Quilty-Louise I didn't know I could get the other two. I have the larger one so I downloaded the small and medium ones! Now to get hooping, dern, your're way ahead of me though they do look beautiful!

I bought a used Pfaff 2170 from my great dealer in Tucson 3 or 4 years ago. I wanted it mainly to quilt embroidery designs on quilts. It's a nice machine, but the throat limits the size of the designs you can use. I took all the machine and embroidery classes the dealer offers and learned a LOT. Last year, I upgraded to a Pfaff Creative Sensation, and I love it. It comes with 3 hoops, and I bought the giant 240 X 300 hoop that requires splitting designs (I haven't used it yet!). I spent the 4 months of my winter in Tucson trying to make every mistake possible (I learn best by making mistakes). The gals at the store were great teachers, and when I took my CS to CT, I was feeling pretty confident. I only had on
e problem, and they were able to talk me through it on the phone.

It's really important to understand how stabilizers work with different fabrics. Most of the time I use a medium weight tear-away, but there are reasons for having others - especially the iron-on, sticky, mesh (for knits) and dissolvable. You don't need stabilizers when you use the embroidery machine to quilt designs on a quilt.

The CS resizes any embroidery design easily. This is a great feature, and it's idiot-proof!

I have 5D software, and I use it for editing designs before transferring them to the machine. I can also create my own designs with it. I've taken lessons offered by my dealer AND by Mr. Patience - Tim Frost. He has a web site, and he wrote the lesson books for learning how to use 4D and 5D software.

My favorite ready-made embroidery designs are Anita Goodesign and John Deer. I go to their classes when my dealer brings them to Tucson - usually every winter. The classes are fun, and I always learn something at them. They both have beautful embroidery designs. They have samples of every design displayed, and it's hard to resist buying every single one!

Thanks for the information. What other sites on the web do you follow or have used?? I'm just learning machine embroidery and can't seem to get enough info to satisfy my curiosity about this awesome craft I have gotten into!!

Quilty Louise, I saw this yesterday on one of the Yahoo groups I'm in. I've never done FSL but thought this would be my impetus to try.

Just curious, what type of material are you using? Embroidery Library recommends Ultra Solvy or Vilene. Just curious.

Thanks.

When I make FSL designs I prefer to use either the Floriani Wet n Gone
or the Pellon Wash N Gone. Both of these are more like a "fabric" that
dissolves in water.

I have tried Solvy, and other brands but I personally do NOT like how
they make my designs turn out.

For best results in MY personal experience, I use a MINIMUM of 2 layers
of stabilizer, if the design has more density to it I will use 3-5 layers, but
that depends on just HOW dense the design is.

I use a thread net on ALL spools of thread but find it is more important
to use the thread net on metallic thread.

Run the machine at the SLOWEST speed possible (for machines that is 350spm).

Use a LARGE EYE (90/14) SHARP needle or a "TOPSTITCH" SHARP 90/14 needle.

Many thanks Quilty - will give it a try on Friday. Thanks!

embroidery snowflakes
 

Hence the reason why I call you the Embroidery Goddess~ You are a wealth of information on this topic and I do appreciate it!. I do agree with the stabilizer. for the snowflake pic I posted I used 3 layers of Avalon (its all I had) and it worked wonderful however I do say that once the stabilizer was removed (warm water) it felt a bit stiff so I put it in warm water again for another 5 mins. after the first 15 mins and it came out well. I too have the machine on the slowest speed, 350spm and use a sharp needle 90/14. It makes the fsl's come out better. Thanks Quilty-Louise, here are mine:

Tried to upload pic and its failing :( I'll keep trying

Let's try again...AND VOILA!

I always try to put as many designs as will fill the hoop when I embroidery. Will this work with FSL or should I reduce the number of designs I stitch?