As machine embroiderers we have opportunities to use our machines to create and embellish everything from clothing to quilts to home décor and more. Sometimes my motivation to begin a project gets stunted by the fear of failure. That’s right… failure before I’ve even taken the first stitch… or even selected the fabric for the project-to-be.
But one recent afternoon I decided to play with the Calligraphy Project Designer. I like it because it’s simple to use and feeds my need for creativity.
I decided to do an online search for a fun quote. You can easily search key terms like “popular quotations,” “famous quotations,” or even “quotations about <life>,” (you can replace the word “life” with any word you want.)
In my search I came upon a fun quotation from Albert Einstein: “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
What an inspiring quotation!
Before beginning the project, here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Select the hoop size. This will give you boundaries to work within.
- If you are working with a long phrase, break it into several individual designs. It makes it easier to manipulate and rearrange.
- The <Enter> key is useful. Instead of having one long continuous line of text, break it up by using the <Enter> key.
- Consider the alignment. I chose to center all my text.
- You may decide to edit as you go or wait until you have all the text on the screen. I chose to make the more creative edits (enlarging and changing the angle of the letters) at the very end. Decide what works for you.
The point is – you need to experiment with the layout. That is part of the creative process!
Here are the steps I used to put the layout together in software.
- Open the Calligraphy Project Designer Software.
- I chose the largest hoop size my machine could handle.
- Click on the Text tool to add text.Design 1: “A person <Enter key> “who never”I centered the design and chose Old English for the text style.
Design 2: “made a”I centered the design and chose Old English for the text style.
Design 3: “mistake”I centered the design and chose Jester Pro for the text style.
Design 4: “never tried”
I centered the design and chose Old English.
Design 5: “anything”
I centered the design and chose Old English.
Design 5: “new”
I centered the design and chose the Diana-Vs text style.
Design 6: “Albert Einstein”
I centered the design and chose Old English. I placed the text further down on the page as I wanted to add a design later.
- Rearrange the text into a pleasing format.
- Click the Ink Spots button and select the Ink Blotch design. Arrange the design in a pleasing format. Enlarge the design if necessary, by selecting it then dragging one of the corners to expand the size.
- I decided to enlarge the first letter “A”. Click on the text icon. Click on Design 1 to select it.
- Click on the center of the letter “A”. The letter will now be surrounded by a yellow box.
Grab one of the white corner boxes to enlarge the design. Once enlarged, click on the center of the letter and rearrange as needed.
- I wanted to have fun with the word “mistake.” I decided to rotate the letter “t”.
Click on the Text button. Click on the word “mistake” to select it. Click on the center of the letter “t” to select it. Click the arrow to rotate.
Click on the sizing box to enlarge the letter.
Final Tips:
- Rearrange the designs as necessary and experiment with font styles and thread colors.
- Stitch efficiently! Go to Edit. Click on Resequence by Color.
- Save the design as an MHF file. (This format is the native format in the software. It will enable you to make edits in the future.). Then save the design in the format your embroidery machine reads and send to your embroidery machine.
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43 COMMENTS
Linda W
10 years ago“Worry brings tomorrow’s clouds on today’s sunshine.”
Kristi D.
10 years agoWhen I would give my kids a bath I would always say “It has to be hot enough to burn the barnacles off” It would make them laugh every time.
Belinda Germain
10 years agoYou will always be my friend – you simply know too much!
Sharon P.
10 years ago“This, too, will pass.” This is one of those sayings which is ALWAYS true. Nothing lasts forever, so we need to enjoy today as long as it lasts!
Kristal
10 years agoPlan ahea
(get it…Plan ahead 🙂
Carol K.
10 years agoThere are no mistakes, just happy accidents!!!
This is my motto when machine embroidering. You can always add something somewhere in the design to make it just perfectly centered and maybe even more and personal!
becky3580
10 years agoSMILE – It increases your face value. It is the only thing completely unique to you and the only thing you can give away but still keep.
Denise Holguin
10 years agoLove it! Thanks for sharing!
Gail Beam
10 years agoHere are two cute sayings for Grandmas.
“Just ask Grandma, she’ll know what to do.”
“What Santa doesn’t bring Grandma will.”
maga
10 years agoI am telling my age here
“Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.”- Maurice
Chevalier, 1888-1972
Terri
10 years agoKindness matters.
Bernadette
10 years ago“Do small things with great love.” – Mother Theresa
R. Edwin
10 years agoPray first second and always!
Candace
10 years ago“Nothing outstanding will ever develop if you remain within the parameters of normal expectations.”
Patty
10 years agoA good tutorial that I can learn from. This will be saved to my computer!
Bonnie Gray
10 years ago“Let it go!”
Donna Fecteau
10 years ago“Life’s a dance you learn as you go”
Lori Albrecht
10 years agoGod, grant me the Serenity to accept the thing I cannot change the courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference. I made a embroidery wall hanging in my sewing room with this saying on, so when doing a project that I’m having trouble with I remember this. I also loved it when raising my teenagers!!!
Kimbra
10 years agoI live my life by this.. I have it in almost every room of my house.. And I do consider myself to be a very serene person.. It works……..
Lou Bush
10 years agoSorrow looks back
Worry looks around
Praise looks up!
Denise Holguin
10 years agoYes, indeed! Thanks for sharing, Lou!
Carol Seavitt
10 years agoDad’s quote: if it seems like a good idea, don’t do it. Said usually as I was walking out the door with my date. Years ago.
Beverly Schulte
10 years agoMom’s quote: If you don’t have it here (and points to her head), you have to have it here (points to her feet)…..
I use this quote all of the time too!
Terry senko
10 years agoThe meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
Pablo Picasso
Clem
10 years agoIn the days before gps, (yes, there was a time it was not available or just too expensive) whenever I would get “lost” while driving, instead of worrying the kids and myself, I would tell the kids “we are not lost, we are having and adventure” There were times when the kids knew they were going to get bored at a certain event we were going to, they asked,” mom, can we go on an adventure before we get there?” It was fun…..
Beth Rowan
10 years agoI never make the same mistake twice. I make it five or six times just to be sure!
Sally Hudson
10 years agoPretty is as Pretty does.
Joan Shriver
10 years agoI’m going to embroider an apron for my daughter-in-law for Christmas that says “Your comments were not in the recipe” Every dinner one of the children has a complaint!
Jimelle
10 years agoLife isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Tamara Evans
10 years ago“Argue your limitations and, sure enough, they’re yours.” Richard Bach
Berenice
10 years agoIntegrity is always doing the right thing even when no one is looking.
Donna G.
10 years ago“Live each day with integrity and trust”
Doreen
10 years agoIf I can stop one heart from breaking, I have not lived in vain.
Emily Dickinson
Carolyn
10 years agoWhen my kids would be arguing, I would say, “If either of you cannot prove your point right now, you are ‘arguing ignorant’. Wait until you are where you can prove your point.” At lease I’d have some peace and quiet, and by the time we got home, they would either have forgotten what they were arguing about, or they would research the answer.
Pam
10 years agoTo live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.
Joseph Chilton Pearce
beth daniels
10 years agoWaste not, want not. This phrase is all about waste things and time and energy spent on something you really do not want.
Janet Dunn
10 years agoMy lovely mother will always tell me that whatever I did, just I do it with “style and grace”.
Pat
10 years ago“Stuff Happens, Deal with It”
The sanitized version of a saying from a few years back, and my response to the saying. Whatever “it” is you have to “deal with it” somehow, even if dealing consists of ignoring it. Problem is, you still have to deal with it, sometime.
Suzanne V.
10 years ago“Never stop learning”
Jan
10 years ago“The last time I cooked, hardly anybody got sick.” Perfect for aprons, although my husband doesn’t like it very well.
Kathy
10 years agoFinished is better than perfect
Marian Madryga
10 years agoFrom a friend at a reunion (who had been diagnosed with Mutiple Sclerosis in recent years), commenting on how people who hadn’t seen her recently reacted:
” I never lost any friends, I just found out WHO THEY WERE”.
PERMANET MAKEUP RI
8 years agoIt’s genuinely very complex in this full of activity life to
listen news on Television, therefore I just use internet for that purpose, and get the most recent information.