Okay, that would be me, but now that I've got your attention I want to first address a couple of questions that were posted in the comments from last week's post. I thought I'd answer them here, rather than there, because the answers might be of interest to many of you.

For LolliConn, who asked if Catalog XPress could convert BLF files. The answer is no, it can't. There are 2 kinds of embroidery files, working files that work only with the software that generated them, and stitch files that can be converted to other stitch file formats. BLF, a Designers' Gallery file like Brother's PEM files, are working files. In order to stitch them you need to convert them into stitches, in both of those cases PES because Designer's Gallery is a Babylock product and both Babylock and Brother embroidery machines read Brother's PES file format.

For mspacman, embroidering on stretchy spandex and lycra fabrics is a challenge. I haven't done it very often myself. Sometimes I acknowledge my limits! I would recommend hooping a sticky stabilizer, pressing the stretchy fabric down solidly on the stabilizer and putting a layer of disolvable stabilizer on top. Use a fine ballpoint needle and 50 weight thread or lighter. Choose a design with minimal underlay. And, of course, sew out a sample before embroidering on your grandaughter's gymnastics leotard. Oh, wait, that was me . . .

For cleme, who asked about my James Dean doll, and how I can stand having him staring at me. It's not so much a long story as a boring one. A dear  friend and embroidery colleague was staying with me for a few days. Before she left for home we stopped at Toys R Us to pick up a gift for her son. I saw the specialty Barbie dolls along one wall and mentioned that someday I was going to get one of those James Dean dolls for myself. Keep in mind that Barbie dolls didn't come out until I was in high school and, although tempted, I was really too old for them. As my friend was leaving she handed me a package and, lo and behold, there was James Dean, looking right at me. So I've kept him on my desk as a connection to my friend. It was a long time before I realized that the doll resembled my college sweetheart, my first great love. So how can I stand his staring at me? Because when I look back into those eyes I'm a slim, pretty 20 year old riding side-saddle on the back of a motorcycle, long hair flying in the wind, holding 2 sets of books in one arm, the other clutching tightly around the young man in front of me. The question isn't how can I stand his staring at me, it's how do I get anything done.

The bio about me at the bottom of the page and throughout my site says that I began sewing doll clothes as soon as I was able to hold a needle. That's not quite true. I started sewing as soon as I was old enough to hold a needle without poking my eye out. Anyway, I see that paragraph so often that I don't even notice it anymore, but today I rooted around on the top shelf of a closet and pulled down a wooden box. I think the box had held 3 bottles of wine at one time, but I know that my father gave it to me when I was 8 or 9 years old. (See, I was stockpiling boxes even then!) I opened the top and there, right where I had put them more than 50 years ago, were 2 little dolls lying on a pile of doll clothes. I thought you might be interested in my first efforts at haute couture. Those little 8" dolls were the fashion dolls for the generation before Barbie. Mine were Vogue dolls from Madame Alexander, though Ginny dolls were much more popular. I just thought the Vogue dolls had prettier faces and even then I wasn't a crowd follower. I wanted a boy doll, but there weren't any. But there was a Mary Martin doll. So Mary Martin became my little boy doll. Here are a couple of those early efforts. Oohs and aahs are appreciated, but no laughing, please!

 Here they are, in some of their finery:

I thought you might get a kick out of the fine button detail and the evening glown with matching evening cloak. I think the charms might have come from the penny gumball machine in the supermarket.

The summer of my 12th birthday my father brought home an old Singer sewing machine that had belonged to my grandmother. It was a very heavy portable machine with a rounded wood case.That summer my father, who had owned a blouse factory, taught me how to use the machine and I made several of those circle skirts that were so popular. I sewed on that machine all through high school and took it to college with me. For college graduation my parents presented me with a new-fangled Kenmore machine that used cams to create fancy stitches. Imagine! That machine sewed all my dresses, then all my maternity clothes, then lots of baby clothes and nearly everything DD wore through college, including formals and party dresses. It went on to sew rompers for my first grandchild, dresses for my second, DD's maternity clothes, more baby clothes and rompers. Then,one day, my sister came down from Tallahassee to shop for bridal fabric. I took her and her future DIL to a local high end fabric store. While they were shopping in the back of the store, I was standing in the front, spellbound by machines that were embroidering loverly motifs all by themselves. A salesperson walked over to my side and, well, I guess the rest is AnnTheGran history!

I hope you've enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I have! TTFN

Ann

Every now and then I'll receive an angry email that goes something like this: "I used one of the free designs from your site and it sewed out terribly and ruined my brand new silk blouse. Don't you sew out those free designs before you put them on your site?"

Well the truth is that at one time I did sew out all of the free designs that were submitted. But eventually the design submissions and my time became at serious odds with each other and I stopped sewing them all out. Of course, all of the ones offered for sale are tested and re-tested before they can be posted, but that isn't necessarily the case with the free designs. Why not? Well, in truth, in the early years, when those of us who were digitizing designs were just starting out and climbing slowly up the learning curve, some of the designs didn't stitch out perfectly. But they all stitched out acceptably. So how can you prevent me from ruining your life? Always, always, always stitch out a sample of any design you're planning to use, whether it's a downloaded freebie of an expensive custom design. Stitch it with the thread and stabilizer you're going to use on the finished product and stitch it on the same or similar type of fabric. Every design will not sew out well with every kind of thread, every kind of stabilizer and on every type of fabric. The free designs on my site were contributed by generous digitizers from all over the world, some rank amateurs and some seasoned professionals. Stitching a sample first will save you from a lot of unhappy results.

Which brings me to two other points. First, a story about an unhappy result of my own. I had enlarged a design and was stitching it on a t-shirt for my grandson. About a quarter of the way through I could see that the design hadn't resized very well and was stitching out very badly. So, I removed the shirt from the hoop and used my Peggy's Stitch Eraser to remove every last stitch without bruising the t-shirt in any way. It wasn't until after I had finished, very pleased with myself, that I realized that I had just spent 2 hours removing stitches from a t-shirt for which I had paid all of $1.62. I hadn't worked for 80¢ an hour since my high school babysitting days (Actually, that was 50¢ an hour, but who's counting?) and had to laugh at myself for my foolish frugality. Now I'm more discriminating about when to fix something and when to just toss it out.

The second thing being that I received my Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine this week and there's a terrific article by my friend Deborah Jones about embroidering on t-shirts.  Speaking of Designs magazine, one of the things I really like, besides all the great projects, is that the models are shaped like normal women. Oh, and my picture inside the back cover this issue! How cool was that? I need to frame that and hang it on the wall. Okay, maybe not . . . Something else I noticed in the latest issue is that Eileen says she doesn't like reality television. Now I'm really embarrassed that I told her that something y'all would be surprised to find out about me is that I watch reality TV. So I'm taking this opportunity to change my answer. Something you would be surprised to learn about me is that I have a James Dean doll leaning on my monitor. It's a long story . . .

Chatting and journaling and posting, oh my! After Greg (Beamish Boy) read my last blog post he sent me an IM questioning my use of the Internet acronym "IMHO." He thought I should include an explanation and I thought you all knew what that stood for. You did, didn't you? In My Humble Opinion. I sometimes forget that all of you haven't been online for years and years, and even those of you who have haven't necessarily been visiting online chat rooms, posting in forums or exchanging IMs. (Those would be Instant Messages.) I won't even go into text messaging on cell phones, because I'm not good enough at that to do it very much. In order to speed things up and not wear out our fingers, those of us who do those things use Internet acronyms, like DD for Dear Daughter, DH for Dear Husband and, in the same vein, DS, DDIL, DGS, DGD, etc. You can figure those out for yourselves. There are some that I use a lot, like BRB (Be Right Back) and TTYL (Talk To You Later). There's even one, NAYY (No Affiliation, Yadda Yadda) that was invented by and is used by machine embroiderers. We use it when we recommend a product we love, but have no financial interest in. Sometimes I'll use it in a different venue and no one has any idea what I'm talking about! And there's one that I use, IAG (It's All Good), and I don't think anyone else does. Those of you who are interested in more information about Internet acronyms (including why they're not acronyms at all) can click here, and for a list of the more common ones, click here.

That's all I've got right now. TTYL, KWIM?
Ann

Challenges & Lessons: So, I looked at the Laughing Cow box for a week. I picked it up. I measured it. I didn't want to do something with the box just for the sake of doing something with it. Now, this box is fairly flimsy. And shallow. Then I looked around for something that would fit in the box, something I would actually want to put in a box. This was not an easy project I had challenged myself to. Here's the finished product, an embroidered box in which to keep the little pins that I've picked up at embroidery events.

I used Alphabet XPress to create the text and add the picture. The purse is from Dakota's Paint the Town Red.

Some things I learned along the way:
1. If you go ahead and start stitching with the cover on the bobbin case loose you will hear a loud noise and a grinding sound. You will have to slide a pair of scissors under the hoop to cut the bobbin off the bottom.

2. If you don't push the embroidery arm on firmly and securely the feed dogs will remain up and catch on the bobbin thread.  You will have to slide a pair of scissors under the hoop to cut through the bird's nest and release the bobbin.

3. Remember to adjust the stitch count when you resize designs, especially if you're making them smaller. Should have used Catalog XPress to re-size. What was I thinking??

4. Don't try to "eyeball" centering a design on a round thing, but if the design is seriously off center, you'll probably find something really cute in your button box to balance the design.

4. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And again. Sometimes the 3rd time is the charm . . .

5. Fabri-Tac removes fingernail polish.

I guess you have a good idea by now of how my afternoon was spent! I'm blaming the whole thing on being in a hurry but, in truth, I just wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and I paid the price. No matter how long I've been doing this, or how many projects I've completed, I have to remember to get all my ducks in a row before beginning.

Still, I did end up with a pretty handy little box that's fulfilling a real need so it was all worth it!

Check Back for Answers: I wanted to remind people that if they post a question or concern in response to a blog they should check back to see itf there's an answer. That gal with the new Happy machine got lots of responses, and there were some great tips on thread breakage, both in the post and in our Today's Top Tips forum.

Pictures!! It's been a week since I requested that you send me your pictures from our Community Circle. So far zero, zilch, my email box is empty. I reached all the way to the back and looked in all the corners. Nothing. I can't scrap 'em if I don't have 'em. It was a great event and I had a great time. I really do want a little memory book so I can, well, remember it. I notice that there is one picture up in our Community Circle picture gallery (thanks, Sue), but it's getting lonely, so I'm going to post an embarrassing one of Beamish Boy to keep it company. BTW, the tote bags are looking wonderful! Take a look, if you haven't already.

BB Blog: Speaking of Beamish Boy, you owe it to yourself to look at his latest post on his Magic Bookshelf blog. His blog is an absolute joy for those of us who are still getting used to this blogging thing and all its accompanying terminology.

Reality bites! Those of you who attended the Thursday night dinner at Community Circle may recall the last question Eileen asked me in that thoroughly embarrassing interview, "What is something we don't know about you?" and my response, "I watch a lot of reality TV." So, to that end, here is my quick dish on American Idol and Survivor:

AI- I like Brooke, I really do, but honestly she and Jason Castro should have been in the bottom two this week and Jason should have gone home. JMHO

S - Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, what was I thinking. I can't believe that 3 fools have been finessed out of their hidden immunity idols. What next?

Here's hoping your own reality is just as interesting as what passes for reality on tv!

Ann

I've read all the forum posts from folks saying how much they enjoyed our (first annual??) Community Circle. Thank you so much for posting. I want to add, though, that no one had a better time than I did. I arrived home invigorated and ready to get back up to my elbows in embroidery.
 

Tote Bag Photos - Folks! Where are your tote photos? Last time I checked there were only two in the gallery and, although those two are pretty spectacular, they're getting lonely. I really want to see what you've done with your totes, so hop to it!

Photos from Community Circle - If you took pictures at the Circle, I'd love to have them so I can scrap a memory book of the event. If you're willing, please send the full sized photos to me at the address I gave you. If the photos are too large you can use a service such as YouSendIt or Pando to get them to me. Pando is my favorite and I use it often. Putting them in our gallery is fine too -- Beamish Boy has a great post on uploading photos, and there are links in our galleries to information on re-sizing photos for upload if you don't know how.

New Laptop - For those in my classes when I was wrestling with my laptop, I want to assure you that I've gotten a new laptop and everything is running tip top. Well, almost everything. And, believe it or not, I'm actually beginning to like Windows Vista. So, next time, no computer hang-ups. New computer=New Desktop, so, as many of you commented on my computer's desktop in Orlando, I'm showing you my new desktop (the picture on the left).

Onward and upward! One of the things we talked about at our Community Circle was how important it is for us to get together locally once in a while. Machine embroidery is a very solitary hobby. Sure, we have lots of friends on the Internet, but how often do we get to sit down with our embroidery friends, face to face. It doesn't have to be an "embroidery event." Getting together for lunch would be a good start. As soon as I get myself settled down and together I'm planning to corral the bunch in Central Florida for a sit down. Please feel free to correspond on our forums to get a local group together. I see we already have someone from Alabama trying to get a group together. Remember that your privacy is safe with us. Talk about projects, problems and kids, whatever. Just GET TOGETHER. Please? I'm going to keep nagging you until you do it!

Empty Container Challenge - How many of you have empty containers that were just too cute to throw away? Or that looked like they could be turned into an interesting project? Well, I have a bunch. Right now, sitting on my coffee table, is one of the little round boxes that Laughing Cow cheese came in. Every time I toss one of these out I regret it, so I'm keeping this one around. If anyone has any suggestions about what I can do w ith it, please tell me! In fact, I am going to do something with it and I challenge you to do something with one, too. It doesn't have to be an embroidery project, though that would be nice. I'm giving myself a week to get a picture of my project into the gallery.

Spring Cleaning - While you're dusting and scrubbing (You were, weren't you? ), don't forget your bobbin case.  If you haven't been cleaning it regularly you're going to find a lot of gunk in there. Once you've polished it up you may find that some of your embroidery problems, like bird nests, skipped stitches and broken needles, disappear. I like to take the bobbin case out of the machine and brush it off with the wire handled brush that came with the machine. Then I moisten a cotton swab with alcohol and wipe around the inside. When it's dry and shiny I pop it back in. Sometimes I have to wrestle it back in. Next time don't wait so long!

For Your Computer, Too - Don't forget your computer either. Empty your recycle bin, delete your temporary Internet files, do a search for *.tmp and delete all of those. When you're finished run defrag, then click here for a FREE computer screen cleaner. There, doesn't that feel better?

Until next time, keep on stitchin' and stay out of the kitchen!

Ann

Hi, everyone! 

Well, I think I've recovered from our fabulous Community Circle! I want to thank everyone who attended as well as Diane and Pardeep for keeping things running smoothly and, of course, Greg, for overseeing everything. Thanks also to Eileen Roche for her terrific classes, great products and those questionable questions during our question and answer session at dinner. I fear that all of you who were there now know more about me than you ever wanted to know (or I ever wanted to tell you)! And how about the terrific deal on the new Brother machine? Thanks to George and Jewell from Brother for bringing the machines to us and showing all interested parties how to use them. Congratulations as well to Cathy Spencer, our very popular winner of the Brother PE-700 machine that was our big door prize! What a great story, that the one attendee who comes without a machine to go home to is the one to win it!
 
I had such a special time meeting and eating with you. AnnTheGran has been around for nearly a dozen years now and I can't believe you all are still with me! Lets keep those tears I shed on the first day just between us, okay? I sure hope we can do this again. It was too much fun not to repeat!
 
Please, please keep in touch with each other and try to meet up every once in a while. The forums are a great place to do that! And by the way, for those of you who watched Greg post on my behalf on Friday morning, that question about the life of thread is still mostly unanswered in the forum, even though we had some great answers in the room! It's not too late to go and answer it! Anyway, I know I'm going to be in contact with the Central Florida contingent and we're going to be planning some hi jinks. We do need to get out from behind our computers and machines once in a while!

We took lots of videotape at the event, much of which you'll be seeing up on the site in the coming weeks and months. Some of you mentioned that you'd like to see more video on our web site. Well, we are working on that, but in the meantime, I thought I'd send you a list of items for which we do have video now. All of the following links are product videos, but we are definitely planning to post some "non-salesy" video links as well. Also, if any of you have instructional video that you've posted on YouTube, let me know and we'll be happy to link to it from my site.

Here are some products that include video demos (sometimes you need to scroll down to the tabs to view the videos):

Alphabet Xpress lettering software

Catalog Xpress software

Magna-Hoop
 
Perfect Placement Kit

In The Hoop Kit

Perfect Towel Kit

Madeira Incredible Threadable Box

Madeira Thread Treasure Chest

Klasse Needle Value Pack

That's all I have for you today. I'm still getting back into the swing of things after Community Circle, so if my correspondence is a little disrupted, I hope you'll forgive me. Keep sending in your projects to me at wow-you-made-that@annthegran.com and I'll keep posting them for all to see.

Talk to you soon!

Ann

Greetings, friends!

Once again, I have been truly humbled by the sheer numbers of you who took time to consider and respond to my last post. I received hundreds of e-mails from well-wishers as far away as South Africa, Korea and Australia, all with essentially the same message: we wish we could join you! Some wonderful stories too, a couple of which even brought a tear to my eye. I had absolutely no idea how many of you out there actually listen to what I say! Scary thought...

Brotherly Love

The news has started to leak out about my big announcement, so I might as well let you in on the secret if you haven't heard it yet. I will be announcing at Community Circle and on my site next week my very strong endorsement of the Brother PE700, which really is just a wonderful machine for embroiderers, at a price point that the budget-conscious among us can afford. Those of you who know me know that I've been a Brother user since day one (counting how many people to whom I've taught Brother machines and software makes me feel old!). Anyway, we'll have some folks from Brother there demonstrating and answering questions about the machine, and Eileen and I will both be using the PE700 in all of our classes. We will have several machines available for purchase, and, as a little personal touch, Eileen and I will be signing any machine that is purchased at the event. I also hope to be doing a little demo of my own of the PE700 that we can get on video and post on the site so you can see just how deep my love goes for all things Brother!

Beamish Blog

I'm pleased to say that my beamish boy has not been too busy toiling away helping me prepare for Orlando to write another informative post, this time about posting photo to what he calls our Digital Scrapbook, the area of my new site where our users can show off photos of all the beautiful things they have created. Please take a moment to stop by his Magic Bookshelf blog and keep yourself in the know.

New Project - Ruffled Crib Quilt

I also got a great new project submission from Leanne Jenkins, a relatively new embroiderer Down Under who was recently blessed with a new grandchild and wanted to share her "first attempt at something other than tea towels and oven mitts" with our community. I'm sure you'll agree when you take a look at Leanne's Ruffled Crib Quilt that she deserves to be commended for her efforts! Remember that you too can share your favorite projects with our community; all the details are here.

Hasta La Vista

So, for those of you who I'll be seeing in Orlando, see you next week, and for those of you who kindly shared your thoughts with me about why you couldn't be there, I'll be thinking of you, and hoping that we'll catch you next time around!

Keep filling your creative space!

Ann

Every grandmother counts it a blessing when another child comes into her life.  Each set of tiny hands and feet hold a special place in her heart forever.  When the newest addition made his appearance to the Jenkins family it was just what Leanne needed to inspire her to expand her embroidery talents.  It’s such a sweet quilt and certain to be his favorite with all those teddy bears to love.

Leanne is from Australia, and she calls this a "cot quilt", but I remember from being in Australia that what is called a cot there is what we in the North America call a crib, so I've changed it in the post title but not in Leanne's text below. For a bigger picture, click here.

Leanne's Description

I recently decided to shout myself (with a lot of help from my partner) an Embroidery Machine for my birthday in October last year.  This cot quilt was my first real attempt at something other than tea towels and oven-mitts. Our newest addition to the Grandchildren was born in February this year and I decided to make the quilt for him. All the teddy bear designs were downloaded from Ann The Gran free designs archive and I would like to say that they sew out beautifully as you can see even when they are converted to ‘jef' Format.

Step-by-step description

Quilt Materials List (finished size approximately 1m x 1m (cot size)

• Quilt Front Sashes, Ruffle and Backing Fabric 1.7m x 90cm
• Contrasting Fabric for Embroidery
• Batting 1m x 90cm
• Cut six strips for inside vertical sashing to join three embroidery panels per row
• Cut two longer strips for inside horizontal sashing to join all nine embroidery panels together
• Cut four strips for outside border
• Cut nine 9 x 9inch squares for blocks
• Embroider nine panels and trim to 8inch squares
• Join embroidered blocks x 3 using two of the six inside vertical sashing strips per row, then join each row of 3 embroidered panels together using the two longer strips of horizontal sashing
• Finally, using the four remaining strips as a border attach to the outside of completed front cot panel
• Make Ruffle (width can be varied to personal choice) using 11/2 x the diameter of the quilt, join strips together and over-lock and turn under one long edge, then gather the other long edge to make ruffle, I used my over-locker to gather the edge as well
• Spray wrong side of the front panel with quilters spray adhesive and gently spread the front panel over the batting.
• Using a walking foot attachment I then stitched around each embroidered panel using "stitch in ditch" technique
• Attach ruffle to the front panel right sides together with the outer edge of ruffle towards the centre of the panel (I find it easier to attach ruffle first then attach the backing fabric last
• Attach the backing fabric to the quilt right sides together leaving enough of an opening to turn the quilt right side out then slip stitch to close the opening to complete.

What makes this project special

I always try to make something for any new additions to the Grandchildren when they arrive, as I enjoy doing it and no matter what it is, it is always appreciated and commented on as it is used. I would rather make something myself than buy it because I think it makes the gift special and I love and enjoy my sewing and the time I spend doing so.

Skill level

In my opinion anyone could make this project with any skill level

Products

Cutting Board

Rotary Cutter

Quilters adhesive spray

Sewing Machine / Overlocker

Walking foot attachment

Embroidery Machine / Embroidery Designs

Time Investment

As I still work full-time I find it hard to give an estimate, but the teddy designs I have used in this project take between 30 minutes to 60 minutes so I guess about 10 hours max.

Why I love this project

One reason would be the fact that I have made this for my newest grandson and another would be that this is my first project that I have tackled that is a little more involved than the simpler projects I have done since I got my embroidery machine.

Send Us Your Creations

Do you have any creations that go with a great story? If so, we'd love to hear about them, and see them! If we choose to post your project, you'll get a free $25 gift certificate to use in the AnnTheGran.com online store. Click here for details on how to submit your creation.

What Would You Do?

What is your favorite theme to sew as a set or grouping of designs in the same project? Click on the Comments link to share your story.

Hi, everyone,

The gang here is taking a little break for Easter and using the time to polish off some final preparations for my Community Circle event in Orlando, so I thought I'd just put together a brief note to let you know that I'm still alive and kicking -- well, moving my legs anyway.

I am very, very excited about seeing some of you in Orlando -- I'm hoping to give you back as much energy and enthusiasm as you give me. I must confess though, that I am a little sad  that we still haven't managed to fill up the event. It seems this old gal can't attract the crowds she used to! I guess that's what I get for not showing my face for so long...

But seriously, for those of you who aren't coming, I'd love to know why you aren't. This was our first time organizing this type of event, and there have been a few glitches, but I thought we really put together something special. Eileen Roche and I in the same room as a group of embroiderers? I mean, c'mon; does it get any better? So I'd like to know, if you aren't coming, is it because we made it too expensive, is it too far away, are the dates wrong, were you hoping for different kinds of classes? This is a learning curve for all of us and we want to make sure we're climbing up the curve rather than sliding down. Please use the Comments feature below to tell me why you aren't coming.

And if you've considered coming but still aren't quite sure, let me know what I can do to get you here! We're already giving away TONS of stuff and I've been hitting the treadmill so that I'll have enough energy to keep everyone buzzing, but maybe there's something that my team and I have missed. If there is, and it's something I can reasonably provide, send me a personal e-mail at wow-you-made-that@annthegran.com and I'll see if I can get you to Orlando! If you've just been procrastinating (especially if you live here in Florida!) and you need to register, you can get all the info here. The very latest that you can register for the special dinner event with me and Eileen is March 26. You can be sure it will be a hoot!

Hoping to hear from you either way!

Ann

Thanks for your Feedback

I'm really pleased that all of you really took to heart my request in my last letter to get involved with commenting on the new site. We had the most comments and participation we've had since I started blogging. Your feedback really does encourage me and my guests who write on the site to do the very best we can do. Please keep it up; the more you participate in my new site, the more you'll get from it.

Lunch with Eileen and Ann in Orlando

I'll start with an update on my Orlando event. We're getting lots of new people, and lots of new questions, but I want to let everyone know that we still have some room. We've also decided to expand the "door prize" opportunities; not only do we have almost a hundred door prizes, but Eileen and I have decided that we are going to host a private lunch both days for some of the winners. That means that there will be almost 40 winners who'll get a lovely (and free!) lunch with either me or Eileen. If we have the expected 200 or so attendees, that means a 1 in 5 chance of winning! We've extended the deadline for entry for that lunch to March 19, so if you've been sitting on the fence about going, it's time to get off! I've also added more detailed information about Eileen's seminars and my seminars at the event. Finally, I want to send out a special reminder to our users in Florida; don't delay registering just because you're local; when we're full, we're full! All the registration details are here.

New Blogger - Deegee

I'm proud to announce that we have another new guest blogger on the site, Deegee Hitzfelder of Deegee's Digi Designs. We've known Deegee for quite a while, but there's recently been a huge spike in interest in Deegee's wonderfully nostalgic designs due to a recent project she submitted to our friends over at Designs in Machine Embroidery Magazine. Deegee will be going through the treasure trove of projects that have been made using her designs, and sharing with us some of her favorites. Ken Parsons has also posted a few more quick ideas that include ways to creatively combine and manipulate designs. I hope you'll welcome Deegee and Ken and make them feel right at home by commenting on their submissions or asking them questions.

Magic Bookshelf - What's a Wiki?

Speaking of commenting and asking questions, you have certainly made my Beamish Boy very happy with all the nice comments on his Magic Bookshelf blog. Most of our users are pretty computer literate -- we are a web site, after all! -- but we're all busy too, which means we don't always have the time to keep up with the "lingo", and that's where Greg comes in. His post this week tackles another one of those things that you hear about -- wikis to be precise -- and how we are using them here on the new AnnTheGran.com to help our users stay knowledgeable and current on all the latest and greatest tips and techniques in the creative realm.

How I Keep Feeling Young

I think that's enough for you to go through this week, so I'll leave it at that. As always, please feel free to send me your own creations (click here to see how) and share your stories. Seeing how all of you find new and interesting ways to apply creativity in your own lives is what helps keep me feeling young and motivated!

Keep the Wow Coming,

Ann

Like many of us, Barbara Schleter has more than one passion.  Here she has combined her long time love of Shetland Sheepdogs with her more recent passion for embroidery.   Barbara has done a great job of sharing her thoughts on creating personalized gifts for those who are special to her.  Heartfelt expressions such as this are sure to be cherished by those who recieve the gifts.

Barbara's Description
I am very new to machine embroidery ... in fact I have only been doing it a couple of months.  However, I made the attached wallhanging for a very dear lady who has helped me enormously with my other passion ... Shetland Sheepdogs.
 
It is approximately 20 inches wide by 30 inches long. Please click here to view a larger image of the wallhanging.

Step-by-step 
First I printed out photos of three of her Shelties onto TShirt transfer paper on my ink jet printer. I then ironed them onto cream homespun,  The photos are about 5 inches wide and 6 inches deep.

I cut these out and sewed glittery material 'frames' about 1-1/2 inches wide around them.  I then used my sewing machine and sewed hearts around to make it stable ... any pattern would do or even just plain straight stitching.
 
Then I embroidered three blocks that I chose at random onto a cream with a white printed background.  About 6 inches.
 
Then I embroidered the lady's kennel name on a piece of the same fabric about 4 inches by 6 inches (this was to enable it to be cut to fit)... but the person's name would do just as well ... or a well chosen word.
 
I then ran up four pinwheel blocks with a finished size of  4 inches ... but any patchwork block would be fine ... even a four patch.
 
To assemble I sewed the kennel name, an embroidered square and a photo together. (centre panel).
Then I sewed the left hand panel together ... the photo, then an embroidered square.
Then I sewed the right hand panel together ... again the photo, then an embroidered square.
 
It is difficult to give exact sizes because the photos vary.
 
Then I sewed a strip of bright floral material along the bottom -- 2 inches wide
 
Then I joined the four pinwheels and put a piece of material that I had used in the pinwheels at either end to make it the correct length and sewed it to the bottom strip.
 
Using another 2 inch wide strip of the bright floral material I sewed it to the bottom edge of the pinwheels.
 
Then I cut a strip of a different floral fabric 2 inches wide and sewed around the entire wall hanging.
 
All through the process I measured and ensured everything was square.
 
Then I got a piece of cream homespun measuring 20 inches by 30 inches and laid it on a table.  I then cut a piece of wadding the same size and lay it on the backing.  Lastly I put my wallhanging top on it and pinned it all together.
 
Then I ditch stitched it.
 
Then I cut a binding 3 inches wide, folded it in half and sewed around the edge.  
 
Then I cut a piece of homespun 16 inches long and 4 inches wide and doubled it over.  I then sewed this (raw edges) into the top of the wall hanging.
 
Then I sewed the folded over binding around the wallhanging, mitreing the corners.
 
Then I hand sewed the binding onto the back of the wallhanging.
 
Then using a darkcolour in my bobbin I machine stitched the other side of the rodpocket to the wallhanging.
 
I cut a piece of dowel to fit and some cord and attached the cord with drawing pins.

What Makes This Project Special
The idea was to make something that would bring a lot of pleasure to the recipient.

Skill Level
Beginner

Products
Bobbins
Colorfast Printer Fabric
Rotary cutter and ruler
Ultimate Quilt Binding Combo (incl. Stitch in the Ditch)
Embroidery Designs

Time Investment 
I made it over a couple of days ... in fact I made two ... one for another friend .... but would estimate about 4 hours if one sat and did nothing else.

Why I Love This Project
I wanted to make a personalised wallhanging for a dear friend and I think I accomplished that.

Send Us Your Creations
Do you have any creations that go with a great story? If so, we'd love to hear about them, and see them! If we choose to post your project, you'll get a free $25 gift certificate to use in the AnnTheGran.com online store. Click here for details on how to submit your creation.

What Would You Do?
Barbara combined techniques of photo printing and embroidery to create a unique quilted wallhanging.  Share a time when you have combined another craft or technique to make your embroidery project unique. Click on the Comments link to share your story.

So Much To Share! 

I have so much to share with you this week that I hardly know where to begin. Like many of you (but not all of you ), I love our new site, especially the way it lets people in our community talk to each other. Free designs are great, and I know that's why many of you still come to my site, but we have so many more ways to share now than just designs. Spend a few minutes in the Community section of the site (Blogs, Forums, Galleries) and see how much you can do.

Orlando Itinerary

First of all, I'm pleased to announce that we have our itinerary finalized for my first annual Community Circle in Orlando. If you haven't registered yet, it’s not too late to get in on the fun -- if you register before March 14th you will be entered into a drawing (and yes, if you have already registered you have been entered) to have a cozy little lunch with me during the event! Of course, I'd like to have lunch with all of you, but there's only so much (too much ) of me to go around! Anyway, Eileen Roche and I are ready to take you on a creative journey into the world of embroidery.  We’re excited to be able to show you our favorite techniques for creating great embroidery and give you lots of insider tips to inspire your creativity.  Whether you are just beginning or have been doing embroidery for years you’ll go home with lots of new ideas for expressing your creative side through your embroidery. For lots more laughs plan on attending the special dinner presentation too. There will be door prizes and a great goody bag valued at over $250. It’s my event of the year and we’re sure to have a blast!

My Beamish Boy

I really appreciate everyone's comments on my new site, and yes I do know that I can't just expect you to start using it without giving you some idea how! With that in mind, I would like to introduce all of you to my "beamish boy" (he hates when I call him that, so feel free to call him that in Orlando ), the young fellow (yes, Greg, 41 is still young!) who is a big part of making all the neat stuff on my new site happen. His actual name is Greg, and I've asked him to give you a tour of my new site over the next little while, and show you how to get the most of it. Want to know how to upload free stuff of your own or find lots more free stuff? He's your boy. Trying to find some advice on a new technique, or looking for something you saw on tv and desperately want to make? He'll tell you how to find what you're looking for. He's funny, he writes well, and I know you're going to love him! In his first post, he'll teach you everything you need to know about blogs. If you like his post, make sure you tell him (and use the nickname!).

Guest Bloggers

Speaking of handsome men, I'm really excited as well that we've lined up our first guest blogger for the new site. What is a guest blogger, you may ask? Well, Greg tells you all about it in his post, but basically it's someone in the industry who knows what s/he is doing, who is going to share all that expertise with the AnnTheGran community. Think of us as a kind of online magazine. Our first guest blogger is Ken Parsons, who is going to drop by from time to time and give us some little snippets of projects ideas that he has created with his software and designs. We've got five other guest bloggers lined up, all of whom will post regularly and share their knowledge and ideas with you. Doesn't that sound like fun?

New Project - Sheepdog Wall Hanging

We have a lovely wall hanging project, submitted by AnnTheGran user Barbara Schleter, that I think is also a great gift idea, especially for the dog lover in your life! Heartfelt expressions such as this are sure to be cherished by those who recieve the gifts. Remember that I love receiving your projects and posting them, so if you've got something that you'd like to show off to our community, send it to me at wow-you-made-that@annthegran.com.

Share the Magic!

In closing, I want to send out a special thank you to all of you who have sent feedback and suggestions on my new site. Way back when we started thinking about how we would re-build it, I thought it was very important that we have a structure that would come as close as possible to the magical atmosphere of a bunch of creative people gathering at a sewing retreat sharing ideas and inspiration. My beamish boy calls his blog the "Magic Bookshelf" for a good reason; we've had a few bumps in the road with the new site, but the general feeling among all of you seems to be that we're on the right track to re-creating that magical atmosphere of the sewing retreat online. The magic comes from you, our users and my friends, so I hope you'll continue to contribute, encourage, criticize (constructively!) and share so that the site grows to show just how much magic there is out there.

Talk to you soon!

Ann

Quilts, whether large or small, can brighten the spirit and bring a bit of joy to those who need it in almost any situation.  Made with love and detailed with words of comfort, Susan Osborn shows us how a simple but heartfelt project can help make the days a little better for others.  Surely a gift such as this is what quilting is all about.

Susan's Description

What Would You Do?
Do you know someone who makes special embroidered items to brighten the day of others? Click on the Comments link to share their story.

Keeping up with traditions can be a challenge when you are as far away from your family as Debbie  Martin is.  But she obviously spends a lot of time and energy to share her love with family as shown in the wedding quilt as well as others who will appreciate the warmth of a handmade gift - such as the rag quilts for the men in her son’s unit.

Debbie's Description
My family has a tradition of giving quilts for weddings, births and graduations.&nbs