Embroidery Books

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These are a couple of great books I bought on a trip to Salt Lake City.  I found them at a fabulous store in West Jordan named Material Girls.  The quilt store is full of bright, hip, cheery fabric from the top designers.  They also have lots of embroidery patterns and project type patterns (aprons, bags, kids clothes, etc) as well as quilt patterns and books.  It's always a highlight to stop by and drop some dollars.  

I do seem to be on an embroidery kick lately.  I love to have a project to work on in the car on longer trips and to stitch while I watch TV.  I haven't prepped anything from these books yet but need to get going.  I highly recommend them both.

Embroidery Prep

I'm working on a big embroidery project.  It will eventually be a quilt.  The prep is very time consuming.  Above is a picture of my big "light box".  Actually, mine is very small so my kitchen window gets put to use when the piece is bigger.  First I tape up the pattern.

Then I add the fabric, centered over the pattern.  I trace it using a fine point blue washable marker.  I'm not brave enough to use a fine tip sharpie.  I like being able to wash out the leftovers safely.

Next I add some white muslin as backing to the piece.  I usually back my embroidery pieces with batting but the quilt will have battting.  So double batting will be too bulky.

I use my machine to baste it all together.  Since this piece is 21" X 32", I added center basting too.  This keeps the fabric secure and from shifting around while you work.

Here's the block I've been working on.  This hoop is kind of small for the piece and I do have a bigger hoop.  But I'm liking this one better, feel more of a sense of accomplishment as you can move the hoop more often. 

Above is the pattern cover, "Winter Wonderland".  The blue case is my favorite for carrying my work when traveling.  I'm about to have a lot of time in the car so that translates into stitching time for me.