In-depth Machine Embroidery Art Framing Patterns

My little family of three is staying with my father-in-law while our household goods make the slow trek from Greece to California. Over the years, this has been the norm, but it is much different this time because my mother-in-law is no longer here to run the household. That now falls to me. While I’ve cooked in this kitchen off and on for 25 years, it is so different now actually doing instead of just helping. I find that even my tried-and-true recipes aren’t turning out the same. Very strange. I’ve begun making notes on my computer so that I’ll have some idea of what I’m doing right or wrong. Luckily, I won’t be in charge of holiday meals this year!

I have similar problems in machine embroidery. I’m rarely satisfied to leave things exactly as the designer suggests or the embroidery patterns insist on. Of course, sometimes I just understand they my machine will be happier if certain adjustments are made. As long as I think things through before making changes, all is usually well. Of course, these are intentional changes and not the weird, unidentifiable ones happening in the kitchen.

Take Little Time to Study Embroidery Designs

It was early afternoon today when my son and I realized that we hadn’t seen our two kittens since early morning. On any normal day, this wouldn’t have been much of a concern. On a moving day, though, all bets are off. Especially when the kittens’ favorite hiding place is inside the couch and those couches have been fully encapsulated with cardboard and tape.

It’s not a good feeling to think of what could have happened. Luckily, with the help of the movers, we were able to find them and remove them from the couch before it began its 12-week journey. The scare was horrid, but the joy at finding them soon overshadowed it. Still, I was rattled for quite a while.

Machine Embroidery Designs – Build Your Own Style

In terms of decorating, whether it is your home or your person, I am a firm believer that less is always more. Too much of a good thing just spoils the whole endeavor! Unfortunately, I get hopped up on the power of the sewing or embroidery machine and stitch until my original project idea is barely recognizable. I know I should stop, but I just can’t seem to do so.

If the project is for the home, I quietly remove as much of the additional “décor” as I can before using it as intended. If I’m unable to salvage it, it becomes a new fixture in my sewing room to remind me not to do the same again. As for clothing items, they sit in my closet, never worn, looking beautiful and embarrassing. I would never actually wear them outside the house. From the looks of my fellow crafters at times, though, I don’t think all of them share my less is more philosophy.

Perfect Embroidery Designs & Patterns for Your Projects

It was early afternoon today when my son and I realized that we hadn’t seen our two kittens since early morning. On any normal day, this wouldn’t have been much of a concern. On a moving day, though, all bets are off. Especially when the kittens’ favorite hiding place is inside the couch and those couches have been fully encapsulated with cardboard and tape.

It’s not a good feeling to think of what could have happened. Luckily, with the help of the movers, we were able to find them and remove them from the couch before it began its 12-week journey. The scare was horrid, but the joy at finding them soon overshadowed it. Still, I was rattled for quite a while.

Striking Machine Embroidery designs and supplies

A couple of months ago, the thought of leaving Greece to go back to our home in California was quite distressing. We decided to stay for one more year. Then, career plans changed, and we are returning home after all. However, now that it is real, instead of just being thought about, I find that I am looking forward to returning home.

First, there are all the different foods that I love that I can’t get here; simple things like non-dairy coffee creamer and real donuts beckon me. Fast food and Chinese take-out are guilty pleasures that I can’t wait to indulge in again. While I love Greek food, nothing beats a greasy burger from one’s favorite joint.

Mostly, though, I’m looking forward to going home where I can go shopping and find all the wonderful embroidery supplies  that make my heart sing. Here, I can get some thread for machine embroidery, but it’s just not enough! I need stabilizer and embroidery designs and Peltex and Mulberry Paper and everything else. When trying to find those things here, most of the shopkeepers think I’m trying to sell them something. It’s funny to hear the words “no thank you” when I’m trying to buy something, but it gets frustrating, too!

Commercial Machine Embroidery designs!!!

During our four years here in Greece, I’ve has so many people get excited when they find out that I do machine embroidery. They always say they should have me create this or that project. In that time, only one of them actually did so, and I had to turn down the commission because the project was both against copyright laws, and would not have been a proper project to highlight my skills. Strangely, now that we are leaving for home in a couple of weeks and my embroidery supplies are packed up, everyone seems to want me to create something for them.

When it rains, it pours!

When I have to turn down every request, I get one of two responses. The first is a glad assurance that their project will just take a second. Really. The second is a knowing look followed with the sudden remembrance that moving is time consuming. Regardless of the response, I’m reminded of a good reason to move. None of these people have offered true neighborliness, instead asking me to do something for them when I have very little time for myself.

The Best Machine Embroidery Designs and Supplies

This time of year, moms are thinking about the new school year. Now that my son is grown and college is his responsibility, I’m free to think and worry about and plan other things. Some years, it’s all about the upcoming holidays, décor and gifts. Other times, like this year, it’s all about calendars, organization and making my house look like the home I want it to be. Of course, my stitching comes into play in a lot of this, whether it’s making quilted tote bags or tablecloths embellished with machine embroidery.

My husband is in a career that has a messed up schedule. Most of them work 48 hours on and 48 hours off, while others work weekdays, and some work weekdays, but also put in a 24-hour shift sometime during that week. It’s confusing for them, and nearly impossible for us wives to figure out, especially when they get a 4-day break once a month and an 8-day break once per quarter. How do we plan our days, parties, and more? When do I have a full day to devote to playing with my machine embroidery designs?

Three years ago, I took over making the pocket schedules and wall calendars for everyone. These calendars, through an intricate system of color coding denote days on shift, days off, and whether those days off are the normal 48 hours or the more anticipated 4- and 8-day breaks. Last year, I took it a step further and created a planner for each of the wives. These include extra calendars, like showing who is off at the same time. It also includes our contact information, conversion charts and lots of local information for getting around and enjoying our brief stay in Greece.

As well as enjoying what I can do in the realm of machine embroidery, I love using my computer for paper crafting in an arty way and in putting together things like those planners. Most of the wives make some sort of ornament or small gift to give at Christmas, so while I created the planners, my embroidery machine was right beside me, stitching out lovely free-standing lace ornaments. My husband and son got involved by adding hot-fix crystals to the rinsed and dried ornaments and also added pretty ribbon as a hanger. Every year, we also create a CD of holiday music. These all packaged together quite well, and we all had a blast doing it.

This year, I need to update the planners and create additional ones for the newcomers. I need to collect phone numbers and email addresses, find out kids’ names and everyone’s birthdays! I used to be an office manager, so this type of thing lets me enjoy the work I did for so long.

However, this year, thoughts of the planners have me thinking of my home. Doing animal fostering as I do, the house gets to be a real jumble. Ordinary, every-day cleaning just doesn’t keep it organized. Two weeks ago, it got a thorough going-over because my son had a house guest. Since this is the first girl he’s brought home, I wanted everything to be perfect. Unfortunately, I forgot about making the new couch pillows with that great free embroidery design I found. Instead, I concentrated on making our American-Clutter house look modern and European. I succeeded to a degree, but then had nothing on hand to show our guest when she asked what I do. This got me thinking about what I really want my home to reflect.

I realized that the kitchen was a success. It has everything I need, much like a great embroidery space, and my supplies, whether kitchen or embroidery supplies, are placed for easy reach. There’s a bit of decorative jumble, but color is the key ingredient. Splashes of red in the mahogany and white space make the room look light and bright! The lack of clutter helps!

So, while I plan my next fabulous embroidery pattern, I’ll be sorting my home with the thought of open spaces and lots of color. No clutter, but a healthy jumble of decorative items that show we live here and love it. Pillows with fabulous floral embroidery and curtains trimmed with free-standing lace embroidery designs. Place mats and runners from a pattern at my favorite embroidery design gallery.

A bowl of fruit on the table in the great room, and my home is ready for me and any guests! Come on over! We’ll have coffee and a good chat!

Embroidery- Let the creativity flow

This has been a weird sort of week. First, we have a house guest; a female friend of my son visiting from Finland. Then, my husband who usually works a 2-day-on/2-day-off shift schedule is in a class for two weeks. That means instead of coming home after his 48-hour shift, he’s in class and only gets to come home a couple of nights each week. It’s really messing with my calm, especially since he’s the more social of the two of us. But, our house guest is very shy, and I think she’s afraid of my husband, so I guess it’s better that it’s just me here trying to make sure she has a good time.

Strangely, other than spending a bit more time each day keeping the house tidy, I have found myself getting a lot more done than I usually do! I’ve met all my deadlines for the month, when I usually am rushing to get done. I’ve been working on quilting, embroidery and my writing as the mood hits. It’s a wonderful feeling!

With all this energy for work, I’ve managed to get quite a few machine embroidery designs completed. I love digitizing, but it can be very time consuming. This week, the work has flowed so easily. Maybe I should have a house guest more often! My husband already works 72 hours a week, so I don’t think I can ask him to work even more so I can work on my embroidery passion.

Because my creativity has come so easily this week, I’ve even tried a few new techniques and have ordered some new embroidery supplies as well. I’m looking forward to trying out my new embroidery designs on the Mulberry Paper that’s coming. Embroidered holiday cards have always been a favorite of mine, but I never had time to do them by hand. Thank goodness for machine embroidery!

Once my son and his guest go out for the day, and leave the internet to my sole use, I’ll upload a new set of designs to the embroidery design gallery that I belong to. While I’m there, I’ll also look over all the great designs by the other digitizers. If I’m lucky, I’ll find a couple of awesome free embroidery downloads or a couple of new embroidery patterns. Although I’m a digitizer, I still stitch lots of embroidery designs by other designers. We all have such different talents and styles.

Now that the day is coming to a close, I need to rush a bit to complete the embroidery projects that I set for the week. Tomorrow, I’ll be getting my hair done (a rarity) and then getting the house in order and making lasagna. My husband will be home tomorrow night and Saturday, and I want it to be as pleasant as possible for him. The embroidery can be put on hold for him.

As much as I love machine embroidery, I love my husband more. Actually, without his support I wouldn’t even be involved in the art of machine embroidery or the creative endeavor of digitizing embroidery designs.

Maybe his favorite cherry pie after dinner would be a good way to tell him how much I appreciate him. I wonder if my Finish guest will like it.

Embroidery Designs: The Delight of variety

I only began my machine embroidery passion after many, many years of sewing and quilting. Once I understood just how versatile embroidery designs could be, I decided to try my hand at digitizing my own. My first attempts were awful, but I enjoyed the process so much that I just kept trying. I soon realized that I had discovered a passion that I could actually embrace as my new full-time job, leaving behind the dry and boring career of accounting forever. This was something I had been looking to find for a long time, so you can imagine my excitement!

Of course, providing top quality machine embroidery designs takes more than just deciding to do so! It took more than a year to find my style and test my own designs until they were all that I hoped they would be. Placing my first designs for sale was both exciting and terrifying! What if I had failed? Dreams are hard to put aside, so I just kept moving forward. I’m so glad that I did.

Every digitizer of embroidery designs has their own style, own goals, and own ideas on what they want to provide for their customers. Because I love to share and teach, I like to provide free embroidery designs as often as possible. This allows embroiderers to test my designs to make sure they like them, and also allows me to help out those whose budgets don’t allow for a lot of different embroidery patterns.

My style keeps evolving, which is both wonderful and not. Each new style shift means many more hours of practice and test stitching, which takes away from my need to create. But, trying out new ideas also keeps my creativity going strong. It is obvious that I will never grow bored because there are so many different types of embroidery designs and styles to try out!

My goals are twofold. For those who stitch my designs, I want them to enjoy every step of the process and never have any issues with the embroidery that they create. I know that I will not always succeed with this goal, but I always try! For myself, I simply want to never have to go back to the staid, uncreative job of number-crunching. Creating machine embroidery designs will never make me monetarily successful, but my life is so much richer for the choice I made to follow my dream.

I sometimes wonder what the future may hold for me. Will I create my own line of embroidery supplies? Will I discover a machine embroidery thread that never breaks? Will I discover a way to make my embroidery machine also sweep the floor and fold the laundry? Hey, it’s my fantasy! Dreaming big just means that our smallest dreams will come true. We may have to work hard for the biggest dreams, but I believe the journey is worth it whether the dream is realized or not.

Take a moment each day to work towards your dream. Everyone should be as content as I am today.

Quilting- The Joy of Gifting

It is better to give than to receive. This is a quote that most of us know. For me, it is also very true. I love Christmas, birthdays and other gift giving occasions like new babies, weddings, anniversaries, housewarmings, and more. I adore giving hostess gifts whenever we are invited to someone’s home as well. I just love giving gifts. I’ve never been able to afford extravagant gifts, but I think that my joy in giving shows in the choices of the gifts.

With my love of quilting, machineembroidery, crochet, cross-stitch and decorative painting, along with soap-making and cooking, I’ve given my share of homemade gifts over the years. With rare exception, my gifts have always been much appreciated. I’m very glad I took up soap-making and made time for embroidery as these are the quickest of crafts!

During a recent online discussion at a machine embroidery group, it came up that those of us who make homemade gifts rarely receive homemade gifts. Instead, we receive purchased items. While any gift is appreciated, it is the consensus that we would all love to receive something that was crafted just for us.

While I do create homemade items for my friends who are also crafters, they never reciprocate. They show me their projects for praise and pointers, overjoyed when I compliment their work (I always pronounce ever project as perfect). But, I am never the recipient of their artistry. Maybe they feel that it’s not good enough, or maybe they feel that I could just make it myself if it was something I wanted in the first place.

I had been quilting and doing my other fiber arts for 10-15 years before I finally allowed myself to purchase that first embroidery machine. I had convinced myself that I just didn’t have time for it with everything else that I was doing. I was both right and wrong in that assumption. While learning the intricacies of machine embroidery and discovering all the free embroidery designs I could find online, my other fiber arts suffered from neglect. But, once I stopped discovering and started stitching, my new embroidery passion enhanced all of my others crafts! I’d call that a win!

Not long after this, and after a huge bout of stocking up on new-to-me embroidery supplies, I realized that I would like to digitize my own designs. While I could find just about anything I wanted to stitch, I like to think that my style is just a bit different, and I wanted to be able to reflect that in embroidery. So, new software and thick manuals once again took time away from my quilting. I forgot how to crochet and cross-stitch entirely. Cooking became a dirty word!

Like many before me, I had the thought that I no longer need purchase beautiful linens or someone else’s embroidery designs. I could do it all myself. And, like all those before me, I was woefully wrong! While I gained the knowledge and skill to be able to make just about anything my heart desired, I still lacked all the time in the world to do it all.

Ten years later, I have a system. I will happily buy pretty linens and clothing if they fit in my budget. If not, I will think about the time needed to digitize similar designs. If I can find something close at my favorite embroidery design gallery, I will humbly succumb to another digitizer’s artistry. It’s all about time, now.

It works great for me. Now, if I could only convey to my crafty friends that I really can’t just make whatever I want and would love one of their homemade hand-painted silk shopping bags or crocheted cashmere scarf, my world would be complete!

Keep Embroidering!

I’ve been looking forward to moving back into my sewing room now that Molly and her almost fully grown, but still quite young, kittens have been moved to an outside enclosure. They took over the room for four months! I have lots of cleaning to do and lots of organizing; I also had even more enjoyment of them living and growing safely while they destroyed the room!

I had planned on doing the cleaning and organizing this weekend so that Monday morning would see me bright eyed and bushy tailed getting some of my backed up embroidery projects done. And, then, my loving husband springs some news on me. The house we are interested in will be vacant in three months. Last time it was vacant, we couldn’t afford it. Now we can.

As a bit of background, we all rent here in Greece. We have a housing office that shows us houses that should meet our requirements. Unfortunately, not all the best houses are always available. We were shown three houses and had a tough decision between two of them. One had everything we wanted except a view and a pool. However, it had modern amenities and plenty of space for my machine embroidery and quilting activities. The second house had the view, but still no pool. We chose it. It wasn’t set up as well as the other one, but we’ve made it work for the past three years. The house we are interested in will be ours if we want it, since the owner has known us the whole time we’ve been here. We won’t have to deal with the housing office telling us it isn’t available (because one of their friends wants it). All of this is in our favor.

Did I mention that the house has a pool and a view! Not to mention a perfect setup for my hobbies and my husband’s, too.

I had just finally gotten settled in my sewing room before Molly had her kittens. I’m just getting ready to get back in there. But, if we are moving in 3 months, I should concentrate on packing. At first, I was really stressed out about it and then I remembered something.

When I set up my sewing room this time, I made sure that all of my furniture pieces were either portable or could be taken apart, or both. I don’t have any large items that will be hard to move as most of them are light enough that I can move them myself. This is a huge plus! And, I still haven’t unpacked most of my embroidery supplies or fabric, and all of my embroidery designs are on the computer, so that’s less packing I’d need to do.

I’ve always been interested in sewing room setup since I got my first dedicated room ten years ago. Besides setting up areas for machine embroidery and/or quilting, it’s important to also have an area for cutting and pressing, and these should be set up at an ergonomically correct height (about 1-2 inches below your bent elbow), whether you stand or sit to do them. If a space needs to do double-duty, it needs to be thought out ahead of time and then tweaked until it works. Nothing should be set in stone!

I love the look of the commercial sewing tables! They are beautiful and look so organized. The truth is that they actually limit what can be done by offering only “stock” spaces. Whether you are trying to complete some large embroidery patterns or put together your latest quilt, the spaces are not big enough. Instead, opt for inexpensive smaller pieces like student or office desks. On average, it’s possible to buy 20 of these and use them how you want for the price of one of the commercial sewing tables. No, I don’t have 20 desks! I have three office-sized ones! Plus some folding tables and small pieces like stacked cubes. Everything on wheels.

And, a great sewing room can truly be put together for very little money! Use items you already have, repurposing where necessary. For a cohesive look, it’s easy and inexpensive to simply paint all the pieces the same color. Add a good desk chair, from the office supply not the sewing supplier, and you’re good to go!

If you set up a room on a budget, it leaves you wiggle room for that new embroidery machine or lots of fabulous machine embroidery designs! You decide!

Embroidering You Way To Peace

We live in a small, waterfront community in Greece. When we moved into our rental house, we had a gorgeous view of the old Venetian port of Chania on the island of Crete. Within a couple of months though, construction began on two new homes that were crammed into the land between us and the cliffs at the water’s edge. The loss of the view was disheartening, since it is why we chose this house. However, the agonizing and constant noise of construction was even worse.

Now, another new home is starting construction right next to us. I am in a state of panic at the level of noise I will have to endure! I’m actually very sensitive to noise, to the point that even “white noise” machines irritate me! Strangely, though, the sound of my embroidery machine does not bother me, and I’m thinking that may be the solution to the problem.

Instead of being held hostage to noises that I have no control over, I can use the clatter and whir of the embroidery machine to claim my ears for my own! Of course, that also means that I’ll have to raise the level of my radio so that I can hear it. I like to sing along as I stitch. As long as I don’t also dance around, terrifying the cats in the process, it should be okay.

Now, I just have to come up with a list of embroidery patterns and projects to keep myself busy most of the day for the next three months. I’ll also have to go through my embroidery supplies to make sure I don’t run out of anything that I’ll need. Ah, shopping. What a misery!

I have a large computer library of machine embroidery designs, including lots of free embroidery projects that I have yet to stitch out. I think I’ll tote my laptop to Kentriko, my favorite café, for a cup of cappuccino and time to go through all my files in beautiful peace. Of course, I could just camp out at Kentriko for the next few months, but I think Menolis, the owner, would get tired of seeing me, especially if I set up a sewing studio at one of his outdoor tables! I could spend every day looking for new embroidery designs and free embroidery downloads, though, without taking up too much space and enjoy my cuppa, too. Bliss!

I also want to install new storage for my machine embroidery threads. I have such a beautiful rainbow of colors that I’d prefer to have them displayed on the wall instead of tucked into the rolling cart they are currently sorted in. The act of doing my own construction will definitely be better than listening to someone else’s! And, the process of hanging everything straight will make me concentrate on something other than the noise.

I may also do some research on embroidery design services; I’d like to have some designs created that will complement my china pattern. My favorite embroidery design gallery offers this, so I think that will be my first task. Then, I can spend the next months creating embroidery embellished tablecloths, napkins and more for my festive table. Maybe I could even stitch up some fabric chair covers to create a completely different look.Wow, with all this to look forward to, the thought of the noise isn’t bothering me so much! Many stitchers say that their embroidery or quilting is a form of therapy. Today, not only is my machine embroidery acting as therapy, but it looks like it will also be my protector.

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

I thought I had a handle on my monthly deadlines and schedules. It seems I was sadly mistaken! Whether you make your living by working at home, like I do, or work in an office, it is so very important to have tasks scheduled so they get done before they are due. This is not rocket science! When I worked in an office, it worked flawlessly most of the time. Working at home is a whole new world!

Most of my work revolves around machine embroidery designs and embroidery quilting. While neither can be described as a quick and easy task, I have set my schedule to allow me to get as much work done as possible without driving myself crazy or finding that I’m spending too much time at my desk or in the sewing room. Balance is definitely the key.

I had a spurt of energy and inspiration at the turn of the New Year, and my new schedule shows it. I had become convinced that I could do more embroidery designs and spend more time making quilts than I had been. After all, years ago, I would spend eight hours in my sewing room, making quilts, and never thought about it. It was my weekend sewing time. Household chores got done during the week, in the evenings after returning home from the office.

Now that I work at home, I feel a bit of guilt for spending so much time doing what used to be my weekend pleasure. Even though it is my job, making quilts and digitizing embroidery designs is so pleasurable, that it still doesn’t feel like work, even after several years.

Last year, I would really hustle to get my deadlines met at the end of each month. The last week of the month was spent meeting obligations, while the first week of the next month was spent in answering questions and fixing any mistakes made the previous month. The middle weeks were mine to do as I wished. Generally, I didn’t work as efficiently as I should have.

Recognizing that I should have been using the middle weeks to actually get my work done, I changed up my schedule. Guess what? It actually works! Imagine that!

Now, I meet my monthly obligations a couple of days early and use the last days of the month to do follow-up. With embroidery, this means making sure everything is listed accurately. With the quilt embroidery, it means answering questions and, possibly, revising my work.

I then let myself enjoy a few days of leisure, which usually involves some sort of work because I truly do enjoy it. This also gives me a break between one deadline’s work and the next, which is important because each month is a different project. Keeping fresh is key!

I now spend the middle weeks doing my work, wandering between making quilts and digitizing machine embroidery designs as I feel the need to do so. Since what I do is art/creative, it is easier to accomplish my goals if I don’t force it. As long as I meet my goals, nothing else matters.

In an office setting, that isn’t always true. But, you still have some flexibility to schedule your time to use it most efficiently. I tried several schedules until I reached this one that seems to work for me; changed it if I saw an area for improvement.

You can do this, too! Your boss will honestly appreciate a motivated, organized employee who meets deadlines ahead of time. They might persist in wanting you to do certain things at certain times, but you can show them the light! Just tell them you’re making quilts.

If nothing else, it will confuse them and they will go away!

Bring Colors to Your Idea

I’m always writing about embroidery and machine embroidery designs, as well as the various embroidery supplies like thread and stabilizer, but I rarely talk about the most important part. The embroidery machine! Let me rectify that with my thoughts on actually choosing a machine that’s right for you. To be fair, I won’t be mentioning brand names.

First, you need to set your budget. Only you can decide how much you can afford. If you decide to finance your machine, do so in a manner so that your purchase will be paid off in one year with payments that you can afford. With my first machine, I financed it and ended up hating it long before the thing was paid off. My second machine was an embroidery-only machine (no sewing capabilities) made by an “off” brand manufacturer better known for sewing patterns. It is my absolute favorite machine and cost about $300.

Once you have an idea of what you can afford, you need to decide what features you absolutely must have in your embroidery machine. The best way to do this is to visit the websites of each manufacturer. If you have a local dealer, do NOT visit them until after you have done your online research. In my experience, the dealer salespeople usually don’t know much about embroidery and even less about the machines. They will also try to sell you on items that aren’t necessary. Be armed with knowledge before visiting.

The biggest feature you will need to decide on is what size embroidery stitching field you want. The most common is the 4”x4” (100mm) hoop. This is also the least expensive option. The bigger the stitch field, the higher the cost of the machine. But, while one brand with a larger hoop may be very expensive, another brand might still be within your price range. It is very important to fully explore what’s out there. Please do not assume that the biggest “name” or highest price will be the best option! I cannot stress that enough!!!

The next thing you’ll need to decide on is how you want to get embroidery designs into your machine. All of mine have used a specialized card which acts like any CD, floppy disc or flash card. My most expensive machine also allows me to connect to my computer via a USB cable. Other machines use floppy drives, memory sticks, and thumb drives. Lots of options! And they all work well.

Finally, what type of machine do you want? Most embroidery machines for home use are a sewing machine with an embroidery attachment. If you don’t want another sewing machine, look into the embroidery-only options. For home use, though, these machines only offer up to a 5”x7” stitch field. If you want a larger field, you either need to buy the sewing/embroidery combination or opt for a multi-needle industrial machine. Some of the sewing/embroidery combo machines are as expensive as the multi-needle machines, so if you are opting for one of those very expensive machines, personally, I’d go with the industrial model.

If you do want the sewing/embroidery combo, once you’ve decided on the embroidery features, you will then look at what the sewing features offer. Look for a needle up/down function and the ability to automatically lock stitches in place (instead of back-tacking). Make sure it offers the number and type of decorative stitches that you would like, and that it has enough advanced features to justify the price.

Once you go to the dealer, they will tell you that you need to take classes on the machine. NONSENSE!!! Many people learn to use their machines quite well on their own. If you feel confident enough to learn on your own, negotiate a lower price on the machine. The dealership offers the classes for “free” to their purchasing customers, but the added cost is tacked onto the price of the machine. You can usually get a couple hundred dollars discount! This is more money that you can spend on all those yummy embroidery supplies!

Do your homework in advance, and you’ll be a happy embroiderer for years to come!

Keep yourself warm this winter with quilts and quilting

It’s the day after Christmas and I am stuck at home. Well, honestly, I could go out, but the weather is cold and wet while the house is warm and dry. This is our first Christmas here, out of three, that the weather hasn’t been sunny and somewhat warm. We had developed a habit of going into Chania for lunch and coffee, sitting outside and watching the local Greeks in the most jovial moods they will exhibit all year.

Since my hubby has to work today, I had planned to continue the new tradition. But, going places here isn’t the same as going places in California. Back home, I can pick my destination and then park in the conveniently close parking lot. Here, I have to choose where I want to park and then hike into the center of town to my destination. While my house is only 10 minutes from Chania, the weather can be very different, so I also have to plan my wardrobe accordingly. That’s a lot of work for an omelet and some cappuccino!

But, isn’t our crafting a lot like that? A lot of the time, I really want to do one thing, let’s say machine embroidery, but I end up working on making quilts instead! Why is that? Several things can come into play, but a lot of times it stems from not having the proper embroidery supplies, or that those supplies are difficult to get to. In the latter, laziness is the culprit since I know I have all the proper quilting supplies at my fingertips. In the worst cases, I just won’t do any stitching at all. That’s no fun!

For months, I’ve been getting my sewing room set up to receive my giant long-arm quilting system. I love my sewing area, and was loathe to change it to fit the twelve feet of tables that needed to also fit. As a result, except for any machine embroidery or quilt blocks that I had to make, very little was done in there are all. Sheer stubbornness on my part!

Then, last week, I was setting my schedule for making quilts in 2012. I remembered that I have a huge, unused basement where my twelve foot long-arm quilter will fit perfectly! It’s not like I use it every single day, so there really was no reason for it to be in the sewing room. For months, I’ve wasted time on this, and the decision was such an easy one to come to!

In fact, the solution is a perfect one! Not only will my quilter be in a large space that will allow me access to all sides, but I can now expand my sewing area that I love so much in my sewing room. This means more storage space inside for my stash, too! Currently, I keep 90% of my supplies down in the basement.

I’m actually quite excited by all the changes, even though none have really been made! Instead, it’s a matter of mind-set. If I can get it all set up efficiently, I won’t have those days where I plane on machine embroidery and end up making quilts! Even if I’m stitching, I’m much happier if I do what I set out to!

So, instead of going into Chania and freezing, maybe I’ll spend the day in the sewing room with my new iPod stereo dock, cleaning and organizing for the new solution. But, that also means I have to fold all the laundry in there and pick up the colorful blizzard of gift wrapping scraps.

Oh, darn! More decisions!