We are thrilled to tell you about a fabulous new APP : AcuSketch  which was launched during August. This is FREE……all you need do is go to the Apple APP store and download it to your iPad. 

This nine patch quilt top was quilted using the Janome ASQ22 hoop Acufil hoop with 8 big magnets to clamp the quilt to the hoop). The 9 quilting designs were “scribbled” on the iPad and sent wirelessly to the Janome MC15000 Quiltmaker for stitching. SO quick and easy – turn your doodles into quilting designs! As one hooping was stitching, another designs was being made in AcuSketch on the iPad. Whole project took less than 2 hours to complete.

Description:  

 The AcuSketch APP allows you to create embroidery patterns for quilts and other projects by tracing or drawing with your finger or a stylus pen on the iPad screen.  There is a “tour” on the APP once you open it so that you may understand how it works. And it is EASY!

Once you have drawn your lines, shapes or sketch, click and it turns these lines into stitches. You may determine the length of these stitches in mm or inches.

Bring in photo’s or images and draw around them to create new designs – see above.

A blank screen in AcuSketch on the iPad. Ready to create a quilting or thread sketching design in minutes!

This was a quick stippling “scribble” ready to turn into quilting stitches instantaneously.

The APP is also very clever as it “smooths”  some of the lines to reduce the “wobble” factor!  Notice the red line in the pic below.

All that remains is to send this to the embroidery machine and stitch it out. If you own a WIFI enabled Janome embroidery machine such as the JANOME MC 15000 or the JANOME SLYLINE S9, you may send the design wirelessly directly from the iPad to the machine …….through the air!

4 different AcuSketch patterns in 4 of the nine patch blocks.

AcuSketch is compatible with the following models of machines to sew:

• Memory Craft 15000 version 2.11
• HORIZON Quilt Maker Memory Craft 15000 (version 3.00)
• SKYLINE S9 version 1.10 

AcuSketch: features :

• You can draw sewing/quilting patterns to fill spaces between other patterns and embroidery. This is, of course, possible with Digitizing software but is SO much easier in this APP. Janome just made things so much more fun an accessible for our projects!
•  If you are not comfortable with free motion quilting, you may scribble your free motion design on the AcuSketch App and the embroidery machine will stitch this out for you. How cool is that!!
• The lines you scribble or sketch become stitches automatically so even people who say they are not computer savvy or don’t like digitizing software, can do this! It would take me hours to digitize an artwork sketch from my grand daughters (see below) , but all I had to do here was take  a photo of their artwork with the built-in camera on the iPad, bring it into the APP (super easy as the photo icon is right there on the APP screen); then trace over their drawing , tell the APP to turn it into  stitches, and send it to the embroidery machine. What a fabulous way to capture their artwork in stitches. Guess what mine are getting for Christmas?? Pillowcases with their very own artwork embroidered on a corner or panel!!
• So this APP is very Simple and fun to use.

This Easter bunny looks a little bit cross – did I eat all his Easter eggs before he could deliver them? It is a pic my little grand daughter drew for me earlier this year. I took a photo of her artwork with my iPad and just traced around her drawing. Then turned it instantly into stitches!

• Some other things to note:
• It is possible to extend a line by simply touching the end of it and continuing to sketch
• The more times you stop & start on the sketch pad, the more times the embroidery machine will stop and tie off the thread. It does have continuous quilting or stitching if you join thelines carefully asyou go or continue with your sketch in one fluid movement. At first I found this tricky, but it was only because it was a new technique. AS ALWAYS,  the more I practiced, the better at it that I got. Now it is a breeze and I am super happy with the results I am achieving.
• When you have completed drawing a line , you can connect the end of the line with another.
• There is also a function to insert images for tracing – as mentioned above – which is what I did with kiddie artwork (see another one below) . I have also seen a lovely sketch of a someone’s pet dog which was very impressive. Sketch over your favourite pics and see what you can achieve – you will be amazed! I even took a pic of the pattern on a carpet and then AcuSketch’ed that and it made a really fun and interesting quilt pattern. The sky is the limit and you DON’T have to to be able to draw. Isn’t that good to know?!
  

  Another piece of kiddie artwork: this time Blake drew me a cat!

  And how about using AcuSketch to stitch labels for your quilts?? So quick and easy. As easy as writing it on the iPad screen and pressing send to machine…….seriously, that is all there is to it!

  

  

  So there you have it….in summary!

  You probably will want to check out AcuSketch!

  We are having an enormous amount of fun and successful stitch-outs using this new App. And it is FREE! Ask your local Janome Dealer today to tell you more about it and/or attend one of our Janome                    Launch parties across Canada this Fall.