Finished!

I have been working on a set of pleated sheer drapes for a friend. They are hanging and ready to be delivered!! To be sure the grainline is straight, I pulled a thread across the fabric width as described below.

Sheers, especially need to be straight of grain to hang correctly, but it can be difficult to get a straight edge. Pulling a thread is the easiest way to be sure the edge you are with is straight!

Great Grainlines!

Q: I have tried pulling a thread to find and mark the fabric straight of grain but the thread always breaks. What am I doing wrong?

A: It’s almost impossible to pull one thread continuously across an entire fabric width. Pull the thread gently, easing the fabric along the thread as if gathering or easing a stitch line. If the thread breaks, cut along the line created as far as possible. Then pick up the thread and continue across the fabric.
On some fabrics, leaving the fabric slightly gathered along the thread makes it easier to see where to cut.
After cutting the entire fabric width, unravel one continuous thread to be sure the edge is straight.

Just A Funny Note...

I thought you would enjoy reading this humorous article concerning the "wonderful" computer we all own! Isn’t technology fun?!

Computers & Cars

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives...
At a recent computer expo, (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry. He stated "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry, we would all be driving $25.00 cars which get 1,000 miles per gallon."
In response to Bill Gates, General Motors issued a press release stating:
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time the lines in the road were repainted, you would need to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally, your car would die on the freeway, for no apparent reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue.
4. Sometimes, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart. In this case, you would need to reinstall the engine.
5. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single warning –"This car has performed an illegal operation."
6. The airbag system would ask, "Are you sure?" before deploying.
7. Occasionally, for no apparent reason, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key, and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
8. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was very reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive–but it would only run on 5% of the roads.
9. Every time a new car is introduced, car buyers would need to learn to drive all over again, because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. Finally, you would press the "start" button to turn the engine off...

Pressing is Important!

Pressing is an important part of any project, especially quilting! You can stitch a perfectly matched, accurate quarter-inch seam block, but it can easily become a block to restitch by poor pressing methods. Janet Wickell from About Quilting.com writes the following:

Your piecing accuracy will improve immediately when you take a bit of time to
press your quilt blocks as you make them. Pressing is an extra step, but you'll
love the payoff in time saved when your quilt blocks fit together just like they
should.

Pressing seam allowances as you work helps eliminate little widths
of fabric that become "lost" in seams, creating distortions and making blocks
smaller than they should be. Let's say your block contains a row of pieced
units, and in that row there are a total of ten seams. What if a penline width
of fabric is caught up in each seam allowance simply because you didn't press?
It doesn't sound like much, but multiply a penline by 10 and it becomes the
difference between stitching an accurate block or a block that won't match up to
its neighbors.

See more pressing techniques here.

What is Stippling??

What is stippling? Stippling is a free-motion technique used to fill areas of a quilt. It consists of squiggly lines that curve and twist around without crossing over or creating a sharp point. Stippling can be tiny - 1/2 inch loops or large - 2-3 inch loops. It depends on the look you want to create.

The smaller the stippling, the more it flattens the fabric. Larger stipples give the fabric a puffed up appearance. Backgrounds are great for small stippling because it creates texture. Whereas larger loop are better for a large, open area to fill in a quilt.

Stippling is free motion, with you in total control. The feed dogs are lowered or covered on your machine so you can guide the fabric under the needle. Let your imagination take over and guide the sandwich without lines or motifs to follow.

The goal is to have even, consistent stitches. To accomplish this, keep the stitching speed of your foot petal and the movement of the fabric with your hands in tune with each other. If your stitching speed increases, your hands must move a little faster. If your stitching speed decreases, your hands must move a little slower.

Stippling take practice. Start on a test sandwich and create curvy lines and shapes that resemble a jigsaw puzzle. Change directions and vary the shapes without crossing over another line. Start on an edge and work your way toward the middle. Be careful not to quilt yourself into a corner.

Think of a large quilt as small areas of stippling. Plan where you are going to start and look ahead as you are quilting to the next area. Finish that area and move on to the next until your project is complete.

New Glow-In-The-Dark Pins

Add a little glow to your sewing room with a cute little jar of glow-in-the-dark pins! These Glow-in-the-Dark pins are an excellent edition to any sewing room! Just turn out the lights and you can easily pick up dropped pins! A perfect gift for any sewer or quilter!!

My sewing room floor just glows at night!! Maybe I need to pick up my pins on the floor?? :)

Pick up your own jar of pins today!!

I LOVE Stippling!!

OK, I will admit it, I LOVE stippling!! I know it is not a favorite among many people; in fact some people dread creating those curvy stitches. But any time I am working on a project, my mind strays to the possibility of adding some stippling!

The last few projects I have created have just called for stippling!! Hooray!! I think it has been a month since I have stippled something other than last week!

Have you ever heard of a stippleproofer? I hadn't before I read this fun little story entitled, Stipple Me This. I'm terrified; this quilting lady sounds just like me!! I can very easily get to the point where I am out in stippling space somewhere!!

From now on, you better stippleproof your quilts; the stippling critics might be on patrol!! :)

Applique` Tips

As I opened my email this morning, this message greeted my eyes from Quilted Paradise. Here is a little excerpt from Konstantin's article on applique.

Appliqué is an artwork made out of small pieces of cloth sewn together to get
patterns of interest on a larger piece of cloth. This art work can be seen in
most parts of the world and the designs are always exquisite and peculiar to a
particular culture. Although there is diversity in designs, the basic materials
needed and the difficulties therein for the work remain the same.

Usually a template is created for the design and it is traced on pieces of cloth to get
the patterns as per wish. The most often used material for templates is
cardboard which is not only easily available but also easy to use when there are
shapes such as circles, and simple shapes as leaves, flowers etc. However, when
one has to deal with geometric patterns or shapes that have points that need to
come out nice on the finished work, it takes a patient and a little experienced
person to handle the situation.

You can read the full article here.

Good News for Old Needles!

Changing your sewing machine needle should be more often than just when the needle breaks! I know, we all do it, me included. The needle stays in until it is bent or broken. But to get the best possible stitch results, you should change your needle every 10 hours of sewing.

If you are working on a sheer fabric or satin, you may need to change needles more frequently. A slightly dull needle or burr at the needle tip can cause runs and tears in the delicate fabric.

For machine embroidery, the needle may also need to be changed more often. Stop and really thing about how many times the needle penetrates the fabric -- many times! For every stitch, the needle is being inserted into the fabric. So if your design has 20,000 stitches in it, the needle has gone through the fabric at least 20,000 times. This dulls your needle in a hurry!

But, don't throw those old needles away; reuse them! Recycle used machine needles to hang artwork, quilts and photos. Needles create a much smaller hole than nails or thumbtacks and are longer than the average household nail. And surprisingly they hold quite a bit of weight. I've hung everything from picture frames to thread racks to calendars with old needles.

Bubbly Bubbles...

Here is another one of my projects! This cute little bear is surrounded by bubbly bubbles floating all around!

The bubbles are applique designs. The applique fabric is two layers of sheer fabric fused together with wonderunder and then two layers of batting. The batting gives the designs a puffy texture, creating some dimension.

The batting makes the applique thicker to trim and stitch through. The satin stitch which covers the fabric edge must be wide to completely cover the sheer fabric and batting.

See close up photos here...

Marbling Fabrics

Here is an article full of information regarding fabric marbling. The fabrics created are beautiful! It would be a fun project to try!

Nature Scene

Here's the finished result, Dot! It was fun to stitch!! :)

My nature scene turned out great! It has a calming and peaceful effect! I embroidered the flowers first and then the water pond over the flower stem roots. The clouds and sun are stitched directly on the fabric also.

The birds and butterflies are stitched on two layers of polymesh alone. I cut out around them and used a stencil burner to melt the remaining stabilizer around the edge. To make them a little stiffer, I sprayed starch to the back of the designs.

On the machine, I tacked down the bodies of the birds and butterflies. Their wings can flap around to signify flying.

The swans are also stitched on two layers of polymesh, cut around and edges melted. They are also tacked on with clear thread. One is a little smaller and behind the other. This adds to the depth of the picture.

And of course after all the embroidery is complete, the entire wall hanging is stippled! Stippling adds texture to the background and allows the embroidery designs to puff out!

You can see some close up photos here.

I'll be posting some more project photos this week...

Flowers for a New Project!

Here are my flowers and leaves that I stitched for another idea. I'm trying to come up with an idea for these for a pillow. It needs to match my Beyond the Color Purple quilt since the designs and colors are the same. And of course it has to have stippling in it--I love to stipple and love the effect if produces on the fabric! Perhaps a small square pillow with burgundy satin flange or thick piping around the edge?? I'll need to keep thinking on that...

Progress Report...

I am making progress on my projects! The nature scene is finished except for attaching the binding. The swans, butterflies & birds are sewn on and I stippled around all the embroidered pieces. It was a little challenge not to catch a butterfly wing while quilting! :)

All the little pink chiffon flowers are stitched, but I still need to cut out around them. I put this on hold and started some different flowers for another idea. So I continue finishing up things today...

My Projects

Today I am containing myself to the sewing room and my machine! Dimensional embroidery is my theme project to work on today!

Yesterday I was able to get several embroidery designs stitched for the nature scene that I am creating. The flowers are completed, as shown in the photo. I was also able to get the pond of water, clouds and sun stitched which I don't have a photo of yet.

I stitched two swans, several birds and a few butterflies to add to the scene. These I stitched on polymesh stabilizer and then cut them out. I will attach them to the background fabric to give them a dimensional effect.

Right now I am stitching pink chiffon flowers as I am typing. I need around 200 flowers to complete a project. I'm not quite sure yet how or what I am going to create with these pink flowers. I usually start a project with a general idea of what I want it to look like finished and fill in details as I go along. Sometime I end up with a completely different result that my original idea! I'll post some more photos when these projects are finished!

What Do I Do Now??

Here is something that happened a few years ago that helped me to think of different creative solutions when there is a desperate need! :)

Time slipped away and before I knew it, the baby shower is tomorrow. It is 8:00 pm and I still have to embroider a baby blanket for my cousin's new little baby. I am thinking to myself, "No problem, I have a piece of pink flannel that I can embroider the baby's info."

About an hour later, I have the design finished on the computer and sent to the embroidery machine. I found the pink flannel, rounded the corners, mark the embroidery placement, place the fabric in the hoop and stitch the design.

After the embroidery is complete, I trim the jump threads and tear off the stabilizer on the back. I'm thinking, "I just need to serge a roll hem around the edge on the serger and I will be done."

As I am pressing the embroidery, I notice a white mark in the center of the blanket. To my horror, the mark grows into a line! This line extends through the center of the blanket, yes, a faded line right on the fold of the fabric.

It's staring right up at me and no amount of rubbing is going to lessen that stark white line! "What am I going to do," I am thinking to myself, "I don't have any more pink flannel to stitch another design nor do I have time to start over." It is almost 10:00 pm at this time.

After I panicked for a moment, I started rummaging through my drawer of serger thread. Staring right at me were 3 cones of pink variegated wooly nylon thread! An idea started forming in my head, "What if I would serge a roll hem right over that faded line in addition to the edges?"

I serged right over the faded line, right down the center of the blanket. To create a more completed look, I decided to roll hem down the center of the blanket going the other direction in addition to serging around the edges. After the serging is complete, I laid it out and evaluated my work, "It still needs something to tie it all together."

I dug around in my drawer of buttons and found some delicate little pink roses which I securely hand tacked on in various places. "Yes, that will work. In fact, the variegated thread and roses add a nice touch," I say to myself.

I quickly pressed and wrapped the gift, glad to have it finished. It wasn't yet midnight and I could cross that off my to do list for tomorrow!

I don't know how many times I have had something similar to this happen. I only have a short time frame to finish something, I make or find a mistake and I have to figure out a way to correct or cover it up! Let me tell you, it CAN be done!! If I could count the projects that have an added butterfly, another quilt border, an asymmetrical design instead of symmetrical or an extra detail, the number would be in the high double digits!

Adding embroidery to cover up a hole in the fabric, inserting another fabric color because you ran out of the original or appliqueing a design over a scorch mark the iron left is not covering up a mistake or trying to make it look correct. It is called CREATIVITY!! You can come up with the most creative ideas when you are desperate!

So the next time you make a mistake or find a flaw, don't go into panic mode! Take a deep breath, calm down and ask yourself, "How can I create a new design element in this project?"

By the way, my flawed pink blanket turned out so well that I have made multiple blankets the same way! Here is one that I have stashed away for future use!

Fun Embroidery Designs

OK, I am a machine embroidery fan in every sense of the word! I LOVE to browse through designs, plan embroidery scenes, incorporate embroidery into garments, quilts & home dec projects, play with designs in my computer software and of course see the stitched out result!

OESD (Oklahoma Embroidery Supply & Design) is one of my favorite places to find excellent quality designs! They digitize 9 new design packs (each pack contains 20-50 designs) each month! So at the first of every month I am always on their site to check out what is new for the month! I found some really fun ones this month! See what you think! :)

Little Princess

Mo' Cuddly Alphabet

Garden Ornaments

My mind is going wild with the possibilities...time to get my mind back to preparing for my embroidery club class next week!

BCP Quilt Variations

Today is my class for teaching Beyond the Color Purple embroidered quilt. We have several ladies who are stitching in other colors instead of the ivory/burgundy. Here is a photo of the blue and purple alternatives. With 18 people in the class, everyone's quilt blocks are different and unique. It has been fun and will continue to be exciting to see each block with the different fabric and thread combinations!

Another Great Idea!!

Here is a quilt idea I love! Crystal from Up in Stitches, posted some quilt top photos. The colors blend together beautifully!
I love the Kaleidoscope in dizzying panoramic colors!! The bright colors appear much more vivid when set off with the black! I have an idea for a quilt similar to this and incorporating embroidery! One of these days I will put that idea into motion. :)

Terrific Idea!!

Leah posted some photos of her swap block quilt top that she is working on. I agree with Leah -- it would make a great signature quilt! The rail fence pattern fits with the signature pieces wonderfully! Simple, easy and quick to stitch and finish!! :)

Invention of the Zipper

We use it everyday in many different areas...the zipper!! Where did it come from? Why was it invented? Who discovered it? Find out here...

Off the Topic for a Moment...

My sister, Jena and I attended a Biblical Worldview Conference last week in Missouri. We enjoyed the time spent together, learned lots of information from the lectures and found many new friends! It was a long 8 hour drive from southwest Kansas to Missouri, but we made it and are glad to be home!!

Now back to the subject matter of sewing, quilting, etc.......

Home Again...

I'm home again after being out of town for a week!! I have been busy getting caught up on all my snail mail & email, but will be posting again next week. I look forward to getting caught up on the news in the blogging world and seeing what everyone has been doing this week! :)

Be Back Soon!!

I will be out of town next week, but will look forward to catching up on all the news in the blogging world when I return!!

Serena :)

Baby Blanket Ideas!

Here are a few baby blanket designs I have created! It is so fun to copy, paste & edit embroidery designs and see what fun results I can come up with!!

These are made out of poly/cotton broadcloth. Broadcloth makes an inexpensive blanket, but I would not recommend it for a dense embroidery design. When you stitch a high density design, it tends to cause ripples or puckers in the fabric because it is so tightly woven. A 100% cotton works better; flannel is even better!!

The Kuddly Koala is stitched in one thread - a variegated spool in shades of green.
On the pink blanket, I roll hemmed the edge in a variegated wooly nylon thread.
The Good Morning design has multiple kinds of threads in it - white wooly nylon for clouds, a 30 wt. polyester gray for the road, yellow Monet for the sun & lettering and 40 wt. rayon threads for the rest.



All these are out of blue broadcloth. I added lettering in my Bernina embroidery software to the designs. For the Crusin Along & My Favorite Things, I add multiple mini designs and scattered them around the lettering.



Flannel...flannel...flannel...the perfect fabric for stitching embroidery!! I love to stitch on flannel because the fabric absorbs the embroidery so well and prevents the puckers & ripples that can occur from stitching.

Sing a Song! with Mr. Bear and his musical guitar.
Play with Me is a tiger playing with some bumbling bees.
The cute little cowboy bear is "trouble", but adorable stitched on this blanket! This has been the all-time favorite whenever I am showing these blankets as samples! I think it is cute too!! :)

Baby Receiving Blankets

Baby receiving blankets...easy to sew...fun to personalize...great baby gift idea!! With a little fabric, several embroidery designs and a few spools of embroidery thread, you can have a quick, but special gift for a special little person! Here is a simple way to create a large blanket in a matter of minutes!

You will need 1 1/4 yards of 45" wide fabric, cotton or flannel. Press out foldline. Fold fabric in half with selvages together and then in half again as shown below.

Cutting through all 4 layers, cut off selvage edge. Using a dinner plate or circular object as a guide, cut off the corner so you have a nice, rounded edge as shown below.

Open up the blanket. Set your serger to a rolled hem and serge a rolled hem around the edges. Select one corner of the blanket and fold corner in half to find the center. Then mark 5" up from the rounded corner edge. Put the center of your embroidery design or lettering at this point. If you mark a + ( horizontal & vertical line) as the embroidery center, it provides an easy way to straighten the fabric in the hoop before machine embroidery.

If you don't have time to add the embroidery, just select a print, round off the corner and roll hem the edges.

You have a finished 45" square blanket! Most receiving blankets bought at a store are only a yard or smaller. This is a little bigger, so they can use it longer!

Make several ahead of time and you will have a gift ready! Or cut and roll hem several blankets and just add embroidery once you know the baby's info! Embellish with designs that match the baby's nursery!

See some unique baby blankets I have stitched here!

Find out about my flawed pink blanket that turned into a creative idea here!