If you haven’t yet, be sure you get signed up for the newsletter here. In next week’s newsletter, October 21st, there will be a special link for you to get the two free Halloween lollipop holders.
These make great treats for a special someone or are perfect as a party favor.
These sweet in-the-hoop designs are made entirely in the 4 x 4 hoop and are stitched on felt.
I want to share with you Embroidery It’s newest designs called Ornament Overlays.
If you have a group of people you want to give a small gift to this Christmas, then look no further. These make perfect gifts for your Sunday School class, Bunco group, quilt guild and so much more. If you are hosting a Christmas party they make great party favors for your guests.
They are made entirely in the 4 x 4 hoop and require just a dot of tacky glue to hold in place on the ornament.
I used both glass and plastic ornaments and also used several sizes. Fun, easy and cute!
I’m working to grow my business here and am asking you for help. Would you please share this website with your embroidery lovin’ friends through word-of-mouth, social media or you could even fly a blimp with Embroidery It plastered on it. 🙂
To receive these designs you will need to be a subscriber to my newsletter. Then in the October 21st newsletter, there will be a special link directing you to these designs. It will only be offered in the newsletter as a way for me to say thank you to all of you who subscribe.
I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate each and every one of you!!!!
The letter E has been released in both 3 super sizes and 3 regular sizes. The oversized letter E requires hoops larger than a 5 x 7 and the regular sizes can be made in the 5 x 7 and 4 x 4 hoop. Please see the description both here on the website and in the Embroidery It Etsy store for exact measurements.
It is a good size for those large monogramming needs.
I have just returned from a visit to Kansas to spend some time with my parents and to help my dad get settled into his new room…..in the nursing home. Sigh…I did not want him to go to the nursing home but he requires more care than what mom and the home health nurses can give him.
A month ago he was hospitalized due to blood clots in his legs. He was in the hospital for 6 days then transferred to rehab. All this, nursing home, rehab, and independent living apartment where my mom lives are in the same large complex. The rehab was in a separate building.
His time at rehab had come to an end and the physical and occupational therapists felt like Dad had plateaued and was not getting any stronger. He just wasn’t able to return to the apartment with mom.
So we got him settled into the nursing home. This is where I started my nursing career 30 years ago and worked for 5 years first as a nurse’s aide and then as an RN. I consider it to be the best nursing home around but still, anyway you slice it, it is still a nursing home and it makes me sad to see my dad in there and not with mom.
On the plus side, Dad is in a private room at the end of a hall so it is a bit quieter down there. Another plus is that the nursing home is connected to the apartments so Mom can go and visit him without having to go outside or drive. Take note of Mom’s new toy! I gave her a speed limit with that thing. 🙂
Another huge plus, although Dad is weak and requires much assistance, he still has his mind and he is not in pain. I call him every day and when I ask him how he feels he usually says he feels “reasonable”. Mom eats lunch with Dad in the nursing home every day so that is nice. He could go and visit her in the apartment but thus far he has not wanted to go that far and I think perhaps it he doesn’t want the memories or the sight of what he is missing.
It is all very sad for me to watch but I know God is caring for them and His plan never fails.
Friends, I feel so blessed to be able to visit them and as I have said before I will be going down there every month while we have Dad with us. When he passes I will move Mom up here with me in Michigan. This has been planned for several years now. I am also so thankful to be able to share with you and to know that you understand when there is no newsletter or any word from me that I am with my parents and that I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Thank you all for your continued prayers. They mean the world to me and my parents.
I want to give you a quick reminder to be sure to grab the “Let’s Celebrate Pennant Banner H” now available for FREE at the bottom of the home page.
Also, I would like to ask a favor of you. Instead of just sharing the letter H with your embroidery friends, would you be so kind to send them over here to my website and let them grab it from here. Also let them know to sign up for my weekly newsletter so I can update them as each new letter is released as well as inform them as to the goings on here at Embroidery It. It would mean the world to me!
You are getting your homes all spiffed up in beautiful colors of golds reds and browns. Fall is such a gorgeous time of year.
To help with your decorating needs The Banner Acorn has been released. It is designed to coordinate with the Banner Letters which are available in the Etsy store. You can get the Banner Acorn HERE.
The banner items can be used to decorate your front door, office, classroom, dorm room and camper. They are a freestanding applique that you can use any fabric to match your room. The button holes are the final stitch stop and can be eliminated so the acorn becomes an applique which is perfect for a fall hot pad or placemats and more!
As for me, I’ve been spending time doing some fall cleaning and adding my fall décor touches here and there in our home which gives it a feeling of warmth and coziness on these cooler days.
Today’s post is brought to you by the letter D! Hehehe…Remember that from Sesame Street Days?
Oh my goodness. I don’t know how or why I even thought of that.
Anyway, I’m writing to let you know that I’ve posted the oversized script and regular sized script letter D in the Embroidery It Etsy shop for only $1.00. It will remain at that introductory price for about a week so now is the time to grab it.
A great “D” word is Daddy if you want to embroider a special man something nice.
Actually today will be more show than tell. I have been participating in the Farm Girl Vintage quilt along from the Fat Quarter Shop using Lori Holt’s book Farm Girl Vintage. I love these scrappy country quilts. In this quilt there are 42 blocks! That is a lot of fabric cutting friends. 🙂 I post my quilt pics on Instagram if you would like to follow along. For now though I hope you enjoy the handful of pictures I’ve selected for you here.
It has been a good week. We’ve been to visit Emily at college and meet some of her sorority sisters as well as take her out to dinner one evening.
I feel productive in that we have accomplished much around the house this week so things just feel in order and feel peaceful. I need that. I strive for calm and peace in our home. More often than not it isn’t this way. It isn’t necessarily chaos, but I don’t like it when I have that nagging feeling that this or that needs to be done. So as I go to bed tonight I am thankful.
But before I go to bed, I want to give a quick reminder to grab the Let’s Celebrate Banner Letter G while it is free on the website homepage. It will be here until Wednesday when I will change it to the letter H. After that point it goes up for sale in the Embroidery It Etsy shop.
Sending each of you a warm hug and I’m hoping you have had a simply wonderful week.
Fall is just around the corner here. In fact the other morning I woke up to 44 degree temperatures and I’ve seen the first of the leaves starting to turn. I love the colors of fall but I don’t necessarily like what comes after fall. We get way too much snow up here.
Anyway, in being inspired by the cooler temperatures I created a fun in-the-hoop fall gift box set. In the hoop projects are some of my favorite when doing machine embroidery and I hope you enjoy them too.
These sweet little gift boxes are just the right size to hold a few pieces of candy, a bar of homemade soap, a piece of jewelry or other small gift.
They require a 5 x 7 hoop to make them and there are 4 different designs in this set. All you need is a piece of felt and a piece of fabric, both about 5 1/2″ square and a little ribbon or yarn. You can find the set HERE in the Embroidery It Etsy store.
And if you want more, there is a Spring Set which can be found HERE.
Just want to write a quick note here that the oversized monogram letter B is available for only $1.00 until Wednesday. It will then go to it’s regular price as it is replaced with the letter C.
The oversized letters come in three sizes to fit the 6 x 10 hoop and larger. There is a regular size set with three sizes to fit the 5 x 7 and 4 x 4 hoops. Exact sizes are on the website home page or on the Etsy shop item description.
I placed the bobbin in the picture so you can get a good idea of the size.
These oversized monograms are a fun way to personalize a variety of items around the house. Monogrammed pillows make for great Christmas and wedding gifts.
The letter F in the Let’s Celebrate machine embroidered banner has just been released. Get it for free this week down at the bottom of my home page. All previous letters are available in the Embroidery It Etsy store for just $1.50 each.
You can use these letters to create words and make decorations for a party. Or you can spell out seasonal words and phrases and use the banner as a home décor item. Banners are hugely popular these days and creating these banners is a fun, easy and quick project.
The letters have just a hint of applique and the edges are intentionally left a little big raggedy for that homespun look. I’ve stitched mine that you see in the photos on felt and then trimmed about 1/4 inch outside the decorative stitching with pinking shears.
I’m happy to announce the debut of oversized machine embroidery monograms!
Now that I have a larger machine I am excited to try larger size digitizing and I’m starting with my script monograms.
Each letter is/will be offered individually in 3 sizes which require hoops larger than 5 x 7.
These oversized monograms will be perfect for items such a pillows, seat covers, grill covers, Christmas tree skirts, wall hangings and so much more.
Currently one letter is released at a time – approximately a new letter each week. As each new letter is released it will be offered for only $1.00 which will be %50 off the regular price.
Now for those of you whose hoop size is 5 x 7 or smaller, never fear. A regular size set of the same letter, again in 3 sizes is also available. As with the oversized set, this regular sized set is also offered at an introductory price of only $1.00.
These smaller sized monograms will look beautiful on items such as shirts, jackets and more!
Enjoy working with monograms friends. I’d love to hear what you enjoy stitching monograms on.
Since I’ve been back from Kansas I’ve spent a little time playing with my new embroidery machine. I also took a class on it yesterday. I’m still pinching myself each time I go into my sewing room. Dreams really do come true friends!
So in addition to the oversized monograms that I’ve been creating, I’ve also been just playing around and trying out the different features of the machine. Here what I did was combine a design with built in lettering and worked on lining it all up and centering it.
One of the things I’m doing is I’m making some garden flags as Christmas gifts. I’m doing the embroidery on burlap as that is so popular these days. I used a tear away stabilizer on the back. The large split letter is from 8 Claws and a Paw and the smaller letters are built into my embroidery machine.
Burlap appliques quite nice. In the top two photos, burlap was hooped.
Now this next design was stitched onto osnaburg fabric. You can find this fabric in with the utility fabrics at your local JoAnn’s. I LOVE osnaburg. It is a natural cotton and I use it in a lot of projects, particularly when I make rag quilts. Anyway, I learned something about my machine. Here I am using the 8 x 14 hoop. I have hooped the osnaburg as well as the tear away stabilizer. Osnaburg is lighter weight in comparison to the burlap. I just could not get a tight enough hooping that I had a problem with puckering. Next time I should try using the screw driver to tighten the hoop and also I think that with using the large hoop that it might be wise to use an adhesive to attach the fabric to the stabilizer.
There is a learning curve to this machine for sure!
What is on your embroidery machine these days? I’d love to hear!
Let’s Celebrate Pennant Banner letter E has just been released and is available right here for free for one week only. Just scroll down to the bottom of this page to instantly download the machine embroidery file. Embroidery Design is available in PES, JEF, HUS, VIP, VP3 and DST. It requires a 5 x 7 embroidery hoop.
If you haven’t yet signed up for my weekly newsletter, be sure to take a moment to do so. The newsletter is sent once a week to remind you when new letters and new designs become available.
I just wanted to share with you a short YouTube video showing Brother’s newest embroidery machine, the Persona. Just click on the picture above to start the video.
If you have been looking at new machines like I had been, take a look at this. Here are the features I like about it:
It doesn’t take up as much space as a traditional single needle sewing/embroidery machine
You can easily embroidery on sleeves, pant legs, onesies and shirts without worrying about catching the back side of the fabric under the embroidery.
8 x 8 hoop
Includes a cap frame to embroider on caps
It’s really a neat machine and I’m glad to see Brother thinking outside the box for home embroiderers.
Now if you’ve been reading my blog, you know I just got a new machine while at the AQS show. This new Persona was not at the quilt show so I did not get to see it in person but I don’t think it would have changed my mind as I was pretty set on getting a 10 needle but Wow, what a great new option for the home embroiderer. I expect this to be the start of the next generation of home embroidery machines.
Finally, because I know you are going to ask, a little birdie told me it will retail around the $5,000 mark.
If you have been wanting a fun fall in-the-hoop project, I have a great one for you now. It is the Reverse Applique Fall Set and it is now available in my Etsy store. The set consists of three designs: a pumpkin, maple leaf, and apple.
Reverse applique is a fun and easy machine embroidery technique and it allows for several options.
Clear vinyl is used to reveal candy, a small treat, or you could even fill with coins for someone special. They are filled through a little pocket which is created on the back side using two pieces of felt.
Here, instead of using the vinyl I used the design as a fall frame of a photo. These are my babies when they were having some fall fun in a pile of leaves. The apple would be sweet to hold a picture of a child’s first day of school photo.
I create all these with felt and in this one, I’ve covered the top piece of felt with some pretty fall fabric. Finally, a hanger is optional on all the designs.
I simply love in-the -hoop projects. I’ve included lots of step-by-step full color photos along with the instructions.
What a fun, Fun, FUN week! The American Quilter’s Society held their convention right here in Grand Rapids, my back yard. Talk about an inspirational overload – in a good way 🙂 Fabric, Cool Tools, Patterns, Classes, and so much more.
Enjoy a few pictures I took and you will also see my new toy. It is my birthday, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and anniversary gift for about the next 5 years. I’m so excited.
My favorite booth was The Whole Country Caboodle. Oh my gosh I wanted everything there! It was seriously a 10 on the cuteness factor.
They didn’t allow photography where the gallery of quilts were displayed, but this quilt was at the Gall Sewing and Vacuum booth and was the most adorable quilt there. I wish it was on a plain background so you could really sit the effect of it. It is actually suspended from the ceiling in the middle of their booth. The backgrounds of each photo on the film strip were printed on fabric and then embroidered with the Disney character. We are huge Disney fans. LOVE!
This was also the booth where I got my new toy. I’ve been looking at these machines for over 2 years now and I ended up purchasing the show floor model. It is brand new except for the use at the show so it has all the warranties plus they threw in lots of extras at the best price I have ever been quoted over these two years. Can you hear my squeal? I’m just super excited! Someone pinch me.
The American Quilter’s Society holds these conventions at various locations across the United States. If you ever get an opportunity to attend one, don’t pass it up. You won’t be disappointed.
