Yikes! Gloria from www.cruise-consultants.com sent me a frantic email yesterday telling me the ship is going to sell out for the July 10, 2011 sailing. She said if you know anyone who wants to sail with us, they need to book soon. It’s been a long, hard winter for most of the US and I’ll bet most of you are ready for some fun.
My Stitching Sister, Marie Zinno, and I can’t wait to hit the high seas and stitch with an ocean view. I know Marie really needs a vacation because her commercial embroidery business, Sew Creative, has been swamped with Spring sports orders. Last week, she stitched 90 hats on Monday, 133 team shirts on Tuesday, 60 umpire shirts on Wednesday, then had her usual orders of baby and wedding shower gifts, followed by 34 coaches’ left chest and sleeve embroidery. And her son is the second baseman for their high school team and her daughter plays lacrosse – both teams in full swing right now. She is in desperate need of a vacation. Does this sound like you?
I, on the other hand, just love the ocean. I love moving across the surface of the ocean whether that movement is powered by arms, legs, jets skis, water skis, an Evenrude outboard, a canvas sail or a large ship. I want to smell the salt air. I want to feel the ocean breeze. I want to enjoy the sun.
Oh wait, I don’t do the suntan thing anymore (so bad for you). So my next favorite thing to do besides playing in the water plays in the sewing room! I couldn’t think of a better way to combine my two loves (water and sewing) without any danger.
And since we are only allowing a small number of students into the workshop, it will be a week of stitching heaven. Very personalized attention, we have over seven projects planned for the cruise. Attendees will use top-of-line Baby Lock machines – one student per machine. Students will be pampered with personal attention from our first mate, Gilligan (ok, he has a real name – Scott Goodman – but we’re going to make him wear that white hat and blue-white rugby shirt), a Baby Lock educator, and Marie and I.
We’ll machine embroider on pashminas, terry cloth, waffle weave cotton, make a quilted purse, master continuous embroidery, stitch a lace t-shirt, and create a charming pin cushion (bet you can’t just make one!) and more.
If you want to join us and plan on bringing an embroidered terry cloth cover-up, here are a few tips on stitching on that troublesome fabric.
Magnetic Hoops
Luscious towels are often impossible to hoop in standard tools with tear-away stabilizers. I opt for Snap Hoop Monster. The industrial-strength magnets hold any towel with a strong grip – perfect for robes, hand or bath towels. Just hoop the towel with tear-away and machine embroider.
Standard Hoops
Perfect towels are achieved by using a trio of stabilizers when hooping in a standard hoop. The combination of an adhesive tear-away; a low-tack, iron-on tear-away and a water soluble film-type stabilizer tames the bulky nature of terry cloth and protects the easily damaged fibers.
Stabilizer
Use the adhesive to avoid hooping the bulky towel and the low-tack, iron-on tear-away to protect the terry cloth’s loops from touching the sticky adhesive. The terry’s loops are often distorted when pulled away from the adhesive stabilizer so iron the low-tack stabilizer onto the back of the design area and finger press that to the sticky surface. Lastly, film-type water-soluble stabilizer helps keep the embroidery thread from sinking into the lush fibers of the terry cloth.
Fonts
Properly digitized machine embroidery fonts are critical to embroidering the perfect towel. You need a font that has been designed to hold down the nap of the terry cloth throughout the life of the towel to ensure luxurious results after repeated washings.
Water-soluble toppers disappear when laundered leaving the terry’s loops to work their way through the embroidery. Double underlay on embroidery designs will permanently solve that problem. If you’re working with a design that you can not manipulate in digitizing software, use bridal tulle as a topper. Matching the tulle to the towel ensures the tulle to fade into the background but you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see how cleanly tulle rips away from satin stitches.
The combination of the right hoop, stabilizers, and digitized fonts are the tools you need for successfully machine embroidery on terry cloth every time.
This week’s giveaway is sponsored by Discount Embroidery Blanks. They are generously giving away a tote bag full of spa essential items just begging for your personal touch!
54 COMMENTS
Barb
13 years agoI started my co. 5 years ago and spend the majority of my day working. I bought an embroidery machine in Nov. and have only looked at it, reading the books I bought several times and buying supplies are the closest I’ve gotten to a project. I would love a vacation to have time to learn my machine and all the tricks of the trade. The ocean and sand are my friends, we’ve had a loving relationship for years, but I’ve neglected them since having my company. The spa items would soothe my soul as I work diligently, building my business to the point where I could leave and rekindle my love affair with the ocean. I can dream, can’t I?
Mary L Haggenmaker
13 years agoI have four daughters that have been to a spa. I have never been to one. Iif I had a tote bag full of embroidered spa essentials I would make a point of it to finally go to one if for no other reason than to show off my goodies.
eileen
13 years agoMary, what’s up with that? How come these younguns get to do all the good stuff? Same in my house…
Karin
13 years agoThank you SEW much for choosing me as the winner of a Magna Hoop – I’ve been eyeballing them for YEARS, but never got around to making the purchase. I’m soooo excited, ‘cuz I just KNOW it’s going to make hooping those towels and cuffs sooo much quicker & easier.
A vacation – oh, my, don’t we all need one? I’ve been dealing with my own medical issues, and just when we were getting a handle on everything, my mother in law fell & broke her hip. Now she’s laid up too, and I still can’t walk well yet myself! Thank Goodness for a great husband!
I can only wish I were as busy as Marie! My little etsy shop is tootling along, but I’m ready for another sale. I’m busy making two table toppers now – one’s already sold & the other’s going in the shop! After that, I have a couple placemats ordered, and one of these days, I’m going to start my king-size Jinny Beyer Moonglow quilt.
Thanks again for my magna hoop! Can’t wait to get started using it!!
eileen
13 years agoKarin,
Congrats on winning! Know that Marie didn’t get that successful overnight – it’s taken quite a few years of building a client base. If you keep at it, you’ll get there.
Greta
13 years agoBoy do I need a vacation!! I have been telling my kids that for weeks. In addition to all the embroidery things going on (tee shirts for 3 Girl Scout troops, 3 baby blankets to make and embroider, burp cloths to get made and embroidered, birthday towels for my nephew to do before Easter), my sciatic is acting up and physical torture (oops I mean physical therapy) isn’t helping. Sleep is cat napping between turns at night and I NEED A VACATION or sleep anyway, lol… with all the pain I haven’t gotten any work done, learned the hard way not to sew or embroider when I am tired… that’s when mistakes not only happen, but multiply. Maybe a vacation would help 😀
Greta
eileen
13 years agoOh Greta, I laughed out loud – literally – when I read your physical therapy statement! I had a spinal fusion years ago and I still remember that torture chamber! However – it did get me back to 100%! So it was worth it. I also found that a sense of humor was the best medicine – seems like it helps you get through the day too!
Donna Viar
13 years agoBoy would I love a vacation. Between helping to raise the grandchildren, helping with our 91 yr. old mother, and business concerns, I have found it very hard to include my hobby/therapy since the first of the year. If we do get some time to get away, I travel with my machine to have a few days to do something just for my pleasure.
Scott Goodman
13 years agoSunglasses…check!
Shorts…check!
Sunscreen…check!
Gilligan (Scott Goodman) here. I can’t wait! The Stitching Sisters, Eileen & Marie, combined with Baby Lock’s top-of-the-line products assures that this event will be exciting, fun and productive. Bring your whole family, I am. While you are involved in your favorite activity, your family can take part in the spa, casino or (for men) sexy legs contest, at poolside. Can Gilligan thread a serger in less than 60 seconds? We may have prizes for those that guess correctly.
The food will be amazing so bring pants with an elastic waistband. Come sail with us. Contact Gloria from Cruise Consultants at 888-719-7698. Space is very limited…sign up soon! I hope to welcome you aboard.
Peggy Schroeder
13 years agoOh, Eileen,
Do I ever need a vacation!!! My life has been so busy, Since I saw you in Santa Rosa, I have taken on way more than I should. I agreed to make all the labels for one of my Quilt Guilds quilts projects. In this guild, we are making quilts 45 by 81 that will get sent to Travis Airforce Base, and then on to Germany. They have to be the certain size to fit on the gurneys for the wounded soldiers coming home from overseas. Each one is presented with the quilt in Germany, it becomes theirs to keep. I have designed a label thanking them for their service, along with a flag on it, with our Guild’s name and a place for the individual maker to sign. Then, I have been making the labels for my other Guild, who makes quilts for the District Attorney’s Office, for the elder abuse, and victims of various things that bring them through the Office. Sometimes, the quilt they are given is the only thing they have besides the clothes they have on. I have been making birthday gifts, I have eight in two months! I am trying to get everything done before i have knee replacement surgery which is coming up soon. I would love, love, love, to be able to go on your cruise, and just sew and lay on a deck chair and read! I love doing the labels, it makes me happy to think of the person who gave so much being covered with one of our quilts.
eileen
13 years agoPeggy! You are beyond busy! and you really need that knee surgery. The work you are doing is very honorable and will touch the hearts of soldiers and victims who really need it. You are a blessing to many – but you have to remember to take of yourself!
Chris
13 years agoI need a vacation because I spend every day doing things for other people. I am beginning to dread hearing the phrase “You got a minute?”. This usually leads to me working overtime, running errands for my husband to a place he passes every day going to and from work, taking the dog to the vet, cleaning the house and a hundred and two other things!!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!
Please, pick me! Pick me!
Beth
13 years agoI need a vacation …. yes!! But a few things like work (and vacation hours balance), chores, garden, flower beds, mean it may be a little while before that happens. BUT, a nice spa set would make it SEEM like I had a vacation – especially when I could dress them up and use them at our hot tub! What fun, and that special touch to pick me up before the summer starts.
pam duxbury
13 years agoI have not had a vacation in 7 years. I was in a car accident that injured my nerves in my upper back and neck 6 weeks after having surgery on the same area. Now I have a macine implanted in my back to help with the pain. My sisters youngest daughter is getting married on Friday, and another sisters oldest is getting married in October. We will not be going to either wedding because of travel. I just wish we could go to both!
Katrina H
13 years agoI need a vacation before my third child arrives in July! I’d be happy with just a quiet afternoon at home though!
Vi
13 years agoI would “LOVE” a vacation. I have just had the third surgery on my eyes today, all in less than a year. We used to leave just a couple of miles from the ocean and you could smell the “salty brine”. Loved going crab hunting-hipwaders and all. Should have seen the visitors jump when you showed them the goey duck clams-still on the beach. Cheers Vi
Kathi
13 years agoI’d love a vacation but it’s just not going to happen in the forseeable future. I was laid off 14 months ago. The job market in this area is really bad. Unemployment doesn’t cover my expenses. I have to dip into savings so there’s certainly nothing extra for a vacation.
Teodora Podina
13 years agoI’d looove a vacation but together with my sewing machine, is this possible 😀 ? if there could be some sewing friends around it would be more than great…sewing, chatting, laughing….oh, and some bubble spa moments would be great, too 😉 . Forgetting all that work at home…a woman need a pampered vacation from time to time…just to not forget what we are :delicate womens 😉
Cassie
13 years agoA vacation right about now would be great ,meeting new people is a bonus
marie zinno
13 years agoYes, I do really need a vacation! I have had the busiest spring season ever.
My family and I are so excited to go on our first cruise in July…Stitching Sisters on tour (land and sea).
Happy spring.
Donna G.
13 years agoA vacation? You mean where I don’t have to cook and watch after kids? I could really use one of those! And even if I didn’t get too far, a tote of spa essentials would make me feel like I was on one.
Mary Parker
13 years agoHi Eileen,
Vacations are wonderfull, and right now I could use one, the water damage happened on Feb 3, 2011 and we are still trying to get thing done! The insurance co and the contractor didn’t do anything for a month and a half while we were in the motel, then after 10 wks of the motel the ins. said they would not pay for the room anymore! We then had to move back in to the master bedroom while the rest of the house was still torn up…they just got the washer, dryer and the stove put back yesterday!!! Now the movers have to move everything back and try to remember where I had it. The sewing room stuff is in the m/b and bath, the m/b stuff is down stairs, all the furniture downstairs is in a pod in the parking lot (no garage)…I could tell you more, but you get the idea..and now I’m home with a cold, a vacation would be a welcome blessing right about now!!!!
Thanks,
Mary
Margaret Grice
13 years agoI NEED a vacation beacuse I am a fifth grade teacher and anyone who has had a fifth grader knows the trial and troubles of the end of the fifth grade year. Hormones are running rampant and they are ready for the end of the year. Only good thing is I get end of year too and I will have more time to sew and embroidery. Help!
Jackie
13 years agoI need a vacation as winter doesn’t seem to want to end up where I live, it started early and is still snowing today. What the heck did I sleep through spring and summer???
Becky
13 years agoI haven’t had a real vacation in almost 7 years. Thinking that your life slows down once your kids are grown has led to a big eye opener, especially when grandkids come into the picture and everyone lives in another city/state. Not that I would trade anything for time spent with all of them, but taking a vacation……what’s that??
Peggy Schroeder
13 years agoThanks for the advice, and I am starting to think you are right! As I write this, I have home-made croutons in the oven, and all the stuff out to make a batch of chocolates, and have almost completed my little rice krispie “nests” to be filled with colored coconut and little jelly bean eggs. Can you tell we are spending Easter with some of the grandkids??? It is also to celebrate one daughter’s, one grandson’s, and my husband’s birthday. So, instead of making a four-section cake as they asked for, I opted for cupcakes. I should never have started letting them all have just what they like each time, when there is so many at once, they still want it all! Oh well, if I was a drinker, I could say it keeps me out of the bars and off the streets!
I hope you and all of your family have a wonderful, fun, Easter.
Linda S
13 years agoMy husband and I have been hoping for several years to get away on a cruise, but with our time so limited after jobs and family, it just hasn’t happened. I wonder how he’d feel about sharing me with the sewing machine while on a cruise…just like he does at home! I must convince him it is the perfect opportunity to catch up on his reading and napping.
Linda Youngblood
13 years agoI am sure we all need a vacation! This has been the longest winter I have ever had to endure. Sitting home learning how to sew and do machine embroidery after being laid off from a job where I gave my all for 10 years. The economy sucks and everyone is trying to make ends meet. I need a vacation just to get away and have a change of pace and relax from all the stress. Good luck all
Barbara Halliburton
13 years agoBoy do I need a vacation! This week my 5 goats have had 16 goats! I am bottle feeding each and every one of them, 3 times a day! Plus I milk the 5 mothers 2 times a day. I do not have the time to do anything else during the day!
karen trott
13 years agoI neeeeed a vacation, please. I need inspiration, scenery for the soul, and the company of like minded embroiderers.
Gail Beam
13 years agoA vacation would be great to someplace warm and sunny! We have had rain, rain, rain, and more rain! When the electricity goes out, so does the sump pump and that means another bout with a flooded basement! Thanks for the chance to win some fun spa items!
Gail
Joan Greenhalgh
13 years agoA vacation would be great; actually getting out of the house would be good enough. After a kitchen renovation of 2-1/2 months, a knee injury occurred while putting items back into my brand new kitchen. A few weeks later, another and a tad more seriouis knee injury happened bringing me now into mid-Jan. I refused to go the Ortho Surgeon as I had a weekend planned in PA on Feb 11-13 for the Stitching Sisters Event! Couldn’t miss that (!!!!) so I gimped my way through that weekend. However, reality hit when I did see a doctor and bad news…..homebound until surgery at end of May. Won’t be out and about until mid-June. Palm trees and ocean would be nice but I will just settle for my patio at this point!
irene
13 years agoVacation? whats that?? havent been on one in so long! Would love one that involves sewing and embroiderying! NOw that sounds like fun, fun, fun!
Diane Carlton
13 years agoI’ve been signed up for this cruise for months now. I have a six needle machine, the Magna Hoop, In the Hoop, and the Quick Snap. I’m flying from Illinois to California to get on the cruise. I’m hoping to learn some special tips.
eileen
13 years agoSo glad to hear your joining us, Diane! Marie and I are busy planning all the projects, gifts, treats and insider tips! It will be an immersion in embroidery!
Mitzi Barker
13 years agoI am sure ready for a vacation….it’s been a long, dark, snowy winter here in Alaska, and it will be another month or so before things really begin to green up. Sure would be nice to trade down jackets for gauzy cruise wear! Short of a cruise, a little spa time would be a good way to emerge anew from winter’s cocoon.
Karen Rilstone
13 years agoVacation….the word conjures up magic and to combine sun and sea with embroidery….pure bliss!
Vickie
13 years agoI can’t think of anyone that doesn’t need a vacation, I haven’t had one in years. I have been a care giver for yrs. of my parents. I also help my only daughter out with her 2 3/4 yr. old. Seems I am on the road from here to there to take care of someone. I am single and would love to run away sometimes for a very long vacation, but then I would miss my wonderful grandson and the rest of my family. So my hobbies are my escape to save my piece of mind, my embroidery takes my mind off everything to do the job right. I love my family and my hobbies, just need a little more me time.
teresa moffitt
13 years agoIt would be truly inspirational, invigorating and an honor to be on a cruise with the Stitching Sisters, but honestly so many of these other ladies deserve it far more than I. I would love to see Peggy Schroeder go after her knee surgery so that she can get a good rest for herself and heal and then come home and continue her fantastic work making quilts for all of those fantastic soldiers who are working for us, keeping us safe and trying to make a better world for others as well. And then she keeps her groups going on the home front, too, delivering quilts to others who have nothing, as she said, but a handmade quilt and the clothes on their back. The world needs more people like her and she needs a rest!
Brook
13 years agoI could use a vacation b/c of the fun and sometimes challenging life of being at home with 5 children 8 1/2 years old through 7 months old. I love homeschooling, and being able to stay home with them. Our budget does not have much vacation money at this time. I would love a chance to read a few books and get some sewing projects completed would be great. I am a cheap date even after 10 years of marriage and this set would help out.
Candy Crain
13 years agoBoy, could I use a vacation. I am responsible for my soon to be 89 year old mother 24/7 as she lives with me. I’ve raised my son as a single mom and he’s now graduated from college and is well established in his field. I am disabled with arthritis and run a very small business doing machine quilting and embroidery. I’m also the workshop coordinator for my local quilt guild, that’s my me time. A cruise sounds awesome. Thanks for considering me.
tdaigre
13 years agoYes I need a vacation to get away from people who don’t call to check on me or take me where I need to I have to pay people to help me I can’t drive and I love sewing and embroidery I have all the defferent machines a person could evey want but with out a way to go anywhere they are not worth have I need something to work on with my Machines and some new Ideas. I just need to get away from all these so called people who say I don’t need anything well I do I need a vacation which I never had before oh when I was about ten I went on one with parents and that is about 50 years ago. Thanks and I hope I win sure could use it.
rent a car ankara
13 years agoAFAIC that’s the best asnewr so far!
Bev
13 years agoI have been the care giver for an elderly parent, who will be moving to a rehabilitation facility. Even a hot shower wrapped in a spa robe sounds like magnificent luxury!
Peggy Schroeder
13 years agoTo Teresa Moffitt,
Thank you for your nice comment, but I really don’t deserve it, the soldiers who fight for us and their families are the ones!! Then, I sew with two really wonderful groups of quiltiing ladies. They spend so much of their time, (not to mention their own money) making such beautiful quilts for others. It is an honor for me to be able to make the labels to go on them. It is such a small part of what they do, but it keeps us all connected, and everyone knows if someone needs anything, just call your sewing friends!!
Georgene
13 years agoWhoever came up with the idea of a vacation was one smart “cookie”! The only negative thing about it is, you’re taken away from your embroidery machine!
Boy, there’s just not enough room, here to list all of the reasons why a vacation is so needed, but let’s see if we can cover it in 1,000 words or less!! he-he-he!
I spent almost two months sick in bed, staring across the hallway yearning to create on my embroidery machine. Finally, when I started feeling better, I come to find out there were reasons why I wasn’t getting over what I thought was a just a pesky bug. It’s so overwhelming going for tests and doctors’ appointments, and consultations — blah, blah, blah. One thing I’ve found in life, laughter is the best medicine, and laughter and vacations seem to come hand-in-hand. One of the most important reasons, though, is how invigorating a vacation can be. When you come back from such a relaxing and joyous occasion, no task is unbearable, and you feel as though anything can be accomplished.
valarie
13 years agoI am a stay at home mom of 3, and I home-school them, so they see a lot of me (and I them) I would love a little vacation, just so they could realize how much they would miss me, LOL. One is in gymnastics, and I recently got hired to make leotards for the entire team (78 leotards) Now that that is over, I think it would be fun to have a new project.
Zain
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Debra Cole
12 years agoGood Morning,
I was wondering if you are going to do a cruise again. I would love to go if you are. I took one of your week end classes at Moores in Mission Viejo and had a blast. I purchased , along with many other things your perfect placement. It is the best. I use it all of the time. I am always embrodering names for my grand daughters dance class on tee shirts etc. Thanks again to teaching that. I could not do it without it.
Thanks again
Debbie
Happy sewing.
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