Embroidery for Children – Eileen's Machine Embroidery Blog

Archive of ‘Embroidery for Children’ category

Glitter Princess!

April 8, 2015 by eileenroche / Applique, Clothing, Color and Design, Eileen Roche, Embroidery for Children, Embroidery Tips / 64 Comments

You’re never too old or too young to celebrate a special birthday! Recently, Stephanie Sanders, my loyal employee of 14 years, approached me with a request to stitch a shirt for her daughter’s upcoming 2^nd birthday.

We discussed options and thought it would be fun to stitch an applique crown and a number 2. Since little girls love sparkles we knew the applique fabric would have to be something glittery and fun.

This was the perfect opportunity to use Glitter Sheets from BFC-Stash. The sheets are available as sets and individual sheets in countless colors. Instructions are included with the Embroidery Glitter for steps on how to use and care for the product.

I used embroidery software to create the embroidery design. If you missed the Software Saturday lesson on the blog click here.

I could have placed an entire square of the Glitter Sheet on the applique then trimmed it away once the tack down stitch was complete. But this was a great opportunity to use the Brother™ ScanNCut to create pre-cut applique shapes. So I sent the applique artwork files from Perfect Embroidery Pro to my Brother Scan N Cut. I loaded a gold glitter sheet, pressed the button and Voila! A gold crown, perfectly cut!

I was so excited I quickly picked up a pink glitter sheet and repeated the steps for the digit. Gee, that stuff is addictive!

Once the design was created I fused Sulky Soft ‘n Sheer™ Extra cut-away stabilizer to the wrong side of the t-shirt. Then I hooped the t-shirt in Snap Hoop Monster.

When it was time to stitch the design I placed the pre-cut Glitter sheets on the placement stitching. The sheets were tacked down then finished with the satin stitching. The final step is to use a Teflon pressing cloth to iron the embroidery using the linen heat setting. (330-365 degrees). Complete care instructions are included with the Glitter Sheets.

The Glitter Sheets are light-weight and move with the garment. Perfect for a little one that is always on the move!

The final step was to finish the back of the garment with Sulky Tender™ Touch. This added step makes the shirt more comfortable for little ones to wear by covering the bobbin stitches.

Now the little princess is ready for her party!

If you’ve missed out on this month’s Designs Plus Newsletter, be sure to stop by for a visit. Sulky is offering 3 free embroidery designs and a limited time special offer on their products.

Here’s your assignment this week:

I had so much fun working with the Glitter Sheets from BFC- Stash on this project. The wide range of sheet color choices is my favorite aspect of the product. What is your favorite color Glitter Sheet to use? Post your comments and one random winner will be selected to win a $25 gift certificate to the Designs in Machine Embroidery website.

Multi-Needle Monday: How Many People Can You Fit in Your Sewing Room?

August 11, 2014 by eileenroche / Behind the Scenes, Embroidery for Children, Embroidery Techniques, Just for Fun, Multi-Needle, Stitching Sisters / 15 Comments

I don’t get a lot of company at my house but when I do, I love it. Recently, I had the pleasure of hosting my sister, her three daughters and two grandchildren. We wound up in my sewing room! Tons of room to spread out all over the house, but here we were huddled around the multi-needle machine.

My sister, Mary Pat Palombo, granddaughter Bella, daughter Christin, grandson Atticus, daughters Regina and Kim.

Let me give you a little background. A little over a year ago, I wrote a post about my niece Kim’s baby shower. I shared an image of the all of the beautiful handmade gifts she received.

Well…Kim had a boy, Atticus, a beautiful red-haired Irish lad and recently made the trip to Texas to visit her sister, Christin. Just so happens, I live about 30 minutes from Christin so when family comes to the Lone Star State, I usually get to see them too.

Why did we wind up in my sewing room? It seems Atticus has a ‘lovie’ that he adores. Mom Kim wanted to make sure his lovie could be returned if he ever misplaced (dropped, threw, stashed or hid) it. Kim’s a pretty smart girl! She asked if I could embroider is name and her phone number on the binding of the lovie. I jumped at the chance because I remember my Stitching Sister Marie Zinno telling me how easy it is to do. That’s all I need, a few words from Marie saying, “Go on, you can do it!”

But she’s right; it’s super easy with a flat hoop and a built-in scanner. I hooped the lovie with tear-away stabilizer, keeping the binding within the sewing field. Since the hoop is flat, I pulled on the lovie to make sure it was taut in the frame.

I used the built-in text to write his name and her phone number. Added a basting box around the text then scanned the hoop. Notice the head of the puppy extends above the frame. I forced it down when it got close to the needle bar during the scanning process. I didn’t have to worry about the puppy’s head during stitching as the binding is positioned at the back of the hoop – the needle bar never traveled near the head.

I moved the text to fit within the binding and selected a thread to match for security reasons. I figured if someone found the lovie, they would call with the intent to put a smile on a baby’s face, not harm the mom. But let’s not make the bad guy’s job easier by using dark brown thread!

What fun in the sewing room! Tell me, do you like having company in your sewing room?

Embroidering on Children’s Shirts

May 21, 2014 by eileenroche / Applique, Clothing, Embroidery for Children, Wearables / 55 Comments

We received a message from Melinda on our Facebook page asking for some tips for embroidering on children’s shirts. Here are my top 10 tips for embellishing children’s shirts with machine embroidery.

1. Keep it light. Kids hate stiff, itchy embroidery so select embroidery designs that have a low-stitch count.

2. Use applique to add impact. Fun colors and funky fabrics infuse a lot of spunk into plain t-shirts without adding the dreaded bullet-proof embroidered shield!

3. Look for applique designs that are on the small size – under 3” x 3”. Jumbo designs overwhelm a small figure.

4. Get the placement right. Depend on the Children’s Perfect Placement Kit to help with locating the correct position for designs on children’s garments, size infant to youth large. Eileen's Children's Perfect Placement Kit

5. Ask the child (if old enough) for input on favorite colors, shapes, characters and designs. If they help design it, they’ll love wearing it.

6. Rely on fusible polymesh stabilizer to eliminate the stretch in knits. It’s a strong cut-away and very comfortable.

7. Don’t be afraid to slit a side seam to make hooping easier. Knits don’t ravel so you won’t have to worry about frayed edges if you don’t have a serger.

8. After all embroidery is complete, add a fusible lightweight, tricot knit interfacing to the wrong side of the embroidery. This delicate, sheer cover-up will camouflage the bobbin threads and eliminate the ‘itch’ factor.

9. Lighten up your expectations. Kids are not only finicky but they grow so fast! Save the heirloom techniques for really memorable occasions when the effort will be worth it.

10. Look for ways to extend an active child’s wardrobe by adding embroidered borders to lengthen hemlines and cover stains. You’ll be glad you did if the child gets another season out of a garment.

Here’s your assignment this week:

Tell us what your favorite children’s theme is for the Summertime goodies you are crafting. FOUR lucky comments will be chosen to receive $25 to spend at the Applique for Kids website. Thanks and good luck!

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Here’s your assignment this week:
What vintage goodies from your grandmother, great-grandmother or other special family member do you have tucked away? It’s time to pull the linens out and use them as inspiration! For those feeling especially social, take a photo and post to our Facebook page! (No worries, everyone who just posts a comment on the blog has a chance to win!)One comment will be randomly selected and will win a $25 shopping spree to the Designs in Machine Embroidery website.

Designs in Machine Embroidery Shopping Spree

And the winner is…Shumidog “Even though most of my aunts at one time worked at the Coats and Clark factory in Central Falls, RI which made cotton embroidery thread none embroidered. Knitting and crochet were their forte and I have a number of items including doilies and bureau scarves.”

Multi-Needle Monday | Applique and Onesies – Oh, My!

April 28, 2014 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Applique, Clothing, Embroidery for Children, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Hooping, Multi-Needle, Stitching on Knits, Wearables / 17 Comments

Applique and stitching on onesies have always challenged my multi-needle machine skills. First, trimming applique in those deep standard hoops is tricky on a small item. I can’t seem to get my scissors to trim close enough to the stitch line in those hoops without nipping the base fabric. And of course, hooping a onesie when the design requires a larger than 4” x 4” hoop is almost impossible. Multi-Needle Monster Hoop solves both of those problems. Let me show you how.

Iron fusible polymesh stabilizer to the wrong side of the onesie shirt front extending the stabilizer above the neckline if your design has to stitch close to the ribbing.

Tape the embroidery design template onto the onesie. I use PAL to make sure the template is square on the garment before I tape it down.

Slide the magnetic frame (magnets side up) inside the shirt. Place the metal Monster Hoop frame on top, aligning the frames.

Lift the frame and pull the back of the onesie over the frame. The metal arms of the frame will hold the onesie in place.

Check the back of the hoop to make sure nothing is caught under the hoop. Attach the hoop to the machine, center the design on the template’s crosshair and begin to stitch the applique.

After tacking down the applique fabric, remove the hoop and place it on a flat surface while trimming. Hold the hoop by the metal arms, not the frames, while transporting the hoop.

Reattach the hoop to the machine and slide your hand under the design area to make sure nothing is caught under the hoop.

There you have it! Never been easier.

How to Stitch a Onesie with Hoop Guard

March 12, 2014 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Clothing, Embroidery for Children, Hooping, Wearables / 268 Comments

Don’t you hate it when you’re working on a large (or small project) and as soon as you turn your back on the machine, a portion of the fabric (that’s not in the hoop) falls into the sewing field? It never seems to fail that the more time and materials I have invested in a project, the more trouble happens down the road. Last summer, I was quilting several large quilts – bed size quilts – on my embroidery machine. I spent many hours, repositioning the quilt to quilt a new area and several times, the quilt roll would fall into the sewing field. Luckily, I was nearby, so I was able to avoid disaster. But it got me thinking, couldn’t there be a device that creates a barrier between the roll and the sewing field?

After a trip to the hardware store and a bit of experimentation, I met with our engineer. Several prototypes later, Hoop Guard was born. I’m so excited about this new product! I’ve used it on quilts and bulky terrycloth towels but I recently discovered how handy it is for small items too. Let me show you how it works for an onesie.

Fuse polymesh cut-away stabilizer to the wrong side of the front of the suit. Mark the location of the design and turn the snap suit inside out.

Since a baby’s snap suit is small, select a small Monster Snap Hoop (4” x 4”). Separate the metal frame from the top magnetic frame.

Place the onesie over the metal frame, with the suit’s front (design area) laying on the frame. Position the neck at the bottom (closest to you) of the frame.

Attach the Hoop Guard to the bottom of the magnetic frame (the part closest to you when attached to the machine). Hoop Guard snaps onto the bottom of the magnetic frame with the barrier on the outside of the frame.

Insert the magnetic frame with the Hoop Guard into the suit from the leg opening. Thread Hoop Guard through the neck.

Pull the bulk of the suit over the Hoop Guard, exposing the design area.

Attach the hoop to the machine. Verify the top and bottom frames are aligned with your hands. Trace the design to verify the needle will only stitch on the design area.

Add water soluble stabilizer over the design area and stitch the design.

Voila!

I love Hoop Guard – it’s so handy for many embroidery tasks. If you’d like to learn more about it, you can watch a video here.

Here’s your assignment this week:

Tell us what project you would stitch first with a Hoop Guard. One lucky comment below will be chosen to receive their very own Hoop Guard!

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Do you have a favorite accent that you like to add to a monogram? Maybe a pineapple, pine cone, seashell or something along those lines? One comment will be chosen to receive a gift certificate to the DIME store for $25!

The winner is… Lisha “I like to use a tiny honeybee or fleur de lis for myself” – Congratulations Lisha!

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!

Made by Hand and Delivered in Person

April 17, 2013 by eileenroche / Behind the Scenes, Clothing, Embroidery for Children, Home Decor, Just for Fun, Stitching Sisters, Wearables / 147 Comments

What better way to shower a first-time mother-to-be than by creating a gift from the heart. And if you can deliver it in person – all the better! Last weekend, our family showered our niece with dozens of gifts for the new baby. Lucky girl that she is, some of those gifts – well, many of those gifts – were made by hand. I gathered the handmade items for a photograph to share with you because I know many of you love to stitch for others.

Two of my sisters created gorgeous items. The grandmother-to-be not only made a quilt and matching crib bumpers but also crocheted a blanket. The great-grands jumped into it too! The gorgeous mint green crocheted blanket was made by her paternal great-grandmother. And my mom, the maternal great-grand, doesn’t sew or craft but she knows where to turn to get the job done. (No, she doesn’t turn to me!). A fellow assisted living resident crocheted the diaper bag and wipes container. Oh wow. A big hit with the hipster parents-to-be.

A dear family friend, Kathy, made the sheep applique quilt. Kathy is multi-talented in the crafting world and really pulled out all the stops with the quilt. Intricate piecing and raw edge applique are brought to life by gorgeous quilting. Kathy is new to quilting but you would never know by the looks of this quilt.

The new babe’s room will be decorated with a Sunshine theme and my stitching sister Marie Zinno went to town on that theme. She stole the show with her diaper cake, 12 onesies and embroidered pillow.

The gray daisy quilt in the background was my contribution to the new baby’s room. I told the mother to use it, not hang it on the wall. I said, “When I see this quilt in a year or two, I want it to be rumbled and well-loved – not preserved!”

Marie and I were so lucky to attend and give these gifts to our niece in person. Our schedules are pretty intense but the shower was set around our Stitching Sisters events. The shower was in New Jersey on Sunday and we led some very lovely ladies in a 2-day hands-on seminar in Maryland on Friday and Saturday. We had a blast with these fine ladies and many of them went home with new skills and goodies. Here’s a couple of happy faces.

Then we hit the road and drove through the early spring farmlands of Southern New Jersey to arrive in time for the shower. Whew! But it was worth it. And we’re not done yet. In two weeks we head to one of our favorite dealerships in the country, Moore’s Sewing in Pomona and Huntington Beach, CA. It’s been two years since our last visit and we have an all-new presentation for George Moore and his customers. We can’t wait to get there – in fact, I’m pretty sure Marie is already packing her bags cause it’s still gray and dreary in Ohio!

Here’s your assignment this week:

Tell me how you get your embroidery fix, is it a daily activity or one you squeeze in when you find a free afternoon? Just leave a comment and you could win one of two Gold Memberships to Daily Embroidery. That’s a $120 value each!

Daily Embroidery’s Gold Membership program offers unlimited downloads to their massive and ever-growing design collection with two new designs added daily.

The winner of last week’s assignment is:

Share a comment about contemporary quilting and you could win a trio of Stipple! Collections: Geometrics, Butterfly and Seashells.

And the winner is…”I too absolutely hate hand stitching or sewing. I always try to find another way somehow to sew by machine if anyway possible! I love your embroidery techniques and your embroidery stipple products! These are the 3 that I do not have and would very much love to have them. Hope I can be a winner this time around! Thanks so much for all of your quilt projects! Love them!.” – Ginger S.

An Indispensable Tool

November 5, 2012 by eileenroche / Alignment and Placement, Clothing, Contests!, Embroidery for Children, Embroidery Techniques, Embroidery Tips, Hooping, Uncategorized / 57 Comments

I can’t believe how indispensable this tool is. Recently, I was stitching 24 onesies, a daunting task even when it’s not crammed into a heavy travel, teaching schedule. I think the only thing that kept me sane during the process was thinking of the new parents of twins who would eventually receive the onesies. I know they haven’t slept more than 2 hours at a time in over three weeks so my task paled in comparison.

Back to the embroidery – the placement for center chest embroidery on onesies was simplified with the Center Chest templates from the Children’s Perfect Placement Kit.

Instead of using a round target sticker, I used the rectangular version and placed it lengthwise on the target area. This gave me a clear visual guide when hooping the tiny garments.

I hooped Floriani Wet ‘n Gone Tacky water soluble adhesive stabilizer in a 5” x 7” hoop for my single needle machine. Then I scored the protective paper and remove it to expose the sticky surface. I placed the hoop under PAL2, aligning the beam with the hoop’s centering marks.

I turned the onesie inside out and lifted the back of the shirt away from the front to expose the target sticker. Then I carefully placed the center of the target sticker under the beam.

Once aligned, I smoothed the shirt to the sticky stabilizer, working above the target and then below.

When it comes to quilting, PAL2 can multitask. I use it to find the center of a block.

And to make sure my seams are square.

I’ve been know to use it to trim blocks and cut fabric strips – all without using a ruler! I just align the beam with a line on the cutting mat, place the fabric edge on another straight line and then slice on the beam of light. Makes large cutting jobs fly by!

Do you want to win a PAL2? Leave a comment over at SewMamaSew and you’ll be entered in their Handmade Holiday giveaway.

The winner of last week’s assignment:

Have you stopped by the Embroider This! website lately? They have a selection of linens, blanks and baby items that are ideal for machine embroidery! Stop by their website and tell us what item you like best.

Post your comment and one lucky winner will be randomly selected to win a $100 shopping spree on the Embroider This! website! Embroider This is the name you can trust for Unique Gifts, Fine Linens, and Blanks for Machine Embroidery! Over 200 Free Designs for immediate download!

The winner is… Lori W.! “I love all the hankies and the boxes to give them in are a wonderful gift. All the new guest towels in all the colorful bands would make a great gift and also would be fun to keep! I seem to give most everything I make away!”

Congratulations Lori and keep something for yourself this time!

The Bubble Quilt – Complete!

October 26, 2011 by eileenroche / Applique, Color and Design, Embroidery for Children, Home Decor, Quilting / 112 Comments

I finished! Yippee! Not only finished but I flew it across the country, wrapped it up in pretty paper and hand delivered it to my precious niece, Christin Morrow. I have to say, I’m quite proud of myself because there’s something you don’t know about me. I finish 95% of the projects I have to do for work but only a measly 20% of projects I want to make for loved ones. Geesh, something’s wrong with that picture. That will have to be my resolution for 2012.

When I do get the opportunity to make something for someone I absolutely love the process because I get to focus on the recipient. During the Bubble Quilt, I added a dash of purple fabrics because Christin loved purple during her childhood. I thought of the days we spent splashing in the ocean and playing in the sand and picked fabrics with watery themes. I thought of how she has grown into a beautiful young woman – a very smart young woman and worried that the quilt would live up to her adult standards. But mostly I thought of the joy she is about to experience with the birth of her new child in a few months.

I got to spend the whole weekend with Christin and her husband, Tom, at her parents’ home (my oldest sister, Mary Pat and her husband Aldo). There were a bunch of us as their family keeps growing. Now there’s a new fiancé (to daughter Kim), a sweet boyfriend (to daughter Regina) and a dog (a first in that family).

If a reunion like that was at the end of every project on my list, I think I would complete them all. Here’s a quick look at the mom-to-be, four of my five sisters and my dear mom at the baby shower.

Christin Morrow, Liz Scully, Mary Pat Palombo, Betty Ward (seated), Theresa Ward Murray, Marie Zinno and me.

But enough of the celebration. Let’s take a look at the quilt!

Here’s a bit of the process. I worked on quilt sandwich strips of white fabric/batting/backing adding circles spaced 1 ½” apart. Then, I auditioned the strips on the design wall. I wanted to space the darker value circles evenly across the quilt.

After a little rearranging, I taped a piece of painter’s tape to each strip and numbered them. Numbering the strips saves confusion later on if the strips get out of order. I also placed the tape at the top of each strip so I would know what end was up.

Then it was time to piece. The reversible piecing technique is fast and manageable. I built the quilt in segments then seamed the two larger segments together. It was less fabric to wrestle under the needle.

And oh yes, I bound the quilt – in the traditional method. If you’ve attended one of my seminars then you know how I often cheat on binding. Sometimes I fuse the binding to the quilt. But not the Bubble Quilt, I went the extra length and did it the right way.

Next week – Handbags! Finally, it’s time reveal all those handbags Nancy Zieman and I made this summer. Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you get first notice on new posts.

Happy Stitching!

Here’s your assignment this week:

This week’s blog discussion is sponsored by our friends from All About Blanks. I would really like to know how many of you prefer books or ebooks when it comes to embroidery/sewing/quilting titles. So tell me your preference and you’ll be in the drawing for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate from All About Blanks.

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

Tell us what types of quilts inspire you the most-modern, traditional, realistic scenes, art deco… We’ll do our best to take photos while at the International Quilt Festival in Houston and share them with you when we return. One random comment will be drawn for a chance to win Machine Embroidered Quilting and Applique by Eileen Roche!

The winner is…Mary Haggenmaker! Her comment below was randomly chosen as this week’s winner. Congratulations Mary!

“I’m gonna get there..eventually I hope, making a quilt that is. These old bones of mine aren’t up to all the travel. I sure would be happy to see you come to Southern Maryland or even Northern Virginia. In the meantime I just sort of plod along doing the best I can with the books and designs I have accumulated. I am taking my trial stitchouts that turn out okay and put them together to eventually have a quilt of my efforts.” – Mary Haggenmaker

Bubble Quilt Part 2

October 19, 2011 by eileenroche / Applique, Color and Design, Embroidery for Children, Home Decor, Seminars and Conventions, Stitching Sisters / 45 Comments

If you missed Part 1 of the Bubble Quilt, click here.

I’m getting there! Here’s a peek at my progress on the Bubble Quilt. Last week, I finished all of the embroidery (that is quilting) and trimmed my strips.

Now, I have to piece and bind. I hated walking away from this project but I headed off to Phoenix for an event where I found some serious inspiration from a fellow embroiderer.

Stitching Sister attendee Donna Farley showed me one of her recent creations, her own rendition of the Circle quilt. What an awesome job she did on this quilt for her granddaughter! I love her ingenuous use of the rectangle and circular embroidery designs from Stipple! Geometrics. Her fabric selections are luscious and she cleverly used up her appliqué fabrics by piecing them together for the binding. I think I’ll do the same on my Bubble Quilt.

I met Donna this past weekend at the Stitching Sisters event in Phoenix, AZ. The Stitching Sister event was hosted by Mulqueen’s Sewing Centers and 108 embroiderers enjoyed two fun-filled days of embroidery immersion. Since this was our second trip to Mulqueen’s, we felt like we were with old friends. And we were! Audrey Spigelmire’s notepad looked very familiar to me and no wonder, she made it during my very first Stitching Sister event. Wow – how time has flown!

Donna wasn’t the only one sharing her creations, I was thrilled when Carole Pauw showed me her Butterfly bag which was originally featured on the July/August 2010 issue of Designs.

Carol Kachelmeyer shared her satin pajamas – also inspired from a Designs cover. Her jammies were just as beautiful as the original, created by Joanne Banko for the Volume 67 March/April 2011 issue.

Sometimes embroiderers are inspired to share their hobby with their best friends with matching t-shirts. Carole Baker and Christina Martinez are also known as Betty and Wilma – and have the shirts to prove it!

Carole and Christina are just a fraction of their Stitching Sisters group – they are at least seven of them! We had a great time teaching and visiting with them.

A two-day event really gives you the chance to meet and get to know each other. A two-day event also reveals everyone’s true colors – especially on the second day of an event. It was on the second day that many shared their own work with the group. The Stitching Sister on the far left, June Young, brought in a quilted panel she worked on the previous night, until 1:30 AM! Wow – I was impressed with her ability and energy.

The woman just to the right of June, Janet Lennon, stayed way beyond the last goodbye on Saturday and helped pack up machines, hoops, threads, you name it!

The best part of my job is meeting fellow embroiderers and I’m always overwhelmed when I see that they have used Designs as a starting point for their inspiration. Marie and I have two more events this fall and really hope to see you at one of them. Next, we’re off to Florida with our friends at The Sewing Studio in Maitland, FL. Click here for more information http://www.sewing.net/ or call 1-800-831-1492. In November, we’re heading to Eddie’s Quilting Bee in Sunnyvale, CA. Visit their website: http://www.eddiesquiltingbee.com/ or call 408-830-9505. Hope to see you on the road!

Here’s your assignment this week:

Speaking of quilts– how many will be attending the upcoming International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas? The event is November 3-6, 2011 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. It’s an amazing show with some of the most inspiring quilts and art pieces you’ll ever see. I guarantee you’ll leave that show wanting to run home to your embroidery/sewing machine to start stitching your own creations.

If you aren’t able to attend and have never had the opportunity– we’ll be your eyes and ears! Tell us what types of quilts inspire you the most–modern, traditional, realistic scenes, art deco… We’ll do our best to take photos and share them with you when we return.

If you post a comment one lucky winner will be chosen to win Eileen’s book, Machine Embroidered Quilting and Applique!

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

My niece chose a beach/surf scene for her baby’s nursery. What baby room themes have been popular with you, your family or friends? Share your stories with us for a chance to win the Adorable Décor, Embroider It Yourself series.

And the random drawing winner is….Karen Rilstone!
“Two work colleagues also did not want to know the gender of their long-awaited babies. Their decision was cheerful and bright zoo animals. There are wonderful zoo fabrics AND embroidery designs so I had fun making gifts. ” – Karen

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