QUILTsocial Spring 2015 Issue | Page 15

Lots of hexagons Hexagon ring Cut shapes along the line To pick a stitch, I need to familiarize myself with how to find the stitches on the sewing machine. There is a bit of a map of the stitches on the top flip up cover of the sewing machine. It shows six different categories of stitches ranging from utility stitches in section one to hand look stitches in section two, decorative stitches in section four and much much more. Each of these sections shows subsections with even more stitch choices. Oh, this is not going to be an easy task! But, I do know I need a stitch that will cover the edge of the applique shape to ensure it stays in place and doesn’t fray. The hard copy manual shows all the stitches as well. All the stitches are found and are accessible on the LCD screen. When on the home screen, use the stylet to click on the icon that looks like lines in a book at the bottom right hand side of the screen. The pink screen of the decorative stitch catalog is now available for me to preview all the stitches. The default setting is category one, which is the utility stitches, including several subcategories, such as “essential stitches”. This is shown in the photo below. Hexagon positioned with strips of fabric The other categories of stitches run along the top of the screen from 1 to 7. I click on category two and now have the stylet ready to click on stitch #8, which is a blanket stitch. This is one of my favorite stitches for securing applique pieces. Top cover with index of stitches After clicking on stitch #8, a screen appears telling me what foot I should use, that the feed dogs need to be up, an image of the stitch, and much more. The stitch length and width can also be changed on this screen using the minus and plus arrows at center bottom. As well, if I wish to switch to another stitch in this subcategory, I can do so at the right hand side of the screen. Accessing the stitch catalog and picking a stitch is very straight forward and user friendly on the Creative 4.5. Lots of throat space on the Pfaff Creative 4.5 QUILTsocial .com ● spring 2015 15