OESD Hello 2008 Sale

Join OESD as they welcome in the new year with a buy one, get one free sale!

Who: You!

When: Dec. 28, 2007 - Jan. 4, 2008

Where: http://www.embroideryonline.com/

Buy One Stock Design Pack or Individual Design, Get One Free!

Buy One Pack for $69, Get One FreeBuy Two Packs for $59 each,

Get Two FreeBuy 5-9 Packs for $49 each,

Get one Free for each one purchased.

Buy 10+ Packs and get them for only $39.00 each and get 1 free for each one you buy.

For every individual design or design pack you purchase, get one free!

Merry Christmas!!!

May you all enjoy the time spent with family and friends and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!

graphic courtesy of www.allposters.com

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Maureen for winning the needle nanny! Maureen, email me which color you would like and I will get it in the mail to you or give it to you at our next Miss Kitty's Quilters meeting!

The giveaways are over for this year, but stay tuned next year for some more great prizes for your sewing room that you could win!!

A quilt in less than 5 days - part 7 FINISHED

Binding is finished, quilt is pressed and on its way to its new owner!! I think I'll make another one, but with a few more days scheduled in to complete it! :)

stitching down the binding

finished!! :)

A quilt to stitch in less than 5 days - part 6

I'm right on schedule! The binding is stitched on and ready to tack down on the back. A couple hours of hand work and it's complete!!

Having trouble attaching your own bindings on your projects? Check out this post for how I attach my binding to my quilts and wall hangings.

A quilt to stitch in less than 5 days - part 5

Yesterday was a terrific day for quilting!! I wasn't able to devote my entire day to the quilt, but I'm satisfied with what I was able to get done.

All the stitching in the ditch around all the blocks and border is complete. The green outside border is quilted with freehand loops. And I was able to get all the blocks marked for diagonal stitching.

Which, btw, I have started using a new kind of marking chalk instead of the marking pens I have used in the past and it has worked wonders! I'm so happy with it and will let you know what it is and how I've used it soon!

According to my calculations, which I deem to be pretty accurate this time, I should have at the most 5 hours of quilting left!!! I should easily be able to get that done today. My binding is made, I just need to stitch it to the quilt and the tack it down by hand. I'm just about done!!

My goal for today:

Complete the quilting - 5 hours max

Stitch binding on quilt - 1 hour max

Then all I will have left for tomorrow is to tack the binding down by hand and press it and it's done!!! Hip, hip, hooray!! :)

marking chalk and ruler

quilting the outside border

The Needle Nanny: A tool you can't do without!

I am always losing my needle when doing handwork. I have tried several methods of needle recovery - (1) Put the needle in the arm of the couch and for some reason it just sinks and disappears. (2) Keep the needle on a magnetic pincushion and it just gets lost among all the straight pins. (3) Stick the needle in a cotton pincushion and then a four legged friend carries it off for a toy.

I was constantly trying to find a method of keeping my needle handy and finally came across the Needle Nanny! What is it? It consists of two magnetic pieces about the size of a nickle. Open the magnetic pieces and stick it to your shirt. It's decorative and has a strong magnetic hold to hold needle and pins plus stay attached to your shirt. Finally...a solution for my needle losing episodes!

This wonderful little Needle Nanny will hold your needle where you want it to be! I have tried using several needle catching gadgets, but haven't found one as useful as this Needle Nanny. It's quick and easy to attach and can even be worn through security at airports!

Hold your needle to your project or to your clothing with this handy magnet! You will always know exactly where your needle is located!

It's available in the fun colors of blue or fuchsia, so be sure to get one for your very own and one for a friend!

Would you like to win this neat little Needle Nanny? Post a comment on this post to be entered in the drawing. Drawing ends Friday, December 21st!

A quilt to stitch in less than 5 days - part 4

The quilt is pinned together, ready for quilting. And it's not even 9 pm yet! I was able to make fantastic progress today!

all safety pinned together

The first quilting I will do is stitch in the ditch around all the blocks and borders to stabilize the layers together. Then I will proceed with more quilting in the blocks and borders. I haven't made up my mind to all the designs I'm going to use, but I have some ideas.

all rolled up and ready to put under the machine

If you would like to see how I lay out my quilt top, batting and backing and safety pin them together without any tucks or wrinkles, see this post.

Also, see here to see how I use the Kwik Klip with curved safety pins for pin basting my quilts.

A quilt to stitch in less than 5 days - part 3

Hooray!!!! I'm right on schedule!!!

I had all the quilt blocks pieced and pressed by noon as originally planned.

And the top is complete with borders, pressed and ready to sandwich with the batting and backing.

before I started stitching...

I've been busy...throwing scraps on the floor! :)

A quilt to stitch in less than 5 days - part 2

I did not get all the blocks done as planned yesterday for several reasons. (1) I'm not sure how I calculated 15 minutes per block, but that was stretching it by a whole lot. I was a little too optimistic. It's been taking longer even with chain piecing and doing one step on all the blocks at once. (2) Yep, I ran out of fabric, which was one thing I was worried about the entire time I was stitching.

I needed about 18 more inches of the pink fabric for the pineapple blocks. That required me to stop, dig around in my stash of fabric and come up with some other hot pink that would blend well. I found something which will work great, but that took a little figuring that out and cutting more pieces.

I started the nine patch blocks - stitched the strips together and then cut them apart. I found out a needed a few more strips. I cut those, stitched them and cut them again. They are ready to sew into blocks.

Needless to say it was well into this morning when I quit with this much done:

But all I have left to finish the blocks is the blue corners on the pineapple blocks and stitching the nine patch blocks together. Then the blocks will be together!!!

I was able to change a few things on my schedule today so I can get started stitching now instead of late morning or early afternoon. So here is my goal for today:

1. Finish the pineapple blocks and nine patch blocks by noon. (I should only have a couple hours max on those.)

2. Get all the blocks stitched together.

3. Stitch the two borders on and cut binding. (Hopefully this won't take too long provided I have enough fabric - which at this moment, I do. But I still have to cut the borders as well as stitch them. Should be at this point by 5:00.)

4. Sandwich the quilt top, batting and backing together. (I may not get to this, but I really need to so I can start quilting tomorrow. It should only take 3 hours to get the backing prepared, quilt laid out and pinned together.)

We'll see what happens today....

A quilt to stitch in less than 5 days - part 1

I always have lots of projects in my mind and always think they will take less times than they actually do. That's exactly the situation I am finding myself in right now.

I have a queen size quilt I am stitching for a customer right now that has to be done by this weekend for Christmas. I should now be at the quilting point, correct? And where in actual time do I find myself at the moment?

I just finished cutting out all the pieces for the quilt top minus the borders. My goal of getting started early this morning turned out to be about 2 pm this afternoon. Then I had plan A drawn out and calculated for cutting, when I discovered that there was not enough fabric for plan A.

So after typing in calculations for plan B, C, D, E and F in my Bernina Quilter program, I have finally come up with the combination for the quilt blocks. I think. I hope I will have enough fabric to get all the pieces I need. But who knows, by the time I'm finished, I may be clear through the alphabet.

Since this quilt needs to be done by Saturday and I'll be out of town Friday and I do have other things to do this week, my goal that I made late last night was to get all, yes, ALL 42 blocks pieced by tonight.

And I'm off to a really good start considering that it is 5:30 pm and I have one block stitched (I had to stitch one block to be sure all my measurements were correct, since I was scrimping on fabric) and most of the quilt top pieces cut.

I have a habit - good or bad, I'm not sure - to time myself with certain tasks and figure out how many repeats I can do in an hour and then figure out how long the entire task will take. It took 15 minutes to stitch the pineapple log cabin blocks and there are 20 left to stitch. That means I can stitch 4 in an hour. Which means I'll have half the quilt done in four hours or hopefully by 10 pm. Maybe I'll pick up speed as I go along???

Then I have 21 nine patch blocks to stitch. Although those will be quick since I can sew strips together, cut the strips and stitch the pieces together again. But it still does take time...maybe and hour or so.....???

And hopefully I won't run out of fabric and have to take time out trying to decide what to put in place of the missing piece.

And hopefully I won't run into difficulty with any of the blocks. Because, you know, I have to have all the points and seams match or I'm just not happy with it. :)

And the more I think about it, the more I'm certain that it may no longer be Monday, December 17th when I am finished stitching the last of the 42 blocks.......what do you think?

I think my best plan of action may be to quit typing and get to sewing....and on that note, I'm getting back to my sewing machine. When I start stitching crooked seams, I'll take a break and update you on my progress......

my hopefully enough pieces of fabric

one pineapple block complete!

all my pieces cut

New Creative Expressions Issue 17

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:
Jenny's Essence Quilt Part 2
The Latte Jacket
Delicate Delights Project
Over 40 creative ideas for Christmas!
Plus many other creative ideas for you to enjoy!!

Note from Serena: The front cover caught my eye as soon as I saw this newest issue of Creative Expressions! You won't want to miss this issue and the fabulous techniques discussed inside the pages!

A note from Jenny Haskins:

We have never really done a Christmas edition of CE so it was decided to eliminate the Techniques section in this issue (so for any newcomers, you will find a detailed Techniques section at the back of any past issues of CE) to enable us to get into the festive season with a magazine jam-packed with Christmas ideas and spirit, including give-aways and specials, as well as a free embroidery design to make a Victorian Christmas Tree Skirt and much more.

Get your copy today!!

Monday Giveaway: Needle Nanny

This wonderful little Needle Nanny will hold your needle where you want it to be! I have tried using several needle catching gadgets, but haven't found one as useful as this Needle Nanny. It's quick and easy to attach and can even be worn through security at airports!

Hold your needle to your project or to your clothing with this handy magnet! You will always know exactly where your needle is located!

Available in blue or fuchsia; specify which color you would like in your comment.

If you didn't win this giveaway, you can purchase your very own Needle Nanny here.

To be entered in this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your name. Comments will be open until Friday evening, December 21st.

The winner will be announced here on Saturday.

This giveaway is only available to US residents.

Be sure to leave a comment to enter and then check back here on Saturday to see if you're the winner!!

This is the last giveaway of this year! Check back in January 2008 for more great giveaways! Thanks for all the great comments!!

The giveaway has ended!

And the winner is...

I'm sorry I didn't get this posted on Saturday....things were busy and it just kept getting moved down the list.

The winner of the novelty tape measure is Cheryl!! Congratulations!! Cheryl, email me your mailing address and I will get your prize in the mail to you!

What happens when...

What happens when your sister returns home early from college and you are still using her room for storing fabric and sewing supplies?

It ends up being put back in my sewing and inventory room! It has to go somewhere! :) My neat, organized sewing room has some additions to it!

I'm putting together a tour of my sewing room which I plan to upload in January. So stay tuned for some great sewing room tips for storing and organizing your fabric and sewing supplies!

Stitch Multiple Designs in One Hoop

Many times we try to save as much stabilizer as we can and stitch as many designs as we can out of one piece. One way you can do that is to hoop the stabilizer and stitch multiple designs in that one hooping of stabilizer. Depending on the size of your designs and your hoop size, you can usually stitch several designs in one stabilizer hooping.

Let me show you how to do it! The design I used for stitching is about 1" high x 3" wide. I hooped two layers of tear away stabilizer in the hoop. I usually will use two layers of stabilizer if I am going to be stitching multiple design in one hooping because it gives more stability the design more stability. With only one stabilizer hooping (two sheets of tearaway) I was able to stitch this design on seven shirts.

I stitched the first design at the top of the hoop.

Hoop your cutaway, tearaway or water souble stabilizer in the hoop. Spray 505 spray adhesive at the top of the hooped stabilizer. Stick the area of your fabric where you want the design stitched down to the sticky stabilizer. Place your hoop grid in the hoop to be sure your fabric is aligned straight. Stitch the design.

After the design is finished stitching, carefully tear out only the design from the stabilizer, but leave the stabilizer in the hoop. If you are using cutaway or a water soluble stabilizer, you will need to carefully cut out the design from the stabilizer.

I carefully tore out the area where the first design was stitched.
I can now stitch another design right below it.

Spray the area of the stabilizer directly below the cut-out and stick down the next piece of fabric. Make sure it is aligned straight with the hoop grid and stitch the second design.

The next shirt is stuck down, aligned straight and ready to stitch.

Be sure the design is being stitched completely on the stabilizer. If any part of your design is being stitched on the cut-out area with stabilizer, it will not be correctly stitched. So be certain you have moved down enough from the first design.

After the second design is complete, tear or cut it out from the hooped stabilizer and repeat the same process. Continue moving down on the stabilizer and stitching designs until the hooped stabilizer is completely used up.

Keep in mind that this will not work with every design. Every time you stitch a design and tear away part of the stabilizer, it weakens the tauntness of the stabilizer. Use designs that are small and lightweight without too many stitches such as mini designs, small groups of lettering, small logos or little accent designs. You may be able to get only two designs in the hoop or you may be able to get six. It depends on the design size and the diminsions of your hoop.

I was able to stitch this design seven times in one hooping of stabilizer.

Monday Giveaway: Novelty Tape Measure

Measure all things great and small in inches or centimeters with this retractable tape measure! Snap back button for easy release. Measures to 60".

Who can't use an extra tape measure? It's easy to pack to class or carry around in your purse for a quick measurement! A great gift for yourself or any stitching friend!!

If you didn't win this giveaway, you can purchase your very own novelty tape measure here.

To be entered in this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your name. Comments will be open until Friday evening, December 14th.

The winner will be announced here on Saturday.

This giveaway is only available to US residents.

Be sure to leave a comment to enter and then check back here on Saturday to see if you're the winner!!

I'm starting a series over the next couple of months for some fun giveaways, so be sure to check back every Monday for a chance to win!

This giveaway has ended!

The winner is...

The winner of the purple wedgie bag is Ali from Skiens Her Way. Ali, email me your mailing address and I will get the bag in the mail to you!

Journal it & don't forget it!

One of the best things I have learned to do is keep a record or journal of what I am stitching. I am stitching and creating so many projects that it is impossible for me to remember every little detail and there are always things I want to hold onto for future use. Whether I am creating my own projects or taking a class from someone else, I always have a notebook and pen available. I will often include fabric samples, stitched stitches or photos with my notebook.

As I am designing and stitching projects, I write down what I have done, what special techniques I used and stitches and feet that were helpful for what I am doing. I will often list the foot I use, the stitch number and best width and length for the technique. When I use that technique again, I can easily refer back to that information instead of figuring out all the details again.

My notebook also holds fabric samples that I have stitched various decorative stitches on and have written down the best stitch setting for that stitch. It's also important to write down the date you are working on the project. That way you can look back at it years from now and see the vast variety of work you have done and see how your work has improved over the years!

Keep photos of your work! I have not done a very good job of this until the past couple of years and so wish I had pictures of some of my projects years ago. File the photo in your notebook with a few notes and details on the project. Perhaps even list why you made it or if you gave it as a gift for someone.

I also carry a notebook with me to any lectures or classes I take, even if there is a handout or instruction sheet provided. There are always little bits of information or added notes discussed in class that are not included in the handout and usually impossible to recall everything by the time you get home. Write it down and move on to the next topic in class; you can review over the extra information later.

I keep a notebook with all my information instead of writing it down on pieces of paper. Little pieces of paper tend to get scattered and lost. When my notes, fabric samples, stitch settings and photos are all together, I know exactly where they are located and can easily retrieve the information! Give it a try and you'll be glad you did!

My bundle of treasures from Houston...

Here is what I brought home from Houston over a month ago - see all the fun treasures!!!! :) Magazines, fabric bundles, threads, shirts, papers, papers and more papers!

I still have lots of digging and sorting to go through, but at least it's all in one place and just waiting for me!

My stabilizer stash I bought in Houston. I was doing ok as far as enough luggage space for the trip home until I made this purchase. But I want to give these new stabilizers a try!

My notebook full of ideas and notes I just can't forget - valuable information!!

I did take one sewing class and created this lovely flower! Now that it is all fused together, I just need to stitch it!!

Download FREE Bernina Embroidery Designs

Did you know Bernina offers free embroidery designs from various collections that you can download and stitch? Designs are offered for a short period of time and change frequently, so be sure to check their website often!

Monday Giveaway: Purple Wedgie Bag

Use this colorful wedgie bag to store needles, thimbles or other small notions! It's perfect for hand pieceing, hand quilting or even hand embroidery. Store your scissors, needles, pins, ripper and seam gauge for carrying to class or any kind of travel.

It's perfect to store those small notions that would otherwise get lost! Every stitcher must have one! This also makes a great gift for a friend! Stuff it with fun quilting and embroidery notions and give your sewing friends a neat gift!

Dimensions: 8 1/2"L x 6"W x 6"H (at widest & highest point)

If you didn't win this giveaway, you can purchase your very own wedgie bag here.

To be entered in this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with your name. Comments will be open until Friday evening, December 7th.

The winner will be announced here on Saturday.

This giveaway is only available to US residents.

Be sure to leave a comment to enter and then check back here on Saturday to see if you're the winner!!

I'm starting a series over the next couple of months for some fun giveaways, so be sure to check back every Monday for a chance to win!

This giveaway had ended!

And the winner is...

Mama from Burbs of DC is the winner of the package of charm batiks!! Email me your mailing address and I will get your package in the mail to you! Congratulations!!