Last week I received this question from Donna regarding
embroidery storage:
It looks like you have all 3 types of folders directly under your "My
Embroideries" folder. Do you copy the designs multiple times into the folders? For example, do you have the designs for the MarJen quilt in 1.) the MarJen for Error file, 2.) the Jenny Haskins designs and 3.) each individual embroidery card?
Donna Z in Arizona
Good question, Donna...it can be rather complicated the way I have folders organized on my computer, but let me see if I can detail a little bit more than what I wrote before. This is a long answer to your short question, but hopefully it will be helpful.
Under my hard drive, I have a folder named: My Embroidery Designs. I have multiple folders under that one, but every single design that is on my computer is somewhere in that folder. That is one thing I would most certainly recommend that every one do, because you will know where all your designs will be when you go to search for them. One of the most frequent questions I have received is that when someone downloads their design(s), they seem to get "lost" on their computer. Usually they end up scattered in many places and it's a challenge to find out where each one is stored.
Under the My Embroidery Designs folder, I have lots of folders. I'm going to list a few and describe what is in each one. There are more than what is listed here, but this will give you an idea of how they are organized.
Embroidery Designs by Company
Embroidery Cards-Cds-USB Keys
MarJen for Error Quilt
Beyond the Color Purple Quilt
Latte Quilt
Camp Quilt
Embroidery Projects
Customer Designs
Folder: Embroidery Designs by Company - Inside this folder I have multiple folders, one for each company that I order and download designs from. Some of them are Amazing Designs, Embroidery.com, OESD Designs (embroideryonline.com), etc. These folders are just for designs that I download from the Internet and do not have a card, cd or usb key from where the design was originally.
With many online companies, you can purchase individual designs or a pack or collection of designs. So under each company's folder, there may be individual designs that I have purchased and folders of designs that were sold as a pack or collections. For example: Under the folder, OESD Designs, there are lots of individual designs such as flowers, animals and lace and there are folders for each design pack/collection such as 11031 Teacher or 11061 Nursing.
Folder: Embroidery Cards/Cds/USB Keys - This is the folder that holds all the designs that I have taken off my embroidery cards, cds and usb keys. None of these designs are downloaded; they all are taken from tangible media which is how I purchased them. A few folders under this folder would be: Mrs. Mouse Sewing Treasures, The Good Life by Debbie Mumm, Lace Effects, Precious Moments, Christmas Cheer with Ingrid, Baby Talk by Cheri Strole, Fuzzy Tails, Floral Delights, Victorian Scrolls & Curlicues by Jenny Haskins, Art Nouveau Series: Spring Flowers by Jenny Haskins, Classic Lace by Sue Box, Timeless Teddy Bear Treasures by Sue Box, etc. Each of those folders hold the designs that are on that card, cd or usb key.
Even though all these folders are designs from tangible media sources, they included all different companies such as Bernina, OESD, Jenny Haskins, Sue Box, etc. Instead of these designs being sorted by company (which they could be if you wanted to do them that way), they are filed so that each collection is in one folder under the mother folder - Embroidery Cards/Cds/USB Keys. They are not grouped by company, just by the collection.
Folder: MarJen for Error Quilt - In this folder I have all the designs for the MarJen for Error Quilt. The designs used in the quilt are from the Jenny Haskins CD titled, Art Nouveau Series: Spring Flowers. So what I have inside is not all the designs on the cd, but just the two designs (one for the embroidered fan blocks and the other for the embroidered
strips). Now I do have several copies of each of those two designs; in several sizes and several colors. I also have the label I created for the quilt inside this folder.
Folders: Beyond the Color Purple & Latte Quilt - These two quilts are done the same way as the MarJen for Error folder. With these two quilts, there are more than just two designs in the entire quilt. So under each folder, I have a folder for each block with the designs for that block under that folder. For example: In the Beyond the Color Purple Quilt, block 1 & 9 have the same designs, so I have a folder named Block 1 & 9 and in that folder are the two designs for those two blocks. Again, there may be copies of those designs in different sizes and colors. But the designs needed for that block are there. In block 1 & 9, the two designs that are used are from two different cds, so if they are kept together, you don't have to go hunting for the designs in the Embroidery Card/Cds/USB Keys folder for each design.
Folder: Camp Quilt - I made a camp memory quilt (three, actually) and all the designs I used for those quilts are in this folder. I may never (actually probably not, but just in case! :)) stitch this quilt again, but the tons of designs I used are there. There are over 100 designs from various cards, cds, companies that I changed and used in the quilt. Many I edited by rotating, resizing, combining the designs for different aspects of each block. If I didn't save every design I used, it would take forever to go back, find every design I used before and re-edit it to what it needed to be. So all the edited designs for those quilts are stored here.
Folder: Embroidery Projects - In this folder I store misc. designs that I have changed or edited in some way for past projects. Some of these I will use later on another project I am using. For example: The designs for my sewing room sign, one being a Mrs. Mouse cutting fabric, some lettering and some photosnap lettering that I digitized are inside. I may never stitch another sign like this, but I don't want to just delete the designs I used, especially the ones I digitized.
Customer Designs - I do custom digitizing and embroidery for companies, so I keep all my companies and individuals organized by folders under the mother folder - Customer Designs. Many of these are repeated customers, so I keep their embroidery files for everything I stitch for them.
One reason I have folders for all my designs (either downloaded or from a card/cd/usb key) is that I always save my original file. I make take some of those originals, make changes, resize, edit, combine with other designs, but I will save it under a new name in my projects folder. The
reason for that is: I may edit that design for this t-shirt but will want to make different changes when I stitch it on a quilt block. I always want to keep my original. And I would really recommend that you always keep your original file so you can always go back to that. If you make changes to a design, save it under a new name, so you still have your original.
So in answer to your MJE question, I have the two designs for the quilt (the original ones from the purchased cd) under the folder - Embroidery Cards/Cds/USB Keys in a folder called Art Nouveau Series: Spring Flowers (this folder also has all the other designs on the cd). And I have the same two designs (with different colors and a few editing changes) under the MarJen for Error Quilt folder and those are the ones I use for the quilt. Because the designs are from a cd, they are in the folder for cds, not the Embroidery Designs by Company folder which just contains downloaded embroidery designs.
In one sense I do have duplicate designs on my computer, but technically they are not duplicates because one is the original file and the other is the edited file. I try to avoid duplicates of the same original design mainly because I really don't need two of the same thing and it takes up space on my computer that is not necessary.
That may seem like a lot of folder making and storing of designs that is not necessary, but I tend to keep about every design scene or file I create or edit. There are many times I go back to something I made in the past and use over again. But I have to also admit, I tend to be a "keeper" of files and I'm sure I have many on my computer that I will never use again.
Labels: Embroidery, Embroidery Designs, Organize Your Sewing Room
