Category Archives: Digitizing

Sampler Quilt – Courthouse Steps

Sewwitty's Courthouse Steps

Sewwitty’s Courthouse Steps

Well, true to my last post, I have been working on the sampler quilt. The above is my second courthouse steps sub-block – each block requires 4 and sometimes 8 sub-blocks. The blocks with rectangular pieces, like above, a much quicker to sew (not like the Bachelor’s Puzzle block). It is much easier to cut the right shape when it is a rectangle particularly when you stitch it down and then flip it into place. The number of times I flip it into place only to find the finished piece is too small!

 

1 Comment

Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Patchwork

Bears Paw Block is Finished

Finished Bears Paw Block

Finished Bears Paw Block

This is the third of my foundation pieced blocks.

I can’t say I am that thrilled with my fabric choice, but I am determined to get this quilt finished.

Next up is Courthouse Steps.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery

Bachelor’s Puzzle Block Finished

Finished Bachelor's Puzzle

Finished Bachelor’s Puzzle

This is my second attempt at this block. In the previous version the finished block was too small – I forgot about seam allowances when I digitised the block!

Two blocks down ten to go.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery

Blackwork Sampler

I have done a practice stitch out of my sampler.

Stitching away

Stitching away

Here is the finished version …

Finished Sampler

Finished Sampler

My sewing machine had a bit of a moment at one point – the bobbin and top threads got all tangled, there was a horrible noise and it ground to a halt, however, I am happy with the final results. I think more stabilisation and a nicer fabric and it will be fine.

2 Comments

Filed under Cross Stitch, Digitizing, Machine Embroidery

Digitising Blackwork

We have been away at Rottnest. Miss P went on camp and we decided to go too. It is such a relaxing place to go – no cars, nothing to do but read books and knit. I’ve made progress on Miss P’s cardigan (the yarn is Jo Sharp Desert Aran Cotton).

Sunrise over the salt lake

Sunrise over the salt lake

Sunset from our cottage

Sunset from our cottage

On the way to the look out

On the way to the look out

Salt Lake

Salt Lake – a different one

Progress on Miss P's Cardigan

Progress on Miss P’s Cardigan

Blackwork Sampler in Progress

Blackwork Sampler in Progress

I like grids, lines and crosses and I have always loved the look of Blackwork – I love how something so simple can be effective.

I have been inspired by this book to make my own blackwork sampler (using machine embroidery). I didn’t want to copy that one exactly, so I have used different fills. There are a number of blackwork resources on the web (simply search for blackwork embroidery). I found this one, which lead me to this page on 16th Century fill in patterns.

This is still quite experimental – I think it might end up being too small and the jump threads might test my sanity.

I’m using the Cross Stitch module of Embird, which is super easy to use and it comes with some built in blackwork fills (but I have decided to make my own).

I am wondering what kind of stabiliser I need? There are a lot of stitches and I suspect I need a sturdy stabiliser to stop it puckering.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Cross Stitch, Digitizing, Knitting, Machine Embroidery

Another Quilt Block Finished

A Finished Bachelors Puzzle Block

A Finished Bachelors Puzzle Block

I finished the block a few weeks ago, but it has taken me a while to photograph it (not sure why it really doesn’t take that long).

This block consists of 4 smaller sub-units and then each sub-unit consists of two smaller units – does that make sense?

I used my embroidery machine and the whole block took about an hour to complete – I am not sure if this foundation piecing by embroidery machine is such a good idea. Sure it is very accurate, but it is fiddly and time consuming and I can never work out how big to make each piece because you have to stitch and flip.

Next up the final version of Bears Paws – although I suspect there will be some procrastination in the way! After all I do have a sock to finish.

1 Comment

Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery

And so it Begins …

Altar Steps Block

Altar Steps Block

So I have finally started the sampler quilt. The above is an Altar Steps block, which consists of four smaller blocks (see here). There will be five of these blocks in the quilt.

I’ve discovered it is quicker to cut all of the fabric for one smaller block before beginning the block. If in doubt the piece of fabric is going to be too small!

The final quilt consists of five of each of my sampler blocks (there are 12) and an extra 3 blocks ( I haven’t decided on the extras I suspect it will be the easier to make blocks!), so that makes a total of 63 blocks (5 × 12 + 3). Only 62 blocks to go …

Leave a Comment

Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Patchwork

Bear’s Paw Block Finished

Bear's Paw Block Finished

Bear’s Paw Block Finished

I stitched this out yesterday and it worked the first time so rare!

This is the last block I wanted to digitise for my sampler quilt. Now it is simply a matter of getting on with it.

1 Comment

Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Patchwork

Bear’s Paws Block Being Digitised as a Foundation Block

Today is the last day of school holidays. I like school holidays – not having to be anywhere by a particular time, much more relaxed mornings, but it is a bit more difficult to get any jobs done that require concentration.

I want to digitise one more block for my foundation block quilt. I’ve spent a bit of time considering different traditional blocks – Arkansas Star, Attic Windows, Birds in the Air, Fox and Geese, Jacob’s Ladder – and rejecting them as too hard or requiring too many stitch outs.

In the end I decided on Bear’s Paw, which requires two stitch outs.

Bear's Paw Block

Bear’s Paw Block

The above image is four bear’s paw blocks – with some extra bits in the middle.

My block is more like this …

Bear's Paw -  One Block

Although it is all straight lines and you would think easy to digitise, I did need to think about how to split it and then what dimensions to use to get this block to be the same size as my other blocks – I knew that maths degree would come in handy some time!

I split into two sections …

Bear's Paw Split

Bear’s Paw Split

And then used Embird Studio to digitise each stitch out (I did this separately).

BearPaw_01 BearPaw_02

And then joined them using the merge feature in Embird Manager. Once I had the numbers sorted, it was all relatively easy. Now I just need to test it out!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Patchwork

Digitised Bachelor’s Puzzle Quilt Block

SewWitty's Bachelor's Puzzle

SewWitty’s Bachelor’s Puzzle

This is 1/4 of my Bachelor’s Puzzle block.  I did this in two pieces and then joined them, which means the finished block will have 8 pieces – I might be getting a bit carried away.

I have one more block to go to make 12, but I haven’t got one in mind yet.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Digitizing, Machine Embroidery, Patchwork