I’m so happy with how the spring table topper is turning out. At this point, I’ll add an applique flower to each end to emphasize the spring theme. Today I’ll get the applique ready, and the topper quilted. I’ll try out even more stitches on the PFAFF passport 2.0 including a surprise one I wasn’t planning on.
In yesterday’s post, I used the basic sewing stitch to piece the spring table topper together. The IDT System, needle up/down button and start/stop button all helped me get the sewing done accurately. Today I’m pulling out the stitch overview to find some other stitches – remember the passport 2.0 has 70 built-in stitches.
Pull out the stitch overview on the side of passport 2.0
Prepare applique flowers
There are a lot of spring flowers to choose from to add to your quilt top. I went with the happy-looking pansy which can survive in my garden or a cute pot even through spring snowfalls.
Use templates provided to cut flower shapes from the HeatNBond lite.
Flower fabrics with fusible on the back to be ironed on
Fuse the flowers in place
I’m placing a pansy at each end in opposite corners.
Pansy fabrics fused in place on the corner of the table topper
When it comes to stitching around the applique you can choose to do it now or as part of the quilting. I’m going to quilt this topper and do the applique second because it’s a small piece and there isn’t a lot of applique. It’ll also make the flowers puff up a little bit more than if I did the applique first.
Prepare batting
I chose to use some fusible fleece for batting to avoid pinning. When I got out my package, I discovered I needed to piece together the batting to make it long enough. No problem – the PFAFF passport 2.0 has a stitch for that!
It has several stitches that would work but I chose a favorite – stitch 08. To set the stitch on the passport 2.0, press the number buttons – including the 0 – and the stitch will show on the display.
Stitch 08 showing in display on passport 2.0
Then by pressing the information (i) button you find out which presser foot to use. For this stitch, it’s presser foot 1A and the display also indicates to engage the IDT System when it shows the dot.
Pressing the information (i) button to show the presser foot number in the display
I used the needle up/down button and the start/stop button so that I could focus on keeping the batting pieces lined up under the presser foot.
Sewing the batting pieces together with stitch 08 on the passport 2.0
Prepare quilt sandwich
Now I’m ready to layer the backing, the batting and the quilt top to fuse the layers. I laid the fusible side against the backing fabric, fused in place, and then sewed ⅛” around the edge of the quilt top to secure the layers.
Spring table topper with the backing fused to the batting
Quilting the topper
For the quilting, I’ll try one of the serpentine stitches on the passport 2.0. Wavy quilting adds texture and is more interesting than stitch in the ditch. I used the start/stop button to let the machine do all the work. I keep the long seam lined up under the presser foot and enjoy watching the topper come to life with the quilting. I use the needle/up down button too so if I can stop to check my alignment without worrying about moving the quilt top.
Serpentine quilting on the spring table topper
Today was a lot of stitching to get ready for the applique. The passport 2.0 has every stitch I needed to do all the jobs, including the surprise of piecing my batting together to make it bigger. I’m feeling confident that my spring table topper is going to be a great finish for the season.
This is part 4 of 5 in this series
Go back to part 3: Needle up/down feature and the IDT System | No pin piecing necessary
Go to part 5: The finish! Using the blanket stitch and binding the spring table topper
1 comment