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Blog posts tagged with 'embroidery designs'

Bobbin Work

Bobbin work allows you to embroider designs with beautiful textured threads and ribbon— threads that cannot be sewn through the needle. For best results, you not only need a specially digitized design but you need to modify your technique and make some machine adjustments.

 

Please note: Bobbin work requires some testing and adjusting of your machine tensions. Please refer to your machine manual or consult your sewing machine dealer for specific help with your machine.

 

Supplies

 

  • Design specifically digitized for bobbin work
  • Heavier threads such as Pearl Crown Rayon, 2mm silk ribbon, Madeira Decora 6, other decorative threads and fibers generally used for bobbin work. (Note: Heavier yarns are not recommended due to the short amount you will be able to wind on the bobbin.)
  • Monofilament invisible (polyester or nylon) upper thread
  • 70/10 or 75/11 embroidery needle
  • Specialty or second bobbin case
  • Screw driver for adjusting bobbin case tension
  • Fabric, stabilizer

 

Preparation: Filling the Bobbin

 

Bobbins can be wound by hand or by machine. If winding by machine, wind slowly. Since you probably will not be able to run the thread through the normal thread guides, use your fingers to control the winding tension. Be careful not to wind too tightly or too loosely.

 

Be sure to check the amount of thread on the bobbin each time you start a new design. If the bobbin runs out during stitching:

 

  • Remove the hoop
  • Thread the “tail” to the back (top side of hoop_ using the tapestry or chenille needle
  • Wind and insert a new bobbin
  • Replace the hoop
  • Reposition the needle to where the “tail” comes to the back
  • Bring the bobbin thread to the wrong side by hand as when beginning a design
  • Continue stitching the design

 

Avoid using heavier yarns as you will not be able to wind enough on the bobbin to complete a single design. I tried winding a textured knitting yarn and only got about 30” on the bobbin before it was full.

 

Preparation: Machine Tensions

 

Most home embroidery machines have automatic tensioning that cause the top (needle) thread to be pulled to the bottom side of the hooped fabric. This is perfect for traditional embroidery because under proper tensions, the bobbin thread will never be seen on the design side.

 

However, with bobbin work, the design will be sewn on the bobbin side using thread many times heavier than embroidery bobbin thread. Also, monofilament thread is quite thin and slips through the tensions easily. These three issues will require tension adjustments to accommodate the thread weights and to prevent the monofilament from pulling through to the design side.

 

Proper bobbin and needle thread tensions will take some trials. Use a small design and be sure to test with the same weight and type of thread you will be using in your project.

 

Using a separate bobbin case for bobbin work will make switching between specialty stitching and standard easier and more enjoyable. Be sure to label your bobbin cases if they do not look different. Be sure to read the manual for your machine; some threads may be so heavy that bypassing certain tensioners is the best route. I found that with Pearl Crown Rayon I had to loosen the tension screw on the bobbin case quite a bit (be careful not to unscrew it all the way!) and raise the needle thread tension for a good result.

 

How much should you loosen the tension? I suggest inserting embroidery bobbin thread in your regular case and feeling the tension of the thread as you pull it through the bobbin. This should give an idea for what the tension should feel like after adjusting for a heavier thread. If you have a front loading bobbin case, you might try the “bobbin drop test.” Hold the threaded bobbin in one hand by the thread tail with the other hand cupped a few inches below. Give a little jerk on the tail and see if the bobbin drops a bit. If the bobbin doesn’t drop, loosen some more; if it drops a lot, tighten a bit.

 

Allow plenty of time for testing since you can’t see the results until you remove the hoop from the machine because they are on the bottom. Chances are that you won’t be pulling these heavy threads to the back of the embroidery but you don’t want the needle thread pulled to the design side.

 

While you’re at your machine, turn off the automatic thread cutter if your machine has one and slow your machine down.

 

Preparation: Fabric

 

The only trick here is remembering that the right side of the fabric faces the bed of the machine and the stabilizer goes on top. In general, bobbin work designs are open and lower stitch count, which means a lower distortion type of design. Choose an appropriate stabilizer for the fabric. I prefer to use a light-weight, no-show cutaway when the stabilizer can stay in. Tearaways can be difficult to remove since these designs do not have a lot of needle penetrations to perforate this type of stabilizer. You may want to choose a water soluble product.

 

Embroidering the Design

 

Advance your machine to the first stitch in the design. Manually turn the hand wheel of the machine to pull the bobbin thread to the top. Many machines will sink the needle in the center of the design and then travel to the first stitch. If you pull the thread up here and the design doesn’t start in the center, you will probably end up embroidering over a long thread tail later in the design.

 

Hold both thread tails for the first couple of stitches; do not trim.

 

You may get better stitch formation if you slow your machine down.

 

When the design is finished, leave a bobbin thread tail several inches long. Pull the bobbin thread to the back or use a tapestry needle to inserted near the stitch to bring the tail to the wrong side. Tie off the starting and ending thread tail with a knot close to the fabric to secure if desired and trim threads to about one inch long.

 

Other Notes:

You will need to change the bobbin whenever you want to switch to a new color. Stop the machine, remove the hoop and follow the steps for running out of thread.

 

Piecing in the Hoop Basics
Piecing in the Hoop Basics

Piecing in the hoop replicates the process of foundation piecing, also known as paper piecing. If you’ve done foundation piecing with the sewing machine, you will immediately grasp the concept. While a little more intensive than regular embroidery, this technique really only requires attention to detail.

Use the patterns to pre-cut all your pieces. You can spray templates with TESA, swipe with a glue stick, or print on fusible paper and apply to the front of your fabric pieces for cutting. Be sure to keep the pattern piece attached until ready to place the fabric in the hoop to avoid using the wrong piece.

Skill Level

Basic embroidery and rotary cutting skills

All squares finish the same even though their dimensions may vary slightly due to some stitching lines extending beyond the finished seam line. Similarly, all small triangles finish to the same size and large triangles are the same size.

What You’ll Need

  • Suitable fabrics for blocks, pre-washed and pressed (Tip: If fabrics are especially soft, starching can reduce distortion when stitching.)
  • Printed block patterns and templates
  • Rotary cutter, quilting ruler, and mat
  • TESA (Temporary embroidery spray adhesive) or water-soluble fabric glue stick
  • Stabilizer—I used Sulky Soft n Sheer. You’ll be using heat to press the pieces in place and water-soluble fiber stabilizers can shrink with heat.
  • Appliqué tacking iron
  • Double curve appliqué scissors
  • An embroidery machine with a minimum sewing field of 5.75” x 5.75” for the blocks

 

What’s Included with the Collection

  • Twenty-two designs digitized for piecing in the hoop
  • Full size patterns and templates for each block
  • Color sequence PDF with images of sample block
  • This instructional PDF
  • Quilt-As-You-Go Basics ebook
  • PDF for making a journal cover
  • Basic notes for

Watch How-Tos on YouTube

If you’ve never done piece-in-the hoop or paper piecing before, the process can seem overly complicated.

You can watch me stitch the heart from this set in the following YouTube video:

    • How to Stitch Victorian Crazy Piecing In-the-Hoop
    • Also, please check the website for new projects using these designs as well as specials and informative blog posts. At the time of this writing, there are two blog posts on this set:
    • How To Embroider Victorian Crazy Patch In-The-Hoop
    • How To Make An Embroidered Journal Cover

Preliminary Notes

If you’ve done foundation or paper piecing, you’ll notice there are a few variations:

  1. In paper piecing, fabric is applied to the back side of the printed pattern and the sewing is done on the printed side. When embroidering pieced blocks, all sewing is done from the fabric side.
  2. In paper piecing, excess fabric is trimmed off as you go by folding back the pattern and rotary cutting. When embroidering pieced blocks, excess fabric is trimmed off as you go with double-curved appliqué scissors.

 

Understanding the Patterns

 

Each design in this set except the border has a PDF pattern sheet.

 

For the border, cut 22 pieces 8” x 1”; the pieces are applied from the top down.

 

All pattern pieces are numbered with an arrow pointing to the side that will be initially attached.

 

This number indicates what order the pieces will be applied.

 

The first piece has a reminder to place it face up; all other pieces will be placed face down (right sides together)

 

Exact cutting is not required but I recommend not getting too sloppy about it. The outer edges have a ½” seam allowance while all the inner seam lines are ¼”. This extra bit gives you some “fudge factor” around the outside.

 

There are no digital cutter files included with this set, only the PDF for hand cutting. Because of the variety of fabrics you’ll be using and the simple straight line shapes and the fact that these aren’t appliques that require precise cutting, I found it easier just to cut these pieces with a rotary cutter or scissors.

 

Understanding the Color Sequences

 

All the designs except the border sew in generally the same order:

 

  1. A placement line is sewn that indicates the seam line for the finished blocks. This line will only be seen from the back of the project.
  2. Color 2 sews a numbered guideline for the placement of all the pieces. The seam lines will be sewn directly over these lines.
  3. Color 3 is an “edge guide” to help you with placing the fabrics. This line is set at a 1/4” offset from the seam lines. This is a handy reference particularly if you aren’t very precise with cutting or placing your pieces as it can tell you right away if you’re fabric isn’t going to get caught in the next seam.
  4. Color 4 will tack down the first piece of fabric in the design. This piece is always placed face up.
  5. Before color 5, place piece 2 face down along the indicated line. (Refer to the included pattern guide.) Color 5 sews the seam line.
  6. Before color 6, flip the fabric over and finger press the fabric smooth and flat. You can hold the fabric in place with a bit of glue stick. Color 7 will sew a tack down that will get covered by subsequent pieces or be enclosed within the seam allowance.

Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all the pieces are placed. Although I’ve set different colors in the design, I typically sew all of this first part in 1 color. The extra colors are to force the machine to stop.

It’s totally possible to stop the design at this point; all the piecing is done and your block can be used as is (exception is the heart, which requires the next to last color to stitch the appliqué).

The remainder of the design is all the decorative stitching. I’ve used a variety of colors here for flexibility. Color stops not only make it easy for you to match threads to your fabrics, they also make it easy to skip or delete areas.

Refer to the included color sequence guide for additional color information.

All seams are double pass so there is no need to use construction thread for the piecing steps. You may want to use polyester embroidery thread instead of rayon for strength.

Preparation

1. Print the pattern pieces.

Open the corresponding design PDF in Acrobat and print the full size pattern and corresponding pattern templates. Make sure Acrobat does not scale the pattern. For your convenience, a 1” square is printed on the first page of each block’s templates for easy verification.

You might want to print 2 copies: 1 for cutting and 1 for placement reference while stitching.

 

 

 

2. Cut your fabrics.

Loosely cut out the patterns, swipe the back with a glue stick and press it to the front of your fabric. Cut out neatly.

While absolute precision is not required, avoid getting too careless with your cutting and making the pieces too large or too small.

3. Hoop the stabilizer.

Piecing in the hoop is a floated technique. Because of all the extra embellishments, a tearaway may break down during stitching in some areas. And, since the designs are relatively open and delicate, tearaways can be difficult to remove.

On similar projects I’ve used heat fusible to hold the pieces after stitching but I didn’t for these designs.

Hooping a thin stabilizer may not be secure in your hoop. If it isn’t use some method to make sure it won’t slip. I prefer duct tape for this.

4. Stitch the placement lines.

The first 3 colors are placement guides.

Color one outlines the seam line. Use this as a reference for cutting your finished pieces. Note that after stitching it may no longer be straight due to push and pull.

Color 2 defines the stitching lines along with sequence numbers and color 3 indicates a ¼” seam allowance.

Sew these in color that won’t bleed through your fabrics but can still be seen. The numbers are within seam allowances and will be covered by several layers of fabric. Indeed, they are likely to be covered by the time you have to place the corresponding piece to having a copy of the pattern by your side as you stitch is a handy reference.

Note that none of these colors are required and can be skipped, which is why they are all separate colors.

 

 

5. Place piece 1.

On all designs in this set, piece one is placed face up. On the border design only, piece 2 is also placed at this time, face down (noted on color sequence guide)

 

The next color will do a zigzag tack down to secure this piece in place

6. Place piece 2.

All subsequent pieces will be aligned, placed face down, and stitched along the seam.

 

After stitching, the piece will be flipped over, pressed into place and then secured by a tack-down stitch via the next color.

7. Continue with the remainder of the pieces.

All remaining pieces are applied in the exact same manner: check alignment, place face down, stitch, flip, press, and tack down.

 

 

8. Sew the decorative stitches.

Once again you’ll have many color changes. Choose colors that work well with your fabrics.

Extra color changes mean more flexibility. It’s easy to skip one at the machine delete them in software.

9. Trim to size.

When the design is complete, remove from hoop, place face down on a cutting mat and trim to size using the seam reference (color 1) as a guide.

Exceptions

The first and last design have a few differences.

The first design is a heart and is finished as an appliqué. The last two colors of the design are the finishing edge around the heart. Before those colors sew, remove the hoop from the machine and trim off any fabric beyond the tack down.

The last design in the set creates the striped border. All the pieces are identical and numbered placement guide is omitted. The guides for this design are the raw edge of the seam allowance.

Because this design is simpler, pieces one and two are placed together with piece on the bottom face up and piece two on the top face down. Only the seams are stitched and are double pass as in the other blocks.

 

Project Notes

Full instructions are included for the journal covers.

For the quilt, I stitched all 5 of the squares, the 4 large triangles and 4 small triangles. I stitched each one through the batting.

For the borders, I stitched two hoops of the border, stitched them together on the sewing machine to form one long strip and then rotary cut them in four 1¾” strips.

The blocks were pieced together using a quilt-as-you-go method with 1” strips of sashing (½” finished) using the twin sashing strip method after adding a backing fabric to each block. See the included Quilt-As-You-Go Basics ebook for more details.

(Some items included with the set art not available with individual design purchases.)

 

 

 

Summary

Piecing in the hoop produces a highly consistent and accurate result provided you follow the steps precisely!

Sewing Continuous Hoop Designs
Sewing Continuous Hoop Designs

Endless or continuous hoop designs are specially digitized for creating borders and other long connected designs seamlessly. Some collections may have corner connectors included to permit easier continuous borders around a corner.

 

Sewing these designs is quite easy, especially when using one of the specialty hoops that are available for most home embroidery machines with a minimum 5” x 7” sewing field. This How To covers tips for getting good results with specially digitized continuous designs and an appropriate hoop.

 

Many embroidery programs provide tools for building continuous designs. These instructions only cover working with pre-made designs intended for this use.

 

Supplies

  • Design specifically digitized for continuous hooping by Lindee G Embroidery
  • Appropriate hoop
  • General embroidery supplies
  • Fabric cut into strips and pieced if necessary
  • Suitable stabilizer
  • Starch (optional)

 

Design Notes

 

Continuous designs are easier to align when a registration stitch is included. I’ve found a line of basting stitches in the form of a “Z” is much more accurate than a single stitch point. The Z provides more stitches to verify placement, while a single point only provides a start point that is also a pivot point allowing the design to more easily get off track.

 

Each continuous design has a starting Z stitch and an ending Z stitch to make perfect connections easy. Some designs may have a pair of Z stitches at each end. These registration marks are longer, set as a separate color change, with one at the beginning of the design and a second at the end of the design. These stitches are meant to be temporary and removed after the embroidery is complete.

 

These stitches also make it easy to combine elements in software if you have a larger sewing field. The Z stitches are set in a different color for utility reasons. A color change will force the machine to stop and it makes it easy to skip these stitches or delete them in editing software, if desired.

 

I usually just sew the first registration stitches using the first color of the design (color #2) and the last set of registration stitches using the last color of the design.

 

While these designs are intended for a specialty border hoop, they can also be used with standard hoops. With standard hoops, you’ll need to pay a little more attention to hoop and aligning.

 

About the Hoop

Most specialty border hoops use a clamping mechanism to allow for easy rehooping. Simply release the clamp, slide the fabric to the next place, align the needle, and sew. Due to the clamp mechanics, it’s important to understand where you can place the embroidery—and that is within a few inches of the hoop side where the clamp hinges.

 

Fabric Preparation

 

When cutting your fabric, you’ll need to allow a few extra inches at each end to allow for hooping. Depending on your project, you may want to piece strips together either before or after embroidering.

For best results, plan your design to sew from one end to the other. If you try sewing from the center out, you’ll need to mirror one half for the pattern to match.

 

You also need to consider how you will stabilize the fabric. On washable fabrics, starching the fabric helps tremendously. For backing, I prefer to use a softer stabilizer like fusible mesh cutaway or wash-away fiber. Crisp tearaways will be creased by the hoop making it harder to rehoop without pressing. If a tear-away is needed, slide a smaller piece under the hooped and stabilized fabric.

 

When using a non-fusible stabilizer, I sometimes machine baste strips of stabilizer to the fabric (using a sewing machine, not a baste in the hoop feature), especially when working on extra long pieces or strips that will require a long period to embroider.

 

 

I also like to mark guide lines on the fabric using dressmaker’s chalk to keep the design from skewing over multiple repeats. I generally draw these guides to align with the Z stitches rather than the actual design center. Test any marking aid you use to make sure it can be completely removed.

 

If the strip is quite long, roll the fabric around a cardboard tube and use clips or pins to secure the tail around the tube. This keeps the fabric clean and reduces additional wrinkling. It will also reduce the possibility of the fabric tails becoming caught while sewing.

 

Sewing

 

Sew from the top of the strip to the bottom. When rehooping, the bottom of the previous design needs to be just within the upper edge of the sewing field so that the Z stitches can be aligned. This means the upper edge of the hoop will be over an embroidered area, which translates to uneven hoop tension all the way around. If you are using a standard hoop, make sure it is not too tight to avoid damaging the embroidery.

 

You can skip the first Z on the first pattern and the last Z on the last pattern unless you plan to connect the ends to each other. When the embroidery is complete, remove the Z stitches and stabilizer.

 

Other Notes:

 

If you want to mirror designs, be sure to test first to make sure they will connect properly. Also, you may need to edit the designs to add extra registration stitches.

 

SEW SIMPLE IN-THE-HOOP ZIPPERED BAGS
SEW SIMPLE IN-THE-HOOP ZIPPERED BAGS

 

Detailed instructions and patterns are not included with individual design fle downloads. Please refer to the color sequence information for a basic guideline for stitching. You can print the design using any embroidery software to make a template. For a fully illustrated step-by-step tutorial formatted for printing along with actual size printable patterns, please purchase the full collection. Free instructions can be found in the following blog posts:

 

  • One Hoop Wonder: An In-the-Hoop Zippered Accessory Bag
  • How to Make a Quick & Easy ITH Mini-Zip Bag
  • How to Customize A Basic In-the-Hoop Project to Make Your Own Designer Bag

 

HOW TO DETERMINE FABRIC SIZES FOR ANY BAG IN THIS SERIES

 

1. Using your embroidery software, print the design at the actual size. You’ll use this as a pattern to cut all your pieces.

2. If you don’t have any software, then stitch out color 1 on the cutaway to use as a template and add the same seam allowances.

3. I added an extra quarter inch to the sides and top and an extra half inch along the bottom for seam allowances. Precision cutting is not required, just don’t make them too small

4. The outer line is the initial placement line, and the final seam allowance is a mere 2mm inside this line so cutting them larger than I did for the photo sequence makes the final steps easier. The measurements listed here and shown on the cut-out pattern pieces to the right are sufficient and will work for the other bags that use this construction technique.

5. Batting may be cut slightly smaller than the placement lines to reduce bulk in seam allowances. Batting is only cut for the front pieces and as a single layer (not on the fold)

 

Baltimore Birth Month Flowers of the Year Quilt
Baltimore Birth Month Flowers of the Year Quilt

This striking quilt showcases the twelve Australian birth month flowers of the year. I’ve used a black background fabric and chosen brightly colored batiks for the flowers for contemporary appeal. Each block has been sashed with a 2¼” (5.7cm) wide band composed of a strip of red sandwiched between two bands of black. Cornerstones are appliquéd with an edited version from the October Marigold (included with the collection). The quilt is finished with a 4½” (11.4cm) wide black border and black bias binding.

 

This quilt was designed, embroidered, and pieced by Lindee Goodall and quilted by a Tucson quilter, Barbara Angerhoffer.

 

Throughout the last twelve months via the Echidna P.I.E. program, we’ve used designs from the Australian Birth Month Flowers of the Year series, five of which are also included in the U.S. group, to learn embroidery skills and create a project. Now we’ll use the appliqué versions to make a quilt

 

 

I’ve created two versions of the Baltimore Birth Month Flowers of the Year quilt. For the U.S. quilt, I’ve used a white background fabric and chosen softer colored batiks for the flowers for a romantic, vintage look. Each block has been sashed with 1” (2.5cm) wide white strips set off with coral cornerstones. A narrow border of small green squares set on point frames the sashed blocks. The outer mitered corner border is scalloped and adorned in opposing corners with a trailing vine composed of single elements from various blocks, most of which were edited slightly.

 

If you’d like something more involved and challenging, you might prefer that one and instructions are available separately.

 

Echidna PIE was a series of monthly embroidery lessons based on the designs used in this quilt and was active from July 2014 through July 2015. Lessons and associated content are still available at EchidnaClub.com.au. If you’re brand new to embroidery, you may find them helpful for completing this quilt; they are not required.

 

These instructions are to complete the quilt and assume some basic embroidery skills. If you need more help, you can also visit LindeeGEmbroidery.com or my YouTube channel for a growing body of free content.

 

Skill Level

These instructions assume that you know how to do the following tasks:

 

  • How to piece a quilt
  • How to bind a quilt
  • How to stitch machine embroidered appliqué using precut fabric (See included PDF, Apppliqué Basics)
  • If you have a sewing field smaller than 200 x 200mm, how to rehoop for precise design placement. (For a full lesson on this, check out Echidna PIE Lesson 2, Perfect Placement Pointers, August 2014)

 

What’s Included

  • Instructions to complete the quilt as shown
  • Cornerstone design with appliqué templates
  • Applique Basics PDF

 

A Word About Measurements

I measure stitches in metric (millimeters for density and stitch length or width) and most other measurements in imperial (inches, feet, and yards). Many of you work entirely in metric. For this project, I’ll put the measurements I actually used first and then the converted metric versions in parentheses.

 

For example, all my quilting rulers measure in inches so that’s what I use and my machine and embroidery software measures stitch lengths in millimeters. So, the instructions might read:

 

Cut strips to 2” (5.1cm) wide and stitch using a ¼” (6mm) seam with a 2.0mm stitch length.

 

Since meters are longer than yards by slightly more than 3” (8.6cm), I’ll simply round them off as even and the measurement will read “½ yd/m.”

 

Note About Links

In some cases, links to external web sites are included for more information on a technique or product. All the links were active at the time of writing but web sites can vanish and pages can change. If a link is no longer working, please let me know and then just use a search tool to see if the information can be found elsewhere.

 

Please read through all instructions before starting your project!

 

Baltimore Birth Month Flowers Quilt

Finished quilt size: approximately 48 x 60” (122 x 152cm)

Finished block size: 8 x 8” (20 x 20cm)

Feel free to adapt this pattern to your own tastes and quilting styles. If you want a larger quilt, consider setting the blocks on point or adding more or wider borders. The redwork versions of the design can quickly create additional blocks that can expand the size of your quilt with minimal effort.

 

Fabric

Yardage is based on 42” (107cm) wide fabric unless otherwise stated.

WOF=width of fabric

  • Blocks: You’ll need to do some calculations

Although each embroidered block is trimmed to a 9” (22.8cm) square, you will need extra fabric to allow for hooping. How much extra depends on the size of your hoop and your hooping method; you may need to allow as much as 18” (45.7cm) for each block. Do not precut your blocks smaller than 10” (25.4cm) before embroidering. This extra fabric may be needed if your design is sewn off center or crooked. Also, embroidery itself tends to shrink and distort the fabric; you will still need to true up your block no matter how carefully you embroider. By trimming your blocks when you are ready to piece your quilt, you can preserve a crisp edge on your fabrics. To make the quilt as shown, you’ll need enough fabric for 12 blocks plus any practice or replacement blocks.

  • Appliqués: Fat quarters or scraps in your choice of colors
  • Cornerstones: ¼ yd/m (black) While you don’t actually need this much fabric for the 20 cornerstones, you will need enough fabric to hoop.
  • Pieced sashing:
  • ¼ yd/m for center strip (red)
  • ½ yd/m for background (black)
  • Border: 2 yd/m (black) I prefer to cut my borders along the length of the fabric rather than across.
  • Binding: ⅝ yd/m (black)
  • Backing: 4 yd/m

Cutting

  • Cornerstones: If appliquéing the cornerstones, cut after embroidering—20 squares 2¾ x 2¾” (7 x 7cm) (black)
  • Pieced sashing:
  • 9 strips, 1¼” (3.2cm) x WOF for the center strip (red)
  • 18 strips, 1¼” (3.2cm) x WOF for the outer strips (black)
  • Outer border: 4 strips measured to your quilt. Add extra width as required for quilting and squaring. My final borders were trimmed to 4½”.
  • Binding: Bias strips 2½” (6.35cm) x length of the perimeter plus 12” (30.5cm) (black)

Supplies

 

All the Birth Month Flowers of the Year blocks are interchangeable for size. Some flowers are designated for both the U.S. and Australia (March, April, June, November, December). Also, some of the flowers designated for Australia are alternates for the U.S. When I originally designed this quilt, it was for the U.S. and I chose flowers that would work well as appliqués and not look too much the same, such as Aster and Daisy.

 

 

Fabric Preparation

All fabrics were washed and dried before cutting or stitching to preshrink.

 

Tips For Stitching Blocks

To conserve fabric—I would have needed to cut a 16” (40.6cm) square for each block for normal between-the-rings hooping—I cut my blocks to 10” (25.4cm) and heavily starched each block by dipping the cut blocks into full strength liquid starch and then smoothing each block out squarely and wrinkle-free on my cutting table to dry.

 

When “floating” projects rather than hooping, the fabric and stabilizer must be made as stable as possible. For stabilizer, I chose a wash-away product, which can either be something like Wash-Away (two layers) or a wash-away tear-away (one layer). Large straight sides on hoops allow for more slippage to occur. If your hoop does not securely hold the stabilizer when hooped by itself, an extra measure of security can be added with duct tape.

 

Simply tear some lengths of duct tape in half lengthwise and press onto the stabilizer on the back near the hoop edge then wrap up over the bottom and side of the hoop. As long as your hoop is clean, no sticky residue will remain.

 

 

For the fabric, starching stiffly is one measure I take, the second is basting. To get an accurate placement, I do a double-basting box process. The first baste is stitched directly onto the stabilizer as a placement guide. The second attaches the block to the stabilizer. I didn’t use any spray adhesives.

 

If your machine has a baste-in-the-hoop feature, now’s a great time to use it. If it doesn’t, then basting boxes can be added in a program like Embrilliance Essentials—just make each one a different color or program in a stop at your machine so that you can place the fabric after the first one sews.

 

I prefer adding basting boxes in software because I often make the box a different size when using it as a placement reference. When basting at the machine, it optimizes the baste to the bounding box perimeter of the design.

 

If you don’t have a large enough hoop to stitch the full-size block design, you’ll need to use one of the split versions to create the block. When doing multiple hoopings, I try to use a piece of stabilizer that will accommodate all of the hoopings rather than use multiple pieces of stabilizer. Press after each hooping to smooth out any creases.

 

Design Preparation

There’s really no preparation for the blocks themselves.

For the appliquéd cornerstones, open the included design, lgq015186. This is the same design that was included with the October Marigold, I’ve just added a basting box to it. The basting box is a scant 3mm larger than the actual cut block size. You can combine this design in your hoop as many times as will fit leaving a few millimeters between each shape. I have a hoop that was large enough to accommodate 9 blocks; which meant I could get all but 2 blocks done in just two hoopings.

 

After stitching, simply cut to size. Basting boxes are quite useful, especially when created in software that lets you resize them!

 

Assembly Instructions

 

Scant ¼” (6mm) seams used throughout for construction.

1. Embroider the blocks.

 

Embroider all the blocks and trim to size (9”/22.8cm square) making sure the design is centered.

 

2. Embroider the cornerstones.

 

Preparing the designs as previously described will make stitching the cornerstones quicker and easier. You’ll need a total of 20. Trim to size after stitching (2¾” or 7cm square).

 

3. Prepare the sashing strips.

 

The sashing strips are composed of a narrow red strip bounded by a black one on each side. The finished strips are ¾” (1.9cm) wide with a finished sashing width of 2¼” (5.7cm). While you could sew long WOF strips together and cut afterwards, it can be easier to get a more even seam on shorter lengths. In either case, you’ll need thirty-five 9” (22.8cm) long sashing strip sets

 

 

4. Piece the blocks and sashing.

  • Alternating the cornerstones with the sashing strips, assemble and stitch five horizontal sashing rows

     
  • Join appliqué blocks into four rows of three blocks alternating each block with the remaining sashing strips

5. Add the outer borders

  • Measure the vertical center of the quilt to get the measurement for the two side borders. Cut two strips to that length and of the desired width, making sure to add some to the width for quilting and squaring. Sew one strip to each side.
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  • Measure the horizontal center of the quilt to get the length for the top and bottom pieced border. Cut two strips to that length and of the same width as the side borders. Sew one strip to the top and the other to the bottom.

6. Quilt as desired.

I confess to being a chicken when it comes to the actual quilting and when I want a professional look, I send it to a professional. Fortunately we have quite a few good long arm quilters locally. To keep the two versions of the quilt as different as possible, I sent each one to a different quilter. I sent this one to Barbara Angerhoffer, who has quilted a number of my quilts. She used a stipple pattern in black around the appliquéd blocks and a vining leaf design in green on the borders.

 

7. Create a label.

My favorite font for creating quilt labels is  Adine Script, which is available as a BX font for convenient use. You are creating an heirloom so let those who come in the future know who created it and when!

 

8. Add a hanging sleeve if desired.

 

9. Bind.

 

I prefer to stitch my binding to the front of my quilt, fold to the back and then hand stitch.

I find this relaxing but feel free to use your own favorite technique.

 

Summary

Quilts don’t have to be massive. Smaller wall-hanging sizes like this one are more easily completed before the boredom or overwhelm sets in. Obviously this is not a one day or even a weekend project even though it is considerably less involved than the U.S. version. Set aside planning time to choose fabrics that you love and will work well together. Don’t rush, enjoy the process!

 

It’s a Wrap!

One thing I love about this hobby is that there’s always something new to learn, some new technique, some new gadget. Discovering those things is what keeps the hobby new, fresh, and interesting. Plus, embroidery is just more fun when you know the tricks to getting good results!

Appliqué Basics
Appliqué Basics

Appliqué with your embroidery machine is fun and easy once you know a few tricks! In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use PDF templates included with appliqué designs to precut pieces for accurate and professional machine embroidered appliqué.

Skill Level

Basic embroidery and computer skills.

What You’ll Learn

  • How to use simple yet creative techniques to expand your embroidery options
  • How to use a template for hand-cutting appliqué pieces
  • How easy and versatile appliqués are with embroidery

What You’ll Need

Some collections may include an SVG file or an FCM file (Brother ScanNCut format). These are designed for use with a digital cutter. Follow the directions with your cutter to use these files. Prepare your fabrics as for hand cutting and apply a fusible web product. Pressure sensitive (double or single stick) fusible web products may not be suitable for cutters; the sticky web adheres to the mat too easily and comes off the fabric. Test various fusible web products to find one you like. Fuse it securely to your fabric but avoid overheating that can melt the adhesive. You can leave the paper backing on or peel it off for cutting. Test to make sure the web stays fused to the fabric and doesn’t remain on the mat. After cutting the pieces, placing and stitching are no different.

 

Why Appliqué?

Machine embroidered appliqué is one of my favorite techniques! I love the added texture, dimension, color, and pattern that fabric adds to the embroidery that simply cannot be achieved by thread alone. It’s easy, it offers design variety, and it works on a wider range of fabrics and textures than standard embroidery. How else could you embroider a white snowman on a fluffy red towel and not have it turn out pink? (White embroidery thread is not opaque and any high contrast fabric can show through.) Plus, appliqué with the embroidery machine comes out with perfect curves and corners every time!

 

You may have stitched machine embroidered appliqué by placing a patch of fabric over a stitched outline, stitching the fabric over the outline by running that stitch a second time, and then removing the hoop and trimming away the fabric. Once I learned the method described here from the professional embroidery world, I never went back to that method again when working with smooth, firm fabrics. This way of creating appliqué will give a clean, professional look with no “pokies” that scream “amateur!”

 

There are times when the stick/sew/snip method works (I’ll use it when working with dimensional effects like putting batting under a large, simply shaped appliqué). To accommodate this method with Lindee G Embroidery designs, simply back up one color after placing the fabric to sew the placement line again. Remove the hoop, trim away excess fabric (keep in mind the satin stitch only extends beyond this line 1mm so trim closely!), replace the hoop and continue sewing. Whenever using this method, you must take extreme care not to distort the hooped fabric when trimming the excess appliqué away. This becomes increasingly more difficult with intricate shapes and/or multiple appliqués

 

Some Preliminary Notes

If you’ve previously done appliqué with your sewing machine, you likely lraced a pattern onto fusible web, applied it to the back of your fabric, and then stitched it out. This meant you were actually tracing a reversed (mirrored) version of the design.

 

Templates for machine embroidered appliqué are not reversed and are designed to be applied to the front of your fabric. Some fusible web products can be run through an ink jet printer to save you the step of applying a product to each side of the fabric. If you choose to print on the web, then you must mirror image either the design or the templates.

 

Tracing templates onto fusible web is not recommended. You need accurately cut appliqués for a successful result with machine embroidered appliqué. Besides, tracing is far too tedious.

 

Fusible web products require heat to activate the adhesive. Some fabrics are not compatible with heat. The advantage of using a fusible web is that it reduces wrinkling and is added security to reduce raveling if the stitches don’t adequately cover the edge of the applied fabric. Fusible web also adds body, which can be great on some projects like wall hangings but less attractive when you want a softer result such as on quilts or baby clothes. Different fusible webs provide varying degrees of stiffness. There are very stiff versions that work great on a canvas banner and there are very soft ones that are barely apparent once stitched and fused.

 

You’ll want to experiment to see what products work best and are readily available. Start by experimenting with what you find in your local sewing and craft stores. Products can also be ordered online so if your local area is very limited, look to the internet.

 

For items that can’t take the heat, use TESA to temporarily hold the appliqué in place during stitching. If you don’t want to use a spray adhesive, then a glue stick may be an effective substitute. Some TESAs are deactivated with heat (KK2000 is one) so skip the tacking iron step or you will lose the adhesiion.

Ultimately the stitches secure the appliqué to the fabric. If you cut and place your fabric accurately and your fabric is not prone to excessive raveling, you should have a good result. Keep in mind that if you shrink the design, then the satin cover around the edges shrinks and so does your security. Heavy laundering and/or use may also increase the tendency to ravel if a fusible web is skipped.

 

If you want the security of a fusible around the edges with the loft and softness of no web in the center, then you can “window” the fusible. This involves leaving an outer edge of about 1/4” web applied to the fabric with the inner portion cut away.

 

To do this, apply the template to the front of the appliqué piece in the usual manner (full details to come). Cut a piece of fusible web and place it behind the piece. Using your mini iron, fuse the web by pressing from the front along the outer edges and in about 1/4”. Cut out appliqué and then trim away excess fusible from the inside of the design on the back.

 

You may want to try this technique on larger pieces for quilts. Fusible web doesn’t allow the appliqués to “puff up” like hand stitched needle-turned appliqué. While machine embroidered appliqué is unlikely to loft as much and needle-turned, you’ll have a more authentic appearance.

 

Step 1—Prepare Fabrics

Your appliqués will stay smooth and crisp if you preshrink both the appliqué fabrics and the background fabrics. Pre-shrinking all the fabrics will help avoid any uneven shrinkage after your project is assembled. Be sure to smoothly press fabrics before the next fabric steps. I also find that starching the fabrics (both background and appliqué) makes them easier to work with and reduces shifting during the sewing process.

 

Step 2—Print Appliqué Templates & Any Guides

Print out PDF appliqué templates, making sure to print them at actual size. Notice that each piece has the design file name (if large enough) and possibly a number. On multiple piece appliqués this number is the sequence number for placing the appliqué. If several pieces have the same sequence number, it means they are placed at the same stop.

 

Do not let Acrobat resize your template to fit the page. Page Scaling must be set to None for accuracy!

 

The template pages may vary per collection. A design with just one appliqué may have the element repeated multiple times whereas a more complex multi-piece appliqué design may show the pieces as they combine in the design plus another set that is separated for easy cutting. Some collections may have multiple arrangements per design.

 

I prefer to print my templates on a lightweight fusible tearaway or you can use freezer wrap. (I don’t use freezer wrap for embroidery stabilizer, only for templates.) I cut an 11” piece of stabilizer from an 8” roll (about the size of a sheet of paper) and lightly fuse the top and bottom edges to a sheet of printer paper to help it move through my ink jet printer smoothly (and to make sure I print on the non-fusible side!)

 

I find that using heat fusible pattern pieces provides more sticking power over a longer period of time than templates printed on plain paper and held in place with TESA. If your pattern shifts during cutting, you will not be able to cut out an accurate piece and this technique definitely requires precision. I also find that I get more accuracy with this method than when tracing onto the fusible web. Some fusible webs have a waxy coating on the protective sheet and often shift around easily, especially when working with larger or more intricate shapes. With this technique, accuracy is definitely the name of the game.

These templates are created from the placement stitch in the embroidery design and are therefore intended to be applied to the front of the fabric. Some fusible webs can also be run through an inkjet printer. However, these products are applied to the back of your fabric and won’t work as a shortcut unless you mirror the embroidery design.

 

Step 3—Loosely Cut Out Template Pieces

Separate your paper template pieces by cutting loosely around the outlines.

Step 4—Apply Templates to Fabric.

Press the cut out pieces, right side up to the right side of the corresponding appliqué fabric.

Step 5—Apply Fusible Web

I prefer double-stick pressure-sensitive fusible web (Pellon EZ Steam II). Remove the looser paper sheet and arrange your appliqué fabrics on the web. Cut out around the web. I like to very lightly press them with a dry iron to help the fusible stick to the fabric.

One disadvantage of the regular weight EZ Steam II is that it leaves the appliqué feeling somewhat stiff. You might try Pellon EZ Steam II Lite, which is a thinner, lighter weight version. Other fusible web products are available but most of these are only sticky on one side. If you aren’t using a double-stick pressure sensitive fusible web, you will need to press a bit more. Avoid over pressing. If you completely melt the adhesive there will be nothing left to fuse the piece to the hooped fabric.

 

Don’t use steam when pressing fusible web and don’t over heat! Use a Teflon™ pressing sheet or parchment paper to protect your iron and ironing surface from the adhesive.

Step 6—Cut Out Appliqué Pieces

Carefully and precisely cut along the outside edge of each appliqué piece. If I’m preparing for a design I will sew immediately, I like to lightly stick the pieces to a plastic sheet protector in which I’ve place a printout of my design information. (If you haven’t used a double stick pressure sensitive, this won’t work.) Otherwise, I keep them in snack size zipper-type plastic bags. This is especially useful if you are cutting a number of pieces for a large project or multiple projects.

 

Don’t firmly press the piece to the plastic; the fusible web sticks to it very easily and will hold faster to it than the fabric.

Step 7—Embroider Design

If you’re embroidering on quilt-weight cottons, a medium tearaway should be sufficient for embroidery designs that are composed of predominantly appliqué that may also have additional light detail stitching. These types of designs are generally “low impact” and do not require extensive or heavy stabilizing. Make sure your fabric is secure in the hoop and that it will not slip during sewing. If your fabric slips, raw edges of appliqué fabrics may be exposed.

 

As your design sews, the machine will stitch a running stitch guideline for you to place your fabric and then stop to allow you to position the fabric.

Many machines may move the hoop forward to make it easier for you to do this while others will simply stop. If your machine just stops, you may wish to remove the hoop to place your fabrics. Be careful not to disturb the hoop tension and make sure your hoop is correctly attached each time to avoid registration problems (where stitches don’t line up with previous ones).

 

Carefully place the fabric within the stitched line and lightly fuse the center of the appliqué with an appliqué iron. If you fuse the edges too tightly, you will not be able to trim them off later if they extend beyond your stitching. (If you’ve cut your pieces with a digital cutter, then your pieces will fit exactly within the stitched guides.)

 

Continue sewing and the machine will zigzag around the edge of the fabric. Many other digitizers will use a straight stitch for this step; I find a zigzag more forgiving of slight miscuts and misplacements and less likely to push the fabric out of place.

 

I often slow the machine down for the tackdown to make it easy to stop if the fabric should shift.

Stop after the tackdown and inspect your work. If you see that fabric is sticking out beyond these stitches, stop the machine and carefully trim the fabric away or it will be exposed after the final satin stitching is complete. Also check for any “pokies”—raveled fabric threads that may have been freed by the action of the needle.

 

Continue placing each piece as called for in the color sequence until the design is complete.

Press embroidery from the back to complete the fusing.

 

Note 1: Printable templates only work with designs sewn at actual size. If you resize your embroidery designs, you will have to make your own templates. One way is to use a customizing program like Embrilliance Essentials to extract the placement line and print it just like the PDF is printed. A second option is by sewing the positioning outlines on template stock and cutting them out for tracing pieces. To embroider on template stock (mylar quilter’s template or card stock), tape a piece of the template material to the bottom of your hoop and sew without thread in the needle. The perforations are the “outlines” you see on the actual size printed PDF templates. Cut out the template and trace (template face down) on the fusible web paper on the back of your prepared fabric. Mylar quilter’s template will retain crisp edges and corners—and therefore accuracy—with more uses than card stock. Be sure to label your template with a design name, sequence order, and a guide arrow to denote the top.

 

Note 2:These instructions are for medium-weight woven fabrics that can tolerate heat. Loftier fabrics such as polar fleece may need to be cut slightly further away from the template line to accommodate their thickness and will also melt when pressed with an iron. Instead of using fusible web, use a temporary embroidery spray adhesive to hold in place during the sewing process. While a fusible web will permanently fuse an appliqué in place and reduce raveling puckering over washing and wearing, polar fleece, which is a knit, doesn’t ravel and due to the stretchy properties, will not pucker if sewn smoothly in the first place.

Halloween Luminaries
Halloween Luminaries

Crafting with Your Embroidery Machine Use your embroidery machine to punch out a design on paper or metal! While paint adds color to the design, vegetable oil renders parts of the design translucent allowing an eerie glow from the battery operated tea-light within. Fun project for kids of any age! I used ordinary brown paper lunch bags for this project. After experimenting with brown craft paper (also known as postal wrap), I found the bags “glow” better than the heavier craft paper. You can get prettier bags at the craft store but if you want to use them as luminaries, do test one first to see how you like the effect.

Note: These designs are specifically digitized for punch work and are not intended to be sewn with thread.

Supplies

Please read all instructions before beginning

 
1. Prepare the paper bag.

Open up the paper lunch bag by cutting down next to the seam and carefully peeling apart the bottom. (A smooth edge steak knife is helpful.) Press with medium hot dry iron to flatten out. Fold down a 1 1/2” cuff on the top edge of the paper bag.

2. Hoop the paper.

While these designs are sized for 100mm x 100mm hoops, it’s easier to work with the paper bags in larger hoop. Depending on how your hoop attaches to your machine, you may have to get creative with hooping to prevent the paper from getting mangled during the sewing process.

 

The paper needs to be taped to the hoop with painter’s tape. Secure the inner ring of the hoop inside the outer, position the hoop and tape the paper to the hoop using. One strip at the top and another at the bottom should be sufficient. Since you aren’t using thread, there is no pull so you just need to a small amount of tape to keep paper attached to the hoop. Gently press the painter’s tape to the paper so that it can be easily removed without damaging the paper.

 

If you only have a small hoop, the paper will need to laid on top of the hoop and taped from the bottom. Take care not to crease the paper. The following photo shows the paper hooped upright.

 

With a larger hoop, the paper can be placed underneath the hoop. I found that a minimum 150x150mm hoop allowed me to hoop the paper sideways with the cuff folded down and on the left without having the paper under the pantograph of the machine. I could then move the design at the machine to the right to get the design positioned where I wanted it. With this placement, the design is rotated 90° counter clockwise.

3. Set up the machine and sew the design.

Insert a large needle. This can be any kind of needle and it doesn’t have to be new. The larger the needle, the more prominent the holes (and the less likely they are to fill in with paint).

Load the design into the machine and rotate or move the design as necessary.

Adjust any settings to permit your machine to sew without thread (turn off the needle thread sensor). You will probably still need to have a bobbin inserted in your machine.

 

Advance to the first stitch in the design. Many machines will sink the needle in the center of the hoop before moving to the first actual stitch. You don’t want a needle hole in the middle of the design! You may want to test your machine first by stitching on small square of paper to see if there is a beginning and/or ending stitch in the center of the design.

Sew the design.

 

4. Paint the design.

All the luminaries are shown on the last page of these instructions. Refer to the color sequence PDF if you are unsure which areas are painted. If you plan to skip the oiling step to create the translucency, you can skip the painting step if desired.

Tip: You may wish to connect the dots lightly with a pencil to make it easier to see where to paint!

 

The paint serves several functions. In addition to adding color when the luminary is not lit, the paint serves as a resist to keep the vegetable oil from seeping into undesirable areas. The untreated paper will wick up the oil very quickly. The paint also adds a little contrast and some color when the luminary is lit. You can get fancy with your painting or just fill it in solidly as I’ve done here.

 

When painting, avoid getting the paper too wet because it will wrinkle. It is better to paint in two or more more lighter coats than one heavy one. Avoid filling in the holes with paint. Apply paint to both sides of the paper. Allow to dry between layers and sides.

Use a pin to clear any holes that get filled in with paint before the paint dries.

Since the acrylics double as a resist, you need to coat the paper well enough; however, it doesn’t have to be heavy. Markers or other products may provide color but are unlikely to protect the paper from the oil seepage.

 
5. Create the translucent areas.

When the paint is dry, sparingly and carefully paint in a small amount vegetable into the areas you want to be translucent. Blot up any excess oil with a paper towel. The paint should protect the areas around the illuminated details. Avoid getting any oil outside of the design area.

 

Hold the finished piece in front of bright light to make sure the oil is evenly distributed. The oil will sink through the paper quite easily so it’s not necessary to paint both sides unless you are really stingy with the oil. The oiled areas will appear darker when unlit and will glow when lit from behind.

 
6. Reassemble the bag.

Using cellophane tape, reattach the back side of the bag. Glue or tape can be used to hold the refolded bottom together. The bags I used measured 3” x 5” across the bottom and I found it easiest to insert an index card and just glue the refold botttom sections to that.

 

Other Ideas

  • Instead of applying the vegetable oil in step 5, use a craft knife to cut out various areas.
  • Instead of applying the vegetable oil in step 5, use paint or markers to color in details.
  • Skip all the painting and just use the punched paper as a luminary.
  • Use the designs to create holiday cards and embellish with inks, pens, glitter, etc.
  • Stitch on colored paper and cut design areas and layer over another colored paper or card stock.
  • Instead of using craft paper, stitch on craft metal used for punched tin work. Shape into a cylinder or other shape and use with real candles

Stylish Farmer’s Market Basket
Stylish Farmer’s Market Basket
NEW! A stylish basket you can stitch will hold all the beautiful vegetable and fruit purchases as you shop your local Farmer’s Market!
Free Design Warnings

3 free designs per week with no purchase,

6 free designs per week with $35 purchase, or

9 free designs per week with $75 purchase.

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