How to make a snowball block from a 5″ charm square by Christine Baker August 21, 2018 written by Christine Baker August 21, 2018 1K Yesterday on QUILTsocial I talked about the different precuts that are available to quilters and a little bit about how to use each of them. Today I’m using the Dreamweaver XE to sew some of my 5″ charm squares into snowball blocks. The Dreamweaver XE The first thing to do when working with precuts is to measure them to see how accurately they are cut. If you’re only sewing the precuts to each other then this step doesn’t matter that much, but when sewing them to other fabrics that you cut yourself, then you need to make sure that they are accurately sized. As you can see from the picture below, my charm squares are a smidge larger than 5″. I’ll trim the charm pack squares to exactly 5″ to ensure that my piecing is accurate. Measure and trim. After trimming, I’ll cut my 5″ charm square into four 2½” squares. Cut into 2½” squares Last month I made a diamond quilt with this gray fabric as the main color and had quite a few triangular pieces left over. I’d like to use it up, and cut 2½” and 6½” squares from these leftover pieces. Set the 2½” squares aside for now – these will be used on Friday. If you want to use yardage for your snowball blocks instead of leftovers, just cut strips 6½” across the width of fabric and then sub-cut into 6½” squares. Using up leftovers Here are my piles of 6½” and 2½” squares. 6½” and 2½” squares of background fabric Assembling the snowball block The 2½” squares that were cut from the charm squares are placed on the corners of the 6½” square of gray background fabric. Placement of the 2½” squares Now we need to get the Dreamweaver XE set up for sewing. Select the ‘Sewing’ button on the opening screen. Select ‘Sewing’ The sewing stitch selection screen shows up on the screen. We want to select 1-03 “Straight stitch – middle”. Once pressed, this button turns blue to show that it’s engaged. Select “Straight stitch – middle” Now, the “magic”!! Press the “Guideline Marker” key on the Dreamweaver XE to activate the laser pointer. Press ‘Guideline Marker’ key The screen on the Dreamweaver XE shows that the guideline marker is aligned with the stitching line of the selected stitch. The laser will show us exactly where the machine is going to stitch! Guideline marker aligned with stitching line Now we just have to line the laser up across the diagonal of each small square and sew!! No marking needed – isn’t that a great timesaver? Sew along the diagonal Now sew along the diagonal of the remaining three corner squares with the Dreamweaver XE. Sew all four corners. Usually, when you use this method to make a snowball block you just trim away the excess fabric and throw it away but I HATE wasting fabric, so tomorrow I’ll show you how to use the laser pointer on the Dreamweaver XE to make ‘no-waste’ snowball blocks. Sew up a few more blocks like we’ve done above and tomorrow we finish them off. This is part 2 of 5 in this series. Go back to part 1: Taking the mystery out of precuts [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”23735596″] Print this page or save as a PDF 0qs221brotherDreamweaver XEquilt blockssewing machine reviewssnowball block FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditWhatsappTelegramEmail Christine Baker I have been designing and publishing quilt patterns for the last 16 years under the business name Fairfield Road Designs. My patterns range from fusible applique and piecing to felted wool applique and punchneedle. You can see all of patterns on my website www.fairfieldroaddesigns.com. previous post QUILTsocial Giveaway 223: Fat Quarter Bundle of Tie One On by Banyan Batiks! next post FREE! QUILTsocial Magazine Issue 11 Now Available! YOU MAY ALSO LIKE... Taking the mystery out of precuts 6 of my favorite features on the Brother... Using embellishing techniques on the Fidget Quilt Using Brother NQ900’s decorative stitches on a Fidget... Making a Fidget Quilt with the Brother NQ900... Introducing the NEW Brother NQ900 sewing machine QUILTsocial Giveaway 140: Brother PT-1290SBVP Labeller 12 comments Peggy Pirillo August 22, 2018 - 5:02 pm I have to say the laser on this machine, is a pretty darn cool idea! Reply Christine Baker August 22, 2018 - 7:34 pm It IS Peggy! And lots of the different Brother machines have one. It’s SO helpful. Reply Linda August 22, 2018 - 9:18 am Great Snowball tutorial! Charm squares make this a breeze. Reply Christine Baker August 22, 2018 - 7:36 pm Thanks Linda! Wait till you see the finished quilt next month! Reply Anna brown August 21, 2018 - 11:32 pm Very cool tyty for the tutorial. ….great job… Reply Christine Baker August 22, 2018 - 7:39 pm Thank you Anna! Reply Linda Cartwright August 21, 2018 - 11:09 pm I need to find one of those lasers. Reply Christine Baker August 22, 2018 - 7:40 pm Check out the Brother website – lots of their machines come with them now. I just LOVE it! Reply Rhona August 21, 2018 - 12:24 pm Beautiful machine, and the laser I need that in my life! Reply Christine Baker August 22, 2018 - 7:41 pm I think you need one too Rhona! The more I use it, the more I think of new ways to use it! Reply Karen Addleman August 21, 2018 - 8:25 am Thanks for the great tutorial on the snowball block. Reply Christine Baker August 22, 2018 - 7:42 pm Thanks Karen – I’m glad that you found the tutorial useful! 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.