Category Archives: embroidery

Flower Garden on my Overalls

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I bought a pair of those baggy overalls the young people are wearing. For me, they are at the very least, cool and comfortable.

They are not flattering.

They should be worn while working around the house. Not in public. (Not by me, anyway.)

However, I got it into my head that I wanted a row of flowers across the top of the bib.

It was not a difficult task, but it is a challenge to transfer a drawing onto a dark background. I don’t have the solution to this yet. For these, I just redrew the image I wanted directly onto the overalls using a blue wash-away pen.

Then I stitched it out.

I thought it was cute. But then the dark color of the hyacinth on the end was bothering me. It’s actually very true to what a hyacinth looks like. I have pics of them starting to bloom in my back yard.

But every time I walked past them, the dark color of that flower on the end bothered me more and more. I was not going to relax until I picked out every single one of those french knots and redid it.

Since I wanted to stay true to the color of a hyacinth, I went with peach. I have peach hyacinths in my front yard.

I am much happier with this result. The hyacinth looks a bit bright in this pic but that’s just the lighting. It now blends in with the others much more.

Tip:

I wanted to protect the stitching and the knots on the back so that when this gets machine-washed, nothing will fall apart.

I remembered a product that OESD carries called Gentle Touch. It is designed to iron onto the back of machine embroidery so that the stitches against your skin (or a child, or baby’s skin) will not irritate. It really is very soft, with fusible on one side.

I ironed it onto the back and now, not only does it not rub, but all the stitches are given an extra layer of protection when going through a washer and dryer. The front stays exactly the same, There’s just an added layer of protection on the back. I’m going to use it on the back of all my hand stitching.

It’s funny that there is a product for every single need. Of course, when I needed Gentle Touch, I did not have it in my vast stock of stabilizers. Here’s a link for you.

My next challenge is a patch on my husband’s grass-mowing pants. No pressure there. If my mending is a complete failure, who cares? (Trust me, not my husband.) So that leaves room for me to be a bit experimental.

Anyway, the season is starting to turn here in the Northern Hemisphere. We are prepping for a solar eclipse and an onslaught of cicadas. Nature is keeping us occupied this spring.

As my grandmother used to say, “Keep your hands busy!”

Hugs and stitches, and have a wonderful Spring.

First Quilt of 2024

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My niece is having a baby at the end of this month. My nephews and nieces all get quilts when they have a baby. Thank heavens, I think they are slowing down now. This may be the last one. And this baby (we know it’s a girl) is getting a cute one for sure.

So I just want to say that I am not terribly fond of these somewhat complicated quilt instructions. If I had my way, every quilt would be improv. Or my other preferred way is 300 blocks of the exact same pattern. That way, a bad cut or a mis-measurement is not that big a deal. Lots of focus on color and design…not so much on fussiness. Plenty more fabric and ways to get around an error.

But this was a kit I purchased at the local quilt shop. And while I liked most of the fabric, they had a much duller color for the body of the fox. So I scrounged around in my sewing room and found something that had *just enough* fabric to be perfect for the fox body. But not an inch to spare.

That makes a slightly stressful process.

And here is an image of the many post-it notes necessary to label all the parts of this quilt.

Starting at A, we were well into HH and II and JJ. That’s a lot of different pieces.

But I managed to get it assembled.

I kept the quilting simple but fun. And added some lettering to the white border dedicating the quilt to the coming arrival, with my name and the year.

I’m pleased with the way it turned out. The assembly was a bit painful, but that’s just me. I always find that part hard to wrap my brain around.

If you are interested in the pattern, you can find it here.

I hope your new year is off to a good start. We have had almost all cloudy and foggy days.

The sun needs to show up soon.

Happy late winter. I’m already waiting for spring.

We’ll check back in soon!

What I Did During Summer Vacation

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The asters have started blooming and that means only one thing — summer is over.

This year I attended summer camp. Well, it was a virtual summer camp, sponsored by Modern Quilt Studio. We all worked on a Mystery Quilt together. Well, together separately. If you are interested in the pattern, you can purchase it here. I’m not sure how long it will be available…possibly only until Oct. 1, 2023.

I was very pleased with my color palette, as it caused a great deal of agonizing on the front end of the project. But I was very happy with the way it turned out. The quilt is approximately 83 x 60.

In between installments, I was inspired to start some handwork. I really haven’t done any hand embroidery in years. Yet, my garden this year got me interested in trying something new.

Here is a pic of one of the cosmos in the garden.

And below is my interpretation of this flower in hand embroidery. Obviously, it takes quite a bit longer to stitch out when it’s done by hand…and designed in my head as I go along. A few more days, maybe a week.

And then what am I going to do with it? Well that’s a good question. I’ll have to think about it when it’s done.

I hope you have been keeping your head and hands busy this summer. As I sit here, it’s over 90 degrees outside. The warm weather seems to hang on longer into the fall season these days. But I know it’s time to start hauling out the autumn decor. And even as I stitch a piece of summer onto this fabric, I am thinking about the cooler weather, orange lights, and spooky trees.

Enjoy every moment that comes your way.

And Happy Stitching!

The Mysterious Power of Dorset Buttons

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A week or so ago, I learned how to make Dorset buttons. A friend invited me to an online class, and I randomly decided to attend.

I am not British. I don’t cosplay. Though I have watched quite a bit of Downton Abbey and various Jane Austen renditions.

Nevertheless, I took the class. For those of you who do not know what a Dorset button is, I will give you the basics and you can google the rest. The Internet has produced many more people who are better at the craft or at describing their history than I.

Back in the 16th and 17th centuries, buttons weren’t a thing. We take them for granted in our lives, but they really weren’t available in mass production until sometime in the 1800’s. In the county of Dorset in England, the folks invented and made famous this way of creating a custom “button”, and the craft has carried on now for centuries. Feel free to google “How to Make a Dorset button.” Many people will provide you with instructions and supply lists.

I took the class on a whim, and then discovered, to my surprise, that making these was…I don’t know…FUN. If you are like me, you might already have a stash of heavier weight thread or perl cotton. Purchasing plastic rings online is quite easy. And get started with an upholstery or chenille needle that has a dull point and a large eye.

Once I started making them, I found that I wanted to make more and more. Why not try one in this color? Or in that size?

The next obvious step was to turn them into jewelry. (Well, obvious to me.)

Once the the ring is filled, it is a miniature open canvas for embroidery. so I started with something extremely simple with no thought at all.

But now I’m thinking about different embroideries and shapes and sizes. And I purchased a few necklaces and clasps, and now I’m just on my way.

Of course I’m still sewing, but this little distraction has taken me down a rabbit hole of renewed creativity and possibilities. Plus it’s easy to do while watching TV or sitting at the kitchen table.

Give Dorset buttons a try. You just don’t know when something will ignite a bit of inspiration.

Qullting with Machine Embroidery: An Experiment

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Even good ideas can start with a real mess. That’s what’s shown above.

I had the inspiration to do a small quilt/wall-hanging featuring a panel of some holiday-decorated sheds. Charming right? They really are.

And I wanted the quilting to be featured, because I really liked the idea of falling snowflakes as a quilting design.

I got this design at Embroidery Library who just never fails me. Then the idea snowballed (no pun intended) and I found a charming village embroidery that I wanted to incorporate.

So far so good.

But I really got hung up on the border. I wanted so badly to incorporate red and white buffalo checks. I tried it in so many ways. I wanted it to fit with my soon-to-be Christmas theme of red and white gingham. (Never mind that my whole house is going to look like a CrackerBarrel.) Anyway, you can see from the top pic that the red was jarring and annoying.

The village border embroidery, however, was adorable and I had to use a mid-tone fabric, so that the snow trim on the village would show up.

I finally landed on a layout that seemed calm, and simple and peaceful, like the images on the quilt.

Now for the snowflake quilting. The first thing I did was stitch out the design on pieces of cutaway stabilizer. I stitch out the first right side up, and the second upside down. Yes, I could have just turned it around in the machine each time, but I also saved the design in software both ways. So with each hooping, I could choose A or B, and didn’t have to fuss with turning the design upside down and back on the screen every time. I cut them to precisely fit the inside of the hoop and used it as a guide to hoop each design.

With the first stitch out, I knew I was going to love the quilting.

Giant snowlflakes falling on a sleepy Christmas village. Yum!

But then I started to really worry about the darker color. Would the snowflakes be too busy? Would the embroidery design underneath hold its integrity against the quilting?

It worked just fine, I’m happy to say. The quilting adds texture, and if you look closely you can see the snowflakes. But they do not overwhelm the village, which was my fear. The quilting thread throughout is Isacord white. Top and bobbin. And it worked like a dream.

Do not try to do machine embroidery quilting with Aurifil. Look. I love Aurifil as much as anyone else, but it really is not designed for the high speed of machine embroidery. It breaks and you will want to scream. (Ask me how I know. Luckily, I learned that lesson on a prior project. Now I only use machine embroidery thread when using machine embroidery for quilting. Just imagine doing 40-some-odd hoopings, and you have to keep stopping for thread breaks. Trust, me on this one…use embroidery thread.)

And one more word of advice: Be sure to leave plenty of batting and backing around the outside of your quilt when you are embroidering. I had to do several hoopings that reached the edge of the quilt and stitched off. You need the room to let the design stitch on something as it runs off the end of your quilt.

In the end, the quilting turned out lovely, and I’m really enjoying the tiny details. It’s a “look closer” kind of quilt.

I want to encourage you to try machine embroidery for quilting. I know it’s intimidating, and 40+ hoopings sounds daunting. But each hooping took about 7 minutes to stitch out. So maybe 8 hours of work spread out over 2-3 days. I was able to precisely place each sequential hooping by using the 2 different cutaway stabilizer templates.

The look is exactly what I wanted. But let me tell you, along the way, I was never sure it would work. I guess that’s what makes it fun.

Happy Stitching to all of you, and Happy Holiday Season!

P.S. Don’t forget your quilt labels!

New for Me! Hatch Embroidery Software by Wilcom

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If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know I like my embroidery software. But I recently made a switch…for many reasons.

I switched to Hatch Embroidery Software. It is made by Wilcom, the same folks who create Bernina Embroidery Software. So if you have used Bernina, the user interface will look familiar.

They offer 3 levels of functionality, and I decided to go with the one that is basically the least expensive. I certainly could upgrade at any point. But for now, I’m very, very pleased. I found that I was not doing a lot of digitizing from scratch. In fact, most of the time I just purchased a design, added copy (or words) and was done.

I wouldn’t discourage anyone from using any embroidery software, as long as you learn to use it and then USE IT. What I found is that I was not using 90% of the software I was paying (quite a lot) of money for.

So I switched to something that is easier in functionality, downloads in a flash, is not encumbered by any hefty programs, and still does what I want it to do.

Reasons I use embroidery software:

–I like to see the order of thread colors that my design will stitch out.

–I want to personalize it by adding words or names. I do all my quilt labels in embroidery.

–I always want to know stich count.

–I like to be able to re-size my designs, or combine them on a screen that is big enough for me to see.

–I want to easily use the software on both my desktop and laptop. I keep my laptop near the sewing machine so I can refer to it, while I’m stitching out. But I purchase designs on my desktop.

Reasons to switch:

–I want to easily use my software on both my desktop and laptop, without it getting bogged down launching or freezing.

–I’m really tired of dongles and USB sticks for loading.

–Honestly, I don’t want to pay quite so much to upgrade every time for features I rarely use.

This is a personal decision and everyone has different software needs. And our personal embroidery software wants and needs change over time. Believe me, no one pays me to promote their software, so I am free to make decisions based on my own preferences.

But, of course, I wanted to share those things with you. Once I discovered this software, I was really pleased that it was an option for me.

Hatch offers a 3-tiered purchasing offer. The one I use is Personalizer. But they have 2 more upgrades which have more functionality.

You can use all 3 versions for a month for free, so you can decide which best suits you and the things you want to create. And heaven knows, they always encourage you to upgrade/update.

I find that this works for me at the moment. I reserve the right to change my mind.

And next time, it won’t cost me quite as much to do so.

One Quilt Done, and a Tip for Sloppy Eaters

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I thought I would share the final version of this quilt.

Looks like I’m ready to move on to a baby shower gift. The next one will be a modern quilt. I’m busy cutting out pieces at the moment and will share it with you as soon as I get a bit further.

But here’s a little idea for those of you who do machine embroidery and drop food on yourselves. Wouldn’t you like to see the Venn diagram for that?

Anyway, I do both those things. And so I had a stain from something delicious on a shirt that I made during the pandemic. The fact that it has held up for a few seasons and many washings makes it even better. Nevertheless, I had some kind of drip down the front of it that the washing machine and dryer just made permanent. I’ve never been good with stains and I will take any and all suggestions. I don’t remember quite what the stain was on this shirt, likely some reddish fruit juice. (That’s not a euphemism for wine. I only drink white, and that’s rare.)

So I added an embroidery design. I wanted it to be light weight…and it needed to be the shape of something that dripped while I was eating or drinking…or cooking.

Luckily, I found this collection from Embroidery Online called Heirloom Birds. Turned out to be the perfect design. Lightweight, easy and quick to stitch. I purchased the whole collection. I am a healthy eater, so there’s bound to be more where this came from.

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying your craft. Don’t be afraid to use it to your advantage. None of us is perfect. But a little embroidery goes a long way. (That has to be in a Jane Austen novel somewhere.)

Happy Spring! I’ll be in touch as my next quilt gets further along.

The Lowly Zen of Cardmaking

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No one uses paper any more. I know. Just a quick email or text…how are you? what’s up? how’s everything? hey, thanks (I may be using too much punctuation.)

But I am a card writer. I would much rather tell someone how I feel in long form. And if I want to confound my son, like sending a message in code, I use cursive, which no one in younger generations can interpret.

Last year, or maybe the year before, or maybe even 2019, I purchased some card stock for machine embroidery.

The two best places I have found to purchase card embroideries are Embroidery Online, Embroidery Library.

The designs you see here are a mix of the two.

I did not purchase anything new to make these. That’s part of my new goal, to be as much of a non-consumer as possible unless it is electronic. The designs don’t count, at least not in my book, as they are digital–a simple download, and off we go.

Here are a few tips if you want to work with machine embroidery and cardstock:

  1. Use designs specifically digitized for cards. Unless you are daring and a pro, I don’t recommend trying to use any design that is stitch-heavy. It’s just not worth the hassle.
  2. Use a sticky back cutaway stabilizer like Stabilstick Cutaway from OESD
  3. Score the paper side of the stabilizer, and remove it from inside the hoop. You hoop the stabilizer first, paper side up, then score it with a straight pin. Don’t be afraid. Then just tear it out of the inside of the hoop.
  4. On OESD designs, the first stitch is for placement of the card. The first color of the design is a stitched rectangle that goes directly onto the stabilizer and shows you where to place the card. It saves you from some fiddling you might have to do with other designs to get the placement centered.
  5. General machine embroidery tip: If the machine says it will take 15 minutes to stitch out, allow 30 minutes. The time allowed for stitching is just that: stitching time. It doesn’t account for any thread changing time, or cutting of jump stitches or your general speed that you like to work. The more thread changes, the more time you should allow “over” the predicted time.
  6. Always start with a well-oiled machine, a full bobbin and a new needle (sharp or Microtex 80/12.)

This Christmas card from OESD was quite stitch heavy, and I’m not sure I would do it again. It required an applique for the black background. I measured the placement stitch and cut a piece of Kraft-Tex to fit. It turned out well, but I did not appreciate the amount of time involved for one card.

You can see the back of one of the cards. I think you can cover that up with another piece of cardstock. But I thought that some of the charm was that it looked as nice from behind as it did from the front.

As someone who loves stationery, I found these lovely and easy to stitch, for the most part. The designs do come with thread charts and instructions, but it’s a lot more fun to choose your own color way.

Finally, for the last card in the box, I took one of my photos (a peace lily bloom, with a pointsettia background). I transferred it onto the card using Transfer Artist Paper. It was simple and easy, and now I have a set of personalized cards for all occasions.

I hope you still write letters from time to time. I love to receive them and I think others do too. In a world where everything is fleeting, fast and electronic, let’s cherish a little bit of slow communication.

Peace out.

Kraft-Tex and Machine Embroidery…My Favorite Combination

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Once again, I’m on the path to create something new and fresh for Valentine’s Day. I don’t know why I always want to make something for this holiday…it’s so over-hyped and over-done already. Except that it’s mid-winter, and once I put the holiday decorations away, I’m left yearning to do something different. And I always find something unique for Valentine’s Day.

Here are a few of my past posts:

—My Heart’s Greeting, and Other Valentines

–The Un-Valentine

–-Valentine’s Day Kraft-Tex Project

–My Practical Valentine

–-Kraft-Tex, Transfer Artist Paper and Living on the Island of Lost Tools

–Buttoned-Up Valentine

I noticed that I tend to use Kraft-Tex paper a lot for this holiday. Not sure why, it just inspires me.

These days, I am obsessed with little houses. So I found this set of cross stitch designs on Etsy, from Waxing Moon Designs. It is an e-pattern with 3 designs.

I don’t do cross stitch, but I digitize designs. So I used my Bernina Embroidery Software to re-create these in machine embroidery.

I love thiem.

Each one is adorably cute and just perfect for Valentine’s Day.

These are stitched out on the brown craft paper color of Kraft-Tex. I always use 2 layers of Stabilstick cutaway stabilizer when machine embroidering. I could easily turn these into cards or ornaments or hanging decorations.

Here is a post where I created an entire village for a Christmas tree skirt. (It’s from 2020.) And below is a video (I’m not good at videos.) showing all the different buildings in the little cross stitch town.

These days I’ve been kicking around the idea of a quilt village, with my own designs of tiny houses and a village. I have some ideas, but I have to work out the patterns.

I want to do them in applique, but it’s all still in my mind. I have other projects to finish before then.

So stay warm during this mid-winter season, and Happy Stitching!

Why We Sew and Embroider

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On inauguration night Dr. Jill Biden wore an amazing ensemble of embroidered flowers from all 50 states and the territories.

All I saw on Inauguration night was a lovely white coat.

Then Threads Magazine posted something about the details.

I have to share this with all of you.

Here’s a link to all the gorgeous details of her dress and coat, including the muslin.

Be sure to scroll to the video at the bottom and scroll within it, to see all the stages and the making of the coat and dress. What a stunner. Yup, this is why we sew and embroider.

It’s my goal to be able to make a coat like that. Perfection.