Sometimes it is time to work, and sometimes it is time to play. If you like games as I do, you are going to find this one a challenge, and absolutely free!

An individual with too much time on their hands - This game was contributed by Sporcle user: davidr - has given us this opportunity to determine if you can name the top 100 words used in the english language.

I suppose that it was done with a computer program of some type, and I think it just may be accurate. I managed to do 41 words in the 12 minutes available. I am planning to try again in a few days to see if I can better that number.

Take a minute to have some fun! While you are at it, check out my “ PC Tips and Tricks” ebook. It has REAL freebies, not 30 day tests, and tips and tricks that you will NOT find in other books. I also have the data analysis for those of you who are considering or are already in the embroidery business. It is “ How Much To Charge for Embroidery,” and I know that you will be able to determine if you are charging accurately for your work.

My newsletter contribution will be coming up shortly, so watch for more great (and new) tips for you to use.

Best wishes to you and yours, Pat

Birdhouse Cottage Crafts has an innovative new Gift Wrap embroidery project that is so easy to make! Designed to hold a CD or three Fat Quarters, it makes an ideal gift for your quilting friends, and non-quilters too! Choose between a quilted design or quilted feathers pattern. Attach a ribbon at the bottom and feed it through to tie on the top, then add your own decoration and bling.

Hello Carolyn

My son helped me find your blog as I bought the serial to usb cable. I have found most of the nooks and crannies to make the computer talk to the pfaff 2144 (upgraded to 2170).

When I pull up the VIP file assistant I am getting an error message ‘error occurred while getting a folder listing  from the machine’.

Any thoughts on fixing this error? I am runing Vista 32bit on my computer. The computer seems to be running the program fine, I thought maybe I need to update the file assistant somehow.  Thank you for any assistance.

Maria

Hi everyone!  especially Carolyn Keber -   I don’t have a question, just want to say how excited I am since receiving the news that the Embird update is released and can’t wait to try out all the new features/additions.

Two of the new features I am particularly pleased about are 1) the ability to adjust length of underlay stitches (for which I submitted a question to Carolyn earlier on this year), and 2) the single line stitching in Font Engine - I have been doing this manually up to now!

Thanks and best regards to all concerned.

Wendy

I have downloaded and installed the Embird 2010, ver 8.5. I am trying to discover how to work it. My biggest problems so far are: On the Manager page, center panel half of the area is taken up by a blank detail panel.

Only half of the page shows the design and that is not large enough to show the whole design. The second major problem is I cannot rotate my 3.83 x 4.56 design to the vertical position on the 5×7 hoop. I can rotate it in the Editor, but when I save it, it automatically rotates back to the horizontal. I am in the middle of the project and need to figure this out so I can get it done. Help. - Vicki

Hi there,

It sounds like both of your problems could be solved by deselecting or selecting two options in the options Menu in Manager.

Deselect Hide Summary Info Panel to close that extra view on the Middle Panel, and;

Place a check mark beside Exchange X and Y Axis. This will rotate your design for you. You could also go to Hoops/Custom in Editor and place a check mark in “Keep Hoop settings…….”

That might also help.

I hope that works for you

Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
Step by Step Tutorials for all Embird programs and for PE Design

The adorable new Christmas Village collection includes charming freestanding boutique stores and a church. Make up the whole village or choose your favorite store. Each design set come with full color photo instructions and designs for the 5×7″ hoop, including a label on the back of each building for your name and the year you created your village.

Get 25% discount off all designs from SewAZ Embroidery during November 2009, plus the lovely new Winter Flower Fairy is free with orders of $10 or more during November!

What better way to bring the outdoors indoors than with this festive Falling Leaves Hanger from Threads That Bind Us. Once finished, this hangie measures 7 1/2″ x 25″. There are 9 designs included in the set - 3 block designs each in two hoop sizes plus 3 extra leaf designs. Full instructions are included along with a supply list, fabric cutting chart, number charts and assembly instructions.

Also see Larisa’s new CoRnY Friends Candy Holder for another fun project, made in just 15 minutes!

Can you tell me of a good drawing tablet that is compatable with palette 8?  I would like to use the new drawing tool, the one with the pencil, like a pencil on the drawing tablet…is that possible?

Thanks Mg

Hi Mg

I have PEDS V8 as well as a Wacom Tablet and the pencil feature works with my tablet. This same tablet works for any program I have tried it with so far. However I also own a generic tablet purchased from an Office Supplies store and that tablet also works with my digitising program. I haven’t been able to test the generic one with PEDS V8 as I have lent the tablet to my daughter - however both the Wacom and the generic tablet (which was much cheaper) do work with my digitising programs.

I hope that helps.

Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
Step by Step Tutorials for all Embird programs and for PE Design

A Quick Look at Embird 2010 by Carolyn Keber

Embird 2010 has just been released. It is a free upgrade to those who already own Embird 2008. I have been fortunate enough to have been beta testing this latest version for some months. The Embird authors delayed releasing this version to ensure that everything worked okay with Microsoft’s new Windows 7. Now that they are happy with the result you can download it free of charge if you own Embird 2008.There are a number of new features - many of which I will write about in more detail about in the weeks to come. However, here are a few ideas on what to look for!

Embird Manager

• When converting files you now have the ability to “batch convert” to your chosen formats at one time - thus saving a lot of time. Embird will also remember your selected formats for the next time that you wish to convert files.
• When sending designs as an attachment you can now choose up to 10 recipients of the files rather than one at a time as in previous versions.
• In the Right Panel in Manager you can choose to sort the designs in selected folders by Name, File Ext, Date or Size.
• You can also now create a shortcut to embroidery files in other folders using a .lnk extension. You can copy and paste this shortcut file to as many folders as you wish so that when the shortcut is clicked on you will be re-directed to the folder where the original design is stored. This saves having to have multiple files of the same design in various folders and will save space on your computer drive. 
• The stitch-out of any designs seen in Sewing Simulator can now be saved as an EXE file and sent to anyone that wished to “see” a stitch-out of a selected design. 
• Designer One owners can now specify folder names for their Designer 1 floppy disks.

Embird Editor

• In Editor you can also save to a number of formats at one time - as in Manager. 
• Under the View menu if Commands is selected you can see all the trims and stops in a design. Turn this command off if you find it distracting.

Embird Studio

Embird Studio has a number of changes, some of which are as follows -

• You can now set the length of the underlay stitches in any new objects created in Studio. 
• Single outline lettering can now be created in Studio/Font Engine. Studio now reads from the center of a font and will create lettering in a single line (rather than the previous double outline) which can have any Sample style applied to it, including Redwork. This feature would also be great in Font Engine/Editor but for now is only available in Studio. This is so cool. 
• Adjustable stitch direction for Auto Columns allows you to change the direction of automatically created satin stitching. 
• Auto outlining of selected objects. This makes outlining so quick and easy. The shortcut for this is on the Menu Bar. 
• New Baseline options for lettering.

There are a great many more new features as well - way too many to cover at the moment. Needless to say the new version is wonderful.

I hope you enjoy it.

Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
Step by Step Tutorials for all Embird programs and for PE Design

I have been trying to put alignment lines in a pattern, and think I am doing it like the booklet I ordered says, but they won’t hold and they won’t start at the beginning.  I have the booklet on splitting designs but the alignment lines do not stitch out completely - just partly.  What am I doing wrong? - Millie Heisler

Hi Millie

On some machines the alignment lines don’t read as well as on other machines. Some embroidery machines need extra stitches to hold those alignment lines better. If your machine isn’t stitching the alignment lines correctly then you will need to add a couple more stitches to the beginning of the alignment line. To do this open your design in Editor and then using the Points Editing Tool lasso the design. The stitch points will now be showing. You will also see that your alignment lines are actually joined to the original design. The easiest way to add extra stitches is to separate the alignment lines from the design where it joins the main object.

Right mouse click on the center alignment stitch in the alignment line and choose Split. The alignment line will split apart and be shown separately in the objects order screen. Select the alignment line and then go to Insert/Tie on Tie off stitches. This should add enough extra stitches for your machine. Join both objects back together and save as a new file name.

I hope this works for you.

Kind regards
Carolyn Keber
Step by Step Tutorials for all Embird programs and for PE Design