Machine Embroidery

My darling asked for a folding dice tray for an in-person role-playing game they are in. I happened to have this delightful machine embroidery design by String Theory Fabric Art. So many fun and nerdy designs!

This is the largest size of the Feature Fabric Appliqué Portable Dice Tray ITH design. I used some gray marine vinyl and some fun dungeon fabric I bought from Spoonflower a couple years ago. The snaps are KAM snaps.

My favorite tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler

Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
Fiskars 8-inch scissors

Magna-Glide bobbins (absolutely the best for my embroidery machine)

Pellon Stitch-N-Tear

Snaps: KAMsnaps kit (this is the kit I purchased, it includes a rainbow of snap colors and the tools you need to set the snaps)

Machine Embroidery

I've had my eye on this machine embroidery design for a while now. I have plenty of gamer friends that would use one of these fun and easy to take along dice trays. 

Two layers of durable vinyl and some fun embroidery make this a quick and durable project, perfect for gift giving. The design is from String Theory Fabric Art. Direct link.

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
Fiskars 4-inch Curved Craft Scissors
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Magna-Glide bobbins (absolutely the best for my embroidery machine)
KAM snaps
Pellon Stitch-N-Tear

Knitting, Embroidery, Mending, and Games

I don't have a focused post for today. So, we'll go over a bunch of things I've been working on or doing over the last week. 

I've been working on this knitting project this year. I started with the Dotted Rays pattern by Stephen West, but I'm seriously considering making it into a poncho, or infinity scarf. That idea is very nebulous, though. I'll share how it turns out if I figure out how to do it. 

I embroidered a pair of hand towels for friends. The dragons might look a little funny because the water soluble top stabilizer is still showing. After washing they will look much better. Dragon machine embroidery design from Urban Threads Embroidery. 

I did some mending. I picked up this great, heavy, wool coat at the thrift store a couple years ago. The buttons were hanging dangerously loose this winter, so I cut the threads and re-sewed all the buttons back on. Good timing, too, since the weather shifted and the daytime temp was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this week.

We had some friends over to try out their copy of Thunderstone Quest. After a slow start, we got moving and it seemed to run pretty smoothly. I'm sure our second go-round won't be as bumpy. I got to use my Component Collector by Dog Might Games to keep all the little bits corralled. We also played Pandemic: the Cure and failed to stop the epidemic.

Embroidered Hearty Good Wishes

There is a very special lady that I met through Instagram. She is cheeky and fun and inspires me to do all sorts of fun projects. During some swap or another she mentioned her love of the Moda fabric line by Janet Clare called Hearty Good Wishes.

I had some leftovers of this from another project so I pulled them out and got cracking.  I wanted to make a notebook cover that incorporated fabrics from the line and some nautical-themed machine embroidery.

I chose this beautiful nautical rose design from Urban Threads.  I love their designs and this one was perfect.  I chose a dark blue that is almost black to work with the scraps of the fabrics.  While the design was stitching out I was pressing a sewing my scraps into something like a piece of fabric.

I did very minimal, straight-line quilting for this project.  It didn't need to be detailed and I didn't want to take away from the embroidery.  I used So Fine! #50 from Superior Threads for the quilting and piecing.

For a cover that was quickly planned I'm really pleased with the finished product.  This cover was designed to fit the Moleskine Cashier Journal, size large = 5.2" by 8.3".

So proud I put my name in the back flap.

This right here is the best part of this entire project.  The thank you note I got from Weenachaweena.  I told you she is awesome!

An an unrelated note, I recommend you go check out Cheryl's recent blog post about how she deals with her jealousy of others.  I suffer from some of this and have to remind myself that nothing is easy or free.  It is a good read and I recommend you take a read.   (In case you've never heard of Cheryl, she is the amazing mind behind muppin.com.  She posts weekly videos on various products and amazes me with all the things she does.)

Embroidered Composition Book Cover

I've shared posts about embroidered bags, embroidered clothing and embroidered hand towels.  Today let's look at a custom cover for a composition book.

The composition book is a great way to keep notes on all sorts of things.  But how do you keep someone else from picking your composition book up from the table and walking off with it?  You get a custom cover that no one else has.  These make great gifts for that note-taker, list-maker or doodler in your life.  I really like the graph notebooks for quilt design on the move.

First, go to Urban Threads or another embroidery designer and find a good embroidery.  Since this one is for the game master for a table-top role-playing game set in a fantasy world I thought the dragon and swords design would be good.  Don't think you have to have an embroidery machine to make something like this.  Urban Threads has loads and loads of designs that are also released in hand-embroidery.  Their designs are great for so many things and they aren't not about teddy bears and flowers.  Don't want to try embroidery?  You can piece the cover or even print out blocks on your inkjet printer.

I create all my notebook covers using my own pattern developed through trial and many errors.  Even this one needed a little ripping before it was done.  The cover is made with four pieces.  One continuous piece for the outside, two end pieces (this is where I sometimes add a pocket or pen holder) and the lining.  When complete, there are no raw edges on the outside and I think the cover holds up really well over time.

If I was really worried about the edges coming unraveled I would take a run around the outside edge after sewing it all together with a zig-zag stitch or with the serger.

I think I used fusible fleece for this one.  If you wanted to use regular batting and some quilting that would work, too.  I've also made these using flannel as the backing for the outer cover.

I embroidered a signature and a name inside the back cover before assembly.

Add one composition book.

Gift and hope the GM remembers it and doesn't try to kill you and the rest of the party.

There are loads of notebook cover tutorials out there in the world.  Maybe someday I'll get around to writing a tutorial for this one like I did for the scoodie, the zippered dice bag and cloth napkins.