New Machine Embroidery Freebies

Embroidery Library has come out with some great designs just in time for the 4th of July that you can pick up for free through June 30th. You can also download June and July's free designs if you have not downloaded June's yet, this is your last chance. Our printer had run out of ink and I was waiting till I could print out the color chart in color to download them. All told and with the two sizes available for each design, I downloaded 12 new designs a few minutes ago. I just love this company for their generosity and their great designs. I've never had a bit of trouble with a single one. Visit Embroidery Library to stock up your designs.

Just thinking about the 12 designs I just got, I remember when the first home embroidery machines came out. The designs where incredibly tiny and a disc with designs on ran around $100! Free designs were not something that anyone ever imagined, but of the great things we managed to do with those machines, but I still like my Janome 300e.

Holiday Knitting Boutique

I would like to introduce you to a great book of knitting projects that I was asked to review by the author. You might like it too.

Holiday Knitting Boutique by Mary Jean Daigneault if a full color book, ISBN 0615478751 puclished by Praxis 2012. Here is the review that I wrote for Amazon:

I was asked to review this book by the author as not only I do book reviews, I am heavily into needlework crafts and have an on line store that sells sewing patterns, so anything having to do with needlework is something I want to read about. Even though I am not a knitter, I love reading about knitting and seeing great projects and that is what you will find in this book. Great projects! While being called projects for holidays, most of the designs with a color change could be used for holidays and occasions other than Christmas.

The author is an interior designer as well as a knitter and this shows throughout the book. Her items are lovely and things that can be lived with, not those tatty, cheap, make in 15 minutes nonsense. Through lovely yarns (which I wanted to reach onto the page and touch) and an artist’s eye you will find some great three dimensional items unlike anything I have seen in any knitting book, such as large snowmen, pillows, wreaths, trees, etc. The closest you get to a 'same old stuff' in the book is the beanie hat. Otherwise all the designs looked fresh and original.

The only reason that I gave this book 4 instead of a 5 is I felt that some of the project information at the beginning of each project was lacking enough detail. While I didn't read and can't comment on the actual knitting directions, I did read the 'ingredient' list and blurbs of the need to know information, and it didn't seem to me to be enough for good follow through on the projects unless the knitter is more experienced. Perhaps that is just because I'm not a knitter.  Also, while the book has lovely color illustrations of the completed projects, there were no intermediate illustrations or diagrams on how to put some of these projects together. Some crafters really do need clues on how to put things together even if they have knitted it correctly especially these large 3D projects.

All in all though a really terrific book with some great ideas.

I certainly hope for the sake of knitters, that the author continues with designing new knitting projects and writing books about them.

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Embroidery Delight

Secrets of Embroidery has welcomed a new machine embroidery merchant called Embroidery Delight. They have many interesting designs from floral to children's animal appliques. They also have several Freebies posted at this point. Stop on in to Secrets of Embroidery by clicking here.

I Won a Prize!

Last Friday, June 1, 2012, I got a letter in the mail. You know snail mail, that makes you curious wondering who wrote you and why. Opened it up to find out that I had won a prize of a Work Station Ironing Board through a Vogue Patterns Magazine giveaway. It arrived on Saturday. Let's just say I was thrilled. I have it attached to the left of my trusty Janome Horizon 7700 so it makes a great work surface. I have a travel iron that has been packed up for years, and I will try to find it for the next time I'm piecing so I don't have to keep getting up and down. Anything to make sewing easier for me at this point in my arthritis is terrific. Yes, that is my messy sewing spot and the stool I have to sit on now that my sewing chair broke and then threw me off a few months ago.

You too can get one of these Work Station Ironing Boards . I find it to be well constructed. The leg is adjustable although because I have an old fashioned sewing table built for smaller ladies in a different era, hubby had to cut off a bit of the leg. It even came with a full sized pattern to make an iron board cover for it in case of burns, glue desposits and all the other nasties that collect on ironing board covers. They are produced by Ohana Creations, a small American company. Check them out here.

Thank you so much Vogue Patterns Magazine and Ohana Creations for giving me this great gift. Of course, that also prompted me to go double checked that I had submited entires for all the other contests I would be interested in winning!