IHAN Machine Embroidery Blog Hop - DAY 3

Monday , March 18th

Kelly - I Have A Notion
SewCalGal

Tues, March 19th

Cindy - Sew Cindy
Trish - AllThingsCrafty

Wed., March 20th

Marjorie's Quilting Bee
Margaret - The Average Quilter

Thurs., March 21st

Rebecca Grace - Cheeky Cognoscenti

Fri., March 22nd

Gene Black - Alabama Artist
SewCalGal

I HAVE A NOTION is  hosting a Machine Embroidery Blog Hop and today is my day to show what I've done.

Our sponsor is Anita Goodesign.

I just love everything Anita Goodesign designs and it was really difficult to pick just one design

I finally narrowed it down and picked the Rooster design.

I couldn't believe how realistic the designs were.

So the minute I received them I had to try one out.

I thought about doing some dish towels, maybe cutrains or even a quilt for my part of the hop.

But when I saw the project that Anita had included with the design I knew that was what I wanted to do. What better way to display the awesome Roosters. 

I downloaded the pdf file and it gave step by step instructions.

I probably could have just copied the pictures but I took my own.

I will try and make this brief so you don't have to spend all day reading.

1st I hooped my No Show Mesh and muslin and the design stitched out the placement.

I placed my warm and natural (cut to size) on the placement and then placed the fabric.

The design then stitched over the placement line and I was ready to go.

This is the beginning of one of the designs.

I used a topper on the Roosters and Fleur des Leis

I then trimmed up all the pieces and layed them out

Even laying them out in the right order I still managed to sew two together the wrong way.
I sewed this into the 4 quarters (basically 4 nine patches)

Then I used some Hoop Magic and placed the nine patch using the brown and white pieces as center. 

Then I did all 4 Roosters 

I sewed two quarters together. 

Then the 2 halves. 

The pdf said to quilt it by the squares and using more batting was optional.

Well I opted for more batting (probably would have looked better without) and I also outlined around the Rooster with nylon thread. 

I also used piping for the 1st time (probably not a good time to try something new)

All the step by step instructions come with the design.

I have really enjoyed being a part of the IHAN Machine Embroidery Blog Hop and having a chance to do one of Anita Goodesign's designs.

Some good tips:

1. Always use a topper.

2. Use Hoop Magic (or similar) when you don't want to hoop or can't hoop.

3. Change your needle when the threads start to loop above the design.

For a chance to win one Anita Goodesign Special Edition Collections  leave a comment on this post by March 24 and a winner will be selected by random drawing and announced on March 25.
For a second winner as a Thanks for putting up with this long blog entry and for your patience I will give away the dish towel (shown at the begining) on Sunday, March 24