Machine Embroidery with the Ruby Royale – Part Two

I know – I’m so excited to show you more about machine embroidery with the Ruby Royale and all it can do. But first, let’s look at the built-in tools that we have to play with and how easy it is to get started. There is no complicated stuff to learn. Push a few buttons and you’re ready to hit GO!

I love that about the Ruby Royale. There are a lot of built-in designs so no need to figure out how to get designs from the computer to the sewing machine. 

Sit back and I’ll show you just how easy it is.

When you first turn on the Ruby Royale, you’ll be in sewing mode and the screen shot below is what you’ll see on the large interactive screen. Notice in the top left hand corner, there’s the Stitch Menu, the Font Menu and the File Manger.

I can toggle from Sewing Mode to Embroidery Mode by touching the Sewing/Embroidery Mode Icon in the top right hand corner of the screen.

In the screen shot below, a new icon has appeared in the top left – this is the Designs Menu for machine embroidery. The screen has also changed from the Sewing Mode to the Embroidery Mode.

Notice that I still have access to my Stitch Menu, the Font Menu and the File Manager. More on that in a few minutes.

I now have access to the Embroidery Advisor (similar to the Sewing Advisor in Sewing Mode). The Embroidery Advisor will tell me what type and size of needle, stabilizer, embroidery thread weight, bobbin thread weight and some tips on embroidery. All I need to tell the Ruby Royale is what type of fabric that I am going to embroider on.

This is a brilliant feature. No checking out manuals, no need to call a friend. All the information I need is right there on the screen.

Let’s start by checking out the Designs Menu. There are a LOT of designs built into the Ruby Royale. In fact there are 182 designs. You can scroll through them on the screen or you can check them out in the Sampler book that comes with the sewing machine.

The book shows a picture of each design stitched out. The number of stitches as well as the height and width in ‘mm’ (millimeters) is also included. I guess I’m going to have to learn ‘mm’ one day. I just can’t get that concept in my head although I know it isn’t hard – I picked up almost all other metric measurements, but not ‘mm’!

The thread color numbers in two different brands of thread is also included, however you could use whatever thread color you want.

Yes – I can take any of the stitches (including buttonholes) and incorporate them into an embroidery design! I haven’t had a chance to give this a try yet – I was having too much fun with the other components.

Remember those built in stitch fonts? Yes! They can also be incorporated into the embroidery. And in addition, there are four embroidery fonts in three different sizes.

I can create my own files as well. If I want to build a design using elements that are built-in or from an external source, I will be able to access them in the File Manager Menu.

I know I said yesterday that I wouldn’t likely become a heavy user of machine embroidery. Hmmmm – maybe I better rethink that! The more you realize the possibilities, the more you want to embroider. I was chatting with my daughter today, looking for project ideas to which I could use the embroidery features on the Ruby Royale, and became inspired on a few options. However, you’ll have to wait and see what we make!

In the meantime – you can see that there are so many possibilities for embroidery and we are just exploring those that are built-in. If we were to go to external sources – there’s no end to what is available. Another day I will show you how to get those files into the Ruby Royale.

I don’t have time to show you the editing capabilities of the Ruby Royale this week, but I’ll go through those editing capabilities the next week I’m back in March. You won’t believe what is possible. 

Carla threw down the gauntlet to Jennifer (one of the QUILTsocial bloggers) and myself. She issued a challenge called, What’s Good for the Gal is Good for the Guy. If you missed it, get the full spectrum of the challenge in Jennifer’s introduction at this link.

In short, the challenge consists of making a quilt using the exact same fabric and notions, that reflects each gender. I’ll be using the Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby Royale and its clever machine embroidery features. While Jennifer will use the Pfaff Creative 4.5.

I’m never one to say no to a good challenge so I said I was in! Jennifer got first pick – the Guy or the Gal. She chose the Guy so that left me with the Gal. She is 18 and all about vintage, rustic, abandoned houses, studying architecture and is highly creative!

Then panic sets in as I realize that I’ll have to be clever and crafty, just like the Gal! We each received identical fabric bundles. There were a couple of bundles of (10 inch squares) of Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric. We also received a bundle of fat eighths and a couple of fat quarters all from the same line of fabric.

We got to choose our backing from Northcott Fabrics – I chose a flannel from the Man About Town Flannel collection. The batting – Soft and Toasty by Fairfield was supplied by H.A. Kidd.

Carla also supplied us with a denim pocket that came from the jeans that belonged to a beloved  aunt.

It has been an interesting process. I shall keep you updated from time to time with a picture or two. Perhaps you could even figure out what I chose to do from the “clues” as I post them.

Stay tuned – it’ll be loads of fun machine embroidery with the Ruby Royale and I can’t wait to see what Jennifer came up with for her quilt.

Have a great day!

Ciao!