I have never thought of myself as a collector of any sort.  I never collected stamps or coins (unless you count the jug of pennies that I used to keep) or anything of value, limited or otherwise.

However, embroidery changes your life in so many ways.  If you did not catch my last blog on your stash of sewing/embroidery machines, you really need to read it.  What you really need to do is read and tell the AnnTheGran Community about your machines, the good, the bad and the ugly.  Don't forget to include the one that was your grandmother's or came into your world in a special way.  I loved reading the stories - if you need a machine, I know someone who might (not!) trade theirs for 3 hogs. . . . (kjmangan would never part with that machine!!)

When you share your stories of your embroidery, we all enjoy reading them.  No one cares about your grammar or spelling, we just love to hear about you and your adventure in embroidery. I love to share my experiences, I am not an expert, I am an avid embroiderer.  I hope you enjoy reading about my world as much as I look forward to telling you about it.

This collection I am referring to is my designs.  I must say that I have a great admiration for beautiful digitizing, wonderful designs and terrific colorings of the designs I have.  These designs are to me what stamps are to a philatelist, pure delight and joy.  I don't care if anyone else has one like it, mine are - well, mine. 

They all have personalities of their own.   They all speak to me in different ways.  They all have a story to tell.  They are as unique as my three children.  They are as individual as every sunrise.  Most of them were bought with a plan in mind but they all have a character to be appreciated.

If I did not use my CatalogXpress to keep the designs in an orderly manner, I would not be able to find what I am looking for at a moment's notice.  Over the weekend, my sister was in town from Phoenix and she wanted to see some humming bird designs for pictures for her kitchen.  I know I have lots of them, but putting them together (if not for CatX) would have been a nightmare.

Additionally, my alter-ego, TheComputerist, wrote some very good instructions about the features of CatX that you will want to check out.  That same link gives you recaps of both CatX and AlphabetXpress, the other excellent software from AnnTheGran.  For so many of your embroidery needs, these are the best on the market and frankly, well priced.  Keep in mind that doing software that is this specific is really labor intensive and always in need of updating.  Both of these are well respected.

Not only did I catalog the butterflies in CatX by the name, but when you utilize the multiple methods of Naming Categories, you will be able to find anything you have in your arsenal. 

I do review and look at my designs by the categories so that my ideas will flow and when they are linked in multiple facets in the design.  Here is an example of how:

This design has so many items that I might want to consider for a project. I will look over the pattern and place the ‘data' (remember, Catalog Xpress does not hold the design, it holds the information about the design) in several places. Let me list a few here, some are obvious, but some may be just a little covert:

• Snow
• Sled
• Fence
• Winter
• Pine tree
• Birds (there are 2)
• Rabbit (do you see it?)

Here are some that are more subtle:

• Child (cool on a backpack)
• Seasons (a possible set of 4 designs)
• Animals (general)
• Multiple Sizes (I have this design in 3 sizes)

To take the design relationship idea further, if I have a friend with a birthday who just loves rabbits, I can call up the rabbit designs and find one that is just perfect for that event.  As you know, many designs are named by a numbering system which does not help an embroiderer at all.  I have renamed some of my designs but then I could never be sure where I got them from when I wanted to revisit that design site.  I just could not win without a way to sort them.

I also purchase packets of designs for the reasons above reasons.  If I want a gift for a bride, using 2 or 3 designs of Humming Birds on 2 or 3 dish towels will make a wonderful gift.  I got this set -  for 50% off from Morango - just $1.20 per design! (sale is my favorite concept).

 As usual, I created my own colors to suite my needs.  The photo of my sew out does not do justice to the design.  The details have the appearance of feathers - what a concept! 

I love looking at my designs.  I could spend hours just looking at them.  I enjoy the colors, techniques and exquisite details.  There must be a name for that,  I just don't know what it is.  Perhaps you have an idea of a name for someone who collects - Embroidery Designs.