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June 2008 Archives

June 4, 2008

Free Designs @ ArtisticThreadWorks Today

Help yourself to this week's weekly sampler designs called " Birthday Party II "

Click Here For Designs

This set of designs is free for 1 week to guests. They're always free to members, so why not become a member now? What are you waiting for - really?! JOIN US HERE!

ATW EmbroideryTip: Embroidery & Arthritis


" I have arthritis in my hands and fingers, my tip is I put those foam cushions you can buy for pencils or pens to make then easier to hang on to on my hoops to make it easier to turn the screw. They are soft and slip right over the turn screw just perfect. Has help me alot! I don't use the ergonmic ones I use the foam ones "


Note: These tips are submitted by our readers.
We do not TEST any of the tips listed here
and you are cautioned to follow them
at your own risk.


ATW: You'll LOVE It Inside!


ATW ComputerTips: Tired Of Vista?

For better or for worse - computers are a part of our hobby! ArtisticThreadWorks hosts a special forum for computer related questions to help with the challenges of keeping your computer working. See our "Computer Help Forum" where you'll always find a helping hand with your computer and software questions.

"Tired of Windows Vista?

Microsoft's Windows 7 is the NEXT version of Windows. This article in Wikipedia says that 2010 is the scheduled release date. There are now rumors that Microsoft is shooting for a 2009 release date, but Microsoft denies that it will be ready before 2010.

Meanwhile - they keep pushing back the last date you can still buy a computer with Windows XP on it. Right now - the final date is June 30th of 2008. If that date doesn't change before it comes up in 26 more days, I'll be ordering another computer with XP on it. Why? Holly's main digitizing program still doesn't run on Vista! Let's hope they keep selling XP until Vista is just a bad memory. :-)

Members of ATW can visit our Computer Help Forum where you'll always find a helping hand with your computer and software questions.

We also offer a VIDEO on CD that plays in your computer and shows you Basic Computer Skills For Embroidery!

"The Wayback Machine"

Members of ATW who enjoy our forums will like this new feature. It's called "The Wayback Machine".

Using The Wayback Machine members can click a number from 1 to 34 and will then be taken back in time through our main discussion forum. The higher the number you click on, the farther back you go in time!

The Wayback Machine is like a roulette wheel -- you never know the exact day you'll land on! The first post in our current forums was on March 22nd 2004. There are now more than 300,000 posts, mostly about embroidery or how it in some way touches our lives, but there are others posts (labeled "OT") that are about almost anything!

June 6, 2008

Free From ArtisticThreadWorks: "Tomboy-Tammie"

Help yourself to this weeks Friday Freebie design set - "Tomboy-Tammie"! These are for everyone that is a subscriber to our free weekly newsletter here!

To Download This Weeks Friday Freebie DesignsAnd Click On "Sample Designs"!

Not on our mailing list yet?
Click here to enter get in
our prize drawings as well as more great freebies!

Quilts for Veterans - You Can Help!

Attention all embroiderers! Your help is needed again this July. The "Quilters For Comfort" are again making patriotic quilts for our veterans. We need any patriotic blocks you wish to donate.

Last year 1,000 blocks were collected and 50 quilts were made from them. This year - we'd like to top that number if possible!

Click here to learn more about Quilters For Comfort or to view their photo gallery. The photo gallery is at the bottom of the page and there are nearly 1,000 quilt photos now in the gallery!

If you'd like to be involved in this years project(s) you can email... cabmarshall@yahoo.com

QFC-2008-06-06.jpg

June 7, 2008

Collectible Teddies for Nitasplace Members

Those mischievious May Teddies ran away and went camping right when they were supposed to be uploaded to the website. They said they had a wonderful time and are now back to play with you. They hope you will forgive them for being late. Members can download them in the Collect a Teddy department

NitasPlace members can click here for Collect-A-Teddy department...


National Sewing Machine Day

June 13th is "National Sewing Machine Day". Hmmm... I wonder if we can get a "National Embroidery Machine Day"?

(Thanks to Debbie@NitasPlace for this info!)

Travels With ME & Thee

Holly and I parked our camper in Union IL in mid-April. We had intended to make a couple short trips this spring to other nearby campgrounds but we had an unexpected guest that has kept us here for a while.

Here's what Holly posted on her personal page at www.embroideryfair.com ...

"Well... a couple weeks ago we noticed that a Momma bird had built a nest on the ladder that is secured to the coach. We knew when we saw the nest that we were here to stay for a while. We knew we didn't want to disturb the Momma with her eggs.

We have been watching her and talking to her for a couple weeks, awaiting the hatching of the babies. A few days ago we saw two birds in the nest. We figured it was the Daddy!

Sometime in the night or early morning the babies hatched! We have seen two so far. But, they are hiding right now. I will ask Larry to take a picture of the babies when we can since he is taller and will be able to see into the nest better.

We'll keep you posted on the babies progress! I guess we are here until they are big enough to fly out of the nest on their own. 8-)

~~Holly

Now here's a photo from a couple days ago when mama and one of her babies were sitting in the nest together...

mama-and-babie.jpg

The whole family has been flying in and out of the nest for a couple days now. We'll wait until they're no longer using it before we go anywhere.

-- Larry

New Designs @ ArtisticThreadWorks 6/6/08

See ALL this week's new sets here!

Here's a picture of ONE of this week's design sets...

See ALL the new sets here!

Members of ATW can download all of this week's new designs, along with more than 17,000 other designs in the "Design Library"... Join Here!

Winner: ATW Prize Drawing

"jluoma7 at comcast.net" has just won a 3-month membership at ArtisticThreadWorks! You can claim the prize here... www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com/PrizeClaim before noon tomorrow.

What's included in this prize?

You already know the designs are great but...
here's what you might not know yet...

There are...
over 17,000 designs in our Design Library,
over 1,000 articles about embroidery,
over 30,000 photos in our projects photo galleries,
and over 1/4 of a million posts in our discussion forums!

Our members have access to ALL of this and more!

Join Us Here!



Photo Contest Winner @ ArtisticThreadWorks

Photo Posted By 'mschastain'

This photo was chosen in a random drawing as our "weekly photo contest winner". Thanks for sharing with us Martha! You've won a 3 month extension on your membership for posting this photo!

photo-contest-060608.jpg
Members: Here's The Original Photo Post
Guests: Here's The Original Photo Post


Here's a bit of the story that goes with this photo...

"I took a pair of my old jeans and made a skirt for my granddaughter. I embellished the skirt with embroidery and other items. I added a chenille insert in the front and back and the ribbon trim "


Photo Gallery

Thanks to all of you who post photos regularly in the photo gallery. THIS IS A RANDOM DRAWING - ATW MEMBERS POST THEIR PHOTOS TO ENTER THE DRAWING. Members of ATW can post their photos in our photo gallery with more than 25,000 other embroidery project photos!

"The NEW Daily News"

The "Daily News" is the photo ads you have been seeing for about a year now. There are "thumbnail" images layed out in a gallery that shows what each ad is about and a title for that image. When a person looking at the ads sees something they are interested in the click on the thumbnail image and can then see a full-sized picture along with whatever text the advertiser puts into the ad. If they click on the large photo - they are taken to the advertisers website or whatever specific page the advertiser wants them to land on within their site.

We used this system for the Daily News for several months on DigitizersWorld but we are closing the DigitizersWorld site (WE ARE NOT CLOSING ATW!!! Just DigitizersWorld) and had switched to using the new site "EmbroideryFair" and a blog/photo-gallery advertising system. While a lot of people like the new system, there are many who really liked our old Daily News better. I can't run the Daily News out of DigitizersWorld because it is closing, but I can set up the same system here on ArtisticThreadWorks and I've decided to do that so those who liked the Daily News can still see it every day.

Anyone who wants to advertise in the new Daily News will be able to just by being a member of ArtisticThreadWorks. And since there are many people who would want to advertise but are not interested in downloading our designs or many of the premium features of ArtisticThreadWorks, we are creating an "Advertiser-Only" membership level on ATW that will cost only $5 per month for membership. I think many of the digitizers and owners of websites related to embroidery will want to advertise in the Daily News, especially with the great price of on $5 per month. Our full members of ATW (ie: all of you reading this) can also run ads in the new Daily News and that will just add some more interest to the ads since most of our members tend to advertise things like machines they no longer need, fabric they have accumulated too much of, and similar "yard sale" items within our niche. Of course if a member is also a digitizer they will be able to run ads for their designs in the Daily News too.

The new Daily News will take a couple more days for me to complete the setup work on so my target date for launch is June 15th. It might even launch early. Watch your email and our website for announcements on "The New Daily News".

daily-news-opt.jpg

If you'd like to be notified each morning when "The New Daily News" is available, add your email address here...

June 8, 2008

Monica Johnson Receives Award

At the April 2008 Illini UnRavelers meeting, The Elk Grove High School, represented by Anita Bialas presented an award plaque to Monica Johnson and the "Pieceful Hearts Quilt Shop" that she works at, for Partnering in Business with them for 2008 for their Home Economic class.

Here's a photo from the presentation... (Click photo for larger picture)

Monica-Johnson-Award-WinCE.JPG

(Monica is on the left)

June 9, 2008

Free Sampler from Nitas Place

Beach Deco-Sampler-6-09-08


Beach Deco designs are great for all kinds of decorating. Released 6-09-2008

Free to everyone for 1 week. Free to Nitasplace Members forever. Get yours here!

Go To: http://www.nitasplace.com/sampler.html


June 11, 2008

Free Sampler From ArtisticThreadWorks 6/11/08 to 6/17/08

Help yourself to this week's weekly sampler designs called " Birthday Party 3 "

Click Here For Designs

This set of designs is free for 1 week to guests. They're always free to members, so why not become a member now? What are you waiting for - really?! JOIN US HERE!

June 13, 2008

Friday Freebies: Flowerpot-Babies

Help yourself to this weeks Friday Freebie design set - "Flowerpot-Babies"! These are for everyone that is a subscriber to our free weekly newsletter here!

To Download This Weeks Friday Freebie DesignsAnd Click On "Sample Designs"!

Not on our mailing list yet?
Click here to enter get in
our prize drawings as well as more great freebies!

Today in History... June 13th

1525: Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora
1920: US Postal Service rules children may not be sent via parcel post
1943: Actor Malcolm McDowell born in Leeds, England
1953: Golden Globe winning actor and comedian Tim Allen born Timothy Allen Dick in Denver, Colorado
1983: Pioneer 10 escapes the Solar System
1986: Actress Mary-Kate Olsen born in Sherman Oaks, California
1986: Actress Ashely Olsen born in Sherman Oaks, California

Colors Are Off In PES?

"Recently when I have been downloading your free sets from ATW in Pes format the colors are bad. If I download it in Hus and then convert to Pes they are better. Why is this happening."

Do you have Embird installed on your computer? If so then the problem is that Embird is reading the color charts and translating them wrong. One way to fix the problem is to move the TXT files (color charts) into a sub-directory of the design file directory. Then Embird will stop reading this file and instead will pull the colors from the design file instead.

The NEW Embroidery Daily News

We had so many emails from people asking for us to continue the Daily News that we've found a way to make it happen!

Look for The NEW Daily News to begin on June 15th!

Daily-News-Girl.jpg

Every Color Under The Rainbow!

Here's a prize anyone would love! On September 1st, 2008 we will hold a drawing and will be giving away a complete set of Floriani embroidery thread!



Click Here To Get In Drawing!



Click Here To Get In Drawing!

Getting Started In Machine Embroidery

When I down load the designs how do I get them unzipped.I dont know how to do that they put the designs in a folder and I cant do anything with it.Please tell me how to do this......thank you - Sheila

Sheila - Here's some pages on ArtisticThreadWorks that should help you with how this is done... http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/gettingstarted

Want more? Did you download our free "158 Tips For Machine Embroidery" yet? Click here to get this 38 page ebook!

New "4th Of July Penguins"

See ALL this week's new sets here!

Here's a picture of ONE of this week's design sets...

See ALL the new sets here!

Members of ATW can download all of this week's new designs, along with more than 16,000 other designs in the "Design Library"... Join Here!

Prize Drawing From ArtisticThreadWorks

johanrautenbach at telkomsa.net has just won a 3-month membership at ArtisticThreadWorks! You can claim the prize here... www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com/PrizeClaim before noon tomorrow.

What's included in this prize?

You already know the designs are great but...
here's what you might not know yet...

There are...
over 16,000 designs in our Design Library,
over 1,000 articles about embroidery,
over 25,000 photos in our projects photo galleries,
and over 1/4 of a million posts in our discussion forums!

Our members have access to ALL of this and more!

Join Us Here!



Discount Coupons!

Did you know we offer "Discount Coupons" for many of our products?

We send out special "discount codes and special sale announcements" in our emails. If you're on our "Discount Coupons" mailing list (and use the discount codes or sales announcements when we send them) you'll save as much as 97% off normal prices on some of the best designs and videos on the internet.

For example on Monday - we sent out this coupon...





COUPON FOR 81% Off Our Most Popular Video Ever!


What's on this special sale? Only the most popular video we've ever produced!
The Basics of Machine Embroidery (Also known as "I've got the machine home - now what!?")

Here's a complete description of this video:
(Click here to see description...)
Using the coupon code below - you take an additional 50% off the already discounted price.

Normally this is our best selling $49.95 video and we've had it on sale at 62% off that price -
selling for just $19.00 plus shipping. But for the rest of June (or until we run out of stock)
you get an additional 50% off if you enter the Discount Code "June2008" when you buy it.

So that makes it just $9.50 + shipping! That's a $40.45 savings off a $49.95 item. That makes a total of 81% off!

Where do you put the Discount Code? Take a look at this picture and you'll see that the discount code goes right in the "Referrer Code" box. Here's a picture of where to put it:


And the coupon code for this sale is "June2008"

Thanks for being a member of our "Discount Code" email list.



Ordinarily, these coupon specials only go out to our customers who have joined the "Discount Coupons" mailing list, but I realized that many of you didn't know this list even existed! We started it in January and I know there are many of you who would want to be on the list if you knew about it.

FYI: The above coupon is a real LIVE coupon and it's real, but unless you put your email address onto the discount list, you won't see any more of these specials.

Also -- in order to get the discount you MUST enter the coupon code in the REFERER box. Each discount coupon uses a different code so be sure you read and use the right code for the product you're buying. And finally - there's only one REFERER box on the order page so if your buying two items with two different coupon codes, you'll have to enter two separate orders.

Get more info and sign up for our special coupons here!

Photo Winner: Bag For Sew Fest

Photo Contest Winner @ ArtisticThreadWorks

Photo Posted By 'MrsButterfly'

This photo was chosen in a random drawing as our "weekly photo contest winner". Thanks for sharing with us Norma! You've won a 3 month extension on your membership for posting this photo!

Norma1.jpg
Members: Here's The Original Photo Post
Guests: Here's The Original Photo Post


Here's a bit of the story that goes with this photo...

"I made this little bag from some unbleached muslin...for Sewfest...I merged 2 of Holly's designs and made the writing by myself...if you want it to put on a t shirt or make a bag or something with it on just email me with your machine format and I will send it to you...God Bless...Norma "


Photo Gallery

Thanks to all of you who post photos regularly in the photo gallery. THIS IS A RANDOM DRAWING - ATW MEMBERS POST THEIR PHOTOS TO ENTER THE DRAWING. Members of ATW can post their photos in our photo gallery with more than 25,000 other embroidery project photos!

June 14, 2008

A Few ThreadNest Openings!

There are a few openings for members again at NitasThreadNest!

As you may remember Nita had to close the membership in February and not admit any new members. Since then there have been a few people who have had to let their membership go due to life circumstances. Which means Nita now has a few openings for members.

In case you're not familiar with NitasThreadNest, I'll give a short explanation of what it is and how it works here...

Membership at the ThreadNest is probably the biggest bargain on the internet for anyone in the embroidery community. Period. The designs are exquisite, top-quality, manually digitized, adult-oriented designs. Members get TWO SETS EACH MONTH with a total retail value as high as $200 but for just a fraction of that price. And they get a spectacular BONUS too!

Nita and Holly sat down a little over one year ago and looked at all the colors available from the Floriani threadline. They sorted them out into families of colors and named each assortment for the place or thing that they reminded them of most. Then they set about creating sets of designs that work perfectly with each of those thread collections. The designs are color-coordinated to the thread colors!

While you can substitute colors and get stunning results, Nita and Holly have made it easy for anyone to get perfect results by choosing the colors for the designs. Of course, having the designs and having the colors on hand are often two different things -- normally.

So they've gone the extra mile and provide not only the design sets, but 15 spools of the exact colors you need to go with them as a free bonus when you're a member of the ThreadNest.

That makes it a "CAN'T FAIL" deal for you. Yes -- it costs Nita a fortune to give away that much thread, but it's the best way to be sure every member has the exact colors needed to enjoy these designs to their fullest.

The designs are beautiful (view photos here) and they were PICKED UP FOR INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION beginning in March of this year. As part of the distribution agreement, we must cap the membership at the ThreadNest to only the number of people who have joined BEFORE the 20th of February 2008. But as I said earlier, a few people have had to drop out due to financial situations, leaving some openings.

As I said before -- it's THE bargain of the century for embroidery fans. And it's only available until we've reached our maximum capacity again.

Everyone who joins now will receive the June design sets ("C'est Si Bon" from Nita and "Cafe AuLait" from Holly) and the June threadset which is called "Cafe Mocha" as long as they are available.

New members will also be able to pick up past design sets in the private members-only store area of the site as inventory becomes available. Non-Members will NOT be able to buy previous sets except through the retail stores.

We have a few openings now available but the door will close again in a few more days. If you want to take advantage of this offer - do it now. The last time we had a few openings was in February and those membership positions sold out in 4 days. We have a few more openings now, but I doubt they will last more than a few days. So IF YOU WANT A MEMBERSHIP in this club -- take it now.

-- Larry

Join ThreadNest Here!

June 17, 2008

This weeks free sampler at Nitas Place

Sea Shells are free at Nitas Place for one week only to everyone. Free to Nitas Place members forever. Get yours now! Released 6-16-08

Free to everyone for 1 week. Free to Nitasplace Members forever. Get yours here!

Go To: http://www.nitasplace.com/sampler.html


June 18, 2008

Free: Colorful Fishes 1

Help yourself to this week's weekly sampler designs called " Colorful Fishes 1 "

Click Here For Designs

This set of designs is free for 1 week to guests. They're always free to members, so why not become a member now? What are you waiting for - really?! JOIN US HERE!

June 21, 2008

Free This Week Only: Dino-Saurs

Help yourself to this weeks Friday Freebie design set - "Dino-Saurs"! These are for everyone that is a subscriber to our free weekly newsletter here!

To Download This Weeks Friday Freebie DesignsAnd Click On "Sample Designs"!

Not on our mailing list yet?
Click here to enter get in
our prize drawings as well as more great freebies!

The Last Lecture

I read a LOT of books. In an average year I probably read 100 or more. Most are on business topics, but sometimes I will read for pleasure. A few days ago Mary gave me a book she had just finished called "The Last Lecture".

I've just finished the book and it is a powerful and inspiring story. It's a true story about Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He has worked at Disney as an imagineer. He has flown on NASA's "Vomit Comet". He has (along with a small team) created the "ALICE Project", and he has won the hearts of millions of people.

On September 18, 2007 Randy delivered his "last lecture" in front of a packed auditorium. It's a presentation that will live for many years. Just watch the first 3 minutes of this video - the rest will take care of itself. Here is the video of "The Last Lecture"...

Preface To "The Last Lecture"

Watch this video first...

center>

Daily News Is Back!

If you were one of the thousands of fans of the Daily News... it's back!

Every morning you'll see a quick review of the newest designs and best sales offered by various embroidery sites around the web. Here's today's Daily News as a sample...

www.embroiderydailynews.com

We do a prize drawing every morning on the Daily News. Just enter your email into the entry box to get into the drawings then check the WINNER posted in the Daily News every day.

daily-news-2.jpg

SALE... 25% OFF!

Right now we're offering a $5 off coupon for membership at ATW. If you've been wating to try it out, now is the time! Membership is normally $19.95 every 3 months. Right now - you can join for only $14.95 -- that's 25% off our normal price for the first 3 months.

Why would we do this? Simple - once you've experienced ATW as a member, we think you'll choose to stick around!

Over 17,000 designs in our member's design library
The most active embroidery forums on the internet
A project photo gallery of more than 30,000 pictures
Over 1,000 articles about embroidery, quilting, and the software
Join now at... ArtisticThreadWorks


NEW @ ATW: Jacobean Fruit

See ALL this week's new sets here!

Here's a picture of ONE of this week's design sets...

See ALL the new sets here!

Members of ATW can download all of this week's new designs, along with more than 16,000 other designs in the "Design Library"... Join Here!

A Visit With Michelle And Charlie

A couple months ago I got a phone call from one of our members in Georgia about changing the credit card used for her membership. While we were talking I found out that Michelle visits the Chicago area (NW Suburbs) to see her mom in a nursing home. She said she would call me the next time they were in the area.

That call came a couple days ago and we met over breakfast the next morning. Michelle and her husband Charlie are really nice people and they own an embroidery business. They've been at it now for several years and are doing well. They bought my video about starting an embroidery business and said it did help them in many ways. They've also learned a LOT along the way. One of the hardest lessons to learn (in any business) is when to say "No" to a potential customer, but I think they've figured that out now.

One of the biggest keys to their success has been learning to focus on a niche market rather than trying to be all things to all people. Running their business with an EMP6 (PR600) has meant they can handle smaller jobs than some of the big places that must run 500 of one item to make it worthwhile to set up their machines. They take small orders and lots of them.

Holly and I had a great time talking with them over breakfast and the next time we make a stopover in the Atlanta area I know we'll have friends to visit with there.



June 24, 2008

Free this week from Nita's Place

Firecracker Sampler designs are free at Nitas Place for one week only to everyone. Free to Nitas Place members forever. Get yours now! Released 6-23-08

Free to everyone for 1 week. Free to Nitasplace Members forever. Get yours here!

Go To: http://www.nitasplace.com/sampler.html

June 26, 2008

Free Designs @ ATW: "Colorful Fishes 2"

Help yourself to this week's weekly sampler designs called "Colorful Fishes 2"

Click Here For Designs

This set of designs is free for 1 week to guests. They're always free to members, so why not become a member now? What are you waiting for - really?! JOIN US HERE!

NitasPlace Winner 6/26/08!

This week's 3-month membership Winner from the mailing list is Ann from Harrison City, PA -- email address krummy @ comcast .net

The winner has 5 days from today to claim the membership by emailing me at webmaster@nitasplace.com.

Half-Price Sale @ NitasPlace

We have several different things half price this week in the What's On Sale department. The Star Dream Catcher for those who like southwest designs, Twenties Ladies to dress up any design, and Patriotic Sayings to stitch out for the 4th of July or anytime you want to show someone who you are proud of. So check out what's on sale for you at the link below.

http://www.nitasplace.com/public/department189.cfm

Embroidery Tips: Mark Those Hoops!


" Oh. this sounds so much for simple, but, it has saved me so much time: With a permanent marker, mark on each hoop the exact maximum embroidery dimensions! Also, not a bad idea to mark what machine it's for, if you have several. I have three, and I've color coded each machine and its attachments a different color. This is what I need to do in my advancing years! "


Note: These tips are submitted by our readers.
We do not TEST any of the tips listed here
and you are cautioned to follow them
at your own risk.


ATW: You'll LOVE It Inside!


My Husband Dropped My Machine!

Funny Story for this week was submit by... Linda Habisreitinger

It was easy really. My husband's pants needed fixing and my machine was broken. That's all I ever did with my machine was fix stuff. After 30 something years of marriage, I mainly fixed his pants. He once weighed over 500 pounds before getting gastric bypass surgery and his pants used to cost a fortune. Fixing them, when he burned a big hole in the leg, meant saving us a great deal of money.

He's a welder and a machinist and his clothes take a lot of abuse. It's not so bad now that I can get a pair of jeans at Wal-Mart for 10 bucks as opposed to 50 at the Big and Tall a few years ago but I needed my machine and it was broken. What to do? Get it fixed. I did.

I brought it to a repair shop and they fixed it. When I brought it home my hubby picked it up to bring it into my sewing room and on the way he dropped it. Yes, it hit the wall and then the floor. Now it was really broken and in pieces. So, I needed a new machine.

“All I need is a machine to fix my husband's pants and a few little odd jobs I might decide to do” I told the sales lady.

“Well we have a number of machines here that can do the job for you” she told me.

I settled on one and we were making the arrangements when my eye caught sight of a machine at the far end of the room. That's when I saw my Baby. She showed me the Baby Lock Ellure and I fell in love. I don't make clothes, I don't quilt, I don't make drapes or curtains or slipcovers or anything. I just fix things. What was I thinking?

"Linda," I asked myself, "What are you doing spending this kind of money on a machine when all you can do is fix things?" Surely, someone would stop me before it was too late. Would it be my darling hubby? No! For as long as we have been married he would do almost anything to please me and he was so sorry about dropping my old machine. He even came to the store to see the machine. He took one look at my face and said “let her have it.” From that day forward, I have never looked back.

I now own The Ellure, 2 BMP6's, a serger and a regular sewing machine. I own my own business making other people happy with the designs I create. See what can happen when you drop your machine?


Thanks for the story! If YOU have a funny story you'd like to share, email it to nita@nitasplace.com

June Collectible From NitasPlace: "Just Desserts"

The June Collectible Alpahbet has arrived for our members. "Just Desserts" is a fun alphabet collection! It's for members of NitasPlace and can be downloaded at...

NitasPlace Members Download Page

ATW Special Offer: Save $5 On 1st Time Membership!

Right now we're offering a $5 off coupon for membership at ATW. If you've been wating to try it out, now is the time! Membership is normally $19.95 every 3 months. Right now - you can join for only $14.95 -- that's 25% off our normal price for the first 3 months.

Why would we do this? Simple - once you've experienced ATW as a member, we think you'll choose to stick around!

Over 17,000 designs in our member's design library
The most active embroidery forums on the internet
A project photo gallery of more than 30,000 pictures
Over 1,000 articles about embroidery, quilting, and the software
Join now at... ArtisticThreadWorks


Teddy In The Strawberry Patch

The June Collectible Teddies have arrived for NitasPlace members. "Teddy In The Strawberry Patch" It's for members of NitasPlace and can be downloaded at...

NitasPlace Members Download Page

June Bonus @ NitasPlace: "Teddy Bear Wedding"

Teddy Bear Wedding is the "June Bonus Design Set" for NitasPlace members. Romance is in the air for the Teddy Bears!

Designed and Digitized by Nita O'Keefe. Most artwork is Exclusive from Cute-N-Lovely.

June Bonus @ NitasPlace"

ThreadNest Has a Few Openings...

There are still a few openings available for NitasThreadNest this month. Here's set #1 of 2 for the month of June...

Along with this set of designs, members also receive 15 spools of beautiful Floriani polyesther thread in the following colors...

Comments From A Member Of ThreadNest

"I received my June designs! When that "click&ship" email comes, the anticipation rises and I start looking for my next "Christmas gift"!! LOL As always, Nita and Holly, you both made BEAUTIFUL designs!! I can't wait to stitch them out. Makes me want to redo my kitchen windows and accessorize everything in the kitchen. Thank You sooooo much!!! Laura"

Thanks for your comments Laura! I've watched Nita and Holly digitizing the designs for the ThreadNest and I can tell you that they really put a lot of effort into making these the best designs available anywhere. Glad you enjoy them!

-- Larry

June 28, 2008

ThreadNest Has a Few Openings...

There are still a few openings available for NitasThreadNest this month. Here's set #2 of 2 for the month of June...

Along with this set of designs, members also receive 15 spools of beautiful Floriani polyesther thread in the following colors...

June 29, 2008

Free This Week From ATW: Baby-George Design Set

Help yourself to this week's weekly sampler designs called "Baby-George "

Click Here For Designs

This set of designs is free for 1 week to guests. They're always free to members, so why not become a member now? What are you waiting for - really?! JOIN US HERE!

M.E. Tips From ATW: Stabilizers Are Different


I normally put a tip here that was submitted by one of our members but today is a little different. It's a tip from me. :-)

We often hear people giving tips about using something other than embroidery stabilizer as a stabilizer because "it's cheaper". While you're welcome to do that any time you want to, you might consider the cost savings from using these non-stabilizers and find out that while it might be fun to experiment, it's may not be that much of a savings in the long run.

l got an email from a customer last week that was having problems with a design stitchout. She was upset that she had ruined two shirts with this design! We double checked our design, looked at it in our software as well as the actual test sew, and asked the customer what fabric she was putting this onto and what stabilizer she was using. The fabric was denim and her "stabilizer" was a coffee filter for an industrial coffee maker. She had heard that they worked just as good and in the large size from Sam's Club, they were way cheaper than regular stabilizer.

Wow! What a waste of time and materials! When she substituted real stabilizer the problem was gone. :-)

If you want to save money on stabilizers your best bet is to buy them in LARGE rolls instead of small rolls or small packs or single sheets. And if you are going to use some oddball material as a substitute for real stabilizer, test sew the design first on the same fabric you plan to put the final run on before you chance ruining a garment.

If you're going to spend $1,000 on an embroidery machine (or $6,000 on one!) then please consider that the cost of stabilizers isn't that big of a deal in perspective.


Note: These tips are NORMALLY submitted by our readers.
We do not TEST any of the tips listed here
and you are cautioned to follow them
at your own risk.


ATW: You'll LOVE It Inside!


Instant Savings From ATW!

Right now we're offering a $5 off coupon for membership at ATW. If you've been wating to try it out, now is the time! Membership is normally $19.95 every 3 months. Right now - you can join for only $14.95 -- that's 25% off our normal price for the first 3 months.

Why would we do this? Simple - once you've experienced ATW as a member, we think you'll choose to stick around!

Over 17,000 designs in our member's design library
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Join now at... ArtisticThreadWorks


Jacobean Ferns For ATW Members

See ALL this week's new sets here!

Here's a picture of ONE of this week's design sets...

See ALL the new sets here!

Members of ATW can download all of this week's new designs, along with more than 17,000 other designs in the "Design Library"... Join Here!

Mac Computer For Embroidery Update

Last summer I wrote an article about how Mac computers can now run Windows. This is a big deal because almost all software for embroidery is written for Windows, not Mac. So with a Mac computer that has Windows enabled on it, you can still run embroidery software but get the advantages of having a Mac the rest of the time.

What advantages? Oh, you've seen those commercials on TV where the hip "Mac guy" and the square "PC guy" are bantering about various features where the Mac is always better. If you haven't noticed the ads, you can see them here...

Click here to see the ads!

While the ads are cute, there is some kernal of truth to them. (Couldn't resist the pun!) But what they don't tell you is the amount of time it will take to make the switch from PC to Mac. It's got to be akin to driving in America all your life then moving to England and driving on the other side of the road. It's a bit weird.

Well I bought a Mac recently and I'm still in the "weird" stage. Looking for keys that do what other keys used to do. Trying to find software that does what my old software used to do. Oh yeah -- and I'm still trying to get Windows to actually install on my Mac. Easier said than done. Or maybe it's easier to talk about it in commercials than to really do it on your computer!

I've started a series of articles on this topic on ATW. Members can read about the fun and frustration as I take this little hourney. If you're already on a Mac you're probably laughing right now. If your not, then you may be laughing (or crying) at what the switch is like. Either way, it's at least fun to see how the other 8% work.

-- Larry

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