Nameflake Ornaments 2011 (plus tutorial!)

I acknowledge that it is January 31, so you probably aren't thinking about Christmas ornaments anymore. But it is still winter, and surely it's snowing somewhere in the US, right? So this post is not completely out of season... In December I made a handful of nameflake ornaments using a new style!

Back in May I got some Accuquilt GO! rag dies for my birthday and had been anxious to use them, particularly the circle rag die. I wanted to experiment with it to see if I could speed up the process of making the completed ornament. All my past nameflake ornaments have been like this one with satin stitches around the outside edge.

(This ornament was for Riley, the newest edition to the Connelly family, and she needed an ornament like everyone else!)
I like the look, but frankly it's time consuming to mass produce these -- carefully trimming out the circles on top and bottom, then waiting for the satin stitches to run, then carefully removing the stabilizer... I wanted a quicker method. And thankfully the rag die worked out to be the perfect solution!

I laid a piece of my sparkly white fabric on top of a layer of white flannel and cut out the rag circle. (I did this twice for each ornament.) Then I went to my embroidery machine. I ran a placement stitch the size of circle (4.75" wide), and then tacked down a ribbon hanger.

 Then I laid down the fabric/flannel on top, and ran the inside tackdown circle you see stitched here on the stabilizer (3.75" wide, which is just inside all of the slits). Next I stitched the nameflake. Then I removed the hoop from the machine, laid the other fabric/flannel circle on the back of the hoop, and finally stitched another pass at the inside circle to tack it all together. Just remove stabilizer and then I'm done!! SO MUCH FASTER! And I really like the raggy look. Here a close-ups of the ornaments I made for four special couples at church that are true servant leaders:

 In past years when I've shared pictures of my nameflake ornaments (you can see my gallery on Facebook) I got questions asking how to make them. I promised a tutorial on an Embird yahoo group, and finally delivered it this fall. The free tutorial is in pdf form, and outlines the process with lots of images for creating a nameflake in Embird. It doesn't not require Studio or Font Engine, although I do highly recommend using Alphabet #38 for the project. If you would like to have a copy of the tutorial, all you need to do is join the Embird101 yahoo group. Once accepted, you can find the pdf in Files -> Mini Lessons. If you use Embird, this group is a phenomenal resource. The list mom Peggy of Pegboard Crafts is an expert who graciously answers questions from installation to digitizing details. You will not be disappointed, and the group can offer more Embird support/troubleshooting than I am able to give. :) Enjoy!