Art and Stitch with Susan Smith

Hello everyone!  I am back today to tell you all about Art and Stitch.  Art and Stitch are one of the Festivals generous sponsors and their amazing, intuitive software will be taught by Susan Smith.

Have you heard of Art and Stitch?  It is a fabulous computer program invented by Loes and Theo van der Heijden that enables you to create and digitise your own quilting designs.  How awesome is that?  Susan Smith is offering 3 classes to teach you how to use Art n’ Stitch at festival.  Click here to read about them. 

The great thing about Art and Stitch is that you don’t even need to be able to draw to use the program.  You can upload photos of potential designs and using the program can trace around the design elements in your photo to create and digitise your own quilting patterns or even appliqué and embroidery designs.  Can you imagine the scope you have with this program for truly customising quilts?  Any fancy tile, scroll work, carving or pattern you see has the potential to be digitised as a quilting pattern and the program even works out the stitching path!

Press play to view a video of Loes using the program to create and digitise a quilting pattern from some scroll work on an old chair –it is amazing, and so quick and easy!

On a recent trip to Melbourne I took some photos of examples of things you can come across every day that you could digitise and transform into a quilting or appliqué patterns.  My inspiration board is made up of a carving on an old wulitzer piano, part of a star bannister and some stencilling at the Royal Exhibition Building.

Of course if you can draw, then Art and Stitch enables you to transform your talents into gorgeous digitised patterns with ease.  With this program you can create lovely background fills, perfect cross-hatching and original motifs. 

What’s even better with Art and Stitch is the versatility of the program – you can save your designs to any format including DXF, ABM Innova PAT, CompuQuilter CQP, HQ Pro HQF, IntelliQuilter IQP, PC Quilter TXT, QBot PLT, SideSaddle SSD, StatlerStitcher QLI. And save in embroidery machine formats: Brother Babylock Bernina PES, Elna/Janome/Kenmore SE, Janome/Elna JEF, Melco/Bernina EXP, Pfaff PCS, Singer XXX, Tajima DST, Viking SHV, HUS, Viking/Pfaff VIP, VP3.

The Art and Stitch program will be for sale at Festival but for the classes you will only need to download a free sample of the program so you can "try before you buy".  The details are on Susan's class page.

For more information visit http://www.artnstitch.com/

If you have a computerized longarm or are a keen embroiderer or enjoy creating appliqué then Susan’s  Art and Stitch classes are not to be missed!

All the best,

Shontelle.

P.S.  Susan is also offering several other classes - I will be back at a later date to tell you all about them.  Meanwhile, stay tuned - I'll be back in a couple of days to introduce you to Megan Best.