Remember as a young child and one of your parents, or grandparents, would cuddle up next to you and read you a story before bedtime.  You would listen to your favorite story until your eyes slowly closed and you drifted into fairy-tale dreams.  Now that you have grown up and have children ... [More]

A friend gave me some leftover 5" squares of minky fabric the other day.  There were not enough to make a quilt so I pondered what to do with them.  In the meantime someone stepped on the clip that held the baby's pacifier so it didn't get lost.  She really only gets it w... [More]

I am so delighted to say that I belong to a group of enthusiastic embroiderers who meet once every m [More]

 JUNK IN MY TRUNK and the African Folklore Embroidery Elephants One of my favorite animals to observe while on safari is the elephants. I love watching the baby elephant walk in between his mom and dad and seeing how protective the moms are toward their babies. The elephant is the largest... [More]

I know that I have told you about all the babies that are on their way.  And their mother's are now doing the decorating.  Many of our daughter's friends have seen her baby's room and when she asked them what they would like as a shower gift several requested the fram... [More]

As exciting as standard embroidery is, you'll reach a creative crescendo when you add other elements. When you incorporate everyday elements with even the simplest embroidery, the result is almost always a pleasing surprise. In this example, "The Busy Bride" from the Circle of Life des... [More]

"What will the Easter bunny bring for the baby?" our grandaughter asked.  Now, this is the same [More]

It seems that we all need more time these days, I sure know I do.  Don’t you just wish that som [More]

This great project idea came from one of my officemates, Kimberly.  She stumbled on this great [More]

What the heck is Steampunk?  Well, its called steampunk because it is a mix of steam powered era style and futuristic style, sort of as if the future happened in the past (if that makes any sense). Its punk because its a bit of that style thrown in. So really you can call anything that loo... [More]

  Everyday I see new ideas every where I turn.  If it is not a new thread, it is a new mac [More]

     Individual characters (letters, numbers and punctuation marks) from my alph [More]

Here is how I recover almost designs that have hopped out of the hoop. 1. Walk away for a moment. Calm down and begin to work on getting it fixed. 2. Find some running stitches that are on a curve or angle. If you don't see any, you may need to remove some stitches covering them. For... [More]

If you frequent the Forums here at AnnTheGran or any other site, you will often see users asking whi [More]

Starbird Inc. has been dedicated to the embroidery industry for the past 25 years.  Our talented and educated staff has many combined years of embroidery digitizing experience.  Along with custom digitizing we also do stock designs which are all professionally digitized at our headquarters... [More]

 Teaching an African Folklore Embroidery class is one of my favorite things to do. In the last few weeks, I have taught workshops at quilt guilds in Washington, Visalia, Long Beach and Covina. I have had all types of people in my classes, from people who have been quilting for many years, but n... [More]

Without thread, embroidery is just a piece of fabric. . .  The thread can make a great design m [More]

Wristlets are great if you have lots of other stuff to haul around (like kids and diaper bags and laptops...) and don't want the extra weight of a purse.  But after a hard winter the ones we have been using look pretty bad so I decided to surprise the girls with new ones this week.  I ... [More]

     Individual characters (letters, numbers and punctuation marks) from my alph [More]

These tips can be used for Windows XP and Vista - Operating systems vary, if in doubt, check with your provider and/or technical support.  It seems like everyone needs to save time. It is just a fact of life these days.  The following "Control Key" list is to help you do just t... [More]

Yes, I know - I do lots of baby stuff.  I can't help it - my girls and all their friends are at [More]

Every day I see digitizers trying to create something new for machine embroidery.  I see things [More]

(Baby Bibs and Burps are now available at AnnTheGran.com.  Click here , also click here to vew other new blanks on special)   Just recently we’ve had two customers call us to let us know they were unhappy with our baby items.  They said they “fell apart” and t... [More]

I have never been certain why Microsoft does not place a calculator on a computer screen. There are a number of them on the Internet, and I have one that I like for several reasons. For one, I can turn off or on the keyboard. With the keyboard off, I can just use my computer numeers. You can find it... [More]

Occasionally you may be working with a dense or very sheer fabric and experience what is called hoop [More]

Doll Making and the Ndebele Tribe- a special African Art form  The Ndebele, one of the smallest [More]

Newborn photo shoots are fun.  But what do you do with all those pictures?  Here is an ide [More]

       Make a HoneyBea Thread Doll set for your little Honey – No Batteries Required! When I was little, I loved the Betsy McCall paper doll in the back of McCall’s magazine, and I even cut out paper dolls from the pages of my Mother’s Sears Roebuck catalog.... [More]

I am a big fan of free computer software. Some of it is worth free and some of it is quite valuable. One that I like, and have found to be praised by many computer professionals is CCleaner by Piriform.com.  This one has a very nice Pedigree - - If you are not using this software, you may wa... [More]

     Individual designs can be found on my Stock Design Page.  My designs a [More]

One of the hottest trends in machine embroidery right now is cork. https://www.annthegran.com/p [More]

This project shows how to choose colors that will stand out when monogramming on patterned backgound [More]

It's almost that time of year! Fortunately, there are some fabulous fonts to get you ready and and t [More]

  We were all beginners at one point and we’re still learning along the way. Everyone needs a [More]

Although it may look complicated, cutwork is really quite simple. In fact, if you have ever stitched [More]

I finally had a chance to assemble the name bunting I showed you in this blog. This really is an eas [More]

Recently, while working on a project, I found a solution to wrinkled fabric-type water soluble stabi [More]

T-shirts and sweatshirts make great last-minute gifts, perfect for Mother's Day and other special oc [More]

A couple of weeks ago, I showed you how to add text to embroidery designs using Embrilliance in this [More]

Bunny Treat Bag [More]

Try this design.I'm really liking patchwork applique, which seems to be trending on several quilting [More]

This design is a double applique, and it’s on sale! I’m going to stitch it as a freestanding appliqu [More]

Recently, I have have experienced the pleasure of using a 200 x 260 Snap Hoop Monster and it is fabu [More]

After 15 plus years of machine embroidery, I recently started using Superior Thread's Bottom Line in [More]

With so many food restrictions and allergies, perhaps the best Valentine treat is one you make on th [More]

Looking for a project for Valentine's Day? Here are 14 projects (and some free designs) to share the [More]

Embrilliance Essentials is a fabulous embroidery editing software. But just because it is $139 doesn [More]

Part of machine embroidery is that we love to make special things for friends and family. One of my [More]

Embrilliance has several pretty fantastic programs ranging from lettering and basic design editing t [More]

If you love the look of cross-stitch but don’t want to bother with the counting and charts, you will [More]

Just because you use thread doesn't mean you can't enjoy it in the process. Here are some unique way [More]

If you like machine applique, you will love AccuQuilt. The AccuQuilt GO! cutters cut precise fabric [More]

@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }@font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }@font-face { [More]

If you love to give gifts straight from the kitchen, like jams, jellies and canned goods, I found th [More]

It is so easy to make a wrong cut when working with two-layered appliques. It happens to all of us. [More]

I don’t know about you, but my sewing room is pretty much a mess right now and, whether we like it o [More]

Pat W. on the Molly Mine Facebook group posted this fabulous idea of how she keeps track of the thre [More]

Coloring books are really popular right now, even with adults. So why not color between the lines of [More]

Rayon embroidery thread is one of the most popular and readily-available threads on the market [More]

I’m sure you have seen many lovely totes, purses, and backpacks with embroidered monograms [More]