QUILTsocial Issue 12

6 awesome features to love on the
Dreamweaver XE
To be honest, there are at least 30
other ways that the machine can be
customized just in the settings screens
alone, but I think maybe we should
actually sew with it before we adjust
anything else!
I’m sharing some of the features of this
machine that really stand out for me. As
you know I was so impressed with the
NQ900 that I blogged about last year
that I bought it instead of returning it
to Brother. THE Dream Machine 2 was
over the top amazing to work with and
I think I’ll probably love this machine
just as much! But here are some of the
great features that make these Brother
machines so awesome!
Great feature 1 – workspace
The Dreamweaver XE has over 11” of
space to the right of the needle making
it a great machine for free motion
quilting and embroidery. THE Dream
Machine 2 had this exact same space
and my NQ900, although a much smaller
machine has 8.3“ – not too shabby!
Great feature 2 – upper thread shutter
This must be a standard feature for all
Brother machines because all three of
the machines I’ve used have had this
simple yet amazing feature. The upper
thread shutter on the Dreamweaver XE
opens when the presser foot is up and
closes when the presser foot is down.
This prevents the machine from being
threaded if the presser foot is in the
down position. This is VERY important
for your thread tension. If you thread
your machine when the foot is down,
the thread may not pass between the
tension discs and you will not be able
to achieve correct upper thread tension.
Believe me, I can’t understand why other
machines don’t have this simple feature!
Great feature 3 – red/green stop/
start button
Ok, this may be standard for most sewing
machines, but coming from an old
Bernina to these fancy Brother machines
I was very impressed that the stop/start
button could basically tell you if the
machine was ready to sew or not. If the
button is red, something is wrong! For
example, perhaps the presser foot hasn’t
been lowered. If you start free motion
quilting with your presser foot up, you’ll
have a HUGE rat’s nest of thread on the
back of your quilt (I know because this
has happened to me many, many times
with my old machine and I’ve seen it
happen to many of my students). If the
machine won’t sew when the foot isn’t
down, this is a GREAT feature!
Upper thread shutter
The red stop/start button
The green stop/start button on the
Dreamweaver XE from Brother shows
that the machine is ready to start sewing.
11'' of throat space
The green stop/start button
Q
.com|
UILTsocial
issue 12 27