Category: Uncategorised

Well, it’s been a funny couple of weeks. The main problem is that in early January my PC died, and as I have all my digitising and graphics software on it, that rather slowed me down. The computer has been with the repairman for some time now, and we only got it back yesterday. I don’t even know yet whether it’s going to work or if I’ll have to buy a new one. So for the moment there’s nothing new to post, as I haven’t been able to do anything new, or even to access all the designs I have on file. For the time being, then, here are a few birds which I’ve posted before, but these are new and exciting versions put together by Cherri Kincaid. I would never have thought to stitch them in these colours, but I think that it all works brilliantly

 

 

Cherri's birds in new dress

I’m just posting three birds, but if you’d like to see the complete set of 8, have a look at Cherri’s blog:

http://thecherritree.blogspot.co.uk

While I’ve been forced to take a break from designing, I’ve been looking at ways of improving the layout of this blog, and with luck a new-look blog should appear in a few weeks

OK  it’s the beginning of the month and time for a new free design. This one is a definite change from the Mexican bird! It’s a Chinese dragon that I did some time ago – again, it’s all embroidery (no applique). It might be good for a man’s or a boy’s shirt, or perhaps for a kimono or martial arts jacket to add to the oriental mood. It’s for the 5 x 7 hoop (130 x 180 mm) and has 22,340 stitches

A Dragon for the New Year

As you will see when you stitch it out, the three colours that make up the dragon’s body (listed as Harvest Gold, Tangerine and Red in the colour list) blend into each other along the length of the animal. For that reason I suggest that you choose shades of yellow, orange and red that are quite different from each other. That way the blending will give a more interesting effect than if the three shades are very similar

If you'd like this design (.pes format only, I'm afraid) just drop a comment to the blog and I'll send it out to you. A word of warning – last month I had a few problems with bouncing messages, so if you don't receive your design file within a couple of days, please try again from a different e-mail address

At the moment I’m working on several large panels which I hope will eventually give me some interesting results, but unfortunately they take such a long time to digitise and stitch that I don’t have many finished designs to post here on a weekly basis. So I think I’ll have a small break – maybe until after the Christmas holidays – so I can catch up on some of these big projects. But whatever happens I’ll be back in the first week in January with the next free design

One of the large panels I’m working on involves a lot of vases with flowers in them, so I’ve been playing around with ideas of how to present flowers in vases. First, there’s the obvious approach – the flowers are stitched out and then a simple fabric shape is appliqueed over the stems to represent the vase.

Flowers with a simple appliqueed fabric 'vase'

This one uses hand printed fabric for the vase. The whole design is quite large and so had to be stitched in two sections – first the flowers, and then the vase

 Second, I thought that transparent glass could be represented by Mylar appliqueed over the stems.

Flowers with a Mylar 'vase'

This one didn’t scan well – in this image the Mylar looks very strange, but in real life it’s honestly a lot better. In this case, because the ‘glass’ is transparent, the stems had to be digitised even where they run behind the appliqueed Mylar

Finally, I liked the idea of subtly coloured ‘glass’ and so used coloured chiffon for the appliqueed vases.

Vases of coloured chiffon

The red and blue are the natural colours of the fabric, but the purple was painted onto a white chiffon. Again, because the stems are visible, they have to be digitised and stitched, and can’t just be cut off at the rim of the vase. In this stitchout, the ‘vases’ are placed on top of a background of fabric with frayed edges, to represent a tablecloth.

All three methods worked quite well, and in the final panel I will probably use all three to represent different vases

I wish all of you a happy and peaceful holiday season, and I’ll be back after the festivities with some more ideas and some more free designs

These days I seem to be working on a lot of pieces based on the general theme of magical animals or animals in folklore, and in particular in stories that involve animals found in this part of the world. This one is a little enchanted stag who appears to be turning into a tree. It’s based on a Celtic deer that I did a long time ago, and all he needed was a new set of antlers and a few birds added to make him fit the legend.

  The stag becomes a tree

The design was done in two parts – the body of the stag is stitched, and then the fabric unhooped, moved along and the antlers added. The applique fabric is my old favourite, Michael Miller’s Fairy Frost Glitz, with a lot of the details added in metallic thread to add to the magical feeling

I've had a great result to the offer of the free design, but I'm also having problems sending to a couple of people. In particular, messages to Pat L. and Sheila from the software class just bounce, and it makes me nervous to think that there are people out there who think I'm ignoring them!

If you're Pat or Sheila, please can you get in touch again from another e-mail address? And if you don't hear from me, it's because of some technical problem, so try again!

I’ve been thinking about a new departure for this blog. At the suggestion of a couple of readers (thanks, Cherri and Spanky!) I would like to make some of my design files available to readers, free of charge. Each month I’ll put up a new design, and if you would like to add it to your collection of embroidery designs, just drop me a line and I’ll send it to you.

Of course this offer will only be of interest if you have a computerised embroidery machine that will accept and stitch out digitised designs. The design files will be of no use to you unless you can send them to an embroidery machine for stitching.

 There will have to be a few conditions, I’m afraid. The main problem is that I don’t have a lot of time to spend on this project, and will only be able to send the designs that I use, and won’t be able to make any changes to them. For example, I digitise in the .pes format, because that is what my machine uses, and I am not able to convert files into other formats. For a list of the conditions under which I am making these designs available, please see the “free design” page here. There are some important points there

This month’s free design is this little Mexican bird, which I digitised a long time ago. It was based on a design I saw moulded into a small glass bottle, and I thought it was perfectly suited to be an embroidery. It’s for embroidery only (that is, no applique) and will fit into a standard 4 inch x 4 inch hoop (100 x 100 mm). If you would like this design, just send a comment to this blog asking for it and I’ll send it out to you. It will be available from 1st December 2013 until 1st January 2014

 

The first free design: a little Mexican bird

I am delighted to make some of my designs available to readers of this blog free of charge, and there will be a new design each month (or thereabouts).  Since November 2015 these freebies and their worksheets have been downloadable directly from the blog, and you can find the downloadable files on blog entries 

November 11, 2015 (the Christmas frame)

December 12, 2015 (the Macintosh rose)

January 7, 2016 (the shadowbird)

February 4, 2016 (the William Morris flowers)

March 4, 2016 (the untidy Easter chick)

April 1, 2016 (the fuchsia in a pot)

May 5, 2016 (the zentangle lion)

June 9, 2016 (the Tree of Life plus rabbit)

June 30, 2016 (the Chinese bird)

August 13, 2016 (the bird and branch)

September 9, 2016 (the blue fish)

October 10, 2016 (the running horse)

November 3, 2016 (the Christmas wreath)

December 8, 2016 (two Art Nouveau appliquées)

January 12, 2017 (the Chinese folk-art chicken)

February 2, 2017 (the little Jacobean motif)

March 2, 2017 (the red flowers in a red pot)

April 6, 2017 (the dancing bird)

May 5, 2017 (the big fish)

June 3, 2017 (the Mexican bird and branch)

July 2, 2017 (the William Morris bird)

August 8, 2017 (the Jacobean strip design)

September 22, 2017 (the zentangle fox)

November 22, 2017 (three little Christmas designs)

January 14, 2018 (the colourful rooster)

February 10, 2018 (set of four similar fish)

March 1, 2018 (the Siberian tiger)

March 29, 2018 (three small willow motifs)

May 17, 2018 (design for the neck of a T-shirt)

June 20, 2018 (hare)

July 12, August 27, September 24 and October 31, 2018 (Jacobean bellpull)

November 22, 2018 (text for three Christmas cards)

January 3, 2019 (two cardinals)

February 14, 2019 (Mexican birds and flowers)

March 8, 2019 (second bird-and-branch design)

April 11, 2019 (alpaca)

May 9, June 20, July 11, August 9, September 8 2019 (bird-and-branch panel)

October 4, 2019. (pot of pansies)

November 10, 2019. (little Christmas tree)

January 9, 2020. (flying goldhawk)

February 6, 2020. (tapa crocodile)

March 3, 2020. (folk art rooster)

March 25, 2020. (Easter lamb)

May 1, 2020, (pot of Mexican flowers)

May 28, 2020. (folk arty cat and rabbit)

July 2, 2020. (calligraphic bird)

August 6, 2020. (tractor)

September 3, 2020. (William Morris flower)

October 1, 2020. (folk art fish)

November 5, 2020. (flying bird with holly, Mylar star)

November 29, 2020. (sprig of mistletoe)

January 16, 2021. (Pennsylvania Dutch circle)

February 4, 2021. (two Chinese blue and white circular designs)

February 23, 2021. (two Pennsylvania Dutch heart designs)

April 1, 2021. (two Art Nouveau designs)

May 6, 2021. (three Celtic knot squares)

June 3, 2021. (foliage corner motif)

July 3, 2021. (red and pink floral pot)

August 5, 2021. (Pennsylvania Dutch motif)

September 2, 2021. (Art Nouveau Black Cat)

October 1, 2021. (two Mexican birds)

November 5, 2021.(three Christmas applique squares)

November 25, 2021. (spiralised Christmas tree, holly twig)

January 6 2022. (two circular leaf motifs)

February 3, 2022. (Iona design)

March 2, 2022. (two little cats)

March 31, 2022. (two leaf squares)

May 7, 2022. (3 more leafy squares)

June 12, 2022. (furry cat)

July 5 2022. (yellow floral design)

August 3, 2022. (flowering branches)

September 5, 2022 (Two Pennsylvania Dutch birds)

October 7, 2022. (pink floral square)

November 22-24, 2022 (angel with “Noel” banner)

November 7, 2022 (“invisible” Celtic motif)

2 January, 2023 (branch with yellow and orange flowers)

24 March 2023 (cartoon chicken)

7 March 2023 (two squares with bright blossoms)

18 April 2023 (“Persian” inspired tree)

1 May 2023 (double retro birds)

8 June 2023 (little yellow flower with branching twigs)

6 July 2023 (pink heron)

2 August 2023 (branch of leaves and flowers from Flair magazine)

30 August 2023 (line of small flowers)

13 October 2023 (two flower motifs, untested)

11 November 2023 (festive platter, holly pot, poinsettia pot)

9 January 2024 (pastel birds in leaves and flowers)

4 February 2024 (single fish from fishmonger’s panel)

6 March 2024 (double bird holding floral spray)

3 April 2024 (flying bird in William Morris style)

9 May 2024 (pink Pennsylvania Dutch heart)

5 June 2024 (dustbunny)

30 June 2024 (green bird with arching tail)

7 August 2024 (medallion with green leaves, blue flowers)

3 September 2024 (medallion with 8 points, small pink flowers)

4 October 2024 (red bird sitting on tulip stem)

8 and 9 November 2024 (several pigeons)

23 November 2024 (Christmas motifs)

7 January 2025 (Art Nouveau square)

3 March 2025 (two bugs)

1 April 2025 (parakeet)

2 May 2025 (three Escher birds, two interlocking fish)

20 May 2025 (four Escher fish, simple Art Nouveau square)

2 June 2025 (Arts and Crafts flower design, William Morris flower)

23 June (Floral branch, bird with flowers in beak)

6 July 2025 (Two horizontal birds)

24 July 2025 (Peacock)

7 August 2025 (Diagonal design from Secrets of Embroidery collection)

 

All the files are in .pes format, and all are in v.6. If you have problems downloading or stitching the designs, just drop me a line via the “Comments” box and I’ll try to sort things out

Unfortunately, not all the designs I post on the blog are available as freebies – just the ones that are described in the post title as “free”, so if it isn’t called “free” then I’m afraid it isn’t. If you’d like any of the freebies that were posted before November 2015, drop me a line letting me know which ones you’d like, and I’ll send them out to you. However remember that unless the design is called “free” in the post title, then it isn’t!

 If you’re not familiar with machine embroidery just a word of warning – what I’m offering is the digital file for this design, and NOT the finished embroidery itself. To stitch it out you will need a computerised embroidery machine.

 

I’m sure that readers will understand that I need to make a few conditions

1. All designs are available in .pes format only

2. I have only one version of each design, and that is the version that is provided. If you have compatibility problems or other technical difficulties, then I might not be able to help. However in this case your embroidery newsgroup might be able to offer advice

3. You may use the designs on items for your own use, items to give as gifts, or items for sale. However you may not sell the files themselves, or claim them as your own work.

4. And finally, there may be a few minor glitches (such as unnecessary jump stitches) in a few of the designs. This might be because designs may have been done with very old versions of the digitising software, and I’ve found that very old designs don’t always stitch out smoothly on new machines. Also, in some cases I’ve had to change details of the digitising after the design was blocked out, and in that case if the design is complicated it can be difficult to ensure that everything stitches out smoothly. And because many of these designs weren’t intended to be sold, but were originally just for my own use (and my machine automatically cuts jump stitches) I haven’t always corrected all the glitches. However the result after stitching should be fine, and you can cut any jump stitches then  

 

 

This is a big design that’s been sitting in my files for a long time, so I thought it was about time I stitched it out, which took some time as it has more than 55,000 stitches. It was based on the simple shapes and vivid colours that you find in a lot of Mexican folk art. Apart from that, there isn’t a lot to say about it – like most folk arty things it is what it is, and speaks for itself with eye-catching colours and organic shapes, without the need for much subtlety. The background is painted felt and the applique fabric also painted. And it’s a nice colourful work to be looking at on a grey November day

 

The big Mexican bird – a reminder of summer on a cold November day

 

 

I've been thinking a lot more about backgrounds, and the composition of the whole area of an embroidery, than I used
to, and the idea of a design just hanging somewhere in mid-air makes me a bit
uneasy these days. A while back I did a design of a Siberian tiger, which I
quite liked in itself, but it was definitely one of those mid-air designs. So
I’ve been trying to think of a suitable background for it. Thr tiger itself reminded me of some of the tigers in Rousseau's jungle paintings

A Rousseau tiger in the jungle

So my first idea was to put the tiger on an embroidered background of
Rousseau-esque jungle foliage.

 

The Siberian tiger in an embroidered jungle

This sort of worked, but the more I looked at it the more it
reminded me of a naive illustration to a children’s book – naturally, I
suppose, as Rousseau’s work does have a lot of childlike and naive elements.
However I wanted something a bit more sophisticated, so I just painted an
abstract and jungly background in greens and yellows, and stitched the tiger on
it. To my eye this is a more successful approach, and although it still needs
work I think it’s better than the more realistic treatment

The Siberian tiger in a painted jungle

Like many people, I find the work of the Viennese painter
Gustav Klimt irresistible. I love the way he combines realism with highly
abstract patterns, and his work provides an inspirational starting point for
embroidery design.

This is a very simple design which I did as a technical
exercise to try out various ways of stitching the basic geometric shapes that
Klimt combines to make his complicated patterns. Applique is an obvious technique
to use, but rather than finish off each applique shape with a satin stitch
edging, as is usual, I just left the edges raw. The effect isn’t bad, although
I should have spent more time removing loose threads before I scanned the
piece. I also used areas of metallic thread, because Klimt used a great deal of
gold in his work. However my gold thread wasn’t bright enough and I’ll have to
find a brighter, bolder thread to use in the next version

Thr Klimt fish, v. 1