January Embroidery Etc Club

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's a new year and its time to get busy learning something new.  Our members were busy over the holidays and a eager to share and inspire other.  Look at the wonderful things our members made so far. Awesome!

Our topic this month was "Threads Demystified" and we investigated how threads were made, how to select the right thread for the job, and how to troubleshoot problems with breaking and shredding thread.  I showed some videos from YouTube and from Superior Thread's Bob Purcell.  We only covered a few of the videos, but here are the links to the videos and the handouts.  I highly recommend that you view them.  Having the right thread and the right needle can make all the difference in the world in the quality of your sewing, quilting, or embroidery.

1.   http://www.ylicorp.com/PDF/A_THREAD_OF_TRUTH.pdf  - I highly recommend you download the full handout from YLI Corporation's site for detailed information about thread sizing and manufacturing.  The handout I gave out in Club contained only small excerpts from this valuable document.

2.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH_b3Heo48I  - Have you ever wondered how thread is manufactured?  This YouTube video show how cotton thread is made.  It is fascinating to watch.

3.  http://www.superiorthreads.com/videos/thread-therapy-with-dr-bob-educational-videos/ - There are 27 must see videos on this site given by Bob Purcell.  These video clips consist of education from Bob's Thread Therapy seminar.  Quality of thread, how thread is made, the important processing steps, and a host of answered questions are available for viewing.  These videos are a MUST SEE!

4.  http://www.superiorthreads.com/videos/thread-education-videos/ -  There are 12 videos in this series from Superior Thread's educator Cindy Needham, award winning quilter, author, and the 2010 Machine Quilting Teacher of the Year, and an author.  Check out the last two videos showing her trunk show.  She takes old, vintage table linens and makes spectacular quilts with them.

We also had a guest educator during the Saturday session.  Rochelle B. demonstrated how to glue on rhinestones using E6000 glue.  Her daughter is a competitive figure skater and Rochelle makes all of her skating costumes.  These stones do not easily fall off the costume as do stones put on with a hot fix gun.  That is very important in figure skating.  Here's a photo of my favorite one. 

The process to glue on the stones is very easy.  First set up some good lighting and a nice flat surface like an ironing board.  Then put a small blog of the glue (no larger than the size of a dime because the glue sets very quickly) onto a pad of post it notes.  Take a pin and pick up a tiny amount of glue, touch it to the back of a flat backed rhinestone and use the pin to apply the rhinestone to the fabric.  It's best to know exactly where you want to place the rhinestone because boo boo's just won't come off.  Of course, you can use those boo boos as inspiration for a unique beading/stoning pattern.

Md Sew & Vac is now collecting quilt blocks to make a "Customers Friendship" quilt.  If you would like to contribute a quilt block, then contact us at the store at 301-856-7200 or email us at Clubs@marylandsewvac.com to get a copy of the pattern.  Please make your block in earth tones (greens, browns, golds, etc.) and make sure you embroider or use a permanent ink marker to put your name and the name of the town that you live in, in the center of the block.  The blocks are due at the next Embroidery Etc. Club meeting in February.    Here is a photo of the block sample.

Hey, I have a new hobby (like I needed something else to fill my non-existent free time).  It's making jewelry.  It started by making stuff to wear ballroom dancing.  My sweetie gave me a book, Beaded Opulence by Marcia DeCoster about to create beaded jewelry using a Right Angle Weaving (RAW) technique.  It is so much fun and is something I can do cuddled on the couch with my electric blanket wrapped around me (I hate winter).  Here is one of the things that I created so far.

Rita came back to Club this month and we haven't seen her for awhile.  We rejoiced with her when she announced that she has lost 110 lbs over the past two years and she no longer suffers from type 2 diabetes or hypertension.  Congratulations Rita--we are so proud of you!

Well, that's all the news for now.  See you next month!

2011 BORDER CHALLENGE WINNERS

I'm proud to announce the winners of the Maryland Sewing and Vacuum Center's 2011 Embroidery Etc. Challenge.  We had seven entries from six artists and we thank everyone who entered the challenge and also to all our members for voting.  The 2012 Challenge will be announced at the January Embroidery Etc. Club meeting.

FIRST PLACE

This beautiful table topper is made up entirely of thread made by the beautiful and talented Cynthia Y.  The colors are very striking and the quality of the embroidery is wonderful.  Embroidered lace takes great patience, time, and of course, thread. 

SECOND PLACE

Patricia R. started this wallhanging a few years ago when we had a Mystery Quilt project.  Embroidered dragonflies adorn the block centers.  The quilting was done entirely on the embroidery machine using Designer's Gallery Quilting Interactive.  Beautiful quilt!!!

THIRD PLACE

Carol M. stitched this amazing Christmas quilt.  It was a block of the month project. The snowmen are appliqued and embellished with buttons, beads, and charms.  She made fantastic use of her decorative stitches on the sashing and borders.  Machine embroidered text adorns the white outer borers.  This quilt is a great crowd pleaser.

HONORABLE MENTION - STAFF JUDGES' CHOICE 

Nikki H. created this stunning quilt top. This quilt is piecing perfection!  The embroideries are expertly stitched and well placed.  The colors were beautiful and has the perfect balance of light, medium, and done.  Just beautiful!

December Embroidery Etc Club

We had a wonderful time at our annual Holiday.  As usual, the food was a big hit.  Everyone here at Maryland Sewing and Vacuum wish all our patrons a happy holiday season and thank everyone for their loyal patronage.  We started our meeting with a short Show and Tell Session.  Here's what these talented folks did last month.  AMAZING!!!

2011 Challenge Entries

We had seven entries to our 2011 Challenge contest from some extremely talented ladies.  We will announce the winners after January's Embroidery Etc. Club meeting.  The challenge was to create an item that utilized some type of border.  Thank you so much to all who entered the competition.  Here are our entries:

Good Luck to Everyone!!!!

November Embroidery Club - Gifts for the Sewer Part II

Everyone has been so busy this past month getting ready for the holidays.  The projects our ladies made were quite wonderful    As you will see, several ladies were busy making lots and lots of spiral bargello tablerunners.  We also had a charity workshop on Veterens Day where we made little holiday dresses for the homeless children of Washington DC.  They turned out so cute and everyone had a wonderful time making them.  I'll show more photos of them next month. 

Without further adoo--here's the photos of the wonderful work created by our members.

We finished up our mini series, Gifts for the Sewer, this month.  I demo'd how to make two more projects,.  See the photos below.  If you would like to receive the instructions for either of these two projects, then send an email to me at Geri@soeasyquilts.com

Wristwatch Pincushion

Couch Potato Sewing Center

 I also demo'd how to make the Mug Bucket pattern available at Nancy's Notions (available at the store or order online at  http://www.nancysnotions.com/product/mug+bucket+pattern.do

Mug Bucket Sewing Organizer

Last, but not least, I did a video last month on how to make this lovely Pin Cushion Trim Bin, but that's the film that crashed my computer.  All that's left of the video or the instructions is the photo below.  I have to start all over in creating the pattern and hope to have the instructions available in few weeks. I'll let you know when it's done. 

Pin Cushion Trim Bin

I hope you all enjoyed the videos and the photos.

October 2011 Club. - Gifts for the Sewer Part 1

We started the first of a two-part series - Gifts for the Sewer.  We featured how to make a Scissor Fob using your Babylock Evolve or Evolution Serger.  I even recorded a little video showing how t make the scissor fob.  Here's the scissor fob video. 

Next I demo'd how to make a beaded scissor fob.  The video will show you basic beading techniques and show you how to make a scissor fob.  These are great little gifts so your sewing friends can tell their scissors apart at your next sewing class or quilting bee.  I hope you enjoy this video. 

Lastly, I demo'd how to make a set of alphabet pins for your favorite quilter.  With these pins, you can label your quilt blocks.  For those who took my Spiral Bargello class, these pins were a must to keep those bargello strips in order.  They are easy and fun to make.  Hope you like this video.

Oh my, I almost forgot....Here's what our lovely and talented members brought to the meeting for Show and Tell. 

I hope you liked the videos.  Please feel free to let me know what you think of them (good or bad) and give me any suggestions so I can improve any of my videos.  There were a couple of other projects, the pincushion sew-side waste basket and the cup caddie, but the my computer crashed after I had made the videos and all was lost (the instructions and the video).

September Embroidery Etc. Club Cancelled

Sorry folks, but the September club meeting was cancelled this month due to a death in my husband's family.  His dear Great Uncle Griff, 97 years young passed.  He was a wonderful and loving man who actively farmed until the age of 95 and who's mind was sharp as a tack.  He was the last living sibling of my husband's paternal grandmother, Lela who died when my father-in-law was just nine years old.  My husband never knew his grandmother, but Uncle Griff brought her to life for my husband and my sons.  He will be missed dearly!

August 2011 Club - Shadow and Reverse Applique

We had very nice club sessions in spite of the torrential rains.  I showed a video showing the new Babylock Ellisimo Gold sewing/embroidery machine.  Click here for the YouTube link to see the video.

I also showed the newest item from the Babylock family of stabilizers. They have a new product that will protect sensitive skin from irritation caused by the back of an embroidered item.  It is a very soft woven fabric that is fused to the back of a garment.  It is good for baby items and for protecting the skin from a scratchy thread such as a metallic thread.  Call your nearest Babylock dealer for pricing and more information.

 Our overhead camera was on the fritz, so thanks to Cynthia, one of our members, who recorded the club lessons (see below).  Please feel free to send me any comments or suggestions for improving the videos.  I have to admit, video taping was one of the most intimidating experiences I've had.

See what beautiful work our members have done:

Now for the lessons of the month.

Shadow Applique

Shadow applique is a wonderful way to embellish sheer fabrics.  It can be done on any sewing machine capable of doing a simple zig zag stitch.  A simple cording foot makes guiding the thick embellishing thread and keeping it under the zig zag foot as it is couched onto the surface of the sheer fabric.

A bright, colorful fabric is placed underneath the sheer fabric, the shapes are couched on using the zig zag stitch, and then carefully trimmed away from the back of sheer fabric.  First trace your design onto a layer of Dissolvable Mesh stabilizer and place it underneath the sheer fabric. Then place the colorful fabric underneath the other two layers and couch the thick thread onto the surface using a thick or fancy thread (such as YLI Candlelight, cordonnet, or pearl rayon thread).  Confused?  Hope this video helps. 

Reverse/Shadow Applique by Embroidery Machine



Full Neckline Version for the Large Hoop



Smaller 4x4 Design

This kind of applique is perfect for embellishing a plain t-shirt.  The shadow applique technique (sheer piece attached to back of the shirt and the excess is trimmed away from the back of the shirt) allows sheer flower centers.  The reverse applique technique is used (the solid t-shirt fabric is trimmed from the inside of the flower) allows you to see the sheer fabric below. 

The design in pes format is free to Embroidery Etcetera Club members.  Send me an email if you need a copy of the design.  The large design (shown above on the t-shirt) utilizes the large hoop for the Ellegante and the Ellisimo.  A split design is available for machines that have a  5"x7" embroidery field and can be sewn in two hoopings.  In the video below, I used a smaller, one-flower version for use in a 4" x 4" hoop. 

Cording/Piping with the Serger

You can get a cording/piping foot for most brands of sergers and overlock machines.  It makes perfect piping and allows you to perfectly apply piping between two layers of fabric...and...it's so easy to do!  I used 3mm-wide piping for this demonstration. 

The foot has a channel under the foot that allows the piping to easily glide under the serger foot and securely guides the piping for perfect placement and stitching.  The 3mm foot that I used is available for the Babylock Imagine, Eclipse, and Enlighten machines.  A 5mm foot for wider piping is also available for these machines.  Only a5mm Cording foot is available for the Evolve and Evolution sergers.

Check out the video below for a demonstration.  By the way, nerves got the best of me and I had a big goof.  What is the difference between an expert and a novice?  Nothing!  You will make the same dumb mistakes from time to time no matter how long you have sewn.  The expert just knows how to fix them or cover them up.

 

Making Micro Cording with a Pintuck Foot

Micro Cording is piping that is 1/8" wide or less.  It is perfect for adding a fabulous accent to collars, pockets, quilt bindings, etc.  With tiny borders like this, the tiniest of mistakes can really show up.  The pintuck foot makes the process easy and fool proof.  You will need to stuff the piping with tiny cording.  I like to use thick DMC tatting floss for a filler.  It is available in any needlework store or in places like Michaels or AC Moore. 

You will also need a pintuck foot.  They are available for most sewing machines.  It would be helpful to be able to reposition your needle just to the right of one of the pintuck foot grooves.  Use washaway thread in the needle and the bobbin when you make the piping.  If your stitching happens to show when you apply the piping to your garment, it will easily wash or rinse out and no one will ever know your stitching wasn't perfect.  Then use regular thread in the needle and the bobbin when you apply the piping to the garment or quilt binding.  Hope the video makes the process a little clearer.