Hooping. Material must be hooped firmly and straight and supported from behind. To mark the focus of our design, we draw a cross in the center, so that all our stitching turns out right. Even when we wash out the cross markings, the cross is still there in the way our design looks.

When in doubt, read the manual!

Never be afraid to try something new, just be careful!

Patience is a virtue

I still remember one of my first embroidery designs I stitched out that wasn't just lettering, thinking an hour was such a long time to complete! I had never watched a design stitch out before so I had no clue how long designs took to finish.

Then there are the thread tangles and broken needles.......the list goes on

Patience is vital

I have often prayed while watching my machine stitch out a project. I also use the time to do my vertigo exercises. After all, multi-tasking is such a woman's thing to do. And what a good idea to have a Bible next to our machines.

Make things with a joyful heart. Through the fun and success and blunders, I'm thankful that I'm able!

OK...to keep things going well I need to stop and clean the lint out of the hidden area...around the bobbin case...so in my life I need to let God clean some of the hidden areas in my life.
To me, my sewing room is my creative corner. When others see my fabric stash, thread stash and all the tools they wonder just what good can come of that. When God created everything He looked at it and said it was "good"...and He didn't have a stash it was just His spoken Word. When people (especially those that have no idea about sewing) see some of my simple projects they are amazed! I get to share that I believe that since God, the Creator, made me in His image part of that was creativity. It's just up to me to use this asset. To others it may be music, painting, teaching, medical, building...and the list goes on ad infinitum. I am blessed as I create. I love having worship music on; it's a place I can pray while I work (multi tasking at its best!) with very little in the way of interruption. The friends I've made through this group are often in my prayers and God knows how to direct those prayers to meet those needs. 2018 is a new year and I pray that as each one of us create with our machines we will be drawn to the knowledge that we were especially designed by God the Creator. May the blessings of God rest on each one of you, your families and those that come in and out of your homes. Avis

I thank God every day for my blessings. I consider my machines blessings from God because there was a time when I had nothing but one of the little Singer Featherweights. Made a lot of clothes for the girls and for myself as well as Sewing for the public to make a little extra money. God has blessed me so much Sooo I try to pass some of the blessings on from my machine by using it to sew for various others who need things. Lillian