Owls and trees and fish, oh my! Lots of embroideries! Pic obese~

[amigurl55]

Great job!  I love the fish.

One of those blue water soluble pens will work for you.  All you do is draw, stitch, then spray it with some water.

[TheMistressT]

WOW!  You've done some lovely stitching there!  My favorites are the 2 tree themed ones, but all are striking and covet-able.

[Acckt]

Thank you all so much for your wonderful words

One of those blue water soluble pens will work for you.  All you do is draw, stitch, then spray it with some water.

This sounds exactly like what I need! Does the ink stay real well even when stitching over it? The pencil tends to rub off easy, so I kept having to trace them over and over and over... I might have to make a run to my hobby store (only a mere 20 miles away  ).

[~Glenda]

Those all turned out really nice. I especially like the woman.

I draw or trace with pencil sometimes, instead of using a water soluable marker. I make sure my pencil is very sharp, and resharpen often as I draw / trace. I generally embroider with only 2 threads, and that covers the pencil mark okay as long as I keep my pencilpoint sharp. I keep my line on the faint side, so that light covered thread will cover it. I've been told the Tide or similar bleach pens will take the pencil marks away, but I'd be cautious about using one of those on anything other than white fabric.

The water soluable markers are pretty handy. Yes, the ink does stay well even when stitching over it. The only thing I discovered is that the ink *will* fade over time, but by that I don't mean it'll fade after a week -- you have longer than that to work with it. But you don't want to draw or trace with it and then set your design aside for months ;-).

[skaborsk]

wow. these are all really great! i love the last one, and the apple trees.

[Henny Penny]

WOW~

I am so impressed by your stitchery. Recently, I thought about taking up embroidery, but know nothing about it. How do you choose which stitches to do where? Any tips for a beginner just jumping into the pool?

[cbass]

I love the owl best.

You know the owls are not what they seem.........quote? anyone??

[wildanimus]

That's great embroidery!  My favorite is the owl, but I love the fishies too!  I love all of them. 

[BrookOwens]

WOw such great stuff!!! The first tree is my super fav!

[bookgrrl42]

A fellow quilter told me that using this mechanic's handsoap called "goop" or "orange goop" would take pencil lines out of fabric.  It's designed to help mechanics get grease off their hands.  Usually can be bought at Farm & Fleet, Menards, Home Depot, etc.  I actually found mine at the dollar store.  It's not the gritty kind - it's like a smooth cream. 

I can't say I've tried it yet for pencil (since that quilt isn't done yet for washing) but I have used it for other gooey price tag removal, greasy spots, stains, etc. and they all come out beautiful.  At minimum it shouldn't hurt the fabric.  I trust it with my quilts.  Good luck!