My "new" machine!

There were multiple reasons I decided to take the month of August off (travel and back to school primarily) but another major factor was I knew I was getting another hand-me-down embroidery machine, so I had to spend quite a bit of time in my sewing area preparing for it's arrival and then setting it up!

I've been asked several times to show pictures of my sewing studio. I'm not sure a complete tour/reveal will ever happen. :) I do not have a dedicated room for my craft, just a section of our master bedroom, so there is a lot of stuff crammed into a small amount of space. And unfortunately it is usually a mess. I've worked quite a bit this month on reorganizing to make room for the new machine and make everything more user-friendly, but I still have a LONG way to go. Thanks to my husband giving up his table, I do have a nice sturdy surface to have both machines side by side. YAY! I really didn't think I'd be able to have both set up simultaneously. This is very exciting!

While the machine was still set up at my MIL's house, I did a quick one-fabric applique on a shirt to practice using the machine. (Although to be honest, that design was only about 1/2" wider than what I could already do on my Janome). Then I really put the 6x10 hoop to the test by making this shirt for my friend Carla (like the smaller versions I made for her kids):

I used Embroidery Boutique's Double Fun Alphabet (zigzag stitch). I just used the outside part of the letters, did some significant resizing, and adjusted the pull compensation to widen the zigzag. It stitched beautifully and it was so neat to make such a wide design -- perfect for an adult shirt!

We've been home for over 2 weeks, but life has been so crazy (with travel recovery and back to school) that I just got my new-to-me Brother ULT2003D set up this afternoon! I only had a two hour window during my son's nap to play, so I decided to make myself a new key fob, again using the full extend of the 6x10 hoop!

The in-hoop key fobs are from DigiStitches.  I added my name with Embird Alphabet #7. The top one is the key fob I made myself in March, and the bottom is the one I made today! It's amazing what a difference a couple extra inches can make. Now it's big enough to slip around my wrist!