gramquilter2

Bobblehead, where did you find the machine embroidery for the Affairs of the Heart design?

coffeecozy

I'm not bobblehead but I saw it here http://www.annasawesomeappliquedesig...-the-heart.htm

gramquilter2

Thanks, coffeecozy.

Macybaby

More practicing.

For satin stitching, I switch to the foot with the groove in it. This allows the bulkier stitching to slide under the foot easily. My machine is over 30 years old, so maybe this is not needed for newer machines.



I loosen the top tension a bit, and lighten up the foot pressure about half way. I did the first one and it ended up a bit puckered (one on the left).



Then I remembered I bought stabilizer for this. I've never used it before, but bought a bolt of it last week when Joanne's had it half price. I figured it might come in handy . . .




And the second - the same as the first, but with the stabilizer. I realized that the stabilizer limited quite a bit of the feed dog action, making it easier to go around the corners.



So I tried one with the dogs dropped. I did have to reduce the foot pressure even more so I could move it around. Made a few "opps" stitches, and it's shaky, but not bad enough that I want to rip it out . . . but it was a lot easier doing the straighter parts with the dogs engaged.




For the last, I had the dogs engaged, but kept the pressure lighter. Made it easier to turn tight corners, but kept me from accidentally getting way off, and made going down the straighter spots much easier.



I might actually get pretty good at this by the time I'm done! If I do the blocks in order and lay them out the same way, it will be a "study" in my increasing ability as I've gotten more practice.

kaelynangelfoot

Thanks for that series of posts Cathy! You've given me some things to try. I've ordered some stabilizer but it hasn't arrived yet. My test block had some puckering. BTW, my satin stitch foot also has a groove in it.

dd

I'm doing mine by hand and thought I would use Stable Magic. I have an old pack from a class a long time ago but know I can't find it for sale. I've looked on the interweb but no one seems to carry it any more. Has anyone used this? Anyone know where I might find it?

kaelynangelfoot

I did a search on amazon and this is what came up: http://www.amazon.com/Sulky-12-Inch-...c+for+applique

And then I found this article, it may help you find a substitute. http://www.generations-quilt-patterns.com/water-soluble-stabilizer.html

Or this may possibly be what you are looking for, but it doesn't look like they are actually selling it, just have it listed: http://softexpressions.com/software/.../StableMag.php

dd

That's the same thing I came up with. Thanks for trying.

Ladyjanedoe

Can anyone else using dark backgrounds recommend something for marking the design for placement on the fabric? I finished fusing my first block and used a vinyl overlay, but did not like it. I think for future designs it would be best to mark the fabric. Thoughts? Recommendations?

Gay

Jane - I did have a washaway white pen for this, much like the blue ones, and if ironed the mark was meant to dissappear. Can't give you the brand name - it seems to have gone walk-about for now - or could you use a white colouring pencil, the applique should cover the marks. Maybe you could fold the background 4 ways (straight or diagonal) and press lines to help with placement.