Discover the Smart Touchscreen Features of the HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q

Now that we’ve had a good look at the physical features of the HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q, it’s time to turn it on and see what’s inside. I can’t wait to start, and I think it’s going to be very exciting!

The screen is a 7” capacitive touch screen, meaning it reacts the same as your smart devices do. You can touch, hold, swipe, and so on to easily access the tools within the various areas. At 7 inches, the screen is large and easy to read, with ample room to display the tools you’re working with. I love it and find it incredibly easy to use. I love how the Topaz 55Q greets me each time I turn it on and tells me how much time I’ve spent with it so far.

If I wanted to dive right into sewing, I could select the large sewing icon. However, there are other amazing tools to check out on that page. If we look at the very bottom of the home screen, there’s a fantastic tool called the JoyOS Advisor, where you’ll find various tutorials and guides on needles, stabilizers, getting started, techniques, and much more. If you don’t take the time to explore that tool, you are missing out on a considerable amount of information.

I know what you are going to say – I’ve been sewing forever and I know all that stuff. Guess what? Over the years of writing these blog posts, I started reading the User’s Guides and diving into the built-in tutorials, and I have learned a great deal! It’s worth a little bit of time each day you sew, and soon, you’ll be a whiz at using all the functions of the Topaz 55Q.

The JoyOS Advisor is like having your teacher right beside you. You start by selecting the type of fabric (woven, stretch, leather, vinyl) that you are sewing, as well as the weight (light, medium, heavy). This information helps the Topaz 55Q to preset tensions and stitches for you. It’s a great help to learn different techniques or work with fabrics other than woven, which is the one we use the most.

I’ll be coming back to the JoyOS Advisor later this week.

The User’s Guide is always handy, as you can access it on the home screen or through the Book icon in the top left-hand corner. It’s searchable by Index, Chapter, or topic. And if you really can’t find what you are looking for, there’s the Quick Help (the Question Mark in the top bar on the right). Activate Quick Help by touching it and then selecting anything on the screen. A pop-up message will identify the name of the button or icon you selected, and if there is additional reference material, it’ll provide a direct link to the Built-In User’s Guide. How easy is that? I love this feature and always use it when I get stuck.

I mentioned that the Topaz 55Q is Wi-Fi enabled, and you’ll find the login screens in the Machine Settings (right-most icon in the top bar) or along the top of the screen. What I love is that there are multiple ways to access the same information. It’s super easy to log in.

When you turn on your brand new Topaz 55Q, there’s actually a series of screens that walk you through connecting to your router (Wi-Fi) and logging into your FREE Creativate account. It’s super easy!

Here’s the machine settings menu. In addition to connecting to Wi-Fi and your Creativate account, you can make changes to various aspects in sewing mode, including the display and personalization settings. You’ll find the control for dimming the machine’s LED lights, which I referred to yesterday, in the Display & Audio menu.

In the Machine Settings Menu, you’ll find many ways to customize the Topaz 55Q to suit your needs. One is to choose if you want a light or dark background, with contrasting wording.

Here’s one of my favorite personalization settings in the machine. It’s so simple, yet I love it. It’s the clock! To activate the clock, you must be connected to Wi-Fi, as it needs to select your time zone. However, once you have done that, you don’t need to be connected to Wi-Fi for the clock to function.

You can search for your time zone, making it easy to find the right one rather than searching through a long list of all the time zones. It’s a small detail, but I love glancing up and seeing what time it is when I’m sewing. You can also set a timer, so if you want to ensure you take regular breaks, you can make that happen.

From time to time, you’ll receive a blog post through the Creativate blog. You must be connected to the Wi-Fi and logged into your Creativate account. You’ll see a small flag on the blog icon in the top bar if there’s a new notification. The post might be a suggestion to try a new technique, or directions for a project, or information on an upcoming event. I love the blog – just enough information to keep me engaged, but not so much that it overwhelms me.

Here’s one other thing I love about the new capacitive touchscreen. In this photo, the vertical menu is in the default position on the right-hand side. This menu allows me to select a stitch, open or save a file.

But what if it’s in the way of something else on the screen? A “move” icon has been added at the top of that menu, allowing me to move it anywhere on the screen. I can also adjust the size of the stitch selection window, which is a great feature! It’s incredibly easy with the capacitive touchscreen.

There’s so much flexibility, and I love it all.

Of course, we can also adjust the stitch width and length, as well as the tension, which we’ll discuss later this week when we start sewing. Don’t forget that you can mirror your decorative stitches top to bottom, or side to side – all with the touch of an icon on the sewing screen.

There are some functions along the bottom of the screen. The first one is the three modes of free motion. More on that later this week.

The following function at the bottom of the screen is the Tie-Off programming options. You have an immediate tie-off function on the Function Panel above the needle, but if you want to program a tie-off at the end of sewing sequences, you’ll want to use this option.

And the third one is the Create Sequence, which some people may know as programming. This function allows you to create new sequences up to approximately 20” long! It’s a fantastic tool and I love it. Allow yourself some time to explore this feature, as it can become your new favorite tool. Take most of the 7 mm stitches and fonts, and change each one (width and length) individually. Combine different types of stitches, and you can pull them in from the Stitch Menu, the Creativate Vault, or a USB.

You’ll also have the ability to retrieve files (stitches). These could be stitch sequences that you created in Stitch Sequence or modifications to a stitch (length and width) that you saved. You have three options for retrieving files: on the machine, in the Creativate Vault, or on a USB drive. Additionally, you can save files (stitches) on the machine, in the Creativate Vault, or on a USB drive. The USB option will only appear if there’s a USB device in the USB port.

The last thing we’ll look at today is the Auto Off function. Many people asked for this function, and we now have it. You can set the Topaz 55Q to shut off after one hour, twenty minutes, or never. And you’ll get a warning 10 minutes before it shuts off. So you can cancel the shut-off at that time. This feature is convenient if you are frequently interrupted and unsure when you’ll return to your machine. If you have made changes to your stitches, you’ll receive a notification asking if you wish to return to that same position the next time you turn on the Topaz 55Q.

I typically set it to ‘Never,’ but we have options. I LOVE choices!!

Wow !! There are so many cool features in the HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q. All these features just enhance our sewing experience and make us want to forget house cleaning and sew all day! If you have never experienced any of these features before, it’s definitely worth a trip to your local HUSQVARNA VIKING dealer to check out the Topaz 55Q. You’ll wish you knew about these features before!

Be sure to check back tomorrow, as I’ll be exploring a couple of accessories and delving into a few things about setting up your sewing machine that you may not know about!

Have a great day!

Ciao!

This is part 2 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 1: Unboxing the NEW HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q