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 . 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.

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.

suehenyon wrote:
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

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.

Libbi said
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

Amanda, sorry I got the wrong end of the stick! 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!

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,
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

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.

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.

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."

I know it's the Lite but it's version 4. Thanks for the link Susan, I had found those but they don't supply a solution. The Rub is...

BERNINA artista Embroidery Software V4.0, V3.0, V2.0 or V1.0 (Customizer, Editor Lite, Editor, Auto-Designer, Designer, Designer Plus) -Unfortunately, BERNINA artista 4.0 and earlier versions are NOT supported on Windows Vista or Windows 7.
Due to this, we will not be able to troubleshoot or assist with getting any earlier version to work on Windows Vista. All users of earlier versions that wish to use Vista will need to update to BERNINA Embroidery Software v5.0 in order for it to be supported and work.

Why was I sold a version that is not compatible with the mainstream operating systems? Would you buy a computer with Windows 2000 still running it? Like I said, I would understand if I had bought the machine a couple of years ago, but it's still new. I will be contacting Bernina UK later, I don't think it will get me anywhere though. I will put the disk into the old laptop with the XP on it and run it that way. After spending £3000 you would have thought it would be with the current version.

I've just been looking for another machine to take to classes rather than the 730, there's a strong possibility it won't be a Bernina!

I was just thinking about my idea of a BOM for Machine Embrodiered quilts. Because of the various machines, software, levels of experence with the software and machines, and then the designs themselves, I thought that perhaps, instead of a BOM that everyone would be working on, we could each come up with something we want to work on, from the designs we already own, or want to purchase, and get help from one another on how to accomplish things. This way, we can select something to match our level of experience, and perhaps learn something along the way.

I don't know if there is any ONE person that would know all about all the different software available, or the levels of software. Then also about all the different embroidery machines that are available. Plus, I think we may each have a different idea of what it is we want to learn and create as a BOM.

As an example, I have been toying with the idea of making a quilt from Jenny Haskins, that has been out for awhile, and I don't know if the magazine that has the instructions is even still available. So if others don't already have that, then they may not be able to purchase it to work on that same quilt. However, if I did start to make that quilt, and ran into some problems, I could come here to ask for help and hopefully someone will be able to assist me, even if we are using different software or machines. It might be possible to figure out what someone is talking about in our own software and machines to get us through our difficulties. I would think the basic ideas of what to do, no matter what designs/software/machine combination someone has would work with any combination, or we could find a way to work around any limitations that someone may have because of their combination.

I know enough about my machine (Brother Quattro) and software (Embird) to do pretty much anything I want to right now. But my problem comes with taking designs and combining them to create a quilt block, and then getting everything lined up correctly in the hoop to sew out. I would need help with ideas of how to combine different designs, and then different ways to get everything sewn out properly.

Also, if I think about doing an entire Machine Embroidered quilt all at once, it just seems to be too overwhelming. But if I can break it down into one block a month, or even every other month (life always seems to get in the way as well as other quilt projects) then it may not be so daunting a task. But at the same time, if it takes me too long to work on things, then I lose interest, so I would need something to keep me motivated to work on it. So I thought some kind of support system through these boards would help.

What do you all think??

Diane in Colorado Springs

Amanda,
This link has information on Vista issues. Hope it helps.

Don't you hate computer problems?


http://embroideryonlinesupport.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/embroideryonlinesupport.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=415&p_created=1169491576&p_sid=FWj5eycj&p_lva=&p_li=&p_redirect=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MyZwX3Byb2RzPSZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9JnBfY3Y9JnBfc2VhcmNoX3R5cGU9YW5zd2Vycy5zZWFyY2hfbmwmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD02NA**

Thanks for the information. Now, Designer Plus, do you get a color dongle?

Oh, so much information to learn, great to have all these friends to learn from..nice group hug