AnnTheBlogger : catalog xpress

Olympic Rings, Cartoons, Questions and Paris!

AnnTheGran — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:42:00 GMT

8/08/08 is a date that comes up only once in every century and it’s upon us as I write. This time the date is even more special because it’s the date on which the Summer Olympics begins. I LOVE the Olympics, both Winter and Summer, and I’m so glad they they’ve split the two so I have to wait only 2 years between my Olympic TV feast. You’ll find lots of good sports designs in both our Free Designs and designs for sale sections. What you won’t find, however, is a design of the Olympic rings and why I’ve illustrated this paragraph with a mock set of rings made from the numbers of the date. The reason is that the Olympic rings are a copyrighted and trademarked symbol and the Olympic committee is very aggressive about policing their use.

All of which brings me to what I really want to talk about. We all love our copyrighted characters, like Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, Precious Moments, Garfield, Betty Boop, etc. Some embroidery design companies have licensed these characters and brought out sets of designs using them. If we purchase these designs we are free to use them on items for ourselves and as gifts to others. We’re not permitted to use them on items we for sale On the other hand, the question of whether we are permitted to digitize these characters for our own personal use, items for ourselves and as gifts for others, is somewhat of a gray area. I have several transfer books with copyrighted characters and their use for embroidery is specifically addressed in either their instructions or copyright statements. In that case it’s fairly black and white; yes, you may. The gray area is whether you can draw the characters yourself or get clip art on line or in books and digitize from there. The legal answer is, “no,” So why is this a gray area? It’s a gray area because you don’t know any better, you’re not doing it for profit and, well, how would anyone know?

So why am I mentioning this here, on my blog? I’m not the copyright police and what you do in the privacy of your home is none of my business. However, I’ve found a few mentions in the forums here of copyrighted characters that were digitized by some of us talented MEers with offers to share them with others. While you’re more than welcome to share any of your original digitizing (After all, that’s the reason AnnTheGran came into existence in the first place.) here in the forums, I have to ask you to not write about or share designs of copyrighted characters that you’ve digitized yourself. I’ve nurtured annthegran.com since I first created it nearly 12 years ago and I’m very protective of both the good name and the integrity of the site. Believe it or not, there are some individuals out there in the wild, wicked world of the Internet who would like to see annthegran.com go down in flames. A copyright violation is just the kind of thing they’re looking for.

Please, please know that I’m not upset or angry or accusing anyone. I know that if anyone has done this it’s been in innocence and an attempt to be helpful and friendly. Those of us who have been enjoying this wonderful hobby for many years and have participated in online discussion groups, already know this. But so many are excitedly discovering machine embroidery and AnnTheGran every day and I know that copyrights and trademarks are the furthest things from their minds. I hope you’ll take this gentle reminder in the grandmotherly spirit in which it was written. ‘Nuff said.

Letters! We get letters!
Okay. We don’t really get letters, but we do get email and comments on the blogs and in the forums. I’m going to address just a few of them here.

katydid says, “I leave too much space between letters, What is the rule of thumb?” Keep in mind that embroidery designs “draw up” when they stitch. This is particularly true with lettering. I snug my letters up pretty close to each other so there’s the correct amount of space between them when they’re stitched. See the sample on the left, showing lettering both on my computer screen and actually stitched out.

bunny has a Singer Futura 350 and wants to know how she can use the PES format designs she has downloaded. I think your machine needs files in SEW format. Catalog XPress will convert the PES files to SEW for you.

karana says that her needle sometimes gets gummed up when she’s using “sticky” stabilizer. This sometimes happens to me, too. I have 2 solutions that I use. The first is a little bottle of silicone lubricant. I put a drop on a cotton swab and wipe the needle down with it. The second is the same, only using alcohol. I have a bottle of alcohol that I use for cleaning the bobbin case so it’s near the machine.

altslady has Catalog XPress and says she has to have her designs in a separate file in order to use them with her software. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I want to mention that if you double click on a design in your catalog the design will open in the software you designated when you installed Catalog XPress. You can open a design in any program you choose, however, by right clicking on it and choosing “Open with.” A window will open asking what software program you want to use.

edithspain has installed Catalog Xpress on a new computer and is upset that the program has been “switched off” on her old computer. It sounds like what you’ve done is transfer your license from one computer to the other. This will “switch off” the program from which you’ve transferred the license. However, it’s not necessary to transfer the license simply to install the program on another computer. Simply install it and use the registration number you already have to activate it.

Something else about moving to a new computer and having to leave behind all the work you’ve done sorting those thousands of designs. Remember that CatXP is a data base. It doesn’t know where your designs are until you tell it. Make sure that you put your designs in exactly the same place on the new computer as they were on the old computer and then copy the file edb.mdb from the old program and paste it into the new installation. That’s the file that has all your personal information in it.

And last, but not least, para ayiyai: ¡Bienvenido, Gladys de Chile! Estoy feliz que usted tiene gusto de me Web site. Espero que pueda visitar Chile alguna día. Lo siento que hablo español solamente un poco y no muy bien. Hablé español cuando era una niña, pero olvidé mucho.

The last time I saw Paris . . .
When I asked what things you’d like me to talk about, the only one who answered was Pat, and she asked for travel stories. This one’s for you, Pat!

In 2006 Bill and I were traveling with our travel buddies, Loes and Theo, following Bill’s WWII march from Utah Beach in Normandy to the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, Theo detoured through Paris because I had never been there. Theo pulled up to the curb in front of the Eiffel Tower and we all jumped out of the car. Theo grabbed his camera and Loes stood guard over the car so the French parking police wouldn’t ticket it. Bill and I stood in fromt of the Tower while Theo snapped off a couple of shots. Then we all ran back to the car and continued on our way. So I can say that I’ve visited Paris and no one (but you) has to know that it was for only 15 minutes. Click here for the scrapbook page.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. I'm off to veg in front of the games! TTYL

Time flies, whether you're having fun or not.

AnnTheGran — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:47:00 GMT

Time flies, doesn't it? First I had a house full of kids. Then I had a car full of kids. Then my nephew in Tallahassee had a boat full of kids. Then I had a car full of kids again. Then I had no kids. Then I got on an airplane and spent 4 days in Kentucky with my youngest grandson, 3 1/2, who said to me on Tuesday, "I had fun pwayinging wiss you graymaw!" Yes, I leaked tears all the way home. It's very quiet around here now. Very quiet. Very, very quiet. As soon as I get a chance I'll scrap up some pictures of both visits and give you the links.

The Embroidery on the left was stitched by my mother before my older brother was born. It has hung over the cribs and beds of my siblings and me, of both of my children and of all 6 of my grandchildren. In 1940 it hung over a tan crib with bunny decals. In 2008 it's hanging over a Lightning McQueen race car toddler bed. Time flies . . .

Speaking of time flying . . . In July, 1997 a motley group of machine embroiderers from all over the continent got together for a couple of days in Paducah, Kentucky. We didn't have an agenda, but we did have a terrific time. Now, 11 years later a motley group of machine embroiderers, nearly the same number, but all from Central Florida, are getting together for a luncheon in just a couple of days. We have no agenda and I know we're going to have a terrific time. There will be lots of photos, I know, and I'll get as many of them posted, or scrapped and posted, as quickly as possible. I hope the photos will encourage other local groups to get together.

And while we're on the subject, on July 20, 1943, a baby girl was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. On July 20, 2008 she'll be celebrating her "Medicare birthday." That would be me and that would be time REALLY flying! Am I retired yet? No? Thought not . . .

We WERE speaking of grandchildren, right? There are two features of Catalog XPress that have been very helpful for me and my oldest granddaughter. Sabrina was 9 or 10 when she began using my Brother PE-200 small hoop, stand alone embroidery machine. At that age Sabrina had the attention span of a gnat. I wanted her to finish any project she started, so I used the Search feature to limit her design choices. I limited the number of stitches in the designs to 900 and the colors to 4. I entered the dimensions of her hoop. Once I clicked on OK, and gave Catalog XPress a few moments to examine every design, the only designs that appeared on the pages were those with 900 or fewer stitches, 4 or fewer colors and all would fit in her small hoop. Since she never saw designs that might take more than an hour to stitch or have lots of thread changes or that were too large for her hoop there wasn't any whining or begging. She chose the design she wanted to stitch wrote it to her card and got busy. And Always completed her project.

I'd like to thank all of you who, in response to my last blog, let me know that their grandchildren live around the corner. For those who commiserated with me about grandchildren scattered far away, here's something I used to do a lot and sometimes still do. The printing function of Catalog XPress has several options. In the "Print Catalog" option there's a box you can check telling the program to print only the selected designs. You can also choose how many designs in each row and each column. I select 4 designs and print that page. Then I address an envelope to myself and put a stamp on it. I put both the printed designs, a note asking the grandchild to select a design and the SASE (Stamped Self Addressed Envelope, remember?) in another envelope and send it to one of my grandchildren. In a few days I will receive the design page with one of the designs circled and, frequently, a note or a picture on the back. You have to include the SASE or you might not see the design selection until 6 months have gone by and both you and your grandchild have forgotten all about it. In these days of email, and cell phones, we grandmas with distant grandchildren don't get anything to hang on our refrigerators and this helps fill up the space. Oh, yes, remember to get right on that project and send your grandchild the finished item ASAP.

And now for something completely different. I LOVE Nutella. Not the Nutella we get over here. That Nutella is very stiff and has a strong hazelnut flavor. I imagine that's the way the Nutella people think we Americans like our Nutella. I love the Nutella in Europe. It's runny and sweet and chocolat-y. You know the little packs of cheese spread with cracker sticks we get over here? Well, in Italy they have little packs of Nutella with cookie sticks. I love Nutella so much that our Dutch friends laughed at me. A LOT! And took pictures of me holding, spreading and eating Nutella. What you see on the right is my typical Dutch breakfast, wheat bread spread with peanut butter, sprinkled with chocolate and topped with sliced banana. Gotta love the Dutch for eating chocolate for breakfast. But not, apparently with peanut butter and bananas, since they found it so amusing that Theo had to take a picture. He also felt he need to take a picture of me spreading Nutella on the left over half banana. I ran out of European Nutella a long time ago. When we were going to meet Loes and Theo in Toronto, I asked Loes to bring me some Nutella. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to get through customs with it because it's food. (Ambrosia is more like it!) Imagine my delight when I ran into European Nutella in an Italian deli in La Grange, Kentucky last week. Of course I bought a jar. I would have bought several, but I wanted to leave some for the other Americans who are starved for European Nutella. To come home I wrapped the jar in plastic and put it in the new leather travel kit I had bought for Bill, along with a little cardinal shaped box and a package of socks. When I got home and went to unlock my suitcase I noticed that 2 of the numbers on the lock were in the correct position. Didn't think much of that. Then, when I took the travel kit out I saw that it was unzipped. Got me wondering, but still didn't think much of it. Upon opening the travel kit I found the TSA note saying that my suitcase had been inspected. Did they see the Nutella on the x-ray machine and think I was carrying plastic explosive? They didn't unzip my travel kit or my make-up bag so I'm sure it was the jar of Nutella that set off the alarm. That tickled me. Oh, for those coming to the CF luncheon on Saturday, I'm not bringing my jar of Nutella, so forget about it!

Reality Bytes. My first choice, Stephanie, won Top Chef. My first choice, Christina, won Hell's Kitchen. In two weeks we'll find out if the gals go 3 for 3 this season during the final challenge on The Next Food Network Star. It's Lisa vs. 2 men. She's the best looking and the best cook, but not the best TV personality, so it's iffy. My fingers are crossed.

TTFN. I'll see some of you on Saturday,

Ann

Does size matter? Well, that all depends.

AnnTheGran — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:34:00 GMT

Size matters if you have a design that’s 5 inches wide and your largest hoop is 4 inches wide. Size matters if you want to make a border along the edge of a tablecloth. Size matters if you want to combine two or three designs, each the size of your largest hoop, into one big design.

First the cardinal rule for hooping. Always use the smallest hoop possible. In other words, if you’re stitching a 2” by 3” design, use your 4” by 4” hoop rather than the largest one you have. The less play in the hoop the better it is for the stability of the stitch-out. In addition, why use a huge piece of stabilizer when you can use a smaller one?

Now, that said, if my largest hoop is 5” by 7” and I want to stitch a design that’s 6” by 9 inches, what should I do? Well, of course, I could always reduce the size of the design using Catalog XPress or any other software program what will re-calculate the stitches. But I’ve found that machine embroiderers like designs larger, rather than smaller. My solution is to cut the design into two pieces, save them as two separate designs and sew them out in sequence, re-hooping between the first and the second. Okay, you’re going to need some kind of embroidery design editing software to do this, and you have to choose a design that has an obvious place to split it like the one on the top left side of the page. I’ve drawn a bright pink line to show the place I’ve chosen to split the design.

First import the design into your software, showing your hoop.
Next, slide the design over to the side so that only the first portion of the design rests in the hoop.(1)
Now, zoom in closely and, using your cutting tool (2), carefully draw along the edge of where you want to split the design.
Pull the two pieces apart. (3)
Okay now, pay attention. If you goof up this part you’re going to have to start over.

Right click on the part of the design that’s out of the hoop and select “Cut.” (Or Ctrl>x)
Save this design as “design_name-1.” (4)
Now either Undo (Ctrl>z) or right click and Paste (Ctrl>v). You’ll now have both pieces back on your screen.
Slide the pieces back together, using your arrow keys, if possible, to insure that the pieces stay in the same plane.
Choose an open path running stitch in a color that is not in the design (5) and draw carefully along the edge of the first design that meets the edge of the second design. Take in as much of the first design as you can. A preview of this step won’t show in a small thumbnail, but you’ll see it in the next step.
Delete the first design (the one you’ve already saved), slide the second part, along with the running stitch you just drew, into the hoop.
Correct the sewing order so that the running stitch will stitch first. The first segment must be a different color from the next part of your design because you’ll need the machine to stop after the line is stitched, but you can make it a color that will match part of the design. (6)
Save this design as “design_name-2.”
Print both design pieces. (7-8) I like to print from Catalog XPress because it will put cross-hairs in the centers of the designs.
Cut out the designs and put them together with tape. You’re going to use this as a template for centering the design when you sew. (9)

Stitching it all together
You've done the hard work. Now it's time to stitch your design. PLEASE sew a sample first. We don't want to be ruining any brand new silk blouses.

Hoop your garment, tote, or whatever. I'm sewing this on a fairly small t-shirt so I've hooped stabilizer, sprayed it with temporary embroidery adhesive and placed the shirt, centering the first part of the design in the hoop. (10)
Carefully attach the hoop to your embroidery arm and center the needle exactly over the center of the first design. (11) Close is good enough. We're just making sure that the design fits in the hoop here.
Remove the template and start stitching.
When part 1 is finished, remove it from your hoop and hoop another piece of stabilizer. For this part you must use either a sticky stabilizer or temporary embroider adhesive. In order to line up the designs you won't be able to actually hoop the garment.
Put the hoop on the machine and sew just that alignment line. (12)
Remove the hoop from the machine and place it on a flat surface.
From the back, fold back the part of the design you've already stitched and carefully place it on the hoop, snugged up against the alignment line. (13)
Very carefully smooth down the rest of the garment, being careful to not pull it away from the line you've stitched on the stabilizer.
Return the hoop to your machine and stitch the second part of the design. (14) Your garment is already properly aligned, so you don't have any measuring to do. Just start stitching.
When you're finished, well, here it is! (15)

A few quickie tips
Because I was stitching this for a child I used soft nylon stabilizer and cotton thread in the bobbin. Ordinarily I would have used an adhesive backed stabilizer, but this was a knit and the adhesive backed stabilizers are tear aways. Had I wanted to use an adhesive backed stabilizer I would have hooped cut away stabilizer underneath. That way, when I tore the adhesive backed stabilizer away, the cut away would remain to stabilize the knit fabric.

Again, because this was a little shirt, I turned it inside out before placing it in the hoop. I wrestled with hooping little t-shirts for several years before I realized that if I just turned the shirt inside out it would be a lot easier, and much easier to keep the excess shirt from getting caught in the stitching.

Which brings me to . . . You have to baby-sit garments with spare parts hanging around. The minute you leave the room your machine will see that you're not there and grab a sleeve or collar or hem and catch in up in the stitching. If that happens often the only way to get the hoop off the embroidery arm is to release the foot and cut it out of the garment. You don't have to stare at it, but stay nearby.

I see that we finally have the new and improved cordless Peggy's Stitch Eraser in stock. I may have to spring for this one. I keep mine in a drawer with the cord going out the back of the drawer to the plug. Cordless is a good thing!

I'm hoping everyone's summers have gotten off to a good start. We'll have 3 of the grandchildren with us for a few days. We haven't seen them since Christmas and my hugs are achingly empty.

Click here for a printable PDF file for this project.

That's all for now! TTYL,
Ann

What's in a name (tag)?

AnnTheGran — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:58:00 GMT

A while ago I nudged y'all a little about forming local "Community Circles" so you could get together once in a while to have lunch, chat, make projects and generally help each other out. Believe me, it was NOT my doing, but the "How many live in Central Florida?" thread has grown to 209 posts, 13 pages! Again, not my doing (I'm telling you this because I don't want you to think that I've planned and organized this thing, which I haven't. I'm simply a machine embroiderer in Central Florida who has been posting on the thread.) but a luncheon has been planned for next month and we're expecting more than 20, including a couple of hubbies.

In discussing this coming, much anticipated event, in addition to deciding where to have lunch and with whom to carpool, the main topic of conversation has been about name tags. A unique thing about ME-ers is that we want to embroider everything we can get our hands on. You'll find that at most, if not all, embroidery retreats, seminars and get-togethers many of the participants will wear very original embroidered name tags.

11 years ago a group of 43 Brother, Baby Lock and Deco embroiderers (All these machines use the same file format and similar software.) met up in Paducah, Kentucky, for what I believe is the first machine embroidery retreat ever. (I'm 3rd from the left on the bottom row. Monica, with whom we had lunch in Toronto is 4th from the left in the top row. June Mellinger from Brother is in there somewhere and the lone man is one of the Brother programmers from Japan.) You'll see my old, faded name tag at the top left. The machine in the center is a button with the shank cut off and glued on. The little pair of scissors hanging from a ribbon is something I picked up at some sewing store somewhere I have no idea when. As you can see, I have by now accumulated a gazillion, give or take, name tags by now. When I need one I usually just pluck one off the rack and put it on. For our upcoming luncheon, however, I'll be making a brand spanking new one.

Now, when you've attended several retreats and seminars you find yourself sticking your room key and a couple of $$ in back of your name tag so you don't have to carry a purse. Some embroiderers have come up with really spiffy name tags with pockets sewn in, with or without zippers, to carry other stuff you might want to have with you. My favorite was given to my by Sue Lord during a Yankee Swap at a retreat somewhere. When you lift her collar you find the pocket. I put my name tag in her hands with double sided tape. She's SO cute!

Okay, before I go on I'll explain what a Yankee Swap is for those of you who don't know. Some of you might do the same at parties and holidays, but call it by another name. Everyone brings a gift and everyone picks a number out of a hat. All the gifts, unwrapped, are placed on a table and the first person chooses the one she wants. The next person has the choice of picking something else or taking the gift from the person in front of her (who then has to pick something else, but now she's "safe"). This goes on until all the gifts are distributed. At embroidery retreats all of the gifts are hand-made embroidered items. All of them are really nice and some are spectacular. I've won, in addition to the name tag from Sue, an embroidered clock for my sewing room and a quillow.

My second favorite name tag was the one given out at a retreat in Houston. The gals who organized the retreat made the name tags for everyone! It has one pocket in the front and 2 in the back. I think that just looking at the front and back of the tag you can see how it's made.

What should be ON your name tag? Well, your name, of course, and also your screen name, because many of the people you'll be meeting know you by that name. I think that where you're from should also be there so you can quickly identify people who live near you. Anything else you put on your name tag is gravy. I'm not going to show you my name tag for our Orlando luncheon, first because I haven't made it yet (still have 5 weeks to work on it) and second because I don't want to give it away. But I can show you my first draft of just the embroidery.

Daddy's Girls
Some of your comments on my Fathers' Day post really squeezed my heart. Yes, my father was quite a "dandy.' On the evening that my daughter was born, my father's first granddaughter after 3 grandsons, he must have been already in bed when my mother called him from the hospital with the news. He got up, got dressed in full regalia, shirt, tie, jacket, hat, walking stick and walked into the hospital and onto the maternity floor. He rapped on the glass of the nursery and told the nurse that he had come to call on a young lady. Now this was back in the days when they knocked you out when you had a baby and woke you when it was over to tell you whether you had a girl or a boy. I was still asleep when my father was there, but the nurses couldn't stop talking about that "gentleman who came visiting last night."

Clearing up some Catalog XPress misconceptions
Another thing that's being hotly discussed in the Central Florida thread is organizing designs. I posted something of a rant there a couple of days ago because everyone was telling how they organize their designs but no one was mentioning my baby, Catalog XPress, the first embroidery software program I ever designed and which is, as Mary Poppins would say, "practically perfect." I'm going to copy part of that "rant" here:

My embroidery designs are sorted on my had drive into several folders, Original Designs, Purchased (commercial) Designs, Downloaded Designs and, of course, all the Free Designs from my web site. Within the Commercial designs folder are folders for each of the companies from which I've purchased designs, Dakota, Amazing Designs, Embroidery Library, Brother, OESD, etc. So you can see that I'm fairly well organized. BUT when I want to find something I look for it in Catalog XPress, the program I designed for us. You see, for example, I have designs of cats in several Amazing Designs sets, several OESD sets and at least 2 Brother sets. But all of the cats are in Catalog XPress in the Cats folder. When I want to stitch a cat, instead of having to look through all of those folders, I look in only 1 place. If I have a design with a cat and a dog it will be in both the Cats and Dogs category. If the cat and dog are wearing hats the design will be in the Cats section, the Dogs section and in the hats section. If the hats are red, white and blue the design will also be in the Patriotic section. And, to carry this even further, if the cat and dog wearing red, white and blue hats are riding in a car the design will also be in the transportation category, in the Cars sub-category. You could, of course, do this on your computer by putting copies of the design in folders with those names, but then you'd have multiple copies of the design. With Catalog XPress I have only the one original design.

You say that all your designs are on flash drives or CDs and Catalog XPress doesn't know where they are? Yes, Catalog XPress has the memory of an elephant. Or at least the memory of a much younger woman than I am. When you click on a design that says "Not Found" look at the address bar at the top of the screen and Catalog XPress will tell you exactly where to find the design. You complain that all you can see are wimpy little cartoon pictures of the designs (on the other hand, in Windows Explorer you don't have any pictures at all). Again, not so. Right click on the design in the preview window and choose 3D view. Now the design appears in all its stitch-filled glory. Picture not big enough? Grab the edges and pull it bigger. Sorting is the main function of Catalog XPress, but not the only one. The programmers who helped me develop Catalog XPress thought of lots of things that didn't even occur to me or that I didn't think were even possible.

Well, I think I've talked long enough now. Y'all turn off your computers and sew something! TTFN

Ann

Of Stitch Erasers, Outlines & Free Design Addiction

AnnTheGran — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:14:00 GMT

Having trouble thinking of what to write about this week. I know, those of you who have attended any of my classes won't believe that. It's true, when I'm in a crowd of you I have lots and lots to say. But, alone, in front of my computer, not so much. So, I'm just going to address some of the forum comments that I've read recently.

Trimming Stitches and Mustaches

There's been a lot of chatter about Peggy's Stitch Eraser and the Wahl mustache trimmer. They do look similar, although the mustache trimmer appears much less sturdy. And the trimmer costs a lot less. You hold both upside down to use them. So, what's the difference, other than appearance and price? The blades are what's different. They're sharpened at different angles. Peggy's has been designed specifically to tear (not cut) threads on an angle. The trimmer has been designed to cut hair straight on. Most of the time you wouldn't notice the difference when trying to remove stitches, but when push comes to shove and I really want to do a good, neat job of removing stitches without damaging the fabric underneath, Peggy's is my impliment of choice.

Outline Tips

There has been some chatter about outlines. Outlines are really the bugaboo of machine embroidery. If the outline is off by just a little bit, you can fill in the area with fabric pens that are specifically made for that purpose. I use Pigma brush pens, which can be found at most office supply stores. If the outline is really, really off, well, unless you can pick out the stitches, you're pretty much out of luck. But there's a little trick I use to help guarantee that the outline will sew as close to the design as possible. Before stitching the outline I back out of the design and turn off my machine. Then I turn it on again, go back to the same design and skip ahead to the outline. I've gotten into the habit of doing this so much that I don't really know if it helps anymore. But, it can't hurt. Another thing about outlines. I don't like to see the outline before the design, or have the outline overpower he design. For this reason I use charcoal gray, rather than black, thread for outlining, and use a 50 or 60 weight (thinner) thread. Madeira carries 60 weight thread and Mettler carries 50 weight cotton thread.

For those addicted to free designs: Well, you'll eventually get over it, trust me. I've found that those who "collect" designs both download the freebies and buy all the ones that catch their attention. Then, after a while your computer fills up with embroidery designs and you can't find anything (until you install Catalog XPress, that is). So you get to a place where you don't download or buy anything unless you have a specific purpose for it. So enjoy your downloading. There is a quote that I became famous (or perhaps infamous) for a few years ago: "The one with who dies with the most designs is still dead. Turn off your computer and sew something!" The quote is included in my Say It again design pack and I've embroidered it on a couple of t-shirts, as well.

How did that quote originate, you ask? Well, for a long time when I added designs to the free designs section they were on number archive pages. When there got to be so many designs I also put them into categories. That got to be a lot of work and I finally decided that having the designs in categories was sufficient. But, there were those die-hards who had downloaded every single design from the beginning and were quite dismayed over the exit of the archives. So I posted that quote on the former archive directory page. I THINK everyone took it in the way it was intended and had a laugh, but I did get one email from someone who was quite offended. When I told her that I was just joking she understood and had a laugh at both herself and the quote.

Reality Bytes: What's Cooking?
Top Chef: I'm sorry to see Antonia go and don't know if I can bear another week of Lisa, but if either Stephanie or Richard win I'll be happy. But I'm rooting for Stephanie.
Hell's Kitchen: I don't think any of them will be able to run a restaurant for Gordon Ramsey, but I'm glad Matt is finally gone and I'm slightly favoring Corey.
The Next Food Network Star: Just one episode so far this season, so I can't really comment. My favorite, Amy Finley, won last year but I managed to find her show (The Gourmet Next Door) only one time. Now I read that she and her family have moved to Burgundy, France. I really liked the one show I did watch.

Okay, I don't cook. That doesn't mean I don't like watching other people cook especially when they're competing on a reality TV show.

That's it for me, this time, I think. TTYL!

Ann

Great Embroidery Mysteries - The Case of the Messy Alphabet

AnnTheGran — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:08:00 GMT

Digitizing Mystery

I began digitizing alphabets eight or nine years ago. I like doing it and I take a lot of pride in my work. You can imagine how distressed I was when I began receiving a few messages telling me that the capital and lower case letter "A' was appearing as a big mess in their various software programs. Because it wasn't happening to me in Catalog Xpress, I was at a loss for both an explanation and a solution. I did suggest several solutions and always at least one of them would work. And still I didn't know what caused the trouble or what the solution could be.

Case Closed

Finally I did get an explanation from someone who sounded very confident in her answer. I don't really understand it, but apparently when some software programs see the letter "A" they look for the rest of the alphabet, and if those files use the same naming convention then the program does us a big favor and piles all the letters on top of each other in the letter "A" design. Of course, this is NOT a favor that we want. Even though I don't quite understand it, this explanation led me to the simple solution: Change the name of the letter "A" files. You can see the process below:

If this happens to you, find the file in Windows Explorer, right click on it, select "rename" and type in the new name. This will work 100% of the time! (BTW, if you want the cross stitch Sherlock above, you'll find him in the Cross Stitch Category in the Free Designs section.)

Gadget Gabbery
I admit it, I'm a gal who lurves her gadgets. I'm also a gal who doesn't like to carry a large, or any for that matter, purse. I'd been lusting after a new cell phone for a long time. I was eligible for an upgrade and knew just which one I wanted. Finally the last straw came when I wanted to put an appointment in my PDA and it was dead as a doornail. I'd had the PDA for a long time and it didn't have a replaceable battery. I guess it had had its last recharge. So, I bit the bullet and got the phone I wanted. Now I can keep my cell phone, my PDA and my brag book in my back pocket. I could have put my music on there, too, but I didn't want to run down the battery listening to music when my iPod is so tiny and will play for hours and hours before needing a re-charge. It will also fit in my other back pocket.

Make A Soldier's Day
Which brings me to the next topic. We've got a box full of old cell phones. Often when I receive a package from amazon.com there's a plastic envelope in it as a way to send unused cell phones to soldiers so they can call home and talk to their families. Postage is free and it's a good feeling when you drop the envelope in the mail. If you don't shop at amazon.com, or haven't received one of these envelopes, click on the picture on the right to find and print a postage paid mailing label.

Reality Bytes
Last night something really special happened on America's Next Top Model (no comments from the peanut gallery, please). A normal (read size 10) young woman took the title and will appear in a 6 page spread in July's Seventeen magazine. Kudos to both the program and the magazine for showing our daughters and grand daughters that they don't have to be twigs to be beautiful. You can bet I'm getting a subscription for my 15 year old practically perfect grand daughter and will send a copy of the spread to my two practically perfect soon to be 12 year old grand daughters. I don't think they're ready for a subscription yet, do you? Oh, I hope not . . .

Wrapping up
Welcome to the blogosphere, Cathy and Pat. I see you're both already getting lots of response on your blogs. It's nice to have some company in here!

Can't think of anything else, so TTFN,

Ann

But first, a word from our sponsor . . .

AnnTheGran — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:48:00 GMT

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 lovely 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

Community Circle Thanks and Video Demonstrations

AnnTheGran — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:15:00 GMT

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

Framed Letters for a Personalized Nursery

atgadmin — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:29:00 GMT

For Diane Brown, embroidery started as a hobby to get away from all the stress of her job as a bank compliance officer. It didn’t take long, however, for her obsession to blossom into a new career. For a number of years she has been working behind the scenes in the development of software and embroidery designs that are fun and easy-to use. Creating embroidery software learning tools and fun projects that inspire creativity is her specialty. “Embroidery should always, always be fun” is Diane’s motto.

Using embroidery to make whole rooms come to life has become a real passion for Diane. Themed nurseries are her favorite, although she loves creating comfortable accessories for every room in the house. These simple framed letters were inspired by some very expensive accents but were a fraction of the cost. They were fun to make and they match the nursery to a T.

Diane's Description
I gasped when my daughter showed me some stamped, framed jumbo letters in a very popular magazine and said she would love to have them for the new baby’s nursery. But the price was astronomical. So, we used AnnTheGran’s Jumbo Alphabet, scraps from the nursery quilt, hand cut mats from cardstock and some simple white frames from the local discount store.

Step-by-step
1. Cut 4 8”X10” rectangles from fabrics of your choice. Spray starch your fabric if desired as this will help give you a professional finish.
2. Hoop fabric with a heavy weight stabilizer (tearaway or cut away should work fine). To be sure it is centered fold the fabric in half and finger crease both vertically and horizontially.
3. Choose threads that contrast with the fabric. Just a tip: I always use the same color thread in my bobbin as in the top when I do any type of lettering. Embroider the letters that you need. Cut the stabilizer even with the edges of the fabric.
4. Cut a piece of cardboard the size you want your mat opening to be. Use this as a template for cutting your mats. You can use precut mats if you like.
5. Place the mat face down on your work surface. Center the letter in the opening and glue the fabric front to the mat back. I left the stabilizer on and glued the edges of it down to the fabric as well.
6. Place the matted letters in the frame.
7. Note: If you have software you can resize these letters to 6” tall and then for all but the widest letters they fit perfectly in a 5X7 mat or frame.

What makes this project special?
I love being a grandmother and being able to make things that are loved by my daughters. It is fun to see a whole room take shape and know that there is no one else with one just like it.

Skill Level
Beginner

Products
My embroidery machine
AnnTheGran Jumbo Alphabet
Stabilize It! heavy cut-away stabilizer
embroidery thread
fabric

Time Investment
Two to three hours once all the supplies were gathered.

Why You Love This Project
It was for Anna – my precious new baby granddaughter.

Send Us Your Creations
Do you have any creations that go with a great story? If so, I'd love to hear about them, and see them! If I 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?
Diane's passion is room decor, particularly themed nurseries. Do you have a particular passion or specialty at which you excel? Click on the Comments link to tell us your area of expertise.

Embroidered Greetings Cards

atgadmin — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:14:00 GMT

Our international trend continues this week with a project from Jean Isley in England. Growing up during WW2, Jean did a lot of knitting and hand embroidery at a very young age. Her love of crafting carried over into her adult life and early this year she received an embroidery machine as a Golden Wedding anniversary gift. Already it is considered to be one of her most treasured presents and she is sharing her gift with others in both traditional and unique ways. Recently she took inspiration from some very old silk cards and has made some very special greeting cards for the most treasured people in her life. I'm honored that she is now sharing her story with our community.

Jean's Description
I am an English 'Crafter' very, very appreciative of your free embroidery designs. Using your free designs, I am busy making Christmas Greeting Cards to give to Members of our Carpet Bowls club. To date, I have made in excess of 30 cards - some in the form of postcards, some traditional cards.

Step by Step:
Download and convert design zip files to JEF format & Janome hoop sizes (or whatever format you need for your machine). Transfer to embroidery card ready for stitching design. To be 'frugal' with top and backing materials I like to use the B hoop and position designs to enable 4 designs to be stitched. I prefer to use muslin with stitch and tear stabilizer. When making 'envelope' cards in the style of WW1 sweetheart cards I use nylon to simulate silk with see through backing.

POSTCARDS: Templates of postcard back on computer - some plain reverse, some with designs on reverse. Stitched design is stuck on to this ready to accommodate the cut-out front. Various embellishments can be added to card for desired effect or before sticking to back, if preferred, front can be embossed.

TRADITIONAL CARDS:
Made as above with an extra piece of card fixed to left-hand edge and folded back to form an opening card.

What Makes This Project Special

Making greetings cards has become a passion. I make cards 'in the style of' WW1 silk cards send home by the troops to loved ones back home. Very time consuming but everyone who sees them falls in love with them, so I consider it to be time well spent.

Skill Level:
When the software has been mastered the possibilities are endless. I'm sure most computer literate people would be able to master the techniques.

Products
I use a Janome 300E Embroidery machine with Digitizer Pro software. Also necessary for the project is a computer and printer, embroidery designs, thread, compact flash discs, embosser and all the usual glues, peel-offs, embellishments etc. for card making.

Time Investment:
Quite time consuming. Obviously an elaborate stitched design takes much longer than a simple one. Assembly of the card can take up to 1 hour, thinking time takes longer in some cases more than others!!

Why I Love This Project
My husband bought my machine for a Golden Wedding Anniversary gift in April, 2007. Before that time I had done nothing like this at all. As a very small child, during WW2, I always had craft projects, mostly making knitted socks, gloves, and dolls dressed in uniforms to sell for the war effort. I even remember embroidering tablecloths on flour sacks (I have no idea where or how my mother was able to acquire the materials when everything was dependent on coupons). When a friend come across some WW1 silk cards that had belonged to her Grandmother, I thought they were beautiful and wondered how I could make cards remotely like them. The embroidery machine enables me to do this, but they take even more time to make & are left for very special occasions.

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?
Jean received her embroidery machine as a present for a very special anniversary. Click on the Comments link to share with us when and why you received your first embroidery machine.