3 machine features that make finishing a miniature quilt super easy

I’ve been working all week on THE Dream Machine 2 from Brother to embroider the top of a miniature quilt. It looks SO cute stitched out that I just can’t wait to get it quilted and bound! It did help to have the opportunity to align the design and know how to minimize rethreading when there are a lot of thread color changes in a small design!

After I removed the fabric from the embroidery hoop, I pulled off the Sulky Totally Stable stabilizer from the back of the embroidery.

Next, I layered the embroidered fabric, batting and backing and used my Odif 505 spray to fuse it all together so that I could start quilting.

The dual feed foot

I then replace the embroidery W+ foot with the dual feed foot that came with THE Dream Machine 2. This foot is AMAZING for machine quilting as it pulls all of the quilt sandwich layers through at the same time which results in beautiful stitches with no puckering at all!

The regular bobbin case (with the green screw) also needed to be put back in to replace the embroidery bobbin case that I had been using with the embroidery foot.

Just like the embroidery foot, the dual feed foot needs to be plugged into the back of THE Dream Machine 2.

The guideline marker

The guideline marker button appears on the LCD screen while sewing. Once pressed, it activates the laser light which can be used to help line up your stitching while straight line machine quilting using the dual feed foot.

With the laser guideline showing me the way, I used the dual feed foot to machine quilt “in the ditch” around each block and cornerstone.

I also quilted some straight lines through the blocks along the “seams”. This helped to give the embroidery some dimension and made the blocks look even more “quilt-like”.

The presser foot lifter

I love using the presser foot lifter button on THE Dream Machine 2! The machine also comes with a knee lift, but I really prefer using the button. It’s especially handy when used in combination with the needle down function. When you’re machine quilting straight lines you just stop at the end of the line, the needle goes down, you push the button to lift the foot and you can pivot the fabric around to line up your next quilting line – it’s perfect!

Next I made the binding for the miniature quilt. The guideline marker is so awesome for sewing that mitered seam between strips of binding. For more info on binding a quilt, check out my QUILTsocial post from October 2014.

The dual feed foot on THE Dream Machine 2 is also great for sewing binding onto the edge of a quilt.

The dual feed foot is also super for topstitching the binding! I just fold the binding around to the back of the quilt, making sure that the folded edge extends past the stitching line. Then I use a thread that matches the top of the quilt and I topstitch right along the edge of the binding on the front of the quilt, making sure to catch the folded edge on the back.

I added my label and …done!

Here it is – my finished miniature quilt! As you can see it fits perfectly on the bed of THE Dream Machine 2. It looks so sweet and it was so much easier than piecing a quilt that size! My son said it’s “cheating” but I disagree – I think it was more like thinking outside the box!

Thanks for joining me this week! I’ll see you again next month – who knows what I’ll be creating with this great machine!