Continuous Embroidery – Eileen's Machine Embroidery Blog

Archive of ‘Continuous Embroidery’ category

My 5 Embroidery Pet Peeves

June 19, 2019 by eileenroche / Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Marie Zinno, Quilting with your embroidery machine, Snap Hoop Monster, Special Offers, Uncategorized / 3 Comments

Machine embroidery is supposed to be beautiful. And the process of making beautiful embroidery should be fun and enjoyable. But all of that can be for naught when the experience is dampened by poor results, painful tasks and laborious placement. Enough already! Let’s get the fun back into embroidery.

I have five pet peeves that annoy the daylights out of me when I’m embroidering. And since I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, I’ve come up with solutions. My pet peeves are hoop burn, hand strain, fabric distortion, laborious placement and tedious rehooping. What’s my solution? I ditched the standard hoop about 10 years ago and haven’t looked back.* Let me elaborate.

When knits, textured and napped fabrics are squeezed between two standard embroidery rings, the hoop often leaves a noticeable impression around the embroidery. Those lofty and delicate fibers are now flattened – and possibly permanently flattened. Yikes! The flat frames of Snap Hoop Monster leave no hoop burn – they firmly grip the fabrics and hold them in place without permanently damaging the fibers.

Twenty years of embroidery can wreak havoc on your hands, fingers and wrists. Pushing an inner ring into an outer ring and tightening a screw 5, 10, 20 or maybe 30 times a day is grueling punishment. No more. I just snap that magnetic top frame over the bottom and I’m done!

Fabric distortion is a thing of the past because I pull and tug on the hooped fabric while it’s hooped in Snap Hoop Monster. It’s the inner and outer rings that squeeze and distort fabric – doesn’t happen when fabric is sandwiched between two flat objects – a magnetic top and metal bottom.

I’ve invented all kinds of placement tools but sometimes I want to move the fabric just a smidgen under the needle. With Snap Hoop Monster, I lift the top frame, slide the fabric, drop the frame back in place and press start! No hooping and unhooping to move the fabric a millimeter or two. I like the freedom Snap Hoop Monster gives me right at the machine.

Speaking of the machine, when I use Snap Hoop Monster, I can remove the top frame and advance the fabric to the next hooping without taking the bottom frame off the machine! Oh my, what a time saver! If you’re not sure why I love that benefit so much, take a look at this video. It’s long – about 12 minutes – but you’ll see how I quilt entire quilt (62” x 80”) in one day! Oh baby – I love those Monster hoops!

If you’ve been following along, this month is Hoopapalooza at DIME and in honor of that celebration, The Hoop It Up book is on sale. My Stitching Sister Marie Zinno and I co-wrote this handy hooping tutorial. You’ll find 99 hooping tips in there! You can check it out here: https://www.shop.dzgns.com/collections/specials/products/hoop-it-up

*’Ditched the standard hoop over 10 years’ is an exaggeration. I still use a standard hoop on occasion as you’ll see in the Hoop It Up book!

So Much Talent!

March 1, 2019 by eileenroche / Baby Lock, Blog Tour, Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Digitizing, Embroidery Techniques, Hooping, Inspiration, Lettering, Marie Zinno, Nancy Zieman, National Embroidery Month, Social Media / 9 Comments

What do you get when you give 11 talented embroiderers a fairly simple fabric panel and a few embroidery designs? Eleven uniquely-embroidered works of art. It absolutely amazes me to see how people put their own stamp of creativity into an embroidery project.

The past month has been an eye-opener – we’ve seen subtle touches such as Marie Zinno’s soft blue filagree designs that are built-in the Baby Lock Valiant.

And an out of the box transformation by Cathy Sundermann of Stitch Fork Designs. That’s an impressive front door!

Deanna Springer of Nancy Zieman Productions sashed the wood grain panel with Nancy Zieman’s red Riley Blake shiplap fabric to spice it up. Deanna ditched the wrapped canvas idea and added a pretty floral border for a traditional wall-hanging.

Milinda Stephenson opted to wrap her panel around a pillow. This was a fast and easy finish and her dog, Iris, loved it!

Michelle Umlauf used the IQ Designer in her Baby Lock Solaris machine to enhance the lettering. Talk about perfect placement! That’s a show stopper technique and wonderful way to show how to incorporate prints with embroidery. It’s all about value – making sure the embroidery is visible on a busy print.

Michele Umlauf – Sewing Machine Artistry

Carla Reale used Baby Lock’s Palette software program to add her own message in the applique heart of the Grateful panel. Join the Baby Lock Palette group on Facebook to watch her video.

Carla Reale of the Baby Lock Palette Community

Karen Parker made two samples! Her Grateful panel shows offset floral sprays at the top and bottom. I love that layout and never think of using it! Of course she pulled her thread colors from her fun, striped border.

Karen’s English Pub theme set the tone for her border fabrics and faux leather trim – complete with nail heads! Her satin circles mimic a dinner plate and the embroidered knife and fork really seal the deal. Finished with two glasses of cold beer, this panel will look great in any proper drinking establishment.

Debbie Henry extended the wood grain quilting beyond the panel edge onto a wide border. Love her delicate blue floral spray in the center of the heart!

The Embroiderist, Colleen Bell, used a dark thread to quilt her Gathering panel – love how visible the wood grain is. She paired her panel with an embroidered chalkboard fabric. As a mother of nine, she knows a thing or two about prepping meals!

Sara Gallegos of Sew Positively Sara added family names to the applique heart on the Grateful panel on her Baby Lock Solaris. Of course, she nailed the placement of the quilting designs with the help of a quick camera scan on the Solaris. Nothing like seeing before you stitch!

Check out her blog at SewPositivelySara to see how she pieced the heart blocks on her pillow.

Our last participant, Debbie Cleek, added trapunto to her floral sprays on the Gathering panel. She used Designer’s Gallery to add the traditional technique of trapunto but with today’s technology.

I’d like to give a huge thank you to all of the participants. If you followed along, I’m sure you’re were as impressed as I was with their creativity. And so many techniques were shared! Please leave a comment and tell me what’s your biggest embroidery challenge. We’ll pick a random winner to send one Farmhouse Sentiments kit.

Join Me On My First Facebook LIVE

January 31, 2019 by eileenroche / Baby Lock, Behind the Scenes, Blog Tour, Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, National Embroidery Month, Social Media / 30 Comments

It’s National Embroidery Month! And oh boy are we celebrating here at Designs in Machine Embroidery. I’m kicking off the month-long celebration with my first (yikes!) Facebook Live event at 1:00 CST on February 1. Gee, did I really agree to do a live event? I mean, I’m comfortable in front of a camera as I’ve done dozens of PBS-TV shows and in-house videos but LIVE? That’s a different story!

image via giphy.com

I understand it’s better if you have an audience, they tell me, “the more the merrier”. Of course, ‘they’ are not in front of the camera! But hey, if it’s anything like speaking to a group of enthusiastic machine embroiderers at an event, then I think it would be merrier with more people!
To prepare, we straightened out the sewing studio to make it pretty.

And then we posted a sign on the door to discourage anyone from moving anything! Let’s hope that holds true.

So what am I going to talk about? Our Stitch Along with Baby Lock. You’ll find 13 social media posts in February teaching you how to quilt with your embroidery machine, precisely place embroidery designs on fabric and add a personal touch to a custom-designed printed fabric panel.

On Facebook Live, I’ll outline what you can expect throughout February and give you a chance to win a Farmhouse Sentiments kit!
At 1:00 PM, CST, Log onto Facebook and head over to our page @designsinmachineembroidery. Let me know you’re watching by leaving a comment.

6 Tips for Digitizing Continuous Line Designs

June 23, 2018 by eileenroche / Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Techniques / 0 comment

Have you tried your hand at digitizing quilting designs, continuous line designs? Follow these 6 tips to create your own quilting designs

Continuous line designs present unique challenges to digitizers. Since the designs are just one line of thread, there’s not a lot of room for error. But the biggest challenge may be in the pathing – where the needle will travel throughout the design. Sometimes the pathing is intuitive. Other times, you’ll have to make several attempts at creating streamlined pathing.

Start with pencil and paper. Sketching a continuous line design is the best way to address the pathing. Even if it’s digital clip art, print it out and trace over it. If you have to lift the pencil to draw the next area, there’s going to be a break in the stitching. Find another solution like backtracking (retracing over previous stitches) or looping (adding an extra design element like a vein on a leaf) to get to the next area.

Dive in –Go to the software and get started. You’ll find the time spent sketching/tracing has already focused your brain on the task. Sketching is like stretching exercises before a run – they prep your mind and body for the task ahead. Start drawing the design and adding nodes. It will flow faster than you think. Don’t worry if it looks like a mess at first. You can tweak each node later.

The Close Line feature is a time saver. If you’re drawing a closed shape, at the last node, right mouse click and select Close Line from the drop down menu. The shape will instantly close and you won’t waste time wondering why your continuous line turned into a two-ply. In Perfect Embroidery Pro, draw the shape, (setting modes with a click of the mouse), when the shape is complete, right mouse click to end the line. Select the Shape tool, right mouse click and select Close Line.

The Slow Draw tool is your best friend. Before you begin tweaking the nodes, click on the Slow Draw tool. This tool allows you to focus on the pathing. Keep a close eye on the screen as the design stitches. Get your pathing right, and then tweak the nodes.

Zoom in. Magnifying the stitches on the screen helps you see exactly where they lie in the design. This is quite helpful when perfecting individual shapes within a design. There are several ways to zoom in on a design in Inspriations’ software programs. The most obvious is to click on the magnifying glass.

Or select a percentage from the drop down menu at the top tool bar.

If you’re using a mouse, just push the wheel away from you to zoom in. Do this while holding down the CTRL key and the magnified area will focus on the location of the cursor, not the center of the screen. That’s a huge time saver!

It’s important to remember when you are zoomed in, you are seeing a magnified view of the stitches – not what it will appear when sewn. So don’t stress out too much! Pull back to actual size often to keep it in perspective.

Save As often. You really can’t have too many versions of your work. Go to File/Save As and rename the design every time. Eventually, you’ll be satisfied with the final design and you delete the earlier versions. But during the design phase, it’s wise to keep each version. Just go for something basic like HeartV1, HeartV2, HeartV3, etc. Use the same method for all your digitizing and you’ll know where to find your latest and greatest.

I’ve found these tips to be real time-savers. I seem to be immersed in quilting designs right now – there’s so many beautiful designs dancing in my head! I’d love to know what you’ve been working on.

Stitching Split Designs

January 3, 2018 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Uncategorized / 9 Comments

It’s easy to split designs in software but the challenge for many embroiderers is in the stitching. I use a combination of templates, Perfect Alignment Laser and the advance stitch feature on my machine. First, split the design in Inspirations Perfect Embroidery Pro. Click here to review the steps. Send the two designs to your machine.

Print a template of both designs. I use Print & Stick Target Template Paper because its adhesive back will stick to the fabric. Align the two templates on the fabric focusing on placement of the entire design. For instance, if you’re embroidering a pillow, center the monogram (both designs aligned) on the pillow. Then remove the second design template (the second hooping). Hoop the fabric centering the crosshair of the first hooping. Stitch the design.

Remove the fabric from the hoop. Place the second design template on the fabric aligning the template with the stitched design.

Hoop adhesive stabilizer and remove the protective paper. Attach the hoop to the machine and stitch the first color of the second hooping, the alignment line. Remove the hoop and position the hoop under PAL aligning the horizontal beam with the horizontal marks on the hoop and the vertical beam with the stitched line.

Place the embroidered fabric on the sticky stabilizer aligning the stitched line with the vertical beam and the horizontal beam with the template’s horizontal line.

Double check the placement by lifting the fabric and checking that the stitched line on the fabric is aligned with the stitched line on the stabilizer.

Attach the hoop to the machine and return to the beginning of color 1, the stitched line. Advance through color 1 watching the foot trace over the stitched line. It should align with the stitched line, if not, adjust the fabric until it does.

Stitch the second design. Now take a closer look.

My sample is not perfect.

The four circles illustrate where the two designs connect. The connections are fine in the blue circles but the areas in the red circles need some help. I would fix these disconnected areas by sewing a narrow satin column (zigzag stitch) on the sewing machine to join the two areas. No one would ever know!

I hope you’ll forgive me for this not-so-perfect project and the poor photography on the laser shot. We’re moving our offices this week so my working environment is not quite up to what it should be. Hope to have everything back to normal in a week or two!

Last week’s winner of Quilt with an Embroidery Machine in 8 Easy Lessons is….BRENDA KENNEDY! Brenda said, “I have four tops that need to be quilted.Just purchased the Brother Dream Machine. I need to do something to justify the cost of the machine.I also have a Quattro 2.”

Brenda, we’ll email you to get your mailing address. Congratulations!

Small Hoops – Jumbo Designs

December 29, 2017 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques / 5 Comments

If you love jumbo designs but don’t have a jumbo hoop, you can easily split a design in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro. Follow along with me to learn how.

Open a new file in Perfect Embroidery Pro. Click on the Monogram tool and select Mono17. Type in the letter P. Change the height to 6” and click Apply.

Select the design on the screen and click on the Split Design icon.

The Split Design screen appears. Click on the arrow in the Hoop field and select your hoop. I entered 130×180. The red boxes illustrate two hoopings: 1:1 and 2:1. You can move the boxes to select what portion of the design you want to stitch in the first and second hoop. It’s a good idea to move the boxes to split the design at a natural point. In this instance, where the upper right of the P meets the left leg of the P. Click on Split Preview to see the actually split.

The first hooping appears in the preview window.

When you click in the second hooping area, the preview window changes to the second hooping.

Toggle between the first and second hooping to view each individually. If you want to adjust the split, click on Split Preview again. Move the boxes around each portion of the design. Click on Split Preview again to see you changes.

Once you’re satisfied with the split, click Save and the software will save the design into two separate files and templates of both portions.

Print a template of each design and send the designs to your machine. Splitting designs has never been easier. Give it a try, this is a skill you’ll use over and over again!

Turn Your Embroidery Machine Into a Longarm

August 19, 2017 by eileenroche / Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Nancy Zieman, Quilting, Seminars and Conventions, shortE, Software Saturday, Uncategorized, Weightless Quilter / 22 Comments

If you want to successfully quilt with your machine, you have to learn the secrets to controlling the process. In my class, Turn Your Embroidery Machine Into a Longarm at Wisconsin Quilt Expo Sept. 7-9, you’ll learn why handling your quilt like this is a recipe for disaster:

I’ll also share why having two versions of a continuous design, not just mirror-imaged, makes connecting designs a breeze.

And what to do when you have a thread break in the middle of a design.

Most of all, I’ll show you how to get your embroidery machine to do what you want it to do!

I hope you’ll join me in Turn Your Embroidery Machine into a Longarm, at 1:00 every day at the Wisconsin Quilt Expo, Madison, WI, Sept.7-9.

I’m really looking forward to this quilt show because I’ve been spending too much time in my office and studio! It’ll be great to meet and chat with other embroiderers/quilters/sewists. Hope to see you there!

If you purchase your tickets online before the big event, you’ll save $2.00 per lecture. Hurry – seats are going…

Tropical Summer Stitching

July 8, 2017 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Clothing, Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized, Vintage Embroidery Software / 9 Comments

The May/June issue of Designs in machine Embroidery featured one of my favorite new projects: Hints of Havana. This project could have easily been called Hints of Hawaii summer Splash, Tropical Flavors or well, you get the idea. You’ll find this look in the women’s department of any retail store this summer. If you missed the issue, here’s how to do it in Inspirations’ Vintage Embroidery Software.

Open a new file in Vintage Embroidery. Click on the Designs Library icon and retrieve the following designs: ABS_0090_D, ABS_0093_D, FLO_0028_Flower, FLO_98_LilyD and FLO_0097_Flower.

Place Abs_0090 in the center. Place ABS_0093 below it. Flip 0093 vertically. Ungroup 0093 and remove the leaf at the top right.

And the top left.

Add FLO_0028 at the top right. Copy, Paste and flip it horizontally. Move the second repeat to the left of the center designs. Use the alignment tools to position the designs symmetrically.

Merge FLO_0097 into the screen.

Delete the running stitch outline around the flowers. Carefully group each individual flower. One by one, select each flower and position it around the four larger motifs. The fastest way to do this is to position all the flowers on the right side then copy, paste and mirror image. Move the second set to the left of the larger motifs. The Group and Ungroup tool is helpful here. Use it when moving all sections and you won’t leave any stray stitches behind.

Merge FLO_0098_Lily_d into the design.

Move the lily design to a clean area and delete the first two colors. Select the remaining portion and mirror image it vertically.

Center it under the newly-created design.

Save the designs as PB. The PB design measures 230mm x 240mm. Since I don’t have a hoop that wide, I’ll split the design in Perfect Embroidery Pro.

Open PB in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro. Select the design and click on the Split Design icon.

The Split window appears. Select your hoop from the drop down Hoop menu.

Place the cursor in the 1:1 and 2:1 segments to toggle back and forth until you have a split that you are comfortable with.

Click Save and the software will split and save the design into two files. Both files include a long basting line. Use this line to align the two hoopings.

I’ll use my PAL 2 (Perfect Alignment Laser) to align the second hooping with the first. Love that tool – it’s makes aligning designs a breeze!

Free Webinar!

March 15, 2017 by eileenroche / Continuous Embroidery, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Quilting, Seminars and Conventions, shortE, Uncategorized, Weightless Quilter / 23 Comments

I’m so excited to present a live webcast (my first!) with my good friends at Sulky. They spotted my recent book, Quilt with an Embroidery Machine in 8 Easy Lessons, and thought it would be a hot topic for their webcast offerings. I was flattered to be asked, so of course I said yes!

So what should you expect in this webcast? I’ll share my 20 years of quilting with an embroidery machine experience with you. I’ll cover everything from raw edge applique to custom quilting to overall quilting. I’ll show you how to manage the quilt bulk while achieving perfect placement on every hooping. You’ll learn what type of designs work on blocks and large negative spaces.

Included in this hour of education, is a downloadable continuous line design for 6” x 10” hoops*, a downloadable guide to my secrets of continuous line quilting on an embroidery machine plus a question and answer period at the end of the webcast.

You’ll get an in-depth look at my patented quilt and applique as you go technique, the difference between custom quilting and overall quilting. And I’ll cover selecting shape designs, connecting continuous line designs, working with magnetic hoops and three options for handling a full size quilt on a home embroidery machine.

We are packing a ton of information into this webcast but don’t worry, after the webcast, you’ll be able to review it whenever you’d like. Join us for this live webcast and later you can watch at your own pace. Sign up now because seats are limited! Just click here: https://goto.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1138339&sti=eduction_webinar_banner

*Formats included are C2S, DST, EXP, HQV, HUS, JEF, PCS, PES, QLI, VIP AND VP3.

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

Leave a comment explaining what quilting project you’re working on right now. One lucky winner will receive a copy of my latest book, Quilt with an Embroidery Machine in 8 Easy Lessons. It’s finally back in stock so I’m happy to give one away.

The winner is: LAURI WINTERFELDT: I just completed a whole cloth quilt to practice quilting on my machine. I have two more lap quilts basted and ready to go.

Thank you, everyone for taking the time to comment. I love hearing from you and hope to see you in the webcast on March 23, 2017, 9:00 PM EST.

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