QUICK STITCH is the the name of the game. While the below BEEHIVE is applique (meaning with fabric), the satin stitch is replaced with a bean or redwork stitch which cuts your sewing time down quite a bit. I did use Heat N Bond Lite on my fabrics. Ironing the design after I’m done will ensure the fabric fuses to the shirt and doesn’t come loose. This would be cute with a name underneath in RED to match the beehive “door”.

Along with our DESIGN SALE, I also marked down our Embroidery Order Notepads as well. I LOVE these for jotting down my embroidery orders and they are now on sale for a limited time, while supplies last! Each pad has 50 sheets! The smaller ones are perfect for simple monogram orders, while the bigger pads (see left) are great for applique or more complex embroidery orders where more information is needed.

We’ve recently come out with several new EMBROIDERY designs (meaning thread only/no fabric). I call this a “light fill (light filled-in)” stitch. It’s not super dense like most embroidery designs and it sews very quickly! I did a baby gift set yesterday and my goal was “what is the fastest stitching design I can do?” When you are doing a set like a bib, burp cloth and onesie, fast is good! All thread is good! The stitching of these designs resembles seersucker!

Our BUNNIES…

Of course our popular “Stitch” lab design!

I L.O.V.E this Popsicle Trio design which is a must for summer! The color possibilities are endless and you can easily match any shorts!

Lastly our Sheep design which is adorable for baby. Would be cute also in baby blue, soft green or yellow.

If you are reading this, thanks for stopping by!

Love the “blanket stitch” finish!

My 10 year old LOVES Unicorns! I love this color combo with the gold and pink and seafoam green!

This Heart Trio has a redwork finishing stitch. I did use Heat N Bond Lite on my fabric to bond it to the “shirt”!

Have a great rest of the week! Check out the new designs, our notepads, etc at Applique Cafe!

First up, clipping those tiny threads from an all-thread embroidery design I was testing for a project the other day! I used my lamp and could easily see a few of the tiny jump stitches and was able to trim them closely and easily because I could SEE!!

Photo creds: my 10 year old

Who else strains to see the TEENY TINY numbers on your spools of thread? Even with readers on, I have a hard time telling a 3 from an 8.

I’ve used it to see the water soluble stabilizer left in my letters after I’ve pulled the stabilizer away. Water soluble is pretty clear and sometimes hard to see. Magnifier Lamp….. I am able to see even the tiny spots in the loop-ty loops and get rid of them!

Cleaning my bobbin area…. you can literally see every stray piece of thread and a million specs of dust!

I, of course, have used my lamp all over my sewing room the past couple of weeks doing embroidery and machine maintenance. My daughter borrowed it also to do a little crafting with her perler beads. It clamped on to our kitchen counter easily and the lamp is small enough that it’s easy to move around the house.

There are other magnifier lamps available and several come in white or black. There is a Table Flex that has an interchangeable base and clamp so you can use it as a table lamp OR attach the clamp wherever you’d like. They also have bigger magnifier lamps with rolling bases and floor magnifier lamps. Brightech also sells the popular string lights you see on patios and at restaurants as well as regular decorative floor and cool table lamps if you are looking for something for your home. They offer free shipping with US orders over $50 and their prices are great too! Click on any of the links or HERE to check them out!

I have to admit I have also used the lamp with my kids and have decided I would love to be an Aesthetician in my next life. We’ve had ear clean-out sessions (EWWW!!! – using a safe wax removal kit of course) and I’ve also used it to check out my 15 year old’s complexion. It’s AMAZING what all you can see with this lamp! Unfortunately I got to see his bad shaving job too. 15 year old mustaches are no joke.

Please email me if you have any questions! Again, click on any of the links or HERE to check them out for yourself! I’ve only had mine for a couple of weeks so I’m just scratching the surface of what all I can use it for in and around my sewing room and around the house!

We have been turrible at new designs this summer. I mean turrible! Jeff took a promotion at work and with the aforementioned crazy schedules of 3 kids, we haven’t had a lot of time. Now that school is back in sesh, hopefully we can do better. Here are a few new ones we added this summer!

Don’t forget our order-taking NOTEPADS!! Several shipments went out this week and we appreciate every single order! With our lack of designs lately, it’s fun to have something else available to our customers!

Lastly, we don’t do 50% off often, but when we do, we do it to celebrate our 9 years in business (+ Back to School)!! 9 YEARS!! I saw this picture the other day in my Facebook memories. This was where it all began! I had a desk in the corner of our bedroom in our old house and that’s where it all started. We had no clue what we were doing, but 1,042 designs and 9 years later here we are! And this girl is now 10, has braces and is in the 5th grade!

Shop our SALE through Monday, August 20th! www.appliquecafe.com

Back in the day, I taught a class at Sewingmachine.com but had not been over there in a couple of years. The ladies there are so nice and helpful and I always enjoy going, even if it’s to get my machine fixed! Here are a few photos from today!

They sell more thread that you can ever imagine! Lots of the big 5000M spools, but also some of the 1000M spools. I mainly use Isacord brand which they sell in both sizes.

Here is the Floriani wall… again, more colors than you can ever imagine! Beautiful drool-worthy colors!!

Here is the Isacord 5000M spool wall! Thread for DAYS!! 5000M spools last for a really long time too, so your black and white and colors you will use a lot of, it’s worth it to get the big spool.

Commercial stabilizer = less expensive! Cutaway, tearaway, water soluble, comfort cover (the stuff that you iron on the back of your monogram/embroidery/applique design), and HEAT N BOND LITE by the roll or bolt. They also sell some name brand stabilizers like Floriani, but I mostly use the commercial stuff! Any and every kind of stabilizer….

Pre-cut stabilizers are da bomb!! I know it only takes a second or two to cut off a roll, but grab a pre-cut sheet, hoop and go! I use their waffle weave tearaway AND medium cutaway pre-cut squares. Again, super affordable too!

OK so I don’t do vinyl. I honestly barely understand how it works. BUT… they have racks and racks and racks of vinyl for sale! Look at all the colors! This is just a fraction of what they have!

Stabilizers, thread and all the other stuff you need + HOOPS, hoop and more HOOPS. These are the Mighty (magnetic) Hoops and also the Durkee Hoops. They come in all shapes and sizes! I have the 9×9 and 6×6 Durkee hoops plus the Durkee Cap Hoop. I also have 2 of the Mighty Hoops which I LOVE!

I have a Brother PR650 6-needle in case you are new! I’ve had it for about 7 years, but I keep it serviced and CLEAN so it still has a lot of life left in it! If you are in the Alabama/Georgia line or Atlanta area, check out Sewingmachine.com OR order online! If you have any questions about what I use, just email me at rosemarygulledge@appliquecafe.com!

We have not done any new designs in a loooooonnnngggg time. Mostly because we are in a busy season of life and my digitizer husband is working more than usual. B) I drove to West Point, GA Monday to take my machine to Sewingmachine.com after it threw a rotate-something error after doing 20 graduation towels last week. Basically it died. I’m praying I get it back tomorrow or Saturday so I can finish more graduation gifts and 200 “Felties” I promised someone by May 20th.

With that being said, we are having a design sale!  It lasts through Tuesday so don’t let it pass you by!

Did you hear about our new *Embroidery Order Notepads*? They are selling like hotcakes! People have commented that they are loving them and using them for craft shows, in stores and for just plain old orders too. I have to say that they have sold just about the exact same amount (small vs. large) and I just did a re-order today. Lots of people buy 1 of each size, but we’ve also sold twosies of the small pad, or 2 of the big pad. We’ve also sold a mix of a few big ones and a couple of small ones. I’d love to hear how everyone is using them!!

It’s a little more work packaging the notepads and printing packing lists, stamping them with my cute THANK YOU stamps and stickers, weighing them and getting them ready for shipping, BUT, it has been SO MUCH FUN to be excited about something and I’m happy to do the extra work for you! I may be a little bit of a perfectionist about how they are packaged too! This whole stack went out one day this week…

You can check them out here: Applique Cafe Embroidery Notepads.

AND don’t forget that all DESIGNS are on sale through Tuesday! Now, let’s all say a little prayer that I get my machine back this weekend….

Why not create a notepad for embroidery orders {monogram orders + applique orders}… so that’s what I did. It’s been a long process of trying to find the right company to print them, then figuring out exactly what information I would want to include. It took me probably 2 weeks just to decide which sizes I wanted to offer. What’s the best backing for the notepads? So many options!! Then another month finding the other pieces of the puzzle. I need Thank You stickers. I need poly bags to ship them in. What about mailers? What’s the best way to do postage? How do I even charge shipping on 2 items when everything else on my website is a digital file? Several months later…. I think I finally figured it all out and the notepads went “live” on my site yesterday. I had my first 2 orders in a matter of minutes so I wanted to share here too!

I decided to offer 2 sizes since some people do only monogramming and would only need the 4 x 5 pad. For applique and/or embroidery design orders, the bigger 5.5 x 8.5 pad with space for more information is perfect. Each pad has 50 sheets!

When you do the math, being organized and keeping up with your orders only costs you cents per order. Fill it out and pin it to the item! If I charge $10 to monogram a towel, then it’s worth 15 cents to know exactly what goes on that towel!

You can check them out on my website ~ our Embr”order”y Notepads are featured on our home page at Applique Cafe. Cheers to being more organized!