We hear it all the time, “What does embroidery software really do?” We say, “Everything”!

Come find out at a one-time FREE event lecture on Saturday, June 16. Two sessions: 9-12pm or 1-4pm.

Click here for event details.

From all those wonderful quotes you see on Pinterest, to making a custom gift that will be cherished forever, embroidery software lets embroiderers go beyond that standard stock designs. Check out a wonderful collection of software inspired embroidery samples:

A special thanks to our monthly Software Sampler students who we featured in this gallery. Your projects are awesome!

We asked our Facebook fans, “What sewing or quilting advise would you give to a newbie?”

Thanks for all the comments! Please add your own advise at the end of this post!

Lindsay Mattison Buy a 1/4″ foot for your sewing machine!

Carrie Cunningham Practice straight, utility and decorative stitches. Take some basic machine and sewing classes. Buy lots of inexpensive muslin to practice with.

Sharon Wirth Have space for your “stash that is yet to come”

Jackie VanDamme Abel Good tools in good working order will be your best friends.

June Pullman Only buy quality quilting fabric from a quilt store. Your end product will last a LOT longer and won’t wear as fast.

Gail Ann Go to Heirloom Creations to get your machines and learn. (Yes, machines you will own more then one!!!)

Judie Renfrow Precision cutting, press, press, press. Second Jackie and June.

Donna Lee Bittiker Do not start on a hand-me-down 40 year old machine or a cheap machine from walmart. Invest in a good machine and take classes.

Gail Larson Swee Start with small enough projects that you can easily finish – it will give you momentum to tackle larger, more difficult pieces.

Mary Kirschenman Dive in! And remember ….it’s suppose to be fun!!…and don’t worry about those darn quilting police

Dorothy VerMeer Start small and simple and do not give up. Have fun with it!

Renee Mollendor Boyer Don’t worry about being perfect . That will come in time. Practice makes perfect. Your going to make mistakes, and you will learn from them.

Linda Gerwick Exactly what Renee says…. you’re not going to be perfect …. you are in the process of learning, so don’t expect perfection, but rather enjoy the process of learning … and we all STILL make mistakes!!

Jo Ann Pilgrim Mistakes will happen, accept them, learn from them, and I’m sure I’ve made them all at one time or another. Enjoy.

Gayle Cole Find a space to call your own! and do it right. It’s your creation! And it never a good quilt until you run out of fabric and have to punt!

Cindy Wendt Buy a rotary cutter and mat

Anne Oppegard Give yourself TIME … this is not a race; complete projects on your own timetable and celebrate each milestone reached!

Lisa Wunschel Neuharth I am pretty new to quilting. I really wish that everyone I talked to would have pressed the importance of 1/4 in. seams into my head. That is the main advise I would offer!

Kathy Lohberger Learn to PAPER PIECE FIRST !!!

This month Sara’s videos she did for Horn of America have started to upload to national websites for all to see!

We have heard all the excuses in the book why people have not taken the plunge. Here are a few of them…

1. The dining room table is for sewing not for family dinners.
2. The 6′ table that makes the sewing machine “bounce” at high speeds keeps you sewing within the speed limit.
3. You like needing to go to the chiropractor after pulling a whole 2-hour sewing retreat.
4. You like sitting cross-legged on the floor to sew.
5. You prefer spending the ONE hour you have to sew, pulling the sewing machine out of the closet, plugging in all the cords, finding an extension cord to reach the outlet, unpacking the project in progress, locating the scissors, dragging out the rotary cutter mat from its hiding place under the couch, and then figuring out what step of the pattern you left off on the last time you sewed. Start sewing…now STOP!, because you have to pack everything up before everyone gets home!
6. When projects get caught on the sewing machine’s extension table, you get to make up creative ways to camouflage the hiccup.
7. If the projects weren’t strewn all over the house, my family wouldn’t know what you did all day.
8. If you bought a new sewing cabinet your old sewing chair would look out of place.
9. Though your very best sewing machine deserves her very own throne, she might fear being traded in for a newer model to sit on the new “throne”.
10. Your husband would have to get his own new big ticket “wish-list” item.
11. If you have a dedicated space for your sewing machine you might feel GUILTY if you are not using it all the time.
12. If there were drawers built into the cabinet you would have to learn an all-new organizational system for all your sewing accessories.
13. It might not match my other furniture.

As you can see there are a lot more than just 10 reasons. Help us add to the list…what is your top reason for not getting a new sewing cabinet?

Or watch a few more of Sara’s new Horn of America sewing cabinet videos and start picking out your dream sewing cabinet.

Watch for more sewing cabinet videos coming soon.

This quilt that will take longer to bind then to sew together – awesome! This simple small throw size is a perfect charity, baby, donation item or thoughtful quick gift needed in a pinch. Choose to make the reversible side different or coordinating color. And best yet, use up those leftover 6 1/2” batting strips that are to small to sew together. Finished size: 42” x 52”

Don’t own a serger? Sew it with a sewing machine and walking foot.

This pattern is available for purchase and immediate download!

Back: One fabric color was used for all the back pieces.

Tip: Use the Creative Grid Angle Finder ruler to create different color bindings on each side of the quilt. See our YouTube video Binding a Quilt with the Angle Finder Ruler.

• 

  Angle Finder Binding Tool

  $18.45 Add to cart

1-Hour Serger Quilt Gallery

Send us your finished quilts at info@heirloomcreations.net.

This is the back of the previous quilt - completely reversible!

Back: Exactly the same as the front of the quilt

Do you own a walking foot that looks like this?

Hint: Husqvarna Viking Emerald 203, 183, 118 and 116 owners…you might have this foot!

Yes? Than you have to check out the most awesome accessory you can add on to it! Now you can add a special stitch in the ditch attachment! Watch our video to see how it works!

The Ditch Quilting Guide & Adjustable Guide is compatible with all Janome even feed feet that come equipped with a slot in the back cover.

Ditch quilting guide helps align with the center of your foot to take the guess work out of ditch quilting or top stitching. If you are a quilter,  this is a must have accessory for your Janome sewing machine.

The set includes:

1. Adjustable quilting guide
2. Ditch Quilting Guide

Sara sorting through all the feet with guides prior to her presentation. Look at all those feet!

When we scheduled the “Feet with Guides” topic for the Foot of the Month, we had no idea that there were so many of them! We discovered that there were over 25 different combinations of feet and add-ons between our 3 sewing machine brands – Bernina, Husqvarna Viking and Janome.

These amazing guides can turn sewn seams into perfection! Who doesn’t want that? From the guides that attach to the back of a sewing machine’s foot, feet that provide accurate 1/4″ 3/8″, 1/2″ and 5/8″ seam allowances to stitch in the ditch attachments that go on walking feet. These accessories  are a must for all sewers.

We stock all these items at Heirloom Creations.

We have posted 10 total videos. Enjoy!

• 4 videos for Bernina sewing machines
• 5 videos for Husqvarna Viking sewing machines
• 1 video for Janome sewing machines

Bernina Videos

For more information and to purchase a Bernina feet please contact your local Bernina dealer.

Sara takes a look at the Bernina Walking Foot accessory. Ever wonder what all comes with the new Bernina walking foot? See all of its accessories, sole plates, and how to use them. Also, how to attach your walking foot to the sewing machine.

Learn the ins and outs of the Bernina Patchwork Foot #57 with Guide. The Bernina 1/4″ foot or patchwork foot is a favorite for quilters, the extra guide along the right edge helps keep accurate an seam allowance for perfectly flat quilts.

The Bernina Edgestitch foot #10, #10C and #10D are accessories that no Bernina owner should have to live without. Stitch perfectly straight seams, use with decorative stitches for perfect alignment and any needle position can be used.

Bernina seam guides are standard accessories with Bernina sewing machines. See how to use, attach and apply techniques to sew straight,  professional seams.

Husqvarna Viking Videos

For more information and to purchase a Husqvarna Viking feet please contact your local Husqvarna Viking dealer.

For your Husqvarna Viking machine, select from three different piecing feet to help perfect the exact or scant 1/4″ seam. See an example of how to use the feet and what your different options are.

Husqvarna Viking Clear Seam Guide Foot offers a wide variety of seam allowance markings for 1/4″, 3/8″, 1/2″ and 5/8″ seams. Just use the markings on the clear foot to see where you are stitching and to get the perfect seam allowance every time.

Husqvarna Viking Seam Guides are a great accessory that will work with many types of sewing techniques. Many sewing machine come with guides included and have a mounting location for easy setup and use.

The Husqvarna Viking Edge Joining Feet with Guides helps you with decorative stitching over a seam or marked line. The tunnel on the bottom of the foot give the stitches space to form perfectly and lets the fabric to feed flawlessly. The flange in the middle of the foot keeps the stitches aligned perfectly with your seam or marked line.

See what comes with the Husqvarna Viking Dual Feed / Walking Foot accessory and some tips on how to get the most out of it. Check out additional accessory feet available for the Dual Feed foot

Janome Video

Learn how to utilize the Janome Ditch Quilting Guide for use with the Janome Even Feed foot.

• 

  Convertible Even Feed Foot Set

  $59.99 Add to cart
• 

  Ditch Quilting Guide & Adjustable Quilting Guide

  $29.99 Add to cart
• 

  Even Feed Foot (Open-Toe)

  $30.00 Add to cart
• 

  Even Feed Foot with Quilting Guide

  $30.00 Add to cart

It’s all in the name, the Simple Curves Ruler is a simple gentle curve … easy to cut and easy to sew. Want to know even more about the Simple Curves Ruler from Phillips Fiber Art, Sara will give you complete run down in the video below.

Make yourself a great fashion accessory, put together a great looking and functional winter warmer, give them as gifts. The Circle Scarves by Indygo Junction is a fun and versatile project that can be made into so many useful pieces. And with Heirloom Creations help it’s so simple! We have pre-cut kits to accompany the pattern, so there are no concerns about making a lot of perfect circles.

If you enjoy this project please take a moment to let others know about our kits and where they can get them. Tweet, Like, Share! Thank you for taking your time to visit us.

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  Circle Scarves Kit

  $19.99 Select options
• 

  Circle Scarves Pattern

  $10.00 Add to cart

Vintage Rouge will be our next block of the month running May – October 2012. Finished size: 78″ x 78″

Block of the month quilts are meant to challenge quilters to try something new. This quilt features a English Paper Piecing along with either hand or machine applique. The dresden plates are simplified by using the pre-printed striped fabric from the fabric line. What a great optical illusion! We have scheduled classes this summer to help with these techniques for those who are participating.

This classic red and green quilt was designed by Vicki Bellino of Bloom Creek Quilts using Vintage Rouge by Marcus Fabrics.

Once again we will have a LIMITED amount of kits. Once they are spoken for, they are gone. If you are interested in participating in this block of the month, please contact Heirloom Creations at 605-332-4435.

Kits are $32.00 per month for six months. Kit includes all patterns, fabric for quilt top, borders and binding. A credit card will need to be needed to be placed on file to participate.