Shamrocks & Stitching

I managed to finish quite a few machine embroidered lace ornaments over the last couple weeks...I know you have seen my hearts and snowflakes...and now I have been working on shamrocks and heart shamrocks. I made them in several shades of green and in white...and I listed what I have finished up in my Etsy shop this afternoon. These ornaments are made on my embroidery machine...and are technically called "free-standing lace"...they are made entirely of thread!

For those of you unfamiliar with an embroidery machine, here is a little idea of how these shamrocks are made - using digitized designs, the machine embroiders the ornaments on water-soluble stabilizer...once the design is completely stitched, you put it in water and the stabilizer dissolves, leaving you with a beautiful piece of lace made completely of embroidery thread. I like to loop a piece of 1/8" ribbon through the hanger on each ornament before placing it in a card or on a gift. Each design can take anywhere from 45 minutes to well over an hour to make, so I usually set up my machine and let them embroider while I am working at my desk or on various other crafts in my studio. In the photos you can see a selection of my embroidered shamrocks...average size of the small heart shamrock is  is 2.5" W x 2.625" H...the larger heart shamrocks are approximately 3.875" W x 3.875" H...and the large shamrock is approximately 3.91" W x 3.80" H. Many digitizers offer designs for machine embroidery, but if you are interested in these particular shamrock designs, they are designed by Criswell Embroidery & Design....you can purchase digitized designs from this designer on a disk at your favorite quilt shop or by downloading them from their website.

I have several fun St. Patrick's day sewing projects cut and ready to compete this week, as well...and I will share those with you soon! I just love sewing for the seasons and holidays...