Quilting with the HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q: free-motion & more

And it’s the end of the week! There’s so much more I want to share, but there’s no time. It’s been a fun week, and I’ve discovered so many cool features on the HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q.

For the final day, I’ll provide an overview of the different types of quilting, starting with free-motion options and then straight-line quilting, with the feed teeth up.

One of the first steps when undertaking free-motion quilting is to lower the feed teeth. You’ll find the slider on the front of the free arm after removing the accessory tray. Remember to push the slider in the opposite direction when you finish free-motion quilting. The feed teeth will not rise automatically, but the moment you tap on the foot pedal, they will pop up!

As we saw earlier in the week, there are three preset options in the free-motion mode.

Let’s start with the Floating Foot, by selecting the Floating Foot option on the Free-motion menu. Here are a few of the floating presser feet you can use with the Topaz 55Q: the Open  Toe Stippling Foot, the included Embroidery/Darning Foot R, and the Free-Motion Echo Quilting Foot. All of them work equally well; it depends on your taste and what you are quilting. The R foot slips onto the presser foot ankle, while the other two feet shown below do not need the presser foot ankle. It’s a good idea to try out several, as one might work better in a particular situation than another.

For instance, the Free-Motion Echo Quilting foot features a slightly raised edge, making it ideal for stitching close to or over applique shapes.

These feet do NOT hop, but instead, they float over the surface of your work. Here’s a short video to demonstrate what I mean by floating. Don’t forget to change the height on that Free-motion Option screen. You are adjusting the height at which the foot sits over your project, so if there are numerous bulky seams, you want to raise the foot. Alternatively, if the quilt is relatively flat, there’s no need to increase the height of the foot.

The next option is the Spring Foot. There’s no option to raise or lower the height of the foot as it hops, so it shouldn’t get caught up in bulky seams. While we see the height options at the bottom, they are grayed out and unavailable to adjust for the Spring option.

Here are two spring feet – the Open Toe Free-motion Spring Foot and the Sensor Q foot. You’ll need to remove the Presser Foot Ankle to install either of these feet.

Remember that when you’re doing free-motion, the speed at which you have the Topaz 55Q set and the speed at which you move your hands dictate the stitch length. It’s a good idea to experiment with the Speed Control to find a setting that suits your comfort level.

Here are some examples of free-motion quilting you can do. It’s a wide-open topic, with numerous options available. Find a couple of designs you like and make them yours! Remember that practice is the key to achieving a consistent stitch length and utilizing the tools on your Topaz 55Q. With practice, your stitches will become smooth and consistent. Don’t give up – you’ve got this!

The third of the Free-Motion Options is the Free-Motion Ruler Foot. The Ruler Foot is similar to the Floating foot in that it hovers over the quilt, so you have the option to set the height. The more bulky the quilt, the higher you want the foot. There’s a limit, as you don’t want the foot so high that the ruler slides underneath. Don’t worry, the settings prevent that from happening.

Here’s what the ruler foot looks like. It has a single hole for attaching it to the presser foot bar, so there’s no need to guess the height the foot should be. To change the height, you use the plus and minus on the screen. That’s so much easier to use than the generic foot, which has a slot instead of a single opening.

Here’s a quick video to see the Free-Motion Ruler Foot in action.

You can use the Free-Motion Ruler Foot with rulers and templates specifically designed for use with this foot. My preference is to use it for free-motion stitching in the ditch around complicated shapes, which would be difficult to do with a walking foot.

Here are all three examples I stitched in the videos. The tension is fantastic on all three styles, and I used a 50-weight thread in the top and bobbin. It’s incredibly easy to free-motion quilt with the Topaz 55Q, but I highly recommend using the extension table, which I didn’t have access to when I reviewed this sewing machine. Be sure to drop the feed teeth for all three quilting modes, and select the correct presser foot for the corresponding setting in the Free-Motion Options menu.

I know that some of you may not be interested in free-motion quilting, and we have an alternative option available for you. It’s called the Interchangeable Dual Feed Foot, and I LOVE this foot. It has four interchangeable feet – two come with the foot, and the other two (top row) are optional.

I wanted to do some stitch-in-the-ditch on this small piece, so I grabbed the Changeable Quilter’s Guide with the guide in front, which is similar to the Edge-Joining foot I used when I did the paper piecing earlier this week. If I need to reposition the needle —though I didn’t have to in this instance —it’s easy with the positioning function, and the guide glides along the ridge of the seam allowance. Remember, if you want to use in-the-ditch quilting, you want to press those seams to one side, not open.

Because I was using invisible thread in the needle, I lowered the top tension slightly to compensate for that. The stitches were beautiful with no pulling.

Here are a couple of examples of the kinds of stitching you can do with the Interchangeable Dual Feed Foot. The possibilities are endless, and all I can encourage you to do is look at examples, get out the appropriate feet, and start stitching!

And that wraps up the week! I’ve had a great deal of fun taking the new HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q for a test drive. There are so many good features, and one thing I haven’t really mentioned is that many of these new features are ones you’ll find on top-of-the-line machines, but with fewer options. So if the big one is out of your budget, the Topaz 55Q is an excellent alternative. I also love the size, so it’s a perfect option to take to quilt retreats. You’ll have most of the features of your large machine, but in a small footprint and a lot lighter.

Be sure to stop by your local HUSQVARNA VIKING dealer to check out the new HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q.

Thanks for following along this week.

Have a great day!

Ciao!

This is part 5 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 4: Sewing with the HUSQVARNA VIKING Topaz 55Q: precision & possibilities