Craft Fair Preparations

Well, preparations for the craft fair are coming along very nicely. I've had a bit of a dilema knowing whether what I've got is sufficient or whether it's too much. I guess I won't know until Monday when it's all over and finished.

These are the little girls tote bags that I've made. They are available with either a matching or co-ordinating purse. They really are a sweet item for those little girls who just love to be all grown up and carry a shopping bag 'just like mummy'.

I've embroidered a few bibs that will be available for sale at the weekend. These look so cute and most would suit either a baby boy or girl.

I've also got lots of PE bags made up ready, I hope that they will sell as well as they have from my website. Keep your fingers crossed!

I am also taking some ceramic items that I've painted which I hope will sell.

I'll update early next week and let you all know how the fair went.

To digress a little .....

I've set up an embroidery gift section on my website. It is up and running, and orders can be made on there. We have found a few teething problems that I hope to sort out soon.

I'm also hoping to set up a Personalised Ceramic Gifts part within my website soon - watch this space !!!!

Purses :-)

As some of you know, I've decided to do a craft fair over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August. I'm planning on making a few PE bags to sell on there, along with various other embroidered items. I realised in my planning that I didn't have many 'pocket money' items that children could purchase on their way around.

With this in mind, I purchased an 'in hoop' purse embroidery design. I was a little unsure when I downloaded the design - I hate instructions, those who really know me know that I would much rather do things, and look at instructions when I get stuck. But this needed careful reading as I had no idea where to start. I cut all my material to make a purse and set to sewing. WOW how easy they were to make. Once you've cut to the desired lengths, that's completely it. ALL of the hard work is done for you. There's even a little 'notch' to show you were to position the little 'money pockets'. I've made 16 of these today in various colours, some with little embroideries on the flap and some plain.

I really did enjoy making these, and hope that they will sell well at the craft fair.

What's been happening?

Anyone wondering why I haven't posted the photographs that i promised? There is a reason - and a good one too.

On Monday evening, I received an email from a lady asking me to make her 15 PE bags. She runs a nursery and had a great idea of giving each of the children one to take with them as they leave to go to attend 'big school'. The only problem was that she needed them before Monday of next week!

Impossible task? ? ? You may think that, indeed I certainly did when I received the message. Surely I would need all weekend to enable me to make this quantity and the PE & Shoe bag that I had already received an order for. Especially with the amount of time that I've been in school this week.

Well I certainly love a challenge and rose to the task in hand. Each bag needed to be embroidered with a cute design (a spring bug for the boys and a butterfly for the girls). I also embroidered each one with the childs name on the front, and the nursery on the back. I knew that they would take around an hour each to complete just the embroidery. So time was very precious indeed this week.

I spent all day Tuesday embroidering the designs on the front on the bags.

When I came back from school on Wednesday I got straight to work embroidering the backs of the bags. I programmed the name into my machine and made it into an arch and added the year. I loved how well they stitched out.

Finally on Thursday, I spent the afternoon sewing up the bags and added the cords.

I completed all 17 bags just before Jon walked through the door at 8pm. I was so impressed with my time management. They're all now sitting in a box in my lounge awaiting a trip to the Post Office tomorrow. I hope that they will all be received in time after all the hard work that I've put into making them.

It was too dark to take photographs this evening after I'd finished, so that's a task for the morning before I visit the Post Office.

UPDATES

Oh my, how time does fly when you're having fun. Things have been rather hectic here recently with one thing or another - although there's nothing at all unusual in that now is there.

I finished my swap pincushion, and after a slow start due to missing emails eventually sent it to my partner. I decided to hand sew a felt cushion which took me most of a day to make, however I was really pleased with the results.

The pincushion I received is absolutely beautiful, unfortunately, my camera isn't working at the moment so I haven't been able to take pictures. However, my brother is visiting at the weekend and i've already asked him to bring his over so hopefully I'll manage to take some then.

Gen was extremely happy with the 4 letters that she received. She does keep asking why she hasn't received the 5th letter, which I haven't been able to give her an answer. She's hoping to write back to the children that have written to her, hopefully she'll manage to do this soon.

Last weekend, I atttended a workshop at Jo's http://hobbyholidays.blogspot.com/ . The tutor that she had invited to run the workshop was the fabulous Ferret http://ferfab.blogspot.com/. She was an inspiration to all who attended. I will post a seperate update regarding this, hopefully with photos.

I was back at Oasis Academy this week to complete a tile project with the Year 6 transition students. I had a great time meeting everyone, and am really looking forward to seeing all of their glazed masterpieces displayed when the school re-opens in September after the Summer break. Again, I will post photographs when I can take them.

I've received 2 orders for PE bags from customers who have found my website following a Google search which is fantastic news.

ooooooh .... last but certainly not least ... I've finished the top of Gen's quilt this week!!! I just need to buy the wadding and backing and then quilt it up. Again, pics to follow soon.

Embroidered Blocks Galore!

I know there will be some reading my postings who aren't sure of what a Tripple Irish Chain looks like. The pic above shows a plan that I worked out on my computer using Excel and colouring in the squares - easy peasy. The middle 'chain' should actually be a darker shade of blue, but it printed out the same colour as the 2 chains either side. This centre chain is the one that I'm making with the lighter fabric instead of a darker one.

Here is the first block finished (I've made 4 so far but need to purchase more material before I can make more). I think that the centre pale chain stands out really well against the other fabrics. Although, you won't get to see the 'chains' until I have put quite a few blocks together.

These are a selection of the embroidered squares that I have done to place in the middle of the second blocks. I've used about 4 different designs and stitched them in various colour combinations. I didn't want these to detract from the chains, therefore I have only used 4 colours (lilac, purple, fuschia and green). Unfortunately I did make an error when cutting the blocks. I knew that I needed them to be 10" finished square. So dutifully I cut them all to 10 1/2" to allow 1/4" seam allowance. As I put the first one in the embroidery machine, realisation hit me - I should have cut them slightly larger as the embroidery will pull the material in slightly. Unfortunately, I was right (for a change LOL). The squares are now measuring approx 10 1/4". I think what I'm going to do to rectify the problem is cut them down a little more and add a border around them in one of the other material. Hopefully, when I've finished, it will look as though this was my intention from the beginning!

This last photograph gives a bit of insight as to how the second block will look when it's put together. The squares aren't in the correct order around the sides as I just laid the embroidered square on top of one of the block #1's. But at least it gives an idea of where I'm going with this one.

Baby Gift

As promised, photographs of the baby gift I made for my friend. I embroidered a bib, face cloth and muslin cloth with this Winnie the Pooh design and added the baby's name. I thought that they looked beautiful altogether. The green in the background of the design is cotton material that is stitched on first as an applique. I've used this design quite a few times and never tire of it. When I've done this for girls, I tend to use a pink butterfly material which looks stunning too.

In doing my bit to save the planet, I try not to use unecessary packaging, so thought it would be a nice idea to wrap the gifts in the muslin rather than using wrapping paper. I added a little blue wool to keep it altogether. I then placed them in a small paper carrier bag made from recycled paper. I loved the end result.

All stripped and ready for action!!!!!

woohooooo ... how many men have peaked because of the title??? LMAO

I've made a start on Gen's quilt (shush don't tell her as it's a surprise for her birthday). I've cut up plenty of strips and am ready for action. This quilt is going to be a Tripple Irish Quilt. She saw the design I had made on the computer and said she liked it. I innocently asked her what colours she would use if she was making it and 'PURPLE' was her answer. I was hoping she would choose blue as that seems to be her favourite at the minute and I didn't relish the thought of another purple quilt this quickly, but if that's what she wants, then who am I to argue.

I'm not going to write too much detail in this posting, as I'll do a full one when I've actually finished the quilt. However, as promised to Kerry, I'll post a quilt teaser of photographs below to make sure you come back to see the finished item (hopefully not too long away).

I needed 4 fabrics for the design, I found a wonderful batik fabric (http://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=FQ4355) and decided that this was going to be the material I would base the other colours around. It was a struggle, we had almost every purple fabric off of the shelves to compare them together and spent a lot of time, but we got there in the end. I chose http://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=ST3329509 and http://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CC575111t. After a suggestion from Jo, I decided that instead of a darker colour in the middle of the chains, I would use the light colour again, therefore only needed 3 fabrics.

To ensure that I was on the right track, I showed Gen the colours last night and she loved them - Although I did fib and tell her that it was another quilt for Jo! lol

FABRICS

EMBROIDERY

99 Bobbins of Cotton in the Box

I started this posting on the 10th April, but unfortunately I've been too busy to upload the photographs and finish off, so I'll apologise now if the timeline seems a bit weird. I've finished all of the Pottery Painting workshops for this school holiday, and I've taken lots of photographs of the items. I'm hoping to do a long posting on this during the week especially for those who have painted with me and haven't any idea what happens between painting and me delivering the glazed item back to the schools.

Ok ... back to my sewing post ........

So, maybe 99 bobbins of cotton is a bit of an exaggeration ... but there's a lot! I decided it was time to wind all of my empty bobbins this morning .. and boy did it take a while. I've been embroidering like crazy over the last week or so and didn't realise how many I had empty, despite the fact that they were right there in front of me and I kept taking one out every ten mins or so LOL. But the dreadful job is done now and these should last me quite some time. I think there's around 50 that I've done!

When I last purchased some new embroidery threads, I decided to purchase 2 x 10,000m cones of sewing cotton. I honestly thought that I would never get through it, or if I did it would take me years to do so. With that in mind, goodness knows why I decided to purchase 2 of them. BUT during my bobbin winding marathon this morning, I've finished it! I can't believe I've used over 10,000m of thread, I knew it was starting to get low, however I was sure that it would last me a long time. I've now broken the seal on the second one and have it ready and waiting for the marathon sewing of bags today......wish me luck.

I've been wondering why my sewing machine is playing games with me today. I've had 5 broken needles within the space of about 20 mins ... very unusual as they don't break that often at all. Then the penny dropped when I looked properly .... Stooooopid me had been putting embroidery needles in there when I was sewing - no wonder they were breaking d'oh. Once I changed to a 'proper' sewing needle, the machine worked perfectly.


I was very proud of myself last weekend when I was able to post all of the bags that had been ordered. I thought it was going to be touch and go for a while as I've been so busy working, however they went out on Saturday and were received mid week after the Bank Holiday. All customers were very happy with their wares.
Little Ruby has been carrying hers around the house completely empty and won't let it out of her site ... bless her. I understand that she's going to pack a few things in it and take it to nursery with her next week.
I made this one as an Easter present, her mum has asked me to make some party gift bags with the same designs for Ruby's birthday at the end of May ...... I have an idea in my mind as to how I'm going to do them, I just need to get cracking on them soon. (it's in my task master list to ensure that I don't forget).

Nicki is getting married soon and saw my auction on eBay. She asked me if I could do a Greek Flag design for 2 children and then 2 tote bags for the Mothers. I came up with these, I received a lovely email from Nicki saying how pleased she was with them. Don't they look fantastic all together there in the photograph? The one at the bottom is an additional gift I did for Nicki for her large custom order.


The last bag was made for another lady who purchased following my auction on eBay. She asked for a rainbow which I found amongst my vast collection. The photograph doesn't do this one justice, the colours are much brighter in 'reality'.









I haven't got around to finishing off our laundry bags yet. The above ones took priority over my own sewing. I think I mentioned in my last posting that I've got them all embroidered, they just need finishing off which shouldn't take a huge amount of time.

I did however, have a play with my machine yesterday (on my one day off this week) making some labels to put inside any future bags that I make.

This is a picture of them all together and shows you how many I can make per hooping. i.e. 3 large, 4 medium or 6 small ones. I've included a £1 coin in the photographs to give an indication of sizing on the close up photographs.



These are the 3 large labels. I have my own favourite, however before I comment on any of them, I would like other opinions.

Although these labels do look ok, i was very unimpressed with how the machine stitched the border on them. I've never known it do this with anything else, but it only stitched around once and didn't knot the ends properly. As you can see in the photograph on the right, they are coming undone at the start / end point. If I decided to use this size, I would change to the border used on the smaller ones below which stitched around the whole border 3 times and knotted properly.



I love these small labels with the reel of cotton on them. I played around with these for quite some time. I didn't want to make them any bigger as I liked this size to use on the inside of Party Favour Bags. Unfortunately, however it did mean that I wasn't able to stitch the website address on one line. So, I decided to make a feature of it and spread it across 3 lines. I thought that it would be nice to stitch some in both blue and pink rather than all the same. I had images of boys opening their bags and throwing a fit because it had a pink label on the inside LOL. I like the effect, however I'm open to constructive suggestions and comments.

Gen is back to school on Tuesday, and I'm going to go off to quilting class where hopefully I can finish off Jo's quilt. I haven't been for a few weeks and am really looking forward to catching up with everyone.

Blood Tears and Toil !

What a busy weekend I had. I was embroidering all day on Saturday and got quite a lot done. In between embroidery, I was on the laptop downloading hundreds of new designs. However when chatting to a friend (you know who you are!) I realised that I had spent way too much time at the laptop and machine over the past few weeks. So I decided to do something else. I picked up a book and started reading. Now, if I'm honest, I absolutely love reading, but never seem to have the time. When I start a book, I can't put it down and then I'm disappointed when I get to the end because it's all done. The book I started reading is one I purchased in Asda when I was shopping last week. It's one by Marian Keyes called 'This Charming Man'. I've read two of her books before so when I saw it on offer, I picked it up with eager anticipation. So far it hasn't disappointed at all, I'm loving every page...... yes all 883 of them! So far I'm about 3/4 of the way through it (yes since Sunday). I'll try and write a little review when I'm done.

Tuesday and Wednesday this week, I delivered pottery painting workshops which were fun as usual. When I've sorted out the boxes of painted items, I'll do a few 'before and after' shots with firing. It's amazing how the colours change when subjected to over 1000 degrees. I'm back next week delivering activities Mon-Thurs.

Today, I have been back at the machine again. I've embroidered flags galore! A customer wanted some bags to give as gifts at her Greek wedding. Therefore requested the Greek Flag. Personally, I think it's a great unique idea. The fact that time has been taken to obtain a personalised gift is something special. I hope she will love the items I have done for her.

Unfortunately, half way through one of the flags I had a little accident ... oops! Yes it was my own stupidity. I saw the end of the thread and decided to try and grab hold of it when the machine was running! I can see everyone reading now cringing at what comes next. Well, the screw used to tighten the needle came down full force twice on my index finger before I managed to hit the stop button, and has taken a nice little chunk out. However, being a true professional, and despite the fact that the air in here was as blue as the colour of the flags, I managed to continue the task at hand without dropping even the slightest little spot of blood on the item ... now how's that for dedication! LOL.

From my recent work, I have 9 PE / Tote bags sitting on the side with all of the embroidery and personalisation that are now waiting to be sewn together. This is my task for tomorrow as I need to go make tea and do some glazing soon. We're having toad in the hole with mashed potatoes and gravy .. yummy!

Weekend Tasks To Complete

I tend to jot things on here during the day, hence one minute things are in the preparation stage and the next they're completed - sorry if anyone gets confused, but I will try and divide where I've come back later and added bits in. The way it saves having numberous postings on the same day.

Tasks I set myself for the weekend - to complete 3 laundry bags (one for each of us).

I thought that this would be a very easy task to do, but boy was I WRONG! Gen has just spent over an hour choosing the design that she would like on her bag. Then we spent another 20 minutes trying to find a nice font that I think would work with her super long name. Knowing my luck, when I start programming her name in it won't fit :-( Why didn't I name her Amy? It would have been a lot easier (and quicker) when embroidering LOL.

Gen has chosen a daisy design for the middle of her bag which is currently stitching on the machine, it should take around 50 minutes to complete this. The picture here is a screen image of the design - I think she's chosen well. She has also claimed the 'Mrs' Cute Monster design that I did yesterday. This will be on the reverse of her bag.





The next thing I need to do is choose a design for mine and Jon's bags - a womans work is never done is it LOL.

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I was rather surprised at Jon's choice - he has asked for Yogi Bear. Again, the picture on the left is a screen shot. If I'm honest, I didn't even realise that I had any Yogi Bear designs until I did a search and found a folder full of them. He's chosen one complete with BooBoo. This design takes around 1hr 10 mins to stitch out! There are 13 colour changes within the design, only one colour is repeated throughout.





Two designs chosen ... one to go!!!!

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Now, what have I chosen? Hmmmmm, I haven't a clue yet lol. I can't decide between some beautiful flowers or butterflies. I can see my bag being full of all different embroidery designs. That's the beauty of having your own machine, it doesn't matter how much time it takes as it's my own to use so I don't have to calculate 'woman' hours into the costing.

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After hours and hours of deliberation, this is the design that I have chosen for my bag. This will take around 1 hour to stitch out. As it is rather a large design (only just fitting in my large hoop), it actually stitches out in two parts. Starting on the left, it stitches Perdy and the two puppies next to her. Then when complete, it stitches Pongo and the two remaining puppies. Fortunately however, it doesn't need rehooping inbetween.

The lines that can be seen on the design in red and black are 'jump' stitches where the machine 'jumps' from one area to another. These are cut off when the design is finished (newer machines cut them automatically whilst embroidering the design.

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I'm going to get all of the sides embroidered before I stitch them together. I find it much easier this way as I don't have to keep attaching and detaching the embroidery unit of my machine.

I'll post photographs of the actual bags when I've completed them which will hopefully be tomorrow.

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OMG - my dalmations were about 2/3 of the way through embroidering when a certain little madam decided to plug in her Nintendo DS which needed charging. To be fair, she did ask first. She plugged it into my extension and pressed the button to switch the charger on. At which point my machine went off argggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! The silence in the room was so LOUD. She just didn't know what to do or say, she stood there in horror crying 'I'm so sorry mum - I'm really sorry mum'. She was very lucky that I hadn't altered the size or orientation in any way from how it loaded onto the screen so it didn't take too much work to get it back to the position where it stopped.

Usually, I've got a few things on the screen, or I move them about or resize them, and it's almost impossible to get them back in the same place again. Her angel must have been watching over her!!!!

Alls well that ends well.

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Tasks completed today - not as many as yesterday, but then I haven't been sewing as much today.

1. Finished of a 'Mrs' Cute Monster to go with the one I did yesterday


2. Finished the top of Jo's quilt as far as I can


3. Unpacked my ceramics delivery


4. Watered the plants!

MR & MRS ... now wasn't that a TV programme??

Further to my posting yesterday, I decided to stitch out a 'Mrs' Monster in cute pink colours. As I thought, I wasn't at all disappointed by the outcome - quite the opposite in fact.

The darker colour on her looks blue in the photograph, but it is actually purple.

I think she looks just as cute as 'Mr' Cute Monster ... don't you think that they make a fine pair together?

In hindsight, I should have flipped the Mrs so she was facing the other way - just to distinguish her a little more from her mate.

Both of these are available for sale as PE bags immediately or I can do them onto towels / facecloths etc. Due to the amount of embroidery, they are unsuitable for baby bibs.

OFF-CENTRE LOG CABIN

Spot the difference!

When I first looked at a picture of a quilt made with this technique, I just couldn't work it out at all. I mean, if you put thick strips down one side and thin strips down the other - how can it make a square??

I must have pondered the question for about 40 mins, and drawn it out on paper twice. But I kept coming back to the same conclusion - my drawings were square (well as square as my drawings can be).

When the penny dropped, I felt so stoooooopid! I realised that I kept looking at it from the point of view of the log cabin that I had just completed, which was all central - this technique isn't central. You sew thick strips down two sides and thin strips down the other two sides - wayhey that's how it makes a square - the centre square isn't in the centre when you've finished! LOL.

By the way, for those who haven't noticed, the one on the left shows thick pink strips, whilst the one on the right shows thin pink strips.

The picture on the left shows all of the 16 squares sewn together. It gives the effect, however I'm sorry that my photography isn't as it should be (that's the problem of not having a digital camera - all pics have been taken using my mobile phone)

The picture on the right is a close up of the centre four squares.

If you would like more information on sewing / quilting techniques please check out Jo's website : http://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/ .... believe me, you won't be disappointed after attending one of Jo's workshops.

Tasks for tomorrow : -

1. Get up and see what the day brings! LOL

Sewing & Quilting

What a productive day I've managed to have. Here's a few of the tasks that I've got through -

1. Cut up enough canvas to make 10 .. yes 10 PE bags!


2. Embroidered a beautiful rainbow on a PE bag for a customer
   
3. Embroidered a 'Cute Monster' to use as a sample for boys -


4. I've taken photographs of a lot of my equipment - isn't it surprising how much stuff you actually have when you take up a hobby


5. I've place the order with my ceramics supplier - should be delivered sometime tomorrow


6. Oh yeah, I also managed to watch Gilmore Girls, Neighbours AND also keep Twittering and update my blog .... what a day!!

Glad I'm going out tonight . .I think I need a rest lol

OK now for the fun bit, I've taken loads of photographs this morning. I know Kerry will faint when she see's what I've done LOL.

The folded squares on the left are what I've cut up this morning , the fabric on the right is my 'stash'.

I now always cut fabric using a rotary cutter and quilting ruler - it ensure that a straight edge is achieved. Much easier than trying to do it with scissors. Using a rotary cutter does need a little practise to get used to, but once you've used it, you won't want to go back to using scissors for cutting again!

This is the rainbow that I have embroidered for a customer. This design took around 50 minutes to stitch out. I'm waiting for the personalisation details before I make it up into a bag.

It is far easier to embroider when you have a long piece of fabric than trying to clip your hoop up inside a bag and ensure that you don't get any of the edges stitched into the middle of your design! And YES I know from bitter experience, I've been there and done that one! I left something happily stitching away whilst I went into another room for something and when I came back one of the edges had moved and become caught in the middle of the design ... very frustrating having to start all over again, especially if you've made the item too :-( ..... BUT I have learnt my lesson and I now pin the edges to stop them moving if there's even a slight possibility that it may happen again.

I've stitched this little guy before for Gen to give to one of her friends on their birthday. I loved him then, and he hasn't dissapointed this time. He is absolutely adorable.

I did wonder last time I did it, what he would look like stitched out in pinks rather than blue and green. Does he look a lonely fella? Maybe the alternative colours could be a Mrs for him.... now there's a thought for another day maybe.

This fella took me around 1 hour and 10 minutes to stitch out.

I talk a lot about my embroidery and needlework (sowwy!!!!). I thought I'd take the time and photograph a few of the items that I keep very close around me when I'm busy sewing.

SEWING MACHINE

Of course the most important thing is my sewing machine. I couldn't really get very far at all without it now could I? I have always owned brother machines since I bought my first one almost 20 years ago. I have found them to be extremely reliable and very easy to use. This one is a Brother Super Galaxie 2100. I purchased it about a year ago from eBay. It had been very well looked after and doesn't dissapoint on that Brother quality that I have come to know and love. It is a combined sewing and embroidery machine. The machine itself doesn't hold many images, and the ones it does are quite small and not very interesting at all. However, I have a library of 1000's of designs on my laptop which I can transfer over using my PE Design Basic and blank memory card. You can also purchase memory cards from Brother which contain various designs, however I have found them to be extremely expensive (around £60-£80 per disk!!!!!). There are many sites on the internet where you can purchase designs at very reasonable prices.

EMBROIDERY FRAMES

Next on the list are my embroidery frames. Again, I wouldn't get very far without these. I do have 2 more than shown in the picture, the large one was in the machine at the time and the giant hoop didn't fit in the pic very well so I didn't bother with that one. It's also one I don't use very often as I find it difficult to line up with the multi-positions. I tend to use the large one more than anything. They are made up of two pieces which 'sandwhich' your material and stabiliser inbetween ready to clip into the machine.

THREADS

With so many threads on the market these days which one do you choose? I have a wonderful array that I use depending upon what I am doing. The colours on the left are high quality rayon thread used for machine embroidery. They have a beautiful sheen to them and give the designs a little something special.

The threads on the top right hand side are polyester threads. They are suitable for machine embroidery, although are rather dull in comparison to the rayon. I use polyester threads for general sewing.

The second picture on the right shows my limited selection of quilting threads. I am adding to these with each quilting project that I do. These are a very strong cotton thread which is ideal to hold all the pieces of your quilt together. The colours on these are variegated (i.e. they have different shades through the reel). They give lovely effects when sewing decorative stitches too.

My bobbin stash now, although as you can see from the picture I desperately need to wind some of them up. I had 11 left when I took this picture earlier, I now have only 8. You can purchase pre-wound cardboard bobbins, however I have found them to be very expensive in comparison to winding them yourself. I know it can be a bit of a pain to do so many at once. However, I would rather spend an hour winding them than paying so much more to have them done for me. I always make sure that I have enough to do my project before I start a design. There's nothing more frutrating than getting half way through and have the machine bleep at you telling you that your bobbin has run out when you don't have any left.

STABILISERS

A stabiliser is absolutely necessary when embroidering. As the name suggest, these 'stabilise' the fabric and make it stronger to take the embroidery stitching. There are many different kinds, here are 4 that I use myself.

The big one at the back is the one that I use the most often. This is called 'STICH AND TEAR' is it placed on the back of the fabric in the hoop. Once you have finished stitching, you 'tear' away the excess leaving stabiliser where it matters .. under your design. The picture is of a new unopened 200m roll as I only have a tiny bit left on my other one.

The roll just in front looks a little like strong cling-film. However this is a 'WATER SOLUBLE' stabiliser. It has many 'brand' names to it also. This is used when embroidering on 'nap' fabrics e.g. towels. It allows the design to be stitched on top of the towel rather than sinking and getting caught in the loops. Once finished, you can tear away the excess, any remaining will dissolve when the item is washed.

The item on the right is a 'CUT AWAY' stabiliser. This is usually used for stretchy fabrics. To me, if feels like tumble dryer sheets but a little stronger. Idea for using on t-shirts and baby items.

The final one on the left is a 'SELF ADHESIVE' stabiliser. This obviously sticks to the back of your fabric. I tend to use this mainly when I have a design that is made up of smaller components where I need to re-position my hoop several times. This is most valuable when I'm stitching the latte blocks (more on this in another posting).

U.F.O.'s

Before you start thinking of such things as StarTrek and Area 51, a UFO does not have anything to do with flying objects when you mention it to someone like myself who does a lot of stitching. It does in fact stand for Un-Finished Objects - of which I have several. Currently on the corner of my bench there are :-

The start of 2 latte quilts - One made of a dark pink/purple satin which you can see on top. The other is blue on cream cotton fabric (more to come in later postings).

Two cushion panels that I can't decide whether to make into bags or cushions. I have already quilted them, but they need to be finished off.

A shopping bag that I was making for my weekly shopping - this is a very large bag suitable to take boxes of cereals, or loaves of bread etc that you can usually only get one or two in a carrier bag.

There's also a few cut up pieces of cotton to make needle books and pin cushions that I just haven't had time to complete.

Now if only I could make more hours in a day then maybe I'd be able to get everything finished off.

Have fun and HAPPY CRAFTING :-)