The Husqvarna VIKING DESIGNER EPIC 3 |More creative quilting designs with the Projection Grid

It was so easy to quilt using the Projection System on the Husqvarna VIKING DESIGNER EPIC 3 yesterday.  There was minimal marking, and it was fast! I had so much fun that I decided to try more designs today on my three remaining placemats. Let’s get started!

The more I played, the more I discovered quick designs to stitch using Projection. Today we’ll explore 3 more designs.

Find roughly the center of the placemat. I’ll trim the placemat later and can center the design then. Use the white Chaco Liner to mark a 45-degree line through the center point. For this placemat I then stitched on that marked line, using a 3.0 stitch length and my blue thread in the top and bobbin.

Next, I marked a second line at right angles to the first, ensuring they crisscrossed at the same center point. Again, I wasn’t super exact, but close enough.

For this first project, I set the Projection Grid to 30 mm. The Grid doesn’t disappear when I’m sewing, and since I’m using a straight stitch, I don’t need the Stitch Preview. I didn’t use any of the Stitch Guides for the projects today.

I lined a grid line on my first (reference) stitch line and started to stitch.

I’m using the X of the two reference lines as a guide. So, as I approached the center, I wanted to ensure that I stopped with the needle in the down position one grid width from the reference line. This is where I want to pivot.

Note: About pivoting – it’s OK to pivot, but only if the work is easy to manipulate, meaning it’s small. If it’s a large quilt, pivoting the entire quilt through the machine throat space can be physically challenging, and I would choose a different quilting style.

Did you notice the chalk on the presser foot? That’s the beauty of the Chaco Liner. By the time you finish stitching the line, the chalk has disappeared. It’s my favorite marking tool!

The longer the stitch length, the more risk the Grid won’t end up exactly where you want it to be. You could always lift the presser foot and move the project forward or backward to ensure it’s exact. But in the grand scheme of things, I didn’t get too crazy about precision.

But I did use the tap function on the Multi-Function Foot Control as I neared the pivot point. It was easy to advance by half a stitch with each tap to get the best position to pivot. I love this feature and wouldn’t be without it! I use it for applique, quilting, and sewing. Pretty much anything I sew, I use the foot control tap function.

I had the same experience yesterday when I used the Stitch Guides; there were zero issues with seeing the Grid lines or having the lines line up when I was working on the angles along the edge. Even the corners were easy to see.

Each line I’m stitching is essentially a large V – you’ll see in a second. Once I finished one V, I cut the thread and returned to the same side to stitch the next line. I did NOT pivot and go back in the opposite direction.

Before I knew it, I completed the first quarter of the chevron design. That was EASY!

At first, I had trouble keeping the grid lines aligned with my stitching lines. Then I realized it’s easier if I focus only on the grid lines and not the stitching line. That ‘aha’ moment made keeping the grid lines aligned much easier. That’s why I always tell people you need to stitch, play around, make mistakes, and you’ll figure out the best way to do things.

So the quilting for the second placemat is complete in a chevron pattern. I marked two reference lines in chalk and used the Projection grid to stitch the Vs and keep everything even and consistent. I love the results.

TIP If you’re quilting a project with starts and stops along the edge of the work and you plan to square the project later, use the side thread cutter instead of the Cut Function. It wasn’t neat, and you’ll use slightly more thread, but I was going for speed, and this was fast.

TIP Although the bobbin on the Designer Epic 3 is 30% larger than regular bobbins, eventually, you’ll run out of bobbin thread. If your bobbins don’t fill as full as you would like, rotate the Bobbin Winder Lever that senses when the bobbin is full. Turn it slightly to allow the bobbin to accept more threads before the sensor turns the Bobbin Winder off. If in doubt, get your local dealer to adjust this for you, and do not adjust it so the bobbin is too full. They will not work if they are too full!

Quilting the first placemat today was so much fun and fast that I wanted to try another design using the Projection Grid. This time, I set the grid size smaller to 20 mm.

This time, I drew a 45-degree chalk line from one edge to the other without worrying about it going through the center or the corners of the placemat. I plan to stitch lines one grid width apart.

I wanted a larger square, but the maximum Grid Size is 30 mm. Then I had a lightbulb moment. You can use two squares on the grid to stitch the lines further apart. There are days when I wonder where my mind goes. But again, in times like this, sitting at the Designer Epic 3, playing with the tools, and doing some stitches are the best ways to learn. Use the stitching tools and see what you can come up with. There is no right or wrong, and with this type of small project, the risk is low!

My lightbulb moment came when I nearly finished, and my placemat looked like this. I loved the wider lines, so I ripped out every second row on the part I had previously stitched. I was perfectly OK doing that. I have realized over time that learning and experimentation are way more exciting and important for growth than the result.

Once the extra lines were gone, I drew a 45-degree line in the opposite direction and stitched another set of lines, using two grid squares as my guide. Ensure the second reference line is 90 degrees to the first set of lines.

I’m still shaking my head over that one. The solution for larger squares was so simple! We’ve tricked the Projection Grid into being larger than is allowed on the Projection Menu! And here’s my second placemat for today quilted with a beautiful grid pattern using 45-degree lines. Again, this was very fast, even though I had some stitch removal to do!

My original intention was to stitch a vertical and horizontal line through each of the squares, and I would put the Projection Grid on an angle to help line things up. In this photo, the white line (Stitch Preview) would be my stitching line, and the grid (I changed the color to red) would help me keep the lines straight as I aligned the grid to the diagonal stitching lines. But, I decided I liked the larger squares on point, and I’ll have to make another placemat to try this secondary pattern.

There are so many patterns to choose from and all of them are so easy. Each requires at least one or possibly two reference lines, as those lines ensure your work will be straight, but after that, the Projection System made it easy to do the quilting and keep the lines of stitching consistent.

But today I have one more idea I wanted to try. This time, I marked a straight vertical chalk line down the center of the fabric.

I made this pattern up as I went along and tried different grid sizes and a different order of stitching. The smallest Grid Size is 5 mm, which was too small for my project.

I went back to a grid of 20 mm and stitched using two grid lines for my width.

Then, I stitched a straight line in the opposite direction after marking a reference line to get started. I started on my next set of lines in this photo, so ignore the line that looks out of place.

The next step for this pattern was to stitch a parallel set of lines. I changed the Grid Size to 10. I love the Grid because you can stitch on the left or the right of the original reference line, but that made this part a bit tricky as I had to ensure I was always stitching on the same side of each subsequent line.

For our third placemat of the day, the resulting pattern looks like plaid! Soon, even more ideas started running through my head – what if I stitched a line on both sides of the original line? I could play with the Grid Size even more, and what if I add diagonal lines?

The possibilities for quilting designs are only as limited as your imagination. And I wouldn’t leave this to my imagination. I would sit down at the Husqvarna VIKING DESIGNER EPIC 3 and see what comes out of a play session.

Making small items like placemats is a great way to learn. If you don’t need another set of placemats, donate them to a local community group or use them as pet mats for your local animal shelter.

What about using up some orphan blocks? I can’t stress enough that learning a new technique or tool on a project without sentiment can be a freeing experience. Now, you’re focusing on having fun rather than trying to make the project perfect!

I had so much fun these past two days and I can’t wait to return tomorrow. I’ll show you some embroidery and I have some great ideas to share!

Have a super day!

Ciao!

This is part 3 of 5 in this series

Go back to part 2: The Husqvarna VIKING DESIGNER EPIC 3 | Using the Projection System

Go to part 4: HV DESIGNER EPIC 3 | Preparing your project for projection embroidery