From The Needle of Anne Bookmarks!

This is Anne showing her ITH (In the Hoop) Bookmarks, called TakeNote. 
They are quick and easy and have a beautiful monogram. 
Find them here: http://www.oregonpatchworks.com/items.php?did=72157&pid=159191 . 
Set 2 is here: http://www.oregonpatchworks.com/items.php?did=72157&pid=159755 . 

You can also purchase as a single rather than A-Z: 
http://www.oregonpatchworks.com/singles.php?did=72157&pid=159192 and http://www.oregonpatchworks.com/singles.php?did=72157&pid=159756 . 

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.

Transforming Old designs into Modern Art

Well, after five years of working for myself, I’m going back to the traditional workforce. This is both exciting and terrifying, but I’m taking it in stride. Of course, the most important aspect is my wardrobe! My old clothes are currently unfashionable, and also do not fit thanks to the 15 pounds I’ve put on! So, I made a very lucrative trip to a couple of my local thrift stores!

I love thrift stores for a lot of reasons. First, I can find clothing in all styles for a very reasonable price. Second, there are so many old things to see that I get lots of ideas for my stitching hobbies. Occasionally, I even find the odd piece of china or glassware that matches what I already have. It’s a great way to shop!

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.