I've been doing a Hoopsisters quilt. It has been a very long process - about 11 months now and I'm definitely not done. They recommend (and sell) battelizer which is a batting with stabilizer built in. Great stuff and I really like it. You hoop the battlizer and do the rest of the work on it. It is not inexpensive and hooping it creates a ton of waste, so someone in the class suggested hooping the cheapest possible muslin and cut the battelizer to size. The thing I've noticed is the blocks turn out very stiff and will not make a soft snuggly quilt! I see from a previous post that the muslin shouldn't be less than a 200 thread count. Oops! Today I changed to a tear away stabilizer I get from JoAnns. It is very soft with lots of holes and I love it. The blocks are really nice and soft and are not distorting at all.
I have made a couple of soft dolls and used tearaway, but it was the more solid stiff stuff. I'll definitely go to the more porous one for the dolls. Nice and soft!

No offense please....but why would one take time to embroider on toilet paper? Perhaps for learning about stabilizers? Thread tension? Obviosly one does not use "wash a-way " stabilizer! (Pun intended). I see my attempts being a " waste" of time. (Sorry, I could not resist!)

Yes, I have seen the TP rolls posted. Just has always been a curious thing to me. But my time is very tight (still working FT) and I have other projects in the works. I do appreciate the challenge, tho.

DixieDoodle, Embroidery Library is where I got the tutorial for mine. It is really easy to do and the paper is on the roll when you embroider it.

You fold the first "square" of TP under the second and embroider on the second piece so no additonal stabilizer is needed. These are just fun, easy and quick projects which are used a lot for gag gifts. The ones like the flowers posted are just cute to sit on a bathroom counter or shelf. There are some tutorials that show how to make Snowmen or Santas for a fast Christmas project.

I fold the first 2 squares back, fold again and then embroider on the 2nd set of squares, use the 1st for a neater fold back. I give these as fun gifts. I realize some may think it is a waste of time to embroider on Tissue but I love the machine embroidery process and have a lot of fun trying new things and when you put that amount of money in a machine, I think it needs to be used.

Has anyone tried to make any of the "fringe" designs from
Embroidery Library?

I have one design but have not yet tried. Guess that I am
a little more than intimidated by trying this.

LOL but heck I still have yet to try embroidery applique.

I have done the fringe designs using Adorable Designs. They turned out really cute and will be doing them again.

Quilty-Louise,

Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only intimidated soul when it comes to machine embroidery!

Sushi

Other than the fringe only other thing that stops me dead
in my tracks IS the applique LOL.

I don't know why either, everyone keeps telling me that it
is super fun and easy.

Maybe someday I will get around to it.

But I do love both my embroidery machines.

Does anyone have a Janome Memorycraft 200e? And does it work? Cause mine doesn't. I got it last August and I have yet to get more than 3 or 4 designs out of it without it running away (where the on/off button does nothing and I have to turn the whole machine off to stop it). I don't know if I am doing something wrong or what. I send it back, they send it back to me, it still don't work. I would be grateful for anyone's input on this.

Lisa,
I have done many blocks for quilts and I always oversize and then square up after embroidery - there is push/pull compensation that needs to be factored in.

I do the same thing I ALWAYS try to oversize my blocks so that
squaring them up AFTER embroidery gives me enough room around
the design to have a decent amount of background if needed.

ok, I have a Husvarna Viking Topaz 30 and tons of deigns.. having problems posting pics right now for some reason, will post as soon as I can figure out why I cannot post.. seems the url does not come up in the box and I do not know what to put into the box to insert pics

[QUOTE=chamby;6593099]I am so glad I found this post. I have a brother. It only does embroidery and it limited to the 5x7 hoop.

I just bought a Brother with the 5X7 hoop. Have an older Babylock with a larger 6X10 hoop (but uses a floppy disk for design transfer -- UGH!) -- I find that most designs I want to do work fine in a 5X7. I do t-shirts and kitchen towels, placemats and table runners, pillow tops, wall hangings -- I just did 7 designs of coffee cups, "framed" them in embroidery hoops, and hung them in my kitchen. Am just finishing up a 12 kitchen towel set with SunBonnet Sue months of the year. I mainly do gifts. Just have fun with your machine.

I have a ellageo Esg. purchased about 1998 or 99 when I owned a Western Store and wanted to be able to monogram things. Had 1 class on how to use it and also 1 class on software (Designer's Gallery and Pallette ) No one told me I couldn't do it or that it was hard, so I just crashed into it and did it. The most difficult thing I have ever done was monograming a horse blkt which was fiber filled and thick. I got it done but said never again on a machine which like that. I also made baby bibs with western theme and emb. onsies with western designs. They sold very well because most of that kind of stuff is expensive and I could sell it for a reasonable price. After I closed the shop, my machine set up for over 10 yrs before I got interested again. When I took it to the dealer to have it serviced it cost a lot because they had to send it bk to Babylock and several parts had to be replaced. I now do towels for myself and friends, quilt blks and whatever strikes my fancy. So please, don't be afraid of your machine. Just go for it. I have learned a lot from emb.forums and sites such as Emblibrary: Quilting and Emb. are my favorite things to do outside of reading.

I totally agree with you. When I got on this board I was only quilting but I read many threads of people who had the combo unit but were afraid of the emb part. Then I bought my first emb machine, the Viking Ruby and I promised myself that I was going to use the emb part of it. I took classes and experimented. If you don't try you'll never learn. The hardest part was when I wanted to make FSL Christmas ornaments but I wanted to use serger cone thread. It would go for a while and then it would start breaking thread so much. I never did get them finished but I did learn that if it screws up and rips your WS stabilizer, you can patch it a scrap piece of WS and some 505 spray, that was a great lesson. Then came Easter and I wanted to make the grandkids baskets, still wanted to use the serger thread but still had the problem of thread breaking constantly. I bought new thread, tried the thread in the freezer thing, thinking maybe my thread was too old or dry. Finally I read something on using a sharp needle when doing FSL and a larger needle. I got a sharp 90 and it worked great and I did about 10 baskets for my babies along with some egg holders to match. I now own a Viking Diamond Deluxe and still learning as much as possible, some in classes and most on my own but I won't give up. I paid too much for my machine to just do that. I have lots of hoops, my machine has some of the largest there are. My next thing is to learn to use the endless hoop and then the big one I just got, it stitches half of the design and then you flip the hoop around and it sews the other half of the design. That should be challenging but what satisfaction I'll get when it works. Enjoy what you do but at least try it before you give up, you'll be surprised how much fun you'll have.

embroidery stabilizer
 

I have a Brother PE770. Haven't used it much. I don't ever know which stabilizer I am supposed to use for each project. The embroidering is simple to do, but getting the project into the frames is something I fret with.

Rexie,

There are many kings of stabilizers, for different weights/types
of fabrics.

I personally LOVE the Floriani "Stabilizing Solutions" they give info
about the different needles, fabrics, and which stabilizers works for
each kind of fabric.

Another favorite go to place is on Embroidery Library click the "projects"
tab, than click the "Fabrics 101" tab right there on the top is info for
fabric, and stabilizers.


The links above (in "red") are my 2 all time go to places.

I hope this helps you a little bit at least.

I hope people will continue to post in here...its a great subject and there is a lot to learn for someone like myself.....

Rexie I agree with Quilty Louise, those are my go-to websites when in doubt and it has helped me out quite a lot. Its a trial by fire when learning but I make samples first before trying it on the project. It works better and you can label your samples with the type of stabilizer, needle size and the kind of material used ie. cotton. Good luck!

rexie; I agree it can be intimidating. I've been embroidering for about 3 yrs now and still uncertain on many things. Just about every website that has designs has tutorials or projects that help in those areas. Jenny Haskins has webinars, there are retreats, some very reasonable in price. I'm going to Anita Goodwin one in April, its 59 for 2 days and I've been to John Deers and also the Floiani ones. I don't know if you have a dealer there that offers classes, it doesn't have to be a brother dealer, some like mine takes anyone with an emb machine no matter what the brand. Tidewater Sew n Vac has a club and it welcomes all machine owners, plus they do classes, some you don't even bring your machine too, you use thier machines which is nice. Look around and see. I agree with the other person about Floriani's stabilizer solutions, its a great place. I know that even Viking and probably Brother too have tutorials on stabilizers, it doesn't mean you have to own a Viking or a brother or any other specific machine to take advantage of their tutorials, stabilizer is stabilizer and alot of things on it and thread, etc is good for all machines. Good luck and if you have questions, ask on here, you're sure to get lots of answers and then you can figure out what works best for you. I do buy my WS at JoAnns by the yard, I take one of the noodles for the pool and cut it the width of the WS and then wrap it around it. Its cheaper and you can use the 50% coupon and save even more.

Is there a way to stipple an entire quilt by using an embroidery machine and putting parts into and out of the hoop? I realize that the stippling won't be attached to each other but I was wondering if it's being done.

Several of the embroidery design companies offer collections for making quilts. They are amazing. You make the blocks then using your regular machine you stitch the completed blocks together and they appear to be quilted as a whole. http://www.anitagoodesignonline.com/floral-foundations/ and this is video on how to do the process...now you might want to skip about the first 12 or so minutes of it to get to the meat of how to make it happen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bjHCPPhwTs

Thank you for that information! It looks like a fun way to quilt. What about quilting an already completed top? Can that be done? I have a few completed and would like to use embroidery designs and keep rehooping but am not sure if that would work.

I have quilted quilts on my embroidery machine. You can buy quilting designs. I have ever used a stipple but centered designs work gret.

Can I ask which machine you have or if all the embroidery machines will do this?

the links do not work.

I am working on practice blocks learning how to use an embroidery machine. I am using broad cloth. I am going to put this together into a wall hanging. Since I am working with 100% cotton fabric, what is the best stabilizer to use?

They worked for me.
sandy

hmmm I wonder why they don't work for you.

I got them to work 2 times first from my original post, than they
worked from your quote.

If you go to Embroidery Library and click on the "Projects" tab at
the top it will take you to that section, on the projects page click
on the tab that says "Fabrics 101".

I would like to use redwork designs to quilt the finished quilt. Will an embroidery machine put a design on a layered finished quilt?

I have done several quilts that way. I go through all 3 layers and use simple quilt motifs. Make sure you puddle your quilt, so there won't be any drag when the machine moves. Also, open your hoop quite a bit. Yes, there is a lot of rehooping, but the result is good.



UOTE=GrandmaSewNSew;6611010]Thank you for that information! It looks like a fun way to quilt. What about quilting an already completed top? Can that be done? I have a few completed and would like to use embroidery designs and keep rehooping but am not sure if that would work.[/QUOTE]

Freddie...Thank you! What machine do you have? And here's a real newbie question: Do you use the same bobbin thread when you use different top thread colors? I'm guessing it might be better to just use one color on the entire quilt.

My experience in using my embroidery machine to quilt the layers is to use the same color thread as the bobbin thread. In fact, I wind a bobbin using the embroidery thread. That way, I don't "see"the bobbin thread on top if it is a different color. You also should "quilt" using a simple "redwork" or quilting design for the project.

Do a test quilt block with the layers to make sure that your machine embroidery quilting design makes a pretty stitch on the back of the quilt. I really did not like what my quilt back looked like after quilting with my machine. But, this was a few years ago and perhaps the "quilting" embroidery designs have improved. I also got bored maneuvering the bulk of the quilt for quilting with my embroidery machine, the re hooping, etc. (I still have half of the quilt to finish, LOL!).

I do want to revisit using my machine for quilting using embroidery designs.

sandy

Try turning off your pop up blocker. I clicked on them and they work fine. It brings up a new window so if your popup blocker is on it'll prevent the new window from coming up a lot of the time.

I have the Brother PE770 embroidery machine only. It has a 5x7 field, which seems to be plenty large for what I do. Yes, I put embroidery thread in your bobbin. I match the bobbin thread with the color of my backing or if you want it to show more, you can use anything you like. Test it, because sometimes the top thread might pull a little towards the back. Then you might want to use same color on top and bottom. Of course, no stabilizer is needed when you go through all 3 layers.

I purchased the Brother PE500 embroidery machine a few months ago, but haven't had a chance to learn how to use it. Does anyone have this machine and what do you think of it? I'm going to try to find the time to get it out and use it. I'm really glad I found this post and will be checking in from time to time.

I just popped into the group to see if anyone was talking.... I was about 10 pages behind!! A lot of good stuff on those pages. Thanks for posting everyone. I am a newbee and am very happy to listen to those who have been here for a while.

I joined Artistic Thread Works, and for about $10 per month I have access to all of their embroidery designs for free. I think that is very good and have downloaded several designs and they stitch out beautifully.

hugs, Jupiter

I have a Viking designer SE Purchased new when they came out many years ago. Has less than 5 hours on it! I'm afraid of it and never learned to use it. Have never loaded the things I purchased on it. Have the 3D professional, endless embroidery hoop, quilters kit III, mega hoop, never opened any of the boxes. I think they are up to like the 5th version now???? Would this be for someone like me that has an EM but doesn't know anything?

I have 5D Pro & 6D has cone out. I am not going to upgrade as I was told by a dealer that not much had changed, and i still have a long learning process ahead on 5D.
I would suggest you start playing with your machine first before getting new software to see if it is something you want to do. You can find classes just about anywhere that will help you get past your fears
When I got my machine I only sewed with it since I had no interest in embroidery, but now it runs almost nonstop.
Good luck.