Two Sections

Yes!   Two sections of the Totally Tubular quilt are now quilted.  I did some free-motion quilting (FMQ) and a lot of digitized embroidery quilting.   This is a fun journey.  I have one more section to quilt and then the pieces will be joined to make a lap quilt. 

Those hand-dyed fabrics really make the quilt sing with color.  They also make my heart sing. 

I know that I will love this quilt when it is finished.  I don't know if I will keep it, gift it, or sell it. 

I always love it when someone buys one of my quilts. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Panel 2 Quilting Started

Honestly,  I didn't think I would like quilting on my embroidery machine.  It did take some adjusting and adapting for it to work well.  I was glad that years ago I bought the "Snap Hoop" -a magnetic hoop that fits my machine.  It is a 5" by 7" hoop so that is as large an area as I can quilt at once.  My machine will use a 7" by 12" hoop, but all I have is the standard hoop for it.  I just checked the price for the larger one and found that the price has jumped significantly since I got the 5 by 7 hoop.  

Regardless, I have started quilting the second panel.  I hope to get a good photo of the first panel (all quilted) to show you soon.  Meanwhile,  I started the second panel using designs that I purchased several years ago.   

The first design, I brought into my software and added some to it.  

Can you guess what I added?  

I thought that the center was a bit too open, so I added the four-pointed star in the center of the design. 

Right in the next row, I added another design that I "stretched" in the software to fit better.  It was already a "border design" so I made it longer so that three stitchings fit across the panel.  Here is one stitching section. 

Between my designs, the purchased designs and my free-motion quilting,  this quilt will have lots of texture from the quilting.  And with the hand-dyed fabrics in it, there will be color and design to entertain the eyes.  

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Quilting & Designing Quilting Lines

Who said that I was having too much fun?  The fact is that I am having too much fun to hurry the quilting on this one.  I have been shifting from the embroidery software to the quilt.  Back and forth.  You see, I discovered that I love creating embroidery quilting designs.  

So far,  I have digitized eight quilting patterns for the embroidery machine.  At least three of those were done on Monday.   Let me show you some of them, quilted out on the quilt panel. 

The first one is a modified "ribbon candy" design that is then loosely echoed. 

The next two are my own (strange) creations.  The first one, I messed up the design file by saving the stitch file over it.  So it is lost for now.  I can recreate something like it though. 

This one has more even waves in the top and bottom. 

And finally, my favorite at this moment,  is called HeartLine.  I created a separated heart motif on a line.  Then I added a wild and wonky line above - that is my version of an EKG reading.  (I took LOTS of artistic license on that one.) 

Since I keep playing with this,  I am sure it will take me a lot longer than if I just free-motion quilted it.  

The great part is that I am learning a lot more about using my embroidery machine as I do this.  I have gotten much faster at lining up the designs.  That said,  I will be doing "fill-in" FMQ in the open spaces at the end of several of the rows.  I think I will say it is a design choice.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Quilting Started

Saturday,  I decided to baste one of the three panels of the quilt.  I got started and before I knew it, I had all three panels basted. Plus, enough ditch quilting was completed to stabilize them nicely.   Ha ha, the muse was stirring, so that wasn't enough.   

Two narrow rows got quilted with FMQ pebbles and lazy eights.  

Could I stop there?  Maybe for a little while, but then I remembered that I had some quilting designs that stitch on the embroidery machine.  I (finally) found my magnetic hoop so that adjusting the quilt in the hoop would be much easier.  I found a design that pleased me and did some adjusting on it in my embroidery software.  FYI, that means resizing mostly. There is a limit to what you can do with an existing stitch file. 

Then I took the panel to the embroidery machine and got it going.  It required four hoopings to go across the width of the panel.  Here are two of them in the hand-dyed section of that row.

I don't love the way it looks at the "start/stop" area of the design but it will probably "disappear" in the grand scheme of the quilt.  I will need to do just a bit of FMQ to fill up the areas between the sides you see and the next designs.  The size wasn't perfect for it even after I adjusted it. 

There is quite a bit of quilting to go.  I suspect there will be some FMQ and some embroidered quilting.  When I get a full panel quilted, I will post a photo.  

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

About Time!

The title refers to two different reasons that this is "about time."   First of all it is "about time" that I post a new blog post. I have been playing with the embroidery software learning new things and have not really had anything to show for it yet. (okay one thing, at the end of this post.)

It is also "about time" that I work on this UFO again.  You see, this quilt top was started in 2014.  Yes, that is right seven years ago.  Yikes!  It is about time that I do something with it.  I had three panels- each was a different length.  So today, I made a couple of pieces to make them all the same length. 

I will say "sorry for the bad photo" before I show it. With no design wall - and no place for one - I have to make do.  I use the bed and then stand on something...in this case right on the bed... to take the photo. 

The three panels are laid out horizontally.   The fabrics are from three men's shirts that I wore over the years.  The shirts were 100% cotton, so perfect for quilt fabric.  The colorful fabrics are from Colorways by Vicki Welsh. However, they are her "waste" fabrics that I won in a giveaway.  Vicki hand dyes some beautiful fabrics.  

Each of the panels will be backed and quilted separately then joined in the quilt as you go method that I have used on many quilts.  You can read about how I learned the method from a book by Marguerita McManus in the post here. 

I think this will make a lovely lap/snuggle quilt.  I may even use some machine embroidery quilting on it.  You see, I learned to digitize edge to edge quilting designs. The fact is, I need to learn how to use them a bit better.  Here is my sample sew-out which is done on cheap acrylic felt. (cheaper than using cotton fabric and either stabilizers or batting.)

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Pillow with Embroidery

With the nice stained glass embroidery pieces working out so well, I needed to make them into a project. Thus the embroidered pillow was my solution.  I had made four of the design.  For a nine-patch,  I could have used four but five seemed more pleasing to me.  Thus I sewed out the fifth one.  I have already shown the nine-patch top, but now you can see what else I did to make it "more." 

The embroidery pieces are pretty dense so there was no way I was going to quilt over them.  I decided to digitize a simple swirl flower to use as the quilting in each of the four black patches.  With the top and batting basted together (no backing,) I hooped the piece to quilt each of the four sections. 

Then I took the quilt sandwich to my Juki and stitched straight lines to help hold the other portions in place.  I think that it looks really nice.  I do wish that I had added a border to make the pillow cover a bit bigger.  To fill the pillow, I had to make my own pillow form.  That was easier than I thought.  I simply cut two squares the size of the top and sewed them with an open gap on one side for stuffing.  I used some poly-fill that is made for "soft sculpture" to fill it.  Then I sewed that open edge closed with the machine. 

I don't think using the embroidery machine to quilt the black sections saved much time, but it certainly added to the consistency of the quilting design.  It is likely that I will use this technique for other things such as table runners and other smaller quilted items. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Equine Sidestep

Perhaps you remember that I said that I would be using my horse embroidery sew-out as a notebook cover.  It seems that I learned something new and took a sidestep on that.  Instead of using the already sewn horse,  I wanted to try a new technique that allows me to make a two-color motif stitch frame.  

After working playing  working with the design for a while it looked good, so I took it to the machine to sew it.  After sewing it,  I sewed it into the outside cover for a notebook. 

Next up, I added batting and quilted the cover. 

Then I added all the other parts 

(even my label)

and sewed it all together. 

Front

Front and back

Inside - with a pocket and my label. 

These notebooks always turn out so well.  

That is why I love making them. 

Now I need to work on some other projects that are waiting for me. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

What to do?

A local friend has been seeing all of my embroidery sew-outs online.  She asked this "What are you going to do with all of those?  Are you just doing them to see if you can?"     Now, y'all know that I don't like to waste anything, which is why I am overrun with scraps.  So of course all of the good ones will be put to good use.  I decided on a plan  for the ones based on my faux stained glass piece.   That required one more embroidery being sewn out.  (No, I really didn't mind it.)   Then I trimmed them all to 4.5" and cut some black squares to go with them.  I made a nine-patch block from all these pieces. 

I love using black, but I declare that every bit of lint and thread wants to stick to it. 

This fun 9-patch will become a pillow top. 

Meanwhile,  I used the horse idea and redesigned it in an alternate version.  I wanted to use

some textured stitches for the horse's mane.  Here is how it worked out.

I have no doubts about what I want to do with this one. 

It will become part of the cover of a quilted notebook.

My quilted notebooks have sold well for me.

Those with horses have consistently sold out. 

So, it is an easy decision. 

Now I have to come up with a new design idea to digitize. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Three Versions - And Puzzle Finish

Someone mentioned that I am "having too much fun" with the embroidery digitizing.  I don't know that you can have "too much fun" as long as no one else is being hindered or hurt.  But I am having a LOT of fun with it.   I am still having a blast with the "stained glass" design.  I did a third variation, and I love them all. 

Here is number three:

I love the textures in the satin stitches.  And I love the designs in the other areas.  I changed the colors for this sew-out just for fun. Blues, lavender, pink and burgundy make a lovely color scheme. I considered using four colors of blue and making it monochromatic, but I wanted to really see any possible "oops" places.   I don't see any.....so Yay. 

Here are all three versions together:

I would love to know which is your favorite, and why. (think design, not color scheme.)  I think I know which I like best.....but maybe not. Two of the three are saved as stitch files. I accidentally overwrote one of them, but I think I can re-create it. 

Mom and I worked our brains and our fingers and finished the puzzle.  

Of course, I had left my phone at home and had to take this picture with Mom's little flip phone.  Ha ha.  We have another puzzle waiting - as soon as Mom is ready to start the next one. 

And here is an embroidery design I am working on.   I have sewn two stitch-outs but there are still some problem areas to fix.  The design is a nice one, even if it does take a while to stitch. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Update - Embroidery and Puzzle

There is something I have to confess.  I am having a great time using the Embrilliance Stitch Artist embroidery creation software.   I have been saving my files so that as I get better, I can adjust them to make them better. There is a lot of learning happening as I am going along.   Fortunately the company has a number of videos that I have been able to watch as I work on my skills. 

I took the embroidery that I did of the stained glass design and edited it to resequence some of the sewing order.  I also changed some of the stitch types to make it sew out a bit more quickly. I love being able to adapt it to my preferences.  

You may notice that the colors are a bit different than the original.  If you have an embroidery machine, you should know that it is color-blind.  You can use the colors that you want - rather than what the digitizer chose.  The digital file still shows the corners as a yellow/gold thread.  But a nice rich pink worked well with the heart motif that I used for those stitches. 

The blue "wavy" sections now are outlined with a solid line making that section a bit bolder.   
I could easily change this file and make any or all of the sections applique.  But to be honest, I don't love doing applique on the embroidery machine. 

Meanwhile, back at Mom's,  we have been working diligently on the Flights of Fancy  puzzle. Here is where it was when I left. 

One or maybe two more days and it should be complete.   You would think it should be easy to find those "single" pieces  - but we are still trying hard to fill in those spaces. That large open space is all the girl's dress and bedspread.  That part may be the real challenge in completing the puzzle. And did you notice that the big open space is similar to the shape of the state of Texas?   That made me laugh. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Embroidery and Puzzle Progress

While trying to decide on a design to digitize for my embroidery machine,  I came across the graphic for a faux stained glass piece that I created for a theatre production.   One of my good friends in the quilting/blogging world used the design (with my permission) to create a pillow. I loved her pillow.  And that pushed me to use the design for embroidery, too.  

Here is the graphic design- 

I see some errors in this image.  That could account for some of the problem I had with the digitization.  

Here is the sewn out design - 

I did take some liberties with the image and changed a few things.  And I played with types of stitches. 

Yes, I see things that need corrected or added, but I have paid for designs that didn't sew out as well. So, I am still pretty proud of this. 

Mom and I are still working on the puzzle, here is the latest photo.  However, there is a lot more than this done now.  I just didn't take another photo. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Some Progress

Yes there has been some progress - not sewing related, but on the puzzle.  I have one not so great photo to share with you. 

There are some odd holes that we have tried to fill. Mom has looked and looked for the piece (middle right) that fits in the boombox.  

We have lots of pieces sorted onto the cardboard/mat-board that we use for sorting.  However, there are still pieces in the unsorted containers too. There is a LOT of color in this puzzle and the colors repeat with only slight variations. That makes it difficult - FUN. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Self Portrait in Thread

Every artist should create a self-portrait, or so I was told years ago. I created a carved stamp from a photo of myself. Now I have digitized it into two versions of machine embroidery files. The photo of me was my starting point. Yes, I took artistic liberties.

First up, here are the stitched out designs. One is filled with satin stitches. The other is a "sketchy" design that sews out a bit quicker.

Here are two stamped pieces from the hand carved stamp that I made a few years ago.

And finally the picture that served as the starting point.

I am really thrilled with what I am able to accomplish with the Embrilliance Digitizing software. It was originally created from Mac users. However, they also have a Windows version now. Before you make any purchases, I recommend watching videos about how to use the program on YouTube. I believe in "informed decisions."

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

More Embroidery Work

There are things I just can't resist.  Embroidery digitizing is becoming one of them.  After the first success,  I decided to try creating a quilting design that would look as if it were done as free-motion quilting.  However, I could not resist a "fancier" center for the flower.    I used the "square flower" idea that I learned in a class. (Maybe from Lori Kennedy?) 

 I did a "double run" which means it sews all the lines twice.  I will probably make it a single run if I use it for actual quilting. I will also probably simplify the center of the flower.  

The two successes emboldened me to try something that I think of as difficult but amazing.  I have a fascination with machine embroidered free standing lace.   In the past I have used purchased lace designs, thinking that it was "way to hard" to do myself.   I think for the first time, I did an amazing job. 

It is sitting on a part of a quilt top so that you can see that it is truly see-through and lacy.  This is a present for someone dear to me.  I am happy that it stitched out well enough to be given.  

I can hardly wait to digitize and sew out some more designs.  If I ever get good enough at it, I may start selling my designs. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Sew Different

Embroidery digitizing has fascinated me for years now.  I have tried several programs that do some things well.  The problem is that they are all made for the Windows Operating System, and I use a Mac.  Then I discovered a program that was made for Mac - although they now have a Windows version also.  So,  I finally said "I will get the entry level digitizing version."  It is the same price to "upgrade" over time as it is to buy it all at once.  I like that business model because it doesn't pressure me to buy more than I need. 

When I first got the program,  I just started playing.  Then I discovered a YouTube channel by the company that has so much good teaching.  It was well worth the time spent watching videos.  

Here it is almost a week after the purchase and I finally sewed out a design that I created - all by myself!

I will tell you that as it sewed out, I realized that I didn't do the most efficient jog of digitizing the design. There is a small error or two also.  But for a first time using the program to fully create a design, I am thrilled. And I can go back and fix the errors in the file -so Yay!

I think it sewed out nicely.  This is a piece I can use in a quilt or in a quilted notebook cover ....or.......whatever I decide to do with it. 

Mother and I have been working on the puzzle and there is more progress but this is the only photo I took.  

This chunk has expanded a lot since the photo.  There is more of the book, her legs are connected and those pillows at her feet are pretty much finished too.  We may end up building a lot of this puzzle from the inside out. LOL.  You are probably laughing too ---if you know that I insist on putting the outside edges together before I will work on any other part of it. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.