Just a Quick Update or Two - OK, maybe Three

Hello again!  Don't go gettin' all excited now...it's not Kelly posting yet...it's still Karin, her friend from down South.  Just wanted to let you all know that Kelly is still in the hospital, but she's finally getting a little bit of pain relief.  Of course, along with meds of that nature comes the horrible nightmares and insides of Jello, and the pain is still there, but it's beginning to be a little more tolerable, and for that, we're all thankful.

I've actually talked to her on the phone a couple times today, and she's got her sense of humor back, that's for sure.  She's aware of all your concern and prayers, and she greatly appreciates the comments, cards, flowers and kindness from you all.  She's looking forward to moving to a rehab facility (possibly in the morning (Saturday)) that's only about 12 miles from her home, and much easier & more convenient for Mr. McSteamy and the co-workers to get to.  I'll let you know as soon as that move comes about.

And speaking of updates...did you know that Floriani Total Control and My Decorative Quilter have updates?  Oh yeah, baby, oh yeah they do!  That's one really cool feature about Floriani software - once you purchase it, you get updates for life.  Free of charge updates for life.  Not like some others, where you want the update, you've gotta fork over your firstborn or a whole lotta money...noooo, these are free.  For life.

So, how do you get them you ask??  All you've gotta do is connect your computer to the internet, however you normally do, then launch your Floriani product, and you can either wait for it to go check by itself (how smart is that?) or you can go up to the menu bar and click Help> Check for Updates, and then follow the on-screen prompts.  It'll ask you to Agree to their licensing agreements, and then will want a few "Next" clicks and finally an "Install" click, and you're about done!  It's really quite easy & painless.  If you have any troubles, post your questions here & I'll try to answer them or get the answers for you.  Not that I'm a Floriani expert, by any means, but I'm not afraid to go digging for information if I have to!

I've not had time yet to check out all the new features & functionality, but I'm sure they'll be a lot of fun when I do get to 'em.  Floriani is always looking for ways to automate the digitization process, and I know they listen to customer suggestions and feedback.

So, that's it for now, folks, y'all are as up to date as the rest of us.  Y'all take care now, and we'll chat again soon.   ~~k

Fun Halloween - A Guest Post by Karin

GUEST POST by KARIN....take it away Karin

Lucky me, I was gifted a stack of 6 Dunroven dish towels, and being the generous soul I am, I figured I’d share my thoughts with y’all.  My very first thought was, “How pretty! What a lovely shade of purple.”  My very next thought was, “This is really pretty, but, my goodness, how very purple.  Who in the world decorates their kitchen with purple?”

So I put ‘em in the closet and there they sat for the next 3 6 months, while I pondered what I could do with them.  (pondered – that word rolls around in my mouth the way those towels were rolling around in my head!)  And they sat, and they sat, and they sat some more. 

Finally, I got an idea! Halloween fabrics often include purple, and Halloween is coming up fast! So I found this cute little door-hanger from Embroidery Library and decided I could use one of the towels for my background fabric! Yeah, that’d be just perfect!

So I get ‘em out of the closet and take one out.  Wow, it really has a nice hand to it…surprisingly so.  It was evenly woven and weighty (for a towel, that is), but it still had a nice drape to it.  Then I unfolded it, and that sucker is H.U.G.E!  A full 20 by 28 inches!

 

And it had a nice little cotton twill loop for easy hanging, too.

Hmmm….but it’s still very purple.  Now, my little door hanger probably wouldn’t get washed much, so shrinkage and even some fading was probably not gonna be an issue, but since I was gonna share with y’all,  I’d share everything, the good, the bad and the laundry, so I threw the whole bundle in the washer to see what would happen.  They seemed to fade just a wee bit, and the purple lightened up a little.  Not much.  After a tumble in the dryer (set on med/high), they came out a bit smaller than they went in and a little wrinkled.

They now measure about 19 by 27 inches, so they shrank about an inch all around.  If you’d embroidered on them prior to washing, you’d surely be upset with that much shrinkage, so, for best results, just be sure to launder these prior to spending hours on a machine embroidery project.  Nothing like surprise shrinkage to spoil your fun!

But, let’s get back to the project!  A quick touch-up with a hot iron and they were good as new, but about an inch smaller.  When you purchase an in-the-hoop embroidery design like this, it usually comes in two parts – a outline and the embroidery itself.  The first thing I did pull out my roll of Floriani Double Sided Fusible Stitch N Shape and cut a piece off.  Ummm…now what?

I knew I’d never get that roll back into its cellophane wrapper, so I grabbed my roll of Hugo’s Amazing Tape!  And for those of you that have never used it, you just don’t know what you’re missing.  There’s about a million uses for that tape, and it truly IS Amazing.  I use the blue tape because it’s easier to find when you accidentally lay it down for a second, but it also comes in clear, for the people that need to see true colors.

But, I digress.  Next, I cut the end off of one of those beautifully purple towels to use as the base fabric of my in-the-hoop door hanger.  I fused my Stitch N Shape to the fabric with a hot iron.  And for future knowledge, when they say double-sided, they MEAN double-sided.  When I tried to pick that puppy it, it was fused to my ironing board!  In hindsight, I should have used a pressing sheet *or something* (maybe even a ONE-sided fusible??) to protect my ironing board!

So, anyway, I took my fabric/stabilizer fusion and laid it onto a piece of Floriani Perfect Stick that had already been hooped. 

I slipped the whole thing into the embroidery module and l was all set to start stitching once I selected my thread colors.  I decided on lime green, orange, and white, and this would have been the perfect chance to try out some of that glow-in-the-dark thread, but I didn’t have any!  L  I used some iridescent white instead.  It won’t glow in the dark, but then, there’s hardly anyone walking around in the dark at my house, so it really doesn’t matter.

When you get an in-the-hoop embroidery design, you usually get two files.  The first is the outline, that gives you just the outline of the project, and the other file is all your color stops that provide the details of your project.  You can see how I’ve stitched the outline here (try to use a complimentary color in your stitching, just in case the final satin stitch coverage is less than perfect).

I used a contrast color just so you could see the outline.  You can also see that unexpected color change – I didn’t know I was using a bobbin as my top thread, and I ran out not long after I started stitching!

I pulled that hoop out and removed the fabric fusion from the Perfect Stick.  I literally cut on the dotted line to get the top layer for my door hanger.  Remember, this is fabric fused to Stitch N Shape, so it’s nice and thick, and easy to manage.  Stitch N Shape doesn’t gum up or snag your needles, but it holds its shape nicely.  It’s just right for making fabric bowls and boxes or giving body to purse inserts.

Next, I had to get the backing fabric cut to the same shape.  So I hooped another hunk of purple toweling (it’s a lovely shade of purple, but I *still* don’t see it as a kitchen accent!!), only this time, I just laid a scrap of generic paper tearaway on top of my Perfect Stick and then the fabric on top of that (hence the pins), and stitched the outline a second time.

What you have to remember here, is that this piece is going to be the BACK of your project.  That means, you’ll need to reverse your fabric OR reverse your design.  Oopsies!  Luckily, the toweling is the same on both sides, so it didn’t matter.

Here’s another shot of that Hugo's Amazing Tape – I tell ya, there’s a million uses for it!

 So, how did  everything turn out?  Well, thanks for asking!

Obviously, I need to trim the edges a bit more, but, overall, it’s kinda cute.  It’s probably not exactly what Dunroven had in mind when they made that towel, but it sure fit the bill for me!  And I still have half a towel left that I could turn into appliqued grapes or an eggplant on something else! 

THANK YOU KARIN!

(The funniest thing is that I'm in love with the purple kitchen towels and of course I have them in my kitchen.....and here my girlfriend is saying they are "way out there" LOL....another something to smile about today)

Smiles,
Kelly

 

Nancy Lee's Machine Embroidery

I am fortunate enough to know a a few women who really know what they are doing with Machine Embroidery and they have been educating me since I  became interested in ME.  Both of them told me their first preference for stabilizers and thread is Floriani.  After hearing about how wonderful Floriani products are, I did some investigating and became a Floriani Dealer last November.

Today, I'm going to introduce you to one of those really smart ladies...this is Nancy Lee....Nancy Lee, I'd like you to meet the IHAN Blogifers. 

Nancy Lee has been sewing all of her life.  Over the last 20 plus years, she has been doing machine embroidery and the last 5-6 years she has been quilting.  With all that experience you know when Nancy Lee tells me  to put my metallic thread spool upside down on my thread holder...I do it... without even a slight hesitation! 

Nancy Lee allowed me to visit her home and photograph some of her projects in December.  All of her projects shown here were made with Floriani Embroidery Thread and I've noted the designers beneath the photos.

(Embroidery Design by Smart Needle)

 These sandals cracked me up.... it makes me want a swimming pool and a margarita for sure.

(Embroidery Design by Momo-Dini)

Nancy Lee took a third place ribbon in the Tote Bag Category at the Kaleidoscope of Quilts this past year.

I really like the close up of this design...didn't it come out nice?

 (Napkin ring Embroidery Designs by Advanced Embroidery)

These napkin rings are snowflakes and Nancy Lee had made several that were just beautiful. 

Thanksgiving napkin rings...aren't they just perfect for Thanksgiving?  Nancy Lee even embroidered her napkins...

Neat ay?  Now we just need an invitation for Thanksgiving Dinner!!

(Embroidery Design by Zundt)

This bag is a ribbon winner for Nancy Lee.  She received a 2nd place ribbon at the American Embroidery Conference in 2011.

The butterflies are three dimensional and really make this bag take off...pun intended :)

 (Embroidery Design by Julie Hall)

I thought this wine bag was really cute.  When I give people a bottle of wine...it never has a bag...I think this just may need to change.

 (Anita Good Designs)

A book mark is a nice personal little gift or treasure to have.  My boys are always looking for their book marks...I think I should make some with their names on it so they'll know who it belongs to.

Time for a confession....yes...another confession!!  I have this thing for dish towels and bath towels.  I love dish cloths with embroidery.  I've received a few as gifts and I'm telling you they are so much fun.  Perhaps because can make me smile when I have to do a dreaded chore.

If this doesn't make you giggle....well...just giggle will ya?  It won't hurt a bit!

Loralie has some very fun designs too.  Nancy Lee took the time to show me how nicely the Floriani Stabilizer tears away from the design.

Look how nice and clean the back is.

This pix is enlarged a bit to show you the centers of these lace snowflakes.  Nancy Lee used Floriani Wet N Gone Stabilizer and Angelina Fibers (center)....they really are so beautiful and the addition of the Angelina really pop these snowflakes, don't ya think?

(Jenny Haskins Designs)

Nancy Lee has made so many beautiful things that it was difficult to pick and choose the photographs for this post.  I thought I'd end with this one because I'm so impressed with how fine these flowers came out. 

Beautiful aren't they?

I'm going to leave you with some of the things Nancy shared with me about her experience with Floriani products:

"Floriani thread is my preferred thread because it shines beautifully like rayon and it glides through the needle.  Rarely does it ever fray or break and if it does, that usually means I need to change my needle.

Floriani Stabelizers are the best and I've never been disappointed.  The outcome of my projects really shows how nice the stabilizers are.  Everything comes out beautifully."  

Nancy Lee White, OH Dec, 2011

I have been using the Floriani Thread and Stabilizers since November and I've been more than happy with the results.  My needle never once got sticky when I used the Perfect Stick Stabilizer and when I used another brand my needle was covered in a gummy substance...not good.  The Floriani Thread is absolutely beautiful no doubt about it....so I've been very pleased.  Time has been limited with year end inventory and book keeping with IHAN so that stuff gets in the way of having fun with Floriani of recent.

Floriani has a Year End Sell Out Promotion going on until the end of January so if you want to take advantage of Floriani Thread at 50% OFF and other excellent deals...click here for all the information to order from I Have A Notion :)

Thank you Nancy Lee for sharing your time, projects and insights with me!

Smiles,
Kelly