I’ve interrupted work on the baby quilt to make the Easter T-Shirts this year we are going to have a crazy patchwork egg. I am going to foundation piece it using my embroidery machine. Above is the design I made using Embird Studio – this is the third version and I suspect their might be more.

Here it is stitched out …

The corners don’t meet properly and the top is a bit pointy – onto version 4.

]]> http://sewwitty.com/2012/03/12/foundation-piecing-using-embroidery-machine/feed/ 0 http://sewwitty.com/2011/12/09/flying-geese-block-foundation-pieced-with-embroidery-machine/ http://sewwitty.com/2011/12/09/flying-geese-block-foundation-pieced-with-embroidery-machine/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:39:45 +0000 SewWitty http://sewwitty.com/?p=1378

I finished testing my flying geese block – it took three attempts.

I made this block using foundation (or paper) piecing on my embroidery machine. I digitised the design using Embird Studio.

The final design size is 138.4 mm by 139.6 mm.

Read this if you’re interested in using your embroidery machine to foundation piece – it does make for very accurate piecing, but your limited by the size of the embroidery hoop.

I made these blocks into a cushion cover. I just added borders until it was big enough -the back has an envelope closure (no zip!)

Next time I must remember to finish the edges of the construction seams – it’s not something you do when quilting (because the raw edges will be inside the quilt sandwich) – and it didn’t occur to me until it was too late to finish some of the border seams.

I’ve been using my embroidery machine to make foundation pieced quilt blocks. This makes for greater accuracy. I wrote a tutorial about it a few years ago – you can find it here. There are also a few free designs available for download (hour glass, snail trail, water lily and picture frame).

I digitised the log cabin myself. In the past I have used Thred as my digitising software – it’s free and they’re heaps of tutorials on how to use it. However, the limited number of colour changes meant that I had outgrown it. So I purchased Embird Studio, which is the digitising plug-in for the Embird package. I’ve been using Embird for years to convert, rezize, merge, etc designs, so I feel confident that Studio will meet my needs.

I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find designs that I like – most are frumpy, over-filled, too sentimental and just boring, so I mean to design my own.

I’ve made a patchwork card to go with this quilt present.  I foundation piece the block (using my embroidery machine) and then attach it to the card using double-sided sticky tape.

You can find the embroidery files on my Machine Embroidery Page.

I finished the T-Shirt for Miss P.

Here is a close up of the front …

The Water Lily blocks were foundation pieced using my embroidery machine – you can find the design here. I attach the block using a blanket stitch (width 2.5mm and length 1.5mm). I also used Vliesofix to get the appliques to stay in place while stitching.

It’s been a very long time since my last post – I’ve had an awful throat infection and had little motivation to craft. The above is four water lily blocks that I’m making for Miss P (Miss A has the Kimono blocks).

Once again I’ve used my embroidery machine to piece the blocks (much easier to get identical blocks that way). The original design is from here.

I’ve added the jef (janome) file to my designs page. I can convert it to other file formats. There is also a tutorial on how to foundation piece using an embroidery machine.

I have managed to finish another shirt for Miss A. I’ve used a foundation pieced Kimono block.

Here’s a closer image …

The block design is from Linda Hampton Schiffer and Jodie Davis’s book Victorian Quilt Block Designs. I then digitised a machine embroidery design and stitched it out on my embroidery machine. I’ve written instructions on using an embroidery machine to foundation piece here.

I’m quite happy with the results although the block is slightly crooked on the shirt! Now for Miss P – anyone know where I can find a pattern for a foundation pieced dinosaur?

Here is a close up of the front …

I put a dragonfly on the back…

It is for a little boy in P’s class. Both the frog and dragonfly are from here and the patchwork Pictureframe I digitised myself and you can download it from here.

I made this block using my embroidery machine – there are instructions on this page on how to use an embroidery machine for foundation piecing. Here is the design – it’s free to use, but don’t sell the design.

sewwittypictureframe

NOTE: The font is not included in the download just the quilt block. Also, it is in jef (janome) format. I’m happy to provide other formats just let me know what you need.