Embroidery machines make great quilt labels!

Have you ever seen the back of Tula Pink’s quilts?  She sold some last year on her blog and showed the quilt labels she used to name and sign them.  One was an aerosol can with fancy writing on the label of the can, naming the quilt.  They were really amazing and I realised, how bad a job I do on my quilt labels.  From time to time, I just write on the back with a micro fine pen!  One quilt, I signed with quilt writing on the front, in each of the 4 corners.  It’s legible to me!  This weekend, getting the embroidery machine I was given at the Cork IPS (Irish Patchwork Society) meeting going, I thought I need to do a better job labeling my quilts. 

G is a computer engineer and a bit of a hoarder – as such it was no trouble to find an old laptop with Windows XP on it and I got the driver installed so the laptop could finally talk to the little Huskystar EM10.  Using some Gutermann rayon thread that I had on hand, I downloaded some patterns I had purchased on sale from Urban Threads and stitched them out.  This little machine is a doddle to use and the hoop firmly holds the stabiliser and fabric with no shifting.  No thread breakage at all and you can walk away and let it do its thing.  The only issue is, from time to time, a faulty sensor on the presser foot gives an error.  I cleaned the machine, oiled it and released the lever and it started up again!

I did get a stitch error on the snowflake when I ran out of bobbin thread and missed sending the machine back a few steps when it restarted – can you spot the error in the stitching?  Totally my fault!

Then I did got a bit ambitious and tried a really dense pattern – I think this is really meant to be a bigger pattern – it has over 20,000 stitches and in a 4” space, this means a lot of thread.  It didn’t really like this much and thread breakage ensued but it got there in the end.  I can see these as really cool as pockets on a t-shirt, used as an embellishment for a bag or covers of notebooks as well as labels!

Saturday morning was pretty much taken up by all of this and when G saw my progress he asked if using the little machine had taught me anything I could apply to my own H600e – aka she who must not be named.  (If I named her she would be Hideous Heidi the Husqvarna, temperment like a Viking warrior!)  So while in town with mum looking for wedding presents, I just happened to pop into Hickeys, a haberdashery shop in the city centre.

I thought I might buy some more Gutermann thread, as the morning’s session has left me with very little on the spool.  I was shocked to hear they don’t carry it anymore!  They do have lots of hand embroidery threads so that’s a good sign!  I like hand embroidery but if I tried that for quilt labels none would ever be finished!  I did leave with a new oil cloth for the kitchen table though!

Pondering machined embroidery labels for my quilts while mum was oohing over a beautiful white stand up mirror, I told her I’d be back in a sec and wandered up to Lena’s who sell sewing machines, do custom embroidery and are the only place in town I can get Debbie Bliss yarn.  There was queue.  I was a little bit more than a second but I did pick up some Royal Rayon thread in these gorgeous colours!  Not cheap at 4.95 a spool!

So new thread, new bobbin case and old machine I gave she who must not be named another go!  The hoop size is much bigger about 8” x 11”.  The software is different too and runs off my windows cheapo tablet from Walmart, another plus!  It was getting a bit crowded on the kitchen table at this stage!

The software with the H600e will resize, allow you to add lettering, combine motifs and delete elements but doesn’t mirror and and you can’t precisely position something in the hoop too easily.  The little EM10 will mirror and is easy to position but not too easy to customise a pattern.    The EM10 follows the pattern on the screen so you can see how much is left.  The H600e instead gives you the number of stitiches done and shows 1 layer at a time.  Why you pay a fortune for an embroidery machine and the software from the same company is so different is beyond me but these are considered bottom level entry machines so maybe the 2000-3000 Euro machines have something different?

This wolf from Urban Threads reminds me of Game of Thrones and epic episode this week with Jon Snow, so I tried it out in the blue threads I bought (original pattern uses grey & black!)

 It’s fun watching it stitch out, kind of like waiting for a polaroid photo to appear.  Each new colour of stitching really adds to the effect.  I like this guy so much I think I’m going to hang him on the wall for decoration!

I learned something new.  My machine loves this Royal thread!  Not one breakage – no beep beep beep except when bobbin is about to run out – wish all machines had that sensor!

I kept trying to make this machine free motion quilt and had some success with Aurifil, but could never really get past the tension issues without adjusting the bobbin and you are not meant to do that with this beastie.  It seems all her short life, she only ever wanted to be an embroidery machine and have Royal Rayon for dinner.

So the weekend kind of got away from me!  The baby quilt I could have been making, the quilts I should have been basting and the QAL catching up didn’t quite happen but I did get some labels made.

A generic pretty label and those suitable for my dog quilt, camera inspired quilt and christmas quilt I am planning in my head!  I’ve left room to add the quilt name and date when I get to that stage.  Now I just have to find a home for the little EM10.  It’s not thread fussy and doesn’t pull in the hoop and is really easy to use.  She has a name – I’m calling her Happy Henrietta!  Glad she got diverted my way on her way to the dump!

All in a weekend's work!

A little something extra - a finish & a Giveaway

Did I tell you I broke my machine?  My Husqvarna Viking H600e is a sewing machine with an embroidery module.  Its essentially the same as the Singer Futura XL550 sewing machine that has slightly fancier plastic but with Husqvarna software for the embroidery motifs.  To say that this is a finicky machine is an understatement!

My machine is unnamed; I generally don't name electric items.  At one point I was tempted to call her Heidi the Husky but Hideous Heidi kept popping into my head so often it was better she stay the unnamed one!

Don't let the pretty plastic fool you (she really is a good looking machine though, isn't she?) She can straight stitch with the best of them but ask her to do the fancy work she looks like she is up for, trouble brews. I have cursed more and muttered more and walked away from the machine in a temper more than any other piece of equipment I have ever owned - thanks Unnamed One for that!

The trouble is she really wants to be an embroidery machine and I kept wanting her to be the all purpose sewing /quilting/embroidery machine I thought I had bought.  I have since learned one size  does not fit all. 

Coats on left and Aurifil on right - same 50 weight

Image from Wonder thread Guide

She hates working at full speed (3/4 suits best).

She only likes expensive thread.  Gutermann for embroidery and Aurifil for quilting.

She doesn't like thread fed on the horizontal spool even when using the net so I use a doohickey called a Wonder Thread Guide.

This sits on top of where your spool goes and guides the thread through like a cone stand.  It's designed to eliminate thread breakage when stitching out an embroidery motif.  I leave it on the machine permanently.  It helps but I still get thread breakage, even with the expensive thread and new needles.  Happens mostly when the machine is travelling from one area in the hoop to another.

You get the best value in shipping by buying 2 so I have a spare one if anyone is having issues with thread and wants to try it.  Leave me a comment to enter the giveaway and if there is more than one person who wants this I'll do a random number generator to pick a winner.

Don't get me wrong there is a lot to like about this machine.  It has an automatic bobbin winder, push the lever and she winds herself!  She warns you when you are about to run out of bobbin thread - so handy!  She has a beautiful wide bed and a lovely wide harp space so moving  a quilt around is really easy.  The automatic needle threader is easy to use and works about 80% of the time but the little handle on the side of the machine keeps falling off so useless really! 

The real issue with this machine though, in my humble opinion, after 3 years working with it is this. 

The bobbin tension is a nightmare!  The manual says do not adjust the bobbin and of course I did!  In my defence I had to to get the tension right for free motion quilting (previous post here).  It was working like a dream for about 10 hours and then I guess the bobbin slowly came apart as it got worse and worse.  I did get my quilt finished but ended up with a broken bobbin case at the end.

28 Euro's later - a new bobbin case, some new Gutermann thread and voila!  A perfectly pretty Tula Pink owl all stitched out!

Was this a pain free experience with The Unanamed One?

Nope!  7 thread breaks, a bit of pulling in despite stabiliser and screwing the hoop as tight as I could, 1 curse after first attempt had a massive bobbin jam (jam proof drop in bobbin me a**e) - this came after round 10 of 16 and had to be discarded due to enormous hole ripped when trying to remove said jam proof bobbin, 2 cups of tea to calm down, 3 biscuits as I thought I deserved them after that, and 5 hours later - 1 owl!

It became a needle book (slightly largeish as the owl is about 5" x 8") as an extra to our Summer Tote bag Swap with the Modern Quilters Ireland.  I'm looking forward to sharing my bag with you this Friday as it should be delivered to my swap partner then!

The owl is available from Urban Threads along with the Acacia raccoon and can be bought in a machine or hand embroidery option.

I think it was worth the aggravation but I might just take a break and  do some quilting on my new Janome before sitting back down to The Unnamed One again for a bit just yet!

WIP Wednesday - Christmas Stocking Challenge

Taking a break from straight line quilting 3 camper van cushions, I decided to get cracking on one of the Christmas challenge/swaps I signed up for this year. 

Our branch of the Irish Patchwork Society set us a Christmas challenge to make either a Christmas stocking or a wine bottle cover.  I chose the stocking and thinking I wanted to do something hand embroidered, I had a rummage through some old magazines and found this Rudolph from Crafts Beautiful November 2013. 

Every Christmas stocking I've ever owned has faced left for some reason so I reversed him onto my fabric and had great fun embroidering him.  He's outlined with a running stitch, satin stitch on his nose and heart, stem stitch and french knots on his scarf and chain stitch on his antlers and tail.

He's about 4" x 6" high so I framed him with some blue Folk Art Holiday fabric I bought from Fluffy Sheep Quilting!

I was nearly going to have just him on his own on the stocking but I really enjoyed stitching him out and in the end, I thought he could use some friends.  So I'm adding some singing snowmen.  I found these guys in this month's Simply Homemade magazine.  I think some stars and musical notes too as in my head these guys are singing the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer song.  Somehow it's gotten stuck in my head and driving me slightly mad at this stage! 

Not sure what to do with the back just yet!  I'm really enjoying this little project.  I'd forgotten how much fun hand embroidery can be!

Linking up to