There are several Apps that I use on a regular basis with my Janome Skyline S9. These four are my go to for embroidery projects - the Janome AcuEdit, AcuSetter, AcuSketch, and AcuMonitor. And, best thing is they're all FREE!

I use the AcuEdit App for every embroidery project I work on. It helps position and edit the embroidery designs.

It's so easy to connect the App on my iPad to the Janome Skyline S9 machine via WiFi.

Recently, I was working on some buffs for a friend and decided to jazz-up some of the solid coloured knit fabrics with a little embroidery work.

In case you are wondering, buffs are a long tube of stretchy fabric. I've used them in running for years because they are so versatile. You can use them as a neck warmer, head band, hat... you name it! And, they are a quick and fun project to make, especially if you want to use up some leftover lightweight knit fabric!

It might seem scary to embroider on lightweight knit fabrics but it's a breeze if you use the correct stabilizer. A great resource to try different types of stabilizers is the Madeira Stabilizer Starter Pack, available from Janome Dealers. You want a heavy duty stabilizer that doesn't allow the knit to stretch at all while the design is being embroidered. You can use either a cut-away or tear away - for this project I used a tear away which made it a little easier to remove the stabilizer from some of the smaller spots (like the middle of the "a"s ,"g"s, "p"s and "d"s!!

I used the fonts built-in to the Janome AcuEdit App to design this project. Yes, I purposely chose no capital letters. It's meant to look a little like a text message. (For the record, I always use correct upper and lower case in my texts!)

After the design has been edited in the AcuEdit App, I switched over to the Janome AcuSetter App to position the design exactly where I want it on my fabric once it's been set up in the hoop.

It's so easy to get the positioning correct because you fine tune by matching up the markings on the hoop.

Once my project is underway and the machine is doing it's thing, my new favourite App is the Janome AcuMonitor. I didn't get around to using this App for the longest time and I have no idea why. It's fabulous and allows me to check in on the status of my project and not have to be right next to my machine for the entire duration!

The App allows me to see exactly the progress of my embroidery project, including what part of the project it's currently sewing; stitch count; time remaining; whether it's time to change thread colour, and, should something happen during the course of the project, it will update and send an alert if the machine has stopped.

I like to multi-task, so I was finishing off the buffs by trimming the ends while the machine was continuing its work. It's helpful to know where things are at so I can plan my time accordingly.

Half way through my project (according to the progress bar near the bottom)!

And there you have it! Thank goodness for FREE Janome Apps! They really do help us manage these projects and make things more efficient.

Do you use the Janome Apps while embroidering? What is your favourite App to use? And finally, when texting... upper AND lower case? How about punctuation? lol!

Trina Gallop