And make sure that your ext PC has a slot for it!

sandy

Thank you all for the valuable information.....I always do learn something around you...this place have never let me down......

Thanks for the heads up . It never occurred to me that a flash drive would go bad. I have been transferring designs to flashdrives from my 35 discs. Better go get some cds and get busy.
One of my objections to flashdrives is that you can't write on them to identify the contents like you can on cd or discs. Since I will be transferring to cds, maybe I will get organized and put the flowers together , the geometrics together, the birds, the butterflies. . . . (Maybe)

I got so involved in reading this thread, I almost forgot why I came here. Long ago I read a tip about cleaning the hoops. If your hoops are dirty, say from spray adhesive, use baby wipes to clean them. I had some residue on the bed of my machine from cellophane tape. I didn't want to get out the GooGone, that would need cleaning off, too. Then I remembered baby wipes. The ones I had were pretty dry so I sprayed them with a little water and they cleaned the machine in seconds.

As for storing designs....I ended up storing everything in external hard disc....works for me...when I need somethjng I know where to look for it...the problem is organizing them constantlly.....happy scraping....

I also use an external hard disk to back up everything. I have three for my office computer that I rotate out every few weeks. When I start using a new one, I bring my laptop to the office backup it also. I usually end up with at least 3 copies of everything so if one goes bad, I still have another copy.

Make a backup of that drive online somewhere. I had a mostly full western digital brand external 3 terabyte hard drive die on me last March. ALL of my downloaded designs and ebooks and a million photos were on it, most of it irreplaceable. Years worth. Losing that HURT. When I asked my husband if he could retrieve the data off it (he's a computer guru) the first thing he said to me was "don't you have a backup?" I almost killed him. My external drive WAS my backup and my main storage because my laptop only had a 250 gb drive in it (it's an old laptop). And no, he couldn't get anything off that drive :( These days I have another external drive.. and everything on it gets automatically and continuously backed up to cloud storage via software called Backblaze as well. It's something like $5 a month and has both Mac and PC versions. I wish I'd had it before that drive died. I lost thousands of dollars of ebooks and music and downloaded embroidery designs and old scanned in family pictures. :(

Dear Keptwench,

I am sincerely sorry to hear of your losses. But thank you for advising the rest of us.

Keptwench, my son had a job with a company that restored data from disk drives. It was expensive, and I don’t know the name of the company, but your data may be saved.

I had an extra hard drive installed on my tower just to put all my files on it. So if the "C" drive crashes, my files are hopefully still there and they can just move the hard drive to another tower. Then I have 2 external hard drives to make a backup of those files. Thought my 1st external hard drive had bit the dust so went to my 2nd one. Found out later that what the problem was the cable to the external hard drive and not the drive itself. Luckily I hadn't thrown it out.

I was told by a computer guru that a lot of the time when an external hard drive goes bad it's not the drive itself that's bad. If you take the drive out of its box and install it in a transfer box usually you can save everything. When my old XP computer died I had a different problem though. I put the hard drive in a transfer box and when I tried to move everything to the new computer it wouldn't let me access my files. It straight up told me I didn't have permission to access the files on the old drive. I had to have a guru get into the old drive for me.

Cari

What is a transfer box? New one on me!

I had never heard of one either. When I took my old computer in to be fixed, they told me it was dead but they could save all my files, pics, etc with a transfer box. It's a small box they put the hard drive into and you connect it to another computer or an external drive. It allows you to transfer everything to whatever you connect it to. It only cost about $20 so a small price to pay for saving all my stuff.
BTW, I remembered a little more about an external hard drive failing. Usually it's the power supply that fails, not the drive itself.

Cari

Suggestions for needle sizes? I have a combo sewing/embroidery machine and just wonder what size needles everyone is using for what? Do you change out to an embroidery needle (Schmetz has them) when you go from piecing/sewing to embroidery? Or do you just use a regular sewing machine needle when you embroider and piece? I have so many different needles from over the years, and I am getting confused. When I went to buy new ones at JA, they had machine needles for Quilting that indicated "sharp", microtex sharp needles, embroidery needles, and regular needles - all for the sewing machines. I must be getting too old to figure this out. Any suggestions appreciated.

Rennie ~ I don't have a combo machine, but my thought is that whether or not to change out the needle might depend on the thread you're using and how it's feeding through the needle you're using. I use a lot of Sewer's Aid for machine embroidery.

Just wanted to share some recent gifts I've made using my embroidery machine. The fox clip holder and clips are Christmas gifts for my DGD. I'll send her the snowflakes in January and the cupcakes for her birthday in February. I plan to send her different ones every month in 2018.

All the designs are from GG Designs.

DJ these gifts are adorable!!! Thanks for sharing!

I don't buy Shmetz needles, too expensive. I buy Organ needles in bulk, and use the same needles for embroidery and regular sewing. The same basic rule applies for sewing or embroidery - sharp needle for wovens, ball point for knits. I use a size 11 for most sewing/embroidery, a larger needle for heavier sewing, a size 14 for most quilting and a smaller size 9 needle for embroidering with finer 60wt thread.

Cari

Rennie, if you would like a better understanding of those different needles you might like to check out this https://masteryourmachine.wordpress....a-needle-guru/

I have checked this post several times and it seems as tho it isn't active. I have Viking machines, started with a D1, then a SE for a hot minute when the Diamond came out so I traded up! Then I found a great deal on a DDR (Designer Diamond Royale) and sold the DIamond. I recently acquired another D1, so I use it mostly for sewing. I love my Vikings, and find having several machines from the same manufacturer helps with trading feett and accessories, as well as just knowing what the buttons do! lol I don't have a dealer anywhere close, and that isn't great, but I don't have a lot of repair issues either! I have been making Christmas gifts, so I don't want to post pics because my friends lurk! lol, but after the holidays I can post.

Linda, good for you having friends that lurk. NONE of my friends sew, and I hate that in a way because no one to share ideas and excitement -- but the good part is that they love to get a homemade gift AND they can't tell where I have made mistakes ! (grin). I think the board is slow right now because everyone IS making gifts. Probably will get better after Christmas. MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone on the board! ...and thanks for the advice on needles.

Have also been making Christmas gifts so haven't been on much but do enjoy it when others share their projects. Love the clips DJ.

Thanks for the compliments!

Here's the poinsettia placemat, napkin*, table topper* (reversible), and napkin ring set I made for myself. Finished just in time for our New Year's Eve dinner. LOL

I have 7 placemats (aimed at 6 but my prototype turned out fine), 8 napkins and 8 napkin rings. I know, it sounds like I'm short 1 placemat. Oh well.

*No machine embroidery involved with these.

Those are beautiful! Nice work.

Cari

Lovely! What do you mean "No embroidery machine involved"? How did you do the poinsettia in the corner? I love the napkin ring.

It is active...maybe not with every day postings but ....active enough. You can do a search within the thread for what you are inquiring of.

Sandy

I think she means the ones with the * ( the table topper and the napkin).(no embroidery).
Either way, it is a beautiful set. Happy New Year everyone and stay warm!!!

Love your placemats-etc...

Yes, that's right. The ones with the * did not use embroidery (table topper and napkins).

those are so cute. I made some with bunnies, but I couldn't keep the clips from coming out. did you glue them in? and with what? yes those are darling. I have a 2 yr granddaughter who is just now letting us put clips in her hair for more than a minute.

thanks for that information on the diffrent needles. always a good idea to have this available in our sewing rooms.

those mats are just beautiful! I didnt get around to making any this past year but high on the agenda for 2018. Never thought of using the same color though. That makes them even more beautiful.

Current Projects - Redwork and Bluework
 

I decided to use embroidery as an enhancement to my quilting. I tend to quilt with 6 1/2" and 8 1/2" inch blocks, so I reasoned that the Brother PE525 embroidery machine would fit my current needs (4X4 is the largest size I can embroider with this machine). I bought it in November, and I just love it! I've had little time to experiment with it, but I have become enamored with Redwork and Bluework embroidery. My first project was a 22X22 Redwork wall hanging, a Christmas gift for a friend. It was a nine-patch; the center block was a lovely cardinal, and the remaining blocks were flowers that held special meaning to my friend. I embroidered on unbleached muslin and used a matching red for the sashing/border and muslin for the cornerstones. It was truly lovely! Alas, I did not take a picture.

I have just completed a Bluework wall hanging top, same design as listed above. It has a winter theme and the sashing/border is a matching blue with muslin cornerstones (bleached muslin, this time). I should be able to complete this tomorrow or the next day. I tried uploading a picture of this wall hanging top, but I could not do so, nor could I do so as an attachment. I will contact Quilting Board and see if they can tell me why there is a problem. It is not a large file, just a simple .jpg, so I don't understand why I can't do it. I have not tried doing any of this before on this site, so it is probably just my ignorance.

These are my plans for using embroidery this year in my quilting: I am redecorating my living room/ dining area (open space), using a rustic country motif. In the dining area on one wall, there will be a Bluework wall hanging, the first being the winter one of which I just finished the top; this will be replaced for one depicting the other seasons. On an adjacent wall of the dining area, there will be a Redwork wall hanging -the first one is like the one I made for my friend, but the center bird is a Dove of Peace and the flowers are different from the ones I chose for her. The Redwork wall hanging will be replaced according to changing themes -Valentines, St. Patrick's Day, Easter/Spring, etc. For 2018, all will be the same size and layout. ALSO, back in the fall I cut out the squares for an Irish Chain quilt, the 9-patch done in bleached muslin and two different green prints, with the alternating squares being bleached muslin. I had always planned to make this in February, knowing I'd be tired of winter and longing for spring -I live in Colorado -and that is still my plan; however, those plain muslin squares will now be graced with Greenwork depicting designs like the Celtic knot, shamrock, etc. I can hardly wait! Finally, for this year, I want to duplicate the one quilt I made in 1976 -my first and only quilt until almost three years ago when I began quilting in earnest. This quilt was made of nine-patch small-floral calico prints with unbleached muslin alternating squares; upon these squares I hand-embroidered different flowers -a rose, an Irish, etc. Arthritis does not allow me to do hand-embroidery anymore, but I can now use my delightful little embroidery machine and achieve, I believe, quite lovely results.

I hope this thread continues for a long time. I am really interested in all the ways people use embroidery! (By the way, I do make quilts other than 9-patches, the log cabin and rail fence quilts being two of my favorites; I am awaiting the arrival of Civil War Era fabrics I ordered so that I can make a King's Crown quilt; I am still a student of quilting and want to try new patterns, and that I hope never changes! I like the looks of the King's Crown quilt.

Quilt On! Embroider On!

I have a Pfaff Creative Visions, -Babylock Ellisimo (4 upgrades) and a Brother Quatro 6000d ...thinking of selling them to get either Brother Dream Machine or Bernina 800e plus. Are you liking your Bernini 800e?

My BFF just bought a Dream machine and she loves it!!!! She's constantly telling me about the things it can do. I haven't been able to get out to see it yet but I really want to play with it.

Cari

I just cut a slit in the backing felt and slip the clips in as the directions say. I use the snap style, and they seem to fit snugly.

Here's my latest finish. These are for DD for her "table scatter", except one of the blue ones which I will see if DGD has a use for (in her hair or something). I'll send DD hers for Easter.

The patterns are from Artistic Thread Works and sold through Etsy via an online download. The price was exceptional for 10 different butterflies, and the FSL stitched out beautifully on water soluble stabilizer.

Oh wow, love your butterflies. Thanks for sharing where you got the design. How long does it take to stitch out one set?

designsbysick.com is having a sale ... $1.50 on all their design sets. I don't know how long it will last.

Here's what I've been working on....the first 4 are placemats, I have to bind them..I just love how realistic the bunnies ares are. Designs are Bountiful Bunnies from Morehead designs.
The last is a sweatshirt...it is from a new to me place... https://embroideres.com/
she has some really different stuff, and her prices are great. It stitched out beautifully, even though it's a very large, dense design. She calls it "root man"....I think it's a cultural difference..we call them tree spirits here.


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