Archive of ‘Eileen Roche’ category

What’s Your Favorite Flavor?

July 14, 2018 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, Quilting, Software Saturday, Uncategorized / 21 Comments

A few weeks ago, I shared some tips on digitizing circles in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro. You can read how to digitize round circles, not oval by clicking here. In that post, I showed a couple of tight shots of a work in progress. Now I can show you the whole project – Stipple! Sprinkles since it’s available now with free shipping.

I had so much fun designing this quilt. It brought back many happy childhood memories. Growing up in a seashore resort, we had many ice cream choices in the summer months. Our little 5-mile long island in South Jersey was sprinkled with ice cream stores – from the north to the south and the beach to the bay.

My mom would fill her station wagon with whatever daughters, (there were six of us), cousins and friends were in the house. Of course, this was before, ahem, seat belts! You really could load eight or more small children in a station wagon – we survived.

She would take us to her favorite spot – Titleman’s Ice Cream – and let us order whatever our hearts desired. To a child, it was a huge treat – the menu board offered so many choices. And it was fun to read it aloud to the younger siblings who didn’t read yet. I can still see the yellow neon lights of the stand and Mr. Titleman’s gleaming white work pants and t-shirt. He worked hard – making fresh ice cream every day.

Today, when I scoop ice cream, I think of those summer days. I think of the joy a scoop of ice cream can bring to a child’s face. I also think of how sharing ice cream makes you feel. There’s something unifying about sitting across a table and enjoying a cold, creamy treat. It’s different than sharing a meal – the formality melts away – it’s just shear pleasure. And it’s brief – it only lasts a little while. Whether you are licking a cone or scooping a dish, ice cream brings smiles.

You can imagine the fun I had while I was digitizing this new collection. My first thought was to make the quilt on blue fabric. Blue is always a winner in my book but i was disappointed at the first couple of blocks.

So I switched gears and picked out some yummy fabrics for the appliques and a plain white background. After surveying my selections, it dawned on me that I should ‘sprinkle’ color on the white background. That’s when the embroidered sprinkles were born! Adding the embroidered sprinkles to the white fabric was the key to success- it let me match my thread to my fabric colors.

Today, I’m more of a chocolate chip fan. How about you, what’s your favorite flavor? Are you a vanilla, strawberry, butter pecan or rocky road fan? Or maybe you love gelato? Possibly you like sherbet like I did when I was a child. Share your favorite flavor and you could win a copy of Stipple Sprinkles!

My Block Piecer Block of the Month: Block 7 – 9 Patch Star Software Instructions

July 7, 2018 by eileenroche / Block of the Month, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, My Block Piecer, Software Saturday, Software Techniques / 0 comment

My Block Piecer
Block of the Month : Block 7 – 9 Patch Star
Software Instructions
By Nancy Stansbury

This ongoing Block of the Month series was designed to inspire you to learn new techniques using My Block Piecer. As a reminder, the first Saturday of every month will feature the software lesson using My Block Piecer. The following Wednesday will feature the sewing lesson.

You are free to adapt the block to a size of your preference.
A free trial of My Blo ck Piecer is available if you’d like to try it before you buy it. Note the “Save” feature is deactivated until the software is purchased.
Interested in learning more about My Block Piecer and other Inspirations Software? Join us at an Inspirations Event. Click the Events link for events near you.
If you’re late to the Block of the Month “party” have no fear! Start with Block 7.

Let’s continue the journey of learning and creativity!

1. Open MBP.
2. Click on Create a New Design.

1. If the units for the ruler on the design page show mm, Right Click on either one of the rulers on the Design Page, and Click on Inches.
2. Right Click on either ruler again and click on Grid Settings.
  1. Check marks by:
    1. Maintain aspect ratio
    2. Snap to grid.
  2. Set Horizontal spacing to 0.25.
  3. Click OK.
3. Click on the Block Icon.
  1. Enter 9_Patch_Star in the Find box at the bottom of the window (DO NOT CLICK THE ENTER KEY).
  2. Click on the Down green arrow.
  3. Click OK to place the block on the design page.
4. In the Properties Window on the right side of the screen click on the Transform icon.
  1. Have Maintain aspect ratio checked.
  2. Change the Width to 6.
  3. Click Apply.
5. Click on the Reorder icon.
  1. Number the patches in the block. Look at the diagram below for the numbering sequence.NOTE: Also notice that the first row is numbered from left to right and the second from right to left. This was done so the seams will nest when sewn together. Third row is same as the first with only colors in different positions so it does not need to be numbered.NOTE: When numbering the pieces of the block, keep in mind that this is a sew and flip method of piecing, so each patch can only have a single straight seam joining it to a previous patch/patches.
  2. Right Click to end the numbering. The numbers will disappear but the numbering is still there.
6. Click on the Select icon and draw a box around patches 1 through 4 (top row).
7. Click on the Workflow icon.
  1. Select a 200mm x 200 mm hoop or similar for your machine.
  2. Click the Auto Build button. If the right window looks like this, the block was created with one unit, go to Step 8.
  3. Right Click in the window on the right side (with the numbers) and Click Reset.
  4. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on the 1 and 2.
  5. Right Click and Group.
  6. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on unit and 3.
  7. Right click and group.
  8. DO NOT CLICK AND GROUP THE LAST NUMBER.
8. Click Preview.
9. Click Save.
  1. Click on Create a New Folder icon and name it Block 7.
  2. Double Click on the folder to open it.
  3. In the File name box enter 9_Patch_StarA.
  4. Save as type select Inspiration Series (C2S).
  5. Click Save.
  6. A window will open showing you the files that have been created.
    1. 9_Patch_StarA_001.c2s.
    2. 9_Patch_StarA _artwork.c2s.
    3. 9_Patch_StarA _preview.pdf.
  7. Close the file window.
  8. Close the Save window.
10. Click on the Select icon and draw a box around the middle row.
11. Click on the Workflow icon.
  1. The numbers have been changed to 1-5.
  2. Select a 200mm x 200 mm hoop or similar for your machine.
  3. Click the Auto Build button. If there is only one unit, go to Step 12.
  4. Right Click in the window on the right side and Click Reset.
  5. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on the 1 and 2.
  6. Right Click and Group.
  7. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on unit and 3.
  8. Right click and group.
  9. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on unit and 4.
  10. Right click and group.
  11. DO NOT CLICK AND GROUP THE LAST NUMBER.
12. Click Preview.
13. Click Save.
  1. In the File name box enter 9_Patch_StarB.
  2. Save as type select Inspiration Series (C2S).
  3. Click Save.
  4. A window will open showing you the files that have been created.
    1. 9_Patch_StarB_001.c2s.
    2. 9_Patch_StarB _artwork.c2s.
    3. 9_Patch_StarB _preview.pdf.
  5. Close the file window.
  6. Close the Save window.
14. Click the Select icon and draw a box around the entire block, OR Enter CTRL-A to select all of the block.
15. Click the Cutter icon.
  1. Seam allowance default is .25”. Normally I change this to 0.4” or 0.5”, to make it easier to place the fabric pieces no matter which output format I choose.
  2. How you are going create the fabric pieces for the block, will determine which file format (hoop) to choose for the templates.
    1. If going to print the templates, and use them to manually cut the fabric pieces, select the Paper Letter 210×279.
    2. If going to use the Scan and Cut, select Brother SCN 12x12”.
    3. If going to use the Silhouette, select Silhouette 12x12”. When using digital cutters, add a 4 in the repeat box if making four blocks for the large quilt.
  3. Can Unclick Optimize Orientation if using a directional fabric (This will optimize how the pieces file on the paper.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Select the appropriate format for your cutting method and Click Save.
    1. In File name enter 9_Patch_Star Templates.
    2. Click Save.
    3. The Following Files have been created.
      1. 9_Patch_Star templates.pdf
      2. 9_Patch_Star templates_preview.pdf.
  6. Close the files window.
  7. Close the Cutter window.
16. Click on New Design.Note: When using the Merge to open a file, SAVE is actually a SAVE AS and the original file is not overwritten.Note: If desired the embroideries can be saved in a specific format individually or they can be combined into one file.OPTION 1: Save each design individually.
17. Click on the Hoop Icon and select 200mm x 260mmhoop or similar.
18. For each of the two embroideries, Click File, Merge.
  1. Locate the file 9_Patch_StarA.c2s or 9_Patch_StarB.
  2. To open Double Click on the name OR Click on the name and Click Open.
  3. Click Save.
  4. In the Name field, Enter 9_Patch_StarA OR Star_B.
  5. In the Save as type select the format for your machine.
  6. Save.
  7. Go to Step 24.

OPTION 2: Save entire block in one hoop.

Click on the Hoop icon and select a Hoop size to 200mmx260mm or similar size.
Click File, Merge.
1. Locate the file 9_Patch_StarA.c2s.
2. To open Double Click on the name OR Click on the name and Click Open.
3. Move it to the top part of the hoop.
4. Copy, Paste.
5. Move embroidery to the bottom part of the hoop.
Click File, Merge.
1. Locate the file 9_Patch_StarB.c2s.
2. Move to center of hoop.
To save time at the machine, stitch all placement guides in the first color.
1. Select all.
2. Ungroup.
3. In the Sequence window move each of the other two placement stitches below the first one.
Click Save.
1. In the Name Field enter 9_Patch_Star.
2. In Save as Type select the format for your specific machine.
3. Click Save.
Print the templates, or prepare your fabric and send the templates to your cutter.
Load the design/designs into your machine create the 3 pieces for the block. Remembering on the bottom to reverse the two triangles.
Sew the 3 sections together manually to complete the block.

Not an Artist? Not a Problem!

June 30, 2018 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized / 2 Comments

You don’t have to be an artist to digitize embroidery designs, the tools are right at your fingertips in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro. Familiarize yourself with the art tools and your creativity will soar. Let’s take a look.

Click on the Artwork tool and select the heart. Drag the cursor across the screen to draw a heart. Use the pen tool to draw a quarter section of the heart.

Select the small shape, right click and select Convert to Complex Fill.

Do the same for the remaining portion of the heart. Select the run tool and draw a straight horizontal line across the top of heart. On my heart, it’s about 1” long.

In the Properties box, select Symbol from the Type menu. Scroll down the menu to find the star. Click OK.

The line will now be a series of connected stars. Copy and paste the line to fill the blue area.

When drawing stripes, rely on the art tools to make uniform stripes. Select the Rectangle from the art tools and draw a rectangle over the right half of the heart.

Copy past and change the color of the second rectangle. Continue to copy and paste the rectangles to fill the heart, placing each rectangle next to each other. This will create even stripes with equal spaces between them.

Convert every other rectangle to complex fill. Remove the rectangles that marked the open spaces. Use the Shape tool to move the end points of the rectangles to align with the outer edges of the heart.

Select the white stripes, right click, select Utility, Remove Overlaps. Add a border and convert it to Steil to complete the design. Change the gold stars to white. Save the design as Patriotic Heart and use it to embellish your 4th of July picnic linens.

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.

Remembering Nancy Zieman

June 20, 2018 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Nancy Zieman, Uncategorized / 81 Comments

I think about Nancy Zieman often – absolutely every time I’m sewing. I use her patterns, her tools, her books and her techniques. Since I learned to sew by watching Sewing with Nancy, of course it makes sense that I would think of her when I sew.

We wrote books together, developed product and taped almost 20 Sewing with Nancy episodes.

But we were friends and I treasured my relationship with her. She was a wise woman. Patient, fair and classy. I miss her tremendously. If I was facing a business challenge, she was the first person I called. As our friendship deepened, I would turn to her for personal advice and she would do the same to me.

You don’t replace a friend like Nancy but you can honor her legacy by remembering what she meant to you. Even if you never met her, there’s a good chance she changed your life – your sewing life – by making your hobby more enjoyable.

Today, June 21, she would have been 65 years old. I hope you’ll spend a minute and think about what Nancy meant to you. What did she teach you? Maybe, how to accomplish large sewing tasks in 10-20-30 minutes segments? Or how to bind a quilt or turn a collar point? Possibly how to create a breathtaking landscape quilt?

I’d love to hear what you remember about Nancy. Do you have a favorite technique you learned from her? Maybe you received a hand written thank you or get well note from her. Do you continue to watch Sewing with Nancy? Do you have a bookshelf full of Nancy’s books? Please share your thoughts…

Water Soluble Stabilizer Substitute

June 9, 2018 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Uncategorized / 3 Comments

Colleen Bell’s gorgeous quilt in the most recent of Designs in Machine Embroidery (Vol. 110, May/June 2018) was made with Shannon Fabrics’ Cuddle. Wrapping yourself in a Cuddle quilt is like submersing yourself in a teddy bear hug. Its fibers are luxurious and irresistible to the touch.

Those luscious fibers can make embroidering on it a challenge. The fibers want to work their way through the embroidery stitches leaving your embroidery looking lackluster. Colleen’s traditional method of taming the fibers was to add a layer of water soluble stabilizer on top of the Cuddle before adding the embroidery. Colleen is an embroidery whiz – she knows what stabilizer to use when and what hoop is best for the job as seen in this photo.

Her water soluble stabilizer covers the whole design area and is easily removed by just tearing it away after the embroidery is applied. Her Snap Hoop Monster won’t leave any hoop burn on the tender Cuddle fabric. This approach is tried and true but what if you don’t have a supply of water soluble stabilizer on hand?

Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro has the solution with one of its most popular features – Nap Blocker. In just a few clicks you can add a light density fill BEHIND the design that will permanently hold down the fibers. Here’s how you do it.

Open your embroidery design in Perfect Embroidery Pro. Colleen used Urban Threads UT17449, Floral Arrow.

Select the design, right click, select Utility, Create Nap Blocker.

The Nap Blocker, a light density complex fill, is now listed as the first element of color 1.

Select the complex fill and change its color to match the color of the fabric. This is crucial as you want the complex fill to disappear behind the embroidery.

Just hoop your fabric, stitch the first color in thread that matches the fabric and complete the design. No need to tear or wash away a topper! Love that feature!

What’s your favorite feature in PEP?

Nancy’s Sewing Weekend

May 2, 2018 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Hooping / 8 Comments

I just arrived in Beaver Dam, WI for Nancy’s Sewing Weekend. It’s always a fun time – full of great classes, inspiring samples and wonderful people. Of course, this year will be a little different without Nancy but we’re all committed to carrying on this great tradition. If you’re in Wisconsin or Ilinois or Iowa or Minnesota or…well, you get the idea, head to Beaver Dam. I’m reposting Saturday’s blog from Zieman Productions here. Read on to see what’s happening at Nancy’s Notions this weekend, May 3-5, 2018.

What started as a grand opening in 1985 has grown into one of Wisconsin’s largest annual sewing events. This year’s events start Thursday, May 3rd, and run through Saturday, May 5th. FREE Admission and FREE Parking!

Join in on 24 seminars featuring top educators and designers

New! Sewing Weekend speakers include:

- - Sara Gallegos
  - Mike Johns
  - Joi Mahon

Returning favorite speakers include:

- - Eileen Roche
  - Marti Michell
  - Linda McGehee
  - Pamela Leggett
  - Mary Mulari

Find seminar details and class ticket pricing over at the Nancy’s Notions website.

Test-drive a Baby Lock Sewing Machine!

Hands-on classes are running throughout the weekend. While many are sold out, tickets for select days and times are available onsite at Nancy’s Notions Sewing Weekend.

Free Demonstrations by the Experts

Company representatives from some of the top brands in the sewing industry are available at Sewing Weekend to answer questions and demonstrate products.

NEW! This Year: Food Trucks

- Food Trucks—7 food trucks/vendors will be part of the Sewing Weekend festivities this year. You won’t need to leave the event to travel to an off-site food location, unless you choose to do so. A seating area and tent will be near the food trucks. It’s a great way to enjoy a variety of choices plus support other Wisconsin-based businesses. Trucks and vendors participating include:
  - Lisa’s Pizza (serving an array of pizzas and pasta)
  - Mac’s BBQ (serving chicken sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, shredded beef sandwiches, jambalaya, coleslaw, potato salad, etc.)
  - Cold Stone Creamery (serving various flavors of ice cream, of course)
  - Curd Girl (serving their specialty fried cheese curds)
  - Gouda Girls (serving specialty grilled cheese sandwiches)
  - We Go Waffles (serving waffles that are both sweet and savory)
  - Mobile Café Express (serving coffee as well as breakfast and lunch food options)

Don’t Miss the 3-Day Super Sale!

Over 10,000 yards of fabric on sale; and more! Save up to 75% on select Clearance and Overstock items. New deals daily!

Ride the FREE! shuttle buses to seminar locations.

You can even check your packages while you’re attending seminars and workshops.

You’ll find lots of inspiration! Scott Stanton, accounting and IT guru, sports one of his personalized ties. Yes, Scott made it himself. Every day of Sewing Weekend he wears a tie that he made.

Special Exhibits and Displays!

Look for the Quilt Expo Black & White Plus One Award-Winning Challenge Quilts at this year’s Sewing Weekend! And, pick up an entry form for the New! 2018 Quilt Expo Bake Off Quilt Challenge.

Join us in celebrating the 34th annual Sewing Weekend, May 3–5, 2018—at Nancy’s Notions in Beaver Dam, WI. What started as a grand opening in 1985, Sewing Weekend has grown into one of Wisconsin’s largest annual sewing events.

Remember the first Sewing Weekend?

Check out these photos from the 1985 Grand Opening of Nancy’s Notions:

Thank you to Nancy, for her vision in creating an annual event for us to gather and celebrate sewing. This year, we celebrate Nancy and her many contributions to the sewing world, her elegant style and gracious living.

Hope to see you there!

Circles Got You Going in Circles?

April 28, 2018 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Uncategorized / 6 Comments

If your embroidered circles look more like ovals than you know what I mean by ‘circles have you going in circles?’ What you see on the computer screen is not necessarily what you see stitched on fabric. That can be frustrating but help is just a click away.

Recently, I was digitizing a new Stipple collection that features a rainbow of embroidered polka dots. Unfortunately, I can’t unveil the new collection just yet but it will be available soon. Back to the problem at hand, I was diligently working away and stitched my sample. Ugh! My circles weren’t round, they were oval.

And that’s definitely a rookie digitizing mistake. In Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro, it’s so easy to fix this problem. I selected all of the polka dots and changed the Pull/Pull setting in the Properties Box. Here’s how to do it.

Use the artwork tool to draw a small circle (.25″) diameter). Convert it to satin. Click on the Pull/Push tab in the Properties Box. Notice the Value is set at 100%.

Change the value to 120%.

View the difference on the screen. Notice the higher percentage fills out the circle across the width. The width of the dot now measures .28″ while the height remained the same at .25″.

The difference is minute but it’s all that was needed. My circles are now really circles!

Hidden Treasure

April 21, 2018 by eileenroche / Current Posts, Digitizing, Eileen Roche, Embroidery Techniques, Inspiration Software, Perfect Embroidery Pro, Software Saturday, Software Techniques, Software Updates, Uncategorized / 3 Comments

Buried in the Properties Box in Inspirations’ Perfect Embroidery Pro is Projection. A hidden and often forgotten treasure, Projection takes a simple shape and transforms it into a hoop full of beautiful stitches. When Projection was introduced as a new feature in a free update in June 2017, most of us looked at it as something fun to incorporate into open airy designs, like this butterfly.

But let me show you what it can do with a simple geometric shape like the diamond. Click on the Run stitch tool and select the Art tool. Select Diamond from the drop down menu. Drag the cursor to draw a 1″ x 1.25″ diamond.

In the Properties Box on the Run tab, select Projection from the Type field.

The diamond is filled with smaller diamonds, the default setting is 3.0 stitch length and 1.5 Density. That’s a too many repeats for me so I’ll decrease the density.

Change the stitch length to 2.4 and the Density to 5.0.

Select the diamond and click on the Carousel tool. Select Reflect.

In the preview window, type 2 in the repeat field and click Apply.

The hoop is filled with the diamond repeats.

Select the diamonds, go to to Edit, Optimize Sequence. Click on Slow Redraw to watch the design stitch seamlessly from diamond to diamond.

I can’t wait to stitch this in some specialty threads. First, I’ll use KingStar Metallic and then I’ll stitch a second sample in Medley variegated thread. After I see those samples, I’ll copy and paste the diamonds to fill the open areas. Oh my, so many possibilities! There are so many hidden treasure in your software!

My Block Piecer Block of the Month: Block 4 T Block Software Instructions

April 7, 2018 by eileenroche / Block of the Month, Current Posts, Eileen Roche, Inspiration Software, My Block Piecer, Software Saturday / 1 Comment

My Block Piecer
Block of the Month: Block 4 T Block
Software Instructions
By Nancy Stansbury

You are free to adapt the block to a size of your preference.
A free trial of My Blo ck Piecer is available if you’d like to try it before you buy it. Note the “Save” feature is deactivated until the software is purchased.
Interested in learning more about My Block Piecer and other Inspirations Software? Join us at an Inspirations Event. Click the Events link for events near you.
If you’re late to the Block of the Month “party” have no fear! Start with Block 4 or spend a little time catching up.

Let’s continue the journey of learning and creativity!

1. Open MBP.
2. Click on Create a New Design.

If the units for the ruler on the design page show mm, Right Click on either one of the rulers on the Design Page, and Click on Inches.
Right Click on either ruler again and click on Grid Settings.
1. Check marks by:
  1. Maintain aspect ratio
  2. Snap to grid.
2. Set Horizontal spacing to 0.25.
3. Click OK.
Click on the Block Icon.
1. Enter T Block in the Find box at the bottom of the window (DO NOT CLICK THE ENTER KEY).
2. Click on the Down green arrow.
3. Click OK to place the block on the design page.
In the Properties Window on the right side of the screen click on the Transform icon.
1. Have Maintain aspect ratio checked.
2. Change the Width to 6.
3. Click Apply.
Click on the Reorder icon.
1. Click on each patch of the block to number them as show the illustration below.
2. Right Click to end the numbering. The numbers will disappear but the numbering is still there.
Click on the Select icon and draw a box around patches 1 through 6, the top third of the block.
1. Select a 200mm x 200mm hoop or similar for your machine.
2. Click the Auto Build button. If there are two units showing in the right box, the block part has not been created with only one unit.
3. Right Click in the window on the right side (with the numbers) and Click Reset.
4. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on the 1 and 2.
  1. Right Click and Group.
  2. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on unit and 3.
  3. Right click and group.
  4. Repeat ii and iii for patches 4 and 5.
  5. DO NOT CLICK AND GROUP THE LAST NUMBER.Click on the Workflow icon.
Click Preview.
Click Save.
1. Click on Create a New Folder icon and name it Block 4.
2. Double Click on the folder to open it.
3. In the File name box enter T_BlockA.
4. Save as type select the compatible format for your machine (pes).
5. Click Save.
6. A window will open showing you the files that have been created.
  1. T_BlockA_001.pes.
  2. T_BlockA _artwork.c2s.
  3. T_BlockA _preview.pdf.
7. Close the file window.
8. Close the Save window.
Click on the Select icon and draw a box around the remaining patches.
Click on the Workflow icon.
1. The numbers have been changed to 1-5.
2. Select a 200mm x 200mm hoop or similar for your machine.
3. Click the Auto Build button. If there are two units showing in the right box, the block has not been created with only one unit. If there is only 1 unit, go to Step14.
4. Right Click in the window on the right side (with the numbers) and Click Reset.
5. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on the 1 and 2.
  1. Right Click and Group.
  2. Holding down the CTRL Key, Click on unit and 3.
  3. Right click and group.
  4. Repeat ii and iii for patch 4.
Click Preview.
Click Save.
1. In the File name box enter T_BlockB.
2. Save as type select the compatible format for your machine(pes).
3. Click Save.
4. A window will open showing you the files that have been created.
  1. T_BlockB_001.pes.
  2. T_BlockB _artwork.c2s.
  3. T_BlockB _preview.pdf.
5. Close the file window.
6. Close the Save window.
Click the Select icon and draw a box around the entire block, OR Enter CTRL-A to select all of the block.
Click the Cutter icon.
1. Seam allowance default is .25”. Normally I change this to 0.4” or 0.5”, to make it easier to place the fabric pieces no matter which output format I choose.
2. How you are going to create the fabric pieces for the block, will determine which file format (hoop) to choose for the templates.
  1. If manually cutting the fabric pieces, select the Paper Letter 210×279.
  2. If using the Scan and Cut, select Brother SCN 12x12”.
  3. If using the Silhouette, select Silhouette 12x12”.
3. Unclick Optimize Orientation if using a directional fabric.
4. Click Apply.
5. Click Save
  1. In File name enter T_Block Templates.
  2. Select the format of choice from the Save as Type field.
  3. Click Save.
  4. The Following Files have been created.
    1. T_Block templates.
    2. T_Block templates_preview.pdf.
  5. Close the files window.
  6. Close the Cutter window.
Click on Create a New Design.Note: When using the Merge to open a file, SAVE is actually a SAVE AS and the original file is not overwritten.
Click on the Hoop icon and select a 200mmx200mm hoop or similar for your machine.
Click on File, Merge.
1. Locate the file T_BlockA_001.c2s.
2. Double click on the file to open OR click on the file name, then Click OK.
Move to upper part of the hoop.
Click on File, Merge.
1. Locate the file T_BlockB_001.c2s.
2. Double click on the file to open OR click on the file name, then Click OK.
Move to the bottom of the hoop
Click Save.
1. In the name field enter T-Block.
2. In the Save as type enter the format for your specific machine.
Print the templates, or prepare your fabric and send the templates to your cutter.
Load the design in your machine and create the two portions of this block.
Manually sew the two pieces together on your sewing machine.