An interesting experiment

Last weekend I had planned to work on my embroidery again, however I also planned to do some cooking, to refill my freezer.  I ran out of time and didn't actually get to the embroidery.  However, I did work on the software some more.

This weekend I dedicated a chunk of time to helping my mother in law with her tax return, and making a start on our own - as I still haven't received my correct W2, I was unable to do much there, so did manage to complete the experiment I had started last weekend.

Here is what I did. I took a photo of a flowering prickly pear cactus and opened it in Paint Ship Pro, my favorite graphics program, and using the Art Media Effects- Brush Strokes I changed the picture on the left to this, on the right. My thinking was that a more blurred version might just be easier to digitize, this thought was based on my first attempt to digitize the original - not very successfully.

Next step was to import the arty version into my Brother PE-Design Plus software and digitize it. I spent some time moving the order in which the sections would be executed (sewing order on the left in this photo) the manual, and my research online, indicated that the first sewn sections are less obvious, and the last sewn section will be the dominant feature, so I left the beautiful yellow blossom to last. I have to admit that the view displayed in the final screen did not give me much confidence, but I was determined to carry this experiment to the end. 

I am actually quite glad I did, because I was surprisingly happy with the finished embroidery, particularly as the object of the exercise was to gain familiarity with my PE-Design Plus software and do believe I achieved that. No it is not perfect and yes, it is once again on a piece of that rejected sheet. I have learnt my lesson when it comes to experimenting on the real garment, that will come. I am hopeful that I will get some more time this weekend to work with my embroidery, but as I also have another batch of cooking for the freezer planned, perhaps I am being too ambitious, so, for the moment I will settle for this small success.