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.

OregonPatchWorks: Your Only Choice For Consistently High Quality Machine Embroidery Designs

OregonPatchWorks as an embroidery digitizing service has been able to build a reputation for itself online since the year 2000. The machine embroidery designs delivered by this community of dedicated designers are digitized to perfection and are of the highest grade. With nearly 100 embroidery stores on one website, embroidery enthusiasts are able to find almost any type of design they are looking for. The OPW Mall’s embroidery design gallery is a one-stop shop where you will be able to find all sorts of types, styles and sizes of machine embroidery designs. 

OregonPatchWorks offers more than just designs to its customers. They feature fun tutorials and projects as well as customer service like no other!  There are many aspects that make OregonPatchWorks the perfect choice for quality machine embroidery designs. Below we are going to discuss a few of these.

Outstanding Digitizers

One of the foremost reasons that sets OregonPatchWorks above other embroidery digitizing services are the nearly 100 machine embroidery designers stores housed by it. This creates a fun way to shop, like going to a physical mall, where you can conveniently go from store to store.  At OPW, you can put all your items in one shopping cart and checkout in one easy step!  Then download immediately after!

The digitizers ensure that beautiful and unique embroidery designs are made available to the customers on a consistent basis.  You will find new designs added daily. Exclusive samples are also added weekly for those who sign up for OPW’s newsletter. Many of the digitizers run special offers on their designs. These offers enable customers to save a few of their dollars which will in return allow them to maximize their savings when they shop at OregonPatchworks.

Customer Centered Services

Delivering customer centered services are one of the main goals of the staff at OregonPatchWorks. Customer satisfaction has always been of the utmost priority. Due to this, OPW has been able to build up a huge loyal customer base. Search Google for oregonpatchworks and click the 625+ 5-star reviews to read what customers consistently say about it!  The staff at OPW is always there to assist each and every customer in any way whatsoever. All the OPW customers can contact the staff at any time for any sort of queries faced by them and be assured to receive a quick, courteous response.

Tempting Deals and Discounts
There are really great deals and discounts offered by. Check out the Special Offers page and you will be amazed at the offers available to you. By subscribing to OPW’s newsletter, you can stay informed of all the latest happenings. By signing up, OPW’s esteemed customers receive announcements of new designs, exclusive offers, and free samples that are added on a weekly basis. This is one of the easiest ways to keep yourself up to date with all the latest offers, deals and discounts.

Summing Up
For all the embroidery enthusiasts out there, picking the right embroidery design service is very important, to insure good results with consistently high quality designs. There is no need to look at other embroidery digitizing services once you visit OPW Mall.  There is no other online outlet that is able to deliver the level of services and variety of designs offered by OregonPatchWorks. All the customers served by OPW are completely satisfied with the level of services that are offered to them.

So, what are still waiting for? Make the folks at OregonPatchWorks your embroidery partners and you will never run out of fresh new ideas to try in this pleasurable hobby of machine embroidery!

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.

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.

It’s Raining Quilts!

Here in Crete, we have two seasons, Winter and Summer. Yes, we get hints of Spring and Fall, but once either of those mellow seasons begins, the harsher one is ready to take over. This week, we are seeing Winter coming upon us quite a few weeks earlier than normal. I don’t like the cold, but I love the rainy season that marks my Winters here. I absolutely adore rain! The harder the better, and if thunder and lightning are involved, I am in complete bliss!

When the weather is gloomy, I love to be in my sewing room, preferably making quilts. Something about creating in my snug space while the weather rages outside is so comforting to me! I’ve made some of my best quilts during bad weather.

This year, now that my sewing room is ready for all the messes I can conceive of to create, I am anxious to get in there! Patchwork for making quilts. Long-arm quilting. Machine embroidery. There are so many things to choose from!

I used to not like to do machine embroidery during the storms because we lose power a lot. Now that I am fully immersed in embroidery quilting, which can be very in-depth and tricky, it would be a shame if the power went out in the middle of something. So, like my computer, I now have my embroidery machine plugged into a UPS (universal power supply). This gives me 10 minutes to get my stuff done or saved. Lovely!

The wind is blowing and storm clouds are in the sky, making the blue that is still visible even more vivid. The white, puffy clouds are standing their ground, trying to hold on for another week or so. This is a time when I hope that the dark wins out over the light!

It’s funny that I hope for the dark, rainy season. I suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder), which is when a person’s moods and health are affected by a lack of sunlight. If I spend too much time in the rest of the house, the weather does affect me. But, in the sewing room, all is right with the world.

When making quilts, it is important to have good light for choosing our colors and fabrics. There are full-spectrum lamps out there that do a good job of recreating natural light in the small scale. Unfortunately, I don’t work in the small scale, so I needed a whole-room solution. For a total of $20, I bought a cheap 4’ shop light and two fluorescent bulbs. I chose one cool tube (burns in a blue or pink hue) and one warm bulb (burns in a yellow hue). The mixture of these two bulbs creates a facsimile of natural light. And the 4’ shop light on my ceiling spreads this light all over my largish sewing room. Fantastic!

So, when the weather is gloomy outside, I can make an excuse for my health and escape to my sewing room for hours of blissful quilting and machine embroidery! No one bothers me for several hours, and I come out happy and peaceful.

So, rain, rain, don’t go away. Come again. Today!

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?

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!

Embroidery Your Creativity

When I’m not cleaning my house or caring for my family and fur babies, all my endeavors are creative. Well, online shopping isn’t creative, but it does fill me with inspiration for future projects. While I love my creative endeavors, I had gotten into the habit of doing my tasks in an almost wooden manner … all technical skills and little artistry. Then last night I had a dream.

If it had been a dream of a wondrous new quilt block or fabulous new technique for creating perfect machine embroidery designs, it would be a great dream. Instead, this dream just reminded me of a couple of bits, important bits, that I had not included in my monthly quilt lessons. While these bits are on the technical side, they are also what make the artistry of machine quilting so easy! I had been so proud of the early completion of my lesson, but this morning, I got right to work changing it.

While editing, I also recognized a couple other areas where I had let the artistry slide in order to increase efficiency or to allow my brain to concentrate on something else while my hands did the technical work. The enjoyment was there, but it was strongly muted. That’s no way to create art!

Why do most of us still do hand-crafts in this age where everything is available locally or online? Some still do it as a more economical way to obtain both necessary and luxury items. Some do it in order to create one-of-a-kind items. Still others do it for the sheer creative joy of it.

So, why do so many of us get so bogged down by the technical aspects, which include time-management, easy or quick results, and constant research for new tools to make things easier, without first having learned the time-tested techniques that work wonderfully?

It’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve called my hand-crafts art or myself artistic. Before, I described what I did as crafts and myself as creative. My sewing just didn’t seem as important or awe-inspiring as a painting by one of the great masters or as beautiful as the dance of a prima ballerina or arias from that lovely soprano voice. In other words, I was insecure about my creative efforts no matter how many people complimented me and were in awe of what I had created. When I added machine embroidery to my daily routine of quilting, fashion and décor sewing, and other hand-crafts, it got too complicated to tell others what I do.

Three years ago, I figured out that what I do is create art with fibers. I am now a fiber artist. Not a quilter, not a seamstress, not a designer. Fiber artist. Two words and they describe who and what I am.

Wow, that sounds like all of my insecurities are gone, doesn’t it? Well, they aren’t. I don’t have an artist’s soul. I trained as an accountant. So, no matter what I do, the art isn’t the only thing I think about. I also think about the project when completed … what’s the purpose, where will it go, how much did it cost, is it worth the time and money? All of that really takes away from the artistry and enjoyment!

I can’t be the only one like this that then compensates by looking for that new great free embroidery design or a new source for inexpensive quilting supplies! Today, I have decided that I will concentrate more on the art and less on the fiscal aspects of it.

Writers are told to write for enjoyment, not for sale, for the best books. Painters are told to see their subject, inside and out. Dancers and musicians are instructed to feel it.

I think that’s good advice for us hand-crafters, fiber artists, or whatever we call ourselves. We should craft for enjoyment, see the world around us for project inspiration, and just feel the creativity pouring out as we create.

When we accept that what we do is from the heart and soul, and let go of the insecurities, we can let our artistry reach new heights!

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.