Flying Geese Side of Cushion
Hour Glass Side of Cushion
I finished my cushion. I’m calling it my ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ cushion because the fabrics on each side are so different.
In the end it came together quite easily. I wondered how easy it would be to put a zip into two quilted pieces of fabric, but that was fine. Now I have to decide what block to do next.
You can find the machine embroidery designs here.
Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Quilting
Whale Stitching – density 4, pull compensation 0.1
I’ve been working on my digitising tutorials. I wanted to stitch something out and get an idea of what works on my machine. As you can see it is quite puckered and the black out line is quite off.
I reduced the density and increased the pull compensation in this one …
Density 5, pull compensation 0.3
The changes haven’t really made much difference. In my third (and final for a while) attempt I changed the angle of the fill from 90° to 80° and used the Create Outline from Fill tool.
Density 5, pull compensation 0.3, fill angle 80
The registration is still off (the outline is not exactly outlining the shapes). Things are improving, but I am not a fan of the densely stitched design, so I shall move on and come back to this later.
Filed under Digitizing, Machine Embroidery
I’m quite keen to create my own machine embroidery designs – more because I can’t find what I want. In November last year I bought Embird Studio and although I have mastered straight line designs (like this), I haven’t ventured into more complicated territory or taken advantage of the software’s feature.
I decided it was time to learn. I read the tutorials that came with Studio and that was quite a help, but I still felt a bit lost – it seemed that I would do something and it would work, but when I tried it again it wouldn’t work. I needed more instruction. In the end I bought Carolyn Keber’s ebook. I baulked at this at first – it is 770 pages long and quite expensive, but it is exhaustingly comprehensive and it is obvious that Ms Keber expended a lot of time putting it together.
The image above is my attempt at one of the early exercises (I haven’t finished yet). This is what it is meant to look like …
I’ve only read 60 pages, but I have already learnt quite a bit (like how to alter the direction of the fill) and I feel quite positive about the whole process.
Filed under Digitizing, Machine Embroidery, Software
I finished the easter t-shirts.
Both designs are from here. Miss P’s is crooked, but there was no way I was unpicking it and trying again!
Filed under Applique, Machine Embroidery
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.
Filed under Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery
A pinwheel block – foundation pieced using an embroidery machine. This one is done in four pieces and then joined together.
Filed under Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery
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.
Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Software
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.
Filed under Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery
This is my final card. The design is from here.
Just adding the design rather than trying to cover the front with fabric seemed to work better – not as crinkly.
Filed under Applique, Machine Embroidery
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.
Filed under Digitizing, Foundation Blocks, Machine Embroidery, Software
