Sewing the Dream | Chapter 2: First steps

I had planned to write this blog much earlier but to be honest I have been having waaaay too much fun with my XV. 

I have to say I am a “jump in there and press all the buttons” type of girl rather than a “get a cup of tea/coffee and read the manual” type of girl. While waiting for my machine to arrive I did read the manual - a bit - and also actually made a list of what I was going to try when she arrived.  But once she was actually ensconced in my sewing room - all bets were off!  I was drawn irresistibly to My Design Centre like a moth to a flame!

Having installed the first upgrade pack, I simply could not wait to design something all by myself, right there… on the machine!

The first stitch out I did used an initial from one of the beautiful built in alphabets and I chose a background “quilting” design featuring some beautiful roses. Very simple to do as the machine is so intuitive (remember she arrived on Friday and I created this on Saturday morning!)

I decided to join a dedicated Facebook group and followed a step by step video someone had posted so I could get a feel for the process and this block was the result. ALL of these elements are right there in the Design Centre and the possibilities and combinations are truly endless! Of course I also took advantage of the huge 9.5 by 9.5 inch hoop to make this great block!

Inspired by this I went on to design more and more!  It was such fun and SO easy!  It’s a bit like that well-known crisp - you can’t ‘eat’ just one!

This block was created using a different fill background and this time I put the two little birds in the middle and used the satin stitch fill. All the stitches/designs you see here are to be found on the machine itself.

My next project was to make a small wall hanging using some designs I had been given to test. Here it is in progress. To make these blocks I started in Design Centre, created a frame for the block, pulled in the flower outline and filled in the area between the frame and the flower outline with stippling.  Then I took it through to Embroidery and, using the ‘Add’ feature pulled in the flower designs and stitched out the blocks.

The next thing I wanted to do was make something that was created entirely on the XV.  So I decided to make another small wallhanging.

I created the appliqué hearts (cutting them out on the Brother Scan N Cut by the way!) using the shape designs on the XV and using a background fill from Design Centre completed the block. I made three blocks altogether.

Next step was to make the sashing and I decided to make embroidered sashing using the Design Centre. First I selected a rectangular shape from Design Centre and resized it to fit the block. I then chose the leaf design shown here, and copied and pasted until it fit the length of the sashing. I combined the two designs and then sent it to Embroidery. I needed two pieces of identical sashing so - using one of the larger hoops - I was able to put both pieces into the hoop so I could sew them at the same time.

Finally I put it all together, backed it, bound it and created a label - on the XV of course and - voila - my first “Dream Quilt” was finished!

Next I wanted to try something a little different. I wanted to combine an existing design with a border design using one of the ‘fills’ in the Design Centre. The result was this roundel (which, I am happy to say, attracted a lot of interest in a local exhibition here on the Isle of Man.)

As you can see the outer border is made using the leaf fill from DesignCentre and the inner circle is formed using the candlewick stitch outline. The sheep is surrounded by background stippling - automatically placed by the XV - in a light colour to give texture.

Finally I want to show you this! It’s the central part of a cushion front designed in Design Centre with a purchased design in the middle. This time I decided to fill the leaf designs in the corner with satin fill. The stitch quality is absolutely great and I can see many more quilt blocks, cushion fronts and quilts in my future - from traditional to contemporary - it’s all possible on the Brother XV/Dream Machine!

Next time I’ll share some of my early explorations into the wonderful world of scanning on the Brother XV.

Angie Lawrence
Cinnamon Crafts
Isle of Man
#sewingtheDream