Monograms

Yesterday I set up my 790 to embroider. I bought a bunch of cotton napkins a few months ago, thinking that they would be a good gift for my son and fiancé. They have an apartment together in Boston, and I thought the napkins would be an eco-conscious gift they would use. I then had to “design” a monogram that looked good, a C and a J with an ampersand. There was a bit of resizing and turning and placement, but eventually I got something that looked balanced. I have the biggest hoop Bernina makes for my machine, so I was able to stitch out four napkins on each hooping of stabilizer. I’m waiting for the purple pen to fade, then they will be wrapped and sent. I have 12 more napkins to make for my house, I may do them today. They are a bit easier, only one initial. My son was also asking for a table runner, I remembered this one, a UFO from the way back.

I thought I remembered where I got the embroidery designs from, but I have no clue. I am hoping to find them on a CD I have of all my “old” designs. Luckily my older Mac has a CD drive and it is the one with the embroidery software on it. I still have a pile of floppy discs with designs on them too. I guess it’s time to recycle those, as I no longer have a computer that’ll read them. Obsolete, all those hours I spent collecting and categorizing the designs. Remember when everyone was just getting started with home machine embroidery? There were Linky parties and freebees everywhere. The designs were crude, or simple, but it was fun to find them and dream of the perfect project for them. It was a stash that fit on a floppy or CD.

I got to use my L890, I hemmed a pair of sweatpants. The three needle overstitch was a dream to use. On my former machine, I would struggle for hours, to get it threaded and working, to do a ten minute hem. The L890 has step by step guides to help you, right on the screen. It knows which threads are in it and how its threaded, and the air threading is so neat to watch. If you have ever struggled with a tweezer, or threader to get the loopers threaded, it’s a game changer. This machine/computer holds my hand and makes me like serging again. There is even a help screen, with pictures, of what can go wrong and how to fix it. I may even make a pair of pajamas this week.

The clue for the Grassy Creek mystery is halfway done, I should get those together this week. They remind me of chandelier earrings hanging on my design wall.

Christmas decorating should continue this week too. I want to put up my tree, but first I have to move the furniture around, vacuum, dust and while I’m at it wash the floor. I put up a string of lights outside, it’s festive, I have a wreath up, my Christmas quilts are hanging and the amaryllis is blooming. I should go get a few poinsettias, maybe that’ll spark some cheer.