Continuous Embroidery – Eileen's Machine Embroidery Blog

Archive of ‘Continuous Embroidery’ category

Fabric Too Short for the Hoop?

December 23, 2015 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips / 10 Comments

Don’t you hate it when the fabric doesn’t fit in the hoop? Recently, I was stitching a faced scallop border on my embroidery machine and the fabric was about 3” too short to fit in the hoop. I find that so frustrating! I didn’t want to waste more fabric so I cut a 3” piece of adhesive water soluble stabilizer then removed 1 ½” of the protective paper. I pressed my fabric strip to the sticky surface. Presto! The fabric strip fit into the embroidery frame and I didn’t have to fill the hoop with fabric or stabilizer.

Stitching a faced scalloped hem on the embroidery machine is no different than stitching one on a sewing machine. It’s still a running stitch and doesn’t require stabilizer behind the stitches. The difference is the scallops are perfect when you leave the measuring and stitching to the digital precision of an embroidery machine. It works for all kinds of projects: towels, totes, quilts and garments. And now you know how to fill the hoop even if your fabric is too small!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Inside Scoop on Placement Marks

April 25, 2015 by eileenroche / Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques / 5 Comments

Want to look like an embroidery rock star? Learn how to stitch continuous embroidery designs. Many embroiderers are afraid to stitch continuous embroidery although it’s not difficult; you just have to set yourself up for success.

There are several approaches you can take but my favorite is the addition of placement marks. Placement marks are stitched around the embroidery design to help in placement. They are removed after the project is complete.

Here’s how to add them in all of Inspiration’s software programs: Perfect Embroidery Pro and My Quilt Embellisher.

Open a design in PEP and select it. I’m using a strawberry design (53688) from January’s free designs.

Click on the Placement Marks icon.

Click on the mark in each corner. If you’re using a large design, you might find it helpful to add the center marks. Click OK.

Move the marks away from the design for increased visibility and easy removal after they are needed. Select the top two marks.

Move them up and away from the design. It’s important that you do not move them left or right, just straight up. Use a keyboard shortcut to ensure the marks will not move to the right or left. Hold the Control key and click on the keyboard’s up arrow to move the design. Continue to click until they are about ¼” away from the design.

Repeat the same process for the marks on the bottom.

Now let’s take a look at the color sequence, the placement marks are now the first color – the software automatically moves them to the beginning of the color sequence. I like to tweak that a bit.

Select the two marks at the right of the design (if you are stitching from left to right).

In the Properties Box, select the command tab and type in the number 9 in the color field. Click Apply.

Left mouse click on the number 9 in the color sequence.

Move it to the end of the sequence.

Now, let’s take a look at multiple repeats of the border design.

Here’s how to make it happen on fabric. Stitch the first design of the border on hooped fabric. When stitching the second design, stitch only the first color (the placement marks at the left) on hooped adhesive stabilizer.

Place the hoop under PAL (Perfect Alignment Laser), aligning the laser’s horizontal line with the stitched placement mark.

Then simply slide the embroidered fabric under the beam, aligning the beam with the stitched placement mark on the design.

The designs will align perfectly! Continue for the entire border. You’ll look like an embroidery rock star!

If you attend an Inspiration’s Hooping Clinic, you’ll get to learn this technique hands-on! Our education consultants are embroidery wizards – experts all things embroidery – you’ll learn tons of new techniques, tips and tricks! Click here to see where a Hooping Clinic is scheduled near you.

A New Year’s Gift

December 31, 2014 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Continuous Embroidery, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Quilting, shortE, Uncategorized / 118 Comments

If you’re like me, you might be experiencing a reprieve now that the holiday season is over. My shopping, decorating, wrapping, cooking and cleaning are done and yesterday, I finally had time to give myself a gift I’ve been longing for: the time to finish my quilt, Sun-kissed, on my embroidery machine!

The thought of finishing that pretty, sun-splashed quilt has gotten me through many household chores, magazine deadlines, blog posts and more. I’ve been saving this task for a block of time that I could devote to quilting it properly. I wanted to audition several different designs on it and take my time in making the decision. You see, I feel in love with this little quilt during the piecing process. I worked on it last summer during a sad time in my life and those bright colors and modern prints kept me going. They helped me focus, pray for better days and hope for a bright future. I don’t normally get emotionally attached to projects I’ve made (well, maybe a little) but this one was different. Some tasks come to us for a purpose we never intended. This was one of them.

First, I auditioned the Chandelier designs that come with the purchase of shortE. I thought they would be perfect but after careful consideration, I was concerned the geometric pattern of the Chandelier repeats would compete with Sun-kissed’s strong graphic pattern. Sun-kissed called for softer quilting designs – something fluid but more interesting than plain stipple. I rummaged through my design stash and found one I had previously sketched and digitized. Happy Flowers are big and small loopy flowers that run in a continuous line of stitches and align easily from hoop to hoop. Perfect!

I took a few steps to get ready for the actual quilting:

Fill several bobbins with my thread of choice: polyester white embroidery thread and thread the machine
Print a template(s) of Happy Flowers on Print & Stick Target Paper (gee, how did I live without that stuff all these years?)
Turn on the machine, retrieve the design and attach the bottom frame on Snap-Hoop Monster to the machine
Load Sun-kissed on the shortE
Position the Sun-kissed template on the upper right corner of the quilt (the first hooping on all shortE quilts)
Center the top right corner of the quilt in the hoop

Stitch the first design, and the second and the third…Oh my gosh, it was so much fun. It’s such a rewarding experience to see the first half of the quilt come to life. I love this process; I call it ‘working the quilt’: filling the hoop, aligning the designs and advancing down the quilt.

In future posts, I’ll share some secrets to success on making this process smooth, like what to do when you get this frown:

I wish each of you a happy and healthy New Year!

Here’s your assignment this week:

If you had a day all to yourself to spend on a project, what would it be? Leave a comment and one lucky winner will receive an autographed copy of my latest book, Today’s Crazy Quilting with Your Embroidery Machine (to be released January 2, 2015).

Last week’s winner answered the question, “What memories do you have that you could convert to stitches?” Elizabeth is the winner of a copy of Calligraphy Project Designer with her comment: My dear friend and I are in recovery together. I would love to put together a wall-hanging celebrating our sisterhood. Congrats, Elizabeth!

Look What Comes With the shortE

December 10, 2014 by eileenroche / Continuous Embroidery, Eileen Roche, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Quilting, shortE, Uncategorized / 60 Comments

On Friday, I showed the ShortE to students in my recent Stitching Sister event. Many were intrigued by the designs that come with The Shorte so I thought I’d give you a closer look. We’ve included two versatile sets of quilting designs for allover quilting on whole cloth quilts or pieced quilts. The stipple collection fills the embroidery hoop with linking repeats of meandering wavy lines. You’ll find nine designs in this collection: top left, top center, top right, center right, center, center left, bottom left, bottom center and bottom right.

The Chandelier collection stitches very quickly and consists of a center medallion (for the center of the quilt), a half vertical (for the left and right edges), a half horizontal (for the top and bottom edges) and two border designs. There are several ways to arrange the designs to produce a variety of quilts.

The best way to get started is to print templates of all of the designs so you can audition them on the actual quilt. I love the new Print & Stick Target Template paper – perfect for auditioning quilt designs on a quilt – and they stay put! Before printing, change the thread color on each design to black to make it easy to see. If you’re using Perfect Embroidery Pro or My Quilt Embellisher, select the design and click the 3D icon to change the image to a more vivid rendition of the design.

Place the templates on the quilt and review the layout. If you’re pleased with it, it’s time to get stitching! This week, I’m finally getting a chance to quilt my Sunkissed quilt from Nancy Zieman’s Quick Column Quilt blog tour way back in September. I’m tempted to use the chandelier designs, I’ll keep you posted of my progress.

Here’s your assignment this week:

Leave ac comment and tell us if you think the chandelier or stipple designs will look best on the Sun Kissed quilt. One comment will be chosen at random to receive a $25 gift card to use on the DIME website. Good Luck!

The winner of last week’s assignment answered the following question…What size quilt do you typically make? Post your comments and 2 lucky winners will be randomly chosen to win a pack of the new Print & Stick Target Paper.

The winner is… Maxine M. “I love quilting and I challenge myself constantly. I do wallhangers, baby quilts, quilts of all sizes up to king. My God’s Promise Quilt took 1st. place at the Calgary Stampede and was my first time ever putting a quilt in to be judged. I was so very humble as any quilt I make is for the enjoyment and to see the finished result is so rewarding.”

Designs in Machine Embroidery Hoop Comparison

June 19, 2013 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Continuous Embroidery, Embroidery Techniques, Hooping, In-the-hoop, Planning Embroidery / 95 Comments

Last week, I wrote about fishing, I mean teaching, in Bend, OR and while I was there, I introduced my students to the new Snap-Hoop Monster. Almost all of my students asked the same questions about the magnetic hoops so I thought I’d discuss it here.

What’s the difference between Snap-hoop Monster and Snap-Hoop? Strength! Monster is four times the strength of Snap-Hoop and is easily distinguished by its elegant teal color.

Do I have to purchase a whole new hoop if I already own Snap-Hoop? No! You don’t, you only need the new top in the same size as your original Snap-hoop. The bottoms are interchangeable and since your machine can only hold one hoop, you only need one bottom.

Do I need both? Yes, Monster is great for heavy, textured fabrics while Snap-Hoop handles lighter cottons and knits.

Will the magnets hurt my machine? No. If you were told not to put a magnetic pin cushion on your machine bed back in the late 1990s, you were given proper information. You were also carrying a cellphone that was a tote bag – literally! Think how much technology has changed over the years. Our machines today are highly sophisticated – just like our cell phones. The microchips in the machines are highly insulated and the magnetic field of Snap Hoop or Snap Hoop Monster cannot penetrate the layers. The hoops were tested extensively on all makes and models with no harm to any machine.

Here’s a handy chart to demystify the difference in all of our hoops.


Best for:	Terrycloth, bulky fleece, quilt sandwiches, faux fur, heavy textiles	Quilt blocks, continuous embroidery, light to medium weight knits	Small items	Towels, ribbons, belts and continuous embroidery
Handles delicate embroidery projects
Holds a quilt sandwich with no additional stabilizer
Hoops small items (coasters, belts, straps, etc)
Use with lightweight fabrics including knits and sheers
Can tug on fabric and not distort fibers
Minute fabric adjustments are easy to make
Stabilizer is required to hold frames in hoop
Eliminates hoop burn
Fits in a standard hoop
Diminishes the size of the sewing field
Is recognized by the machine			N/A (fits inside standard hoop)	N/A (fits inside standard hoop)
Stitch all the way to the edge of the fabric
Ideal for allover embroidery

Here’s your assignment this week:

Sealed With a Stitch specializes in embroidery collections, but we want to know which one is your favorite. Come check them out and let us know which one tops your list. Six lucky winners will get a $25 gift certificate code to use at Sealed With A Stitch!

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Look closely! Tell us what you think you see in the Stitching Sisters image at the top of this post. One comment will win a mystery prize! Oh the suspense…

And the winner is…“a hot pink, beautiful, fly fishing lure” – Greta K.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! Congratuations Greta. You have won a $25 gift certificate to the new and improved Designs website. Check it out here!

We’re So Proud!

May 8, 2013 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Applique, Be The Difference, Behind the Scenes, Clothing, Color and Design, Contests!, Continuous Embroidery, Digitizing, Embroidery for Children, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Home Decor, Hooping, In-the-hoop, Just for Fun, Lace, Lettering, Special Offers, Stabilizer Tips, Wearables / 85 Comments

Toot, toot! Beep, beep! A special digital issue of Designs in Machine Embroidery is free for you – just click here to access. You’ll find projects, free embroidery designs, videos from our sponsors and access to leading companies in the embroidery industry.

Wondering what’s inside? It’s packed with educational material for newbies, intermediate and advanced embroiderers. Devour the expert information on stabilizers and how to embroider on ribbon, polos and t-shirts! Learn to create continuous embroidery with confidence; stitch a little something for the man in your life and develop your designer’s eye – all in this one special issue!

Download the familiar .zip file, unzip and inside you’ll find an exciting interactive Adobe Acrobat PDF file you can read and enjoy from the convenience of your desktop computer or laptop. Use the free Adobe Acrobat reader to achieve full interactivity and flip through the pages, zoom in on projects and print whatever you’d like. Use the arrows on your keyboard to navigate through the pages: advance by clicking the arrows pointing down or right while the arrows pointing up or left will take you to a previous page.

Look for the mouse icon and click on it to activate the zoom feature and more. View the embedded videos by clicking the play button and enjoy.

We made it simple to navigate, easy to view and inspirational to read – I think you’ll see why we’re so proud of our new digital issue. My hat is off to the whole Designs team for making this happen – led by Sam Solomon, Denise Holguin, Stephanie Smith and Sandy Griggs. Designs wouldn’t be here without that team – they’re awesome! I think you’ll agree when you see what they’ve created.

A very special thank you to our valued sponsors: Brother, Embrilliance, Embroidery Library, Five Star Fonts, Janome America, HoopSisters, SWAKembroidery and Urban Threads – Enjoy!

Here’s your assignment this week:

Download our FREE digital edition of Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine. Give it a read and enjoy all of the interactivity, photo zooming abilities, videos and beautiful photography captured for each stunning project. Then, come back and leave us a comment on what you think about it – good or bad, we can take it. One lucky reader will win a gift certificate to Designs in Machine Embroidery for $25!

You can use that $25 to buy anything on our website including a 1 year subscription to our print magazine offered at the special price of $24.97 for a limited time only.

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Go over and give Craftsy a looksy! Tell us what classes interest you or if you’ve already taken a class on Craftsy – tell us what you love about it. One lucky reader will receive a link for a complimentary download of Eileen’s new class, The Machine Embroidered T-Shirt!

And the winner is…“I’ve been checking out Craftsy website, and some of the free classes. My sister told me about this site, she had taken a class and loved it! I would really LOVE to win the chance to take the T-shirt class. I have a fear to try new things, but I’m sure taking the class would give me more confidence. Thanks for sharing your embroidery expertise.” – Jane B.

Congratulations Jane, we hope you enjoy your class and share your experience with us!

I can’t wait to meet you!

January 8, 2013 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Behind the Scenes, Continuous Embroidery, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Hooping, In-the-hoop, Just for Fun, Seminars and Conventions, Stitching Sisters / 59 Comments

Have you been itching to ramp up your machine embroidery skills? A two-day Stitching Sisters event may be just the thing you need to breathe new life into your hobby. My Stitching Sister, Marie Zinno, and I travel the country to teach team embroidery classes which feature hands-on projects that cover tons of techniques – everything from terrycloth to continuous machine embroidery. Take a look at what you can expect.

We kickoff the event with a behind the scenes look at Designs followed by our Hooping Clinic. Marie and I hoop over 30 items in standard machine embroidery hoops, Magna-Hoops, Snap-Hoop and border hoops. We discuss why you select each hoop and what to do when you don’t have the ideal hoop. Attendees find this information priceless. One recent attendee in Puyallup, WA said, “I could walk out of here after this lecture and feel I got every penny worth of admission.” Here’s what some other attendees have had to say:

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Eileen and Marie,
Thanks so much for coming to KC! LOVED the event and all your stories/energy. WOW! It was awesome to have 2 days to get to study under you and learn so much. LOVE the Stipple products and techniques. Looking forward to seeing you again! – Judy Brennan

Eileen and Marie, we had so much fun in Atlanta. The information you gave and taught us was immeasurable. You two are definitely gifted in your talent and love for the embroidery industry.
Best blessings in everything you do. Signed had fun in Atlanta – Jackie Wallace

Hey Everyone! I’d highly recommend going to the Sewing Sisters Event if you get the chance. I live in Oregon and I went to PuyallupWA with my friend from LongviewWA. We had a great time! I personally never won anything but I did receive a wealth of knowledge and inspiration not to mention all the fun ladies I met and new friendships made. The projects we did were great and we got the CD-rom to go home to make more. I’m really looking forward to the next event! Thanks Eileen and Marie!! It was great meeting you! – Jane

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Marie and I cover tons of embroidery challenges during our two-day, hands-on, team-sewing events: what to do when your fabric pops out of the hoop, stitching on terrycloth, vinyl, sheers, quilting with an embroidery machine, stitching multiples (and getting them to match!) are just a few of the 50 techniques we cover. You’ll use all of Designs in Machine Embroidery products – everything from Magna-Hoop Jumbo to Snap-Hoop to placement kits. You’ll have access to several hooping stations so you can test different methods of hooping. Once at the machine, you’ll navigate in the hoop like a pro.

You’ll learn three ways to do continuous hooping and find out what methods works best for your machine and your project. You’ll meet PAL and PAL2– and see how these helpful little tools can make hooping square a breeze. Treat yourself to two-days of embroidery fun and education – you’ll go home with a smile on your face and some new-found knowledge that you’ll be inspired to put into immediate action.

New-found friends in Santa Rosa, CA

Why don’t you join us? We’ll be hitting the road and landing in a town near you! February 8-9th finds us in beautiful San Marcos, CA at SewingMachinesPlus.com. There’s still room – click here for more information.

We are so excited to head to Timeless Treasures in Crofton, MD on April 12-13. This will be the first Stitching Sisters event in Maryland, so if you’re Mid-Atlantic region, this event is for you. Click here to visit their website or call 410-451-0400.

After Maryland, we head back to the West Coast and teach two events for Moore’s Sewing. April 30-May 1 finds us in Pomona, CA and May 3-4 is in Huntington Beach. You just won’t believe how much fun you can have at a sewing event until you’ve been to one at Moore’s. Join us in Pomona or Huntington Beach. Visit Moore’s website here.

Marie and I hope to see you at a Stitching Sister event this year. Don’t wait any longer; come with a friend or by yourself. Everyone is a sister at a Stitching Sisters event. Click here for summer and fall events in 2013. And, check out our new Stitching Sisters photo gallery!

Here’s your assignment this week:

Great things come in pairs. Shoes, diamond earrings, Stitching Sisters! Comment below on why you’d like to attend a Stitching Sisters event or if you have, what you liked most about it. We’ll award one lucky winner with two $20.13 gift certificates, one for you and one for your own stitching sister to spend on the Designs in Machine Embroidery website. Good luck!

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Tell us your embroidery resolution for 2013. One lucky winner will win a $25 gift certificate to spend on the Designs in Machine Embroidery website!

And the winner is… “2013 I plan to create my own embroidery designs, organize my sewing/embroidery room, organize and catalog ALL my embroidery designs, and last but not least open up a shop on Etsy” – Angie G.

Put a Neckline on a Hemline!

October 24, 2012 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Clothing, Continuous Embroidery, Embroidery Techniques, Planning Embroidery, Stitching on Knits, Wearables / 55 Comments

Uh? Put a neckline on a hemline? Well, kinda. I’ve been looking at the peek-a-boo transformation on Designer Necklines and wondered if I could use it to decorate something other than a neckline. After an aha! moment, I decided to try it on the hem of a sweatshirt. Look how easy it is.

First, remove the ribbing at the hem. Mark the side seam with a pin (if there isn’t a seam, just find the side of the shirt on both sides).

Hoop tear-away stabilizer. Stitch the peek-a-boo neckline from Designer Necklines on the stabilizer. Remove the hoop from the machine and draw a straight line at the bottom of the curved stitched neckline.

Spray the stabilizer with temporary adhesive. Turn the shirt inside out and place the hem edge on the straight line, matching the side seam to the short horizontal stitched line.

Reattach the hoop to the machine. Slip the bulk of the shirt over the head of the machine and tape the shirt to the top of the machine. Love that!

Stitch the decorative element.

Place a piece of facing fabric (knit, woven or interfacing), right side down over the embroidery. Stitch the final color, the peek-a-boo transformation.

Remove the hoop and carefully tear the sweatshirt away from the stabilizer. Cut the shirt between the V. Cut right up to the point of the V but do not snip the threads.

Sew about 1” from the hem.

Turn the facing to the inside and pin along the seam. Edgestitch. Repeat for the other side seam, then hem the rest of the shirt. Add the same design to the neckline as instructed on the Designer Neckline DVD. Voila! A refashioned hemline!

This week’s homework assignment

Have you started your holiday stitching yet? Tell me what you’ve accomplished and what’s left to do and you could win our newest Stipple! Collection – Jingle Bells!

The winner of last week’s assignment answered the following question

Those license plates sure are creative and fun! What message would you put on your own custom plate? Post your comment for a chance to win a $25 shopping spree to the Designs in Machine Embroidery website.

The winner is: Nancy

“I would have Stitchn for all kinds of sewing, embroidery, teaching, etc.”

Congratulations Nancy!

The Advanced Embroiderer’s Bucket List

September 12, 2012 by eileenroche / Continuous Embroidery, Embroidery Techniques / 66 Comments

The Advanced Embroiderer’s Bucket List

Continuous embroidery

Since we love embroidery, we also love LOTS of embroidery! Filling a border or quilt strip with continuous embroidery is number one on the advanced embroiderer’s bucket list. There are several ways to attack connecting designs end to end but they all result in the same great look – luscious colorful stitches, stacked end to end. Read more here on how to connect designs, end to end on any machine.
Linked Embroidery Linked embroidery takes continuous embroidery one step further. Linked embroidery is when you want to take a single design and turn it into something like this.Linked embroidery involves overlapping the designs in a continuous and predictable pattern. Again, there are a few ways to do this but one of my favorite techniques is explained here:http://dzgns.com/blog/2012/05/creating-continuous-embroidery-with-alignment-marks/Or watch another technique here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9JP7iP-xEk&feature=player_embedded#!
Continuous AppliqueThe wave border on the Seashell quilt is made of two fabrics: the quilt top is white and the appliqué is the blue batik– both are 43” long. A fun but challenging technique, continuous appliqué gives the illusion of a giant hoop when in reality it’s multi-hooping on a home embroidery machine. It’s a quite a bit easier with a flat magnetic hoop like Snap-Hoop but here’s how you do in a standard hoop: http://dzgns.com/blog/2010/05/continuous-applique-with-stipple-seashells/
Stitch a matching set of terrycloth towels.It always cracks me up when a brand new embroiderer tells me she bought an embroidery machine so she could monogram towels. I know it looks so simple but boy can it stymie the best of us. Let’s break it down: terrycloth is bulky, loopy and easily damaged by pulls; life expectancy is long and includes frequent laundering; plus towels comes in sets that are expected to be exact replicas of each other and coordinate with other items (hand and bath towels, shower curtains, trash can liners, etc).
Embroider a RibbonNow that you’ve stitched a perfectly-matched set of towels, wrap them in tulle and swaddle them with an embroidered ribbon. If that doesn’t scream personalized – then nothing does! Select a sheer ribbon, use water soluble stabilizer and hoop on a cutting mat to get the ribbon square in the hoop. Add a personalized message and voila! Instant gift card!
Reverse appliquéHow do you do reverse appliqué? Add the appliqué fabric to the wrong side of the garment and trim the garment away. Sounds scary but if you’ve mastered ordinary appliqué then this is a no-brainer.
CutworkIt’s beautiful, timeless and time-consuming. Each opening is cut away by hand before the beautiful satin stitches are added. But oh wait, it’s not that time consuming anymore. Today, your machine can transform with a cutting device. Learn how Bernina and Baby Lock and Brother 10-needle owners do it.
Insert a Zipper with the Embroidery MachineMany sewists struggle with inserting a zipper between two pieces of fabric. No wonder, it can be a daunting task. If you use your embroidery machine, be confident that you’ll get professional results. Just remember to keep the zipper tab AWAY from the embroidery foot. Download the zipper design here.
Design and stitch an embroidery layout for a jacket (front bodice or jacket back and other details such as collar points, cuffs, hemline, etc). You’ll have to rely on your fashion design skills to pull this off. Keep in mind that wherever the embroidery is placed, you’re bringing added attention to that area of the figure. All fashion should be flattering so if the embroidery is going to accent a figure flaw, then change it up! Frame the face, create long, slimming vertical lines or sprinkle designs delicately across the canvas. Have fun but remember, you’re trying to improve the jacket.
You tell me. What did I overlook? If you need a refresher on the newbie and intermediate bucket lists, just click here and here. Leave a comment and tell me what task you think should be added to the Advanced Embroiderer’s Bucket List. The winner will receive Stitcher’s Hardware with a Feminine Twist.

The winner of last week’s assignment answered the following question:

I’d love to hear how you use appliqué – is it for beauty or function? Leave a comment and you could win a copy of Applique FUNdamentals.

The winner is…Diane Crane “I use applique for both beauty and function. I especially love making baby items that are both beautiful and useful, such as burp cloths, baptismal blankets, and sweet onesies.”

Congratulations Diane!

Craftsy – What a way to learn!

August 22, 2012 by eileenroche / Behind the Scenes, Continuous Embroidery, Just for Fun, Quilting, Seminars and Conventions / 65 Comments

Craftsy – What a way to learn!

I have to admit I’m having a blast over at Craftsy – my Machine Embroidered Quilt class just went live last week and it’s been a ton of fun chatting with the students. If you’ve never heard of Craftsy, let me take a minute to tell you about their learning platform.

Craftsy produces long-form, in-depth classes that students can re-watch and access at any time of day or night. Students can also use the platform to ask questions in the videos and receive feedback from both their instructor and fellow students. Students can upload photos of their progress and finished projects. The platform is extremely interactive, you can even make notes in the video! Once you purchase a class, you can access it forever. The camera work is top-shelf so you get to see exactly what’s going on – in close detail.

When Craftsy contacted me about teaching, I immediately thought of the questions I get here on the blog from many blog followers. The number one question has been, “How do you do continuous embroidery?” I most certainly wanted to attack that embroidery challenge in my class. So I designed the Hourglass quilt. It’s a combination of a few of my favorite things: gray and aqua fabrics, quilting with an embroidery machine and simplifying complicated tasks for embroiderers. I’ll tell you, Craftsy is the perfect partner to showcase that combo for you.

After coming up with the concept, it was time to digitize the designs, test the designs and redigitize! Ugh – that’s often the hardest part. The fun part was completing the quilt. Well, I thought that was fun part until I met the Craftsy crew – Jarrod Sumpter, Adam Speas and James Clark.

They flew to my humble video studio to tape for three days in July. What a professional crew! They set up all that equipment in just a few short hours and then it was off to the races.

Here’s what the floor of my sewing room looked like while I prepared for the taping. Each plastic bag is labeled for an individual video segment – there are nine videos, over 2 hours of video!

My goal was to be as comprehensive as possible and make it fun. Here’s what a couple of students have said:

Wonderful Class!
This is a great class. It is very clear and easy to follow. It teaches not only machine embroidered quilting, but gives precise instructions on continuous embroidery. This is a must take class for anyone with an embroidery machine. – ddregno

Great Class!
Very detailed and new for me approaches to using an embroidery machine for applique and quilting. Best instructions yet for continuous hooping and proper alignment. Also really like the quilting/embroidery design, more modern and interesting than the standard florals, etc. – candycb

I love this class and cannot wait to make one of these quilts. I have to finish a baby quilt first…then comes the fun with this one. – kmprshnin

The class includes six embroidery designs to make the Hourglass quilt

(for 5″ x 7″ and 7″ x 12″ hoops) and video instruction on single layer appliqué, double layer appliqué, continuous embroidery and continuous appliqué. You’ll also find a bonus 30+ minute tips and techniques video in the class.

I hope you’ll join me over in the Machine Embroidered Quilt class on Craftsy.

Click here to take advantage of my instructor discount and sign up with immediate access.

This week’s assignment:

Let me know what you think about Craftsy and you could win a $50.00 gift certificate to spend on the Designs in Machine Embroidery website.

The winner of last week’s assignment answered the following question:

Have you ever attended an embroidery event. If yes, what did you like best about the experience and why? Post a comment for a chance to win a Stipple Bridge Club.

The winner is: Dolly D.
“I have not had the chance to attend your stitching event. I am hoping you will be coming back to the western PA area real soon. Looks like lots of fun!”

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