Free Motion Embroidery

I think I finally found my niche in the quilting/sewing world-- Free Motion Embroidery. If you've never seen it, or tried it, and you love needlework, you might like this.

http://usaapp.husqvarnaviking.com/education/pdf/2912.pdf 

I feel like I've come home. I can't embroider or cross stitch anymore. My hands won't take it. However, with my sewing machine doing most of the work, I'm churning out stuff like crazy, and playing like a kid again.

My present work is a modern take on Broiderie Perse ( http://www.womenfolk.com/quilting_history/broderieperse.htm ) I've taken a lovely rose chintz pattern and cut the rose bouquet carefully away from its original background.

Now I'm stitching it to an emerald green tee shirt. To open up the tee shirt so you can get at the front easily, you remove the side seams and underarm seams on the sleeves. I've basted the rose bouquet down, and now I'm using free motion to enhance the design and highlight what I like about the roses.

The biggest thing I learned from Mr Drexler was how to create my own applique when no machine embroidery pattern was available, or I didn't like something about the appliques available. I'm not limited by what someone else wants, only by my own imagination and budget. Using stencils or my own drawing ability, I can free motion anything into what I want it to be.

Now I have a place for all those experimental stitch-outs! I'm having a grand time playing with the stitch outs, then appliqueing the ones I like down on clothes. I can't seem to stop playing!

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