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Yesterday I showed how to use the laser light on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine to make very accurate quarter square triangle blocks.

Now itʼs time to cut the blocks apart, make the original design disappear and create a whole new block. I made several quarter square triangle blocks using a variety of 10″ squares, so I’ll have lots of design possibilities.

• Cut 2½” strips from 2 sides of each block as shown in the picture below.

• Rearrange the 2½ ...

Yesterday I used the laser light on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 to make half-square triangles. Today, I’ll use the same great feature to make quarter square triangle quilt blocks.

This is a good project for using 10″ squares (layer cakes) or using fabrics from your stash. It’s a very scrappy look, so don’t be afraid to mix and match.

Start with (12) 10″ squares – you can always make more blocks later if you like this design.

• Turn on the laser line by pressing the laser line button.
• Press ...

Yesterday I showed how to use the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 to make a simple, disappearing quilt block. Today I’ll make 2 quilt blocks, rearranging the fabric placement in each one for a different effect.

fabric for 18″ block

• 5 different fat quarters or scraps from your stash. I used leftover Banyan Batiks Island Vibes fabric from my QUILTsocial post Curved strip piecing with the NEW Banyan Batiks Island Vibes – March 2019. Check it out!

cutting instructions

Fabric 1

• (1) 9½” square

Fabric 2

• (4) 2¾” x 9½” rectangles

Fabric 3

• (4 ...

Last month in my QUILTsocial posts, I showed how to use the cord guide bobbin cover, decorative stitches and bobbin work on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine to make some quick and easy gift bags.

This week, I’ll be exploring the magic of disappearing block designs. In previous QUILTsocial posts, I showed how to make several projects using a disappearing nine patch technique. I thought since this technique works for nine patch blocks, it can probably be used for other blocks as well, so I decided to ...

Thanks for coming back to QUILTsocial as I make another quick and easy gift bag using just a few of the many techniques available on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine. So far this week, I’ve shown you how to use the cording bobbin cover to add decorative trim, create words to embellish fabric and using decorative stitching with bobbin work.

One of the features on this machine I’ve come to really appreciate is the easily accessible help screen. When I press the? key at the bottom of the LCD screen, this menu pops up.

Welcome back! Yesterday I showed how to use the cord guide bobbin cover to add some decorative trim to this little gift bag on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050.

Today I’m doing some decorative bobbin work. I had never used this technique before, but now I can see all kinds of possibilities for using it. The bobbin work bobbin case and the bobbin case cover are included in the bundle of supplies that comes with the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050.

To prepare for bobbin work, remove the regular black bobbin case and replace it with the ...

Yesterday, using the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050, I showed you how to use some of the character stitches to make this little gift bag.

Today, I’m using the bobbin cover that lets me add some narrow cording to my project for a decorative finish.

materials

• (8) 2½” x 10″ strips of fabric for the bag. I cut strips from some precut 10″ squares from a layer cake.
• (2) 8½” x 10¾” for the lining
• (1) 16½” x 3½” in a contrasting color for the cuff at the top
• (1 ...

In yesterday’s post, I showed how to use the features of the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 to make a simple, basic gift bag look professionally made.

We often don’t use all the features on our machines, so making these little gift bags is a good chance to use some different features and create a small, useful item at the same time. In last month’s QUILTsocial post, I made a holiday table runner, and used several decorative stitches.

Now let’s start using the ...

Last month in my QUILTsocial posts, I introduced you to the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine. You can check out all the features of this machine by clicking on the Specifications tab on the Brother website.

I’m still finding my way around on the machine, but I’ve learned lots more about some special features I’d like to share with you this week while I make some cute little Christmas gift bags. These are small bags, about 7″ x 9″, but they can easily be made larger.

So gather up some Christmas or holiday fabrics ...

Yesterday I showed you how to use the MuVit dual feed foot on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050to quilt the Christmas table runner. But then I decided to add a little extra embellishment with applique and free motion stitching.

Here’s how to do this

• Choose a fabric with some size-appropriate motifs.
• Apply a light-weight fusible web to the back of the fabric following the manufacturer’s instructions for the product you are using.
• Cut out the desired motifs.

• Place the motifs on the table runner and lightly press in place.
• Now it ...

Welcome back! Yesterday I made crazy quilt houses and finished the center of the table runner. Today I’ll add the borders and then use the MuVit dual-feed foot that comes with the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 to do the quilting.

Add the borders

• Measure the length of your house row and cut 2 strips 5″ (or your desired width) x that length for the top and bottom borders.
• Sew on the top and bottom borders. You can use either of the ¼” feet for this seam – the one with the guide or the one without. If ...

Yesterday I showed you how to sew your own crazy quilt fabric, embellish it with decorative stitches and cut out house and sky shapes. So let’s put it all together to make a table runner.

Now I get to use another great feature of the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine – the laser light guide.

Press the laser light button on the LCD screen. A red laser line shows on the fabric. By default, the laser light is in the middle, but it can adjusted to the right or left by pressing the + or – buttons.

For this project, the laser light ...

Welcome back to learning about the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 week! Yesterday I introduced you to my new Brother BQ3050 machine. Now it’s time to start sewing a Christmas runner with some wonky houses using decorative stitching (there are over 500 stitches from which to choose!). I’ll also be doing some quilting using the MuVit digital dual feed (walking foot). Let’s get started!

• Sew 2 small pieces of fabric together using the ¼” foot with guide. Scraps or 3″ – 4″ strips will work fine for this project.

During the last 2 years, I’ve written QUILTsocial posts about 3 different Brother machines – the NQ900, the Dream Machine 2 and the Luminaire.

I loved using each machine, but I always had to send them back after my posts were finished. So – you guessed it – I decided to purchase my own machine. I chose the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050.

 This machine has all the features I was looking for, including:

•  5” x 11¼” workspace for large quilts
• adjustable LED lighting
• a wide table for larger projects
• the MuVit digital dual feed (walking foot) with 5 different ...

As I began exploring this aspect of My Design Center on the Brother Luminaire this morning, I quickly came to this realization: the potential here is vast. Not really a new revelation, but add that to my initial lack of familiarity to all its nuances, I kinda felt overwhelmed. There’s so much I can do, so many creative directions I can take – and all that was running around my head was, “how do I distill it all into a thousand words (more or less) and a few pictures?” Well… I won’t. I’ll encourage you to pick a ...