The Delight of Embroidery Designs

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 stale, boring 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.

Why OregonPatchWorks Is Considered The Prime Choice Among Embroidery Digitizing Services ?

The plethora of embroidery digitizing service has made the choice of picking the best among them a tedious one. Most of these services boast of producing high quality embroidery designs, however very few are able to deliver on all 3 important aspects;  Quality, cost and service. OregonPatchWorks is among those few embroidery digitizing services that has completely revolutionized the art of machine embroidery. 

Let’s quickly have a look at some of the reasons which make OregonPatchWorks one of the prime choices among embroidery digitizing services.

Exceptional Machine Embroidery Designs:

OregonPatchWorks houses a brilliant array of machine embroidery designs which are quite unique and beautiful. As a customer, you will be able to choose the designs offered by nearly 100 highly skilled machine embroidery digitizers in one convenient location. All these designs are digitized to perfection and thoroughly tested.  Be it any occasion, Father’s or Mother’s Day, Valentine Day, Christmas, etc., you will find many choices and styles. Choose different types of machine embroidery designs like Appliqué, Fill Stitch, Cutwork, Free Standing Lace and many more. The OPW Mall’s embroidery design gallery is a one stop shop of thousands of embroidery designs. You, as a customer, will be able to conveniently choose the preferred designs of your choice. 

Grab All The Latest Deals and Discounts

One aspect where OregonPatchWorks stands out from other embroidery digitizing services is the latest deals and discounts that are consistently offered. Visit the Current Specials page to see what is being offered now.  If you wish to get exclusive offers and added incentives, subscribe to the newsletter and you will never miss any of the latest and greatest deals. By subscribing to OPW’s newsletter you will be given an access to download exclusive free designs, giveaways, discounts and special offers. Every week, most of the designers provide special offers on their embroidery designs which will enable you to maximize your savings. All in all, along with enjoying high quality embroidery designs, you will be able to save a few bucks too.

Best In Class Customer Service

At OregonPatchWorks, customers are of prime importance. In order to serve them, the OPW Mall’s embroidery design gallery is updated on a regular basis. The staff at OPW is quite friendly and knowledgeable which will ensure that every customer is offered the best possible services and a great experience every time. Customers can contact the OPW staff anytime they have any sort of query. The staff will provide them with prompt, courteous service and make sure a solution is found for any issue.

Summing Up OregonPatchWorks is a well known name which has become the choice of millions of crafters all over the globe. By offering high quality embroidery designs, OPW has built a positive rapport with all its customers. Along with having a choice of choosing among a diverse range of embroidery designs, customers are able to get quality embroidery designs at affordable prices. Whenever extra help is needed, customers encounter staff with consistent “service with a smile” attitudes, creating an atmosphere of pleasant, personalized service. The services offered by OregonPatchWorks will never disappoint you and will persuade you to return often for quality designs, generous offers and superior service. So, what are you waiting for? Choose your desired embroidery designs now at OPW Mall and start creating your next masterpiece.

Experience Top-Notch Machine Embroidery Designs Only at OregonPatchWorks

There is a wide range of embroidery design services that you will come across all over the web. However, there are only a few that will consistently offer you high quality,  distinctive embroidery designs which are visually appealing and stand apart from the rest. One such service is OregonPatchWorks which has made its mark in the field of machine embroidery design for many years on the internet.

As an embroidery enthusiast, OregonPatchWorks will give you the option of choosing any design that you can imagine. Let’s have a look at a few of the amazing machine embroidery designs that the OPW Mall offers.

Cross Stitch Embroidery Design

The cross stitch embroidery design is unique when compared with the other designs as the artwork is done in the form of small x’s and line outlines. This is where the design is different than the regular machine embroidery designs. An embroidery pattern is created by custom digitizing the x-shaped stitches in a tiled raster like pattern. 

Shadow Work Embroidery Design 

This type of embroidery design is typically implemented on a sheer or semi-sheer fabric. In order to ensure that the color of the thread or the shadow of the color can be seen through on the fabric’s front side, the majority of the embroidery is done on the back side of the design. In the shadow work embroidery, backstitch  is stitch form used. It is worked between the alternates back and forth and the two lines with every stitch. 

Applique Embroidery Design

An Applique embroidery design is a very popular machine embroidery method which is basically a needlework technique. In appliqué embroidery, the elements of the design are formed by attaching the small pieces of the contrasting fabric in the wide areas of the design. You will be able to create numerous variations of the same theme by making use of the different fabrics and textures. 

Free Standing Lace Embroidery Design

A free standing lace embroidery design is implemented entirely from machine embroidery thread which means no fabric is required. The digitized file which the designer will create interlocks the embroidery stitches in the form of a lacy pattern that will maintain the style of design and its dimensions without fabric. Water soluble stabilizer is hooped, then the design is stitched.  Then the stabilizer is trimmed and rinsed.  The design remains intact with the interlocking stitches of the design.  There are quite a few types of FSL projects available at the OPW Mall. These include lace edging, lace jewellery, collars and cuffs, embroidery bowls and doilies and embroidery designs for different holidays.

Summing Up 

Above is a brief of some of the different machine embroidery designs which are available at the OPW Mall. These designs will enable you to create unique and beautiful home décor along with projects for gift giving. All the designs are digitized to perfection which means that the possibility of flaws will be non-existent. 

So, what are you waiting for? Explore the wide range of machine embroidery designs, many available only at OregonPatchWorks. Most of the designs are available at great prices. There are also many free samples available throughout the site for you to download and try.

OregonPatchWorks: One Stop Solution for Machine Embroidery Designs

OregonPatchWorks is a name that specializes in high quality embroidery designs, which all their customers and clients will attest to. Their machine embroidery designs are outstanding and are quite appealing visually. Just as we head into Christmas, you will find quite a few new Christmas embroidery designs to choose from. There are more than 100 amazing digitizers of machine embroidery that will present you with beautiful and unique style. The knowledgeable and friendly staff at OregonPatchWorks offers customer centered care and services.  You will always be taken care of quickly and efficiently.

Let’s have a peek at what you will find when choosing OregonPatchWorks as your source of quality embroidery designs and embroidery digitizing service partner. 

Personalize Your Christmas Embroidery Projects

The machine embroidery designs that are offered at OregonPatchWorks will enable you to create beautiful and unique gift items. There are a plethora of machine embroidery designs to choose from. You can utilize your imagination for selecting among the thousands of machine embroidery designs that are available for immediate download at competitive prices. 

Deals and Discounts on Embroidery Designs

To keep yourself updated with all the latest deals from OregonPatchWorks, all you need to do is subscribe to their newsletter. You will find out lastest discounts, exclusive free designs, special offers and giveaways. The best part is that you will be able to try the free samples on the website in three different ways. Most of the designers at OregonPatchWorks offer special discounts on their embroidery designs. This will enable you to maximize your savings when you order. 

Top-Notch and Wide Range of Designs

It doesn’t matter if you are an amateur or a professional embroider. You will be offered with a wide range of designs. All this is showcased at the OPW Mall’s embroidery design gallery. This makes it a convenient and fun shopping center. OregonPatchWorks offers immediate electronic delivery that will allow you to download the order as soon as you purchase it. 

100% Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction has always been the top priority of the staff at the OPW mall. OPW makes it a point to serve all their valued customers well and make them happy. All the customers are offered  friendly service. All the staff at OPW understands the value of the time and money of their customers. The answers to all your queries will be answered, no matter what the question is. As a customer, you are welcome to contact OPW at any time.

Summing Up

Are you looking for personalized Christmas gift options? If yes, then OregonPatchWorks should be your choice. The OPW mall’s embroidery design gallery will enable all its customers to convert their dreams into a reality. Most of the machine embroidery designs which are available at OregonPatchWorks are quite unique and are hard to find anywhere else. All the embroidery designs have been digitized to perfection. 

As a customer, you will be in a win-win situation as you will be able to get the most from your investment. This will be possible thanks to the special bonus offers and incentives which are offered on the new samples which are added weekly. 

My Daily Design Musings – Pulling Threads Together

Last week, I had planned a complete organization of my sewing room. Instead, I was caring for my husband who came down with what we thought was measles. Luckily, when he finally went to the doctor, it was nothing quite so serious. Still, banging around my embroidery supplies and quilting tools was not conducive to the sleep he needed. I just finally got started on it all yesterday.

First, I created a new, big ironing board top. I used to use a pine board that measured 18” x 60”, which was great for some pressing needs, but inadequate for others. Since my old pine board needed to be replaced, I chose a new one that measures 24” x 48” and is ¾” thick. It’s heavy, but will last for about a decade. After drilling many holes in the center to let steam escape, I covered it with two layers of cotton batting and a fresh piece of cotton upholstery fabric. To hold it all in place, my handy staple-gun was utilized. The old board will be cut up to use as firewood in our outdoor pit. Don’t you just love double duty items?

Stunning Embroidery Designs for Pop Art

I know I’ve written before that I don’t do production work. I love machine embroidery and will occasionally do projects for those who ask me. For a business, though, digitizing and all the related activities keep me quite busy and my machines humming.

But, how can one say no to their younger brother who is so excited about his new venture? It started as a philosophy on life and has morphed into a line of clothing and outerwear. At least on paper. When he realized, though, that I am well placed to make his dream a reality, he is ready to go now!!! I love this enthusiasm from my normally placid brother but, dude, it’s Christmas time. My schedule is booked solid until mid-January at least. Not to mention that all my machines and embroiderysupplies are in shipment from Greece to California.

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.

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!

Simplifying Quilting and Embroidery

Whether it’s making quilts or digitizing machine embroidery designs, I seem to be in a constant state of confusion lately! Since I make my living doing both, this is not good!

Years ago, I could happily check the state of my quilting supplies and just get to work on whatever idea popped into my head. Or, I could choose an embroidery design from my collection and make pretty things as often as I wanted. Then, I began teaching classes and all that changed!

Instead of just stitching for my own pleasure, I now had class samples to create; these had to be certain styles and consist of the new in colors, regardless of my own personal preferences. The longer I taught, the harder it was to just make a quilt. My mind was always revolving with class-type ideas. My stash of fabrics and threads began being dominated by the latest trends instead of what I love.

I let this sorry state of affairs continue for much longer than I should have! My reward was to lose my love for my fabric arts. It is said that artists do best creating from the heart instead of the pocketbook, and I can vouch that this was true for me as well. My beloved stitching became work! Oh, no!

It took me a while to realize the full effect of this; I then wasted more time brooding about it! Finally, a little at a time, I began working to change the habits that had filled my brain and held me back from the love of my craft.

I can honestly say that I am back to making quilts for fun and stitching embroidery for the love of beauty! It took me some time to get to this point, but it was so worth the effort!

If you’re a stitcher who has lost your way, let me help!

First, you need to decide what you love. If you enjoy making quilts, what colors and styles speak to your innermost heart? What embroidery patterns are your favorites? Whether you write it down or just think about it, this is the first step to reclaiming the love of your art.

Is there a certain reason why you’re not creating what you want? Too many gifts? New babies? Charitable work?

When making gifts or quilts for newborns, it is difficult to just use the colors we like. We must think about the recipient. But, it is still possible to put our personal stamp on it by choice of pattern and other finishing touches. The recipient will love it no matter what.

When making quilts for charities, many quilters err on the side of false frugality. Many of the quilts look like the quilter used the worst fabric in their stash and didn’t really care if the finished product was attractive or not. While I understand that quilting can be an expensive endeavor and that these quilters may be doing the best they can, these quilts do not look like much love went into them. So, if you are making quilts for charities, why not take a little bit more of your time to create something completely from the heart?

Another thing that had held me back was that I am the only woman in a household of men. Even most of our pets were male! Since I’m not a frilly type of gal, keeping things neutral wasn’t that hard, but I was craving some of my favorite colors … pink, purple and fuchsia. I was tired of my bedroom being in shades of blue and tan. Actually, the whole house was in those shades!

In a fit of rebellion, I made a quilt in very light shades of pink and sage that just scream out that it is feminine. Strangely, even the men in the house love that little snuggle quilt. As a result of that, my whole home now reflects my taste in all shades of red without making the men feel like they are in a ruffle palace.

Not only did I reclaim my love of quilting and use of what makes my heart sing, but I made home my haven. That is the best testament to the power of making quilts from the heart.

Take charge of your art and make yourself happy!

Innovation in Embroidery

I love learning new techniques for quilting and fashion sewing. It’s wonderful when I figure out that I can use a technique meant for making quilts to also create interesting effects on clothing.

I am currently taking an online class for creating embellished vests. There is so much information and so many ideas that I am spurred to try many new things. I want to add machine embroidery and worried about the construction of the vest making it difficult. Then, I realized that I could use a quilting technique, called Foundation Piecing, to put the outer layer of my vest together.

Once my main fabric is attached to interfacing in the foundation piecing technique, I can add embroidery designs to my heart’s content. Then, I can stitch the vest and lining together which will sandwich the backside of my embroidery between two layers of fabric.

This is wonderful for two reasons. First, my embroidery will be protected inside the lining. Second, the vest will remain reversible with the back side of the embroidery hidden. If I am truly inspired, I could even add embroidery to the lining fabric before stitching the vest together, making it an embroidered reversible vest. Beautiful.

Whether I am making quilts, machine embroidering a project or creating fashion, I find that it is very important to think about what I want from the finished item. What do I want? How will it be used? How will it be cared for?

Based on questions like this, I plan the construction of the project from beginning to end. Because I like my home furnishings to be easily machine washed and dried, I begin with cotton fabric. If I want to be able to wash a rayon skirt, I wash the rayon for maximum shrinkage before I sew the skirt. For anything that may need to be bleached, I choose polyester thread since it can be bleached without ruining the colors. I make many decisions like this before I ever begin a project.

In the case of my vest, I will create a sloper (sample garment) by stitching a vest from interfacing. Using the sloper, I can make adjustments in the fit before cutting out my fabric. When I cut my pieces, though, I will also cut it from interfacing. Then, I will draw lines on this to show me where I want to stitch my fabric pieces together using the foundation piecing technique. I can use the sloper to try out different ideas before drawing these placement lines.

While all this may seem fussy, it is something we all do when planning our quilts or embroidery design projects. It’s the same as figuring out if we will utilize embroidery quilting and where we will place it, what type of design we want for a pretty blouse, and where it should be stitched. Whether we make a huge production of making these decisions or just do it on instinct, we all make these types of decisions with every project.

Because of the decision and planning I have made, my pieced seams will be very secure because of a quilting technique. This same technique will have stabilizer (interfacing) already attached to my fabric, making the hooping for my machine embroidery a snap!

What could be easier?

Warm Up for Winters with Embroidery

The winter holidays are just around the corner and, as always, my mind is filled with the thoughts of cooking special meals, baking yummy treats and creating fabulous gifts for friends and décor items to make my home festive.

Two years ago, I hosted twenty people for Thanksgiving. Since it had been many years since I had hosted this holiday and special meal in my home, I created coordinated linens for the dining room that included tablecloths, chair covers, hot pads, and cloth napkins; all were embellished with fabulous machine embroidery designs. I placed scented candles in decorative wine glasses, and my tables were beautiful.

Because my Thanksgiving décor is complete, I can concentrate on Christmas for my projects this year. While I am hosting the Thanksgiving feast again this year, I am also having several Open House receptions during the Christmas season. I will need projects that can be easily laundered so that they are fresh for every set of guests.

Several years ago, I created pillow covers for the throw pillow on my couches. These covers are created with holiday themed fabric and were constructed using foundation piecing to attach the fabric to a layer of batting and backing fabric. I then stitched the front to the back and finished the covers. Every year, these covers get freshly washed and pressed before taking place of honor in the living room. These covers utilized techniques I generally use for making quilts. This year, I will take them apart, add some machine embroidery for a fresh look and then stitch them back together.

Since my home has an open floor-plan with living, dining, and kitchen all flowing into one another, I need to color-coordinate the dining room and kitchen to my pillow covers. I have several beautiful tablecloths that I’ve collected over the years, but they are starting to get small holes and frayed edges.

In order to salvage my beloved tablecloths and coordinate my holiday home, I will use embroidery designs utilizing fabric appliqué to cover the holes. To freshen up the hems, I will stitch yards and yards of free-standing lace borders. I love this style of machine embroidery! I will stitch festive designs on one of my smaller cloths and drape it over the curtain rod in my kitchen, bringing the celebratory décor to that utilitarian room.

To finish off my décor for the receptions, I will use a free embroidery design I have that makes a collar that gets placed on the stem of a wine glass, making it easy to identify who it belongs to. These are quick and easy to make and elicit lots of wonder from my guests.

After wining and dining our guests, we will see them off with a little drawstring goody bag. These easy-to-make pouches will be decorated with tiny embroidery designs and filled with chocolate coins. A sweet treat to help our guests remember the evening and also have a little bag to hold jewelry or coins or anything they desire.

While I truly believe that good food and wonderful friends are all that are needed for a fabulous gathering, I also believe that a beautiful setting can make it even better! Celebrate and enjoy life!

Take Up Embroidery

After many years in the corporate world, I decided about 10 years ago that I was never going to be happy providing my expertise to an endless string of employers whose main goal was to make their employees as miserable as possible. After a year of planning and saving, I stayed home and started working for myself. As well as being proficient in office technologies, I had spent most of my free time in sewing, quilting and machine embroidery, so I felt confident in my ability to combine all of my varied skills. I was overjoyed to spend 16 hours a day working for my new boss … me!

Wishful thinking can get me through some days when nothing else can! I had a bit of a rocky start, but things started getting easier and the necessary flow of work started falling into place almost on its own. It’s taken me nine years to reach this level of contentedness, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.

One thing I’ve had to get used to with working at home has been my husband’s alternative schedule. He works 2-3 days at a time and then is home 2-8 days; more, if he takes vacation time. When I worked outside the home, this schedule left us little time together, but left me lots of time for making quilts and embroidery projects.

My husband is currently on a 21-day vacation. In the past 15 days, I should have gotten in at least 80 hours of work done. I’ve worked less than ten. I am behind on my obligations and ready to scream, but he is happy that I’ve spent so much time with him. Actually, if he paid attention at all, he would have noticed that I’ve spent most of the time cleaning the house. All he sees is that I have not been making quilts or creating machine embroidery designs! Of course, this must mean that I’m spending all that time with him! Men are so funny.

I can work when I want, but I am most comfortable and efficient when I’m on some sort of schedule. I have certain things I like to do on certain days or time of day, and I also have a few deadlines each week and month. These are not tasks that I can do ahead of time to free up time like my husband can for vacations. When he is on vacation (or just one of his multi-day breaks), he assumes that I have all that time off, too.

While I do love to spend time with him, I also enjoy machine quilting, machine embroidery, and the variety of projects of these two art forms. I enjoy it for personal enjoyment and professional enrichment. It is a hobby that allows me to earn a living. The light of my life enjoys the income I bring in, but he still treats my business like a cute little hobby that I can do or not, depending on his whims.

Tomorrow, I get the one day that I ask for during his longer breaks. On this day he handles all the housework, errands, meals and anything else that needs done, and I spend the time working or crafting depending on my needs and deadlines. On these days, I start out strong by catching up on business emails. I then head into the studio and get started. By 11:00 am, I’m ready for lunch. Hubby will want to go downtown for lunch and cappuccino, so I tag along.

This is the effective end of my productive day as we wander the cobbled streets of Chania, looking at vintage Vespa scooters, enjoying the beautiful weather and our time together. The vendors love my husband because they can always cajole him into buying some little thing for me.

So, footsore and laden with small packages, we return home in the late afternoon to our hyper dog and welcome air conditioning. We sit and converse about our day and listen to the new CD that we have picked up. I may not have done any quilting or embroidery, but I’ve got the love of a good man, and that’s the best.