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Wearables

That Eileen! She gets me every time…

Guest post by Katherine Artines –

There I was on the first morning of International Quilt Market in Houston last Fall, excited about being there, ready to go on the floor the next day to gather up inspiration like someone spilled M&M’s in front of me, sitting in her schoolhouse daydreaming, when WHAM!

Eileen showed the group a wonderfully colorful quilt made from her newest Stipple! design pack—Stipple! All Seasons Borders.  Whereas everyone present “ooooooo’ed” and “ahhhhhhhhhhhh’ed” as the quilt so rightly deserved, in my mind’s eye, the quilt sprouted sleeves, trimmed itself to a V-neckline, and shaped into a striped jacket.

That Eileen! She gets me every time.

When I went looking for the base fabrics, I knew I wanted to wear the jacket in the warmer weather (June, for those of us who live in Erie, PA!), and I loved the bright look of Eileen’s color choices.  All the border designs were going to have lots of colors in all those appliqués, and I found just the thing to anchor them all together with the “tooty-fruity” irregular stripes and a white background with lime green metallic dots from my stash.

I was off and running…. Well, off and embroidering!

You can read about the construction of the jacket with the various stipple borders in the Volume 68 May/June issue of Designs in Machine Embroidery. If you’re an embroidery software geek like I am, you’ll want to check out the detailed article on how I created the triangle edge treatment with an in-the-hoop solution (http://www.dzgns.com/products/*/*/9065   Click on “Download the Software Technique” on the right column).

I love using embroidery software. When I have a “what if” moment, it is usually followed with a “how can I” moment. I wanted to make a border of triangles for the entire perimeter of the jacket, but, UGH! That’s a lot of triangles that have to be exactly the same size. Yes, there are a number of tools out there that quilters use to do half-square triangles; instead, I put my software and my hoops to work to do the repetitive, utility part of this job.

I’m not a quilter—don’t really want to spend my time making my points match—but I do love the patterns. That’s why I’m such a Stipple! fan. The blocks are easy to embroider and are a great size for wearables. If you’ve seen some of my previous articles in Designs, you know that I used them to make entire jackets or just a few to enhance a project.  

At a conference last August, Eileen gave me a “sneak peek” of her upcoming book featuring new Stipple! designs that were FAB –U-LOUS and set my mind whirling. I can’t wait to add to my wardrobe!

That Eileen! She gives me cool things to play with.

– Katherine A.

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6 COMMENTS

  • Yvonne

    Oh I just love that jacket! After undergoing radical breast surgery, I need to re-think my summer wardrobe. Cover-ups are needed now. Being able to wear something so pretty, would turn a necessity into a pleasure. Thank you for the inspiration.

  • Carolyn H.

    What a great tool! I’m not into quilting very much, but I love the jacket that Catherine made. I can also picture it as a vest. A great Christmas present idea.

  • Judy

    Would like to buy stipple disk for the quilted jacket but it indicates you need to use a larger hoop. I have an Artista 180 w/5×7″ hoop. I have a larger hoop, but it just helps for re-hooping as the machine still thinks it’s the 5×7.

    • Mavis Lieder

      I too want to do the jacketfbut can’t seem to get the info from Designs in Machine Embroidery or any response from Mill Creek for the pattern.

  • Georgina

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    aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
    I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show
    the same outcome.

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