Decals on the Berninas, decals on everything!
I recently bought a Cricut maker and have been having some fun putting designs on the Berninas. I modified a Dover design to make decals. I love the 125 year special edition designs on the 880s so this is my tribute for year 126. The blank areas were just begging for something beautiful. When the new table is finished, the top will extend past the right arm so the decal couldn’t go below where it is. The new top is going to be a brilliant blue instead of plain white so please imagine that in the photo too! These designs go well with the taupe background with the vines on it on the touchscreen. Now I have to try NOT to stare at them while sewing, of course. Have you decorated your machines too?
Without further ado, here they are!
Front view of the Bernina 880 Plus.
I wrapped it around the edge of the cover and cut through the designs where needed.
Now for the Q20! I’m going to modify and add to the lower part of the left view to fit the space better but it wasn’t a bad first go. This is also a modified Dover design.
This looks like it came with the machine. If I was to do it again, I’d make it a little larger so it’s only one quarter of an inch from the text and sides instead of the half inch it is now.
Other projects I’ve done with the Cricut are my recycling box in the kitchen and two other boxes in different sizes but haven’t labelled them yet. I made some canvas handles for it and a liner out of plastic tablecloth so I can wipe it down if necessary. The liner and handles have Velcro on them so everything can be removed easily and the liner doesn’t sag. There’s a great shadow effect as the box is in the sun. I put some distress lines through the font too.
Snazzy recycling box for the kitchen.
Then there’s a 9.75″ round sign with one of my designs on it. The company is fictional and this one is for the bathroom. I modified the Harrington font about 4 years ago to make it more readable and used it in my books. It’s still my favourite font. As I haven’t got any font software, you guessed it, all words are made up of individual images of the letters. I spend a lot of time getting the spacing right. The central design is based on some designs in my From labels to whole-cloths Volume 1 book and will be in Volume 3 (when I finish it) along with some variations on the theme. I’ve just done one with three units instead of this four unit one and it looks terrific. It might appear as a wrought iron design on a table my Mum is getting made up in the coming months. I think that version looks even better than this one! My designs are going to get a work out on signs.
Here’s a fun fact. I’m not that good at painting things perfectly. There are always brushstrokes, etc. I’m loving the distressed look that I can easily get with my painting skills! It’s like if you can’t sew straight, you make modern quilts!
A farmhouse style sign, just for fun.
Last but not least I bought some tins from Spotlight and used one of my label designs and the modified Harrington font to make them into coffee and sugar canisters. I came up with other labels like Emergency chocolate stash (fingerprint ID required) and Tea for Mumma as well. Open tin for sugar high would also work…
I think the designs suit the coffee and sugar tins well.
Over the last 18 months, I’ve been doing several craft items as well as finishing off my four and a half year Canadian quilt project which will be the subject of the next post. I’ve also been working on designs for the two upcoming books, one will be just individual designs like Volumes 1 and 2, and the other will be designs being mixed and matched from the other four books, I’m calling it a companion book. The designs are getting fancier as they evolve. As I work to my own schedule, there’s no time limit for publishing but I can tell you it’s an exciting journey discovering something new in each design session.
Until then, happy quilting and decal making!
Fiona
Fiona Schiffl 
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