Machine Embroidery Guilds
 

Several ladies in our local quilt guild would like to begin a machine embroidery guild. I have looked on the internet for ideas and there are few. Are you a member of any kind of machine embroidery guild or club? I would appreciate any and all information anyone might have. Thank you and Happy Stitching!

I have 3 and 4 ladies at a time come to my home and we do all sorts of projects. I have a Viking Diamond, one lady has the same, another has tol Bernina and one has an older Viking that uses floppy discs. We all learn from each other and help with hooping, etc. Someone brings snacks (apple fritters are my favorite!) and we usually go for lunch (only a few minutes out of our day as I live "in town"). We have a great time tho truth be told I don't really get any projects done, I am busy helping everyone else! The lady with the Diamond leaves it here at my house and she is really not comfortable doing things by herself. We were meeting once a week, but I had to put it on hold until I finish 5 prom dress alterations!

I have given some 1 on 1 lessons in the past, and they were well received. Some newbies just aren't aware of all the stabilizers and products required to actually do a design! I spend a good amount of time on procedures and different ways to do things (hoop with blue tape, spray adhesive, multiple hoopings, etc) before I actually hoop an item and start stitching. I enjoy helping get a new person started...seeing them with a first finished project is wonderful!

The hardest part of having a guild IMHO would be having to drag the machine to and fro, with all the supplies, etc. If you are only meeting to share ideas and show and tell, it might work well. I am not willing to pack mine up!

I haven't thought about that, but I think it is a great idea. I love my EM and I would love to meet with friends with the same interest.,

Do you think just meeting and discussing, etc. would be worthwhile? I am reluctant to pack up the machine. It is heavy and really expensive to have it worked on if I bump it or something happened to it. I had thought about meeting in homes but don't know the ladies very well and it would involve heavy duty cleaning first. Somehow that takes a bit of shine off the diamond!

Our LQS has an employee who is knowledgeable on the embroidery machines. 2 days a month we meet at the shop and she has helped us learn to use our units. We can leave our machines overnight if we wish. I know when I pack my things up there are 3 cases full to bring in. My machine is heavy and I have to have help to load and unload but there is always someone who is there to help me. We have learned a lot but keep finding things we want to do that are new for us. I found my biggest challenge has been learning to get the pattern from my CD onto my USB stick.

Guess my next question is what would you be interested in learning/doing if you joined an embroidery group? Would you want information on the best techniques to use when embroidering on a specific type of fabric? Best brand of designs? Least expensive place to purchase designs and stabilizers, etc? Thank you for your help on this.

I'd like to learn to do things "in the hoop" as in embroidered bracelets, neat snowflakes (lace) and other things that make items when finished--not simply finished pictures. I love those, those, too.

Update on embroidery group...four of us attended an event and decided it is time to get together. A few of us are taking a machine embroidery class. When it concludes they are planning an advanced class. We think after the event we attended we can come up with something we all want to learn and meet monthly at each other's houses to learn new things. Then quarterly or bimonthly reserve a place where we would take our machines and do projects together. The plan has been good all along. It is the execution that has held us back.

Would love to know if others have a machine embroidery group.