Q:  How does the embroidery machine know where to put all the stitches?A:  You just scan the image and the software analyzes the art and tells the machine where to place the stitches. Well, that's what our customers think.  I wish it were that easy.  Actually, I don't ..... [More]

I am taking a little turn in the road this time.  Before Greg left AnnTheGran, he requested that I write a blog about Ralph and his woodworking skills.  After attending the ATG Community Circle, and meeting Pat Snyder, she also requested the subject.  My daughter, has asked me also to... [More]

The sun shone on us all in Orlando and we had a great time at the second annual Annthegran Community Circle gathering.  We met up with old friends and made some new ones too.  For two days we learned lots, laughed lots and ate lots. Mary Mulari and Rita Farro kept everyone in stitches as ... [More]

Dear AnnTheGran readers, thank you so much for your comments and your excitment regarding South Africa. I so enjoy sharing this information with you and giving you a small taste and experience of African art and culture. I am always amazed how creative people can be with so little! Creativity does ... [More]

There is not enough space to tell you all the wonderful information and special friendships that occ [More]

If you have worked along with me, you will soon need to decide if you will quilt by hand or by machine.  I have a friend who began quilting a little more than a year ago.  As we talked, one day, I asked how she planned to do her quilting.  She quickly said, “by machine.”&n... [More]

Twelve and a half years ago I wrote my first tutorial! Can you image? Twelve And A Half years of Artistitch. That's one eighth of a century. And isn't it great that AnnTheGran is organizing an event for me to celebrate this? Kidding of course! My first book for PE-Design version 1, in Du... [More]

The origins of monograms were very regal. The letters were generally used as a signature and on coin [More]

Hello, AnnTheGran Community!It's only been about a month, and I miss all of you already, so I thought I'd come back and say hello. More importantly, I have unfinished business. I had some great requests from a previous Magic Bookshelf post about technology aspects to talk about, and I never ... [More]

I was supposed to write a blog last week – but I was just getting home from the “Sewing & Stitchery EXPO” in Puyallup, Washington – and then my son Elliott and his wife Emily had our FIRST GRANDCHILD – a beautiful baby girl named Lillian Claire. One of life’s... [More]

Here at home in Minnesota, the ground is white and the sky is gray, so once again it's great to have Orlando and my trip to Florida to think about. I did get a break from winter when I traveled to the Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup WA last weekend. Rita and I were both there and we did... [More]

Last week many folks in this country were shoveling the white stuff.  I even got stuck in Seattle on Sunday evening because my flight into New Jersey was cancelled.  What I cannot understand is how my Colorado grandchildren were playing in their new playhouse in 70 degree weather duri... [More]

Why is Egyptian cotton considered to be among the best cotton?  It starts with the weather!&nbs [More]

On this sunny, beautiful,  but cold day in Alabama, here’s wishing you a March that goes out like a Lamb.  Since much of the USA saw a snowy and cold first day of March, It must have come in like a Lion, so it should go out like a Lamb.  To all of you in the southern hemisphere,... [More]

Here's a mini tutorial, showing my sheer admiration for Design Center as "Redwork Wizard". Try and see if you can find a continuous path, without jumps in the above image If you are one of the embroiderers who consider PE-Design's / Palette's Design Center to be "beginne... [More]

Ways to save! I’m not unaware of or unaffected by the present state of the economy and I know that this isn’t the time to be asking you to spend money on non-essentials. On the other hand, when times are difficult it’s more important to connect with friends and take time out for o... [More]

I bet that most of you can say that “life just somehow got in the way.”  That has surely happened to me.  Way back when I got my associates degree in marketing and then wanted to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology.  For those ladies who remember the 60’s and 7... [More]

Hi everybody!  This is Misty and Greg from Sew Crazy in Lake Mary, Florida.  We are SEW excited to be featured as the store at this years Community Circle 2009 event in Orlando, Florida.  We look forward to seeing some familiar faces from around the area and also meet new friends from... [More]

As promised here's a mini tutorial on how to use PE-Design Lite in combination with our Pre-Design Studio program. It's getting the best of two worlds: create filled areas using the AutoPunch function in PE Lite on the basis of an image made with Pre-Design Studio and create bean stitch line... [More]

OK, Everybody, If you have followed this blog from the beginning, and have been making quilt block as we go, you should now have enough block to make into a quilt. “How do I do that?” someone says.  Well, that’s the purpose of this blog.  Let’s put those little bugg... [More]

My Television experience on the show Uncommon Threads with host Alison Whitlock.Leora Raikin, African Folklore Embroiderywww.aflembroidery.cominfo@aflembroidery.com(818) 999-6094Click here to view clips from the HGTV show. Back to Our RootsDuring summer I spent seven weeks in South Africa, regroupin... [More]

When I first looked at Ken Parson’s Compositions, I was confused by it, not because it was difficult [More]

Here we are coming up on Valentines Day, coincidentally Bill’s and my half year anniversary. Coincidentally because we first met on the 14th of August and, when we decided to marry, set the date at one year from our first meeting. There wasn’t any thought about Valentines Day and it was ... [More]

Some embroidery items are more breathtaking than others.  I don’t remember where or when I got [More]

Mary and I are so excited about coming to Florida for the Community Circle Event the last weekend in March!!  What perfect timing.  It's been a bitter cold winter here in Iowa -- and I am really looking forward to FLORIDA.It is always a joy for me to present my seminar, "Life Is N... [More]

Only a couple of weeks to go before I meet you all at the Community Circle Event in Orlando Florida. I will meet you all, right? You just have to come: in two days you will learn more than you could learn in two years on your own. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then lecture demos are worth ... [More]

At Sylvia, we pay attention to detail and quality.  Period.  So if we plan on spending quite a bit of time and money on the hardware we use, the dowels necessary to hold tight the joints of the cabinets, and even the lift for the sewing machine, it only makes sense to use quality construct... [More]

Greetings to the Community Circle participants and those of you who are still thinking about attending! Rita and I, the Midwest YaYa Sisters, are eager to come to Florida for this event. Both of us are looking out our windows at lots of snow. Here in northern Minnesota we've set some records fo... [More]

Hi there, all of you Ann the Gran readers.  Welcome back to LaRueSews-quilts.  This is a bright and sunny day in east central, Alabama.  It is, however a bit chilly outside.  But I guess that’s better than cold, cloudy and rainy.I have said before, and I’d like to say... [More]

Hi, from Texas! I'm James Raymer, Vice President of Dalco Home Sew. I am excited and honored to be part of your “Community Circle.” I can still remember when I first met Ann. Ann and I were invited to a retreat at Myrtle Beach. This being my first show I was in awe of meeting a real... [More]

I love a product that shows ingenuity and innovation.  Consider the humble (grin) computer.&nb [More]

I just got back from the Atlantic City Trade show and I noticed some very interesting trends.  Diversification is moving ahead full force.  Companies that only offered 1 decorating type have now branched out into many different areas.  After all, you can only sell the same embellishme... [More]

Most of you know that one of my goals in 2009 was to use up as much of my fabric stash as possible a [More]

It is my belief that any art form, such as embroidery is difficult to pin down as to who, when and w [More]

Girls, girls and more girls.  Although I have five brothers we have not followed that tradition.  We have two girls, two granddaughters and now another on the way.  Personally, I think this is great!  After growing up with all those little brothers I have always loved little girl... [More]

It’s time again for LaRueSews to tell all of you a bit more about Quilting.  For the past few months, we have been doing a Block of the Month.  This time, it will be little more challenging.  The block will be the Arrowhead block, but we’ll get to that in a bit. Right now... [More]

This information may help you if you are using IE 7 or IE 8 The following tips can be used for both Windows XP and Vista.Operating systems vary, if in doubt, check with your provider and/or technical support. I don't know anyone who thinks that their Internet connection is as fast as they wou... [More]

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

If you open any decorating magazine, regardless of age, you are going to find some awesome ideas for [More]

Last year, my age-old hot water bottle gave out with a fatal leak. All my life I have used a hot wat [More]

While I love teaching the techniques to complete a African Folklore Embroidery, I get even more pleasure in seeing how each person takes their design to a whole new creative level. Chain stitch is the dominant stitch, and any color can be used to stitch on the pre-drawn black fabric, however wh... [More]

One of the most interesting, IMHO, studies of the human condition is body language.   Posed or casual, many of us can see the indications that are coming from the way a body presents or does not present itself. Taking that one step further, if we really look at photographs, we can often o... [More]

Leaping In with a Mac part 2 It turns out that a lot of you here at AnnTheGran are Mac users or, dare I say, “Mac curious?” You have seen the ads and heard the talk, but your embroidery stuff runs on Windows, and the kid down the street (nephew, son in law) can keep your system running.... [More]

Our daughter's car broke down in the snow this week.  Michael was not available so she called m [More]

A biscornu is an elegant, eight sided ‘pincushion' whose origins have been lost over the centuries.& [More]

Hello everybody, welcome back to Scott's Corner.   I recently had a conversation with one of my customers regarding a big customer of his that was very demanding.  This customer had great volume but a low profit margin.  My customer was considering telling the customer that h... [More]

 Anyone who reads the supermarket tabloids has been seeing all kinds of advice about the easy way to lose weight. I and a group of friends decided to follow one of the more popular diets.  We formed teams, printed out the diet plan, communicated every day and were positive that we would lo... [More]

With the new digital cameras on the market, photo taking can and does take on a new reality.  You can take 100 photos and discard 99 of them without the expense of processing.  That is only one of the benefits.  There are so many features, most of them universal, they are too numerous... [More]

Hi there, EveryBuddy.  This Blog is a milestone.  Ya know, sometimes when you count things, (anything noteworthy) the numbers that end in Zero are important.  That goes especially in Birthdays, like 20, 40, etc.  Some of ‘em, are BIG ones.  Well, my friends, this Blo... [More]

I was so excited by the number and diversity of entries and the positive response from over 20,000 people that viewed the African Folklore Embroidery Exhibition at the Road to California Quilt Show. While the rules of African Folklore Embroidery are simple,  (‘Whatever color you choose to... [More]

--> It’s time for some fun. I was recently asked about doing a Facebook application. You know, Facebook, one of the social sites on the internet. Where people who haven’t seen each other can chit chat and generally make a nuisance of themselves. It’s a good way to keep ... [More]

I can remember my mother mending piles of clothes.  She mended the mends, and she even darned t [More]

Getting the right design into your machine is a most important part of enjoying your embroidery experience.  I have been using an embroidery machine for so long that lots of things have become second nature and I just do them without thinking.  Like viewing designs using the Brother PED-Ba... [More]

It sure has been a busy month....On December 10, I took the plunge and had toe surgery....I had two hammertoes that required a bit of slicing and dicing.  That meant I hobbled around with "the big boot" for a few weeks and then I got to don the "little boot." I had to chuckl... [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.   Perhaps the term Rogue Security Software is new to you, it is a form of computer malware that deceives or misleads users into paying for the fake or si... [More]

  I have been dog sitting a five month old puppy for the last 2 weeks.  Sage is pretty good, but she is definitely all puppy.  And Big! Ok, I admit I am used to small dogs - Papillons, which are usually 7-10 pounds.  So, when this pretty Brittany Spaniel jumped in my lap right b... [More]

Hello everyone,   I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and had a wonderful bringing in of the New Year. I am looking forward to all the information we have to share with you in 2010.  It is going to be an exciting year.  We will be looking at Microsoft Outlook more closely and expl... [More]

Just to clarify, the rumors that I fell off the face of the Earth are patently false. While it’s true that I was skipping about all over the face of the Earth, at no time did I actually tumble into the stratosphere. So, where have I been? First I went up to Kentucky for two weeks with my daugh... [More]

My quilt guild, called Memory Makers Guild was just a little over the top today.  The guild is a small group, but what it lacks in numbers, it makes up for in talent.  I’ve known most of these ladies for at least a year, and some of them, as much as three years.  We have grown c... [More]

We are looking forward to another grandchild and I have vowed not to be scrambling when it arrives to be finishing things up.  Only time will tell but our grandaughter and I have been working on a soft book for her new brother or sister.  We will show it to you when we ... [More]