Add charm to fabric with the Basic Shape Creator by Sarah Vanderburgh February 26, 2016 written by Sarah Vanderburgh February 26, 2016 710 Today I’m going to share one more of the embroidery features in the PFAFF Creative 4.5. The quilter in me thoroughly enjoyed playing with the Basic Shape Creator to design my own charm square. Designed 5″ charm square The machine and embroidery stitches manuals If you’ve followed along with my posts this week, then you’ve heard me refer to the manual more than once! This machine comes with two – one is the owner’s manual and the second features beautiful photos of the available embroidery stitches with stitch numbers and color thread details. Using the Basic Shape Creator is explained with step by step instructions in the owner’s manual. I followed the directions once, then changed out the stitch and shape to create my own. Select a stitch In embroidery mode, select a stitch to design the shape with Basic Shape Creator – the button to touch to get into the Shape Creator is the one with butterflies in a curve in the right side menu. Select a shape Next select the shape you want to create with your stitch. The arrow on the image shows which direction the needle will go around the shape as it embroiders. See the calculator icon? calculator popup The calculator popup lets you touch the number of times you want the stitch repeated in the shape. Don’t worry if you get it wrong the first time – there’s a plus and minus sign for you to change the number and see the results to make sure you like it before you stitch it out. Basic shape created This is how the shape that I created looked on the Color Touch Screen. The design needed to be in the space between the black square guides. The machine will let you know if your design won’t fit. 😉 Now it’s time to stitch it out! Stitching out the design Embroidery trimmed to 5″ square When the design was finished I cut the joining threads between the stitches and trimmed the fabric to a 5″ charm. Embroidered charm in placemat Then I decided to use the charm and make a placemat! I used my free Charmed placemat pattern and cut stash pieces to the sizes I need. Notice I used up the rest of the selvage fabric I created earlier this week? I love projects that let me try out new techniques and use up my stash! Designing my own charms with the embroidery stitches available with the PFAFF Creative 4.5 has opened my mind to the creative possibilities of combining quilting and embroidery. I hope you have been inspired to create new things this week! This is part 5 of 5 in this series. Go back to part 4: Embroidering a quilt label with the PFAFF Creative 4.5 Print this page or save as a PDF basic shape creatorcharm squaresembroidery stitchesfabricpfaff creative 4 5 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditWhatsappTelegramEmail Sarah Vanderburgh I love to play with color and *quilts* are my playground! A self-taught quilter, I've been designing quilts for almost 20 years. I'm inspired by happy fabrics, selvages, traditional blocks and nature. I'm also a wife, mother, and elementary school teacher, and enjoy drinking coffee on my front porch in northern Ontario. previous post Embroidering a quilt label with the PFAFF Creative 4.5 next post More quilting fun with ColorWorks Concepts fabric YOU MAY ALSO LIKE... Embroidering a quilt label with the PFAFF Creative... Perfect presser feet to make a zippered case Using decorative stitches to make a selvage project A Quilter’s Review of the PFAFF Creative 4.5 Quilting the Challenge Quilt Free Motion Quilting Motifs Free Motion Quilting is like Doodling Sewing the Applique Shapes to the Quilt More Decorative Stitches on the PFAFF Creative 4.5 8 comments celine December 12, 2022 - 11:16 am i just bought one can’t wait to start playing with it! Reply Carla A. Canonico December 13, 2022 - 2:06 pm Let the fun begin, Celine! lol Reply Joyce Weber March 2, 2016 - 10:06 am I wish I owned a Pfaff. This is great information. I love the idea. Maybe some day I will convince My husband to let me buy a better machine. In the meantime, I can get great ideas for the future. Reply Carla A. Canonico March 2, 2016 - 2:39 pm those machines really are a dream, hope you convince him! :p Reply Shawna Yonts March 2, 2016 - 6:45 am Thanks for this. I think I might even be able to do it! Reply Carla A. Canonico March 2, 2016 - 2:32 pm anything is possible my dear! 🙂 Reply Joyce Brown February 27, 2016 - 8:07 pm This post gives me inspiration to make my own shape designs! Thank you! Reply Sarah Vanderburgh February 27, 2016 - 10:23 pm You’re so welcome, Joyce! Have fun – there are limitless design possibilities 🙂 Reply Leave a Comment Cancel Reply Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.