{"id":28093,"date":"2013-09-24T02:24:24","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T06:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=28093"},"modified":"2015-01-14T01:33:39","modified_gmt":"2015-01-14T06:33:39","slug":"signs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/24\/signs\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs and Free Designs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe in signs….what we need to learn is always there before us, we just have to look around us with respect & attention to discover where God is leading us and which step we should take….”<\/em><\/strong>
\n \u00e2\u20ac\u2022 Paulo Coelho, The Zahir<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"All<\/a><\/p>\n

There are all kinds of signs–signs of spring, signs of aging, signs of indigestion.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I especially like real, tangible signs that give directions, advice, entertainment or important information.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s funny how sermons, a box in the garage, and free embroidery designs set me off on a binge of sign-making for our church<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Within two weeks,\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00c2\u00a0 (1) heard our pastor preach on the importance of daily scripture reading, ( 2) found a box of picture frames in the garage, and (3) discovered more than 40 FREE scriptural machine embroidery designs at\u00c2\u00a0 Designs by JuJu<\/a><\/em> .\u00c2\u00a0 Hmm…..<\/p>\n

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\"f\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Always eager to make my husband happy by using up and moving out stuff stored in the garage, I downloaded the free verses from JuJu, gathered up the frames, matched them size-wise to the designs I had in mind, and pulled out neutral colored fabric scraps.\u00c2\u00a0 I was on a mission.<\/p>\n

Most of JuJu’s scripture designs are simply text, frequently offered in two sizes and always in many formats.\u00c2\u00a0 What a generous gift!\u00c2\u00a0 I can only imagine how many lives have been enriched by these free designs.\u00c2\u00a0 Thank you, JuJu!<\/p>\n

She also has two lively sets of scripture called Heavenly Inspirations<\/a> that I recently purchased.\u00c2\u00a0 I can’t wait to stitch these out.<\/p>\n

To the free text designs, I have added a few embellishments, like the little roses above and the praying child below. \u00c2\u00a0 Occasionally I have changed the font.<\/p>\n

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\"train<\/a><\/p>\n

Embroidering “Train up a child…”\u00c2\u00a0 was a special pleasure and challenge. A leftover scrap of tone-on-tone church fabric seemed like the perfect background for this verse.\u00c2\u00a0 The piece was just barely 7” down the selvage,\u00c2\u00a0 enough for the 5 x 7 design, but not enough to wrap over the cardboard to secure the design. \u00c2\u00a0 So scrap fabric was stitched on either end, making it wide enough for hooping and wrapping.<\/p>\n

Half way through the design, I decided that the background was too busy.\u00c2\u00a0 So I cut up one more scrap, turned the fabric to the wrong side and got just the rigjt effect.<\/p>\n

The fishing design is from a sweet collection called\u00c2\u00a0 Gospel Armor <\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/em> by Thread Sketches.\u00c2\u00a0 It, too, was framed after being scanned, but I was too busy to take a picture before delivering it.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I’d like to stitch more of these Gospel Armor designs for Sunday School classrooms.<\/p>\n

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\"fishers<\/a><\/p>\n

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After getting approval from the property committee chairman, I delivered the first two signs last week.<\/p>\n

Then I continued my buying spree at Embroidery Library<\/em>, one of my favorite sites.\u00c2\u00a0 They have so many gorgeous Bible verse<\/a> designs, suitable for framing.\u00c2\u00a0 Many that I purchased are very stitch intensive, so I think I am going to applique large areas like grass and sky.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:\u00c2\u00a0 Belinda at SewForum just let me know about SewBird<\/a> which has\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 lots and lots of lovely Bible verse designs with frames and additional designs included.\u00c2\u00a0 All for free!!!\u00c2\u00a0 What a beautiful site!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Here are a few good laughs about signs, taken from Sayings for Church Signs.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/a>But I won’t be embroidering them.<\/p>\n