My Favorite Things

Posted by on May 4, 2012

I had a couple of people ask me what was in my “Favorite Things” giveaway basket at the Everything Applique Conference this past weekend. I hope these are in a somewhat logical order, but if not, you’ll get the idea! I’ll also try to reference where everything came from. First of all, here is a picture of my door prize ~ Applique Cafe’s “Favorite Things” basket. The basket, or Angled White Beverage Tub, came from Target. If I knew how to use my vinyl cutting machine, I would have adorned it with lime and/or pink polka dots! The cellophane basket bag came from Michael’s and the Raffia came from an Etsy store. I also used hot pink crinkle cut paper filler from Caffco Floral Outlet. (I had a lot of fun doing door prizes). The AC stickers came from Zazzle.com!

The winner of my basket, Demonica, posted this photo on Facebook. If you’ll remember my last post, she rode from New Orleans to Birmingham on a TRAIN! I just think that is so awesome and fun! She said it was very relaxing and gave her some quality time away from the family to rest and do a little work on her laptop (in the sleeper car). I honestly had no idea you could ride a train anywhere, so it’s even cooler that she rode a train to come to the Everything Applique Conference!

Now on to the basket… I included my go-to stabilizer, 12×12 and 8×8 2.2 oz precut medium cutaway stabilizer squares. Both of these came from Sewingmachine.com. Check out all of their “commercial backing” and you can narrow down your search by the type of stabilizer you are looking for (cutaway, precut squares, tearaway, etc.). Click HERE for precut squares. They come in a variety of weights, but I like the 2.2 oz, as it is not too thick or heavy. I have used 2.5 oz as well and it’s not too heavy either. Their commercial cutaway also comes on the roll, but the squares are really convenient.

As you can see the 8×8 squares are perfect for the 4×4 hoop. (This is my Brother PR650 4×4 hoop)

The 12×12 squares are great for the Durkee 9×9 hoop and also the 5×7 hoop. Check out this post for more info on the Durkee Hoop, which is compatible with most multi-needle machines.

You can use the entire 12×12 square for your 5×7 hoop, or cut a few inches off before you hoop.

 Now on to Sulky KK2000 spray. This is a temporary spray adhesive that I use to “stick” my cutaway stabilizer to the inside of my shirt before hooping. It keeps the stabilizer in place so I am able to hoop my shirt. I also use the 99 cent tape measurer from Hobby Lobby! I keep one in my purse as well ~ you never know when you’ll need to measure something. When I do a shirt, I measure from armpit seam to armpit seam and mark my center. This distance is usually a good even measurement (14″, 12.5″ etc).

 Spray adhesive can build up and make things sticky, so I recommend spraying it OUTSIDE. My sewing room is right by our front door, so I walk out on the porch and spray my stabilizer over the bushes. My bushes might be sticky, but at least my carpet isn’t!

 My shirt is inside out, I’ve sprayed my stabilizer with spray adhesive, and now I stick the stabilizer to the shirt. Turn it right side out and I am ready to hoop! The Sulky KK2000 spray is temporary, so when I am finished appliqueing my shirt, it pulls right off so that I can trim the excess stabilizer around the design. See this post for more info on hooping.

 Also in my basket: Schmetz Embroidery Needles (75/11) and an air erasable pen. I use the air erasable pen (from Joann or any sewing store) to mark the center of my shirt (or bib, or towel, etc). It disappears with a little time, or you can also squirt water on the dot and it’ll go away. A wet Q-tip works as well. If I am marking the center of a dark item, such as a navy blue t-shirt or a fluffy blanket, I use a straight pen. Chalk would work as well. You may notice the lint buildup in the clip on my pen. I have had this pen since I started doing applique about 5 years ago!

As far as embroidery needles, I use 75/11 needles for everything. Some people use ballpoint needles and some people change out their needles for various projects. 99% of the time I am doing samples or tshirts so this is the type of needle I use. You can get Schmetz needles from Sewingmachine.com, Joann (I stock up when notions are 50% off) or most any sewing store. Steve (Sewingmachine.com) recommends Schmetz, as they are the oldest needle company around. Basically they have been making needles for a long long, long long long, time!

Bobbins ~ for my Brother PR650, I use the Fil-Tec Magnetic Core Bobbin. A box of 100 is $28, again at sewingmachine.com. I recommend any prewound bobbin, as the tension is consistent and it’s fast and easy to change out your bobbin. These were not in my basket since I didn’t know what kind of machine the winner would have, but I’m including them in my favorite things!

 Heat. N. Bond. Lite ~ check out this post on why I love this product!! You can buy HNBL by the bolt, in a box, on a small 3 yard roll, 15 yard roll, etc. Some people buy it at their local Walmart, but I have not seen it in Montgomery. You can buy small packages at places like Joann or Hobby Lobby. Sewingmachine.com sells it as well. I used to stock up at Joann when notions were 50% off, but lately I have not been able to find any there. Wonder Under is another fusible product you can use, but I use and recommend HNBL.

Instructions ~ very easy to use!

 Another item NOT in my basket, but still one of my favorite things (and a necessity in applique). The iron is your friend! I have a Shark iron. It’s not fancy and yes, it leaks water sometimes. Iron your shirts, iron your bibs, use the iron for your HNBL, iron when you’re done. IRON!! Do you get hoop burn? Squirt with water from your iron, iron over the hoop burns. They are gone! I see photos on Facebook a lot and it looks like someone took a picture of a t-shirt from the dirty clothes basket. Ironing can make all the difference in your appliques, your pictures, etc! I hate to iron my own clothes, but ironing is so important when doing embroidery and applique.

 Scissors ~ I did include 4″ curved Gingher scissors in my basket, as well as a 2-pack of Fiskars fabric-cutting scissors. I use the Ginghers in the applique process only to trim the fabric around the tackdown stitch. I use regular fabric-cutting scissors to cut fabric, to cut stabilizer, to cut ribbon, etc. You can never have enough scissors! p.s. I got my Ginghers at Joann and you can usually catch them on sale or use a coupon.

The Ginghers are great for trimming closely around your applique! The curved end helps you to NOT cut a hole in your shirt (been there, done that, got the t-shirt)!

 As you can see here, I trim very closely. I do this with the help of a) the scissors and b) the HNBL on my fabric makes trimming easy and CLEAN! This design is ready for the satin stitch!

 There were also a few fabrics in my basket. I typically buy 1/4 yards of fabric since a little goes a long way when doing applique. I LOVE polka dots, ginghams, stripes and small florals and prints for applique! These are all my GO-TO fabrics, as you can probably see in my design sample photos.

 You can’t beat good ginghams, and try to avoid the cheap thin ones. Fabric Finder brand ginghams are great!

 

 One more item that I should have included in my basket but didn’t have time to get… a REAL thread chart! This is the Isacord real thread sample thread chart. I also have the Exquisite (formerly Poly-X from Kens Sewing Center) thread chart and use them both. We all know the color print charts are impossible to match as well as the color square on your computer screen. These charts are usually $10 each and are well worth every dollar when you are searching for thread to match that funny colored peach dress.

 Another tip that I NEED to do ~ mark, circle or underline the colors you have on the chart. That way if the sticker comes off of the top of your spool of thread (which happens to me all the time), you have a record on your chart of which colors you have and like!

 I did include a few spools of thread in my basket ~ Isacord 5830 is my favorite lime (it’s hard to find and only comes in 1000M as far as I have found)! I also included a hot pink, yellow and turquoise. Demonica also got an Applique Cafe Gift Certificate in her basket! (Hint Hint: Mother’s Day is 2 weeks away)

There are probably a few more things I consider my favorite things, but that was about all I could fit in the basket! If you have any questions please comment or email me ~ rosemarygulledge@appliquecafe.com! A lot of these things were discussed in our class, Applique the Right Way!

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EAC 2012

Posted by on April 30, 2012

OK friends, here is my post-Everything Applique Conference blog post! For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, a (1st ever) Everything Applique Conference was held this weekend in Birmingham, AL (at the BJCC). 7 digitizer applique website owners like myself assisted 1 digitizer/website owner (Kathy [and her hubs Jeffrey] the host and brain child of this event) in planning the event and we were all “presenters” and were able to teach the classes.

I first want to say how overwhelmed I was at the amount of people I met at the conference who said they read my blog, had been following for years, asked about my kitchen, etc. Honestly there are times where I wonder if anyone is reading, or if I am just blabbering my heart out to my 3 friends and long lost cousin. So, I left the conference this weekend re-energized about blogging and I promise to do a better job at it from now on. I think I am still on a Conference high. It was so exciting and fun and I told someone at church yesterday it felt like an out-of-body experience. Did I mention there were over 700 women (and a few men) there?

Friday night a couple of hundred women came for a “Meet & Greet”, which was a lot of fun and I think it ‘broke the ice’ and calmed our nerves a little! Each of us had a table for our door prizes and samples. (sorry some of these photos aren’t fabulous – some were taken from my phone). Here is my table, and next year I hope it’ll be a little snazzier! This was kind of a last minute “bring some samples” thrown-together kind of thing.

Each digitizer did a basket of “favorite things” as well as other various door prizes (gift certificates, fabric, thread, etc.)

Here we are on Friday night ~ L to R: Cristy from Itch 2 Stitch, Brandy from Applique Momma, ME from Applique Cafe, Emily from Applique Alley, Kathy from Applique Corner (she is the one who put this whole shindig together), Holly from Applique Junkie, Rachel from Embroidery Boutique and Karen from Applique Market. We are all competitors, and after talking on Facebook, email, messaging 24/7 for 2 weeks straight, we all met for the first time this weekend. It was SO MUCH FUN! A few of these ladies I have “known” for a long long time, and it was so much fun to hang out w/ them!

 I, along with Brandy from Applique Momma, taught 4 classes on “Applique the Right Way” and I just hope what we said and did made sense! Our first class was a group of advanced women (hello nervousness), but overall I think they walked away maybe learning SOMETHING?? Some weren’t familiar with Heat N Bond Lite and they were great to ask and answer questions, so it was a great 1st class. After advanced we had 2 packed-out classes of Intermediate folks (200+ people), followed by our last class of beginners.

Here is our class presentation table!

We discussed designs (satin, zig zag, raggy, etc). I am excited to report that I took all of those cut out samples of our AC test designs and USED THEM!!!! We were able to pass them around the room for each class so everyone could see the different types of designs (satin, raggy, zig zag, mini). We also discussed fabric, thread, stabilizer, scissors, and Brandy demonstrated the applique process on a shirt for each class. She did a great job!

 We discussed all the different types of stabilizer, most of which came from Sewingmachine.com. They were vendors at the conference and I think they were a big hit ~ most of the people in our classes were shocked when I told them the large roll of medium cutaway stabilizer (on the right by the Exquisite thread chart) costs $12.99! Look for their commercial backing on their website, and I recommend the 2.2 oz! We also discussed thread, and as you can see I use both Exquisite (Ken’s Sewing Center) and Isacord (Sewingmachine.com). I love them both! Exquisite has some colors that Isacord doesn’t have, and vice versa, so I use both.

We had a Brother PE770 machine in the room as well as a PR650 6-needle. The PE is a great starter machine!

Here’s another shot of my “favorite things” door prize! After the conference I met the sweet girl (for the 2nd time) who won my basket. First of all, when they called out a ticket number for my basket, no one stood up. I wish I could remember her name, but the girl who eventually won told me she prayed “Lord, please let me win!!!”. Her number was THEN CALLED!!!!!!! How fun!!!! She then told me that she rode to the Conference on a TRAIN all the way from New Orleans! How AWESOME is that!?!?!??!! Had I known she would have gotten a prize for mode of transportation, for sure!! It was fun to talk to her and I hope she will message me! I met so many women that I’ve “known” from Facebook! I met one lady who I’ve ‘known’ for years, and it didn’t hit me until my ride home who she was. We also signed a couple of autographs (ba haaaaaa haaa) which was fun!!

Here is picture of the stage and our master conference planner, Koral! She kept us in line and on our toes all weekend! The items on stage were just a portion of the many door prizes that were given away (including a PE770 machine!!!!!)

 

Here is an attendee winning the thread collection from Ken’s Sewing Center!

Here is Steve from Sewingmachine.com – he demonstrated some great machines and hoop options during lunch! Even the table of digitizers were in awe as he demonstrated the Mighty Hoop!

The only thing about the conference that I would change is that I would have LOVED to sit in on the other classes! I’ve heard such great reviews on the Photography and Marketing class! We all know I could use some help on photography!!  Here are some pics from our class (Applique the Right Way). First of all, please notice I am holding a m-i-c-r-o-p-h-o-n-e. Those of you who know me know that I am relatively quiet and this is so out of character for me. But, we were forced to use it by the first class. We taught 4 classes total ~ the intermediate classes were over 200 folks each. Here I am discussing spray adhesive.

Brandy is demonstrating sewing a shirt on a PR-650. Notice how a lot of people are taking notes (or writing down out their grocery list for next week).

Lots of people asked lots of great questions, thank goodness!

 

 

Here are the digitizers again. Our aprons are from 4Retro Sisters on Etsy! Aren’t they cute??

This is the view from the back of the room where we all met. That’s Jeff walking on the left. It was an amazing turnout!

At the end we all got up on stage for a Panel Q & A!

This photo is blurry, but we presented Kathy with a beautiful framed painting from Donnie Sasser. Kathy and her husband were FABULOUS to work with and we were all so honored to be able to help with this event!!

 It sounds like Kathy is already planning for next year! She is considering making it a 2 day conference which would give more time for classes and vendor shopping. This year was wonderful (and the planning was done in a matter of 2 to 3 months). I can’t imagine how awesome it’ll be when she has a whole year to plan! Lastly here is a picture of Jeff and Jim. Jim is Karen from Applique Market’s hubby and he & Jeff hung out all weekend and had a great time. They were put to work during lunch!

Filed Under: Applique Cafe, Misc, Supplies | Tagged: Tagged With: , , ,

Fabric Storage

Posted by on January 3, 2012

Yesterday on Facebook I asked for some blog post suggestions for the new year. I got quite a list (which I printed – 6 pages worth) and am working through them as we begin 2012! Several people asked about FABRIC STORAGE. This is not my area of expertise, as you will see down below. But, I can tell you how I do things and then make 1 suggestion that I’ve seen and like (but am too lazy to do). First of all, I USED to cut a fabric swatch of my fabric (4-5″ square) and organize it by style or theme and safety pin each style together. I did this when I was doing a lot of customer work and had people in and out of my house picking out fabrics for appliques. This was a great way to show my fabrics and for my customers to be able to pick out what they wanted without them having to sort through drawers of fabric. Somewhere along the way I stopped doing this :(, so this is only a fraction of my fabric selection. As you can see, they are “organized” by colorful polka dots, ginghams (all sizes), boy stuff, stripes, color w/ white polka dots, seasonal, etc etc etc….

 Someone also asked about how to pick out fabric for an applique design. I would say my “go-to” fabrics are always polka dots and ginghams. They just “work” with any design you are doing! I use A LOT of polka dots, ginghams and solids. I look at a design, usually start by picking 1 fabric I know I want to use, and then try to coordinate with that. Sometimes I can pick out fabrics very quickly, and sometimes it might take me an hour! This is another post in and of itself!!

As you can see I had arranged these ginghams according to the colors of a rainbow! 😉

 I just pin the swatches together in the corner with a big safety pin. Nothing fancy! I guess I should mention that when I used to cut swatches of my fabric, I would try to cut a swatch out of whatever edge might have the name and designer of the fabric. Sometimes the piece you get (if you get 1/4 yard) doesn’t have that info, but if it does, it’s helpful to cut that piece!

 Now… this is MY fabric storage and it works for me, but I would not call it neat! Several of you said yours was in boxes and you had no idea what you had. I concur!! Sometimes I dump a basket out and go through it if I can’t decide on fabrics for a design. My fabrics ARE organized by style, so I do know what is in each basket (…sort of). Yes, I have 15 baskets full of fabric. I have a problem.

 This is how they are organized ~ solids, seasonal, boy fabrics, corduroys, minky dots, polka dots (regular to big dots), colorful dots, pin dots, stripes, florals, fat check ginghams, regular ginghams, microcheck ginghams, plaids/checked fabrics and more florals.

 My Expedit from Ikea is the 25 cubby Expedit. LOVE me some Expedit!! We had friends who were in Atlanta this past weekend and they were going to Ikea, so they brought me 4 more of the Pjas baskets. I am so thankful!! I’m hoping to go back in a couple of weeks!!

Here’s a look inside my baskets. They are just thrown in there! This is my go-to polka dot basket. All of my Michael Miller Ta Dots are in here. MOST of these have white dots too, although I see a teal fabric in there with big red dots!! That is Sissy’s hand pointing to the purple.

 Here is my basket of ginghams. They are all basically the same size regular ole 1/16th ginghams. My fat chunkier ginghams are all in a basket as well as my microcheck ginghams which are in another basket.

 Here is my seasonal basket ~ mostly Christmas, some Halloween and Valentine fabrics are in here. Notice the arrow pointed to the neatly rolled up fabric secured by a rubber band. That USED to be my practice (probably when I also cut swatches of every fabric). I still have some that are rolled and rubber-banded, but most are just thrown in the basket. Some are at least folded!

Now, I drool over this……

The above photo came from Pinterest ~ fabric NEATLY placed on boards and displayed beautifully on a shelf. I think most people who showcase their fabric this way use Comic Boards (see below) which usually come in packs of 100. Try Amazon or just Google “comic board”. I would love to display my fabric like this! But, I am too lazy and my system works for me and it would take me 6 months to iron and wrap all of my fabric like this! Maybe I should just take my favorites and try it??

 I hope this helps! I’m sure there are 1,000 ways to organize fabric! I find the best way is to organize it by style. The swatches are great too if you have customers coming in to your home. Before my Expedit I used the plastic drawer bins from Target or Walmart (see below). I think I was up to 6 of them before the cubbies.

Thanks to those of you who suggested FABRIC STORAGE as a blog post! I will be contacting you via Facebook for a surprise!

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