July 1-7 FabShop Hop Specials

It's time for the July FabShop Hop to begin!! Move your mouse (computer, of course! :)) from shop to shop to find great deals and register to wind one of two great prizes - a Bernina or Brother sewing machine!!

If you haven't participated in a FabShop Hop, you will need to register here. You can then visit the list of shops who are participating and look for the hopping bunny hidden on a page in each shop. You are then eligible to register for the fun prizes!! Click here for more details...

Save lots of $$ on fabric this week - Sunday, July 1st - Saturday, July 7th! Our entire collection of fabrics from Benartex, Maywood Studio, RJR, Exclusively Quilters/Classic Cottons and many more are 10%-25% off the regular price!

Stock up on Kona cotton solids, beautiful floral prints and gorgeous tone on tone pieces just waiting to be added to your fabric stash! Plus take a peek at our newest collection - Passion for Pansies! See what deals you can discover...

Passion for Pansies - A new collection from Exclusively Quilters

Passion for Pansies is a beautiful floral collection from Exclusively Quilters. Fresh from the garden pansies, dots, plaids and solid tone on tones are gathered together in this bright bouquet of prints. Choose from three beautiful colorways - purple, green & cream! These fabrics would incorporate well into quilts and other projects! Special pricing available July 1 -7!!

purple pansies

green dainty pansies & swirls

cream large pansies

July FabShop Hop Starts Soon!

Win a Bernina or a Brother Sewing Machine!

FabShop Hop - July 1-31, 2007http://www.fabshophop.com/hopmain.aspfabshophop.com will award a Bernina and Brother Sewing Machine as their two Grand Prizes in theJuly FabShop Hop! Visit your soon to be favorite online independent quilt and fabric websites andbecome eligible to win thousands of dollars in prizes!

Registration has already begun for the shopping tour that takes you across North America in yourPJ's. Join in the fun with the online FabShop Hop - July 1-31.The FabShop Hop Bunny will guide you from site to site to hop and shop, and when you get there,find another bunny hidden somewhere on the site. Click on the bunny, sign in to show you've been there and continue on your journey.

Here's How It Works:

Read the guidelines athttps://www.fabshophop.com/hopmain.aspthen click on "July List of Shops" on the left menu. On that page, you will find a list of all theshops participating in the FabShopHop. At each site you visit, look around and find the fuchsia bunnythat says 'youfoundit' with July dates -- click on the bunny, and a prize registration page will come up -- fill in your email address and click on the "register for prizes" button.This sends a message to our database that you registered for prizes at that site.

You will receive a Thank You message and an email confirmation that you have registered at that site. You can thencontinue shopping at that site or go back to the home page for that site and continue on the Hop.

Prize winners are selected in a RANDOM drawing from among all eligible entries. http://www.fabshophop.com/rules.asp

Join the fun today!

http://www.fabshophop.com/hopmain.asp

Don't miss out on the weekly sales that will be happening also during the hop!

Creative Expressions Magazine Issue #15

Creative Expressions is a quarterly magazine and is a must for anyone who loves creativity, sewing, embroidery and quilting. This magazine captivates and inspires all who read it, with 84 pages full of luscious photography, easy-to-follow directions and inspirational ideas. Plus, there is a bonus pattern sheet in every issue of Creative Expressions.

World-renowned machine embroiderer, Jenny Haskins whose creativity and passion for beautiful colours, along with her philosophy on life “that it is never too late to be what you could have been”, is reflected in every glorious page. This luxuriously produced magazine attracts both the novice and the expert sewer, quiltmaker or embroiderer around the world.

In this issue:
FiFi's Garden Quilt by Simon Haskins

Through the Garden Gate Part 1

Sewing Under PressureMake It You Pillow

Plus many other creative ideas for you to enjoy!!

Get yours today!!

How do you fix the white specs in your embroidery design?

This is the first lesson in our series - Common Embroidery Flops, Causes & Solutions!

Your two hour design has just finished stitching. You unsnap the hoop from the machine to take a closer look at your newest creation and see little white specs throughout the design!! What are these specs? Why are they there? How can you fix it? Read on to learn what is causing these white specs on your designs and how to prevent it in the future!

Cause: The tension is not set correctly and the bobbin thread is peeking through to the top of the design. Each white spec is from the bobbin thread underneath the design.

Solution: If you are still stitching your design, try tightening the bobbin thread to pull it toward the bottom or try loosening the top thread. If adjusting the tension does not accomplish anything, put the same color of thread in the bobbin as what is in the needle. Don't use normal sewing thread; it is heavier than bobbin thread and will cause more bulk in the design. There is also more of a chance of thread nests in the bobbin area and thread breakage if you use sewing thread. Embroidery thread is lighter weight and can be used in the bobbin as well as in the needle. If your design is finished, use a fine tip marker to color in the white specs. Keep in mind that these are temporary solutions; take your machine to your dealer to have the tension adjusted.

Prevention: Watch your machine as you get started stitching. Make sure the thread looks ok without any white specs of the bobbin thread starting to show on the design. If you start to see some white appearing, stop the machine, adjust the tension and start stitching again. If you know your machine had a tendency to do this, use the same thread in the bobbin as in the needle. Take your machine to an authorized dealer on a regular basis to keep the tension running smoothly.


white bobbin thread showing on the front of the design

use the same color of thread in the bobbin
or touch up with a fine tip fabric marker

a perfect design - no bobbin thread showing

Stay tuned next week for another helpful lesson in fixing embroidery mistakes!!

Common Embroidery Flops, Causes & Solutions

What do you do when your embroidery design doesn’t look like it should when it is finished? Can your design be recovered when the power is to the machine is lost and your design onscreen disappears? A needle breaks and rips a whole in your fabric; can that be repaired? Your machine was bumped and now the design outline is misplaced; how can that be fixed? If you have had any of the above questions, stay tuned to discover ways you can selvage the designs that you thought were destined for the trash! :)

We have all had designs that were just mistakes or perhaps we should term some of them disasters! Perhaps you have thrown the ripped shirt in the corner and grabbed a new one to stitch. Or maybe you have a pile of “mistakes” that you can’t seem to fix, but just hate to throw them away. As hard as we try to prevent errors from occurring, they will happen. And be guaranteed that the same mistake will probably happen more than once! So take a deep breath and learn some ways you can save your pile of mistakes.

Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing some common mistakes that happen, the things that cause them, several solutions to fix them into beautiful projects and ways to prevent the mistakes from happening in the future. Keep in mind that there are many methods to fix projects and that every solution may not work with every project you are doing. Are these the only mistakes you will encounter? No way! There will be new and different mistakes that will happen in your embroidery adventures, but try to be creative and selvage as many as you can!

Join my tips & techniques newsletter or stay tuned to my blog for embroidery flops and how to fix them! If you have a method of fixing some designs that works well for you, I would be thrilled to find out what it is! Email me or post a comment to my blog entry. Everyone has great ideas and the best way to learn is to share them! I'm looking forward to sharing my tips for the many, many embroidery flops I have made! So join me in this embroidery flop journey! The first issue has to do with white specs appearing in your embroidery designs...

The journey of the fabric swap envelope...

I received this email and photo from Donna showing the wonderful fabrics she received in our fabric swap envelope. She'll be trading out some pieces and then be sending it to the next on the list! Thanks for the photo, Donna!!


Hi, Serena
Today’s mail brought the Recycled Fabric Swap envelope! I’ve attached a picture of what I received, but it’s a secret as to what is going out! Thanks for this fun way to share our passion with like-minded addicts!
Donna

Titanium Needles: What are the Advantages?

Titanium needles are great for machine embroidery! Stop and really think 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! Titanium needles are a great help because they are stronger, last longer, less likely to break and keep your thread flowing smoothly through the eye of the needle!

Titanium needles are coated with titanium nitride layered on the surface of the needles. With the titanium coating, these needles last up to five times longer than conventional chrome-plated needles. They are more wear resistant which reduces needle breakage, bending and distorting. This is very advantageous for the reliability and durability when stitching embroidery designs.

The point of the needle is also strengthened with the titanium coating. The needle point dulls easily as it is continuously going in and out of the needle. This also causes the needle to wear and break. The titanium coating reinforced the strength of the needle without distorting the shape to provide more durability.

The Organ Needle Company makes titanium needles in a ballpoint and sharp. They are available in a 75/11, 80/12 and 90/14 size. Because of the titanium coating, these needles are a little heavier than a traditional needle. A titanium needle size 80/12 is comparable to a chrome needle size 90/14. For most of my embroidery, I use titanium needles size 80/12. They slide in and out of the fabric so smoothly. If I am stitching on sheer or very lightweight fabric, I usually change to the titanium size 75/11. The smaller size is perfect for the finer fabrics.

I don't know how I could stitch all the embroidery designs I do without using titanium needles! Titanium needles work very well with all kinds of threads - embroidery, metallic, metallic sliver, cotton, monofilament and polyester - they last longer, are less likely to break and help to prevent the thread from breaking. They are a little more expensive than Schmetz needles, but with the longer stitching time that they can be used, it ends up saving me $$ and LOTS of frustration! Not only do they last longer for machine embroidery, but they also work great for piecing, quilting and any other type of sewing! Give them and try and you will discover you can't sew without titanium needles!

If you haven't used a titanium needle and would like to try one, email me (info@embtreasures.com) with your name and mailing address. I will be glad to drop one in the mail for you to give it a try! Offer expires July 31, 2007.

Fun Fabric Shopping!

I received this email from an excited member of our latest Recycled Fabric Swap:

Hi Serena-I received the fabric envelope June 18-what fun to open a package full of material. I took the Debbie Mumm plaid(to put in my grandsons quilt) and a Bohemian by Free Spirit and added some extra fabric-my teenage son thought it was a great idea and that surprised me because I didn't even think he noticed me sewing. I would love to do this again!!!!

thank you-Lynn Deisenroth, WA.

Thanks, Lynn, for the email and I am glad you enjoyed getting the envelope of fabric! It will soon be on its way to the next person on the list!

A Quick Way to Safety Pin Quilts

Safety pins are an absolute must for pin basting quilt layers together to prepare for machine quilting. A large quilt can easily need 500 - 800 pins to adequately keep the layers from shifting. Pinning and unpinning all these pins can be very hard on your hands and fingers. After many broken nails and sore fingers, I discovered a tool called a Kwik Klip that is indispensable!

The Kwik Klip has a large, brown handle which allows you to easily grip it in your hand. A brass metal tip with grooves lets you open and close the safety pins.

Grip the handle in your hand. Pick up a safety pin and insert it into the fabric. Close the pin, using your thumb as leverage on the closure of the pin and the metal tip of the tool on the other side of the pin. The pin will be easily held in the groove on the tip of the tool, letting you close the pin.

To remove the safety pins, repeat the same procedure. Grip the Kwik Klip tool in your hand, hold your thumb on the pin closure and unpin it using the metal tip of the tool. Take the pin out of the fabric. Move to the next pin and continue unpinning.

With the Kwik Klip tool, you can quickly move from pin to pin, putting an end to sore fingers and broken fingernails! Give it a try on your next quilt and see if it works for you!

Watch the tutorial video below to see how to pin and unpin safety pins using the Kwik Klip tool.

Note: The video may take a couple minutes to download depending on your Internet connection.

If you have trouble viewing the tutorial above, click here for an alternative view.

Fabric swap packages on their way

Today the fabric swap packages have started their journey!

The flat rate envelope is stuffed full with 6 yards of fabric and here is what is inside!

The flat rate box is filled with 25 yards of fabric! I couldn't believe I could get that much in there, but I did. Someone will be getting a 9 pound box of fabric in their mailbox soon!

Here is what is inside:

We have already started this swap, but if you would like to join our next one, you can read more info here or email me.

Open or Closed Foot for Free Motion Quilting

Freehand or free motion quilting is a fun method of quilting. Free motion quilting is sewing without the feed dogs moving the fabric through the machine. The feed dogs are lowered and you are in control of moving the fabric to create the pattern of stitches you desire. It takes a bit of practice to create even flowing stitches, but can be very fun and rewarding. A darning foot or free motion foot is needed to achieve these stitches.

There are two free motion presser feet I like to use for different areas on a quilt. One is a free motion quilting foot with an open toe and the other is a free motion foot with a closed tool. There are a couple of reasons why I like to use each one.

Open toe presser foot - An open toe presser foot is like a circular foot with an opening in the front of the circle. This foot makes it easy to slip the thread under the foot when I am starting and stopping in my quilting. The main reason I like this foot for most of my free motion quilting is that it gives me greater visibility to see my stitches as I am sewing. If I am following a pattern or design in the fabric, I can see exactly where I am and where I need to be going very easily with this foot.

Closed toe presser foot - I do most of my free motion quilting with the above open toe foot, except when I am stitching around embroidery designs. Then I use the closed toe foot, sometimes also called a darning foot. I love to quilt around embroidery designs in my quilt. It allows the designs to puff up and gives them a dimensional appearance. I use the closed toe foot for this stitching so the toes of the foot do not get caught in the embroidery stitches. It is so easy for the toes to catch in the threads of the embroidery and rip the embroidery stitches or cause uneven stitches in your quilting. But when I use the closed toe foot, I don't have to worry about either of those two things happening.

These two feet work well for me! Give them a try and see if they will work for your next quilting project!

The threads of the embroidery design catch
on the open toe presser foot.

The closed toe presser foot just glides over
the edge of the embroidery design.

Episode 5 of The Quilt Show

The fifth episode of The Quilt Show, Jump Starting Creativity, is ready for viewing today! So don't miss this fun edition! Here is a summary:

Barbara Olson, renown fiber artist, author and international quilt teacher shares her formula for jump-starting creativity. Her insightful process will help generate the creative energy needed when you have too many ideas – or none! By using a variety of unusual fabrics, you will learn how to think creatively.This is all about the process, not the technique. Show includes a visit from Bob, The Quilt Show’s Thread Guy and a visit to the home of Cheryl Sterling – a developing new talent with an unbridled spirit.

3 in 1 Color Tool

This little color tool has been sitting around my sewing room for a couple of years. I would get it out once in a while to use it for color references, but never really knew how to use it to its full capacity until recently.

A couple weeks ago I watched episode 3 of The Quilt Show. One of the guests was Joen Wolfrom who is the designer of the 3 in 1 Color Tool. She shared several things which make this tool invaluable for color coordinating. There are 24 cards detailing 24 color from this color wheel. Each card has shades, tints and tones that are created by mixing another color with it.

The back of the card to me is the most neat feature of all. It has a cheat sheet referring you to other colors which will coordinate with your quilt. It gives you a guide and color ideas for different fabrics and how to put them together in different color schemes.

Be sure to catch more tips other lots of helpful information by visiting The Quilt Show!