QUILTsocial | Issue 08

I wanted to see what my first creation
would look like with a heavier stitch, so
I input the same stitch points again. This
time, though, I used the triple stitch
setting on all advancing stitches. You
can’t see a difference on the editing
screen except for the stitch count, but in
my actual sew-out below, you can clearly
see the weightier stitch version (5th row);
it really shows off my pretty threads!
And then I got carried away (who, me?)
and created a few more. I tried a few of
my own design, one from the machine
manual, and a couple from the book
My Custom Stitch by Barbara Skimin,
published in 2002. That could be a toughie
to find, but it’s still a great reference.
There’s no need to worry about messing
up the originals; your edited versions are
saved as copies. You can save up to 15
custom stitch patterns to the machine’s
internal memory, or as many as you
like on a USB stick. And for the tecchies
who just need to know: stitch patterns
save as numbered .pmv files, which you
may rename at your computer. Your
computer won’t be able to open these
files, but if you set up a folder for them,
it’s a great place to store a growing
collection. Just pop ’em on a USB stick
when you want to play with them on
your machine.
While we’re on the topic of saving
stitches, of course I saved all my
creations (okay, the ones I liked) so I
could use them to finish off the sampler.
They don’t look like much on screen, but
they sure stitched out pretty!
Can you spot ‘my’ stitches in the final
piece? Some of them are kinda tricky;
I think I was over-exuberant and didn’t
leave myself as much room as I thought!
Stitch panel, topped up with some My Custom
Stitch creations
I really had fun playing with My Custom
Stitch, and I know I’ll be looking at
anything patterned with new eyes. I
might even take a second look at some
of the hand embroidery stitches I’ve
dismissed in the past because I don’t
have the patience to hand sew.
I hope that if you have a Brother
machine, or plan on getting one, you’ve
been inspired to check out My Custom
Stitch and maybe design some stitch
patterns of your own. It’s amazingly easy,
and even a tiny bit addictive!
Getting carried away is easy with My Custom
Stitch. How many can you create?
Now, while My Custom Stitch isn’t new,
though, I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty
cool – Brother has added something
new starting with the Q-Series: you can
now edit existing built-in stitches as well
as previous creations. So, of course I had
to try it out. It’s very similar to creating
your own stitch, without having to start
from scratch. Again, I was impressed at
how easy it really was to do.
Saved patterns don’t look very exciting – a good
reason to make a stitched “bible” of all your
stitches. They look so different on fabric!
Retrieving My Custom Stitch patterns
from either your machine or the USB
stick is as easy as selecting other stitches
on the NQ3500D: from the sewing home
screen, touch the drawing icon next to
the pencil, choose the source (machine
or USB stick) and folder (bPocket is the
default but I renamed mine just to see if
the machine would read it – it did), and
choose your stitch. Touch ‘Set’ and you’re
ready to sew, with all of the regular stitch
editing options of the built-in decorative
stitches. So now it’s time to fill in the
last few blank spots on the sampler we
began before.
Q
.com
UILTsocial
| issue 8 17