly and helpful support group on Yahoo.  Stacy wrote a tutorial on using quick pages on her blog a couple of months ago and I thought you might enjoy a mirror tutorial for the same thing done with FotoFusion. I’ve created one in PDF format so you can download and print it. Just click here if you’re interested. Oh, BTW, there was an acronym that we used in my first machine embroidery group when we recommended something: NAYY, which stood for No Affiliation Yadda Yadda. I have no affiliation with FotoFusion other than being a happy customer. NAYY

Points I’ve been pondering

All of my life until the past few years the term “off the wall” meant wild, wacky, unconventional, etc. and the term “off the hook” meant freed from danger, obligation or blame. A few years ago I began hearing people say “off the hook” when they obviously meant to say “off the wall,” i.e. “That party was really off the hook.” At first I thought these were misguided errors. Lately, however, I’m hearing people all over the place saying “off the hook,“ meaning wild, wacky, unconventional, etc. I’m not resistant to change, so my question is: now that we’re apparently saying “off the hook” instead of “off the wall,” what  are we saying when we want to say what “off the hook” used to mean, freed from danger, obligation or blame and, just as important, do we say “off the wall” anymore?

I’ve been watching a series about the British monarchy on PBS. So far I’ve watched episodes about the queen’s visit to the United States, the queen’s birthday and, today, about the opening of parliament and the queen’s visit to Estonia. That last episode was of particular interest to me because Bill and I will be visiting both London and Tallinn, Estonia, in the spring. Anyway, I’ve noticed that wherever the queen goes she’s carrying a purse.  Being a person who never carries a purse if what she needs to carry will fit in a pocket or tucked in a sleeve, I couldn’t help but wonder what in the world the queen of England could possibly be carrying in that purse. Finally, this morning, I Googled “what does queen elizabeth carry in her purse.” I’ve found that Google is surprisingly responsive to very specific questions like that and I was not disappointed this time. I was whisked to a web site that answered that question for me.  So now I know. And if you want to know, too, you can visit the site.

The acronyms “ATM” and “PIN” have become such common parts of the ordinary conversations in our daily lives that I’m thinking that either people have forgotten what those acronyms stand for or, perhaps, never knew in the first place. As all of you who are reading this know, ATM stands for Automated Teller Machine and PIN stands for Personal Identification Number so people who say “ATM machine” or “PIN number” are actually saying “automated teller machine machine” and ” personal identification number number.” Just saying . . .

Well, this one isn’t something I think about very much but here it is anyway. Here in Orlando Who Wants to Be a Millionaire comes on right after Good Morning America so sometimes I get hooked into watching it. Then a contestant will miss as question like “People buy a surge protector  for protection from unexpected surges in electric current, water flow, air pressure or buyer's remorse” and the contestant answers, “water pressure.” That’s when I slap my forehead, roll my eyes and decide it’s time to get to work. Want to bet he calls an ATM an ATM machine? Big sigh . . . .

Yeah, I know, I spend WAY too much time in my own head . . .

Speaking of acronyms, as I seem to be doing today, and that first machine embroidery group, one day I was reading the digest and I saw someone referring to my web site as ATG, as in “ I found the design I was looking for on ATG.” At first I didn’t even realize that the person was referring to me and then, when I did, I said to myself, “Wow! I’m an acronym! Who knew?”  And with that I leave you for this week. Take care of each other until next time. TTYL

Here we are coming up on Valentines Day, coincidentally Bill’s and my half year anniversary. Coincidentally because we first met on the 14th of August and, when we decided to marry, set the date at one year from our first meeting. There wasn’t any thought about Valentines Day and it was probably several years before we noticed. Well, before I noticed. Bill is a lot better about those things than I am.  During our first year of dating he sent me a card on the 14th of every month.  On our first Valentines Day together, while I was still working in an insurance office, he sent me flowers, took me out to lunch and gave me a new watch. That afternoon the gals in the office were talking about Valentines Day and how they hated it. I chimed in, with a little smile and shrugging my shoulders, that I liked Valentines Day. Well, you can imagine the responses, punctuated with rolled eyes.

If you’re as old as I am, maybe a little younger, you might remember the decorated valentine box that sat on teacher’s desk for a week or so before Valentines Day. We all poked our little envelopes into the box and on Valentines Day the appointed mailman would deliver them. Those who received only a few were, of course, upset and that’s the good reason why there aren’t any valentine boxes in classrooms anymore. Or, if there are the children are instructed to either bring valentines for everyone or don’t bring any at all.  I wasn’t one of those who received only one or two, but I didn’t get a huge pile of them. I’ve stuck two valentine designs in my virtual valentine box and they’re for everyone. Click on the pictures to begin the downloads. As with all the free designs on the site, they’re in PES format, so you may need to convert if you use a different format.

I’ve put  some digital scrapbooking freebies in my virtual valentine box, too, for those who’ve gotten into the addicting hobby of digital scrapbooking or anyone else who’s looking for some valentine graphics for any reason. Please take the time to read my TOU (Terms of Use) that’s included in the zip file.  Click on the picture on the left to begin the download. {I'm so glad y'all have enjoyed the digi-scrap designs so much. The download link is working again. Thanks for your patience.}

By the way, I’m sometimes asked just why all the free designs are in PES format. The answer is pretty simple. AnnTheGran’s Design Exchange was originally set up for users of Brother’s PE-Design software to share their original creations and it’s been simpler to maintain that format even though users of all embroidery machines now visit. But, really, the bottom line answer is, “Because that’s the file format I use.”

Speaking of when the Design Exchange was originally set up reminds me that I’ve recently had 2 questions come across my desk, one about programmed fills and one about stitch to block, that have sent me scurrying to my archives to find answers. Both of those inquiries concerned functions of PE-Design version 2. We’re now up to version 8, and I had forgotten about how remarkable those two things were when they were first introduced. Both of those functions are still part of the program, but the reason most of us were using stitch to block, to resize designs and/or cut them into parts, is now moot as PE-Design now has a re-sizing function (Hold down the ctrl key while pulling or pushing the design to a larger or smaller size) and a cutting tool in the toolbox. Loes will be demonstrating and teaching PE-Design at our Community Circle and I’m anxious to take the class.

As I close, I invite you to join me in bidding a fond farewell to Greg, my Beamish Boy, and wish him well in his new ventures. Diane Brown, whom many of you met at last year’s Community Circle and through her blog here at AnnTheGran, is stepping up into the position of Community Coordinator and I’m exciting about working with her in the months to come. So long, Greg, thanks for a job well done, and welcome aboard, Diane.

TTFN,
Ann

There are a lot of good things about working for myself at home. I can come and go as I please. I can work in my pajamas. There’s no commute. There are some downsides. I work on the week-ends and in the middle of the night. The work is always there; I can’t walk away from it. But the biggest drawback to working at home is that it’s very solitary. Days and days go by when I don’t talk to anyone except Bill, the UPS guy and the telemarketer from the Police Athletic Fund.  While I know many of you, and keep in touch through email or through my web site, I don’t get to see you or hug you or laugh with you or . . . I used to do extensive traveling to embroidery retreats and seminars, but not so much anymore. So you can understand why I’m so wildly excited about the upcoming 2nd Annual AnnTheGran Community Circle here in Orlando.

We’re going to have so much fun! This time I’ll get to sit in on classes with you all to learn from the outstanding teachers we have lined up. I go back a long way, in machine embroidery on the Internet terms, with some of them and will get to meet in person a few whom I’ve admired for years. And of course I’m thrilled to have Bill’s and my spring holiday buddies, Loes and Theo van der Heijden, coming. They’re flying in a few days early and staying a week longer so this will be our 4th annual spring  holiday together.

Here’s how that got started. In 2005 I got a new computer. After I had installed Pre-Design I couldn’t find my activation code, so I fired off an email to Loes. During our back and forth email chat I asked if Loes and Theo had plans to come over to the States any time soon as it had been a long time since we’d seen them. Loes said no, they didn’t have any plans to come over here, so why didn’t Bill and I come over there. Sometimes I jump into things without planning or talking it over with Bill and this was one of those times. I simply said, “Okay.” I was a little nervous, so I waited a couple of days before telling Bill. Actually, I “discussed” it with him and asked if he would like to do it. He asked if we could afford it and I said, “Not really” and Bill replied, “Well, let’s do it.” He’s good that way! That’s the same answer he gave when I talked to him about buying my first Brother combo embroidery and sewing machine.  He asked if we could afford it.  I said, “No” and he said, “Well, let’s go get it.”

Anyway, we flew to Holland in April, 2006, and had such a good time that we did it again the following year. You might remember that last year we four met up in Toronto and now we’re finally getting to show Loes and Theo around on our home ground. That first trip was my inspiration for getting into digital scrapbooking and if you’re interested you can see the album I created and had printed here. I wonder where we’ll go next year.

If you’ve sat and chatted with me or attended any of my classes in the past you know I tend to wander off the subject as I’ve done here. In fact, it’s so bad that one of the first things I usually do in a class is to appoint someone to remind me what I was talking about when I get so far off track that I don’t remember where I’d started. This post started with me talking about the upcoming Community Circle and how excited I am about being able to renew acquaintance with many of you and, hopefully, finally get to meet some of you face to face. It’s going to be bigger and better than last year with more teachers and a Brother dealer, with his store, in attendance. As I said, before I got off topic, I’m so excited!

I'm getting ready. I plan to have some new projects to show off and I can't wait to see yours. I get so much inspiration from seeing what everyone else has been up to!

Musing
Here's something that's been bouncing around in my head as I'm doing things that don't require any thought or drifting off to sleep. I watch the History Channel a lot and they're often digging up some buried city or going through ancient tunnels under modern cities. It makes me think that if all the old stuff is buried under the new stuff, then the Earth must be getting fatter and fatter. Fatter and Fatter would mean closer and closer to the sun. Closer to the sun means global warming. Just a thought. Or a couple of them.It can't be that I'm the only one whose brain jumps around and into unexpected places. What's been rattling around in yours?

That's gotta be it for me this week, folks. For those still without power from the ice storms, cuddle up and keep warm. I hope your team wins the Super Bowl. And everyone, get working on those projects to bring to and show off at the Community Circle.

We’re trying to pare down here at the old homestead. I have no idea where all this stuff came from but it’s gotta go! Okay, I know where it came from . . . . Live in the same house for 47 years and stuff piles up. Plus, Bill has a habit that I’ve heard that a lot of men have: Something is broken, like a toaster oven. It costs more to fix it than to buy a new one, so we buy a new one. I put the old one out for trash pickup. Some time later I notice that the broken item is sitting on a shelf or on a pile of boxes in the garage. I ask Bill why he took it out of the trash. You all already know the answer: I might need it for parts. Well, the mortuary for broken small appliances is going to be sitting on the curb this Thursday, our weekly large item haul away day. Usually we put large items out on Wednesday night and they’re often gone by Thursday morning. Someone else’s husband has taken then home “for parts” I imagine.

Anyway, all that was by way of saying that I did two things this week for the first time and I may be hooked. First, Bill and I went to IKEA looking for a television stand so we can bring the television in the garage into the house, where it will replace the smaller one in the living room that will replace the even smaller one in the den that will replace the really little one in the bedroom which will hopefully go at an upcoming garage sale. Oh, I could do a lot of damage at IKEA and probably will once the economy turns around. How could I have waited so long to enter those hallowed blue and yellow doors?

The second thing I did for the first time was to look at and then buy something from craigslist. I wanted a normal size roll top desk to replace the door slung across two filing cabinets that has been Bill’s desk and refuge these many years. He doesn’t need that much space to pay a few bills and keep our financial records on a yellow legal pad. (I know; I know. Bill just refuses to be pulled into the 21st century.) But, because he has so much space, including all that space under the “desk” he’s managed to fill it up. We’re trying to pare down, remember?  When my mother moved from her house to a retirement apartment in Tallahassee she would have gladly given us her roll top desk, but it was too wide for the space we have. I needed a desk 48” wide or less. Standard roll top desks are 53”. I looked online and 48” roll top desks are readily available, costing upwards of $1,000. Not gonna happen. Then I remembered that our DD has been selling things on craigslist so I took a look. Sure enough, there were several roll top desks, including one that came with a matching wood chair for $200. Bill and I drove over to take a look at it, paid for it and arranged for our DS to pick it up with his trailer. I’m not looking for anything else to buy on Craig’s List, but I have a whole lot of that I can be selling there, such as the entertainment center that the new IKEA television stand will be replacing.

I have no idea whether or not any of that was interesting to any of y’all, but it comprised the highlights of my week, which tells you a lot more about me than I should probably be telling you. The highlight of the last week in March will be our 2nd Annual Community Circle here in Orlando and I can hardly wait for that. We had SO much fun last year and this year will be more than twice as good. More about that coming up.


Also in March we will all be celebrating my mother’s 90th birthday. The family is more scattered now than it was on her 80th, and with the economy the way it is, not all her grandchildren (6) and great grandchildren (10) will be able to celebrate with her.

Talking about my mother brings to mind a project that I made for her several years ago. I had a long sleeved denim shirt that I wanted to embroider for her. I could have simply stitched something about the pocket and that was my original plan. But after I chose the design I saw some other possibilities. I began with SS0030.PES from Brother Pacesetter’s Fancy Pockets Collection. I used PE-Design for my editing and the first thing I did was to delete the entire scarecrow. I then mirrored that design and saved it. Next, I deleted everything except the three whole sunflowers, saving that file and continuing to delete the sunflowers one at a time, saving as I went along, until I had three files, one with three sunflowers, one with two and one with only one sunflower. I did need to use the Point Edit tool to fill out some of the petals on the one and two sunflower designs. I opened the second file I had created, the one without the scarecrow, and deleted everything except the one crow partially covering a sunflower and the sunflower he’s covering. I now had all the designs I needed to complete my project: two different sunflower fences for the left and right chest, two sunflowers for one collar tip, one sunflower for the other collar tip, three sunflowers for the pocket (which I partially removed before embroidering so I could hoop it, and then stitched back down) and a crow and sunflower for one cuff.

While the machine was busily stitching, I could already see ways in which I could have improved upon the designs. I decided to create the additional designs I would want if I should ever make this project again. I opened my second file, the one with the missing scarecrow, and added bhflorel.PES from the Cactus Punch Birdhouses collection. I chose that birdhouse because it had the shape of a barn, but I did have to change the colors. I placed the birdhouse in the blank space created by deleting the scarecrow and drew in the post for the birdhouse to sit on. I drew the post in 3 sections so that it would look to be sitting in back of the fence. Wanting yet another variation of the fence with sunflowers, I added the design of two sunflowers to the fence with the scarecrow removed. It seemed to want another crow, so I opened the file with the crow and the sunflower, deleted the sunflower, and saved just the crow as a separate file. I added that crow to the design.

Since I was in for a dime, I figured I might as well be in for a dollar and saved a file of only the fence and another of that fence with a row of crows sitting along it. Now I was ready for the next time, with lots of varied designs on the same theme. I very often say that not everyone needs to be a digitizer, and I firmly believe that. In fact, if the number of designs selling for reasonable prices that are available today were available when I began machine embroidery, I would probably never have begun digitizing at all. But that doesn’t mean that everyone doesn’t need some kind of digitizing software for editing designs. I’ve used PE-Design from the beginning, and now there’s a PE-Design Lite. There’s lots of other software out there, and I’ve used several programs, but PE-Design remains my favorite.


I guess that’s all for now. I’ve got to get on with sorting and organizing and getting rid of stuff, a good thing to do on a very cold day. Look after one another

‘til  next time,
Ann (AnnTheGran) Cobb

Long about New Year's Eve I was hearing a lot of mumbling and grumbling about 2008, talking heads saying that thank goodness 2008 is over. Well, yes, the economic messiness of the last couple of months of 2008 was bad thing and embarking on a brand spanking new 2009 is a good thing, even though that economic crisis will surely get worse in 2009 before it gets better.

I have to say, though, that, on the whole, 2008 was very good to me. First, Bill and I got to visit Hawaii. Then we had our Community Circle in Orlando and that was lots of fun. After that we spent a week with Loes and Theo in Toronto where we got to have dinner with Greg's delightful family. Then, most recently, Bill and I were lucky enough to visit the Amazon, spending 26 days aboard a small ship round trip from Miami. Nothing to complain about there. Most importantly, everyone in our family is in good health and, after a two month kind of scary glitch, all the adults are employed. To top it off, my favorite, most dearest niece and her husband (Okay, my only niece, but she is most dear to me.) are, after several difficult and disappointing years of trying, expecting their first born. There was that terrible time when our son lost his job, but he begins a new one next week. It's at half the salary of the job he lost, but it's a job in his field and he's been able to drum up some part time work to make up the difference. So maybe 2008 wasn't all good, but it certainly wasn't all bad.

Now, I don't know what 2009 will bring. There will probably be some bad stuff and some good stuff, just like other years. In any case, it's always nice to have a clean slate to write on. I hope that what will be written on your slate are health, joy and prosperity for you and all in your family.

The photo above was taken on Devil's Island in French Guiana. Well, not EXACTLY Devil's Island. Apparently there is a group of 3 islands commonly known as The Devil's Islands. All three of the islands were used as the French penal colony. The island actually named Devil's Island, once used for solitary confinement, is pretty much inaccessible. We visited Royale Island, where some of the other prisoners were kept and the guards and administrators lived with their families. Bill and I are smiling in the picture because it was taken as we began our climb. Had the picture been taken upon our return it would look a lot different!

Now, about that trip up the Amazon . . .

I'll be telling you more about it in blogs and pictures to come, but the one main thing I came away with was a renewed appreciation for how lucky I am for how and where I live and all that I have, both spiritually and materially. But there was something else in a small island village at the mouth of the Valeria River. There was poverty to be sure, but all the children were well fed and appeared healthy. They were laughing and playing, running in and out under the houses. The ship we were on calls at that village only once a year and, to my knowledge, is the only ship that calls there. Our visit was a great annual event and I'm sure that the children were turned out in their nicest clothes. Yes, the locals offered handicrafts for sale and yes, the children put out their hands for payment when their pictures were taken. The cruise line sent ashore donations of school supplies and a pile of bathrobes that were promptly sold right back to the passengers. (What else would one who lives 3° south of the Equator do with a thick terrycloth bathrobe?) We made cash donations to the school and the church, purchased lots of handicrafts and took lots of pictures. As we went back to the ship I said to another passenger, "What must they think of us?" We agreed: not very much. Boca de Valeria and her laughing children will stay with me for a long time.

The babies on the right are twin girls, probably identical (My Portuguese really isn't very good.) I know the one in the back is Patricia because I heard her mother call her that as she attempted to put a feathered bonnet on her for pictures. Patricia had other plans. Pushing the stroller was one of the proudest papas I've ever seen.

As I said, I'll have stories and pictures for you in future blogs. I have just under 2,000 photos to go through . . . Until then, here is a small collection of Amazonion faces from Boca de Valeria, Manaus and Santarém:

I reiterate my fondest wishes for you for the coming year. You are my friends, my family, my neighborhood. Let's all hope that 2009 will be good to us.

TTYL,
Ann

Can one paragraph be about current events, information, an embroidery project, a gift idea and a travel story?  Last week we in the US celebrated Veterans Day. Most holidays in the US fall on Mondays so as to provide long week-ends, but Veterans Day is always celebrated on November 11. So this got me to wondering, what is so special about Veterans Day that it falls on a specific date, like Christmas and Independence Day, instead of  on the nearest Monday? I was also wondering what’s the difference between Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day. As long as I was wondering, I wondered what happened to Armistice Day and Decoration Day. Have I now got y’all wondering, too? We live in the Information Age and Google is at our fingertips, so I was not long in finding the answers to all of my wonderings.

•    Veterans Day always falls on November 11 because that is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)  After World War II the name was changed from Armistice Day to Veterans Day in order to honor the veterans of both wars.
•    Memorial Day, contrary to popular belief, is not the day we remember our white shoes and begin wearing them again for the summer. It was called Decoration Day because it was a day to place wreaths on the graves of fallen Union soldiers of the American Civil War. After World War I it was officially proclaimed Memorial Day and was expanded to include American casualties of any war or military action.
•    Originally each branch of the armed forces had individual celebrations. In 1950 President Truman proclaimed Armed Forces day to honor the members of all branches of service.

So, Veterans Day honors all military veterans who served during any war; Memorial Day honors all soldiers who died during any war and Armed Forces day honors all soldiers who are currently serving.

I have done two embroidery projects for Bill, my favorite veteran, who served in World War II and retired from the Army in 1961. I made the first one several years ago before a Memorial Day picnic. I wanted Bill to have something special to wear, so I purchased an olive drab polo shirt and embroidered all of Bill’s battle ribbons above the pocket along with a purchased design of laurel leaves that was part of a military designs collection. I copied the battle ribbons from Bill’s dress uniform and digitized them with PE-Design. It was so easy to do, just basically drawing little rectangles and filling them with the correct colors. Bill Wears his every Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Pearl Harbor Day. He gets a lot of attention and often gets to tell some war stories. If you have a military veteran in your family, this would be a wonderful gift that you could easily make.

The second project was really something so simple, but it had a lot of impact. Bill was just a 20-year-old kid, stationed in Schofield Barracks at Pearl Harbor, when World War II began on December 7, 1941.  We were getting ready to visit Hawaii last March, the first time Bill was returning since the war began. As a member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Bill has a special hat so, of course, I insisted that he take it along so he could wear it when we visited Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial but I wanted him to be easily identified as having been stationed in Schofield Barracks. I knew that many of the other survivors have the names of their ships embroidered on their caps, so I had Bill write down exactly how he wanted the name of his barracks to appear, I digitized it in Alphabet XPress, ran it by Bill for approval and very carefully embroidered it on his cap. I can tell you that from the time Bill stepped off the gangway in Honolulu until we returned to the ship he was treated like a special VIP guest. At the memorial people came up to him and asked to have their pictures taken with him and asked him to sign their tickets. Even young kids came up to shake his hand and ask him questions. Everywhere we went that day people came up to Bill to shake his hand and thank him for his service.  Our last stop that day was at the Home of the Brave Museum where Bill’s picture was taken and placed on the Wall of Honor with the photos of all the other returning veterans. If I could give Bill a day like that again I would do it in a heartbeat.

Well, that wasn’t really the travel story I was planning to tell. A couple of years ago, along with out travel buddies Loes and Theo, we visited Normandy and Utah Beach where Bill’s company came ashore in August of 1944. He wasn’t part of the D-Day invasion, but followed soon after and marched all the way to the Ardennes Forest where he served in the infamous Battle of the Bulge. We followed Bill’s march all the way to Belgium and the Battle of the Bulge museum and memorial. I can only assume that, given Bill’s age and where we were traveling, people saw him for a returning veteran and came up to shake his hand, welcome him back and thank him for their freedom. Bill and Theo sat in the front seat of the car and Theo asked question after question. Bill was in heaven, having a new pair of ears for all of his war stories.

Okay, so it wasn’t just one paragraph, but I did talk about a current event, give a little history, describe two embroidery projects and tell a couple of travel stories.

So long for a while. On Tuesday Bill and I are setting out on an Amazon Adventure, leaving from Miami, island-hopping down to Brazil, sailing up the Amazon River and back and then island-hopping back to Miami. We’ve had this trip planned for nearly two years and we’re both pretty excited about it. I’ll be out of touch for about 4 weeks. I’ll have some spotty Internet access and may be able to check in from time to time. I’m leaving you in the capable hands of my staff and I’ll probably miss you all more than you’ll miss me. I’ll be taking LOTS of pictures and will have lots of stories to tell when we get home. To those who celebrate the US Thanksgiving, have a wonderful and grateful day. To everyone, be kind to each other. Keep those machines cranked up and try to get all your gifts finished BEFORE December 25. CUL8R, TTFN.

Today wraps up AnnTheGran.com’s 12th year “on the air.” With all the excitement about our new digital scrapbooking area, and all the time I was spending getting my own products ready for the store, I completely forgot until I looked at the date. It’s been a long journey and many of you have been with me from that first little page while many more have joined me on the road as the years have gone by. But I want to tell you about a different journey today, one I’ve been on for only the past 2 ½  years.

If you’ve ever been in one of my classes you might remember that I ask everyone who used to paint fabric to raise their hands, then those who did tole painting, then those who did counted cross stitch, naming creative hobbies until every hand in the room was raised and everyone was laughing. Then I said, “I know you because I AM you.” I believe that this is still true. I can’t remember any creative hobby, other than sewing, which isn’t so much a hobby as a part of my life, which I’ve done for so long without going on to something else. While I haven’t left machine embroidery, I have gone on to something else and, of course, you already know what it is. Let me tell you how innocently digital scrapbooking began how quickly it became as addictive and all consuming as embroidery.

In May, 2006, Bill and I had just retuned from spending a few weeks with our friends and embroidery colleagues, Loes and Theo van der Heijden, about whom I’ve spoken to you frequently in my blogs. Loes sent me an email telling me about a program, FotoFusion by Lumapix,  she had downloaded and thought might be handy for working on our web sites. Always on the prowl for new and interesting software, I went to the web site and downloaded the trial program. While fooling around with it, as I do when I’m becoming familiar with new software, I was using photos from my photo stash. I think this may be one of the first collages that I made. Not the very first, but close to it, and the first one that I shared. Just like my early attempts at machine embroidery, it isn't very good, I thought it was wonderful and I still like it in spite of its shortcomings. I became fascinated with the process and before long went ahead and paid for and registered the program. I'm still using the old version 3 of FotoFusion and it's still available for preview and purchase. I never felt the need to upgrade when they brought out a new, more expensive, version with a lot of bells and whistles. (If it ain't broke . . . well, you know . . .)

My progress along the path to complete digital scrapbooking immersion continued to mirror the path I had taken with machine embroidery 10 years previously. I found some free stuff on the Internet and then became bored with that and began purchasing digi-scrap papers and elements. Quite the opposite from machine embroidery, which was, in the beginning, horribly expensive, I found that digi-scrap supplies were pretty reasonably priced, inexpensive, in fact. Well, if you know me you know that I couldn’t leave well enough alone and and soon I began creating my own digi-scrap elements. I gave them away through a group using the same software I was using. This is my old gallery in that group. Now this is where the journey veered off onto a different branch in the road. My friends were telling me that I ought to sell my stuff, but I knew that I didn’t want to become involved with creating another web site. First, I already had a web site that was taking up a big chunk of my time and, second, I learned my lesson the first time.

I was very excited when I was finally accepted as a designer at one of the online digital scrapbooking srores. After about a year I felt that my designing had improved considerably and I wanted to make a move to a more prominent store. That's when I met Stacy and she accepted me as a designer at GottaPixel. I thought that digital scrapbooking, and especially Stacy's approach to it, would be a good fit with AnnTheGran. I introduced Stacy to Greg and twiddled my thumbs an crossed my fingers while the two of them worked their magic. And that's where we are today. The digital scrapbooking store at ATG is either already open, or it will be open shortly. In the meanwhile, you can have fun looking through the new digi-scrap gallery at AnnTheGran. All of the designers are listed along the left side of the page. Me too!

I'm trying to be ladylike and not be excitedly jumping up and down, but it's difficult to contan my excitement. I hope you'll take a look and, if it's something you think you might enjoy, give it a try. But be careful, it's addictive!

Enough from me about this today. Y'all take care of each other and, you know, don't forget to turn off your computer once in a while . . . . TTFN

As you can see, I found the gaggle of travel drives and software security devices that I THOUGHT I had inadvertently left at home when I flew to Kentucky last week. Of course, as soon as I get home, the first place I went was to the computer bag from which I had transferred my laptop for travel. I felt in all the pockets. Nothing. Nada. Goose egg. Well, I wouldn't panic about misplaced travel drives, inconvenient as it might be, but lost security devices? Not a good thing. I had already checked and checked in the combination camera/computer bag with wheels that I had taken with me, but I checked and checked again. Then a light bulb went off in my head. I lifted out a short camera lens in its case and there, just where I had put them for safe keeping, were, you guessed it, that gaggle.  So, here's the picture that was supposed to be on last week's blog post. Feel free to laugh at the perm and marvel at Bill's beard. I made all my square dance dresses and all Bill's matching shirts. I probably made 25 or 30 outfits for us. When we finally stopped dancing after 10 years or so I donated all the dresses, petticoats, western shirts and the accompanying themed accoutrements to our square dance club to sell in their re-sale shop. I’ll tell you, though, after making all those western shirts for Bill, whipping up a couple of short sleeve sport shirts is a piece of cake.

In honor of our newest blogger, Stacy Carlson, who will be our resident digital scrapbooking maven and who posted the very first installment in her new blog this week, I'm writing this little "bloggette" with a series of digital layouts recalling my latest visit to Kentucky.

Reed was coloring Spiderman pictures every day. “Can someone please print a Spiderman picture for me?” Finally DD told him only one picture a day, so his sisters began drawing Spiderman for him. Then they got tired of that and poor Reed was Spiderman-less. So I told him that he could draw Spiderman himself. After much whining and protesting, Reed finally did begin drawing his own Spiderman. You can tell it’s Spiderman by the big red head and the long blue legs. Here’s a photo cluster, not a full scrapbook page.

When I was in Kentucky in July Jen and I went to Kohl’s to shop for school clothes for the kids and a few things for me. If I applied for a Kohl’s card I would get 15% off the entire purchase. It was a large purchase and 15% would be a nice chunk of change, so I filled out the application. A couple of weeks after I got home my Kohl’s card came in the mail. Now, the thing is, I don’t have a Kohl’s nearby. The closest one is in Altamonte Springs, about 30 minutes up I-4. So, when I was in Kentucky last week I had this Kohl’s card with me that needed to be warmed up. You can see where this is going, right? Jen and I and the girls planned a girls day out. Before going to Kohl’s we stopped at the hair salon where Jen got highlights and a trim. I needed a trim, too, and there was a gal free to do it, so I had one, too. Here’s my scrapbook page about the hair salon. If you click on the picture you’ll bring up a larger version.

I’m always taking photos. I was doing that even before I became a digital scrapper. I can’t even remember when I didn’t have a camera. Now I have three cameras: My good DSLR camera with several lenses and other bells and whistles, my “travel” camera for when I don’t want to haul a heavy camera bag and I recently got a little waterproof camera to use when I go snorkeling and to otherwise keep in my purse or pocket so that I always have a camera with me. The first day in LaGrange was a school day so Bill and I and SIL Steve (a Gulf War veteran on 100% disability) were left to our own devices. We went downtown to have coffee and wander the little shops on Main Street. Downtown LaGrange is so small that the railroad tracks run right through the middle of the street! We actually had to wait for a train to pass before we could cross the street! I had my little pocket camera with me and took pictures of items of interest along the way, and here’s my scrapbook page. If you click on the picture you’ll bring up a larger version.

Reed is used to my following him around with a camera and now his brother and sisters have purchased cameras of their own with their birthday money this year. I got Reed one of the toddler cameras and he took pictures from the time he got it until the day I left. It really would never have occurred to me before to put a camera in the hands of a three and a half year old. It was really interesting to see the things that attracted Reed’s attention and, of course, here’s my scrapbook page and, again, if you click on the picture you’ll bring up a larger version.

I guess that’s about all I have for you this time. I hope I’ve whetted your appetites for some digital scrapping. If you haven’t already, do read Stacy’s blog. She has some exciting news. Until next time, y’all take care of each other. TTFN.

Well, this is a first for me. I’ve frequently thought that if I didn’t get something finished before leaving on a trip I could do it in the airport or on the plane, but I’ve never actually done it. Until today.  As we were leaving for the airport I turned to Bill and said, “You know, it takes us longer to get on the plane than we’ll be on the plane.” It’s 2 hours and 15 minutes from Orlando to Louisville. Our plane is scheduled to leave at 2:25 p.m. We left the house at a bit after 11:00. I think it took about 20 minutes to get to the car park and check in. We waited for the shuttle about 10 minutes and the ride to the airport was another 10 minutes. Check in at the curb took about 10 more minutes and security took about 20 minutes.  That’s an hour all by itself. We’ve had lunch and are now waiting at the gate. It’s about 1:00.  So, there you have it. By the way, Orlando International Airport has free wifi. Cool, eh?

Ah, technology!
Back when Bill and I were square dancing we were getting ready to go to Indianapolis for the national convention. We made arrangements for our daughter to stay with a friend and we boarded the animals. In the hubbub of packing and getting ready, I turned to Bill and said, “You know this would be a lot easier if we could just throw the phone in our suitcase and take it along with us.” Now, I’m not saying that I invented cell phones, but I definitely had the idea years and years before cell phones became part of our lives. During the years that we were motor-homing our way across the country it was such a hassle to keep in contact with the kids. Every evening I had to call our home phone from a public phone to check for messages. That was the only way we could be reached in an emergency. Now with computers and the Internet and cell phones motor-homing would be a snap. I even have a miniature Brother sewing and embroidery machine I could take along. Alas, we sold the motor home when the grandchildren began coming along.

The best of times
I get up to Louisville a few times a year for a grandchildren fix. The airport is a pretty small one and every time I walk from the plane past the security check-in I (or we) eventually run into our son-in-law who has been waiting for me. He helps me with my luggage and Jen brings the car around with whatever children she has with her. Hugs and kisses all around and then we’re off. But every time I take that long walk I have a faint flicker of hope that some, or even one, of the children will be waiting for me and will fly into my arms as soon as we spy each other. Today that happened! I could see Steve as we got closer and I thought I saw a thatch of blond hair beside him. As we got closer I saw Reed. I put out my arms and he came laughing, flying into them. It was the best and oh, my word, he’s already grown out of the goody two shoes I got him in July!

The worst of times
Well, nothing ever goes off without a hitch. I put the pictures for this blog on a thumb drive so that I could upload them away from home. Well, I switched out laptop bags and somehow managed to leave my gaggle of thumb drives and software security devices behind. So, the picture of Bill and me in full square dance regalia will have to wait until another time. Instead I will offer for your consideration, completely off topic, a picture of what it looks like when a bag of popcorn explodes in the microwave and a picture of me, my brother and two cousins on a horse at an aunt and uncle’s farm in Virginia. I look to be about 4 or five and, well, to get a bit back on topic, my overalls were made from left over fabric in my dad’s blouse factory. Here’s my scrapbook page commemorating that visit.

Well shut my mouth!
We have Pat and Judy to fill you up with their wonderful blogs full of sewing and embroidery tips, techniques and projects. And we have LaRue telling us everything we could ever possibly want to know about quilting and fabrics. Now we have June waxing poetic about Brother’s wonderful new Quattro, Leora dazzling us with tales of Africa and Susan filling us full of projects using her remarkable blanks. What more is there for me to say. Every time I sit down to blog I have to rack my brain to come up with something and usually can’t think of anything that someone else isn’t already talking about in their blogs. I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings this week because I’m afraid that it’s all that I’ve got.

Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other and don’t forget to turn your computer off once in a while and sew something.

Here it is, the second day of Fall, and it’s already cold in the mornings here in Orlando. By “cold” I mean 68° (20° C) which, for me here in Florida, is sweater weather.  It doesn’t usually cool off until the middle of November, so this is quite a treat for us (here in Florida where 68° F is sweater weather). I hope the weather holds because it would portend an early end to hurricane season and good-bye to the mosquitoes for another year. Usually when the weather begins to cool down I switch from walking on the treadmill to walking outdoors, but this time I’m not walking for exercise at all because of the foot thing. I am, however, getting exercise and that’s the lead-in to my sort of travelogue for this week.

First of all, please remember that these places were short stops along a transatlantic cruise to Amsterdam where Bill and I were meeting up with our friends Loes and Theo. It doesn’t cost much more to cruise across the Atlantic than it does to fly; it takes about 15 days and you arrive without any jet lag. If you have the time, it’s the sensible way to go. Anyway, we were gadding about with a group of new friends. In La Coruña, Spain, we had only a few hours. We were on our way to find a place where I could say “una cerveza, por favor” (“a beer, please”) when I tripped and fell on some steps. One of the fellows with us said that he was at first concerned, but then he saw that I knew how to fall and I’d be okay. Yes, I do know how to fall. I do it a lot and I’ve found that once I start down the best thing to do is just relax and let it happen. I wasn’t hurt, but I did skin one knee. Another time we were in Montmartre, France. I had just come out of a café holding a very hot chocolate when I walked right into a pole, spilling most of the chocolate down my front. By this time our friends knew about my tripping propensity and expressed more concern about the spilled chocolate than they did about me. If anyone took any pictures they didn’t share them with me, so I don’t have a scrapbook page to share with you. So, what do these two little stores have to do with exercise?

Feeling very flabby and fluffy after lying around on the couch for four weeks, I decided to invest in a Wii, with Wii fit. If you’re not familiar with Wii, which is hard to imagine if you’ve got any kids at all in your life, it’s kind of like a wireless video game that you hook up to your television. Wii Fit comes with a balance board, and the first time you start the program and introduce yourself you stand on the balance board for testing. After I finished the balance tests, and keep in mind that I’m favoring one foot . . ., the television said to me, “You are unbalanced. Do you fall a lot?” I’m not kidding! I’ve been doing the balance exercises for at least 20 minutes every day (keep in mind that I’m favoring one foot) and every day my television tells me, “You are unbalanced. Do you fall a lot?” I don’t mind the question so much, but that “you are unbalanced” thing is starting to get to me.

Some cutting remarks: You know how when you’re wearing some store bought item with embroidery people will ask, “Did you make that?” And, of course you reply, “Didn’t it come out nice” or some such. Not lying, of course, but not admitting to store bought. Well, take a look at the back of some of those store bought embroideries.  Can you believe the sloppy trimming of the stabilizer? Yours look SO much more professional, right? On the left you’ll see the back of a store bought tee shirt (1) and the back of something I made myself (2). You’ll also see the two pairs of scissors I use for trimming stabilizer. I already had the duckbill pair (3) for trimming appliqués. They’re good for trimming stabilizer because you can get in pretty close without accidentally snipping the fabric. The smaller pair with the curved blades (4) I use for getting into tight spots. You need to be careful with them, though, as they WILL catch the fabric. As far as washing embroidered garments, I wash in warm or, preferably, cold water and line dry. In the rare instances that I need to iron something, I place the garment face down on a towel so I don’t smash the embroidery.

Responding to some comments on my last blog: Yes, Sabrina IS beautiful, isn’t she? Thanks you! But she doesn’t look like grandma. She looks like her mother, or perhaps her abuela, her maternal grandmother.

 It’s easy to have sexy toes. Get a pedicure with bright red polish. It’s one of my few and favorite indulgences.

 Susan, I know that no matter how anyone might feel about the war in Iraq, every one of us is thinking about and/or praying for all of our young men and women over there and we’re grateful for the service they’re giving to their countries. I, as well as many of us machine embroiderers, am from a military family and we understand fully the difficulties and heartaches that you are enduring. We thank you for your service, also.

 Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers about my foot. It’s coming along.

 A little reminder: If you ask a question in a comment on one of the blogs or the Welcome to AnnTheGran page, please remember to come back to see if there’s an answer there. Better yet, post your questions in the forums where someone knowledgeable will always see them and try to help you out.

 Until next time, take care of yourselves, and don’t forget to sometimes turn off your computer and sew something! TTFN

It seems like I’ve been away for a long time, even though it’s only been a couple of weeks since I’ve written. So, so much has happened. First of all, July-August is our family’s big birthday season. We have a couple of stragglers, the twins in October and the baby in December but, for the most part, summer feels like a celebration around here. I now have 3 teenage grandchildren, two of whom are . . . driving! Pictured above are the two oldest, born on August 13th, a year apart. I realize that the birthday was a month ago, but aren’t those two kids gorgeous? I couldn’t resist sharing. I’ve scrapped a page about them here.

On to the Olympics

Well, the 17 days of sport are gone and almost forgotten now. Oprah had all the USA athletes on her show Monday and that did bring back some of the memories. The opening ceremonies were, of course, spectacular. I ordered a DVD of them from NBC. I’m saying I ordered it for my oldest grandson, who plans to go into lighting and sound engineering, but, really, I just wanted to watch it again. I had damp eyes through many of the events, but the ones that required a tissue were:

• when the torch came into the arena. I’m a sucker for that kind of thing and don’t know why I always cry at that moment in every Olympics.
• almost every time they showed Michael Phelps’ mother in the stands, especially the time she thought the relay team had come in second and it turned out that they won the gold
• Nastia Liukin flying into her father’s arms when she completed the floor exercise portion of the all around competition, securing her place on the podium

Something’s afoot

I’m doing fine, thank you for your prayers and good thoughts. I had heard so many horror stories (some from a few of you) that it was with a great deal of trepidation that I went into this surgery. While it’s true that the first three days were agony it’s been pretty much of a breeze since them. After the first week the huge bandage was removed and, even though I could hobble around fairly pain-free I was instructed to continue to use my crutches. After the second week the stitches were removed and I was told that the crutches were now optional. My next appointment isn’t for another five weeks and I’ve been instructed to wear the surgical boot until then. Fortunately I have a pair of black sandals that sort of resemble the boot so I don’t look TOO lopsided. I’m dying for a pedicure, though.

Things I learned while recovering:

• It is 37 steps from the couch in my living room to the bathroom.
• I f you have to wrap your foot in plastic before taking a shower, put a towel on the floor of the shower so you don’t slip around.
• And speaking of the shower, use a bath gel rather than a slippery bar of soap, which really hurts when it hits your foot.
• When you’re on crutches, be careful when you go around corners. It’s hard to keep a Band-aid on your elbow.
• When walking on crutches you can’t carry anything. Maybe you can manage to carry your empty coffee mug into the kitchen, but you can’t carry a full one back to your nest on the couch.
• The intercom on your home telephone is a life saver. You can call your husband/nurse whenever you need something. Who knew?

To jump or not to jump, that is the dilemma

You can eliminate all of the jump stitches some of the time, and you can eliminate some of the jump stitches all of the time, but you can’t eliminate all of the jump stitches all of the time. I want you do download and stitch out the design pictured above. You'll find it on the second page of Patriotic designs in the Free Designs section. The design is for a 5’ x 7’ hoop or larger. If you have only a 4” x 4” hoop, follow along with these illustrations.

The design illustrates a lot of digitizing techniques. For example:

• It’s best to digitize from the back of the design to the front. That is why you’ll see that white is the first, and also the eighth, thread and black is the fourth and also the eleventh thread.
• If a jump stitch will be covered with other stitches it should be as short as possible but, if the jump stitch must be clipped, it should be a long as possible. That is why, in this design, the black stitching with the fourth thread jumps back and forth between the two faces.
• Even though your machine, like my Innvo-is 4000D,  may clip threads for you, it’s still faster to stitch from one section of a design to another than to have the machine stop, clip the thread, and then go on. And most home embroidery machines don’t clip jump stitches.
• Stitches running between parts of a design are called pathing. When you’re digitizing pathing, run it just on the inside of the edge of the part of the design that it’s pathing through. You’ll see good examples of that when you look at the frames of the individual threads at the right. (Sorry about the scrolling!)
  
• When punching* your outline lay your stitches just to the inside of the borders of the design so the stitches will have something to grab on to. If you lay the stitches just to the outside of the borders the design will pull away from the outline and leave a space.
• While this isn’t a trick or tip, while you watch this design stitch you’ll see a good example of basket underlay.

 I hope this has given you enough to chew on for a while, because I can’t think of much else to tell you about digitizing for embroidery!

 Remembering

Seven years ago today AnnTheGran.com went dark for the first and only time. I was so distressed that the site seemed, on that day, more frivolous than I could bear. I had a hard time getting over that day, as I’m sure many of you did. I think I stayed in my pajamas on the couch for nearly a week. Of course we’ve all gone on since that terrible day, but I’m sure the memory of it lies like a cold stone in your hearts as it does in mine.

And, on that note, I’ll leave you. I think I’ve said all that I can say for the time being. Be well, stay out of the way of the hurricanes’ wrath, enjoy our wonderful, creative hobby and please, turn off your computer and sew something once in a while.  TTYL

*In the early days of commercial machine embroidery, designs were created on long trails of heavy paper, like the old computer punch cards, so digitizing embroidery was called “punching” and digitizers were called “punchers.” One of the greatest compliments I ever had was when a renowned embroidery colleague, said, when introducing me, “She’s another puncher.”

and take your wind and rain with you! Although we havent had any flooding as some of our Central Florida Embroiderers have suffered, or gale force winds, the constant rain and wind for 5 days has my brain jumbled and I'm ready to tear my hair out. But, as far as I know, all of us embroiderers here in Florda are fine, so keep your fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Digitizing tips, as promised. I can’t teach you how to digitize in my blog. I can’t even teach you how to digitize in a classroom. What I can do is to help you along with some basic tips and techniques.. If you’re serious about digitizing, and you’re prepared to spend a bit of time learning and practicing, I recommend my friend and colleague John Deer’s Basic Digitizing Made Easy. John’s instructions are generic, not tied to any particular software product, so they’re good to go for everyone. If you get a chance to take a class with John, do it. He’s not only talented and knowledgeable, but very cute.

I think I’ve learned more about digitizing from watching designs run than from any other source. That means sitting and watching every stitch. One time I was stitching a strawberry, one of the very few free designs that used to be available to us. As I watched I had one of those “aha!” moments. The first thing to stitch was a bunch of black blobs. Then the red strawberry stitched, leaving little holes that allowed tiny bits of the black blobs to show through. I was so excited by this technique for eliminating short, difficult to clip jump stitches that I’ve used it many times since I first saw it.

This is how I did it for flowers on a band. I did this in PE-Design. I don’t know how you would accomplish “hole sewing” with your particular software. You’ll have to consult the dreaded manual for that, but I'm sure it's something simple.

• First I drew 3 circles with no stitch data.
  
• Then I duplicated the circles, added stitch data and made them larger.
  
• Next I drew the flowers with no stitch data."
  
• Then I duplicated the flowers, added stitch data and made them larger.
  
• Then I drew the rectangle (with stitch data).
  

In order to be able to grab hold of each of the individual parts I pulled them apart and arranged them on my workspace. The circles and flowers without stitch data are the “holes.” They’re smaller than the same shapes with stitch data so no empty space will show when the design is assembled.

• Now I pulled the round holes onto the flowers and applied hole sewing.
• Then I pulled the flower holes onto the rectangle and applied hole sewing.
• Next I arranged the pink flowers under the holes in the rectangle.
• Then I arranged the yellow flower centers under the holes in the flowers.
  
• Last I checked my stitching order to be sure that the centers would sew first, the flowers second and the rectangle last.
  

And this is the finished product. It’s just a rough, poorly drawn design for demonstrating the technique. In real life I would do a more precise job with different kinds of stitches and, of course, so would you. But give it a try and once you’ve mastered the process go ahead and digitize something pretty!

Don’t feel bad if you have no interest in doing this exercise. Not everyone who embroiders needs to be a digitizer. In fact, if there were as many moderately priced designs available when I first started out as there are now, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into digitizing at all. Most of us use our digitizing software mainly for editing designs, combining designs and adding text.  

French Bath. We were off to Normandy for our D-Day tour.  When we stopped for petrol and potty I had a small but long lasting incident in the ladies’ room.  I guess we must have been in Belgium because the signs outside were in Dutch while inside everything was in French. To get on with the story, when I went to wash my hands I squirted soap on them from the dispenser right above the sink.  OH, NO!  It wasn’t soap, but toilet water! I guess the joke about a “French bath” is more fact than fiction. Scrubbing as hard as I could with soap from the correct dispenser, I couldn’t get the smell out off my hands. Four people were trapped in an enclosed car with that scent for most of the day. Well, at least we had chocolate. Lots of chocolate. And here's the scrapbook page.

I think that's it for me today. I'm having surgery on my left foot in the morning and I expect that I'll be "out of it" through the week-end. Stay dry, my friends in Florida! TTFN

Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely LOVE my Brother machines, especially my Innov-is 4000D. I purchased the 4000D several years ago with the intent that this was to be my last and greatest machine. I have been happily sewing and embroidering with it ever since and never gave even the tiniest smidgeon of a thought that I might even remotely ever want a different and newer machine. My baby does everything I could ever imagine I would ever want a sewing and embroidery machine to do. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans . . .

Last month a small Brother ad appeared on my home page. Being a raving Brother fan I, of course, clicked on the ad. When I got to the site I registered to receive email information about the newest machine that would be introduced soon. Over the next few weeks I received teasing emails and would always click through to view and read the hints of what was to come. On Saturday I received an email telling me that the new machine would make its appearance on Sunday. I clicked through immediately and the page said, in big bold letters, “No Peeking!” You know that on Sunday I went back to the site. To tell you the truth, I really wasn’t expecting to be blown away. After all, what could a machine possibly do that my Innov-is didn’t already do? But still, I wanted, needed to see Brother’s latest.

WOW! I was blown out of my chair! Everything my Innov-is does is in there and so many new functions that I can’t even get my brain around them. First of all, a 50 square inch work area? A 12” by 8” embroidery hoop? Being able to see what I’m embroidering in the hoop on the LCD screen? Close up? Okay, I could deal with those. Very nice, but, well, I can do without them. Then I saw that you export graphics right from the machine to your computer. Why would you want to do that? You can print a background design to print or iron on fabric and the hoop that printed design and embroider embellishments on top and the machine automatically centers itself so the design is exactly where it’s supposed to do. Now I’m getting very close to wanting this machine. Three USB ports? You can connect a mouse so it’s easier to move around the screen, no tapping with the little stylus. Something else that really got my attention was the crafting functions. Something I always wanted to do with my machine was paper punching, but after a few stitches the machine would sense that there was no thread in the needle, beep and stop. With the Quattro you can turn off the thread sensor so you can paper punch to your heart’s content.

I could go on and on but you have to see for yourselves. Take a look at the videos. Even if you’re not in the market for a new machine I think you’ll be blown away, as I was, by all this new technology.

 Now I really, really want this machine! I NEED this machine! Fortunately it looks like Brother is offering 36 month financing with no interest (plus a bunch of free accessories) if I get the machine before October 31. Unfortunately I have no authorized Brother dealer within 50 miles and I’ll have to go on a road trip to get it. Fortunately, the price of gasoline has dipped (??) to under $4.00 a gallon. 

I am not a spokesperson for Brother. I am assuming they chose my site to help launch their campaign for Quattro because 1. we get tons of traffic 2. they know I'm a huge fan. Other than the fact that we carry a few Brother products (among many others) on annthegran.com I am not affiliated with the company in any way. We do not and will not be carrying this machine (darn!). With that said, now I’m off to have a very serious conference with Mr. Bill. We’re celebrating our silver wedding anniversary this week. I think a new sewing, embroidering, quilting and crafting machine would be a perfect gift, don’t you? I’d get to use it and Bill would get to watch me. Sounds fair to me!

I'm really wrapped up in the Olympics coverage this week so I've made this blog about the other thing that's got my attention brief. Next week I'll have some digitizing tips, as requested, another travelogue, as requested, my Olympics wrap-up comments and probably a grandma tale or two. 'Til then, get stitchin' and stay out of the kitchen! I'm back to the couch to root for the home team. TTFN.