May 2008 - Posts

• Lace - The Ultimate Beginner's Project

  Hear Ye’ Hear Ye’ …STOP the PRESS ….  The ULTIMATE Beginner’s Project is………….. LACE!! HH ( Hello Hello )  all you fellow ME’ers!!! I have been shopping up a storm!... and MEing too…. Speaking of shopping, Ann’s store has some good specials right now!!!!! Have you gone to her ‘shop' lately? (….&  no,  they aren’t paying me to plug their site, I’m just grateful to them for my beautiful new machine I won & I  like to acknowledge those who have helped me along my way. So thanks AnnTheGran!!! Update… I’ve tried 5 (I think???) NEW  TYPES of  machine embroidering projects now, but by far I L-O-V-E L-A-C-E the most!!!! And while thinking about lace, the thought just hit me…..Those of you who love to do lace and to quilt, etc  are leaving a legacy each time you give something away!!!! How wonderful that you are giving something tangible, something they can keep …It’s a labor of love that will last & last! (I hope you are signing & dating them!!! ) I just bet there are a gazillion cute  'machine embroidery label designs' you can make to attach to your gifts. (Oh I am so not there yet….Boy this M.E. world can keep you  busy forever trying new things!!!  What will they think of NEXT??) More Stuff?  In the meantime, I am trying to SLOWLY (yah, sure) learn something new and ENJOY the process. It’s kinda easy to start overloading the circuits….trying to do too much too soon etc. It’s ok to be a beginner and be in that stage for as long as YOU want. It’s your time etc etc and there are many lovely lovely things can be made with a skeleton amount of items…REALLY!!! I just happen to love ‘gadgets.’ IF I have a place to put it and if I can pay for it free and clear…then I get it. So far I have not gotten into over buying ‘fabric’ & I want to keep it that way! ( but I’m not a sewer or a quilter.) Question: Just curious what do you like to listen to when you M-E…or do you like it quiet???? TV/news??? Why I Love Lace  OK back to lace. Oh my goodness…. Can there be anything more beautiful in the machine embroidery world than lace… I ask you????  Experienced ME’ers….do you agree????? I have done some CUTE, NICE, and SIMPLE  things just starting out here so far, but I am totally totally in love with lace!!!  Can you tell???? Let’s see if I can inspire you to try lace especially if you have not ever done it before or thought it was WAY too HARD……It’s NOT-------- It’s: 1. SIMPLE 2. INEXPENSIVE  (well kind of) 3. BEAUTIFUL 4. QUICK 5. Deeply satisfying … 6. EASY to HOOP!!! Oh my goodness, I can’t tell you enough times….START w/ LACE if you are NEW to embroidery!!!!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!! TRUST ME!!!!! And then when you do, please write me  back and tell us how it went for you.! I can HARDLY wait to hear from you!!!! Fair warning…it can be extremely addictive and you MAY lose sleep!!!!. Getting Started with Lace  OK beginners here we go….. Supplies needed: Only 4 items (well, besides your machine) Thread, bobbin, stabilizer & LACE design!!!!                                1.   THREAD -- I used Madeira, Yenmet and  Isacord. I like SHINY poly thread &/or metallic. Tip: Be sure to REMOVE the sticky label off the spool of thread. (I stick it inside a clear ziplock “ project” bag   along with  gathered strands  of the color.) 2 . BOBBINS -- One or more FULL bobbins dedicated for this project alone- You use  the SAME thread as your top stitch thread!!!! Yes,  you read it correctly, USE the SAME thread. RAHOO!!!! SOOOO simple!!!  It is used on BOTH TOP & BOTTOM!!! )  Don’t you just love this project already!!!!????. TIP:   Just make sure you have enough bobbin thread ready to go  in advance -  so you don’t have to try and restart your project in the middle of it. Some machines will keep track of where you stitched last…not sure if mine does, not there yet,  but who wants to start and stop in the middle of  a project anyway??? Right???…..It’s bad enough when the top thread breaks that you CAN  get to….The bobbin that’s buried is not  good. Nope, not good at all…. So you might do what I did….I bought several bobbins that will fit my Brother machine…(boy one DOES need to be VERY specific and it helps store owners out if you know the MAKE and MODEl , but better yet…TIP: Take the ORIGINAL BOBBIN (that came with the machine)  INTO the store to buy more. ***I also bought Ann’s SideWinder to wind a bunch of bobbins in a hurry and not tie up my machine. That’s just me…but I love it, and am glad I have it. I’d buy it  again in a flash because, to my way of thinking….  it causes  ‘less wear and tear ‘ on my BROTHER PE 700. …so the extra gadget was worth it to me. (Good price too I thought.) It’s very light and hardly takes up any space. The best part is you can be winding away on the SideWinder and your embroidery machine can be doing its thing …. ALL at the SAME TIME!!!! I love it. (plus I am right by my machine, doing something productive &  keeping  my eye on the machine to make sure everything is going smoothly.)  Marriage made in heaven - especially for  us ‘lacers” don’t you think. I’m CALLING on  all “LACERS”  (which you will be affectionately called from now on ) to contribute ideas to us newbies as to what to do with all the lace we make!!!  Thanks!!! 3. STABILIZER -- The most famous & critical question, …. right ???? …Which stabilizer to use? Well PAT, the guru of ANY topic that has come up yet so far as I can tell, has done an ENTIRE post on that subject alone!!!!! It contains a WEALTH of information on stabilizers!!!! Thank YOU Pat!!!!! We needed that!!!!   Someone asked me about Badge Master in a forum. I think...Well, I used it during my lesson at The Sewing Room in Beaverton, Oregon.  It’s THICK, CLEAR and it only took 1 layer to do ANY lace I have done so far. I love it. TIP: Remember to put the stabilizer back INTO the container so that it doesn’t get moisture etc. (It’s made to disintegrate easily.)  Tip 2 : Remember to cut a piece large enough to have a little extra hanging out on each side of the hoop. (E turned the roll sideways to cut it in order to reduce waste.) Manly Embroidery?  Speaking of Ethan  ……….Tonight E is going to help contribute to my blog by doing a lace design…..as a BEGINNER - MAN !!!!   What a guy!!!! …….SO if there are any MEN out there who might think it is not a manly enough thing to do (lace embroidery) I want you to have total confidence that it is & give it a try!!! (He IS a ‘he man’ too - a full fledged fire fighter & has been “Mr. July”  2 years running in the American Red Cross calendar for our area - of course they had him pose fully clothed and it was taken in the museum, but….that’s another story!!! LOL)   He is looking at thread colors right now as I am writing this….I wonder what color thread he’ll pick and which design…??? Hmmmmm  If he chooses black out of all the choices..I am going to crack up…. !!!!) I guess that makes perfect sense to a man  though- -   black lace …..Hmmmmmmm,  I wonder if he thinks I am going to wear it tonight??? How big is the design???…The hoop is only 5X7!!!! (I should not joke about my size. I was thin once and even modeled…but I was stunned at my ‘size’ when the photos of me winning the machine were posted. My round face is attached automatically each time I write something.) When I get some weight off I am having them retrofitted…OK???!!! But back to business... he chose a butterfly and DID choose black initially (lol) but has changed it to yellow to put on a card for his g-daughter’s HS graduation next week. He is using Sulky’s Ultra Solve for the stabilizer that he’ll wash it out….TIP:  Oh,  & thanks to one of our readers for the tip about NOT having the stabilizer residue go down the drain -- we‘ll do it in our greenhouse instead of inside our home to keep from having the drain clog. E used the alphabet in the PE700 to spell out Alicia and chose the ‘outline’ alphabet one and stitched it on the Ultra Solve. There was one glitch on the middle letter with the thread accumulating, not sure why but we just snipped it out the excess once the hoop was removed. 4.   DESIGN pattern - My 1st  lace design was a SHELL (oesd Lace Shell #NX230 ) -  for my beach house. OK Ann don’t flip…and go ahead and  let me crack you up again….I  just left the design in it’s stabilizer!!!!  I love it just the way it is!!!! &  I don’t want to wreck it!!! Too Nice to Use...  Well, now that I do think about it….It IS ME’d on water soluable stabilizer and it IS going to be at the beach which tends to be ‘water prone’….Hmmmmm...I still don’t want to touch it further. I could actually put a frame around it ( in glass ) and leave it as is and it would be SOOOOOO pretty. (I  love to design homes, flowers, gardens, cards etc…. even went to school and earned a certificate in interior decorating not so long ago….I am use to ‘thinking outside the box’ a bit and it is SO fun…anyway… don’t give me TOO hard of a time, OK??!!!  Some of you may think I have gone completely off my rocker....but think back to when you were BRAND NEW to machine embroidery and when you actually made something  beautiful….Didn’t you want to keep it  at a stage that it still ‘looked good’….not wanting to ‘go on’ and add something more…just so it didn’t get messed up??? Hmm???  Well, That’s where I’m at. So the next question is….Now what to do with all the lace after they’ve been stitched???!!!!!… That will be another thing to blog about but hopefully MANY of you readers will contribute ideas, thoughts and projects. I LOVE your input! I REALLY want to hear what you experienced  “lacers” have done with your finished lace designs!!!! Please Share Your Lace Projects!  Seriously, I could stop right now with all lessons and stay home with my Brother PE700 , thread and  stabilizer and be happy stitching out every single lace design I can get my hands on…..I am not kidding!  If you have favorite designs….please, please please share them!!!! I’m just getting started!!! Let me know what you have done. Maybe you could post them in the Project Gallery. I haven’t done Eileen Roche’s Little Black Tee yet that I bought it in Orlando the day before I won my machine. I knew that if I ever DID do embroidery…that would be something I would LOVE to  do!!!! ( I thought lace would be HARD….it’s NOT!!!!!) ( Little black lace!!!..Hmmm & I was giving my husband a hard time earlier…that’s funny!!! ) One last thing ---  under the “DESIGN patterns.” I looked online at Ann’s site and she had DARLING beautiful HEART lace patterns that I am going to do as soon as I can figure out how to download them. Sigh……I am such a beginner on SO many levels…but I am making some progress slowly but surely….& am having a GOOD time in the process and that is what counts!!! Posted May 31 2008, 03:45 PM by TravelBug1237 with 30 comment(s) Filed under: Little Black tee, Brother PE700 embroidery machine, crash course cathy, lace, bobbins, thread, sidewinder free standing lace

• Tons and Tons of Questions - Who Has Answers?

  HH (Hello Hello!) Fellow Embroiderers,    How are ALL of you??? What things are you doing these days???!!!!! How many NEW embroiders are out there like me. (I stitched my 1st design last week. Yeah!!!). It would also be interesting to find out who has embroidered for the LONGEST time in this group too? Please share!!!!!  Pins In The Map  It's REALLY exciting to know that you are from so many places in the US, Canada other countries on OTHER continents. How exciting!   In fact, just as I am writing this, an idea for Greg just emerged. Personally I'd love to see a map with 'pins' representing where AnntheGran members live. It would be so fun to watch the community board map grow as people started sharing their locations.  I bet there are multiple members from EACH of the 50 states, Canada & ........beyond!!!! I wonder which state has the most members in AnntheGran. (One might think for sure it would be Florida, but we might be surprised...Let's find out!!!! ) Which continents are represented???? So fellow e m' ers how about submitting your place of residence???!!! Just a Hi, ( or an HH ) , I'm from  New York,USA....or Oslo, Norway etc etc  would be great! =========== A Little Overwhelmed... Some of you already have asked how I was doing; I'm fine and thrilled to actually have a machine!!!!! :):) I will try to answer your questions in the future as soon as I can get everything in working order...( me, that is.)  I'm just getting use to my new computer (an Apple),  trying to download photos w/iPhoto, plus learn to 'blog.' ( oh and learn to m e .!!! How could I forget that!!). I kind of feel like the person who is patting her head, chewing gum, rubbing her stomach, throwing plates up into the air and trying to type and embroider all at the same time. :) You get the picture.... For the moment, most of the questions are going to be from me, and there are so many in this post alone that I've created separate forum posts for each one, so that you can help me by answering a particular question in a new window and then getting back to me and my next question! I have, however,  learned to quit cooking and cleaning  since winning the Brother machine in Florida .... so it has all been worth it!!!   Thanks Ann & Brother!!! My husband E is picking up the slack.   Portland  firefighters learned to do "chores" in training. Yeah...  Somebody was very inspired: I will be forever grateful! (He also is willing to iron at times.    The Iron Question Speaking of irons & boards...Do any of you have an iron you love for m e ing? [please answer here]Does the size of ironing board really matter?(...big, small,portable, industrial like push down handle w/steam.) or the one Ann has that folds  that looks pretty neat and has 2 different side with a special purpose each. Have any of you used it? I have heard quilters love it via my friend whose passion is quilting. Pucker Up! I still do SOME 'domestic' things... For whatever reason,  I love to do laundry...don't ask me why...but I do, well..... except for scrunched up dirty socks). Good thing, because I learned that PRE washing  material  (oops...there I go again ......"fabric" ) is important for shrinkage, especially when it comes to embroidering on any fabric that MAY some day be laundered. Apparently if you forget to, it can mess up your designs royally (threads can pucker up.)  Although some items won't ever be washed (but my input on that topic is WAY down the road because I am not there yet.)  In the meantime, I have washed (and thoroughly shrunk) my 'bag to decorate' from Florida, some basic black cotton material and white muslin. Not Fade Away  I'd love your input as to what product you use to retain colors in the fabric ( especially black). [please answer here] I haven't checked out Ann's store yet for that, but those of you who have had success, please let me know.  (I happen to LOVE the look of metallic thread on 'black" fabric & I bought Eileen Roche's Little Black Tee offered in Orlando for a down the road project.) Fabric Brands  For those of you who have sewn on silk or cotton  'fabric'  before...is there one brand name you'd recommend? (I have heard Kona black is great for quilters for example.) What do you e m'ers LOVE to use? [please answer here] Hot & Cold  Do all of you use HOT water to prewash cotton for embroidering??? [please answer here] ( I have been told 3 different things so far at various fabric shops in my area; 1. Use COLD H2O only, that the dryer is what shrinks it. 2. Use HOT water and a hot dryer. 3. Use WARM water.....aarrrrrgggghhhhh!!!!  ) Now, this was just for COTTON material....one little ol' fabric type. and I haven't even gotten to my favorite  fabric which is silk...but that - is definitely on the back burner and I will ask you about it & other fabrics in the future. For right now, I'm concentrating on learning my machine & I want to reduce as many variables as I can...so I want to use a GOOD black cotton material, prepare it before I start my design, use Ann's black tear away stabilizer ( stiff I think ).........for success. THANKS!!!! Calling All PE-700 Owners!  I truly want to order a 'bolt' of one fabric and just do EVERY one of the designs available on the Brother PE 700 so that I will have each design SAMPLE showing the final size etc.  I don't ever plan to sell this machine or trade it in. I LOVE my new  Brother PE 700 machine!!!!! I am GLAD that it is a dedicated embroidery machine.. (I don't sew either, so trying to learn to do that also right now would make me need to touch up my roots every week instead every month.:) It is a 'treasured gift" and so I want to learn every aspect on it that I can. If you already own the 700 machine I would LOVE to have you specify that in a note to me so I can pick your brain. [PE-700 posts here] I have SO many questions and sincerely want to hear from you!!! I can learn SO much from you - both beginners and very experienced. So when you do have some time, please share. It will be appreciated!!! Going Rate for Lessons What is the going rate where you live for private (or group tutoring) for 'm e'  lessons? [please answer here] My 1st quote from the local dealership was $75 an hour. Yikes???? That seemed a LOT to me, but I am new and maybe that was ok, but I decided to 'shop around'. I found another shop owner who charged me $25 per hour.  That seemed much more reasonable. She ( Wendy) is a doll and I LOVED my 1st session with her. Getting There... So, 1 month after Community Circle in Orlando, SOME of the mountain of information I got there really IS starting to make sense, and I now understand better the need for various stabilizers, the need for quality threads( I LOVE my MADEIRA threads!!!)  I have some beautiful colors that are both strong and shiny!!!  Yeah!!!! ....They are gorgeous and I can hardly wait to do a sample of each design that comes on my machine!!! Speaking of threads...I didn't know  before (until Florida) that in m e'ing  -  one should use special 'bobbin threads'  ( black, white  & maybe it comes in cream too ??? ) , vs using regular matching colored machine embroidery thread. Lesson Learned When I got home I went to a local store and bought  a brand-name " m e  'bobbin thread'. " (not Madeira.. They didn't carry that brand.) Anyway, I took it with me for my 1st lesson. My teacher showed me the difference in quality of threads. Thank goodness I was taught what to look for next time,  so that it won't  gum up my bobbin casing (?) and machine in general. ( Linda, my very 1st new Florida m e friend I met at the convention, shared with me her experience with 'thread, bobbins, and machine repairs.' That got etched in my mind.) I now know what to look for in thread.  Hold the thread up into the light and take a good look. If there are "knots in it" (I kid you not) or if there are already wisps of thread hanging from the main line...DON'T use it, regardless of the name. I was shocked to see that my quick purchase would have eventually caused me grief.  Hugs, Crash Course Cathy (Chatty Cathy, given the length of this post?)   Posted May 16 2008, 10:57 AM by TravelBug1237 with 62 comment(s) Filed under: Little Black tee, Madeira thread, irons, tips, blogging, bag, Brother PE700 embroidery machine, crash course cathy

• Introducing Crash Course Cathy...

  Hello Hello fellow  AnntheGran Embroiderers & New Orlando Circle of Friends!!!! :):):), Who Am I?  For those of you who attended the VERY SPECIAL 1st annual AnntheGran's convention in Orlando in April, you may remember me...it was pretty hard to miss my loud scream and waving arms when I won the grand prize of the Brother PE 700 embroidery machine!!!!  I'm Cathy from Oregon who went to Community Circle to see if I indeed wanted to get into 'machine embroidery' as a hobby. As far as I know, I was the only one there who did not have a machine....most of you have MORE than 1!!!!!! Yikes. What Have I Gotten Myself Into?  I KNEW it was beautiful, but I had also heard it was VERY addictive and very expensive... SO before I invested in buying a machine I googled the topic and found AnnTheGran right off the bat....along with several other sites that had 'designs'..oh my goodness..the designs!!!!! I fell completely in love with the BEAUTIFUL and also beyond CUTE designs that are 'out there'. I seriously wanted to 'try' it...but didn't know which machine, etc etc etc.to buy. ( I had a couple of 'tries' which I will share later...) Magic Moments  When I saw the upcoming event in Orlando and talked to my husband Ethan about it, we decided to make a vacation out of it...and the rest is history as they say. When I found out at Community Circle that the Brother PE 700 was going to be given out as a prize...I thought, WOW, wouldn't THAT be nice to win, and lo and behold, I DID win it!!! I want to personally thank those of you who had the presence of mind ( mine was long gone ) to take some photos of that drawing......the outstretched arms with the wide wide smile says it all. Thanks for sharing those. I will have that magic moment captured forever. THANKS!!!! I just can't put into words what it was like winning that machine and THEN to have SO many of you SINCERELY happy that I won (.....and not you.)  You are an AMAZING group of women ( and gents ) and I can hardly wait to get to know you better through this site....and at next year's Community Circle...(hint hint, Ann). Scary Stuff  Since I am BRAND new to machine embroidery and literally am starting from scratch, and I think because I am not very shy, Ann's Beamish Boy contacted me after I got home to see if I would be willing to write a blog to share my "new adventures" in this "new passion" with the 'group'!!!! I was very flattered but to do a  'blog was as intimidating as trying to ME (machine embroider) for the 1st time...but his rationale was that if I can learn to do it, anyone can. I am not a sewer either and I did not have space dedicated to the hobby...but I'm working on it. Temporary Home for my Machine  Before Orlando, my husband was about 80% done building me a new art studio out in the country. It was a dream to have a dedicated space to 'play' since I took early retirement. (from teaching after 28 years). I didn't want to take my new machine and materials into  a space that needed to be sheet-rocked and painted etc., and the building is now about 90% done, but after winning the machine I made a 'new design' for the upstairs'....my poor husband...but it IS going to work and I will actually end up with a  dedicated room just for machine embroidery. I can HARDLY wait...but in the meantime, I am using my office. Have a look at the photo to the right. My First Project!  I actually DID my very 1st project yesterday and it brought tears to my eyes. (tears of joy). I was just THRILLED ....I used the Brother machine, Madeira magenta thread on black material that I had pre-washed and ironed. Thank goodness I found a willing teacher who worked me in for a private lesson yesterday. She's worth her weight in gold. I made my share of mistakes (broken needle, got side-tracked and the initials messed up), but it was under the watchful eye of Wendy my teacher and it turned out to be good that it happened at her store rather than here at home. Join Me on My Journey  So, a LOT has happened since a month ago in Orlando....& I will write as long as you like. I hope you'll join me on my journey of learning through this new world, and help me along the way when I need it. Posted May 09 2008, 05:07 PM by TravelBug1237 with 39 comment(s) Filed under: Brother PE700, Madeira thread, brother pe-700 embroidery machine, new embroiderer, community circle