Quilts, whether large or small, can brighten the spirit and bring a bit of joy to those who need it in almost any situation.  Made with love and detailed with words of comfort, Susan Osborn shows us how a simple but heartfelt project can help make the days a little better for others.&... [More]

Keeping up with traditions can be a challenge when you are as far away from your family as Debbie  Martin is.  But she obviously spends a lot of time and energy to share her love with family as shown in the wedding quilt as well as others who will appreciate the warmth of a handmade gift -... [More]

It's the gathering of the year and even if this is the first time you have joined me I know you'll be re-energized and ready to go after two full days with Eileen Roche and me. We'll share our best techniques and insider tips for expressing yourself through embroidery. For all the detai... [More]

Welcome to the AnnTheGran Community! Many people know AnnTheGran.com for free embroidery designs, and that's great, but now the site offers so much more. If you've just been using my site to get free designs, you've been missing out! Answers to All Your Questions If you have a questio... [More]

We had so many requests for Diane’s hot cup wraps from an earlier promotion that we decided we shoul [More]

OK, gals, mark your calendars today – April 3rd and 4th – less than 9 weeks away. It’s time to get together and re-energize our passion for embroidery at the first annual AnnTheGran Community Circle retreat. I love sunny Orlando and we’ll spend two whole days exploring innovative techniques, inspira... [More]

First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who sent in feedback about my Community Circle event in April. It was a deluge! So many people responded that we needed to step back and re-plan the event to make it bigger. We're almost there; I'll be announcing all the details, along with r... [More]

Let's face it, gals, it's been far too long sinced I've rubbed elbows and shared stories with most of you. So, I've resolved this year to put myself back into circulation, at least a bit and, unlike most of my New Year's resolutions, this is one I intend to keep!To celebrate the ... [More]

For Diane Brown, embroidery started as a hobby to get away from all the stress of her job as a bank compliance officer. It didn’t take long, however, for her obsession to blossom into a new career. For a number of years she has been working behind the scenes in the development of software and embroi... [More]

Dear Friend, 2008 is going to be quite a year for me, and I hope it will be for you as well. My big news is that AnnTheGran is getting a complete facelift! No, I don't mean me -- I like myself the way I am (well, most days anyway) -- I mean my site! You see, as we've grown, some of my s... [More]

In December, 1996, AnnTheGran's Design Exchange had been online for 2 months, and it was all very, very new. Our small community had shared a hundred or so designs and I sent the Christmas greeting you see on your right, created around my greatest blessings at the time.AnnTheGran, my Internet ni... [More]

Every child is precious but sometimes the families of certain little ones face unique challenges. The charity FHCS (Faith Hope & Charity Stitches) has a very special way of sharing their love of sewing and embrodiery. The tiny buntings and quilts they make are a wonderful gift to those babies, k... [More]

Each of our veterans is a true hero who has made a commitment to serve in times of war or peace. Our veterans deserve the full measure of our respect. This project was submitted by Sue Ellen Parker. Sue Ellen used her creative talents to show her loved one and others how proud she was of their dedic... [More]

Our international trend continues this week with a project from Jean Isley in England. Growing up du [More]

To take a simple or plain idea and mold it into something personal and unique is always rewarding. Michelle Gauthier created a special Christmas tree skirt to become a focal point for holiday cheer in her home. Without spending a lot she gave of her time and love to bring special smiles to those aro... [More]

Creating keepsakes for loved ones is such a joy for those who love to sew. With her simple blankets, Sue Kerlin shows us how she continues her love of giving to family even when life is too full for intricate details.Sue's Description:I picked this pattern of baby quilt because I am not a detail... [More]

  Hi, Folks,I'm in a bit of a quandary. When I set up this blog, I made it clear to the team here who help me get this to you that I really wanted the blog to focus on projects contributed by the AnnTheGran community. So far, you've all been great with that, and we've seen some gr... [More]

Tuck a bottle of their favorite beverage inside a festive wrap - no wrapping paper required. Trisch Rosema's embroidered gifts of wine got rave reviews even though they were quick and easy. What a lovely hostess gift one of these custom wine bags would make! Or you could do as Trisch did and mak... [More]

Every child's first birthday is exciting and every mother wants to create great memories of the event. This race car themed quilt was created by Gina Martinez to complete her son's graduation to a "Big Boy Bed" and give him a special birthday memory to cherish for years to come.Gen... [More]

Friends come in many shapes and sizes but each has a special place in our lives. The same is true of [More]

This project was submitted by Kim Yunkun. I chose to post this one because it is simple but beautiful and any level of embroiderer can do it. Not everyone is an expert, but everyone can share the sense of pride that we all feel when we've accomplished something. Sometimes, when we've been do... [More]

This embroidery-laden project was sent in by Barbara Schaffer, and I chose it for this week because [More]

Our creations are like our babies! The amount of time and care we expend on a cherished project makes those products of our hands and our hearts feel pretty special.You are currently resting your eyes on my new blog. If you don't know what a blog is, don't worry about it. Neither did I until... [More]

We wanted to create a design collection that you could use to add some classic style to your project whether you are embroidering evening accessories, elegant linens or an heirloom piece. My Blackwork collection is a versatile set of ornamental designs, professionally digitized for beautiful results... [More]

Hear Ye’ Hear Ye’ …STOP the PRESS ….  The ULTIMATE Beginner’s Project is………….. LACE!! HH ( Hello Hello )  all you fellow ME’ers!!! I have been shopping up a storm!... and MEing too…. Speaking of shopping, Ann’s store has some good specials right now!!!!! Have you gone to her ‘shop' ... [More]

It feels as if I was just packing for this trip and here I am home again! Bill and I had a fabulous time in Toronto. First and foremost it was a delight to have a 3rd annual "Spring Fling" with our dear friends Loes and Theo van der Heijden from the Netherlands. Second, it was wonderful to... [More]

Recent Brainwave   Believe it or not, it only occurred to me very recently that, with all the wonderful things available on our new site, we had never actually asked our loyal users where they want us to go next. I’ve told you on my blog here what we’ve planned, but I haven’t asked you w... [More]

Worth Waiting For?  Well, so much for posting every week to this blog! I hope you'll allow me to claim vicarious blogging as an excuse -- lots of my time lately has gone into getting our two new guest bloggers (and a few more who you don't know about yet) up and running. Cathy'... [More]

Hi, folks,  Had another great question in last week's post from gpleasant, who asked how to hoop towels, under and over. I can tell you how I hoop towels. Bath towels are as liable to be viewed from the back as from the front, so I want both to look good. That means two things. First,... [More]

When a group of embroiderers gather, one subject is certain to come up . . . . . stabilizers  & [More]

  Digitizing Mystery  I began digitizing alphabets eight or nine years ago. I like doing it and I take a lot of pride in my work. You can imagine how distressed I was when I began receiving a few messages telling me that the capital and lower case letter "A' was appearing as a b... [More]

HH (Hello Hello!) Fellow Embroiderers,  How are ALL of you??? What things are you doing these days???!!!!! How many NEW embroiders are out there like me. (I stitched my 1st design last week. Yeah!!!). It would also be interesting to find out who has embroidere... [More]

Introduction:  Tips and tricks and an occasional trap 5/10/08   Because I so enjoy ta [More]

Hello Hello fellow  AnntheGran Embroiderers & New Orlando Circle of Friends!!!! :):):), Who Am I?  For those of you who attended the VERY SPECIAL 1st annual AnntheGran's convention in Orlando in April, you may remember me...it was pretty hard to miss my loud scream and waving arm... [More]

Okay, that would be me, but now that I've got your attention I want to first address a couple of questions that were posted in the comments from last week's post. I thought I'd answer them here, rather than there, because the answers might be of interest to many of you. For LolliConn, w... [More]

Every now and then I'll receive an angry email that goes something like this: "I used one of the free designs from your site and it sewed out terribly and ruined my brand new silk blouse. Don't you sew out those free designs before you put them on your site?"Well the truth is that ... [More]

Challenges & Lessons: So, I looked at the Laughing Cow box for a week. I picked it up. I measured it. I didn't want to do something with the box just for the sake of doing something with it. Now, this box is fairly flimsy. And shallow. Then I looked around for something that would fit in the... [More]

Let's Play Tags - I'm It!  My kids still play Tag, even though the oldest one becomes a teenager this month (), so I'm going to assume that, like me, you are not too old to play a variation of this age-old game. The game I want to play with you is called Tags, with an 's&#... [More]

I've read all the forum posts from folks saying how much they enjoyed our (first annual??) Community Circle. Thank you so much for posting. I want to add, though, that no one had a better time than I did. I arrived home invigorated and ready to get back up to my elbows in embroidery.  Tote... [More]

Hi, everyone!  Well, I think I've recovered from our fabulous Community Circle! I want to thank everyone who attended as well as Diane and Pardeep for keeping things running smoothly and, of course, Greg, for overseeing everything. Thanks also to Eileen Roche for her terrific classes,... [More]

Greetings, friends! Once again, I have been truly humbled by the sheer numbers of you who took time to consider and respond to my last post. I received hundreds of e-mails from well-wishers as far away as South Africa, Korea and Australia, all with essentially the same message: we wish we could joi... [More]

Every grandmother counts it a blessing when another child comes into her life.  Each set of tiny hands and feet hold a special place in her heart forever.  When the newest addition made his appearance to the Jenkins family it was just what Leanne needed to inspire her to expand her embroid... [More]

(If the text is cut off on the right side of the screen, please click on the post title above to view a corrected version)  Where's Your Shoebox? Whoever you are, wherever you are, the chances are pretty good that, at some point in your life, you've taken some pictures, and there... [More]

Hi, everyone, The gang here is taking a little break for Easter and using the time to polish off some final preparations for my Community Circle event in Orlando, so I thought I'd just put together a brief note to let you know that I'm still alive and kicking -- well, moving my le... [More]

Thanks for your Feedback I'm really pleased that all of you really took to heart my request in my last letter to get involved with commenting on the new site. We had the most comments and participation we've had since I started blogging. Your feedback really does encourage me and my guests ... [More]

Who do You Trust for Information?  Where do you go when you need to know whether something is true or not? Is there a person you ask, or a place you go? Think about it -- everyone needs to have somewhere, something, or someone to help establish what is fact and what is fict... [More]

Who’s Deegee, you may ask?  Well, for those of you who don't know me, please permit me to introduce myself. I live in Southern Texas, I’m married, mom to 4 wonderful adult children and “Nanee” to 3 beautiful granddaughters and 1 very special little grandson.  And I’m like so many... [More]

I created this blouse border design by lining up various different shoes from my Fancy Footwork collection. To make the shoes fit together as a cohesive group it was necessary to reverse and rotate most of the designs until they created the right flow. Click here for a larger view of the screenshot ... [More]

This t-shirt design, perfect for Friday night's poker game, was created by combining the cards and chips from my "It's A Boy's Life" collection. I then simply added the lettering "Texas Hold'em" using the Fairbanks block, which is a standard font included with Com... [More]

Three designs make up this paisley stripe around the entire T-shirt when made from combining designs from my Paisley Passion collection. These surprisingly versatile designs can be combined to create an unending number of designs from tiny to all-over designs. Click here for a larger view of the scr... [More]

Like many of us, Barbara Schleter has more than one passion.  Here she has combined her long time love of Shetland Sheepdogs with her more recent passion for embroidery.   Barbara has done a great job of sharing her thoughts on creating personalized gifts for those who are special to ... [More]

The Magic Bookshelf Imagine that you sit down at your machine one day to make something for someone, and you realize that there is a part of your project that you aren't sure how to complete. Imagine if you could then point your hands toward any bookshelf in your house and summon it to float th... [More]

The Chanel inspired jewelry design on this black t-shirt was created from the chains, pearls, and heart charm from my "Beads, Baubles and Bling" collection. This fun collection allows you to create necklaces, bracelets, pins and rings from a large variety of gems, charms and chains. C... [More]

So Much To Share!  I have so much to share with you this week that I hardly know where to begin. Like many of you (but not all of you ), I love our new site, especially the way it lets people in our community talk to each other. Free designs are great, and I know that's why many of yo... [More]