Has anyone ever stitched out the Australian Pelican Collage J7130. I have had it for years and never tempted it before as there are 33 Colour changes and it is very dense. I have just had the urge to stitch it. Now my problem is that Emb Library threads are in Maderia which I don't use. I checked their thread exchange but not all colours are available for Brother or Marathon. Then when I put the design onto my machine and switch to Maderia threads the thread colours on the machine do not correspond with those of Embroidery Library. Does anyone have any hints please. I have stitched the design out and guessed at colours and it looks OK but I would like it closer to the Picture on Embroidery Library.

That is a lot of color changes. But I bet it is beautiful when completed. I usually do as Chris does and get as close as I can. I don't have a lot of room for threads. Good luck!

1 comment

by mi30kaja 29 May 2018

I am like you. I do not have a lot of room for threads but hate not to have a certain colour. When I was doing a lot of Cross stitch I told my Late DH i had to go to the shop to buy a green. He told me that Green is Green so I dragged him to the shop and told him to look at the range of greens. Later when we were planning a trip to England (He was English born) he told me that the green in England is different to the green here in Australia??????

I have a lot of EL's designs and love the subtle color variations. I too find it hard to achieve an exact match in thread colors when combining different brands. So, if I need three shades of grey, I pick the three shade from the same color line...for example, I may use 3 greys from Isacord, and 3 whites from Madeira. I also blend rayon and poly threads. Color is more important than fiber to me. If I blend the two types of threads in something that I think I might get stained, I spray the project with Scotch Guard.





The three brands that I can buy locally are Isacord, Sulky, and Florini. I find Florini too expensive, and buy Sulky if I just need a small amount of thread. Now that I have a lot of trouble with trying to merge different brands, I am slowly growing my Madeira collection simply because I just love Madeira's threads. If there is an EL design that I just love, I buy all the Madeira thread needed for it. It's a big expense all at once, but over time (years) it slowly grows.





If you are concerned about density, I enlarge the design 10% without increasing density in my software. You never even notice the change, but it helps. I look forward to seeing your project when it is done!

1 comment

by mi30kaja 29 May 2018

Thank You for your suggestions but I can't enlarge the design as I need it to go onto a towel topper. AS Chris said I should be happy with my result but I am not.

Hi Lyn, I wouldn't worry too much about the colour differences. I hope you post the one you've done. As long as you are happy with the colours that's fine. I just use colours that are a close match to a design, but even then I change to suit me. Love Chris

2 comments

by mi30kaja 29 May 2018

Chris I have stitched it out but I am only 90% happy with it. Since getting this new computer I haven't managed to get photos onto it. Guess that is part of getting older and my brain just can't take in any more information.

by killiecrankie 29 May 2018

Can you find a photo of the pelican ,it might be helpful in finding the right colours from your stash.Plenty of pelicans flying around here.
If you are 90% happy with the colours you used ,work out which one are in the 10% group & then see how they need to be changed ( darker,lighter etc) to make you100% happy.
Sew it out again & keep a record of all the colours you have used.

I feel your pain! I print the design sheet and write the color changes on the sheet. It's complicated and I think it is the software we use. I think EL has a section that explains this better than I can. I use a variety of threads, picking the right color can be a challenge. I look forward to comments from Cuties. Hugs, Suzanna

1 comment

by mi30kaja 29 May 2018

Thank You, Guess there is no easy way to do it.

I have the complete range of both Madeira viscose and Marathon polyester, over 300 each. Madeira came with a conversion chart to a number of other brands, which helps, but they are not exact matches. The Designer1 had a smaller colour range so the machine showed a great number of greys instead of subtle yellows and blue and greens. Printing the colour chart that comes with a design helps by choosing colours and I kept a list of the colour changes next to my machine - or just put the threads in a row if their were no repeats of the same colour. however, I hate that many changes :)

2 comments

by mi30kaja 29 May 2018

Thank You. I put the Marathon colour chart next to the Emb Lib colours and then wrote them down but that was just for so many and then as the colour changes went on I just guessed depending what part of the design it was.

by sewist1 01 Jun 2018

I do what mops does and try to match the colour print out to the threads I have before I start. I also line them up in order.