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When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play and it is play that stimulates creativity! (Linda Naiman)

January 2009 - Posts

  • Tips on a Custom Thread Palette, the AHA Feature, and Plans for a New Throw Pillow

    It’s interesting how you can have a great idea during a very busy day and then when you sit down to write….you draw a blank. I am hoping that I remember what that great idea was before I get to the end of this blog.  In the meanwhile today was one of those busy days at work that you just can’t describe. 

    One phone call had us trying to help a sewing friend decipher how the custom thread palette works in any of the embroidery machines that have the custom thread palette option.  It should comfort all of you that it took two of us to sit side by side and go through the instruction book step by step. What we discovered was that if we read the book we could learn something….when the machines are shipped, the 300 thread custom palette is full instead of empty and therefore when you want to add new thread colors you can not because every cell is full.  What you actually have to do is visit the Brother web site . At the site you will see an area in the column on the left that is entitled Software Update.  Here you can download recent updates for some our machines that have USB connections.  This handy area is where we found the free download for the Custom Thread palette. All we had to do was save the file to our USB stick.  As soon as we turned on our machine, went to Embroidery Edit/Selected a Design/Pressed the Thread Palette icon/ now we could follow the directions in the instruction manual.  We loved trying this out and had a real feeling of success when we saw the blank palette and learned how we could fill it.

    More Trivia: 
    Did you know Duetta/Quattro---comes with AHA feature turned off? To turn on the Automatic Height Adjustment feature and see how cool this feature is, press the    icon in the lower left side of the LCD screen. 

     


    This weekend we will be helping my dad celebrate his 80th birthday.  Both he and mom are really involved in their hobbies and from what I learned in a retirement planning seminar this morning, they are doing what we all need to think about- relax.  They have found a renewed interest in model airplanes and sewing.  My mom has used her Brother machine to mend their boat covers and recently she began a cover for my brother’s very large red tool box.  Mom even makes embroidered greeting cards for our family celebrations.  They are good examples to us all.  I see that many of you have already figured this out and are having a great time in your spare time. 

    I am hoping to get around to make a decorative throw pillow sometime soon for my new hallway look.  Last evening our middle son brought home a fabulous hallway clock but naturally that meant we had to do some quick rearranging.  I love it when he shows up. He makes me DO things.  We moved the clock around the hallway until we found the spot where it looked best and then we began to decorate with all the pictures that we had to take down.  In the meantime a new accent color had been introduced-lavender.  I remembered that I had bought a floral table runner in Japan a few years ago and it would be the perfect fabric for a decorative throw pillow.  I have an idea of how I want the pillow to look so when it is finished you will all be the first ones to see it.  I’ll give you a hint, it will be cylindrical and I will be usesing my buttonhole foot and making covered buttons.  My goal will be to get this pillow done by the time I see some of you at the Ann The Gran Community Circle in March.

    Have a great weekend!

  • June from Brother - No Snow But a Show In Orlando!

    The weather in New Jersey this week is snowy and really cold and to some folks that may not seem so wonderous but when we had an unexpected family gathering in New York last week it made one little girl happy.  My 16 year old niece was visiting from Ocala, Fl and she had never seen snow in her life.  Picture a young girl standing out in the snow, in her flip flops, letting the snow flakes melt on her face.  She loved it.  Her dad and brother even got into a snowball fight.  A day later they were back in Florida where it was sunny and much warmer. 

    I hope to have time to see her, at the end of March, when I am with all of you at the annual Ann The Gran Community Circle event being held in Orlando. We are going to have so much fun, I can’t wait!  I submitted my class today and learned a little about the rest of the classes and I think you are going to love them. Rita Farro is going to be there and I’ll let you in on a secret, she loves pink flamingoes so you might want to give her something with a pink flamingo on it.  Brother is the sponsor for this event and I can share with all of you that we are planning to have some great deals on products and accessories for you at this event. For those of you that have not had a chance to see the exciting new Quattro machine from Brother, you will be able to see it up close and personal at this event, too!  Be sure to visit the Community Circle part of this site to register now! Click here to check it out.

    Since the last time we visited I have been to Denver to visit our son and his wife.  Like so many visits, they end too fast and you wonder why you never got around to talking about so many things.  Christine has an at-home embroidery business and she is always fishing around for ideas and tips on how to do things better.  Of course I told her that AnnTheGran.com has been the premier site for just that for so many years, I can hardly remember.  About an hour before we were to leave for the airport my son and husband decided to adjust the bi-fold doors on the closet that Christine has turned into a office for her business.  To add to the fun, Christine asked me to show her how to use PEDesign while two kids and dog were running around.  No problem.  She loved it when I showed how easily she could personalize the towels that she wanted to give as a birthday gift the next day.  She could not believe how she could surround a ship with lettering in seconds. Being the good marketer that she is, Christine was going to present Captain Randy with his own towels so he could show them off at the marina next summer.  As soon as someone asks where he got them, he will present Christine’s business card.  My son also got a personalized apron for Christmas that he is going to wear at the next neighborhood rib cook-off.  The kids have their personalized backpacks too!  Christine promised me that she was going to sit down and use the free Instructional Tutorials that are included in several of our versions.  She could not believe how easy they were to follow.  I want to remind any of you that might have the latest version of PEDesign, we do put a Quick Start Guide in the box but the program CD also has an expanded instruction book and that pdf file is where you are going to find the tutorials. 

    I also wanted to be sure to answer a question here that our friend Nelta sent me an email about.  Nelta wanted to know if she could download the free programmed fill designs from the AnnTheGran site and how she could use them with the Floriani Digitizing Program.  I do not know how that program works but I do know that you can use programmable fills in PEDesign.  I copied a page from the instruction book so each of you could see how easy it is to open a .pas programmable fill pattern.  It’s the best I can do for you Nelta.

    Opening a Pattern File
     
    Well, we are just about to enter the Lincoln Tunnel as we head in New York City to see “Jersey Boys” so I'd best sign off. 

    PS  You have to admit that is pretty good that I could sit in my car and type this blog on my laptop in the dark…..don’t worry, I wasn’t driving.  I can only multi-task so far.  Have a great day!

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