Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Embroidery Bliss
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please scroll down for edit
Time was getting away from me! It was time to trace and stitch the first installment of "Raggedy and Friends" by my good friend Kaaren at The Painted Quilt for my good friend Carol at Brown Quilts 4 Me.
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During my Schnibblemania I was chatting with Yvette at BOM Quilter and I noticed on her blog that she'd used Transfer-Eze to do an embroidery project. We discussed how much she loved it and that I would too.
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Transfer-Eze and I are now very good friends - I LOVE this stuff.

In January I visited a craft show and Bird Brains Designs had their adorable booth set up. I took my time visiting and discovered a package of Transfer-Eze. I read the package and it just sounded way too good to be true so I put it back and went along my merry way. Mind you for a couple of months I kept thinking about it and then discovered that I could buy one 'try me' sheet from Bird Brain Designs. So, the next time I placed an order I added a 'try me' sheet to my shopping cart. When it arrived I put it in a safe place - still experiencing serious doubts about it. LOL
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After chatting with Yvette I decided to try it with Kaaren's Raggedy & Friends larger block. I really don't mind tracing my embroidery projects but sometimes it's really a daunting task. And, when it's a daunting task I have a tendency to procrastinate. It was time to just do it - I put the design on the bed of my printer/copier, loaded the single sheet of Transfer Eze and hit the print button (keeping my fingers crossed - LOL)

The Results

The design printed a bit light but that's easily rectified in the future. After it's printed you peel off the paper backing and adhere it to your fabric.
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Time to Stitch

Time to stitch. I feared that my needle and floss would drag when I pulled it through to make my first stitches but it didn't. I also feared that it would be too stiff to put in my preferred spring hoop but it worked just fine. I was a very happy stitcher. WooHoo!!!!
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Removing Transfer-Eze

When I finished stitching it was time to remove the Transfer-Eze film. Once you're finished stitching you're to pull away and cut away the excess film and then put the whole thing in water - the remaining film is suppose to dissolve. I started pulling it away from the fabric - didn't come up as easily as I'd hoped and I detected a sticky residue. At this point I was getting a bit concerned. :-o
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The Dunking of Annie & Andy
As soon as Annie and Andy were dunked in the water the remaining Transfer-Eze dissolved away and there was no sticky residue. Wahoo - time to dance!!!! I was a very happy girl.
EDIT: Kaaren made a very good point in her comment here about using overdyed threads - it's been my experience that they are not colorfast. Putting your stitched project in water may cause your floss to run. That would be a disaster so please be very careful. I feared that my red floss might run but thankfully it didn't.
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The Finish
They are so stinkin' cute - aren't they? teehee

After I pressed the larger block I realized that I failed to do the running stitch around the design - Oh No! I'll send a skein of floss with the blocks and I'm sure Carol won't mind adding the stitches. :-)
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Did I mention that I LOVE Transfer-Eze? :-) I plan to place an order for a package of Transfer-Eze from Bird Brain Designs very soon. I don't anticipate using Transfer-Eze for every embroidery project but I will use it more often than not.
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Kaaren's second installment should be available on August 20th and I can hardly wait. :-) Yvette, thank you so much for encouraging me to try Transfer-Eze.
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Have a fabulous Tuesday. I appreciate your visit.
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In Friendship

31 comments:

Yvette said...

YAY!!! I am so glad you liked the transfer paper as much as I do. I try to conserve it and only use it on intricate designs but sometimes I cheat because I love it so much.

Your embroidery is PERFECT!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the heads up! I traced mine and found it really difficult, and that's what I'm blaming my less then perfect stitches on!

Quilter Kathy said...

I enjoyed reading your post today! I have also been wondering about this product and thought it sounded too good to be true...how cool that it worked out so well!

Debi said...

Thank you for the Transer Ez endorsement, I will give it a try!

Debi said...

BTW, your embroidery is beautiful.

Jocelyn said...

You do such lovely stitching. Glad you found a new friend for transferring the patterns :-)

little acorns said...

Thanks for posting this!. . . I just got some Transfer-Eze & have been feeling the same way that you did. . . a lot of 'wondering'. . . ! But, now I'll feel better to give it a try!
xo, Bren
(p.s. your stitching is adorable!)

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

That looks like such a grand product - thanks for telling us about it. Love the Raggedy Ann and Andy.

Cindy said...

I guess you can just call me "bird brain"....LOL

Threeundertwo said...

This is the kind of endorsement I need to try this. Thanks so much for the write-up. Also thanks for the link to the Raggedy Ann quilt pattern! I love Raggedy Ann.

Karen said...

I have never heard of the product. I will take your word for it that it works well. I may try some later on. I already have a bunch of traced embroidery projects to work on.

I am looking forward to part II of Kaaren's design. I just finished part I last night.

Kaaren said...

I have never heard of this product, Darlene. Would you mind if I link to this post when I publish Block 2 on Friday? I think there might be many out there would would like to give it a try...myself included.

I guess we would have to be careful with some of the over dyed floss, huh? Most of the over dyeds say right on the label that they are NOT colorfast and because we have to dunk Ann and Andy in water to remove the excess residue, it would be a shame if the dye from the floss ran. It's a good thing that they can both swim!

Carol said...

OH Darlene I am just about the luckiest girl in the world...I'm more excited than you can even imagine...Ann and Andy are the cutest ever...I love them!!! Thank you soooooooo much for picking my name out of the hat!

Just Ramblin' said...

I am sold on transfer paper! Like you I order a trial sheet with an order and couldn't believe how easy it was to use. I think now I'll do my Halloween houses I've been putting off because of all the work to trace them. It's the best! Nola

Just Ramblin' said...

I am sold on transfer paper! Like you I order a trial sheet with an order and couldn't believe how easy it was to use. I think now I'll do my Halloween houses I've been putting off because of all the work to trace them. It's the best! Nola

Allie said...

Wow - that does look easy - I see some of that in my future! Tracing is always the hardest part for me. My hands are so shaky or something - I can't even read my own writing anymore, lol! Thanks for this review, Darlene!

Elzaan said...

What an amazing product. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Will make a note of the colour dyed floss...I am still waiting on my material for the Raggedy quilt - living in die middle of the Indian Ocean does have its drawbacks - and I hope to have Bloks 1 and 2 finished when Block 3 is released...
Elzaan

Janet said...

It's good to hear about a product that works so well. I've had perle cotton run when wet, now I use dye catchers to be safe. Your block is cute, cute, cute.

StitchinByTheLake said...

I bought some at a quilt show this summer but haven't used it yet. I'm glad to have your report - like some others I'll use it for intricate designs but I don't mind tracing simple ones. blessings, marlene

Lori said...

It sure looks ilke it could make it easier, at least after the first time of experimenting.
Your block is so cute!

Wendy said...

I've never heard of transfer Ez until now. This might work for the Hocuspocusville because the pattern is so detailed. But like you I know I would hesitate to use it. Your stitching is wonderful.

paulette said...

I was looking at this stuff at the Road to California QS...and put it back and have been thinking about it ever since!! I am always a little hesitant when it comes to computer/printer...but now.. I am going to HAVE to try it!! Thanks for sharing!!
Paulette

Dresden Quilter said...

That is amazing. I have never seen that product. They should be paying you to endorse it.

Shakerwood said...

Haven't tried it either. Maybe it's time to go find it!

Susan said...

I used Transfer-eze too and loved it. It is a bit pricey so I am using it for certain blocks only. I am doing this BOM from Kaaren, it is so cute.

John'aLee said...

Thanks so much for the great tip. It is the only thing I am not liking about embroidery.
I know those girls from Bird Brain Designs. I see them at quilt shows all over the US...we vend at a lot of the same shows. Love their stuff.
I'm wondering if they will be at the show in Loveland Colorado where I am headed right now.
Your Raggedy Ann block is way too cute!!

anna hanks said...

thanks for talking about transfer ease I bout some in april and have yet to try it. Today I will be brave. thanks for the encouragement. love your blog
anna

Sandie @ crazy'boutquilts said...

Thanks Darlene! I have been wondering about this stuff since I saw it at expo but was a little apprehensive... now I think I'll have to try some too. Tracing is the part that always holds me up in embroidering anything. ;-)

Ginger Patches said...

That stuff sounds pretty cool...I hardly ever do embroidery but when I do I always avoid ones that look overly hard to trace. Thanks for the great review big sis :)

Carole said...

Gosh that is a cute design by Kaaren!

So, can you print using a laser printer on Transfer eze? It sort of reminds me of a machine embroidery stabilizer. Hum... interesting! Thanks for sharing! Hugs!

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Your stitching is amazing Darlene! Lucky Carol!

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