~ Rebecca Kemp Brent, Brother Sews Ambassador February is National Embroidery Month, and March celebrates quilting. What better way to enjoy them both than a bit of Quiltbroidery? What is Quiltbroidery? Quiltbroidery lies at the intersection of quilting (including piecing and appliqué) and machine embroidery. It ranges from stitching machine-embroidery designs on patchwork … Read More
Start with just one fashionable hexagon and use the Luminaire 2’s Quilting Borders to create a quick and lovely cover for a small table or a wall hanging to give your décor a holiday lift. Leave out the central hexagon to convert your project to a Christmas-tree skirt! Materials Note: Yardages based on woven cotton … Read More
Has your favorite sports or concert venue mandated clear bags for attendees? You can buy them in lots of places these days, but why not make your own? The addition of fabric handles, and bindings doesn’t compromise the visibility of contents, and it adds a splash of color as well as functional durability. Another plus: … Read More
Finished Size: 12″ x 12″ There are two secrets to sewing beautiful, smooth curves: precise stitching and careful clipping. Using your embroidery machine to sew the curves guarantees perfectly stitched seams every time, and there’s a not-so-secret weapon – pinking shears – for ideal trimming and clipping. Practice on this heart-happy mat that’s big enough … Read More
I organize my life in totes: one for classes, one for car necessities, one for… whatever! This pattern is pieced a little differently from most, creating a central panel that’s perfect for showcasing a border design: a favorite fabric print, a pieced strip leftover from your latest quilt, a continuous embroidered border, or anything you … Read More
Welcome the new year with sophisticated sparkle courtesy of this glittering banner. Metallic thread accents will twinkle and shine in any light. You might want to string fairy lights along the top of the banner or position it to sway gently with air movement so the light bounces in all directions. This banner project can … Read More
You can turn almost any design into wall art, and adding a clock mechanism makes it quite timely as well. I’ve taken advantage of Luminaire’s biggest hoop to make my 12″ x 16″ clock, but you can combine smaller hoopings to make a similar size or change the clock’s size to match your hoop. The … Read More
If you remember the days when a fancy electric typewriter had, maybe two fonts to choose from, you will be as dazzled by the number of fonts now available to us for machine embroidery. Software from Brother like BES 4 and PE-DESIGN can even convert a computer’s word processing fonts to stitch data, expanding the … Read More
Have you seen the new set of three accessory feet to use with THE Dream Quilter 15? They’re “hopping” feet, which means that they move up and down a bit as the needle cycles up and down, providing the best contact with the quilt sandwich as each stitch is formed. Here’s an overview of the … Read More
Sometimes beautiful quilting and the texture it gives a project is intriguing enough to stand alone. Nowhere is that more evident than in a simple wholecloth quilt made with solid-color fabric, and you can add a subtle shimmer by using crepe-backed satin as your fabric. THE Dream Fabric Frame works like an embroidery hoop to … Read More
When we use words like “unlimited potential” to describe the THE Dream Motion Pro software, it’s not just advertising! The designs that come with the program can be combined using the tools in the software to create so many combinations for a complete quilt. Sometimes an all-over quilt pattern may be just what you want … Read More
Rectangles, squares, and triangles, oh, my! These shapes do account for a lot of our piecing needs, but what about interesting shapes, like diamonds and the points of a mariner’s compass? Dream Motion Pro includes tools you can use to fit quilting motifs to those shapes as well. Choosing a Design: Open Select & Sew … Read More
Choose your favorite method for quilting – free-motion or software, simple or advanced – and make a beautiful basket for storage or to dress up a gift. These instructions will walk you through the process using un-pieced fabric and Dream Motion Pro software, either with the simplicity of Select & Sew or the versatility of … Read More
Have you fallen in love with a big, lively print and then not quite know what to do with it? The print gets lost when it’s cut into small pieces! This easy quilt is a perfect answer. The blocks are relatively large, but the lap-size quilt doesn’t take a lot of fabric. The border provides … Read More
It’s like magic: you write on a tablet screen with a pencil-shaped stylus, and your machine stitches your words onto fabric! What a great way to personalize your quilts, whether you use it to add a subtle signature to your quilting or to personalize a project with someone’s name. First Things Here are a few … Read More
Chances are, you won’t always want to quilt in squares or straight rows. Triangles add life to a quilt and are really popular in the modern quilt movement. Plus, you can put two or four triangles together inside a square, or use six to make a hexagon…Happily, there are lots of possibilities for stitching three-cornered … Read More
This post could also be titled “How to Quilt a Bed-Sized Project on an Apartment-Friendly Frame.” With the Zone-to-Zone fabric management system built into THE Dream Motion™ Pro Software, it really is possible to align and quilt an overall design. Once you understand the basics, it’s a straightforward process. Editor’s Note: Jumping in here at … Read More
First Steps for Perfect Quilting Design Placement with THE Dream Motion™ PRO THE Dream Motion™ PRO software offers a lot of tools for placing your chosen design on a quilt. Where to begin? Let’s look at a few of the placement options available in the easy Select & Sew function and talk about when and … Read More