Are you a beginner in the art of embroidery trying to figure out what kind of design to work on? Or are you an experienced embroiderer who is running out of design ideas? Perhaps you might be an embroidery fanatic who loves to make designs come alive on fabric but do not have the artistic skills to conjure up your own designs.

It is really fulfilling to be able to finish an embroidery project and see a pattern translated onto fabric. But it could also be challenging to create your own designs. Fortunately, there are several free machine embroidery patterns available for you to use these days. You just have to select your favorite among a wide variety of embroidery patterns and you can start stitching right away.

Choosing machine can be a very enjoyable experience because of the large number of choices available. No matter what your personal preference is, you are sure to find free patterns that will fit your specifications.

For instance, if you are looking for dainty free embroidery patterns to decorate your little girl's room, there are several designs that include bouquets of dainty flowers or pink ribbons and laces. If it is your baby boy's room that you want to decorate, you can go for the free embroidery patterns that have sports patterns on them like baseball bats or soccer balls.

Free machine patterns will also give you several choices if you want to create a gift for a loved one. Out of the almost unlimited number of free patterns out there, you can select the ones that would most reflect the personality of the person to whom you are giving the embroidered item.

Once you have chosen the patterns you like, all you have to do is download it to your computer or to your digital embroidery machine. You can then modify the design and customize it to your own style. Once you are sure the design is what you really like, you can then start sewing on the fabric.

If you are artistically inclined and have a talent for creating your own designs for embroidery, then you probably do not have much need for free machine embroidery patterns However, it is undeniable that free embroidery samples have some benefits if you want to finish your needlework faster and with less effort.

With free machine patterns, you just need to transfer the design onto the fabric or into your digital sewing machine. There is no need to spend a lot of time trying to refine the design you created to make sure it looks good on the final product.

Quilters who are not already a machine embroidery enthusiast just may find themselves engrossed in the craft once they realize they could incorporate machine embroidery into their quilting.

Embroidery is a traditional way to add special decorative touches to quilts. Whether by hand or machine, a quilter may accent his or her creation with embroidered flowers or other accents. But today's machine embroidery - for those willing to try it - can make quilting quite different.

For instance, a quilter may use a simple embroidery design to let the machine "quilt" the project. Simple one color designs work best, especially for the beginner.

If you want to give this a try, look for an embroidery design that's simple - one that you can visualize stitched into a quilt. Some redwork inspired designs work well. Other simple designs like flowers, circles, sun/moon, houses, hearts - there are all sorts of designs to choose from - can work well as quilting stitches.

Be sure to keep your quilt top's theme in mind. We all know and love the traditional beauty of the double wedding ring quilt. While the quilt top is beautiful with its color variety, the quilt back is just as pretty with its simple stitching that follows the design on the top.

What if you used an embroidery machine to quilt hearts into the quilt design? That one unexpected touch would truly make your quilt unique.

Have you ever needed to throw together a quick quilt? Many quilting pros laugh at the notion, but sometimes we need a quick gift to give and want to make it personal. Lap quilts and baby quilts are very easy to create on an embroidery machine.

Simply hoop your top fabric, batting and backing fabric into an embroidery hoop. Pick a design and get to work! Even if you are quilting solid color fabrics, you can complete a quick, beautiful quilt with the embroidery machine in no time!

Some ideas for a baby blanket for a boy would be to use outlines of footballs, airplanes, trucks, trains, etc., for your quilting pattern. The hardest part of your job will be re-hooping fabric and pushing the "start" button!

Ideas for a baby blanket for a girl include outlines of flowers, baskets, dolls, kittens, etc.

The method above uses machine embroidery on relatively small quilts. Larger quilts can be done the same way or may be quilted with machine embroidery by individual quilt blocks. Experiment to decide which method is easiest for you and remember that the machine embroidery quilting method may change with each unique project.

If you can't find a pattern you like already on embroidery file, ask a digitizer to help you create one. A digitizer takes art images like drawings, clip art images and fonts and alters them via computer to become a stitch pattern. So if you'd like for your family tree wall hanging to be quilted with a tree pattern, a digitizer can create one for you.

Tell your digitizer you want to use the image for quilting. The digitizer will need to plan stitches accordingly.

Quilting is rich in tradition and therefore many true-blue quilters do not like the idea of using machine embroidery to quilt their projects. Isn't it great to try new ideas and techniques? Remember, not to long ago quilters refused to consider machine quilting at all! Embroidery machines will never take the place of quilters, but it can be a fun and rewarding sewing technique to try from time to time.

If you have not stitched out any lace embroidery designs you might be surprised to find how easy this technique is. The secret is using a wonderful product "water soluble stabilizer", and beautifully digitized designs from Jenny Haskins Lace Glorious Lace designs.

One of the frustrations of purchased lace is the limited number of colors available. By creating your own lace, the color choices are limitless and your projects can now be truly customized for each project.

Sew, let's get started.

Transfer the lace embroidery designs of your choice from Jenny Haskins Lace Glorious Lace design CD to your embroidery machine.

Place two layers of water soluble stabilizer in your embroidery hoop and attach the hoop to your embroidery machine.

To create the softest lace embroidery designs choose a 40 wt embroidery thread for the needle and a light weight bobbin thread. (The weight of the bobbin thread greatly effects the softness of your finished lace...the lighter weight, the softer the finished lace.)

If you want the back of your lace to be the same color as the front of the use a matching bobbin.

Once you have your machine properly thread, the hoop attached to the machine and the lace embroidery designs loaded, you are ready to go! Simply start embroidering. When your design is completed remove it from the hoop and rinse away the water soluble stabilizer according to the manufacturer's directions. Once the you rinse out the stabilizer, let it dry and attach the beautiful lace to your project!

Adding lace embroidery designs to your projects will take them from "Ordinary to ExtraOrdinary"!

A technique used to add beads to fabric on everything from formal wear, to everyday wear, to shoes to home décor, bead embroidery opens up a whole new world of possibilities for both beading and embroidery artisans and enthusiasts.

Used extensively throughout history to decorate the clothes of emperors, kings, and nobles, the thread used to embroider these stitches was of silk, silver or gold. The beads they used were often made of precious or semi-precious stones, with pearls being particularly popular and plentiful.

The popularity of beaded clothes, accessories and home décor items has increased during the first part of the 21st Century, and continues to remain popular. Not just for nighttime anymore, beads are showing up on daytime clothes, as well as purses, gloves, boots, shoes, and hair accessories, as well as jewelry.

More eco-conscious artisans, crafters, and hobbyists are recycling or upcycling used and vintage clothing. The revamping of these items often includes the addition of bead embroidery to either enhance an existing feature of the newly refurbished garment, or to create a new feature or embellishment on the garment.

The technique involves one of three approaches: sew beads in strategic or prominent places within an existing design to add sparkle and shine, enhance regular embroidery stitches with beads, or create embroidery stitches with beads.

In the first approach, simply add single beads or clusters of beads to highlight details of a print fabric or strategically placed along seams, hems or edges of solid-colored items. Add beads to the centers of flowers in a floral print, or highlight just one other aspect of the particular print. On solid-colored fabrics, beads in contrasting or the same colors should be added following the lines of the garment, as a highlighting feature. One of the best ways to do this is to add them to the neckline of a top or dress.

If you like to embroider and want to add sparkle and shine to your stitchery, add a few strategically placed beads to your design. Use them sparingly in this application, seeking to highlight and enhance your embroidery with the addition of the beads. Try to consistently highlight the same aspect of the design, such as the tips of flowers, or their centers, or some other aspect of the stitched embellishment.

One way of creating traditional embroidery stitches entirely of beads is to string the required number of beads to make each phase of the stitch, and then stitch that phase before moving on to the next phase of the stitch. Or each bead can be individually sewn onto the fabric in its proper position to ultimately form the beaded version of the embroidery stitch.

Bead embroidery remains a popular craft for artisans and hobbyists alike.

Copyright Sharon Shares, 2011