My Striped Butterfly

I got the butterfly designs into the Topaz 30 and stitched one out using Superior's Rainbows thread.  I've been dying to try a variegated thread.  Wow.  Nice thread.   I'm still giggling over the fact that he's got stripes.    

From Embroidery Designs

It wasn't until I turned it over that I realized I had some minor problems:

From Embroidery Designs

There are loops on the back and parts of the towel had come through.  I'll have to do another and change the needle and see if that helps.  Somehow the top tension is loose.  The thread didn't come out of the take-up lever so it may be needle issues.   Or the transfer from JEF to VP3 may not have come through right.  I know the designs work in JEF as I've used it before.  Sometimes it's hard to tell.  I don't know enough about digitizing to fix anything if it can be.

 

4D Extra And Importing Fonts

It was great having my family come to visit over the weekend.  My mom loved the table runner.  

I was showing her my embroidery software as she loved the set below of embroidery blocks I had made.  There are 9 blocks in all, but only 2 in the picture.  I said I really needed a font that matched but the company I bought them from wanted 20 dollars for it.  I really needed a bigger size as well.  My editing skills are still really pathetic.

From Blogger Pictures

Then she said she had a cricut? and she could download free fonts off the internet instead of buying the expensive sets the company made.  She had purchased their software and my dad figured out how to download the fonts into it.   I wondered if I could do this with my 4D Extra as I knew it had a font section.  We downloaded a font and and it worked!!  Then we played with the size and the different ways of stitching out the font.  Way cool!!   I can add fonts to my machine embroidery to match the designs.  

I just have the basic Embird program so I don't know if I can download fonts with it.  I love both programs.

Blackwork Quilt Designs

Been working on a new quilt. I love blue and white quilts and fell in love with a Blackwork embroidery set of designs. I stitched them out in blue and am working on a quilt for it.

Here's a block from the set of Blackwork designs. I haven't trimmed the block down to size yet.

From Quilted with Love

I played with several layouts and really like this one:
My worry is that the stars will overshadow the Blackwork blocks and they get lost. Paper piecing these blocks would take hours and I worry about losing interest in them.

The blocks are 8 inch blocks set on point. Even without the embroidered blocks, it would be a stunning quilt. I would just make the blocks a lot larger for easier piecing.

Here's another quilt that might work as well. It's much simpler but rather boring.

Free Standing Lace And Christmas Cat

Wow. I finally got the free standing lace all stitched out for a doily. 8 of everything makes for a lot of work. Especially if you don't have a clue what you are doing. I'm supposed to put all the pieces together and sew them onto white fabric. Then cut out the extra fabric and have a doily. Hmmm. Leave it to me to do this for a first time project. I had no idea how big this was going to be. I have no spacial awareness ability.

I got the second cat done on a dishtowel yesterday. Two more and I'll have them done. I love the socks and the reindeer antlers on his head.

I Got All 9 Done!

I finally have all 9 blocks done! WooHoo! I have them quilted but now I'm stuck. Do I make them into one big wall hanging or just bind each one and have a sleeve/tabs for hanging individually?

I was going to do the "quilt as you go" method but now I'm not sure I like the idea.

I tried to find the font that was used so I could add a title of sorts on the top. I'd probably have to email the website.

I did play with EQ6 some but since I can't put the designs in the squares, it's hard finding colors that work.

I guess I don't have to do it now. I can still think about it.

House Rules #3

From Blogger Pictures

I got this done today. I have 6 more to go. These are turning out so nice!

Machine Embroidery Tips

I ordered my threads today for the peacock bag. I'm slowly understanding the machine embroidery world of designs. Here's what I've figured out:

1. Check Your Sizes. I almost ordered a 9 inch design by accident. My largest hoop is a 5x7. Also check if your design is too small..or has enough designs that are in scale to one another. I ordered a set thinking they were different sizes and they weren't. There are no exchanges or refunds in this world.

2. Check Your Format. Janome runs on JEF. Before ordering make sure you buy the right format. Now, if you screw up and have a spiffy software program you can convert designs, but I don't. I've found that a lot of "freebies" only come in certain formats.

3. Know What You Want. People are out to get you to buy their stuff. They offer freebies, discounts, special pricing for joining their groups/newsletters, and funky sales ideas. It's almost like watching "QVC" all day long. LOL. It's really easy to fall into the trap of buying things not because you want them, but because they hype it up. Hmm..don't they do that with fabric too? LOL

4. Back Up Your Designs. If your computer crashes, you are out of luck. I copy mine to CD and label the discs. I have some on a USB drive as well. Actually; someone on the Janome group had a great idea of backing up all your personal stuff on a USB drive in case of emergency and you have to leave your house ASAP.

5. Don't Be Afraid To Try New Things. I fell in love with the peacock design on the purse but had to decide if I wanted to try the purse. I took the risk because the design was on sale and I liked the design of the purse. The site had 2 other peacock designs on sale as well, but I knew they weren't for me. There are TONS of purse patterns out there, but I liked this one.

6. Check The Quality Of The Design. It might be a stunning design, but if it seems "off" it might be. 99% of the designers I've used are incredible and I haven't had a problem. I have been to other sites that have been plain awful.

I love sites that show examples of their work and work from other people. As a newbie, it boosts my confidence and gives me ideas of what to do with a design. I'm not so much interested in freebies as I am with workable projects. The peacock purse had directions, thread lists, and actual pictures of the purse. While the designer figured I knew what I was doing when she wrote the tutorials, having pictures is wonderful.

7. Print Out Templates. I have a 3 ring binder full of print outs of the designs in their sizes. It helps me plan out a pattern and I have instant access to designs. Yes, it takes time and space but it really helps.

8. Organize. I'm still working on this one. I know they have software out there for organizing down to the tiniest detail but at this point, I can't afford them nor do I need it. However; if you stick everything under your embroidery file, it's easy to lose things. I do have subfiles and that helps some. This is where the physical template binder helps. I can be more anal there.

I find that organizing by designer helps more than organizing by subject. Then within the designer you can put in flowers, quilt blocks, etc

9. Join The Groups/Newsletters That You will Buy From. With everyone wanting your attention it's easy to join everything. I've had to scale down to the sites that I do want instead of everything. There's no point having someone that you don't want, emailing you every day to buy their stuff. Joining up with some groups has let me find sites that I would never find on my own.

10. Buying From Different Sites. I've found that designers are on several sites that are like being in a shopping mall. Each "mall" has different payment types and offer different types of "rewards" and clubs. Some "malls" I don't like so I don't use them. Designers have their own site but belong to "malls". I watch the specials from each "mall" and buy that way to get the best deal for me.