The Art of Innovative Designing

Although I am very busy with our upcoming move to our new house, I have also been helping my brother with his new business venture … a clothing line embracing life and enjoyment. He is an artist in his own right, but his style is definitely not mine. I prefer traditional styles, while his preferences are much more squiggles and pop art. In the world of machine embroidery, the two are coming together quite well.

It started with a font in the collegiate style. But not. It also needed to be radical. As in “different”. Not rad, as in awesome. But it also had to encompass both. Wow. He and his business partner weren’t asking for much, were they? Luckily, there are so many wonderful embroidery designs out there that we could find many ideas for them.

Explore Distinctive Machine Embroidery Designs Only at OregonPatchWorks

A traditional sewing machine has gone through a lot of advancements which has revolutionized the whole art of embroidery. The computerized embroidery machines have a major role to play in streamlining the embroidery process and implement some amazing designs.

OregonPatchWorks is home to some stunning embroidery designs online which are available at the best possible prices. As a customer, you will have the liberty to choose between the different designs complexities.

 Below, we are going to have a glance at the different machine embroidery designs which are catered exclusively by OregonPatchWorks.

 Free Standing Lace Embroidery

The free standing lace embroidery design (FSL) does not include any sort of fabric as it has been made completely out of a thread. FSL is one of the most popular machine embroidery techniques out there. In this technique, a digitized file is created by the designer that will interconnect the embroidery stitches in a lacy pattern. Due to this, the style and dimensions are maintained without the fabric.

The embroider will hoop the water soluble stabilizer before stitching the FSL design on the top of the fabric.There is no need to stitch the design on the fabric with the stabilizer as it is implemented with the filled stitch designs. After the design has been completely stitched it will be removed from the embroidery hoop. It is then spritzed or soaked in water for removing the water soluble stabilizer. Finally, it is laid out so that it can dry.

Cross Stitch Embroidery Designs

Cross stitch embroidery designs are pretty similar to that of the regular machine embroidery designs. In this type of design the x-shaped stitches are digitized in a raster like tiled pattern for creating the embroidery pattern which can be stitched on the paper project or the fabric. The basic distinction between the regular and the cross stitch designs is the artwork which is implemented in the form of small x’s and the line outlines instead of the fill stitches, appliqué or outline stitches or the free standing lace.

Applique Embroidery

Applique embroidery is a needlework technique under which the representational scenes or the patterns which are created by attaching the small pieces of different fabric in the contrast areas of the design. This is one of the most popular methods of machine embroidery designs out there. The reason for its popularity is due to its quick implementation and the creation of different variations of the same theme which is done by using the different textures and fabrics. This will be quite useful for creating the projects.

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?

Are You Finding Quality Machine Embroidery Designs?

I am the queen of online research. If something interests me, I look it up. If I need to figure out an embroidery technique or troubleshoot one of my machines, I look it up. Lately, though, with many weird allergies, I find myself spending unproductive time looking up allergens and diet information. I would much rather be finding new machine embroidery inspirations!

Strangely, as I remove items from my diet, one by one, in order to find out what is causing my distress, I also find that I am culling my sewing room at the same time. My fabric dye cutter and my small embroidery machine are the latest items that have found new homes. I thought I would be sad to say goodbye to my sewing friends, but giving up carbonated beverages has been much harder.

A better place to keep my Embroidery machine and other accessories

As I watch my new sewing room taking shape, I am both relieved and overwhelmed. It’s undergone a lot of changes since we moved home from Greece. Instead of white walls and ceramic tile floors, I have lovely blue walls and thick carpet. Love the walls. Hate the carpet. Of course, this room is shaped differently and I no longer have basement storage, so I am forced to cram as much of my stash in here as possible, along with all my office supplies.

It’s a lot of work, but I am loving it.

The first thing I did was give all of my machines a good cleaning. Can anyone tell me why I have five sewing machines? I will say that they all get used, too, just for different purposes. My embroidery machine, of course, gets its own table and place of honor in the room. Because I spend more time doing machine embroidery than anything else, it just makes sense.

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!

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!

Machine Embroidery Made Fun and Faster

The past couple of days I’ve been railing at fate and grinning ruefully. I always have several deadlines for machine embroidery or that entail making quilts. This month, I was on time! In fact, I was a bit ahead of time and looking forward to submitting my final projects with time to spare.

I took a quick nap the other day after getting up early to deliver my friend’s dog to her at the airport for their trip home. When I woke up, I had a massive charlie-horse in … well … my nether region. Uncomfortable, but not bad. Within a couple of hours, though, it was apparent that I had sustained a groin-pull in my sleep! This is more than uncomfortable. It is also embarrassing in my house where I am the only female. The girl cats just aren’t any help with this! Luckily, we’ve always been pretty open about things in this household, or I would be hobbling around trying to hide my chagrin and pretending that all is well. Instead, my son volunteered to clean the litter boxes!

Since sitting is the best position for me, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the computer. The computer portions of my deadlines are completed so I went back to my archive files to see what I could see. It seems I started writing a book on foundation piecing, one of my favorite techniques, several years ago. Next year, I will be providing these types of designs for embroidery quilting, so I’ve been spending lots of time cataloguing things. I am planning for these to be free embroidery designs and I want them to be very special.

Even the most dedicated fiber artist can get bored when unlimited time is available. So, I’ve also been surfing the web (I almost drowned the one time I tried real surfing) and finding some great information on new quilting supplies, fun projects for machine embroidery, and lots and lots of temptations to buy, buy, buy! The only thing I did buy was a new accounting program since the one I’m using is over 10 years old. How is that for boring! Of course, my office is now set up in an alcove in the living room since our son returned to Crete, and the hubs sits on the couch not too far behind me. Something about online shopping while he watches me just doesn’t feel right. I have nothing to hide, but I like shopping in private!

But, my thoughts are now full of new projects to try! There are some wonderful hanger covers for those delicate items we love or to keep things from sliding off the hangers. I also found several collapsible grocery bags that might actually make me remember to take my bags with me to the store. Several beautiful throw pillows, and the embroidery software tricks to make them easy, are swirling in my grey matter, too!

Now that I want to be stitching, and really do need to anyway, I am determined to hobble into the studio today! I will ignore my full size cutting board and ironing station. Instead, I will lay out the table next to my machine with my portable ironing board and small cutting board that I use for classes. I normally hop up and down out of my chair when creating, but for today, I will sit and do everything. I’ll be genteel and ladylike!

Anyone want to take bets that I’ll forget, hop up too fast, and immediately yell obscenities?

Quilters Pull the Strings

Quilters come with strings attached. This is a well-known witticism in the quilting world, but I think I see it differently than most. For me, my strings are the tools and accessories that are needed to create my art, the most important of which, right now, are those that are needed to set up my long-arm quilting setup.

I have all the parts, pieces and accessories that I have always used, and they are all in good condition. However, I haven’t had this thing set up in a couple of years, so I spend some time at online forums in order to reacquaint myself with it all. Guess what? There are so many new products out there and they include items for making quilts and machine embroidery! So many new items that I feel I must have!

At the top of my want it list are these great gizmos that make it quick and easy to attach the quilt, backing at batting to my quilt rollers. I’ve learned all I can about it, including watching several videos, and yet I still can’t make up my mind. What I now have is perfectly acceptable and not difficult to use, and part of me doesn’t see the need to upgrade, while the other part of me is yelling that I must purchase them now! This last voice is probably the one that will win, but still I resist.

I’m actually like this with most of my higher-end quilting supplies and machine embroidery tools. I can’t afford to buy all of the ones I want, so I have learned to prioritize by whether or not the item will actually be helpful to me. Sometimes the item I want most turns out to be lower on the list than something that is much more helpful. If I spent my money on the most wanted item, I may not have enough to get the ones I truly need.

It’s amazing how much this reflects life outside of embroidery or quilting. Isn’t this the same as how we budget for items like groceries, clothing, cars and more? Of course it is! My husband obviously doesn’t handle the household finances because he quite often just tells me to buy whatever it is that I want. It’s a lucky thing for our finances that he doesn’t have many wants, with an attitude like that!

Of course, when I have an interest in a new product, I find that I spend way too much time online trying to find more and more information on the item. This, in turn, has me stumbling upon even more items that I am interested in, and more items I need to research. While I enjoy a good bout of window shopping online, this time would be so much better spent in my sewing room, using the tools I already have and perfecting new techniques!

So, if you feel you aren’t getting as many of your projects done as you would like and can’t figure out where the time has gone, think about your online time. Even if you’re researching machine embroidery designs, looking for free embroidery downloads, or drooling over the newest gadgets for making quilts, you are not really participating in making your projects!

Like me, you may need to log off from time to time and check back into your sewing room and projects! Of course, there’s nothing saying you can’t let your dreams take flight with a bit of surfing the net!

Bobbins Bobbins All The Way!!

Adventures in Bobbin Buying … that is the theme of my life right now! Between making quilts, creating machine embroidery and fashion and décor sewing, I have many machines by many different manufacturers. The one thing they all have in common is that they all use the exact same bobbins, whether they have a drop-in bobbin or an old-style bobbin case. While my quilting machine uses a metal bobbin, they are still the exact same thing as the plastic versions I use in my other machines … and I’ve been known to use whatever had the right color thread wound on it!

Sometime during our move here to Greece, I misplaced at least half of my plastic bobbins and all of my metal ones. I insist on using the same thread in the bobbin as I use on the top when embroidering, and my current project has 30 colors in it. This left only a couple of bobbins free for other projects. I decided that I needed to buy some more!

I began my adventure at the local Singer shop, which is the only place I’ve found that sells anything machine related. They had two types of bobbins and I was happy to see that they had the ones I needed. Unfortunately, the woman behind the counter finally decided to stop pretending she doesn’t speak English! She asked if my machines had the drop-in bobbin or the metal bobbin-case. I have both! Since it was easiest, I said that I had the drop-in type and showed her on one of the machines in the shop. She took away the packages of bobbin in my hand and replaced them with the other ones they stock … which, I must point out were not the same as those in the machines in the shop!

I figured I would take her advice, even though I was sure these were not what I needed. At home, I realized that I was right. On a return trip to the shop, she would not let me exchange them, nor would she allow me to purchase the correct ones, since she insisted they were not the ones I needed. She probably believes I have one low-end machine and little experience using it.

So, my next efforts took me online. I found some bobbins that were supposedly for many types of machines, including all of mine. I ordered 40 of them and a neat clip thing to help keep them orderly. Wouldn’t you know it? Those that arrived were exactly like those the Singer lady insisted I wanted. And, like hers, these are also not what my machines use!

Actually, I need to confess that all these bobbins will work in my machines, but they are small like the pre-wound ones that get thrown out after the bobbin thread is used. They do not hold a lot of regular thread and the thinner size tends to bounce around in the case (both types), creating thread messes more often.

Something this basic reminds me how often I need help at a fabric or machine shop and not one employee has any idea of how to sew an no further information than I have on various quilting supplies or embroidery tools! My son has worked for a major fabric chain for months, and doesn’t know anything. At least he can crochet and is interested in fiber arts. So many of those clerks are not interested in what they sell and customers like me end up helping other customers who need assistance … including which aisle they can find certain products on.

Still, I’m all for more people getting bitten by the stitching fever, so I have hope for those clerks! In the meantime, I just need to remember that I really do know what I need and that it’s okay to be firm with those who tell me I need something else.

So, I’m now off to research bobbins online again! This time, I think I’ll create a table of different bobbins types and the machines they will work with. Maybe my efforts will help those, like me, who just need a few extra bobbins from time to time!

When Time Flies With Embroidery

Since my son graduated from school a few years ago, it would seem normal to be more relaxed in the latter days of August. No longer do I need to rush about buying clothes and supplies, alter band uniforms, or scurry to get the household organized so that the home and my career run smoothly once school starts. I really don’t miss those crazy days, but not much has really changed!

Now, with the school supply specials, I look for deals to stock up my office and sometimes even find great deals on craft supplies. Quilting supplies like rotary cutters and mats can often be found at the local office supply store! Then, I take stock of my every day supplies for batting, interfacing, stabilizer, thread and more. Since the fabric stores are competing for business with school shoppers, deals are especially good at this time.

Instead of rushing to organize house, school and career, I spend the time organizing my sewing studio since fiber arts is my career! This year, as well as setting up a new studio, I am also creating a lot of soft items like chair covers, cork board covers, a new padded cover for my large, homemade ironing board and new fabric leaders for the rollers on my machine quilting frame. And, for the first time, I’m actually color-coordinating everything! Woo hoo!

I’ve been running my embroidery machine almost non-stop and this morning had a good laugh when I realized that it was a good excuse to stay in or near my studio. I could spend the time organizing the space. Of course, I find myself cleaning the rooms and areas on that floor, too! While I enjoy the feel of creating new embroidery designs, right now I am more interested in organizing. Strange!

Since the second floor is as clean as it’s going to get, I’m thinking about moving my embroidery machine down to the dining room. Then, I can embroider for hours while cleaning that level of the house. Of course, moving my needed embroidery supplies downstairs, and keeping the cats out of them, might be too much for me to want to deal with!

This is actually a great way to get motivated to organize my life. I can work on my little netbook to do my administrative work, stitch designs, clean, and altogether immerse myself in my work! I have very few complaints about my day.

If moving my embroidery designs to the first floor works, I may even move it down to the basement for that phase of cleaning and organizing. Of course, my family may not see me for months! The basement is a dangerous space for a dedicated fiber artist to have. Lots of space for storage that never needs to be cleaned because no one sees it! Still, I open up the basement to the area’s population of stray cats and dogs, so I would much prefer that it start out clean this winter.

Tomorrow, I’ll be taking a break from the studio. My son arrived here in Crete a few days ago, so we will be getting his Alien ID renewed, his other paperwork taken care of, and adding him to the auto insurance. Then, we will finish up his enrollment for his college courses here and online, order his books, and shop for supplies. Since he’s been gone for a while, I also plan on buying him some much-needed clothing.

Like I said, not much has changed at all!