I looked out the window the other morning and saw the first snow flakes of the season. So to celebrate the coming season – I thought we would build some snowmen with the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 960Q!
It seems that I frequently start these blogs with a confession and YES – I have another confession. I visualize these projects in my mind. I work out the details in my head and then I try – I really try to take those ideas and put them on paper BEFORE I start to work. While I may get part of the idea on paper, when I start to work on the project – the design just seems to take it’s own direction.
This project is a case in point and I thought I would share that design process with you so you can learn from it as well.
Today, I’m going to use the built-in stitches on the Sapphire 960Q to create my piece. Tomorrow, I’ll show you various ways we can use this piece of artwork.
Decisions, decisions
As you can see – there is a HUGE range of built-in stitches to choose from on the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 960Q. Since my goal was to use the built-in decorative stitches for my project, I started by reviewing the stitches and deciding how I could incorporate them into my project.
If you have spent some time exploring the stitches and adjusting the widths and lengths – then this process will be very easy – OK – it will be easier because you won’t just be looking at some diagrams and picking from there. It really is a great exercise to play with the stitches.
Once you chose the stitches you think you want to work with, it’s not a bad idea to do a couple of stitch outs. This is where the design process might go astray. What you envisioned in your head may not be what actually stitches out! Ask me how I know.
Both of these stitches are in the Omni Stitch menu. The Omni Stitches are the decorative sidemotion stitches made with the S foot. While the maximum width of the decorative stitches is 7mm, the Omni Stitches can be up to 40mm wide. The stitches can be programmed into an unlimited number of combinations – I used the default settings.
Back to the drawing board
So I was going to stitch a line of snow flakes on that second registration line that went around the snowman, except that I forgot to allow extra room in the corners. See – it doesn’t pay to just go to the machine and stitch – one must do some experimenting. Oooops – OK – so we definitely need to rethink this project. While the Sapphire 960Q makes perfected stitches, the operator is having spatial issues!
Time to modify the project. Here’s another confession – I already had the snowman stitched out and some snowflakes and I hate to waste anything so decided to modify the project and use what I had. But I needed a few more bits.
I cut the snowman out of the original block (2 1/2″ square).
I also cut the snowflakes from that same sample (I didn’t get a picture before I cut it up) – those snowflake borders are 1 1/2″ by 4 1/2″. Then I cut two more snowflake borders from the second piece I stitched out – those also measured 1 1/2″ by 4 1/2″.
The white border is made of 1 1/2″ by 2 1/2″ for the sides and 1 1/2″ by 4 1/2″ for the top and bottom.
I cut corner stones that were 1 1/2″ square.
OK – so that is totally different from what I envisioned but that’s OK. The bottom line is that I can dress up some ordinary fabric just by playing around. I have several more ideas for playing with the stitches and I’m sure they’ll look completely different once I get them stitched out.
I used these winter themed stitches, but if you don’t have these stitches – then try various combinations of other decorative stitches. I’ll have more examples tomorrow.
We’ll also explore a couple of ideas that you can do with these small blocks. Stay tuned for that.
Have a great day!
Ciao!