What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Yesterday I showed how easy it is to get your artwork onto the PREMIER+ ECQ software canvas.

Are you excited about the possibilities of creating your own embroidery designs? Or your own cutting files for the digital cutter? Or quilting designs for the long arm robot?

Premier + ECQ design software

I’m super excited about how easy the PREMIER+ ECQ software is to use. I’m not afraid of the blank canvas and I’m excited to see what I can create today. The one thing I’ve learned is the more I play with the software, the easier it ...

Isn’t the new PREMIER+ ECQ software I introduced yesterday exciting?

I heard you say you can’t draw so the PREMIER+ ECQ software isn’t for you. Wait! There are some very cool ways you can create designs in PREMIER+ ECQ and none of them involve drawing.

While I’m very creative, my drawing skills are a wee bit on the weak side. I’ve learned practice makes perfect, especially doodling which has helped my free motion quilting. While I continue to practice my doodling and drawing on the side, I’m happy to use the tools within the ...

Welcome back!

This week, I’m sharing something a little different with you. There’s no sewing machine or serger. No – I’m taking a look at a new software package. I’m very excited about it and can’t wait to share it with you.

The software is from the creators of the PREMIER+ Embroidery System. It’s a stand-alone software that does different things than the three levels of the PREMIER+ Embroidery System. While you can create embroidery files in ECQ, it also does more.

It’s called PREMIER+ ECQ. The ECQ stands for Embroidery, Cut, Quilt. Some ...

Welcome back! I hope you’ve enjoyed making some Valentine themed projects this week using the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine and the Circular Attachment.

I’ve used the laser light for several projects over the last 3 months. Here are a couple of videos that you might like to watch for even more information about this great feature. In Video 2 you’ll see the Brother Dream Machine, but the laser light works the same way on the BQ3050.

Video 1 Laser Guided Sewing

Video 2 Half Square Triangles with laser light

Yesterday I showed how to make 2 decoratively stitched fabric circles using the Circular Attachment and the SA186 open toe foot on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine. Today I’ll show how to make a simple pieced heart and use these circles to make a border for a little Valentine quilt.

materials

Red heart fabric

2 – 3½” x 6½” rectangles for heart shape
4 – 4½” squares for outer border

Light border and background

4 – 1½” squares
2 – 3½” squares
2 – 1½” x 6½” rectangles
2 – 1½” x 9½” rectangles

Yesterday, I finished off piecing a Valentine table topper using the Brother Innov-is BQ3050. The sewing fun continues as I make another Valentine-theme project today. Let’s go!

Last month in my QUILTsocial posts, I introduced a fascinating attachment for the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine – the Circular Attachment. You can read my post, Endless design possibilities with the Brother Circular Attachment here.

The Circular Attachment can be used on several other Brother machines as well. There are two extra feet with the attachment – a braiding foot and a cording ...

Yesterday I showed how to make the strip sets and add background squares and rectangles to them with the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine. The laser light feature makes sewing those half square triangle corners so easy! Now it’s time to put everything together.

Sewing instructions

• To make one heart block, arrange the strips as shown in the picture below. Try not to have 2 squares of the same fabric next to each other.

• Sew the strips together using either ...

Welcome back to QUILTsocial! This week I’ll be using some unique features and attachments on the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine to create some easy Valentine’s Day projects.

Today’s quilt uses a pieced heart design. I used scrap fabrics for my quilt, but you could use fat quarters or jelly roll strips for the pieced hearts.

cutting instructions

Hearts (red)
16 – 2½” x about 16″ strips in a variety of colors
1 – 2″ square to use in the sashing

Background (light color)
16 – 2½” squares
8 – 2½ ...

Time to celebrate! Well, almost. In yesterday’s post, I pieced the bow tie blocks and put together the table runner. The PFAFF quilt expression 720 will be doing all the work again today! Today I’ll quilt and bind the table runner.

To prepare the table runner for quilting, layer the top with batting. For the runner I fused batting to the top and then layered them on top of the backing, right side down. This let me avoid having pins to move as I quilted.

The first thing ...

Are you ready to piece? This week is all about preparing for a party by making quilted table decor. In yesterday’s post I used decorative stitches to create stitched fabric. The stitched fabric will be used with a neutral fabric to create a quilted table runner. The PFAFF quilt expression 720 will help me sew the blocks together with precision.

Let’s get started!

For the table runner, approximately 1 yard of neutral fabric is needed. I used the same fabric for the pieced blocks, the plain blocks ...

A quilter can never have enough quilted table decor, right? With the holidays in full swing making something small is a quick finish. In yesterday’s post, I made buttonholes for the first time to complete the quilted napkin rings. Today’s post starts creating the stitched fabric to use for a quilted bow tie table runner.

The table runner lets me explore the built-in stitches on the PFAFF quilt expression 720. There are over 400 stitches built-in, with the option to use them in free motion mode, as well as to modify them with ...

Time to try something new! In yesterday’s post, I started making quilted napkin rings using the Sequence program on the PFAFF quilt expression 720.

Now comes the fun part of turning the flat quilted fabric into a napkin ring by making a buttonhole.

You can sew buttonholes manually with the PFAFF quilt expression 720, but it also comes with the Sensormatic buttonhole foot which is what I tried out. This was the first time I made buttonholes – what a great way to learn a new sewing technique before the end of the year!

The PFAFF ...

Even as we deck the halls for the holidays, the new year is fast approaching. Maybe a small gathering of friends or family will mark the beginning of 2020 at your place. I’m making a couple of fun table decor projects this week to add to a New Year’s Eve party. I relied heavily on the features and stitches of the PFAFF quilt expression 720 to help me create and wasn’t disappointed!

Welcome back! I hope you’ve enjoyed making some disappearing blocks using the Brother Innov-ís BQ3050 machine this week. I encourage you to try this technique with other blocks as well. Starting with a large block, like the 18″ ones I made on Monday and Tuesday, makes it easy to use this technique. Choose a block with simple piecing and you’ll have endless design opportunities. Have fun!

From my September QUILTsocial posts, I showed how to make several projects with some Disappearing Nine Patch blocks. You might like to have a look at these posts for more inspiration.

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 ...