What about a BOM for Machine Embroidery??

[suehenyon]

So Diane, can you digitize with Embird? Why not just go for it & try digitizing January? Will it multi-hoop the design for you?

I plan on trying to learn a quilt as you go technique along with this, per Sharon Pederson's style. I get overwhelmed with quilting big pieces because I don't have a place to put the quilt sandwich together that is big enough & I don't "do the floor thing."

[Libbi]

I just posted in my profile the test stitchout of my attempt to digitize the January BOM. I have Designer Plus V5 and the 830. It took two hoopings. I stitched it out with scrap fabrics and you can probably see the placement lines. I confused myself with placement lines for the center of the hoop and the center of the design...DUH. ops:

There are probably several different ways to digitize the design and turn it into an applique and many choices for satin stitch or blanket stitch. I think it could easily be divided into 4 hoopings for the medium hoop doing a quarter of the design at a time. I still want to fiddle with the order of the elements. My goals is to minimize the number of times I remove the hoop from the machine to cut away the excess fabric. I haven't achieve that automatically yet. I toggled through the stitching segments while at the machine to do it.

I do have to admit that I reved up the 830 to maximum speed once I got the stitching order to my liking. It was awesome.

[Libbi]

Libbi,
I am not familiar with the type of digitize that you did on your example that I just reviewed. The whole process does take some time. When it was on the hoop, did you zig zag around the edges of the design? and than clip away the outside fabric?

Norina

[Libbi]

Norina,
I can only describe how it works for the Bernina but I do believe the following is how it is done on many embroidery machines.

The background fabric is hooped. Digitizing to produce an applique generally produces 3 to 4 outlines: placement, cutting line, tackdown, coverstitch all in the hoop. Each stitching is a different color so that the embroidery module stops before going on to the next stitching. The placement outlines the shape and then you put down a piece of fabric to cover the shape while it is in the hoop and on the module. Then the cutting line repeats the shape stitching the fabric to the background. The hoop is removed from the module and you cut the fabric very close to the stitching. The hoop is then reattached to the module. If a tackdown is selected the fabric is outlined again in a straight stitch or a zigzag. The cover stitch is generally a satin stitch or a blanket stitch but I've done it with a decorative stitch too.

Just like hand or machine applique the order in which the fabric is applied and stitched is important and determines at which point the cover stitch is digitized. This particular design was straightforward. I put down the bud first, then the stem, then the leaves with the center flower layered last.

My software has additional tools to automate the digitizing process for applique. I hope I answered your question.

[Libbi]

Amanda, sorry I got the wrong end of the stick! :cry: Thought you had latest version, but know why you dont! It would have been bundled up ages ago, perhaps a couple of years, so even though you just bought it, it was packaged before latest version came out. OR you dealer was just 0ffloading old stock. I agree that Bernina uk will probably not be very helpful. BUT, how about complaining to your dealer, after all, he sold it to you and got the profit. Good customer relations should mean something to him!!! Well, you can live in hope! :x

[suehenyon]

Libbi said

My goals is to minimize the number of times I remove the hoop from the machine to cut away the excess fabric.

Libbi, if you figure out how to stitch down more than one shape at a time, please take good notes and tell me how! I haven't figured that out yet, but believe I did that in a quilt u class, with three shapes stitched down at once, then trim. I wish we had "view codes" like in Microsoft Word.

I did figure out that the wreathing tool appeared to interfere with the multi-hooping.

I'm also sewing leaders (from muslin) around the outside of my block because I don't want to hoop a 20" square of my good background fabric.

Your block looks great. What satin stitch settings are you using?

Susan

[suehenyon]

There is a nice video "Machine Embroidered Applique" under Bernina videos on the homepage that shows the machine applique process. I believe Viking, Babylock and Pfaff work the same way, from watching other videos on TV.

[Mailmanldy]

So Diane, can you digitize with Embird? Why not just go for it & try digitizing January? Will it multi-hoop the design for you? "

With the basic version of Embird, I can not digitize, I would need Embrid Studio for that, and I have no desire to learn to digitize at this time, too many other things I want to do, and not enough time to do those.

When I first mentioned a BOM for Machine Embroidering, I wasn't thinking of taking this years BOMS and turning them into something that could be done on our machines. I was thinking more along the lines of the types of Machine Embroidered quilts that you take a set of designs, edit the designs and create quilt blocks with them, like Jenny Haskins does with a number of her design sets. That is what I would like to learn, and get some ideas and hints on how to do that.

I am not trying to discourage those that want to take the applique BOM and create them with their machines, I think that is great, if that is your thing. But I have no interest in applique of any kind, even by machine, so that is not what I had in mind.

Diane in Colorado Springs

[Libbi]

Sue, You're right about the wreathing tool. In the end I digitized from the pattern in the instructions rather than the photo. I did the scan into artwork process. I was much happier with the accuracy of the pattern.

I used the Auto Applique tool. I didn't use a tackdown except for the circles. I tried out the blanket stitch as my cover stitch at 2mm but that frayed rather than covered the edges of the applique. I used a satin stitch of 2mm for the flower, leaves and center flower motif. I used 1.25 mm for the stem since the piece is so narrow.

While you can move the order of stitchout of each segment through the color film you aren't able to move the individual stitch outlines within. I tried to combine the placement stitches for the leaves together but the program moves the entire leaf "applique unit."

I am sure that if we manually create 3 duplicate outlines for each shape and use object properties to define different colors & stitch types for each outline stitching we could put down all the placement lines (for example, all the leaves) in one stitch sequence. Ugh. That's why I just toggled through the shapes on the machine.

My next experiment is to see how Advanced Applique works for the design. Thankfully I can do a quarter of the design and then duplicate, rotate and place.

I am sure that there is some embroidery whiz on TQS who knows how to do this in a snap but this process is a real learning experience for me.

[Libbi]

Hi Diane,
Really didn't mean to highjack your original suggestion. The beauty of today's quilting universe is that there are so many techniques from which to choose. I also love embroidered blocks and am eyeing those quilts from Jenny Haskins. A BOM like that would be an awesome choice and addition to TQS.

As an update to my attempt to applique the 2010 in the hoop, I tried Advanced Applique to digitize the design but that tool will not allow me to group placement stitches, cutting lines, tackdowns, & cover stitches separately either. So I did the digitizing of each shape and the duplication of the outline to create separate stitchings in different colors (to create the stop). This process also allows the digitizer to select decorative stitches as the cover stitch as well as a satin stitch 8) . Because of the repetitive nature of the design, it went a lot faster than I thought.

I am going to look at the photo of the entire quilt before I decide to continue with Hugs and Kisses as an applique in the hoop.

[Libbi]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm quite happy for your folks to do all the work and pass it on to us! lol. :lol: :lol:
At last I managed to complete 1 towel topper!! found out that most of my problems ie. broken needles was down to tension. I put a net over my spool and it sewed fine. Using Isotard, not had to do it before but there you go!!!! :?

Thanks for all you help ladies, couldn't manage without you!
Lynn were it was snowing earlier on today and now has melted!

[suehenyon]

Libbi said,

Ugh.

I agree.

My brain is burning. Trying to save money, I decided to try to center the whole big multli-hooped design in a nicely cut square. Well now, that didn't work too well. Third try coming up... My language is not appropriate for public.

I ended up digitizing registration lines to stitch onto hooped tearaway & drawing a grid on the fabric. I just have to rip some stitches for awhile before I see what surprises this will bring.

We enjoy this, right?

This digitizing process makes me appreciate all the knowlege that goes into well done designs.

Maybe after a year we'll be good!

[Mailmanldy]

Libbi,

You didn't hijack my original suggestion, and you are right, there are so many different ways to do things today, that there is room for everything. I'm glad you are learning your software and how to create applique with it. I think the best way to learn how to do something is by actually doing it. If you are happy with what you are creating, and do finish the entire quilt in your machine, I think that would be awesome, and would love to see it.

I just thought that some kind of a BOM for machine embroidery would be a good way to learn, and if JoJo was going to make some tutorials (I thought I saw her mention that in another thread) that having a BOM to work on, using what she shows us, would be a great way to practice, and have something to show for it, instead of just practice pieces.

IF and that is a HUGE IF, I ever did decide to make an applique quilt, I probably would want to do it in my machine, as I don't like doing hand work, and perhaps if I tried it, I might actually find that I like it. (When I first saw any machine applique, ages and ages ago, it was always with the satin stitches, and I never liked that, and I can't help but think of that any time I think of machine applique. I really need to start looking and paying attention to machine applique, and see how it is being done, especially now that we have these wonderful embroidery machines).

I would be happy just to see more discussion in the Embroider's Corner on the board, this topic doesn't seem to get much activity. And if people were talking about what they are doing, and problems they run into, and how to fix them, it would help a lot of people.

Diane in Colorado Springs

[Libbi]

Diane,

I think you would love it. No templates, no bity pieces of paper & fusible (at least I don't fuse very much), no removing freezer paper, no light boxes... . And a variety of decorative stitches to use to finish the edges.

If and when you give it a try, sign up for Joanne Winn's embroidered applique course at QU. Two versions of a Dresden plate in the hoop--a revelation. 8)

Libbi

[Libbi]

One of the ladies in my sewing circle has done a lap quilt in a chequer board fashion. One set of the squares are a turkey red and off white patterned fabric and the other are machine embroidered red work panels. It looks really rather nice. She's hand quilting it at the moment. I will see if I can take a photo and put it on. It would be an ideal sort of starter project.

Saga of the software continues. I have managed to upload the Editor Lite 4 to the redundant XP computer, with minimal help from the shop who sold it to me, but after the restart it's asking for me to insert the blue dongle. I have a white one and it doesn't want to go any further. Man at shop was out yesterday so no help there. I think there may be a patch somewhere on the Bernina site that I have to find but this computer won't connect to my internet so it might be down to more jiggery pokery with a USB stick!

I managed to join the US site. I have an obscure address in America now!!

Lessons start tomorrow. :roll:[/list]