Make a Christmas Table Cloth with AccuQuilt and Embroidery

I am counting down the weeks to Christmas, and this year I will be making all the presents I give. It is a big ask, but I know I can do it if I stay focused.  Of course I find making things for the blokes (men) in my world the hardest to do so I have made up a bit of a list.  But more on that in future posts.

Right now I thought I would share something I began this morning. It is a table cloth (ready made) that I am embroidering with a very sweet Sarah Vedeler design that works with a Sparkle-Slim tree die from AccuQuilt.

Have you used these before?

There is some work in preparation, but I cheated a little in using a pre-made square table cloth.  There are instructions for making a table runner from scratch with the die.

I started by starching the table cloth, and using the Sewing Revolution ruler I marked up my north/south/east/west and 45 degree angles.

Then I prepared by appliqué fabric with fusible web.  I used cob-web because I like the fact that there is no paper backing to remove, and that it is quite thin so it doesn't make my appliqué too stiff.

Using my software I loaded the design onto my USB flash stick, and opened it using my new machine.  (I have a beautiful new Bernina 780, which I am still learning so using it for a big embroidery, with careful placement required is a good learning exercise!)

Finally time to stitch out. The first lines in the design are placement, and then the good stuff follows on.

After the second placement lines (I used white thread so it could not not be seen should it peak out from under the appliqué fabric) I removed the hoop and positioned the appliqué fabric.

The fabric is pressed into position using a hot iron, and the hoop returned to the machine.

Finally time to stitch out all those lovely patterns and colours, the finished cloth is in the shop!