Welcome to the sixth issue of The Embroidery Sampler, and thank you for subscribing! It's hard to believe it's October already. It certainly has not felt like fall here in Maryland. On Monday, temperatures reached around 90 degrees!

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October 10, 2007

Table of Contents

• Sewing Circle -- Hand & Lock Conference in Sydney, Australia
• To the Point -- The Applique Technique
• Words of Wisdom
• Find of the Month -- Machine Embroidery Ghost Pattern File

Sewing Circle
The Hand & Lock international conference will be held down-under at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia on November 5, 2007. Topics will include "The shock of the new: Hand embroidery in the 21st century," "A Stitch in Time: The Needlework Development Scheme," "How to Not Lose the Art of Hand Embroidery," "The Place of Goldwork Embroidery on Military and Ecclesiastical Costumes," "Embroidery and the Costume Designer," "Digital Craft: Surface Textiles," and "Couture Fashion Embroidery: Are we losing our heritage?"

This event is much too far away for me to attend! I’d prefer to share small shows in the US in this section of the Embroidery Sampler, but I couldn't find anything going on right now. Is there an upcoming event in your area? Something special for the holidays? Please share it with us! The sewing circle is about coming together -- participate!

One reader, Rebecca, spoke up and shared her favorite designs. Can anyone answer her question?

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To the Point
There's an extra special embroidery technique that appeals to those who do hand embroidery, those who do machine embroidery, and even people who don't otherwise like embroidery. Can you guess what it is?

No matter which method you use, it all works by the same principle: stitches cover the raw edges of a fabric shape applied on top of a larger piece of fabric. Hand sewers use the blanket stitch, although the featherstitch and chain stitch will also work. My great-grandmother hand sewed a crazy quilt with the featherstitch. Machine embroiders typically use the zigzag stitch or satin stitch.

Did you guess what this special technique is called yet?

Applique!

Words of Wisdom
Don't believe in superstition -- it brings bad luck.

Find of the Month
Looking for a friendly ghost to use for a Halloween machine embroidery project? I spotted him! Now you can practice doing machine appliqué. I thought it was time to offer something to machine users this month. I chose this candy loving ghost for the special free pattern because it's cute, and it's available in so many file formats. No wails and moans about the file formatting!

You're Invited: Please share your stitching stories, ideas, words of wisdom, find of the month, or questions. Just reply to this newsletter and tell me what you think! I'd love to hear from you.

The most interesting feedback will be shared in next month's issue!