In Part 1 I digitised my letters. Now I’m going to stitch them out and attach them to a towel.

I like use calico (Quilters muslin) as a stabiliser for my T-Shirt and Towel appliques. It seems to work really well for me.

As you can see, I hoop the fabric as well. For some other projects I don’t hoop the fabric just the stabiliser, but I’ll save that for another day.

I then stitch out the letters…

I use Robinson-Anton Rayon Embroidery thread and Janome bobbin fill (I resent having to buy the Janome Bobbin fill, but it does seem to work the best). It’s also a good idea to change the sewing machine needle every 8 hours or so.

I then cut out the letters. I usually do this while watching T.V.

I’m now ready to attach them to a towel.

I spray the back of the letters with a basting spray - currently I’m using Craft Smart Applique and Embroidery Positioning Spray (I also use this to attach fabric to the stabiliser when I don’t want to hoop the fabric). I bought it from Spotlight.

I use low tac masking tape on the towel to mark a straight line and I place the middle letter of the name in the centre of the towel - the spray will make them stick (just temporarily).

I then attach the letter. I use an ‘invisible’ thread in the needle and a bobbin thread in a colour to match the towel (in this case white). I use Sulky Invisible Thread, which you can get from here.

I sew the remaining letters using the same method - working outwards from the centre. For example, with a name like Karen I would start with the r, then the a, then the e, then the K and finally the n.

I would show you the finished product, but this one is a gift and I don’t want anyone to see it before them, but here is one I prepared earlier…

In the end I bought a Janome 1600p

I’m really pleased with it - it seems to do everything I want. I was a bit disappointed that it didn’t come with the darning foot (for stippling) or the even feed foot,  but I will buy those in the next week or two.

The quilt in the picture I have been working on for some time (off and on). I stopped the last time because quilting on my MC9000 was just a bit too hard. In the past couple of days I have made huge progress. I’m using an invisible thread to do my quilting and it kept breaking - very annoying. I worked out that the bit coming off the reel was threaded under cotton still on the reel - I had to cut it off and waste a bit, but now it’s working brilliantly.

On a completely different note - my fabric arrived from equilter! How quick was that? And it’s lovely, exactly what I expected, which is a good thing given that I ordered it over the internet.