New Blog location!

Visit our new blog at www.dzgns.com/blog.  The giveaway is posted there as well and the winner will be announce Friday like usual!  Please join us!

Color, Color, Color

What’s your favorite color?

This is a tough question! The more you delve into it, the harder it is to answer. I have favorite colors for certain things – like really white milk, dark green leaves, silvery fish, slate stones, muted brown tree trunks, flaming red watermelon, sweet pink roses, luscious eggplant…it goes on and on. And then there are colors I use to create a homey environment (soft gray with bright white trim), a creative office space (green) or a clean embroidery studio (cream). But when I open my closet, I see my old favorites – black, gray and brown splashed with bursts of lilac, pale blue, lime, apple green, silver and white. We are creatures of habit. I often buy the same clothes over and over again. And it’s not on purpose, it’s just habit. I can’t resist a chic white tee or deep black pants. You’d think I was a waitress!

So how do we break our color habits? For me, I do that with embroidery. First off, I’m a firm believer in SEEING the embroidery. So even if I’m going for a monochromatic look, I make sure the threads are in the same color family but not the same value. I love experimenting with new color combinations. Coral, turquoise and tan are a new favorite. I find aqua, black and gray stunning. So what’s your favorite combination? Do you love brights? Pastels? Earth tones or jewel tones? Do you have two or three colors that you just can’t resist?   

 Post a comment below telling us your favorite color combo and get a chance to win a one-year subscription to Designs in Machine Embroidery Magazine! If you already subscribe, we’ll renew your subscription for a full year!

The lucky winner from last weeks giveaway for the Mini-King spools of rayon thread is...CHERYL!

Cheryl said...

Oh wow, my first sewing lesson from my mom was sewing strips of rag fabric together, so she could make rag rugs to sell. It was a White treadle machine, that is still in the family. Later, when I didn't need as much supervision she purchased, with S&H Green Stamps an electric zigzag portable machine, so we could both sew at the same time.

Congratulations, Cheryl! Be sure to email Amanda at agriffin@dzgns.com to give us your address so we can send you your gift!

I look forward to hearing from everybody!

Continuous Applique with Stipple! Seashells

 

We recieved a question from one of our customers and we wanted to share the answer with everybody!

"I love your Stipple sea shells. I don't have a magna hoop and I am not sure you have one for the Janome 11000. I don't see it working the same way. Could you help me? I am very interested. -Maxine"

Yes, you can create continuous appliqué with Stipple! Seashells. All you need is a large embroidery hoop and templates. Follow the steps below to achieve success.

Print a template of the Waveborder design on vellum or tracing paper.

Make a 12” x 44” quilt sandwich of backing, batting and top fabric to make two 3 ½” x 40” borders. Hoop the upper left portion of the quilt sandwich. Stitch the Waveborder design at the top left of the sewing field. Add the applique as instructed in the Stipple! Shell Collection. Once complete, remove the quilt sandwich from the hoop.

Reposition the fabric to connect the next design with the previously stitched design. Keep the applique strip out of the design area while hooping.

Once hooped, smooth the applique fabric over the new sewing field.

Place the Waveborder template in the hoop, aligning the top of the new design with the bottom of the previously stitched design.

Your goal is to connect the design as shown below.

You can hold onto the template and carefully slide the left side of the applique strip to the right to reveal the straight stitches. You want the stitched line on the template to match up with the stitching on the fabric.

Once you’re satisfied that everything matches up, securely tape or pin the template to the hooped fabric. Or slide a target sticker under the template’s crosshair.

Carefully slide the applique strip out from under the template, (just fold it back over itself at the top of the hoop).

Attach the hoop to the machine.

Use the jog keys to move the needle to the center of the template’s crosshair.

Use the trace feature on the machine to position the needle at the upper left corner of the design. The needle should be aligned with the straight line on the first design. If not, move the design.

Make sure the design is in the correct orientation on the screen (matching the orientation of the template). Remove the template.

Stitch color 1. Smooth the applique strip down over the first color and stitch color two, the tackdown. Insert

Repeat until you have stitched the complete design. In the image below, the first design was stitched in the bean stitch version of the design, while the second repeat was stitched in the run version. I did this so you could see where one design ended and the next one began.

Thanks for your question, Maxine!

Maxine's question was about a Design's in Machine Embroidery product called Stipple! Seashells.  You can find more information here.

Here's a video that talks about our newest Stipple! Collection.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day

As a mom, I think Mother’s Day is overrated. A bouquet of flowers doesn’t erase a year of dirty clothes on the floor. A box of chocolates doesn’t mend ugly, unkind words spilled in a moment of anger. A fancy brunch doesn’t mean you love your mom if you don’t talk to her on a regular basis. Keep the gifts and the frills. Sit beside your mom and tell her how your life is working out. Assure her that some of the things she taught you are actually helping you deal with many of life’s challenges. Tell her when you are faced with temptation; you hear her voice in your head encouraging you to take the right path. Tell her you forgive her for her shortcomings. Tell her she did a good job of being there for you, of guiding you in the right direction, for letting you spread your wings and fly. Tell her you are grateful for the life you are leading. Tell her your joys and your sorrows. Tell her all of it, don’t buy any gifts, just open your heart to your momma. She loves you.

Happy Mother’s Day to you – I hope you get to share it with those you have nurtured or have nurtured you!

For this week’s giveaway we’ve hand selected 6 of our favorite pastel thread colors from Robison-Anton. These Mini-King spools of rayon thread include Pale Yellow, Pink, Spruce, Penny, Tulip and Sea Mist.  They are the perfect shades to stitch your own floral bouquet!

For a chance to win, simply share your memories of when your mother taught you how to sew. Did you sew a set of linens for the home? Maybe the two of you worked together on a new dress for a special event. Or maybe, you taught your mother how to sew! Post your comment for a chance to win!

 

The lucky winner of the Embroider It Yourself Series—Little Black Tee is…Gail!

grammaheh1 said...
My first project was of a turtle stitched out on a t shirt. It stitched out beautifully, except for the colors. Being a newby, I exactly followed the colors that showed up on my D 1 screen. Unfortunately, they were not the colors of a turtle...
Gail
May 3, 2010 5:19 PM

Congratulations, Gail! Be sure to email Amanda at agriffin@dzgns.com to give us your address so we can send you your gift!

Free Grommet Designs and Winner from last week!

The lucky winner of the Wisteria Binder Kit and Contemporary Machine Embroidered Quilts is…Sara!

"Sara said... April 27, 2010 4:21 PM

I was thrilled to finally get my embroidery machine. I did not know there were so many things that you could do with them. I learned how to do paper piece quilting by doing it on my embroidery machine. In fact my first two projects I ever created on my embroidery machine were a paper pieced Christmas stocking and an applique Christmas ball to hang on my tree. My machine came with a pretty basic autostitch program for digitizing and I was able to create the stitches for both of my projects using simple outlines and sending different color blocks to the machine multiple times. That was a few years ago. Since then I have learned to hand punch my designs and have been learning to do free hand quilting. My best advice I can give to anyone is to have fun and don't be afraid to make a mistake. Sometimes we are our own worst critics."

Congratulations, Sara!  We hope you enjoy your project kit. 

Check out how easy it is to draw a winner. We popped over to http://www.random.org/ and entered the number of comments. With just the click of a mouse, the winning number is pulled. Fair, fast and fun! Maybe this week you’ll be a winner. Even if you don’t win the Denim Collection and Denim Fashion Guide, you’re still a winner because I’ve posted two free grommet designs.  Just click here to download.

Why grommet designs? Rinda, an avid Designs reader wrote and asked for a resource for embroidered grommets just like the ones Deborah Lashbrook taught in “Don't buy Grommets, Make Eyelets” published in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue. Deborah provided digitizing instructions for making large eyelets – perfect for threading a curtain rod through but I know many of you don’t digitize so I did it for you. And along the way, I learned a few things.

There’s a great little rotary cutter that does a fine job of slicing open the circles. It has a guide for your index finger. It takes a minute or two to get used to it but it’s ideal for going around tight curves – like a 1” circle!  Look for it at your local craft store.

The grommet designs are basically an applique but instead of adding fabric you are removing fabric. Hoop your fabric (my sample is actually a quilt sandwich) and stabilizer. Stitch the first two colors. Remove the hoop from the machine and place it on a cutting mat. Use the small rotary cutter to slice away the fabric and stabilizer from the inner circle. Reattach the hoop to the machine and stitch the final color, the satin stitch outline.

I opted to skip the satin stitch and apply large plastic grommets to the quilt sandwich (this will eventually be a handbag).

I love these grommets – you’ll find them in the home décor department of most fabric chain stores. They have two sides, one male and one female.

Stitch the first two colors of the grommet design (stitch a sample to make sure it fits your purchased grommets). Remove from the hoop and place it on a cutting mat.

Use the small rotary cutter to cut open the inner circle.

Slice close to the stitching.

Insert the male grommet from the wrong side of the fabric.

Place the female side on top and press together.

Voila! It’s so easy, I love these things! You’ll find dozens of uses for grommets.

It’s t-shirt season and we want to help you look your best! This week we have chosen to giveaway Eileen’s

Embroider It Yourself Series—Little Black Tee to one lucky embroiderer!

We want to hear about your first embroidery project! Did you make a garment, a quilt or perhaps monogrammed linens? Was your first project a success? A complete disaster? What did you learn from the experience?

Post your comments between April 30 and May 6 for your chance to win. The winner will be announced on May 7 along with a new giveaway!!

The Little Black Details:

Watch Designs Editor Eileen Roche, as she transforms simple tee shirts and turtlenecks into fabulous, fashionable tops with embroidered lace. The CD includes 4 basic t-shirt makeovers, 30+ minute instructional video, printable instructions and 6 lace embroidery designs.

Embroidery formats include ART, DST, EXP, PES, SHV, XXX

(Minimum 5” x 7” hoop required)

Total Value: $49.99!

Inspiration is blooming this season on Eileen’s new Blog!

Recently, I was reviewing video that we taped here at Designs. A smile crept across my face when I noticed my Wisteria quilt hanging in the background. I love that quilt. It doesn’t really fit in the décor of my home anymore so it usually lives in the office or travels in my trunk show. But whenever I spot it, it brings back a flood of fond memories.

 The Wisteria Quilt adorns the cover of my first book, Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Quilts. I enjoyed the challenge of making the quilt and writing the book. I was delighted when it was accepted to hang in the show at Quilt Festival (Houston, TX) in 2004. It didn’t win a ribbon – and didn’t deserve a ribbon – but what a thrill to walk the hallowed aisles of Quilt Festival and see it.

My style has changed through the years so many of you, if you’re new to Designs, might find the delicate look of the Wisteria Quilt a bit surprising. Today, my work is bolder, brighter and a bit more contemporary. But I learned so much from creating all of the quilts showcased in Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Quilts. As you know, quilting is truly a labor of love but doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment. You can start small with our Spring Bundle.

We’re giving away one Spring Bundle to jump start your creativity – all you have to do is post your comment about quilting with your embroidery machine for a chance to win!  Share with us your favorite quilting tips, your worst quilting disasters or let us know about your current project.  Post your comments between April 23rd and April 29th for your chance to win.  The winner will be announced on Friday, April 30th along with a new giveaway!!   

Spring Bundle includes:
• Wisteria Journal Project Kit! (A $25 value) FREE!
• Personally, autographed copy of Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Quilts (A $27.99 value) FREE!
Total Value: Over $52.99!

Spring Bundle Details:

Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Quilts features 144 pages of inspiration and a CD with 14 multi-format embroidery designs*. Eileen provides step-by-step instructions to make 12 quilt projects including the Wisteria Quilt, Wisteria Blooms and the Wisteria Pillow.

Wisteria Journal Project Kit

We provide the essential materials and the instructions to make your own Wisteria Journal inspired by Contemporary Machine-Embroidered Quilts.

Personalize the journal cover by adding beads, trim, and other accessories to make it your own. You’ll learn Eileen’s techniques to adding depth to your projects with the use of tulle. Make the journal cover to store project inspiration, swatches of fabrics, CDs, family photos, etc.

Kit includes:

• Complete printed instructions to make the Wisteria Journal

• ½ yard green batik fabric

• one 6” x 9” block of dark tulle

• fat quarter of brown cotton fabric (bark)

• batting: 25” x 13”
• Pellon ShirTailor interfacing
• Polymesh stabilizer
• Paper-backed fusible web

14 large format embroidery designs included!

Additional materials will be required and are listed in the instructions. 3-ring binder not included.

A Little TLC for Your Machine

Many embroiderers ask how to maintain their embroidery machine. It is always best to get a quick lesson from your machine dealer on how to properly care for your machine. A guided tour of the inside of the machine bed by an experienced machine repair person will give you added confidence when tackling this on your own. However, I'm happy to share what I do to keep my machines in tiptop shape.

Prepare the machine to be cleaned. Turn the machine off. Remove the foot and needle. Remove the bobbin cover and throat plate. If you've never done this before, take a photograph of the bobbin basket in the machine bed BEFORE you remove it. Use the photograph as a reference when reinserting the basket.






Remove the bobbin and the basket. Yikes! Talk about airing your dirty laundry!










Take a pipe cleaner and bend the tip over about 1". Twist the double layer to smooth into one form.










Clean the between the toes of the feed dogs.











Swipe the inside of the bobbin area and around the perimeter of the bobbin area.

Rotate the hand wheel a half turn and swipe the area again. Remove any fuzz from the pipe cleaner before sticking it back into the machine. If there are some stubborn fibers, place one drop of oil on the tip of the piper cleaner. Make sure the pipe cleaner absorbs most of the oil and continue to swab the inside of the basket. Finish by wiping the basket with a clean pipe cleaner - oil free - to collect any excess oil.

Reinsert the bobbin basket and bobbin. Screw the needle plate back in position and snap the bobbin cover in place. Your machine is now ready to stitch for hours of embroidery enjoyment!