Changing gears

I discovered an exciting feature about my embroidery machine today: the feet screw down to adjust the height of the attachment. This means I can simply place an old shelf over the cut-out on the new table, without worrying about finding something large enough to fit the entire embroidery unit (which is quite large). I had been a little worried about that, so I'm feeling relieved this evening. I got a nice start on the festive Christmas flamingos that I'm stitching out for my friend Deb:

Reindeer flamingo

Once I got the first of these in progress, I had the opportunity for the ultimate in stitcherific joy: running both machines at once!! What a glorious mess was my "studio" area:

The third flamingo is stitching out at this point. Happy, messy mess!

I used the second machine to start sewing selvedges down to make some new bolster pillows for our family room. These are rather tedious to make. It feels like it's taking forever. I must remind myself that I did quite a number of other non-sewing things today, so in reality getting them half finished is an accomplishment.

I oriented one set to go around the diameter of the pillow, and the other to run along its length. One set I left a bit apart to show a glimpse of the fabric print, but I prefer the look of the all-selvedge version where only the fabric titles and color registration dots are visible. I think it looks like a code.

Most selvedge projects that I have seen leave a bit of fabric showing between strips.

I prefer this look, where the fabric prints are entirely hidden under the selvedge strips.