I saw some free towel toppers here, Hope you find them

Castelyns Towel Toppers are great you will find them in designs by cuties

Hi Embroidery Library has some really good tutorials on how to do different things and stabilizers to use etc.... here ids the link to their site. Hope it helps! Suzanne
http://www.emblibrary.com/el/elprojects/holder.aspx?page=videos

Haven't come across any free towel topper designs lately but here is a site that has several towel toppers. I get the towels from Walmart but I have heard of some getting towels from the Dollar Stores that are nice. Also, I use a wss on top and I use a cut-a-way stabilizer on the back. I trim the cut-a-way to 1/8 of an inch when I'm done. I find it hold up better than a tear-a-way. I pre-wash the terry cloth towels to control the nap. Enjoy and can't wait to see your finished towels. Also, the Emb Lib site that sdrise gave you is a very good reference. Has tutorials for different projects too.

http://www.cassandrasembroidery.com/index.html

Know turquoise has some free and shows how to do it, but not sure where it is on her new site.

there was one in the free section a few days ago but I can not find it - I think Trish's Embroidery but can not find the toppers there either - terryw?? did you post ???

Here is a link for some freebies here on DBC. I'm not sure all of them are listed, but it will be a start for you. :)

The 2nd link is the tutorial from Turquoise.

Here is one if I find anymore I will let you know,
http://www.kreativekiwiembroidery.co.nz/free-machine-embroidery-tutorials.html

Here is one for a BBQ towel holder,more free designs also,
http://www.smartneedle.com/freedesigns/1secureaccesshttps4562986538997securitylevelfrttmjudgsfsjkcodemrislloop653kdckx97354uiuimncgroi7994kduyyrnndxiidyr764jjdyrulock00000secureserver00000ahdye65557jdd77833664jdjjdgfsjsliunderjjdlls7878778334432.html

Keep in mind you can embroider on regular cotton material, then applique onto the towel. This way your design doesnt get lost in the towel design. If not, than using WSS is a must for nappy looped towels. Goodluck :o)