Category Archives: machine embroidery

Elegant Table Linens and Precious Memories

This project and a detailed tutorial are posted here at Brother’s blog, Stitching Sewcial.

I loved embroidering this elegant set of table linens for Brother’s blog, Stitching Sewcial.  Aside from the sewing details in the tutorial posted  there,  many “back stories” go with it that I just have to share with you.

First, I have loved these designs since I first saw them on my Dream Machine.

Like the design used on the quilted bed footwarmer, I was so eager to find the perfect project for them.  Then….I did! Continue reading

Quick Baby Gift Personalization

Balloons seem to say happy.

I just love being able personalize items for special friends. With two ready to wear onesies, two caps and a white tee for cover up, machine embroidery turned turn plain Jane into special so quickly.

Pooh with balloons is a built in Brother machine design from. The balloons on the shirt and inserted into Johnathan’s name on the cap are from a discontinued Dakota Collectibles Toddler Trio collection, of which I found only one copy available on-line. The designs are tiny, arranged in groups of three and are  wonderful to extract when you need a small design. I often wonder why such collections are discontinued when they could be made available individually by digital download. I’m just glad I have this one in my design library. Continue reading

Baptismal Towels

Do you have more than one project in progress? I have stacks– some must be done NOW, some are handwork for when I watch tv with my husband, some are mindless chores like hemming for when I’m on the phone, some I put aside for one reason or another.

Still, in the midst of a looming deadline and other pressing matters, I took the time to embroider 6 hemstitched linen guest towels for upcoming baptisms at our church. I had customized the design sometime ago for a newly ordained pastor. So it was just a matter of hooping up my stash of linen guest towels and embroider them. It was so satisfying to stitch something simple and meaningful in the midst of all the sewing busy-ness.

You might recall my story that our church was struck by lightning and burned to the ground several years ago. Continue reading

Easter ’18 Week

Vivian Rose at Oma’s house, decked out in her mother’s Rebecca’s Bow Dress.

I hope you all had a joyous Easter. The Ferguson family had a fabulous week of Easter celebrations! We saw both of our children with all four of our grandchildren, but not at the same time. A good bit of sewing was done before and after their arrival.

Saturday we joined our son-in-law’s family for Easter dinner.  5 yo Vivian Rose was resplendent in her mother’s 35 yo Rebecca’s Bow Dress, with her curls confined to elaborate, elegant French braids.

The original slip has been lost through the years so this white Imperial batiste slip was made.  Because it really can be worn as a dress, a bow was embroidered on the yoke. To avoid it shadowing through the dress, it was stitched in a very pale pink and white.

The same yoke pattern was used with 1/2″ removed from the top half of the armscye.

Ever obliging 9 yo Alastair wore his bow tie made from the Little Boy Bowtie:the Quick and Easy Version pattern which I have used so often.

The color matched the green leaves in his sister’s fancyband.

The bows alternated with 3 vertical strips of lace.

I love this picture taken as Vivian was ready to put on her heirloom dress. Alastair was proud that he was already dressed and ready for the egg hunt.

The bunny was tied at the top with a bow, but Vivian HAD to open it.

See the felt candy-filled bunny in Vivi’s hand? That was such a fun little project. I made 20 of these for the children at church, as well as for these two. Vivian had a bunny filled basket and loved handing them out. I so regret that I did not get a photo that or of all the pink, blue, yellow and white bunnies together. They were a big hit with all the children. Continue reading

Happy St. Pat’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day outfit for Vivian Rose

I couldn’t let St.Patrick’s Day go by without a fun little outfit for 5 yo granddaughter Vivian Rose. This isn’t the traditional “wearin’ o’ the green,” but it combines her favorite color, purple, with her favorite fabric print “rainbow.” So I thought it would do.

It was given to her at Alastair’s birthday party.

Earlier, she had lamented to her mother that Alastair had a party in a few days and her birthday wouldn’t be for sooooo long (January).  Rebecca replied, “But you will have fun at Alastair’s party.” Vivi boo-hooed, “but I won’t get to open the presents and they won’t be for me!” I thought this little outfit might help assuage her grief.

She doesn’t look very sad now.

I hope you all have a great St.Patricks’s Day. We’re enjoying a quiet day at home. My hard working husband was hard at work early on, then rushed in for a quick shower. Now he is parked in front of the tv, simultaneously watching baseball and March Madness. He deserves to relax. So..

And I am off to the sewing room. YEAH! I’ll be listening to some Irish classics like this.

https://www.facebook.com/PeterHollensMusic/videos/1431323636919962/

Quilted Bed Foot Warmer and Free Design

No one likes cold feet–not at a wedding nor in bed.

There are many ways to keep your toes warm, like this. Who wouldn’t love that? But you need a lot of puppies.

Or you could do this:

There are risks with this method. Mildred “Mimi” Turner almost burned down our hotel (and her feet) when we were teaching in Australia’s cold Blue Mountains.

This quilted foot warmer is risk free, readily available, pretty, and fun to make. It is also my latest project for Brother’s blog, Stitching Sewcial, for which I am a paid sewing specialist (this is a required disclosure). The blog post includes a FREE download link for the quilting design used for the spaghetti bias Celtic knot in the center of each square. But more about the special use of that later.

The design measures 7.76 x 7.87″.

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Lenten Church Paraments

These Lenten paraments were made at the request of our pastor for our River City Church of DeBary.  The purple fabric reflects the liturgical color for this season.

The embroidery is another beauty from Windstar Embroidery Designs which has an enormous selection of spectacular liturgical designs. This one is offered in two sizes, the smaller for the side-hanging bookmarks and the larger for the pulpit scarf.

Additionally, the cross drape, seen on the far right, was included in the set. It is a 4 yards by 45″. The set was hung the day before Ash Wednesday.

I’ve been sewing for many, many years and created a variety of items from clothing to quilts to home dec. But none of this experience seemed helpful as I ventured into the world of stitching church paraments.  There are so many things that go into making what looks like a simple project. Continue reading

Valentine Towel for Coach

This is Joy, my bubbly, enthusiastic, encouraging exercise coach at the Herbalife Nutrition Club in downtown DeLand. When asked about her plans for upcoming Valentine’s Day, which fell on a day of our regular exercise class, Joy said that her guy, (a nurse) was working a double shift that day. So the only celebration would be with her children.

This little tea towel certainly is no substitute for wine, roses, chocolate, and the man in her life, but it was a small reminder that others love and appreciate her.

heart balloons from Zundt designs towel from All About Blanks

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Free Design for Minnie’s Birthday Playsuit

The floral borders below each of the Minnie designs are offered as FREE downloads at the blog web site. The Minnie designs are for sale at iBroidery.com.

This cute and cool little play outfit was made for Brother’s blog, Stitching Sewcial. Minnie turned 60 years old in January so the blog post was a part of the birthday celebration.  As a “paid consultant” (inclusion of this info is required), I designed this and wrote the step-by-step tutorial, posted here.

As much as I love lengthy, complicated projects like an heirloom Easter dress or intricate quilt, there is a lot of satisfaction from making a quick and easy outfit for our little ones. This play suit certainly fits the bill. Continue reading

Valentine Free Fil Tire’ Heart

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I am again offering this free fil tire’ heart design. There are many new readers who might enjoy this and some older readers who might have missed it. The design is so suitable for this holiday celebrating love. And what says love better than a heart?

I so appreciate the support and encouragement you dear readers have given me through the years. For the some time now I have been extraordinarily busy and posts have been few and far between. And yet you still stop by to read my infrequent chats. I thank you for that.

For this day celebrating love, I am offering this free machine embroidered fil tire’ heart, along with wishes for love each day. Just leave your request for the design as a comment at the bottom of this post.
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