I've added a new section called 'The Fine Points' to cover all those helpful little details that make a stitch so much easier or nicer. For instance, the figures on the right demonstrate that it is possible to make equally spaced lines in a very simple way. This is very helpful when doing the Diamond Stitch technique or adding Straight Couched stitches as a filler. 

I plan to add these hints as I go along instead of trying to think of them now. Usually as I'm embroidering I remember the little things that make all the difference I've discovered myself or I have been taught.

There is so much material to write about and illustrate and I'm sure it will take my lifetime to cover it all. In the meantime I've decided to slow down a bit so that I can keep up my daily responsibilities.

There is no such thing as an embroidery emergency! Even if you run out of a certain thread a similar color, shade and value can be added throughout to fill in and balance your piece. Or a lighter or darker or even different color, shade and value can give the embroidery a sparkle. As Yoda says in Star Wars: 'Luke trust in the force."

I just posted the instructions for the French Knot This stitch terrorizes most of us. And now I know that it is just as frightful to try to explain.

I used the compass to give clarity to this stitch.  The basis of the idea came to me from a class I took at the Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery Guild. And in turn the instructor learned this method from Gayl Ratigan another embroiderer from the guild. And maybe she learned it from someone else. The line of succession may be vast and unclear or maybe she came up with this genius idea on her own.

Drum roll please! She used the face of a clock to better explain your needle placement from step to step. For me this did make it easier to avoid a knotted up stomach and and my hair tangled with fear!

Whether you use a clock or a compass the result is the same - less confusion. I hope that I did a good job and that the instructions are clear. And I'd like to thank all the women from my childhood to this day for sharing their ways of doing things. Thank you Gayl!

There are several ways to transfer your design with a printer.

• Transfer-Eze is an interesting way to transfer your design onto fabric by using your printer. I worked with it once and found it to be a quick and easy way to get a pattern onto my fabric. It needles well and washes away completely. In the photo on the right the transfer paper is adhered to my embroidery fabric. It is slightly sticky - no pins or basting needed!
• Another method is simply to iron on a piece of freezer paper* to the back of your fabric and print your design very lightly on the surface of the fabric.** Most printer ink washes away, but you may want to test your printer ink first. This is a method that makes some people scream in horror. Who know what kind of chemicals there are in the ink to cause disintegration of the thread or fabic in the future. If you do it keep it to yourself. However, if you are in a hurry it works.
  

*What is freezer paper? A white paper that has a waxy surface on the back. It is used by butchers to wrap meat. I have found it in rolls in my grocery store where the plastic wraps are located. Before you buy a whole roll ask your butcher for a piece large enough to cut into a size that will fit in your printer's paper tray.

**This does not work on silks or other fragile fabrics.

I found the most amazing instructions for Embroidered Pebbles.

Now I have to try it!

Check out my instructions for the Tucker Star. This is a great way to embroider a star with an odd number of points. It works well with the smallest of stars. In Photo 2 the tiniest star was made with only 4 stitches in each point with a thin thread.

Add the design below to your practice squares.