Version 5.

00

Owners Manual
For

A-1 923 Longarm Machine

S & D Stitches, Inc. Written by Dee Dee Townzen Revised August 30, 2010 Printed August 31, 2010

Software License Agreement

U.S./Canada/Australia READ CAREFULLY: S&D STITCHES, INC. (S&D STITCHES) LICENSES THIS SOFTWARE TO YOU ONLY UPON THE CONDITION THAT YOU ACCEPT ALL OF THE TERMS CONTAINED IN THIS SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT (AGREEMENT). BY SELECTING THE I ACCEPT BUTTON BELOW THIS AGREEMENT OR BY COPYING, INSTALLING, UPLOADING, ACCESSING OR USING ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THE SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT. A CONTRACT IS THEN FORMED BETWEEN S&D STITCHES AND EITHER YOU PERSONALLY, IF YOU ACQUIRE THE SOFTWARE FOR YOURSELF, OR THE COMPANY OR OTHER LEGAL ENTITY FOR WHICH YOU ARE ACQUIRING THE SOFTWARE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE OR DO NOT WISH TO BIND YOURSELF OR THE ENTITY YOU REPRESENT: (A) DO NOT COPY, INSTALL, UPLOAD, ACCESS OR USE THE SOFTWARE; (B) SELECT THE I REJECT BUTTON BELOW THIS AGREEMENT (WHICH WILL CANCEL THE LOADING OF THE SOFTWARE). COPYING, INSTALLATION, UPLOADING, ACCESS OR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE OR ANY ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION OR MATERIALS EXCEPT AS PERMITTED BY AGREEMENT IS UNAUTHORIZED AND CONSTITUTES A MATERIAL BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT AND AN INFRINGEMENT OF THE COPYRIGHT AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN SUCH SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION. IF YOU COPY, INSTALL, UPLOAD, ACCESS OR USE ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS USER DOCUMENTATION WITHOUT ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT OR OTHERWISE OBTAINING WRITTEN PERMISSION OF S&D STITCHES, YOU ARE VIOLATING COPYRIGHT AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW. YOU MAY BE LIABLE TO S&D STITCHES AND ITS LICENSORS FOR DAMAGES, AND YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 1. DEFINITIONS 1.1 Access means to use or benefit from using the functionality of the Software. 1.2 S&D Stitches Materials is the collective term for the Software, User Documentation and Excluded Materials. 1.3 Computer means a single electronic device with one or more central processing units (CPUs) that accepts information in digital or similar form and manipulates the information for a specific result based on a sequence of instructions. 1.3 Excluded Materials means any programs, modules, components or functionality, if any, that may be included on media or with materials delivered to You that are not within the License Parameters as described in the User Documentation, or for which You have not paid the applicable fees. 1.5 Install means to place a copy of Software onto a hard disk or other storage medium through any means (including, but not limited to, use of an installation utility application accompanying the Software). 1.4 License Parameters means the definition and limitation of the applicable license scope in Section 2.2 hereof. 1.5 Software means the computer program in which this Agreement is embedded or that is delivered prepackaged with this Agreement. If programs are delivered to You as part of a bundled package, suite or series, the term Software shall include all programs delivered to You as part of that bundled package, suite or series and described in the User Documentation. 1.6 Territory means the country in which You acquire the Software, unless you acquire the Software in a member country of the European Economic Area (E.E.A.), in which the case Territory means the E.E.A. 1.7 User Documentation means the explanatory printed or electronic materials that S&D Stitches or its authorized distributor incorporates in or delivers in or on a package with the Software or sends to You on an invoice, via email, facsimile or otherwise after You acquire or Install the Software, including, but not limited to, license specifications, activation code, license files, instructions on how to use the Software, and/or technical specifications. 1.8 You means you personally (i.e., the individual who reads and is prompted to accept this Agreement) if you acquire the Software for yourself or the company or other legal entity for whom you acquire the Software. 2. SOFTWARE LICENSE 2.1 License Grant. S&D Stitches grants You a non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, transferable, limited license to use copies of the Software and User Document-ation in Your Territory, in accordance with the applicable User Documentation, within the scope of the License Parameters. S&D Stitches license grant is conditioned on Your continuous compliance with all license limitations and restrictions described in this Agreement. If You violate any of these limitations or restrictions, the license grant will automatically and immediately expire. The license descriptions in this Section 2 (Software License) define the scope of rights that S&D Stitches grants to You. Any usage of the Software or User Documentation outside the scope of the applicable license grant constitutes an infringement of S&D Stitches intellectual property rights as well as a material breach of this Agreement. No license is granted under the terms of this Agreement to Excluded Materials (if any). No license is granted under the terms of this Agreement if you did not lawfully acquire the Software. 2.2 License Parameters. S&D Stitches license grant is subject to one or more of the License Parameters defined in this Section 2.2 (License Parameters) as specified in the User Documentation. Unless S&D Stitches expressly specifies or agrees otherwise in the User Documentation, all Software shall be governed solely by license for Standalone (Individual) Versions set forth in Section 2.2.1 (Standalone (Individual) Version). 2.2.1 Standalone (Individual) Version. If S&D Stitches identifies the Software as a Standalone Version or as an Individual Version or if the User Documentation does not identify the Software by either of the version designations set forth in Sections 2.2.2 and Section 2.2.3, You may Install and Access one (1) copy of the Software on one (1) individual Computer, solely for Your personal needs. You may not allow the Software to be Accessed, operated, or viewed from, or Installed or uploaded to, other Computers through a network connection. Except as otherwise explicitly permitted, You may not Install or Access the Software other than on one (1) Computer at a time. 2.2.2 Evaluation Version. If S&D Stitches identifies the Software as a demonstration, evaluation, trial, or not for resale version (Evaluation Version) in the applicable User Documentation, You may Install and Access the Software only for the purpose of commercial evaluation and demonstration. Without limiting the foregoing, You may not use it for competitive analysis, or commercial, professional, or other for-profit purposes. Additionally, functional limitations apply, as set forth in Section 6 (Warnings). 2.2.7 License Term. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the license to use the Software is perpetual. 2.4 Software Components. The Software is licensed to You as a single product and its components may not be separated for distribution or use on more than one (1) Computer unless expressly permitted by S&D Stitches in the applicable User Documentation. 3. PERMITTED AND PROHIBITED ACTIONS 3.1 Permitted Actions.

ii

3.1.1 Backup Copy. (a) Backup for All Versions. With respect to any version of the Software, You may make one (1) backup copy of the Software solely for backup purposes in the event that Your primary copy of the Software becomes inoperable. You may Install and Access such backup copy of the Software only in the event that the primary copy of the Software becomes inoperable and you would be otherwise unable to Access the Software. 3.2 Prohibited Actions. S&D Stitches does not permit any of the following actions and You acknowledge that such actions shall be prohibited: 3.2.1 Use. You may not Install, Access or otherwise copy or use the S&D Stitches Materials except as expressly authorized by this Agreement. 3.2.2 Reverse Engineering. You may not (and may not permit any third party to) reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Software or Excluded Materials (if applicable). 3.2.3 Transfers. You may not distribute, rent, loan, lease, sublicense, or otherwise transfer all or any portion of the S&D Stitches Materials, or any rights granted in this Agreement, to any other person without the prior written consent of S&D Stitches. 3.2.4 Hosting or Third Party Use. You may not Install or Access, or allow the Installation or Access of, the S&D Stitches Materials over the Internet, including, without limitation, use in connection with a Web hosting, commercial time-sharing, service bureau or similar service, or make the S&D Stitches Materials available to third parties via the Internet on Your computer system or otherwise. 3.2.5 Notices. You may not remove, alter, or obscure any proprietary notices, labels, or marks from the S&D Stitches Materials. 3.2.6 Modifications. You may not modify, translate, adapt, arrange, or create derivative works based on the S&D Stitches Materials for any purpose. 3.2.7 Circumvention. (a) You may not utilize any equipment, device, software, or other means designed to circumvent or remove any form of copy protection used by S&D Stitches in connection with the Software, or use the Software together with any, authorization code, serial number, or other copy protection device not supplied by S&D Stitches directly or through an authorized distributor. (b) You may not utilize any equipment, device, software or other means designed to circumvent or remove any usage restrictions, or to enable functionality disabled by S&D Stitches in connection with the Excluded Materials. You may not bypass or delete any functionality or technical limitations of the S&D Stitches Materials that prevent or inhibit the unauthorized copying or use of the Excluded Materials. 3.2.8 Export. You may not export the S&D Stitches Materials in violation of this Agreement, U.S. or other applicable export control laws. 3.2.9 Use Outside of Territory. You may not Access the Software or User Documentation outside of the Territory. 3.2.10 Exceptions from Prohibitions. The prohibitions contained in this Section 3.2 shall apply to the extent that applicable law (including laws implementing EC Directive 91/250 on the legal protection of computer programs) allows such prohibition to be enforced. You will bear the burden of proof in demonstrating that applicable law does not allow enforcement of any such prohibition. 4. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Except as expressly provided otherwise in this Agreement, title, ownership and all rights and interest including, without limitation, patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights, in and to the S&D Stitches Materials and any authorized copies made by You remain with S&D Stitches and its licensors. The structure, organization, and code of the S&D Stitches Materials are valuable trade secrets of S&D Stitches and its licensors and You shall keep such trade secrets confidential. The Software and User Documentation are licensed, not sold. 5. LIMITED WARRANTY AND DISCLAIMERS The computer, monitor and hardware are warranted for a period of one (1) year by S&D Stitches, Inc. The software is warranted by S&D Stitches to be free of bugs as delivered. Some software could create conflicts with CompuQuilter software. For that reason, if you add software to the computer supplied and CompuQuilter no longer works, you must uninstall that software before we can try to resolve your problem. Most programs will cause no problem. If you are thinking about adding software to your computer, let us know. We may be able to tell you if it is compatible or what to watch for if we don't know. Should you require any warranty service, contact your dealer and we will be glad to assist you in obtaining such service from the manufacturer. 5.1 Disclaimer. EXCEPT FOR THE EXPRESS LIMITED WARRANTIES PROVIDED IN SECTION 5 (LIMITED WARRANTY) HEREOF, S&D STITCHES MAKES AND YOU RECEIVE NO EXPRESS WARRANTIES. ANY STATE-MENTS OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THESOFTWARE AND ITS FUNCTIONALITY IN THE USER DOCUMENTATION OR ANY COMMUNICATION WITH YOU CONSTITUTE TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND NOT AN EXPRESS WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE. IN ADDITION, S&D STITCHES SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY OTHER WARRANTY INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, S&D STITCHES DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. 6. WARNINGS 6.1 Functionality Limitations. COMPUTER-AIDED QUILTING SOFTWARE AND OTHER TECHNICAL SOFTWARE ARE TOOLS INTENDED TO BE USED BY A QUILTING PROFESSIONALS ONLY. THEY ARE NOT SUBSTITUTES FOR YOUR PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT. COMPUTER-AIDED QUILTING SOFTWARE AND OTHER TECHNICAL SOFTWARE ARE INTENDED TO ASSIST WITH QUILTING AND ARE NOT SUBSTITUTES FOR INDEPENDENT DESIGN ANALYSIS, SAFETY AND UTILITY. DUE TO THE LARGE VARIETY OF POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS FOR THE SOFTWARE, THE SOFTWARE HAS NOT BEEN TESTED IN ALL SITUATIONS UNDER WHICH IT MAY BE USED. S&D STITCHES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER FOR THE RESULTS OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE. PERSONS USING THE SOFTWARE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUPERVISION, MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF THE SOFTWARE. THIS RESPONSIBILITY INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, THE DETERMINATION OF APPROPRIATE USES FOR THE SOFTWARE AND THE SELECTION OF THE SOFTWARE AND OTHER PROGRAMS TO ACHIEVE INTENDED RESULTS. PERSONS USING THE SOFTWARE ARE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR ESTABLISHING THE ADEQUACY OF INDEPENDENT PROCEDURES FOR TESTING THE RELIABILITY AND ACCURACY OF ANY PROGRAM OUTPUT. 6.2 Activation Code Required. A. INSTALLATION, ACCESS, AND CONTINUED USE OF THE SOFTWARE MAY REQUIRE AN ACTIVATION CODE. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED BEFORE AN ACTIVATION CODE IS ISSUED BY S&D STITCHES. YOU AGREE THAT S&D STITCHES MAY USE DATA AND INFORMATION PROVIDED BY YOU, AN AUTHORIZED RESELLER OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY ACTING ON YOUR BEHALF IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR PURCHASE OF THE SOFTWARE LICENSE TO REGISTER THE SOFTWARE. YOU AGREE TO PROVIDE S&D STITCHES, AN AUTHORIZED RESELLER OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY ACTING ON YOUR BEHALF WITH ACCURATE AND CURRENT REGISTRATION INFORMATION, INCLUDING UPON S&D

iii

STITCHES REQUEST, AND YOU FURTHER AGREE TO MAINTAIN AND UPDATE YOUR REGISTRATION INFORMATION THROUGH CUSTOMER DATA REGISTRATION PROCESSES THAT MAY BE PROVIDED BY S&D STITCHES. BY INSTALLING AND USING THE SOFTWARE, YOU CONSENT TO S&D STITCHES USING THE PERSONAL INFORMATION PROVIDED TO S&D STITCHES AT REGISTRATION, OR UPDATED THEREAFTER, TO ISSUE ACTIVATION CODES, TO MANAGE S&D STITCHESS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU (INCLUDING AUTOMATING THE ISSUANCE OF ACTIVATION CODES FOR FUTURE PURCHASES), AND TO OTHERWISE USE SUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION IN CONFORMANCE WITH ITS APPLICABLE PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH IS AVAILABLE ON S&D STITCHESS WEBSITE OR ON REQUEST. B. THE ACTIVATION SECURITY MECHANISMS MAY DISABLE THE SOFTWARE IF YOU TRY TO TRANSFER IT TO ANOTHER COMPUTER. 9. GENERAL 9.2. Choice of Law. This Agreement and any disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Arkansas, U.S.A, without reference to conflict-of-laws principles and excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. 9.3 Entire Agreement. This Agreement and the applicable User Documentation constitute the entire agreement between us and supersede any other previous or contemporaneous communications, agreements, representations, or advertising with respect to the Software and User Documentation. Any modifications to this Agreement shall be invalid, unless made in a duly signed writing. 9.4 Severability. If and to the extent any provision of this Agreement is held illegal, invalid, or unenforceable in whole or in part under applicable law, such provision or such portion thereof shall be ineffective as to the jurisdiction in which it is illegal, invalid, or unenforceable to the extent of its illegality, invalidity, or unenforceability and shall be deemed modified to the extent necessary to conform to applicable law so as to give the maximum effect to the intent of the parties. The illegality, invalidity, or unenforceability of such provision in that jurisdiction shall not in any way affect the legality, validity, or enforceability of any other provision of this Agreement in any other jurisdiction. 9.5 No Waiver. No term or provision hereof will be considered waived, and no breach excused, unless such waiver is in writing signed on behalf of the party against whom the waiver is asserted. No waiver (whether express or implied) will constitute a consent to, waiver of or excuse of any other, different or subsequent breach. 9.6 Audits. To ensure compliance with this Agreement, You agree that upon reasonable notice, S&D Stitches or S&D Stitches authorized representative shall have the right to inspect and audit Your Installation, Access and use of the Software. Any such inspection or audit shall be conducted during regular business hours at Your facilities or electronically. If such inspections or audits disclose that You have Installed, Accessed or permitted Access to the Software on Computer(s) in a manner that is not permitted under this Agreement, then S&D Stitches may terminate this Agreement immediately and You are liable to pay for any unpaid license fees as well as the reasonable costs of the audit. Any information obtained by S&D Stitches or S&D Stitchess authorized representative during the course of such inspection and audit will be used by S&D Stitches solely for purposes of such inspection and audit. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit any legal or equitable remedies available to S&D Stitches for violation of this Agreement or applicable law. 9.7 Language. The English language version of this Agreement is legally binding in case of any inconsistencies between the English version and any translations. 9.8 Canadian License. If You purchased the license for this Software in Canada, You agree to the following: The parties hereto confirm that it is their wish that this Agreement, as well as other documents relating hereto, including Notices, have been and shall be written in the English language only.

iv

Table of Contents
SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT..................................................................................................................II TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................................................................................II INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. VIII PROGRAM CAPABILITIES....................................................................................................................................X COMPUQUILTER HAS THE FOLLOWING FEATURES:...................................................................................................10 WHAT IS INCLUDED WITH THE SYSTEM ....................................................................................................................10 WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED ............................................................................................................................................11 OPTIONS AND ENHANCEMENTS ................................................................................................................................11 WARRANTY .............................................................................................................................................................11 TRAINING ................................................................................................................................................................12 TO QUILT USING FREE MOTION IN SPEED MODE ........................................................................................................13 TO QUILT USING STITCH REGULATION ...................................................................................................................13 LAYOUT ......................................................................................................................................................................1 TOUCH SCREEN MONITOR ..........................................................................................................................................2 TO QUILT USING COMPUQUILTER....................................................................................................................3 USING THE MANUAL ..................................................................................................................................................3 ATTACHING THE DRIVE CABLES .................................................................................................................................3 STARTUP PROCEDURE................................................................................................................................................4 MOTOR POWER ..........................................................................................................................................................4 BASTE A QUILT ..........................................................................................................................................................4 OPERATOR INTERFACE ........................................................................................................................................7 RUN/ABORT BUTTON .................................................................................................................................................7 DIAGRAM ..................................................................................................................................................................7 SEWING MOTOR ENABLE/DISABLE SWITCH ................................................................................................................7 MOTOR SPEED CONTROL ............................................................................................................................................7 CHANGE STITCH LENGTH WHILE SEWING ...................................................................................................................8 MACHINE HEAD MOVE SPEED DIAL ............................................................................................................................8 NEEDLE UP SENSOR ...................................................................................................................................................8 OTHER FUNCTIONS ....................................................................................................................................................8 SOFTWARE ................................................................................................................................................................9 KEYBOARD ..............................................................................................................................................................10 HOT KEYS ................................................................................................................................................................11 INPUT KEYPAD .........................................................................................................................................................12 DO NOTHING BUTTON .............................................................................................................................................13 CARTESIAN COORDINATES ......................................................................................................................................14 ABOUT CQ PAGE....................................................................................................................................................15 VERSION NUMBER ...................................................................................................................................................15 SERIAL NO. ..............................................................................................................................................................15 Q BUFFER.................................................................................................................................................................15 QUILTING MACHINE .................................................................................................................................................16 VERSION TYPE .........................................................................................................................................................16 PERSONAL PREFERENCES .........................................................................................................................................16 ANCHOR STITCHES...................................................................................................................................................16 HEAD MOVE SPEED ..................................................................................................................................................16 GRID DEFAULTS .......................................................................................................................................................17 SEW DIRECTION .......................................................................................................................................................17 JUMP STITCH ............................................................................................................................................................17 ANCHOR TYPE .........................................................................................................................................................17 BACK STITCHES .......................................................................................................................................................17

ii

SET BACKGROUND COLOR .......................................................................................................................................17 SAVE .......................................................................................................................................................................18 HOW TO GET HELP ...................................................................................................................................................18 SETUP PAGE ............................................................................................................................................................19 PATTERN BUTTONS ..................................................................................................................................................20 OPEN .......................................................................................................................................................................20 PRINT.......................................................................................................................................................................22 APPROXIMATE SEWING TIME BOX ............................................................................................................................22 TOTAL STITCH LENGTH ............................................................................................................................................23 PATTERN TYPE .........................................................................................................................................................23 % OF QUEUE BOX ....................................................................................................................................................23 UNDO AND REDO .....................................................................................................................................................23 RESET ......................................................................................................................................................................23 SAVE SETTINGS BUTTON ..........................................................................................................................................23 RETRIEVE SETTINGS BUTTON ...................................................................................................................................24 GRID ........................................................................................................................................................................24 DRAW SLOW BUTTON ..............................................................................................................................................24 PRINT.......................................................................................................................................................................25 SETUP PAGE MOTIF...........................................................................................................................................27 PATTERN WIDTH ......................................................................................................................................................27 PATTERN HEIGHT .....................................................................................................................................................27 STRETCH ON/OFF .....................................................................................................................................................27 ROTATE PATTERN BOX.............................................................................................................................................28 ROTATE 45 ..............................................................................................................................................................29 FLIP PATTERN X ......................................................................................................................................................29 FROM START GO X...................................................................................................................................................30 FROM START GO Y...................................................................................................................................................30 FROM END GO X ......................................................................................................................................................31 FROM END GO Y ......................................................................................................................................................31 SETUP PAGE CORNER .......................................................................................................................................33 BORDER ...................................................................................................................................................................35 MARGIN ...................................................................................................................................................................35 SETUP PAGE REPEATABLE PATTERN .........................................................................................................37 VIEW BOX ................................................................................................................................................................37 ZOOM ......................................................................................................................................................................38 GRID ........................................................................................................................................................................39 QUILTED WIDTH ......................................................................................................................................................39 QUILTED LENGTH ....................................................................................................................................................39 PATTERN WIDTH ......................................................................................................................................................40 PATTERN HEIGHT .....................................................................................................................................................40 NUMBER OF PATTERNS BOX .....................................................................................................................................41 NUMBER OF ROWS BOX ............................................................................................................................................41 CROP TOP.................................................................................................................................................................41 CROP SIDES ..............................................................................................................................................................42 ROW INDEX..............................................................................................................................................................42 ROW SPACING ..........................................................................................................................................................42 BOTTOM ROW ..........................................................................................................................................................43 STRETCH..................................................................................................................................................................43 STAGGER .................................................................................................................................................................47 TAGGED TWO PART PATTERNS ................................................................................................................................48 SETUP PAGE ARRAYS........................................................................................................................................49 LINEAR ARRAYS ......................................................................................................................................................49 CIRCULAR ARRAYS ..................................................................................................................................................51 WREATH ARRAYS ....................................................................................................................................................53

iii

BOUNDARY PAGE ..................................................................................................................................................57 LOAD .......................................................................................................................................................................57 NEW ........................................................................................................................................................................58 SETTING POINTS ......................................................................................................................................................58 EDIT BOUNDARY POINTS ..........................................................................................................................................58 FINISH......................................................................................................................................................................58 SAVE .......................................................................................................................................................................58 BOUNDARY HEIGHT .................................................................................................................................................59 BOUNDARY WIDTH ..................................................................................................................................................59 FLIP B X AND FLIP B Y............................................................................................................................................59 ROTATE BOUNDARY ................................................................................................................................................59 ROTATE PATTERN ....................................................................................................................................................59 ZOOM SLIDER ..........................................................................................................................................................60 PICTURE HANDLES ..................................................................................................................................................60 CENTER BUTTON .....................................................................................................................................................61 NUDGE BUTTONS.....................................................................................................................................................61 CENTER MOUSE BUTTON.........................................................................................................................................61 SCROLL BARS ..........................................................................................................................................................61 MORPHING...............................................................................................................................................................61 CLEAR BUTTON .......................................................................................................................................................62 BOUNDARY REPEAT PATTERN ......................................................................................................................67 CENTER BUTTON .....................................................................................................................................................68 MORPH A REPEATABLE .............................................................................................................................................68 BOUNDARY ARRAY PATTERN........................................................................................................................71 EXECUTE PAGE......................................................................................................................................................72 POSITION BOXES ......................................................................................................................................................72 STATUS BAR ............................................................................................................................................................73 X AND Y START VALUES .........................................................................................................................................73 GRID ........................................................................................................................................................................73 HEAD MOVEMENT SPEED BAR ..................................................................................................................................73 JOG ..........................................................................................................................................................................74 INCREMENT BY ........................................................................................................................................................74 MOVE ......................................................................................................................................................................74 GO TO ZERO .............................................................................................................................................................75 SET ZERO .................................................................................................................................................................75 GO TO START POSITION ............................................................................................................................................75 GO TO ROW END ......................................................................................................................................................75 JUMP BOX ................................................................................................................................................................77 VIEW .......................................................................................................................................................................78 PULL LEFT OR PULL RIGHT .......................................................................................................................................78 STOP BEFORE PULLING BOBBIN ................................................................................................................................78 FLIP PATTERN X AND Y ...........................................................................................................................................79 ANCHOR STITCH ......................................................................................................................................................79 NEEDLE START POSITION ........................................................................................................................................79 CHANGE BOBBIN ......................................................................................................................................................81 MARGIN ...................................................................................................................................................................81 ONE STITCH BUTTON................................................................................................................................................82 CUT BOBBIN BUTTON ...............................................................................................................................................82 SEWING MOTOR .......................................................................................................................................................82 RUN/ABORT BUTTON ...............................................................................................................................................82 WARNING BOX .........................................................................................................................................................83 EXECUTE PAGE MOTIF ....................................................................................................................................87 INFORMATION BOXES...............................................................................................................................................87 PATTERN WIDTH BOX...............................................................................................................................................87 PATTERN HEIGHT BOX .............................................................................................................................................87

iv

SEW TIME BOX .........................................................................................................................................................87 EXECUTE PAGE ARRAY ...................................................................................................................................91 EXECUTE PAGE CORNER.................................................................................................................................92 EXECUTE PAGE REPEATABLE.......................................................................................................................93 INFORMATION BOXES...............................................................................................................................................93 SEW DIRECTION BOX ................................................................................................................................................93 INDEX BUTTONS .......................................................................................................................................................94 ROW NUMBER ..........................................................................................................................................................94 LAST ROW POPUP .....................................................................................................................................................95 SWITCH....................................................................................................................................................................98 PATTERN START AND END ......................................................................................................................................103 OUTLINE PAGE.....................................................................................................................................................107 SET POINT ..............................................................................................................................................................107 FINISH BUTTON ......................................................................................................................................................107 NEW OUTLINE ........................................................................................................................................................107 EDIT ......................................................................................................................................................................108 INSERT A POINT......................................................................................................................................................108 DELETE A POINT ....................................................................................................................................................108 LOAD OUTLINE BUTTONS .......................................................................................................................................108 BOUNDARY ............................................................................................................................................................108 STOP BEFORE PULLING BOBBIN ..............................................................................................................................109 JOG ........................................................................................................................................................................109 MOVE ....................................................................................................................................................................109 LOAD .....................................................................................................................................................................109 SAVE .....................................................................................................................................................................109 SAVE AS .................................................................................................................................................................109 NOTES PAGE .........................................................................................................................................................113 RESTART PAGE ....................................................................................................................................................115 RECOVER ZERO ......................................................................................................................................................115 SELECT RESTART POINT .......................................................................................................................................116 SELECT OVER/UNDER POINT.................................................................................................................................116 MARK ....................................................................................................................................................................116 ZOOM ....................................................................................................................................................................117 BACK UP ONE POINT...............................................................................................................................................117 GO FORWARD ONE POINT .......................................................................................................................................117 JOG ........................................................................................................................................................................117 INCREMENT BY ......................................................................................................................................................117 BETWEEN ..............................................................................................................................................................117 PATTERN SEGMENT ................................................................................................................................................118 RUN BUTTON. ........................................................................................................................................................118 DXF TO CQ .............................................................................................................................................................123 OPEN .....................................................................................................................................................................123 EXIT CQ ................................................................................................................................................................124 SAVE .....................................................................................................................................................................124 RESTART................................................................................................................................................................124 PATTERN LIST ........................................................................................................................................................124 PATTERN INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................................124 JUMPS ....................................................................................................................................................................124 NO SEW JUMPS ......................................................................................................................................................125 PATTERN NOTES BOX .............................................................................................................................................125 SAVE NOTE ............................................................................................................................................................125 FLIP .......................................................................................................................................................................125 CORNER ON/OFF ....................................................................................................................................................125 POINTS ON/OFF ......................................................................................................................................................125

OPTIMIZE POINTS ...................................................................................................................................................126 FIXED INDEX ..........................................................................................................................................................126 TAG .......................................................................................................................................................................127 ENCODE .................................................................................................................................................................127 ZOOM IN, OUT, AND SHOW ALL ..............................................................................................................................127 GRID ......................................................................................................................................................................127 HOW DXF TO CQ WORKS .....................................................................................................................................127 BUTTONS SHOWN ONLY WHEN NEEDED. ................................................................................................................129 SELECT FIRST BUTTON ...........................................................................................................................................129 MOVE START BUTTON...........................................................................................................................................129 PROBLEM SOLVING ................................................................................................................................................129 ERASER DUST ........................................................................................................................................................129 GAP TOO LARGE.....................................................................................................................................................130 AMBIGUOUS PATH .................................................................................................................................................130 EDIT PAGE .............................................................................................................................................................131 MAINTENANCE.....................................................................................................................................................134 REPLACING X DRIVE CABLE ..................................................................................................................................134 ADJUSTING X CABLE TENSION ...............................................................................................................................138 ADJUSTING Y CABLE TENSION ...............................................................................................................................138 TROUBLESHOOTING ..........................................................................................................................................140 PROGRAM MISBEHAVING. ......................................................................................................................................140 PROGRAM NOT RESPONDING..................................................................................................................................140 MACHINE STARTS SEWING. ....................................................................................................................................140 MACHINE WONT JOG. ...........................................................................................................................................140 PROGRAM QUITS BEFORE FINISHING THE ROW. ......................................................................................................140 MACHINE WONT MOVE.........................................................................................................................................140 NEEDLE NOT IN THE UP POSITION...........................................................................................................................141 MACHINE STARTS RUNNING WHEN THE COMPUTER IS BOOTING UP........................................................................141 THE PATTERN IS DISTORTED WHEN SEWN. .............................................................................................................141 MACHINE SLIPS WHEN JOGGING, MOVING OR SEWING............................................................................................141 MACHINE STOPPED SEWING BUT HEAD KEPT MOVING............................................................................................141 DIVISION BY ZERO OR I/O ERROR MESSAGE. ..........................................................................................................141 SPARE PARTS .........................................................................................................................................................142 SOFTWARE UPDATES.........................................................................................................................................143 HOW TO GET HELP .............................................................................................................................................144 INDEX ......................................................................................................................................................................145

vi

Introduction
Welcome to the CompuQuilter computerized longarm quilting system. CompuQuilter is built by S&D Stitches, Inc., the company that also brings you the StitchRite control system and StitchRite needle positioner. Hello. My name is Stan Townzen. My wife, Dee Dee, and I own S&D Stitches, Inc. I am a design engineer. I have been designing, programming and building computer controlled machines for the last 25 years. Dee Dee is a longarm quilter. She purchased her A-1 923 longarm quilting machine in the spring of 1999. That summer she quilted a snowball quilt with a snowflake motif in each block. I commented how nice it looked. She replied Im glad you like it, but I won't make another one. I took out more stitches than I put in. So I decided to computerize her machine. After a lot of research and some design changes, I had a system up and running by that fall using a commercially available interface program. However, we encountered a problem. I could run it, but Dee Dee could run it only if I set it up. Not good. So I decided to write the interface program from scratch. In the spring of 2000 I had basically what is now CompuQuilter. We have been working on debugging, adding enhancements and fine tuning the interface ever since. With Dee Dee using it daily in her quilting business, we believe we developed a very simple but powerful system that filled the needs of a longarm quilter.

We appreciate your business and encourage you to let us know about your experience with our product. We invite you to look through our web site at www.CompuQuilter.com where we hope to bring you the latest developments in our products and perhaps give you an idea or two on how to use them. Updates to our program are free and backward compatible as long as no hardware changes are required and we can e-mail the updates to you. With this in mind, it is important that you keep your e-mail address up-to-date on our website. If you dont have e-mail, your dealer can help you get a copy of the latest updates. Your comments, corrections to this manual, and any suggestions for improvements to the product, book and/or web site are welcome and appreciated.

Stan Townzen

viii

Program Capabilities
COMPUQUILTER HAS THE FOLLOWING FEATURES:
Arrays place any number of patterns in linear, circular or wreath array. Boundary define a boundary on your quilt and precisely fit a pattern within that boundary. Morph the shape of a pattern within a boundary. Flip Boundary side to side and/or top to bottom. Scales patterns from very small to the capacity of your machine. Ability to stretch pattern length and height individually. Rotates motif patterns -- +/- 360o. Rotates edge-to-edge patterns to follow the lines of the quilt. Morphs edge-to-edge patterns to fit into a wavy border. Flips the pattern from right to left, top to bottom. Staggers patterns helps interlock edge-to-edge patterns. Automatically fits pattern to the quilt calculates number of patterns per row, the number of rows, the space between rows and how much space is left at the top and bottom of the quilt. Locks the stitch at the beginning and end of a pattern, row or segment if you choose. Crop edges of quilt to get a straight line with no gaps in pattern. When you run out of bobbin or break the thread you can stop, correct the problem then start sewing the pattern where you left off. Simple outlining set points then sew. Lets you choose where to start the pattern and shows you how it will look before you sew. From start go you can choose a convenient point to position the pattern then move to the start point of the pattern. From end go move from where the pattern ended to the next start point. Six patterns open at one time. Automatically saves your setups.

WHAT IS INCLUDED WITH THE SYSTEM

CompuQuilter programs. Computer with a minimum of the following specifications: 1. Pentium class CPU 2. 512 megabyte memory 3. 80 gigabyte hard drive 4. Windows Vista operating system 5. 1024 x 768 SVGA 6. 17 inch flat screen monitor, mouse, & keyboard 7. Dual parallel port card (to run the motors). Software for pattern design Front operator panel Motors, drives, power supply, switches and hardware for your machine. x

Your system is shipped in three boxes. One box contains the computer and one the monitor. You will want to keep these boxes at least until your warranty is expired in case you need to ship them for service. The CDs for your operating system are included in the boxes. It is very important that you dont lose them. If you ever download a virus or have a head crash, you will need them to reload your computer. Design software has been included in the boxes. The software license allows you to load an additional copy on a second computer for your personal use. You will want to load it onto your laptop and/or desktop computer as well as on the computer that comes with CompuQuilter. The software has not been registered. You will need to do that but only once, not once for each computer you use. Instructions to use the software are in a document on the software CD. It is in PDF format. You may print it if you so desire.

WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED

Stand for computer and monitor. The computer needs to be placed at the left side of the table when you are facing the front of the machine. Extension cord with surge protector recommended. You may need a Tripp-Lite surge protector that also is a noise filter, especially if you have a motorized advance on your machine.

OPTIONS AND ENHANCEMENTS

Scanner to use drawings to make your own designs. Touch screen monitor. Wireless keyboard and or mouse. Overhead touch screen system available from S&D Stitches.

WARRANTY
The computer, monitor and hardware are warranted for a period of one (1) year by S&D Stitches, Inc. The warranty does not cover labor or shipping. Should you require any warranty service, contact your dealer and we will be glad to assist you. The software is warranted by S&D Stitches to be free of bugs as delivered. Some software could create conflicts with CompuQuilter software. For that reason, if you add software to the computer supplied and CompuQuilter no longer works, you must uninstall that software before we can try to resolve your problem. Most programs will cause no problem. If you are thinking about adding software to your computer, let us know. We may be able to tell you if it is compatible or what to watch for if we don't know. Some anti-virus software may interfere with CompuQuilter. Obviously, no computer should be connected to the internet without anti-virus protection so we strongly recommend that you do not connect the CompuQuilter computer to the internet.

TRAINING
The basis of your training will be this manual. We strongly recommend that you go through it completely before you ever touch your machine. Most of the features work in combination with other features. That makes it difficult to explain any one feature independently of others. I have found that the best way to learn a complicated subject is to first read through the entire manual. Some of it wont make much sense and it being a technical manual, it will have a tendency to put you to sleep. But keep plugging along. After youve finished just reading it, load the demo software on your laptop or desktop computer. Begin doing the exercises. You wont be able to do anything that causes movement of the machine but for the most part, learning CompuQuilter is learning to set up a quilt. In the exercises, Ive indicated where you could begin to use the machine. Again, the first time through, skip that part of the exercises. Later, when your machine is ready and youve had some training with it, go through the manual again and this time, sew where indicated. It will usually take your dealer about 4 to 6 hours to install CompuQuilter on your machine, depending on how much adjusting needs to be made. Changes have been made to the tables over the years and the dealer doesnt always know what to expect when he or she arrives to install your system. Sometimes it could take longer if the dealer needs to drill additional holes, etc. This is a good time to read through your manual. When installation is complete, the dealer will spend the rest of the day teaching you the basics of using your system. This section varies greatly depending on how much experience you have with your machine. The dealer may ask you to start doing the exercises in this manual as homework when he leaves. The time you have alone with your machine is just as important as the time you have with your dealer there. In any case, we ask that you read as much of the manual as you can before the dealer arrives. The more you do that, the more you will profit from the time the dealer spends training you. Make notes right in your manual as you go so you will remember what to ask your dealer when he returns the next day. On the 2nd day, your dealer will answer any questions you have and be there to help you as you complete the exercises. The exercises are written such that each one builds on what was learned in the previous exercises. If you do each exercise and dont skip any, you will be introduced to every function available to you in CompuQuilter. On our website you will find an exclusive forum for CompuQuilter owners. There you will be able to ask questions, discuss problems, show off your latest CompuQuilter work or discuss anything else related to CompuQuilter. To join go to www.compuquilter.com. On any page except the home page, to the right of the screen you will find a place to register. When you fill out that form, an e-mail will be sent to you giving you a temporary name and password. When you receive that e-mail and log on, your registration is complete. At the right side of that page is a link called upgrade account. Click on that link and you will find the information necessary to upgrade. Remember,

you can find your serial number, also called a H.A.M. (Hardware Assist Module), by clicking on the About page of your CompuQuilter program. We know this is a bit cumbersome but we are doing all we can to protect your privacy and to eliminate spambots. Once you are in, Im confident youll find a great group of people to share thoughts and ideas. Suzanne Early also has an excellent chat group called Machine Quilters Resource. Suzanne is not affiliated with any one brand of machine. Her website is www.mqresource.com. After youve had your system for a while, its a good idea to go through the manual again. In fact, you should do that at least every time we send out an update and more often is a good idea. We all fall into the habit of doing the same things and very often, there is an easier way to do something that you have missed.

TO QUILT USING FREE MOTION IN SPEED MODE

There may be times when you wish to use your machine in speed mode without any computerized help. Perhaps you are accomplished at doing feathers or meandering and prefer to continue doing it that way. You are free to do so with this system. If you are new to longarm quilting, this method takes some practice but you will soon be able to control your stitch length on many patterns by controlling how fast you move the machine. Set the speed on the control on the handle bar where you are most comfortable sewing. Thats it! Just sew away. See the manual that came with your machine for detailed instructions.

TO QUILT USING STITCH REGULATION

If you have a stitch regulated machine, there may be times when you wish to use it while hand guiding your machine. I use this when I stitch in the ditch. I also sometimes use it when I am outlining such a small amount that it isnt worth the effort to set up the computer to do it for me. You may choose to use a pantograph pattern with your laser light in stitch regulation mode. Disconnect the cables that move the machine and set your stitch regulator as instructed in the manual that came with your machine.

Layout

Above is a diagram of the recommended layout for the CompuQuilter used on a 12 foot table. If you have a 14 foot table, the length of the space will need to be 2 feet longer. It is best to have about two feet all the way around the table so that you have room to walk and work. The wheels used to index the quilt are on the right Layout

side of the machine table and you need to have access to that end. If space is tight, you can have the left side of the table very close to the wall. This would mean that you can only go around the other end of the machine to get to the back.

You will need something on which to set the computer and monitor. The computer must be close enough to reach the electrical box mounted on the end of the table. The cord is about 10 feet long. The monitor needs to be close enough for you to see the screen while working. That distance is greater for some than for others but generally, if the computer is near the end of the machine, youll be able to see it well enough. You will need adequate lighting. The amount of light you need depends greatly on your age. Many things improve with age but unfortunately, vision is not one of those things. You will have to be the judge of how much is enough. You will need to plug the machine into the wall with regular household current. A power strip with surge protection is recommended. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) on the computer is NOT recommended. If the power drops out for the machine but the computer keeps running, the needle could stop in the quilt while the computer is still moving the machine head. This could cause a quilt to be torn. Unless you are using a touch screen monitor, you will be working often with

the keyboard. You will take it along with you as you move from one end of the machine to the other. We have found the best way to do that is to set the keyboard on the bars of your table. In order to do that, the bars must not be stacked. A wireless keyboard is very handy as is a wireless mouse.

This picture shows the keyboard resting on the bars. As you can see, if the bars were stacked, the keyboard would fall.

TOUCH SCREEN MONITOR

A touch screen monitor is offered as an option with CompuQuilter. The different pages of CompuQuilter were designed to be used with the touch screen. Your finger is the mouse when using a touch screen. If you do not have a touch screen, you must use a mouse to click on the buttons. Other than that, they work the same way.

Layout

To Quilt Using CompuQuilter

USING THE MANUAL
This manual is constantly being updated. I would appreciate any suggestions you have to make it easier to use or any corrections you find, no matter how small. We will post the latest manual on our website at www.compuquilter.com. You may just read it on-line to see if there are any changes you need or you may download the entire manual. We have often encountered problems with people remembering that the X axis is side to side and the Y axis is front to back. Weve tried to change it using the simpler language of front to back or left to right. However, we then run into the problem of how to say set X= zero and other similar problems. So until we figure out a better way, we must stay with the more accurate X and Y axis. There is, however, a little diagram on the front panel on the machine to help you remember. move the machine until you can slip the square cable mount into the slot on the machine carriage as in the picture above. Thread the hand screw into the cable mount and hand tighten. Do this on the front and back.

X Hookup Block To attach the front to back cable, move the machine in or out so the cable mount slot will fit under the front machine axle as in the picture above. Thread the hand screw in to the cable mount and hand tighten.

Front Panel

ATTACHING THE DRIVE CABLES

On the right side of the carriage are three places to attach the drive cables. Those on the front and back are for moving the machine left and right (X axis) and the one in the middle is to move the machine from front to back (Y axis). To attach the left to right cables, Using CQ Y Hookup Block

STARTUP PROCEDURE
Your computer will last longer if you do not turn it off unnecessarily. Heating when turned on and cooling when turned off is what causes electronics to wear out. If your computer has been turned off for some reason, be sure the power to the machine is off before you turn the computer back on. If you boot up the computer with the power turned on, the needle could begin to run and cause damage. If these steps are done out of order, your machines will give you unexpected results. Press the button on the front of the computer above the Dell logo.

MOTOR POWER

Power Supply Label Mounted on the end of the table is an electrical box. On the front of that box is a fuse and an on/off switch with an indicator light. The light indicates when the main power switch is on. The power switch should be turned off if the machine will not be used for an hour or two.

BASTE A QUILT
Many CompuQuilter users prefer to baste the top and sides of the quilt before sewing a pattern on it. There are several ways you may do this and the method you choose to baste the top may be different from the way you choose to baste the sides.

Computer Front Next, double click the CompuQuilter icon on your desktop. If the icon has been removed from your desktop, click on "Start" on the bottom left corner of your screen. Drag your cursor over "Programs" then on the next menu that pops up, click on CompuQuilter. Turn on the switch for the main power and sewing motor power. When the program starts, it will load the saved settings for the last six patterns you used and open to the SetUp page of the pattern in the first button.

Baste Buttons You will see the buttons shown above on the Outline page. V Baste is to baste down the sides and H Baste is to baste across the top and bottom of your quilt. To use the vertical baste, set the number of Anchor stitches to 0 or select pull only on the Execute page. Be sure to set the sewing speed of your machine as slow as possible. Click in the box 4

Using CQ

next to the Vertical baste button and enter the distance you wish to sew. You may use either a negative number which will sew from the back of the machine toward you or a positive number which will sew from you toward the back of the machine. The maximum distance you can enter in this box is the throat depth of your machine. Position the needle where you wish to begin basting. Click the button or type the hot key V on the keyboard. The machine will do a pick up bobbin routine and sew a straight line in the Y axis. At the end, it will do a pick up bobbin routine. When you click Run one last time, the machine will return to the original position. To baste across the width of the quilt, you follow the same basic procedures except you use the Horizontal Baste button. The program does not limit to the distance you can enter in the X axis. Just be sure you dont use a number so large that you run into something at the end of the table. You can use a negative number to sew from right to left. However, sewing machines have a tendency to break thread when sewing a straight line from right to left so you may not want to try that. Another way to baste is to use the hookup blocks as channel locks. If you are basting the top, you would disconnect the block from the Y axis and leave the X axis connected. If you are basting down the sides, you would leave the X axis connected and disconnect the

Y axis. Then the method you use would depend on the equipment you have. If you have a stitch regulator with a baste mode, you could set you machine to use it. You could choose to run your machine in speed mode and set it at the slowest possible speed setting. Or, you could manually move the machine and use the single stitch button where you want a stitch. I would recommend starting in the center of the quilt and basting toward the edges. Others simply begin at one edge and sew straight across to the other side of the quilt. Another way to baste a quilt is to use the repeatable pattern, Straight Line 2. If you have the old pattern named Straight line, it does not work very well. You may go to the Forum page of the CompuQuilter website to download the pattern Straight Line 2. Open this pattern and use Pattern start and Pattern end to sew the line. Across the top you could begin at the left and sew across the entire quilt or set Pattern start at the center and Pattern end at each end. To baste down the sides, you could enter a Quilted width that is equal to the distance the throat depth of your machine allows you to sew on each pass. Set the Rotate pattern to -90o. Be sure the rotation is a negative number or you'll hit your limit switch trying to sew from bottom to top. Again, either use the basting mode of your stitch regulator or the slowest speed mode setting to sew the line.

Using CQ

Operator Interface
DIAGRAM
On the upper right hand side of the panel is a diagram that looks much like the compass points on a map. This is to remind you which direction is X and which is Y.

SEWING MOTOR ENABLE/DISABLE SWITCH

This switch controls the commands to the sewing motor. Note: the Motor On/Off switch should be set to the off position when you are not using CompuQuilter to sew. Turning this switch to off can be used to test placement and/or size of a pattern you are about to run. You run the pattern according to the instructions later in this manual except the motor on/off switch is in the off position. The machine head will trace the sewing path but the needle will not move. CAUTION! If you turn the motor on/off switch to the off position while sewing, the motor will stop but the machine will still be moving. The needle could stop in the quilt and this can result in tearing the quilt. To avoid this, be sure to use the Run/Abort button switch to stop while sewing.

RUN/ABORT BUTTON
The red button on the machine head is the Run/Abort button. It is a dual function button. While the machine is not moving, it works as a Run button. While the machine is moving, it is an Abort button. Any time the machine is not running and you might click the run button on the screen or push the R on the keyboard, you can use this red button instead. While the machine is moving, the Abort button is used to discontinue a move or quit sewing a pattern. When you release the button, the sewing motor will stop, the machine head will stop moving and a popup opens. The program will wait for you to respond to the popup. You can choose Continue, Abort or Restart. If you wish to Continue, you can either click on the Continue button on the screen, press C on the keyboard, or press the red run/abort button. If you wish to Abort, you may click on the Abort button on the screen, press the A on the keyboard or again, use the red run/abort button.

MOTOR SPEED CONTROL

Before running the program, you must turn the machine on and set the motor speed. To do this, press the fast (green) button while observing the meter on the front of the machine. Notice that the meter needle moves to the right indicating an increase in the speed setting. The motor will not yet be running. The longer you press the

green button, the farther the needle moves. The slow (red) button decreases the speed. A good starting point is with the needle at the half-way point (a setting of 5 in the speed range).

head move speed dial. ie. If you have 1 per second on the slider and the dial is set on 150%, your actual sewing speed will be 2 inches per second. Note: This speed only affects your sewing speed. It does not affect the jog speed or move speeds.

CHANGE STITCH LENGTH WHILE

SEWING
While sewing you can increase the stitch length by slowing down the motor speed (pressing the red button) or shorten the stitch length by speeding up the motor (pressing the green button). CAUTION! While sewing be careful not to touch any button other than the red or green buttons to speed up or slow down the sewing speed.

NEEDLE UP SENSOR
The program will check to see if the needle is in the up position before moving more than 0.100 inch. If you attempt to move with the needle down, a popup window will tell you to raise your needle. This is done to prevent tearing your quilt. It will, however, allow you to move small amounts to line a pattern up on your quilt.

MACHINE HEAD MOVE SPEED

DIAL
You can set the machine head move speed on the Execute page using a slider. It allows you to sew between 0.25 and 2 inches per second. You can change the actual machine head move speed by increasing or decreasing the percentage amount on the machine

OTHER FUNCTIONS
All the other buttons and indicators are for using the machine without CompuQuilter. For more information about these, see the manual that came with your machine.

Using CQ

Software
A computer is included with the system you purchased. The CompuQuilter software was loaded onto that computer at the factory before it was shipped. The software can be loaded onto your laptop and/or desktop. When you open CompuQuilter, it does several startup tasks such as setting defaults. One of those tasks is to look for your serial number. If a valid H.A.M. (Hardware Assist Module) is not found, then CompuQuilter opens in Demo mode. The Demo software is not a separate program. It is the same software that has been loaded on your CompuQuilter computer. If at some time in the future you are notified to download an update for your program, you should load the program on all computers you use to run demo mode as well as to load it onto the computer that came with your system. This will ensure that you have the latest software on all computers you use. When you are digitizing a pattern, you will probably not want to stand at your quilting machine. You can load the software on another computer where you can sit comfortably. Then you are able to actually set up the pattern in CompuQuilter to see how it will look. You can make needed adjustments to the pattern without having to go to the machine, copy the pattern to the CQ directory, set it up, close it down then go back to the other computer to change the pattern. You can also use another computer to set up a quilt or show a customer her options for her quilt. This is all while CompuQuilter continues sewing a quilt and earning money for you. The CompuQuilter program has several pages. At the top of the computer screen are tabs marked "SetUp", "Execute", ReStart", "OutLine", Boundary, DXF to CQ, Notes, About CQ Edit and Exit CQ You select which page you want to work with by clicking on one of those tabs or typing the hot key. Each page has the functions you will need to perform the purpose of that page. In using this program, it is helpful to begin with defining some terms. A motif pattern is one that is self contained. You sew one pattern at a time. A corner is a pattern that has been designed to be used in a corner. The program does the calculations differently for a corner than it does for a motif to make it easier to put the pattern in the exact position desired. A repeatable pattern, also called a pantograph pattern or just panto, or E2E (Edge-to-edge) is one that is designed to be sewn one after another in a string. The end point of one pattern is the start point of the next pattern across the quilt. These patterns are often designed to nest so that it is hard to see the rows on the quilt. A border pattern is a repeatable pattern that makes a more or less straight line across the top and bottom. It is designed so that it will fill a border. Of course, you can use a border pattern as a pantograph if you dont mind seeing the rows. You can also repeat copies of a motif pattern across a quilt to fill a border. You can run just one repeat of a repeatable pattern, but the

Using CQ

program treats a repeatable pattern differently than a motif pattern and you need to keep the two straight in your mind to prevent confusion. An edit box is a white area on the screen into which you type information the software needs to run the pattern on the quilt. There will always be a label beside it to tell you what data needs to be entered there. An example is the Pattern height box. There will sometimes be a clicker next to an edit box that you use to change the value in the box. Sometimes there will also be a hint available that appears when you place your cursor over the edit box. An example of that is the pattern height box when you have a repeatable pattern loaded and turn on stretch. Information boxes look very similar to edit boxes but you cannot click in the box to change data. They simply give you information. A button on the screen is similar to a button on a machine. When you click on a button, it reacts as if you pushed a button on a machine something happens. An example is the pattern buttons. When you click on one of those buttons, it opens the pattern stored in that button. A radio button is a small round button in a group. You use a radio button to choose from among the available options. When you turn one radio button on, the others turn off. An example would be the buttons in the Array selection box.

Jogging is when you move the machine a short, predefined distance by pressing a key. You can jog the machine to another position any time you are on the Execute, ReStart, Boundary or Outline pages. With number lock on, use the keys on the number keypad to indicate which direction to move. The numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8 will cause the machine to move in the direction of the arrows. The numbers 1, 7, 9, and 3 will cause the machine to move at an angle between the arrows. Each time you press a number key, the machine will move the distance shown in the box in the lower right corner of the screen that is highlighted with a bright color. You will notice the color of the highlight is different for each increment. This is simply to make it easier to read the screen from a distance.

Jog increment in green The machine will jog 0.025, 0.100, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 or 5.00 inches. It will also jog 10.0 in X (left or right) only. You can select one of those increments by pressing the + or key on the ten key pad until the amount you want is displayed in the jog increment box. Note: The arrow keys between the number pad and alphanumeric key board are Windows keys and are used to move the cursor on the screen. They will not cause the machine to jog. Throughout this manual, when mention is made of the arrow keys, it is referring to the arrows on the numerical keypad and not those of the Windows arrow

KEYBOARD
The computer keyboard is used to input information to the program.

Using CQ

10

keys. Always leave Number Lock turned on.

Hot keys available on Setup page. O Open button R Retrieve S Save P Print Z Zoom toggle full size Overall selected F Full Size toggle zoom overall selected > Flip X button < Flip Y button Hot keys available on Execute page. R Run button J Jog button G Go to zero button P Go to start position M Move button Z Set zero button A Anchor thread button O One stitch button > Flip pattern X button < Flip pattern Y button S Pattern start button E Pattern end button C Cut bobbin I Index K Back W Go to row end B Change bobbin Hot keys available on Last row dialog box. N S C A No change Stretch height Crop height Add row

Windows keys on left Number pad on right

HOT KEYS
The commands on the buttons or tabs on the screen have a letter underlined i.e. Run. The underlined letter is a hot key or shortcut key. Anytime you are on a page and type a hot key, it is the same as clicking on a button or tab. The letters are not case sensitive but you must shift to get > and <. The same hot key might be used for different purposes on different pages. Hot keys available on all pages. U SetUp takes you to the Setup page. X Execute takes you to the Execute page. T ReStart takes you to the Restart page. L OutLine takes you to the Outline page. D Boundary takes you to the Boundary page. N Notes takes you to the Notes page. Hot keys available on Input Keypad E Exit C Clear Using CQ

Hot keys available on ReStart page. M Mark button W Between button R Run button B Back button F Forward button I Zoom in O Zoom out

11

S J Z C N

Show zoom Jog Reset zero Change bobbin Cut bobbin

E Exit C Clear Hot keys available on Jog pad E Exit Hot keys Confirm Popup Y Yes N No Hot keys Last Row Popup N S C A K J No change Stretch height Crop height Add a row Back index Jog Measure

Hot keys available on Outline page. R Run button F F inish button S Set point button I Insert point button E Edit button Z Set zero button G Go to zero button A Anchor thread button O One stitch button C Cut bobbin W New outline J Jog M Move V Vertical baste H Horizontal baste Hot keys available on Boundary page. Z Set zero G Go to zero S Set point > Flip X < Flip Y J Jog E Edit F Finish W New Hot keys available on DXF to CQ Page O S C P D Open a DXF file Save file as a pattern Corner on/off Points on/off Draw slowly

Hot keys on Edit Page P Points On/Off

INPUT KEYPAD
An input keypad is available to help you input your settings. It works like any calculator with which you are already familiar with a few additions.

Hot keys available on run dialog boxes R Run J Jog Q Quit Hot keys available on Input Keypad Input Keypad/Calculator To use the keypad, click in any edit box. The keypad will open. You can then 12

Using CQ

use either your mouse to click on the numbers on the keypad or you can use the numbers and Enter button on your keyboard. When you click on a number or symbol, it is entered in the box under Type in equation. Alternatively, you may type the equation on the keyboard. The Result area keeps a running total of the equation you have entered. When it doesnt have enough information to give a result, a question mark is displayed. For example when the 12 was entered above, the result showed 12. But when the + was entered, the result showed a question mark. Then when the 6 was entered, the result showed 18. When you have finished entering the equation, you can click Clear or press C on your keyboard and the numbers will be cleared. You can then continue using the input keypad as a calculator. You can click Exit or press E on your keyboard and the input pad will close and the number in the box from which you activated it will not be changed. Or, you can click Enter or press the Enter

key on your keyboard. The result will be entered in the box where you started and the input keypad will close. The input keypad is available on the SetUp, Execute, Outline, Boundary, and About CQ pages.

DO NOTHING BUTTON

Do Nothing Button In the upper right corner of each screen, you will see a tiny button with no label. This button is for programming under Windows purposes only. The Windows arrow keys work as a Tab key. If you inadvertently push one of those keys, the buttons of your keyboard may not work as you expected. If it seems that your keyboard doesnt work properly, try clicking on this button.

Using CQ

13

CARTESIAN COORDINATES
X-6 X-4 X-2 Y6 X-2 Y-2 Y4 Y2 Y0 Y-2 X-3 Y-5 Y-4 Y-6 X4 Y-2 X0 Y0 X0 X2 X4 X6 X2 Y4

CompuQuilter is based on a Cartesian Coordinate system. It may have been a long time since many of you studied math. A little refresher here may serve you well. Those of you who still remember, feel free to skip this section. It may help to think of the coordinates in terms of a street map. Lets say our city starts right in the center of town. All the streets are laid out in a grid from that point. The streets that travel east and west are named 1st Street, 2nd Street, 3rd treet, etc. The streets that travel north and south are named 1st Avenue, 2nd Avenue, 3rd Avenue, etc. Lets say you want to locate your favorite quilt shop. It is located on the corner of N 2nd Street and E 3rd Avenue. From the corner of Zero Street and Zero Avenue, you would travel north 2 blocks and east 3 blocks. The city address would be the 300 block of NE 2nd Street. The Cartesian

coordinates for this address would be X3,Y2. If another shop is located on the corner of S 5th and W 8th, you would again begin at Zero. You would travel 5 blocks south and 8 blocks west. The Cartesian coordinates for that address is X-8, Y-5. You can locate any address using the coordinates. You would just have to know that any street running east and west and north of zero has an address with a positive number. South of zero, it has a negative number. Likewise, any street running north and south is positive if it is east of zero and negative if it is west of zero. When you see the coordinates written, the X will always be given first and the Y second as in X5,Y8 separated by a comma. The X and Y will not always be shown, especially if it is zero. Therefore, 0,0 means the same thing as X0,Y0.

Using CQ

14

About CQ Page

Above is the About CQ page in CompuQuilter. This is where you come to find information about your system and to set your preferences.

VERSION NUMBER
In this picture, you see the Version Number is 4.040 Beta. On your system, it will say simply 4.40. The Version Date is the date the software was released.

pattern from a designer who chooses to encrypt, she will ask for your serial number. This is the number she is asking for. You must read the number on the About CQ page of the system connected to your machine. If you copy the software from the machine to your desktop or laptop, CompuQuilter will set this number to Demo. Encrypted patterns will not run on a computer using Demo mode.

SERIAL NO.
Serial Number is specific to each system. It is also called a H.A.M (Hardware Assist Module) number. The system you run on your machine will have a 4 digit number in the format 1234. Some designers encrypt their patterns so that they will only run on the machine for which it was sold. If you purchase a Using CQ

Q BUFFER
Q Buffer is the amount of memory that is allocated to store the data necessary to sew the pattern. If you have problems with your system and call our technical support people, you may be asked to come to this page and read this number to him.

15

QUILTING MACHINE
Quilting machine here says A1Elite. The system attached to your machine will list the type of machine you have it on such as A-1 Elite, APQS Ultimate 1, Gammill, etc.

ANCHOR STITCHES
We have always had a problem deciding how to set the default for anchor stitches. I personally prefer 3 stitches. Stan had the default set to 2. That meant every time I started a quilt, I had to reset this number. About 75% of the time, I forgot to do it and was unhappy with the first few anchor stitches in the quilt. Another user preferred 6 anchor stitches. I dont know if she had the same problems with forgetting to set the number (she is younger than me!) but she certainly had to set this number each time she opened CompuQuilter. The ability to set this preference solves the problem. If you usually like 4 stitches, set it here. If you are perhaps doing a competition quilt and want no anchor stitches so you can bury your knots, you can change it on the Execute page. It will not change the preference youve set on the About CQ page.

VERSION TYPE
Version type here again says CompuQuilter, indicating the full system. It could say it is the Demo E2E Only version. In Demo mode, you cannot do anything that requires motion. For example, you can see the Execute page but you cannot Run the pattern or cut the bobbin. Besides writing the manual, this mode is handy for designing patterns or planning the layout of a quilt. While your system is sewing a quilt, you can enter the setup for your next quilt on your desktop or laptop. When you are happy with the results, you can copy the setup to your memory stick and load it onto the system connected to your machine.

HEAD MOVE SPEED

Head move speed is the speed in inches per second that the machine head moves across the quilt. If you find that most of the patterns you use run best at a certain speed, then set it here. Again, you will still be able to change it on the Execute page. The change on the Execute page will stay in effect until you close CompuQuilter and open it again. Then the defaults will be used.

PERSONAL PREFERENCES
On the right side of the About page is a list of properties that you use in CompuQuilter. Your system has been set up at the factory with default values already in place. You come here to change those defaults. Each time you open CompuQuilter, it will set the values according to what you have listed here. That does not prevent you from changing these values while operating your system. These are only the defaults that are set when you open CompuQuilter.

Using CQ

16

GRID DEFAULTS
Here you can set the grid properties separately for each of the five pages listed. In the picture below you can see that I have set the defaults for some pages differently than for others. Some grids are on and others are off. The grids that are on are different sizes.

sewing the segment. Finally, you may choose to pull a jump stitch. This is where the machine will turn the needle off at the end of the first segment, move to the beginning of the next segment, then turn the needle on and begin sewing without doing an anchor stitch or moving to allow you to pick up the bobbin. Again, this is a default only. You are still able to change these choices at any time on the Execute page.

ANCHOR TYPE
Here you set your preference for what you usually want CompuQuilter to do at the beginning and end of sewing. You have three choices. You may choose Anchor stitch, Backstitch or pull only.

Grid Defaults

SEW DIRECTION
This is a radio button box. Selecting one option turns off the other option. If you usually sew left to right on every row, select that here. If you have an occasional pattern that you want to sew left to right and right to left on alternating rows, you can choose that on the Execute page.

BACK STITCH LENGTH

Here you can set the length of the back stitch. If you normally sew at 10 stitches per inch, set this number at 10. If you normally sew at 12 stitches per inch, set this number at 12.

BACK STITCHES
Here you can set the number of stitches you usually want to sew within the distance of the back stitching.

JUMP STITCH
This is also a radio button box with three choices. Here you tell CompuQuilter what you usually want to do when it encounters a gap in the pattern design. You may choose to sew across the gap. I usually use this option when I crop the bottom row. You may choose to anchor and tie off. With this option, CompuQulter will sew to the end of the segment, stop, do anchor stitches according to your selection, and do a cut bobbin routine. CompuQuilter will then move to the beginning of the next segment. There CompuQuilter will do the pick up bobbin routine, anchor according to your settings, then begin Using CQ

SET BACKGROUND COLOR

Here you can select the color of the background on your computer screen. Stan and I have found that this is very much a matter of personal preference. When you click this button, a box opens showing the left half of the box here. You can select a standard color from the top portion of the box. If you click the words in that box that says Define Custom Colors, the box will expand to look like the one in this picture. Here you may create your own custom color. 17

and will be able to offer you better customer service. When your problem is solved, we want to be sure the solution goes back up the chain. If it is a problem that dealer doesnt know how to handle, well teach him and next time the same issue comes up, hell be prepared to answer. If the dealer was able to solve the problem, he lets me know how I can change the manual to be sure the next customer can find the solution there. The About CQ page has our address and phone number to make it easy for you to reach us. For more information about our company and our products, please visit our web site at www.compuquilter.com. There you will find an abundance of information about us and our products. Youll find blogs written occasionally by one of our staff to inform you of anything that may be going on such as classes being offered or the release of a new update. Youll also have an opportunity to join a chat group where you can talk with other owners about issues and ideas with using CompuQuilter. Of course, we will always be delighted to hear your questions or comments. We encourage you to give us your ideas to improve the program, this book or anything else related to CompuQuilter You may contact us at: info@compuquilter.com

Set Background Color To create a custom color, you can type the values into the boxes at the lower left of the popup or you can move the pointers on the screen in the popup. To make the slider work, you must click inside the strip, not just click and drag the arrow. Whichever color you have selected, either by clicking on a standard color or mixing your own will be shown in the box marked color/solid. When you click OK, the screen color will change to the selected color.

SAVE
At the bottom of the preferences section of the About CQ page is a box marked Save. The text is red until you click it. The text will then turn black and the preferences you selected will be saved. However, the changes will not be made until you close and reopen CompuQuilter.

HOW TO GET HELP

Good customer service is the driving force of our company. If you need help running CompuQuilter, of course your first stop is the manual. If you cannot find the answer here, call your dealer. If your dealer is not able to solve your problem, well always be there to help him. Sometimes, your dealer may instruct you to contact our technical support at the factory. By going first to your dealer, the dealer will be kept current as to the status of your system Using CQ

18

Setup Page

The SetUp page is used to select a pattern and to tell the computer how you want the pattern to be sewn on a quilt. You enter information into some boxes and the computer uses that information to accomplish the task you wish to do. Just under the pattern buttons is a box marked Arrays. In that box are radio buttons marked Default, Linear, Circular and Wreath. Some of the buttons may be grayed out and cannot be selected. This is determined by the type of pattern you have loaded. I will describe each choice in detail in later sections of this book.

Patterns for CompuQuilter are stored in a directory titled CompuQuilter. In that directory are several subdirectories. These subdirectories are named 2-Part, Array, Border, Boundary, Corner, Motif Patterns, Pantos, and Repeat patterns. I have also created subdirectories under Motif and Repeat patterns titled Animals. Its not hard to guess what I have put into those directories. Newer systems have a directory titled Deb Geissler. There you will find a few patterns that she has provided for your use. There is also a subdirectory titled Forever In Stitches that contains several hundred patterns that we have purchased for your use. You can create 19

Setup

additional subdirectories to help you sort your patterns if you wish. Those of you who have owned CompuQuilter longer may not have the subdirectories named Animals. You may choose to create them to follow exactly the directions in the exercises. In the window on the right of the screen, you will see a drawing of the pattern you have chosen. The starting point (X0,Y0) is indicated on the drawing by a red dot. It also shows you the orientation you have selected. You may also notice grid lines on the picture. If the pattern has an offset in X, it will be indicated by a red dashed no-sew line. Just above the left corner of the picture box is a note that a Boundary is on. If no boundary is loaded, this will not be visible. If your pattern has a custom start point, a note saying there is a custom start with a check box marked Scale CSP below it. Ill talk more about each of these later in this book.

The names of the last six patterns you used are shown on the pattern buttons. To open one of those patterns together with the last settings you used on that pattern, click on the buttons with the name of the pattern you wish to use. The name of the active pattern is red. One of the most common problems our customers encounter is with this feature. When CompuQuilter is opened, there is an error message saying that it cant find the file. The customer had used a pattern on a thumb drive then removed the thumb drive. Next time she opened CompuQuilter, it looked for the pattern on the thumb drive and it was not there. A simple solution to this is to do one of two things. One is to copy the pattern from the thumb drive to a pattern directory under CompuQuilter. The other is before you remove the thumb drive, open another pattern on that button.

OPEN

Custom Start Point For safety purposes, you cannot move the machine from the SetUp page. We want you to be paying attention and expecting the machine to move when it is able to do so. On the SetUp page, your attention is focused on how your quilt will look and not on the possibility of moving the machine.

PATTERN BUTTONS

CQopenView Box The Open button allows you to select a pattern from a directory. When you click on the button, the computer will ask if you want to replace the active pattern. If you do not want to lose the settings for that pattern, click on no. Select a 20

Pattern buttons

Setup

Open button again. The computer will again ask if you want to replace that pattern. When you click on yes, a dialog box like the one above will be opened. It will open to the directory that holds the last pattern opened on that button. The left side of the box is broken into several sections. The one on top shows you the drive where you opened the last pattern for that button. If you click on the down arrow to the right of that box, you can select another drive that is available on your computer.

click on a folder that contains patterns of the type youve chosen, those patterns are listed in the bottom section on the left side of the CQopenView Box. On the bar between this section and the next are notations telling you how many patterns and how many pages are in that directory. The one in the picture below has 25 patterns on two pages.

Number of patterns/pages You will also notice that thumbnails of the available patterns will be shown in the view box to the right of the screen. Up to sixteen patterns will be shown per page. If there are more than 16 patterns in that directory, CompuQuilter will create new pages to show them all.

Files of Type Drop Down The section just below that also contains a drop down box. This one allows you to choose the type of file you wish to view. The default is CQ Pattern Files which will open .cmd and .cqp files. You may open DXF or Statler QLI files but you will not be able to preview them on this page. You will see the list of pattern names but when you click on one, no thumbnail will be seen.

CQopenView Page Above the view box to the left is a note saying what page you are viewing. There are also Previous and Next buttons to navigate through the patterns in that directory.

Open View file path The next section down shows you the file path you are viewing. When you Setup

Pattern name At the bottom of the CQopenView Box is a box labeled Pattern Name. In the box 21

is the name of the pattern currently open on the button you are using. If you know the name of the pattern you want to use, you may find it by highlighting the name of the pattern in this box. Begin typing the name of the pattern you wish to find. As you type, the first pattern with a name that starts with the letters you have typed will be selected. It will be red. As you add letters, the choices will be narrowed until you have the pattern you are looking for. You may select a pattern by clicking on the name in the list box, by clicking on the thumbnail or by typing in the Pattern Name box. The pattern selected will be shown in red in the view box to the right and the name of the pattern will be shown in the Pattern name box. If you double click on the selected pattern, a new window will open with a larger view of the pattern. After selecting your pattern, click Open. The pattern will be opened and the dialog box will close. The name of the pattern will appear next to the Open button on the SetUp page. You may have more than one copy of a particular pattern open at the same time. You may want to do this so that you can temporarily save different setups for that pattern. For example, you might have a motif of a certain size to put in blocks on the quilt. You may also have the same motif in a different size and rotated to put in corners of the quilt. If you inadvertently click on the Open Button on the SetUp page, you can return to where you were by clicking on Cancel. All the previous settings will still be in effect.

you click on this button, a dialog box like the one below opens. As you can see, you have several choices for how much you want to print. You may print a selected pattern or all the patterns in the current directory. These choices will print a single pattern per page. You may also choose to print the selected page which is the page you see in the CQopenView Box. Or finally, you may choose to print all pages in that directory. These two selections will print one page per sheet of paper. The name of each pattern will be printed in the upper left corner of each pattern section.

Print dialog box After choosing what you wish to print, click on the button labeled Print. Your usual print dialog box will open and you print as you would any other document.

APPROXIMATE SEWING TIME

BOX

Information boxes When you have set up your quilt information, CompuQuilter calculates approximately how long it will take to sew each row or pattern. You might use this to estimate how long it will take to 22

PRINT
Above the right corner of the view screen is a button labeled print. When Setup

have made. Of course, it does not know how much time you spend advancing the quilt, straightening the batting or other such activities. Youll have to add those to the sewing time to make a good estimate.

TOTAL STITCH LENGTH

This box shows the total length of the sewing path. You might use this to estimate how much thread will be used. Of course, it cannot calculate how much thread you will use starting and stopping a pattern or frog stitching.

times to go back. After clicking Undo, Redo is then activated. And you can redo a change that you had undone. However, like most programs, if you click Undo and then make a change, you can no longer go back to what it was before the change. Note, if you make changes on a page, you can Undo changes you cannot see if you have gone to another page.

RESET
Just to the left of the Open button is a button marked Reset. Sometimes while setting up a pattern, it is easiest to just go back to the beginning and start over. Clicking on the Reset button will do just that. It will restore all the settings to what they were when the pattern was first loaded.

PATTERN TYPE
This box in the upper right corner of the screen will give you details about the type of pattern loaded. It will say if the pattern is a motif, repeatable, corner or tagged.

SAVE SETTINGS BUTTON

% OF QUEUE BOX
This box shows how much memory is allocated to store the pattern you are going to sew. If the pattern takes more memory than allocated, the program will load part of the pattern into the buffer. It will sew that part of the pattern then stop and load the balance of the pattern into the buffer to be sewn. No action is necessary on your part. It will continue sewing until the pattern is complete. Save and Retrieve Settings Buttons The Save settings button at the lower left of the screen allows you to save all the settings for the pattern you have loaded to the hard drive. When you click on the button, a save file dialog box will be opened. The first time you use this button, the button on the lower left corner of the box will say Browse. After that first time, it will say hide folders as it does in the picture of the Save File Dialog Box below. The default name is the same as the pattern name with a dat extension. You may accept that name or change it to something else but the extension must be dat.

UNDO AND REDO

Undo/Redo buttons At the very right top of the screen are two buttons marked Undo and Redo. These work the same as they do in any Windows based program. When you make changes on any of the setup buttons, you can click Undo up to ten Setup

23

Near the bottom center of the screen, you will see a button marked Grid ON or Grid OFF. This is a toggle switch. If the grid is on when you click that button, the grid will turn off. If it is off when you click that button, the grid will turn on. Next to the Grid button is a data box with the +/- clickers next to it. You can change the grid size by changing the number in that box. You can use the +/clickers and they will increase or decrease the grid size in the box in increments of 1/8. You can use your keyboard or the popup window to put any number in the box that is between .125 and 10. The start point of the pattern will be on an intersection of the grid. With a repeatable pattern, you can use the grid on the SetUp page when you have selected Default in the View box. You can also use the grid when you have selected overall view AND zoomed. The grid will not be visible when you select any other view including overall not zoomed.

Save File Dialog Box You might use this feature to save the settings for a quilt that you will make a duplicate of later. For example, if you are making matching quilts for twin beds, you would save the settings on the first quilt then retrieve them for the second quilt. You would select a name that means something to you such as Sues Twin motif. If you are saving an array, a dialog box will pop up asking if you want to save it as a motif. If you choose No, then only the settings will be saved and you can recall it later. If you choose Yes, then the new pattern will be just like any other motif. You will name it and then you will be able to resize, stretch, rotate or use it to make an array of the array.

DRAW SLOW BUTTON

Under the picture of the pattern is a box marked Draw slow. When you click this button, the picture will be erased from the screen. Then the computer will draw the first complete element in the pattern slowly. The remaining elements in your pattern will be quickly put on the screen. This allows you to see the path the machine will take to sew the element without having to wait what seems forever for it to slowly draw an entire quilt on the screen.

RETRIEVE SETTINGS BUTTON

The Retrieve settings button allows you to retrieve a previously saved setup. When you click on the button, an open file dialog box will be opened. Select the setup you wish to open and click on open.

GRID

Grid Buttons

Draw Slow and Print Buttons 24

Setup

PRINT
In the bottom right corner of the screen is a button marked Print. When you click on this button, your printer dialog box will open. If you have a printer attached to the computer you are using, you can print the pattern as it is shown

in the pattern window. The grid lines and the throat depth line will not be printed. If there are travel lines or jump lines, they will not be printed. The pattern will be printed in black and white but the border will be printed in red if you have your printer set to print color.

Exercise 1 Open files

1. Be sure your quilting machine is turned off so that it cannot begin to sew. 2. Double click on the CompuQuilter icon on the desktop to open the program. 3. When the Indexer LPT popup comes up, click on OK. A screen will come up with the word initializing flashing. When it is finished, the computer will open to the setup page of the pattern last used on the first button. This popup will not open if you are using the Demo version of CompuQuilter. 4. Click on any pattern button. 5. Click on Open. A popup will ask if you want to replace the pattern. 6. Click Yes. The CQopenView Box will open to the last directory used on that button. 7. Click on the CompuQuitler directory, Motif Pattern directory then the subfolder named Animals. 9. Select Cat Sitting.cqp. 10. Click Open. Notice the Pattern type, total stitch length and approximate sewing time in the upper right corner of the screen. 11. Click Draw Slow. Youll see the path CQ will use to sew the pattern. 12. Click on any other pattern button. 13. Again, Click on Open. A popup will ask if you want to replace the pattern. 14. Click Yes. 15. Click on the CompuQuilter folder. 16. Use the slider to locate the Repeat Patterns folder. Click on that folder. 17. In the Pattern name list, scroll down to find Holly E2E. alphabetical order. The patterns are in

18. Click on Open. Notice the pattern type at the upper right side of the screen has changed to say Repeat. 19. Once again, click open then Yes. 20. This time well stay in the Repeat Patterns directory. Highlight the name in the Pattern Name Box. Begin typing Spiral CQ. Notice that as soon as you typed the p, Setup 25

the desired pattern was highlighted in the list box and also shown in the window to the right. 21. Click Open. 22. Click in the Quilted Width box. The Input pad/calculator will open. Notice this is the Quilted Width and not the Pattern Width. 23. Enter 45 in the number pad and click on Enter. 24. Repeat this process to put 60 in the Quilted Length. 25. Click on Default Row in the View box. 20. Click Draw slow. This time the first element was drawn slowly and the remaining elements in the row were popped onto the screen quickly.

Exercise 2 Save and retrieve files

1. Click Open and again, click Yes. 2. Go to the Motif Directory. 3. Click on Next page three times. 4. Click on the pattern named Heart. 5. Change Pattern Height to 9. 6. Click on Save button at the lower left side of the screen. A dialog box will open. 7. Browse for OS (C:), CompuQuilter, SetUp files. 8. The default name is the name of the pattern you are using. Change the name to heart training. 9. Click Save. 10. Click Reset. 11. Click on any other pattern button. 12. Click on the Retrieve button just below the Save button. 13. Click Yes to replace the pattern. 14. Click on the Setup files subdirectory. 15. Click on heart training and click Open. 16. The heart pattern will open with the settings you saved.

Setup

26

SetUp Page Motif

PATTERN WIDTH
This box shows the pattern width that will be sewn. When you first open a pattern, the number in this box is the default pattern width. That is to say that it is the size the digitizer made it. If this pattern is a motif you may choose a particular width by entering a number into this box. Click in this box and the Input pad/calculator will open. The number will be red to indicate this is the field you are working with until you use the Enter key in the input pad. The number in this box will then be black and the program will scale the pattern height to keep the pattern proportional.

instead of the pattern width. The number will be red until you Enter. After you Enter, the program will calculate the pattern width to keep the motif proportional. The number will then be black.

STRETCH ON/OFF
This button acts as a toggle switch. If it says on and you left click the button, it will become off. Click again and it will become on. When stretch is on, you can change the pattern height and pattern width independently of one another. This will distort the pattern.

PATTERN HEIGHT
This box works the same as the Pattern Width except it uses the pattern height Setup 27

Exercise 3 Stretch a motif

1. Open the motif pattern Heart if it has been closed. 2. Click Reset if the pattern is already open. 3. Click on Stretch. 4. Change Pattern width to 4 and ENTER. 5. Notice this time only Pattern Width changed. Pattern Height is still 3. Also notice that the picture of the pattern changes to reflect the changed dimensions so you can see exactly how the pattern will look with the changes youve made. 6. Practice changing the numbers in these boxes and observe how they all affect each other and the picture of the pattern on the right. 7. When finished, click the Reset button.

ROTATE PATTERN BOX

counterclockwise and a negative number to rotate the pattern clockwise. For example, lets say you have chosen a heart to put into the corners of the quilt. You want the point of the heart to always be toward the center of the quilt. In the picture below (View 1), you see that the point is down. You would rotate the pattern 45 to sew it in the upper left corner of the quilt (View 2). For the upper right corner, you would rotate the pattern negative 45 (View 3). To put the heart in the bottom two corners, you would use this rotate function in conjunction with the Flip Y function explained later.

Pattern width, height, rotate The Rotate Pattern Box on the SetUp page allows you to rotate the pattern by a specified angle. To rotate the pattern, click in the box. Enter a number between 1 and 360 and Enter. The number will be red until you Enter. The number will then be black. Use a positive number to rotate the pattern

View 1

View 2

View 3

Setup

28

ROTATE 45

. Rotate 45 There are two boxes at the bottom center of the screen marked Rotate +45 and Rotate -45. They work similar to the

rotate pattern box except that they are for 45 only. You will notice that each time you click on one of these buttons, the angle in the Rotate Pattern box changed by positive or negative 45. These buttons are additive. Each time you click on one, the pattern is rotated 45. The number in the Rotate Pattern box is the absolute value of the position of the pattern.

Exercise 4 Rotate pattern, rotate 45, default

1. Open the motif pattern Heart if it has been closed. Click Reset if it was open. 2. Click in the Rotate Pattern box. The Input pad will open. 3. Type in 30 and ENTER. Notice the picture of the heart on the right has rotated 30 degrees counter clockwise. 4. Enter -30 in the Rotate Pattern box and ENTER. Again, notice the orientation of the picture. 5. Click Reset. 6. Click the Rotate +45 button at the bottom of the screen. Notice the position of the heart. Also note that the number in the Rotate Pattern box is also 45. 7. Click on the Rotate -45 button twice. Notice the position of the heart and the value in the Rotate Pattern box. 8. Click on Reset. Notice all the boxes and the picture went back to the way it started. 9. Enter -20 in the Rotate Pattern box. 10. Click on the Rotate -45 button. Notice that the number in the Rotate pattern box added the 20 to the 45 so the pattern is now rotated -65. The value in the Rotate Pattern box is an absolute value. Whatever is in that box is the orientation of the pattern. The Rotate + and 45 buttons at the bottom of the page are operators. Each time you click one of those buttons, that value (+ or - 45) is added to the value in the Rotate Pattern box.

FLIP PATTERN X
The Flip Pattern X allows you to flip the pattern in the X direction. For example, if you have a pattern of a left hand, you can use this button to flip it so that the thumb is on the left and therefore it is a right hand. When inactive, the label on Setup

the button is black. When activated, the label is red and says UnflipX.

FLIP PATTERN Y
The Flip Pattern Y box is similar to the Flip pattern X except that it works with the Y direction. For example, if the pattern is a cat sitting up, you can make 29

him upside down. This button acts as a toggle switch. If Flip Y is not activated, the label on the button will be black and

it will say Flip Y. If you click on it, the label will turn red and it will say Unflip Y.

Normal

Flip X

Flip Y

Exercise 5 Flip pattern X and Y

1. Open the Cat Sitting pattern in the Animals subdirectory under Motif patterns. If it is already open, click on its pattern button and click Reset. 2. Click on Flip Pattern X. Notice the button is now red and says Unflip X. 3. Click on Flip Pattern Y. The label on the box changes to red and now says Unflip Y. Notice the picture of the cat changes as you click different boxes. 4. Click on the Draw Slow button to see how it will be sewn. Play with these buttons to see how they change the position of the pattern. If you have a printer attached to your machine, you may want to print some of the different views. 5. Click Reset.

FROM START GO X
This feature allows you to tell the computer to travel a certain distance along the X axis before beginning to sew the pattern. You might use this feature to save time or to make alignment of the pattern easier.

want the machine to move. The number will be red until you Enter. After you Enter, the number is stored in the program and will be black. When you run the pattern, the machine will first move the amount you specified then set zero and begin running the pattern. The numbers entered in this box remain until you change it. Remember to set this value to 0 if you no longer want the machine to move before running a pattern.

FROM START GO Y
From start/end go To use this feature, click in the box and enter a number that is the distance you Setup THIS
FEATURE WORKS THE SAME AS FROM START GO X EXCEPT THAT IT MOVES THE MACHINE THE SPECIFIED DISTANCE ALONG THE Y AXIS BEFORE BEGINNING TO SEW THE

30

machine the specified distance along pattern. See instructions for From start go X. Remember, either box can have a value of zero.

machine to move to the right after running a pattern.

FROM END GO Y
This feature works the same as From end go X to allow you to tell the computer to travel a certain distance along the Y axis after sewing the pattern. For instance, you might sew a vertical series of 1 patterns. You might want 1/4 between each pattern. You would enter 1.25 in this box. After sewing the first pattern, the machine will move 1.25 toward you. It is now ready to run the next pattern. The numbers entered in this box remain until you change it. Remember to set this value to 0 if you no longer want the machine to move before running a pattern.

FROM END GO X
This feature tells the machine to travel a certain distance along the X axis after sewing the pattern. You might use this feature to save time. The last step of running a pattern is to return to the Needle Start Position. If you have used this feature, the machine will move to the Needle Start Position of the next block instead of returning to the beginning of the pattern you have just sewn. The numbers entered in this box remain until you change it. Remember to set this value to 0 if you no longer want the

Setup

31

SetUp Page Corner

Above is a SetUp page showing a corner. You will notice a couple of differences from an ordinary motif. The pattern type says this is a corner and that is important when you are setting up the corner to sew it. The corner must be designed as a corner. It is usually designed to be used with a repeating pattern. When that is the case, care is taken when designing the corner to make it exactly the same size as the repeatable pattern and to be sure that the start and end points are in exactly the same place. You can see from the drawing that the origin is in the center of the corner, not the center of the motif. The most important difference is how the program measures the pattern. In the above example, the pattern width is Setup

measured from one outside edge to the other. But the pattern height is measured from the topmost point of the horizontal leg of the pattern to the lowest point of that leg. If the pattern had not been designated as a corner when it was designed, it would simply be a motif. The above example would be 6.014 square. If you were trying to put this in the corner of a border, you would not be interested in the overall dimensions of the pattern as you are when using a motif. Youd want the height of one leg of the pattern to be the same as the pattern height of the repeatable pattern you are going to use. The program makes all the calculations for you to position the corner on the quilt and to tie the corner to the repeatable pattern.

33

The black part shows the top left corner in normal position and the top right corner with X flipped. For the bottom of the quilt, you would, of course flip Y. To use this pattern, you would first run the top left corner. Use the location box on the Execute page (described later in this book), to position the corner in the top left corner of your border. Next, flip X and run the corner in the top right corner of the border. Finally, run the repeatable pattern between the end of the left corner to the beginning of the right corner. In this example, the corner is the same whether you flip X or rotate it. This is not true of all patterns. In the example below, the first picture shows the pattern as drawn. The next picture shows the same pattern with X flipped. As you can see, the ducks would be facing each other. What youd probably want is to have the ducks march around the quilt. To do that, you would need to rotate the pattern -90 as shown in the picture below. The pattern is shown in a border in the picture on the screen so it is easy to avoid confusion.

Metafile on Notes page Above you will see the Notes page for a corner. This is the Metafile that may come with the pattern. Notice there is a note near the center of the picture. It tells you how to use the corner with the repeatable pattern to get the result intended when the pattern was designed. For ease of use, the metafile shows you how the pattern was designed. The red part is the repeatable pattern with which this pattern was intended to be used.

Normal

Flipped

Rotated 90o

Setup

34

BORDER
Corners are usually sewn in a border. On the left side of the screen is a box marked Border. You simply type in the width of your border and ENTER. CompuQuilter will calculate the dimensions to fit the selected pattern into the border.

MARGIN
You will probably want to have a margin between the edge of your quilting area and the pattern. Just select the amount of margin you want and CompuQuilter will offset the pattern to fit the area you have chosen. You can either type the amount of margin you want into the box (just above the one marked Border) and ENTER, or click your mouse on one of the clickers to increase or decrease the size of your margin.

Border - Margin

Exercise 6 Flip X and Y, rotate corner

1. Open the Daisy corner pattern. This is a non-directional corner. The default is oriented the way it would be sewn on the upper left corner of a quilt. 2. Flip X. This is how it would be sewn on the upper right side of a quilt. 3. Click to turn off Flip X and turn on Flip Y. This is how the pattern would be sewn in the lower left corner of a quilt. 4. Finally, Flip both X and Y. This is how the pattern would be sewn in the lower right corner of a quilt. 5. Open the corner pattern named Duck corner. This is a directional corner. 6. Flip X. You can see that the ducks would be facing each other in the left and right corners. 7. Click Reset. 8. Rotate the pattern -90. Now you can see that the ducks continue in the same direction if this were sewn on the upper right side of the quilt. 9. Enter 90 in the Rotate pattern box. It is now oriented to sew in the lower left corner of the quilt. 10. Click the Rotate +45 button twice to orient the pattern for the lower right corner of the quilt. 11. Click on Draw slow to see how the pattern will be sewn.

Setup

35

SetUp Page Repeatable Pattern

Above is a SetUp page with a repeat pattern open. You will notice that when you select a repeatable pattern, there are more boxes than with the motif pattern. The additional data are not applicable when running a motif pattern. For example, if you are putting a motif into a block, it doesnt matter how long the quilt is. These unnecessary boxes are not shown so that it is less confusing. If the box isnt there, you dont have to stop and think about what to enter in it. After you have had some experience running the program, it wont matter any more. But in the beginning, when you are just learning, less is more. Most of the boxes work the same as they do on the SetUp page when a motif pattern is selected. You will notice that Setup

on this page, the pattern type is now Repeat.

VIEW BOX
To the right of the Pattern buttons you will see a box titled View. Inside that box are radio buttons. You select one of the given choices. You may choose to see a single repeat of the pattern as it was drawn by the designer or you may see a single row with no cropping.

View Box

37

When you select overall you will see the entire quilt. It will show any cropping you have done as well as alternate rows staggered if you have selected it. The color of the row alternates between blue and gray. This is only to help you identify each row.

ZOOM
When you have selected overall view, there is a button labeled Zoom. It is under the picture of the quilt and to the right of the Flip X and Y buttons. When you click this button, the picture of the quilt will zoom in to the first rows of your quilt. The bottom of the picture is the limit of the capacity of your machine (where the red line is in full size view). If you have grid turned on, you will see it in this view. Notice the scale at the top and left of the picture. This will help you visualize the size of your pattern.

Crop Top If you have cropped the top and/or sides of the pattern, you may choose to see a view that shows how it will look. If you select Crop Top, you will see the first row of your quilt. Notice you see the straight line across the top as well as down the side because in this example, I have cropped both top and sides.

Overall View This picture shows the overall view. Notice one row is green. That is the row you are currently working with. It is the row that will be sewn next when you go to the Execute page. There will be more about row numbers in the Execute section of this book. There is also a red dashed line. In this case, it is at the bottom of row 4. When your CompuQuilter was built, the program was told what machine you are using. That tells the program the depth of the area you are able to sew before you must index the quilt. The red line shows the limit of the sewing area of your machine.

Crop Sides If you choose Sides Crop, you will see a row from the center of the quilt. Notice the top and bottom are not cropped but both sides are.

Bottom Crop If you choose the radio button marked Bottom Crop, you will see the last row of the quilt. It too shows the ends because it is cropped on the sides. 38

Zoom

Setup

You may not zoom in or see the grid on any of these three views. If you click on overall using a pattern that is staggered, you will see each row as it will be sewn on the quilt. If you click on overall when you are using a two part pattern, the view will be as if you are only using the one pattern. Each of these features will be discussed later in this chapter.

width you measured on the floor is not usually the same as after the quilt is loaded on the machine. When you enter a number in quilted width, the program divides that number by the current width of the pattern you have chosen. If there is a fractional part of the pattern, the software rounds to the nearest whole number of patterns. It then divides the quilted width by the number of patterns to get a new pattern width. If you change the quilted width, it will go through the same calculations again to derive a new pattern width. If you change the Quilted Width, the program will recalculate the Pattern Width, Pattern Height, Row Index, Row Spacing, and Top and Bottom.

GRID
Near the bottom center of the screen, you will see a button marked Grid on or Grid off. It works the same as it does on the setup page when a motif pattern is loaded. With a repeatable pattern, you can use the grid on the SetUp page when you have selected Single in the View box. You can also use the grid when you have selected overall view AND zoomed. The grid will not be visible when you select any other view including Overall not zoomed.

Quilted Width and Length

QUILTED WIDTH
This is the width of the area of the quilt you want to sew with this pattern. When you first open the pattern, the default quilted width is the width of a single pattern. To change this value, click in the edit box labeled Quilted Width. Type the quilted width and Enter. The number will be red until you Enter. Note that this is not necessarily the width of the quilt. You will often not quilt all the way to the edge of the material but will leave inch or so on each side of the quilt. Or you may be quilting only a section of the quilt such as inside the borders or sashings. You would enter the length of the area that you want to sew. If you are quilting from edge to edge, measure the quilt again. The

QUILTED LENGTH
The Quilted Length is the length of the area that you will quilt with this pattern. The program uses this number to calculate the number of rows to be sewn. To determine this number, you must measure the quilt before you pin it onto the leaders. Note this is the length that you will actually sew. If you are not sewing the top and bottom borders, the width of those borders must be subtracted from the total length of the quilt. It is also advisable to allow for shrinkage as you quilt. We have found that most of our quilts shrink about 3%. This will vary according to the thickness of the batting and the density of the quilting.

Setup

39

To enter the number, click in this box, type the number into the popup keypad and Enter. The number will be red until you Enter. After you Enter, the program will calculate the number of rows to be sewn and the number will be black. If you change this number, the program will recalculate the Number of Rows, Row Spacing, and Top and Bottom spaces. You may want to measure some of your quilts before and after they are finished to get an idea of the amount your quilts shrink. It is a good idea to record the results in the Notes page of the pattern so that next time you use that pattern, you will have a good idea how much it will shrink at your settings.

If you have a repeatable pattern that has an offset, this number will look different. See the pattern below to understand what happens.

PATTERN WIDTH
This box shows the pattern width that will be sewn. When you first open a pattern, you see the pattern width that the designer used. The quilted width is the same as pattern width until you change it. When you enter a quilted width, the program calculates a new value for the pattern width. You may change this number but you may not be able to get the exact number you desire without using stretch or crop. The program will calculate the number of whole patterns that will fit into the Quilted Width as closely as possible to the size you have entered in this box. It will then recalculate the pattern height, number of patterns, number of rows, row index and row spacing. After you Enter, the new pattern width will change from red to black to show you have entered it and the computer has done the calculations.

This pattern starts in the center and spirals outward. So when it is brought into CompuQuilter, the setup page says the pattern width is 3 and the quilted width is 6. One repeat of the pattern will be 6 wide. But unlike the other patterns, the total quilted width cannot be 6 multiplied by the number of repeats. CompuQuilter knows this pattern has an offset so the quilted width will be the pattern width (3) multiplied by the number of repeats plus one more for the last repeat.

Pattern Width and Height

PATTERN HEIGHT
This box works the same as the Pattern Width except it uses the pattern height instead of width. The number will be red until you Enter. After you Enter, the program will recalculate the pattern width, number of patterns, number of rows, row index, row spacing, and top and bottom. After you Enter, the new pattern height will be black. Again, the computer will only calculate whole patterns. If you want to use part of a pattern, you must use the Crop feature.

Setup

40

NUMBER OF PATTERNS BOX

The Number of Patterns is the number of repeats of the pattern you have across a row on your quilt. Because the width of the quilt is fixed, changing the number of patterns across the row changes the size of the pattern. To change this number, click in the box and type in the number in the popup. Click Enter. Changing this number will also change the Number of rows, Row index, Row spacing, Pattern width, Pattern height, and Scale factor. The number will change from red to black after you Enter.

On the other hand, you may want a pattern to interlock. In this case, you would increase the number of rows until the Spacing between rows is a negative number that is the amount of overlap you want the two rows to have.

CROP TOP
Many patterns are designed to undulate across the top and bottom so that it is more difficult to see the rows across a quilt. This looks very nice in the center of the quilt but does present a problem with the top and bottom. If you sew the pattern as designed, you often leave spots across the top of the quilt unquilted. To resolve this, use the crop feature. Enter a number that represents the percentage you wish to crop off the top. If for example you enter 25 in the Crop top edit box, of the pattern will be cropped off the top row and will be cropped off the bottom row. Cropping will cause a jump in the pattern as it is sewn across the top because it doesnt sew the part of the pattern that is above the cropping line. On the Execute page, you will have an opportunity to choose to sew across the gap. You might do this if you are sewing off the quilt or very near the edge and the binding will cover the stitches. You also may choose to do a jump stitch across the gap. You might want to do that if the distance in the gap is very short. Finally, you may choose to anchor at the ending and beginning of each part that is sewn. You would want to do that if there arent too many jumps and the jumps are far apart.

Number of Patterns and Rows

NUMBER OF ROWS BOX

This is the number of rows that will be quilted using a repeatable, or pantograph, pattern. The computer will calculate the number of rows that will be sewn based on the size of the pattern, scale factor and length of the quilted area. It will then use this number to calculate the Row Index and Spacing between rows. You may change the number of rows the computer calculates. For example, you may want to increase the spacing between the rows. To do this, click in the Number of Rows box and enter a smaller number into the popup calculator. The computer will recalculate the Row Index and the spacing between rows to evenly distribute the pattern over the quilted area. After you Enter, the number will change from red to black.

Setup

41

height of both parts adjusted for the pattern height you chose, plus the spacing between rows. Crop Top and Sides The index of some patterns must not be changed from the default if the pattern is to work as planned. For example, the Orange Peel pattern is actually simple circles of the same diameter that overlap and are offset. If you change the index, the circles will not be round or complete. When creating the pattern, it was set for a fixed index. In those cases, the number of rows box is grayed out and cannot be changed unless you edit the fixed index.

CROP SIDES
As with undulating tops and bottoms, some patterns leave unquilted areas at the sides of the quilt. You can crop the sides by a percentage just as you can the top. If you are staggering the pattern, CompuQuilter will automatically crop the sides of every other row 50%. On some patterns, you may want to adjust this percentage to make the pattern look better. A note for those of you who are reluctant to crop a pattern: We quilters want patterns that undulate so they dont show the rows but we also want to have the pattern completely fill the quilt across the straight top, sides and bottom. There is nothing wrong with wanting to have your cake and eat it, too. But we dont always get what we want. Think about the way we use fabric. We purchase a certain length of fabric and cut through whatever design is on the fabric. We dont cut around a flower or motif to avoid cutting the design. The same applies to quilting. It is okay to slice off part of the pattern to have a pattern fill the area all the way to the straight edge. It will look great.

Two Part Pattern Next to the Row index box is a tiny box. When you place your cursor near the tiny box, a hint pops up to tell you that if you check this box, you will be able to edit or set a fixed index. If you have purchased a pattern that did not have a fixed index, you may add one using this box. The most frequent use of the fixed index is to help you make a pattern fit onto your quilt without distorting the pattern. The exercises later in this section will make this easier to understand.

ROW INDEX
The row index is the distance from the beginning of one row to the beginning of the next row. The program will calculate this number based on your quilt length and pattern height. With tagged two part patterns, the computer calculated spacing will be the

ROW SPACING
Row spacing is the distance between the lowest point in a row and the highest point in the next row. It can be either a positive number, a negative number, or zero. A positive number will indicate that there is a space between rows. A

Setup

42

negative number indicates that the point pattern will nest. Zero will indicate that there is no distance between the rows. The patterns may not touch, however because the lowest point of the first row may not be above the highest point of the next row. CompuQuilter calculates this amount and is an information box only.

STRETCH
The function of Stretch in a repeatable pattern is a bit more involved than with a motif. When setting up a quilt, you start with entering the length and width of the quilt. When stretch is turned on most boxes are turned off. If the pattern does not have a fixed index, the only thing you can change is height of pattern and number of rows. If the pattern does not have a fixed index, the program will make patterns tangent to top and bottom of the quilted area and put the extra spacing between rows. If you want to overlap the patterns, increase the number of rows to get a negative spacing. Or to increase the spacing between the rows, reduce the number of rows. If you want zero spacing between rows, turn on stretch. To change spacing at the top and bottom of the quilt, you can change number of patterns or turn stretch on. If you put the mouse over pattern height, a hint comes up to tell you how to get zero borders top and bottom. If your pattern has a fixed index, there will be no extra space between rows. Instead, an extra row is added and it is cropped to fill the Quilted Length. At any time, you can start over again by turning stretch off and clicking in quilted width. The data will go back to what the system calculated based on quilt width and length.

Row Spacing and Bottom Row

BOTTOM ROW
If the pattern you choose has a fixed index such as the Orange Peel shown above, then a button labeled Bottom Row will appear. CompuQuilter will not be able to evenly space the rows within the boundaries of the quilted length. In this case, the pattern will start at the top of the quilt and the last row will be automatically cropped. Some two part patterns such as Clam Shell have an index larger than the pattern height. When that happens, CompuQuilter will not automatically crop the bottom. The number in the bottom row box tells you the pattern height of the bottom row. This is an information box only calculated by CompuQuilter and you cannot change it. This can help you decide if you want to crop the top a different amount so that your last row isnt so short that it doesnt look nice.

Exercise 7 Setup repeatable pattern.

1. Open the border pattern in the Animals subdirectory named Weiner dog. 2. Enter 45 in the Quilted width box and 60 in the Quilted length box.

Setup

43

3. Notice that the pattern width is 6.429 and the pattern height is 3.634. The computer says you will have 7 patterns across and 16 rows down. 4. The computer also says the rows are 0.124 apart. The pattern is exactly tangent to the top and bottom edges of the quilt. 5. Select Overall in the View box and you will see how the pattern will look sewn at these settings. 6. The red line represents the limit of the throat capacity of the machine head. 7. Click on Zoom. Click to turn on the Grid. Notice the scale at the top and side of the picture. These will help you visualize the size and density of the patterns. 8. Lets say you want the rows to be a little farther apart. 9. Click in the number of rows box and enter 17 or use the clicker to change the number of rows. 10. Notice the row spacing is now 0.111. 11. Change the Quilted Width to 40 and Enter. 12. Notice the size of the dogs has changed to 5.714 wide but the number of rows remained 17. 13. Change these numbers and observe the effect they have on one another until you are comfortable with them.

Exercise 8 Repeatable pattern, stretch, no fixed index.

1. Open the Repeatable pattern Meander. 2. Enter 30 in the Quilted width and 42 in the Quilted length. The Pattern Width is 4.286 and Pattern Height is 4.271. There are 7 patterns and 9 rows with a gap of .445 between the rows. 3. Click on Overall in the View box and choose Full size. Notice there are gaps between the rows. Click on Stretch. CompuQuilter stretched the Pattern Height to 4.667 fill the entire quilted area and to leave no gaps.

Exercise 9 Repeatable pattern, crop, no fixed index.

4. Open the repeat pattern Loops. 5. Enter the quilted width and length of 30 and 42 respectively. 6. Click on Overall view, full size. 7. Change the number of rows to 12. 8. Click the little box next to Row Index. CompuQuilter fixed the index at 3.364 with a negative row spacing. It also added a row at the bottom and cropped it to make the pattern fill the row without distorting the shape of the pattern.

Setup

44

9. Click Zoom. Notice there are large unquilted areas. smaller. 10. Change the number of patterns to 12. 11. Click on Full Size. This tighter quilting would be better.

This pattern needs to be

Exercise 10 Crop repeatable pattern, fixed index.

1. Open the pattern Shamrock Panto in the Panto directory. 2. Enter 60 in the Quilted Width and 75 in the Quilted Length. Notice that the Fixed index box next to the Row Index box is checked. That tells you this pattern was designed with a fixed index. 3. Click on Overall in the View box. Lets say Im not real happy with the index. Say I want more space between the rows. Im not stuck with the designers choice. I can edit the fixed index. 4. Enter 8.35 in the Row index edit box. This looks pretty good but there are unquilted places at the top of the quilt. 5. You may have missed the change. Click Undo at the top of the screen while watching the spacing between the rows. Then Click Redo, again watching the spacing between the rows. 6. Crop the top 33%. This will eliminate the blank spaces at the top of the quilt caused by the interlocking of the pattern. 7. Crop the sides 15% as well. Now click on full size overall to see if we like the results. 8. Select Default in the View box. This is the original pattern before any changes were made. 9. Select Default Row in the View box. This is a row of 5 pattern repeats before any changes were made. 10. Now select Top Crop. Here you can see how the first row looks after it has been cropped. 11. Select Sides Crop. This is how the rows in the center of the quilt will look. The top and bottom of each row are as designed but each side is cropped. 12. Select Bottom crop. This shows the last row is cropped along the bottom and both sides. 13. Finally, select Overall, Full size. 14. Notice the Bottom Row information box contains the height of the last row. In this case it is 3.727 inches. That will look fine sewn out but had it turned out to be 0.500 inches, for example, I would have changed the amount of crop on the first row to make the last row taller.

Setup

45

Your quilt will shrink as you sew it so that last row is never exactly what the math says it should be. CompuQuilter gives you an opportunity to adjust that row when the time comes so you dont need to worry excessively over it. Just keep in mind that the last row will probably be smaller so you dont want to start with it too small.

Exercise 11 Setup a nested pattern

1. Open the repeatable pattern named Loops. 2. Enter Quilted Width of 33 and Quilted Length of 42. 3. Click on overall in the View box to see how this looks. 1. The quilt will have 7 patterns across 8 rows. Notice the pattern is tangent to the top and bottom of the quilt. It has 0.612 between the rows. 4. This pattern is designed to nest so first, change the number of rows to 15. 2. Notice the amount in Row index is 2.663. 5. Click to see how this will look if it is zoomed. 6. Change back to Full Size view. 7. I like the proportions this way but lets make the loops a little bigger. Do this by checking on the little box to the right of the Row Index box before we change the size of the pattern. 3. CompuQuilter added a row to the bottom and cropped it to make the pattern fit into the quilted area just as it did with the pattern that started out with a fixed index. 8. Type 7 in the pattern height. The computer changed it to 6.60 in order to fit as many whole patterns as possible into the quilted width and still maintain equal proportions. 9. Click on Zoom and turn on Grid so you can better visualize the size this will be on the quilt. 10. Change back to full size view. Its okay but now you see there are holes in the top of the quilting and the next to last row runs off the quilted area. 11. Click on the Crop top edit box and enter 45. This will help the pattern going off the bottom of the quilt as well as eliminating the holes in the top of the pattern. Thats much better. Thats the way Id sew it.

Setup

46

STAGGER

50% such that the row begins with the name Jennifer which is the second half of the pattern. The soccer ball that was taken off the front of the row is added to the end of the row. Not staggered The next picture is of a pattern cropped at 50%. You can see part of the pattern overlaps the previous row. The bottom picture is the same pattern cropped at 25%. You can see how you can achieve better results if you optimize the amount of crop you use.

Staggered When you turn on Stagger by clicking the button, CompuQuilter will have a different setup on alternate rows. The first row and subsequent odd numbered rows will be as designed. The even rows will be shifted to the right by a certain amount. CompuQuilter will default to 50% but you can make it any amount you choose. In effect, when you turn on stagger, the program splits one pattern by your chosen percentage. The first part of the pattern is at the beginning of the row and the second part is at the end of the row. In the examples above, the pattern was drawn with the soccer ball first and the name following as in the top picture. When staggered, the first row is sewn that way. But the second row is cropped

Exercise 12 Setup staggered patterns

1. Open the Border pattern named Life Ring. 2. Enter a quilted width of 45 and quilted length of 60. The program calculates a pattern width of 7.5 and height of 4.286. It says there will be 6 patterns across and 14 rows down. It also says there will be no space between each row and the row index will be 4.286. 3. Click on overall. 4. Click to turn on Stagger. You can see that CompuQuilter has staggered each even numbered row and cropped the edges of those rows 50%. You could change that amount of crop if you want but I like this pattern best at the default 50%. Setup 47

5. This pattern should be nested when it is staggered. Change the number of rows to 17. 6. Now notice that the top row will sew with unquilted areas. Lets crop the top 50%, too. 7. Click to Zoom. Notice the rope at the top is just a little segment. 8. I like the rope of this pattern to be unbroken (just my little quirk) so change the top crop to 40%. 9. Now change the view to Bottom Crop just to check to be sure we like the way the last row looks. I do so now Im ready to sew it.

TAGGED TWO PART PATTERNS

Two part patterns can be designed such that they are tagged together as a pair. When you open a pattern, the program looks to see if the pattern is tagged to another. Any change you make to one pattern is automatically made to the tagged pattern. For example, if you set the pattern height to 2, the pattern height of the second part of the pattern will be changed to 2. If you rotate one part, the other part will also be rotated.

You may run the first pass of a two part pattern from any Needle Start Position. However, to avoid spacing problems, you will need to run all the passes and rows after that beginning at Start of Pattern. Caution. Do not open two copies of a tagged pattern at the same time. If you do, CompuQuilter may not use the setup parameters you want. We will sew a two part pattern when we get to the Execute page.

Setup

48

SetUp Page Arrays

There is a box on the left side of the screen on the SetUp page marked Arrays. Radio buttons in the box allow you to select a linear, circular or wreath array. A linear array allows you to place motif patterns in a straight line. A circular array places copies of the pattern you choose in a circle while keeping the same orientation. The wreath also places the patterns in a circle but they are turned at an angle to go around the circle. The following exercises will make the differences more clear. The number of combinations you are able to create with arrays is limited only by your imagination. I cannot possibly demonstrate all of them. You will need to simply open a pattern and play with the variables to see what SetUp page

you come up with. If you find one that you love and want to keep, you can save it to use later. You can save the settings with an assigned name so that you can recall it later as an array. Or you may save the array as a motif. If you do that, then you can scale, rotate, flip and stretch it as you can any other motif but you will not be able to change the properties of the array. Or, you may save it both ways.

LINEAR ARRAYS
You might use a linear array to place a series of motifs evenly spaced across a border. Or, you might choose to place the motifs in sashings in a row or around blocks on point. The array works by dividing the length of the quilting area into blocks of equal size. Then the motifs are placed into the center of each 49

block. In the sample below Ive drawn a series of boxes around each heart to illustrate but you wont see the boxes on the screen or on your quilt.

Pattern gap

machine will move before beginning to sew. On the Execute page, you will be able to choose whether you want CompuQuilter to stop and wait for you to cut the thread between each motif or to pause a moment to allow you to pull some slack in the thread before it does a jump stitch to the beginning of the next motif. There is more information about that under the Execute page of this book. To help you set up the pattern, there is a box marked Pattern Gap. This is the distance between the outside edge of one pattern and the outside edge of the next pattern. This is for information only. You cannot edit this number.

There is a large red dot at the beginning of the first block. In this example, the start point of the motif is the point at the bottom of the heart. These dotted lines are not sewn but indicate the path the

Exercise 13 Linear array

1. Open the motif pattern Heart. 2. Choose Linear in the Array box. 3. Make the Quilted width 24. 4. Turn on Grid. 5. Set Grid size to 5. 6. Change number of patterns to 5 7. Change the pattern height to 4. 8. Click in the rotate array edit box and enter the number 45. You will see the entire array has been rotated. 9. Click the Rotate -45 button at the bottom of the screen twice. Notice this changes the position of the individual motifs within the array but does not change the array itself. 10. Change the number of patterns to 6. 11. Turn on stretch. 12. Change pattern height to 4.5. 13. Open the motif pattern, Candle holder. 14. Click on Linear in the array selection box. 15. Make the Quilted Width 40. 16. Make the number of patterns 5.

SetUp page

50

17. Flip Y, then flip X. Notice the position of the handles on the candleholders. 18. Turn on Stretch. 19. Change the pattern height to 10. Notice the change in shape of the candleholders. You can manipulate these settings to get the perfect pattern for your quilt. 20. When finished trying these settings, click Reset.

CIRCULAR ARRAYS
Major dia.

The large green circle you see is called the Major Diameter. At least one pattern will touch this circle in at least one place. The small green circle in the center is the Minor diameter. Nothing will be sewn inside this circle. At least one pattern will touch this circle, also. Finally, you will see red dashed lines. These represent jumps between sewing segments. On the Execute page of CompuQuilter, you can choose whether to stop and anchor or to take a long jump stitch from the end of one pattern to the beginning of the next, or to sew from the end of one motif to the beginning of the next. You would rarely do that. You can see from the anchor picture that you wouldnt want to sew the red dashed lines. But if you have a pattern that has small gaps near one another like the one below, you may choose to do that.

Minor dia.

Circular arrays are somewhat more intricate than linear arrays. When you click on circular array in the array selection box, CompuQuilter will default to 6 patterns in a circle with an 8 inch diameter. It will place the first pattern in the 12 oclock position. It will then divide the 360 of the circle by the number of patterns in the array (default 6) to determine the spacing of the subsequent patterns of the array. CompuQuilter will do the calculations to place the specified number of patterns such that no pattern is outside the large, outside circle and the center points of the patterns are evenly spaced around the circle.

Exercise 14 How Circular Arrays Work

SetUp page

51

1. Open the Motif pattern called CompuQuilter Logo. 2. Click on Circular in the Array selection box. As you can see, the program doesnt know if the pattern looks nice or not. 3. Make the number of patterns 4 and the pattern height 1. 4. Change the number of patterns to 5. You can see that with this pattern, it doesnt work because the bottom two patterns overlap. 5. Change the number of patterns to 6. This way they look fine. You need to keep in mind that when it looks like you need fewer patterns, the solution may be more patterns. Try to think outside the box. Youll discover some great tricks. 6. Click on Draw Slow and watch how the pattern sews. The red line starts at the center of the array. It jumps from there to the first point of the first motif in the array. In this case, there is a jump within the pattern so there is a red line from the end of the sewing for the word CompuQuilter to the beginning point of the cable around the lettering. Then there is another jump from the end of the cable to the beginning of the next logo. It continues in this fashion until all the motifs are finished. Lets examine some of the other things that can be done using arrays.

evenly spaced in a circle, all upright at a default pattern height of 2.5. 3. Change the number of patterns to 4. 4. Click on the Rotate array + and buttons several times and watch the changes made with each click. 5. Enter 45 in the Rotate array edit box. 6. Rotate the pattern 35. 7. Flip Y. Each of these changes is available to use to create an infinite number of designs on your quilts.

Exercise 15 Circular array

1. Open the motif pattern Heart. 2. Choose Circular in the array selection box. The program places 6 hearts

SetUp page

52

WREATH ARRAYS
Wreath arrays are similar to Circular array except for the orientation of the motifs. The easiest way to learn the difference between a wreath and a

circular array is to see it. Compare the position of the fish in the two pictures below. The one on the left is a circular array and the one on the right is a wreath.

Exercise 16 Wreath array - motif

1. If you have closed it, open the motif pattern Heart. If it is still open, click on Reset. 2. Choose Wreath in the Array selection box. Turn on Grid and change it to 1. CompuQuilter defaults to 6 patterns at 2.5 pattern height. Notice that the points touch the small inner circle (minor diameter) and that the tops of the hearts touch the larger outer circle (major diameter). 3. Change the number of patterns to 8. Notice all the sizes are the same and the hearts still touch both circles. The only difference is now the hearts are closer together. 4. Change the number of patterns to 10. Everything is the same except the hearts now overlap one another. 5. Click the Draw Slow button to see the path that will be sewn. 6. Click Reset then choose Wreath. 7. Change the major diameter to 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Notice how that simple change creates many different patterns.

Exercise 17 Wreath array repeatable pattern

The only Array available with repeatable patterns is the wreath. This is because the repeatable pattern by default is already a linear array. Also, if you put a repeatable pattern into a circular array it wouldnt be repeatable any more. You should just use a motif. But there is a lot you can do with a repeatable pattern in a wreath! Try some to see what happens. 1. Open the Repeatable pattern Gingerbread Kids top.

SetUp page

53

2. Choose Wreath in the Array selection box. 3. Use the clickers to increase and decrease the number of patterns and to rotate the arrays. I dont find anything of much interest. 4. Change number of patterns to 3 and flip Y. 5. Change number of patterns to 4 and using the clicker, rotate the array. You may notice the size of the circles changing on the screen as you rotate the array. This is normal so dont let it throw you like it did me. The numbers are still correct. 6. When you are finished playing with the rotate array, change the number of patterns back to 3 and turn on stretch. The minor diameter will change to 3.933. This is largest minor diameter that can be used with 3 of these patterns at an 8 major diameter. 7. Change the minor diameter and number of patterns according to the chart below. Play with all of these numbers as much as you like. Just keep in mind that some patterns may look great on the screen but remember that it can become a lot of thread in a small area on the quilt. Minor Dia. 3.9 3.5 2.5 1.5 # of patterns 3 3 3 3 # of patterns 4 4 4 4 # of patterns 5 5 5 5 # of patterns 10 10 10 10 # of patterns 15 15 15 15 # of patterns 20 20 20 20

Exercise 18 Wreath array of wreath array

1. Open the Motif pattern Cone 2. Click on Wreath in the Array box. 3. Change pattern height to 4. 4. Change number of patterns to 15. 5. Click Save in the bottom left corner. A popup will ask if you want to save this pattern as a motif. 6. Click Yes. 7. You may choose to save these files in the Motif directory since that is what we have actually created. For this exercise, save this file in the Arrays directory and name it Cone Array Motif. 8. Click on Save again and this time when the popup asks, say No. 9. This time, open the Setup Files directory. Change the name to Cone Array and Save.

SetUp page

54

10. Click on another pattern button. 11. Open the pattern named Cone Array Motif in the Arrays directory. 12. Turn on stretch and change the pattern height to 10. 13. Rotate the pattern 30o. 14. Turn stretch off and select Linear array. 15. Make the Quilted width 24, the number of patterns 8 and the pattern height 2. 16. Click on wreath in the Arrays box. 17. Now change the settings for this array as you did for the others. You can manipulate this pattern as you can any other motif. But you cannot manipulate it as an array. 18. Click on another pattern button. 19. Click on Retrieve at the bottom left corner of the screen. A popup will ask if you want to replace the last pattern you used on that button. 20. Click Yes. The open dialog box will come up. 21. Go to the Setup files directory. You may notice that files in this directory have an extension of ".dat" instead of the cqp or cmd that the patterns in other directories have. 22. Select Cone Array and click Open. 23. Change number of patterns to 10. 24. Click Reset. This is still a motif pattern in an array. You can change it in all the ways you can change any array but you cannot manipulate it the way you can a motif pattern. If you click default or Reset, it will be the motif named Cone again. When you choose not to save the array as a motif, you are only saving the data you entered on the setup page, not an entirely new pattern.

SetUp page

55

Boundary Page

Boundary is a tool to help you place a pattern on a quilt. You first select your pattern. Then you identify the exact boundaries of the area of your quilt into which you want to sew a pattern. Next you adjust the size and position of the pattern until it looks just the way you want to sew it. Most of the functions of the CompuQuilter software are mathematical. For example, a box is 5 inches square and you will place a pattern that is 4 inches square inside that box. The Boundaries functions are visual. You may begin by telling CompuQuilter that your block is 5 inches square but after you adjust that block for what is actually on the quilt, the dimensions of the block no longer matter. You will adjust the pattern until it pleases you visually.

You will see that many of the boxes look the same as on the SetUp page and they work the same way. However, there are some new edit boxes.

LOAD
On the right side of the screen youll see a box labeled Load. Some pre-defined boundaries are included with CompuQuilter. These are shapes that are often found on quilts. When you click the Load button, the CQopenView Box opens. The functions of this box on the Boundaries page are the same as with opening patterns on the SetUp page. The only difference is that you see the predefined boundaries instead of patterns. You select the shape that most closely resembles the boundary you plan to sew on your quilt.

Boundary

57

NEW
When you click on the button marked New, the boundary you have loaded will be erased and you can load a new boundary. You can also use this button to turn off boundaries. When you click the new button, a popup asks if you want to save the current boundary. If you select No, the old boundary will be erased and no other boundary will be opened.

at zero, the program will draw a line from your last point to zero to completely enclose the area.

EDIT BOUNDARY POINTS

This button allows you to edit the points of a boundary to fit what is actually on the quilt. This may be for a boundary you have drawn or a saved boundary that you have loaded. To do that, you will line the machine up on the start point of the boundary. Next, you will click the Edit button. A popup will open asking if you wish to set zero.Click Yes, then Set Point. The machine will move to the next point on the boundary and wait for you. If the machine is in the position you want that point to be, type S to accept it. If not, jog to the correct position before typing S. That point will be set and the machine will move to the next point. When you type S and the machine doesnt move, youll know you have completed all the points.

SETTING POINTS
On the right side of the screen, youll see a box marked Set Point. This box is used to draw a boundary that is not a predefined shape. You jog the machine to trace the outline of the area within which you wish to sew. This does not have to be any geometric shape. It can be a freeform area. Any number of points may be used to define the area within which you wish to sew a pattern.

Set Boundary Points First, jog the machine head to the point where you wish to start your boundary. Click Set Point. Then jog the machine to the next point you wish to mark and click Set Point or use the hot key S. You continue jogging and setting points until you have completed tracing the area you wish to use as a boundary. You will see the co-ordinates being added to the list box above the button each time you set a point. When youve set all the points you want, click the Finish button. If your last point was not Boundary

Edit Boundary

FINISH
At any point you can click on the Finish button. The program will leave the rest of the points where they are and move to the start point of the boundary. You can then edit the boundary again, or go to the Execute page to sew the pattern.

SAVE
If the boundary you drew is one you might want to use again, you may save it. To do so, click on the Save button at

58

the bottom left corner of the page. A popup will open. Select the Boundaries folder. Assign your file a name and click Save. Later, you will be able to use that boundary by using the Load button.

BOUNDARY HEIGHT
This box is to tell the computer the approximate size of the area within which you will be working. Note that height refers to the overall height of the boundary. If you are using a triangle, this number does not refer to a leg of the triangle.

have inside will move with the boundary. Its position inside the boundary will be the same as the first but the orientation of the pattern will not be changed. You will need to Flip X on the pattern to keep it oriented the same as the boundary. The Y axes work the same way except of course the flipping is up and down rather than side to side.

BOUNDARY WIDTH
This box is the same as the Boundary height except, of course, it refers to the width of the boundary. Again, it is the overall width, not the length of any side.

ROTATE BOUNDARY

Rotate Boundary Box

FLIP B X AND FLIP B Y

You are already familiar with Flip X and Y for setting up your pattern. These buttons work the same way except they flip the boundary instead of a pattern. After loading your pattern, you come to the Boundaries page to load the boundary that most closely resembles the area that is on your quilt. You fit your pattern into that boundary and sew it. Then say you have an area side of the quilt that is just just completed except it image. You can move to block and Flip B X. The Boundary on the other like the one is a mirror the second pattern you

Just above the Flip BX and Flip BY buttons is an input box labeled Rotate Boundary. When you click in this box, the input pad/calculator will open. You can rotate the boundary any amount. Enter a negative number to rotate the boundary clockwise and a positive number to rotate the boundary counterclockwise.

ROTATE PATTERN
The box marked Rotate Pattern works the same as on the SetUp page except it has a clicker like the other boxes on this page. Each time you click the + button, the pattern rotates counterclockwise 1 degree. Each time you click the button, the pattern rotates 1 59

degree clockwise. You may enter any number up to 360 in this box. If you left click and drag on the marker in the slider box, you will be able to see the pattern rotate as you move the slider. It will rotate the pattern + or 180o. When you are happy with the position, just release the mouse button.

screen and it will be zoomed 200%. You can then increase or decrease the view as needed.

Show All When you right click to zoom, the label above the slider changes to a button labeled Show All. Obviously, when you click on that button, the zoom will return to 100% and the picture will be centered in the boundary.

Rotate Pattern Once you have the boundary the way you want it, there are tools on this page to fit your pattern into that boundary.

PICTURE HANDLES

ZOOM SLIDER

Handles on pattern-rotated on right Zoom Slider Often when you open a pattern then load a boundary, the pattern will not fit into the boundary. The slider marked Zoom will change the size of the pictue on the screen so that you can see the entire pattern. It does not change the size of the pattern or the boundary. It only adjusts the view so you can see the relationship between the pattern and the boundary. Notice the note above the slider that says right click to zoom. With this feature, you can click on a section of the picture and CompuQuilter will zoom to 200% and center the picture at the point you clicked. For example, if you right click with your cursor sitting on the tip of the leaf on the bottom of the picture below, that point will be centered in your Boundary You may be familiar with graphics in any Windows based program. There are handles around the picture that you use to manipulate the picture. If you rotate the picture, the handles remain in the same position relative to the pattern. When you click and drag a corner handle, the size of the picture will change and the aspect ratio will be maintained. Usually, when you click and drag a side, top or bottom handle, the picture will be distorted. In this instance, that is not the case. The aspect ratio will be maintained when you click and drag any handle unless you have turned on Stretch. With Stretch turned on, you can use the handles to distort the pattern. Click and drag a side, top or bottom handle and you will see the pattern being distorted. 60

If you drag a handle past the centerline of the pattern, the pattern will be flipped. If you click and drag a corner handle with Stretch turned on, the pattern will change sizes and keep the current aspect ratio. You will see a small yellow diamond in the center of the picture. Click and drag this handle to move the entire picture around on the screen without changing the size or shape of the pattern. To the right of the center diamond are two yellow triangles. One points up and the other points down. Each time you click on one of these arrows, the pattern is rotated one degree. The function is the same as clicking on the + or buttons next to the Rotate Pattern box.

To the left of the screen you will see four buttons marked Nudge. They do just what they say. Each time you click one of the buttons, the picture will move a tiny bit in the direction stated on the label. This is just to help you position the pattern within the boundary with precision.

CENTER MOUSE BUTTON

You may click the center mouse button and drag the entire pattern around on the screen.

SCROLL BARS
Scroll bars are often used in Windows applications. You are probably familiar with clicking a button at the right and/or bottom of the screen to scroll through the image on the screen. Several of the functions available in Boundaries cause the picture of the pattern to not be in the center of the viewing screen. CompuQuilter uses the slider bars to adjust this but has one additional tool. Notice the = sign at the lower right corner of the scroll bars. If you click on this button, it automatically moves the scroll handles to the center.

CENTER BUTTON

Center button When you open a pattern and then load a boundary, the pattern may not be centered in the boundary. You can click this button to quickly and easily center the motif within the boundary. This will currently only work with a square or rectangle. If your boundary is a triangle or freeform, the pattern will be centered based on the total height and width of the boundary.

NUDGE BUTTONS MORPHING

Center button

Morphing Button Nudge Buttons Next to the Stretch button above the pattern view screen, you will see a

Boundary

61

button labeled Morphing Off. It is a toggle switch. When you click it, the label becomes Morphing On and the letters are red. You use this tool to change the shape of the pattern within the boundary. Below is a motif in a boundary. As you can see, the motif doesnt fit into the boundary. I could just make it smaller but with the Morphing tool, I can reshape the motif to better fill the space available.

of the pattern, the changes will affect the upper left section. If you click and drag a handle at the middle left side, the two sections on the left will be affected. If you click and drag a handle at the middle top, the two top sections will be changed. To make this easier, you can see the changes being made as you move the mouse. When it is the shape you desire, release the mouse button. Using the morphing tool takes a little experimenting. The examples shown are changed only slightly and I think they look pretty good. But believe me, you can make a real mess, too. Each pattern behaves a little differently based on the shape and size of the pattern. You must experiment with the pattern to find the best result with the different tools. There are times when a pattern just cannot be morphed satisfactorily. In that case you will need to either choose another pattern or create a new pattern that better fills your needs. When you place a pattern into a round array (circular or wreath), CompuQuilter treats the array the same as any other motif. It doesnt matter if the array is created from a motif or repeatable pattern. You can stretch and morph the array by using the handles just as if it were a regular motif. You are still able to manipulate the pattern as if it is not in a boundary. You just have the extra ability to morph the pattern.

Morph Off-Motif This picture shows the changes I made to the motif using the Morphing tool. When you turn Morphing on, you distort the shape by clicking and dragging the handles surrounding the motif.

Morph On-Motif To understand how this works, visualize the pattern being divided into four sections. The handles in the corners affect only that section. The handles in the middle of each side affect both sections on that side. If you click and drag the handle at the upper left corner

CLEAR BUTTON
When you click the Morph button on, another button labeled Clear appears next to the morphing button. The clear button will go away if you turn off morphing without making any changes. However, if you morph the pattern and then turn off morphing, the clear button

Boundary

62

will remain. This is to let you know that a morphed version of the pattern is available. On the Execute page, what you see is what you get. If you morph a pattern, CompuQuilter, you will see those changes on the Execute page and CompuQuilter will sew the pattern as shown. If you morph a pattern, then

turn morphing off, the original pattern not morphed will be seen on the Execute page and CompuQuilter will sew the pattern without the morphed changes. When you click on the Clear button, all morphed changes will be erased.

BEGINNING TO SEW
Load some practice cloth, fill bobbins and thread the machine according to the directions in the manual that came with your machine. Hook up the drive cables, turn on the power supply at the end of the table and turn on the power on the back of the sewing head. CAUTION! When you start to move the machine head, be sure it is over the fabric so that the hopping foot doesnt get caught on the edge of the fabric. Be sure your machine sewing speed is set properly. Also always be sure to keep your fingers and any other objects away from the sewing needle. Serious injury or damage can result from sewing over anything other than fabric and batting. Before we begin sewing, we need to go over the general routine for sewing with CompuQuilter. CompuQuilter uses what I call a Run routine. That is this set of steps taken when you begin to sew a pattern. 1. After loading a pattern, hang on to the thread and press "R" on the keyboard or push the red button on the machine head. The machine will take a single stitch to pick up the bobbin thread and move to the right. CompuQuilter will pause to allow you time to pull up the bobbin. 2. Use the top thread to pull the bobbin thread to the top of the quilt. 3. Hold on to both threads and press "R" again. The machine will move back to the start point. If you have chosen to anchor stitch, CompuQuilter will take the number of stitches you have set. If you have selected backstitch, CompuQuilter will move to the desired point then begin sewing the pattern. 4. When the machine has finished sewing the pattern, it will anchor stitch or backstitch and pause. Pull some thread out to relieve tension on the stitches and push the red Run/Abort button on the machine head. The machine head will move 5 inches to the right. 5. While the machine is moving, catch the thread being pulled out with your left hand. Hold that thread while the machine returns to the starting position and takes a single stitch. 6. The machine will move 4 inches to the right and pause. This will pull the bobbin thread to the top of the quilt. Clip threads.

Boundary

63

7. A popup box will prompt you to cut bobbin and continue. Push the Run/abort button on the machine head, type R or click on the Run button on the screen when you have the bobbin thread pulled up. 8. When you have the threads cut, type R or push the Run/abort button. The machine will return to the place you started.

Exercise 19 Motif in a boundary and flip boundary

Start by drawing a right triangle that is about 3 inches tall and 3 inches wide on your fabric. 1. Open the motif pattern Heart Flower on the SetUp page. 2. Enter 2 in the Pattern height box. 3. Click on the Boundary tab at the top of the page or type D to go to the Boundary page. 4. Click Load on the bottom right of the screen. 5. Open the boundary that most closely resembles the triangle you drew on the quilt. 6. Enter 3 in each box marked Boundary Width and Boundary Height. 7. Jog to the point on the triangle you drew that corresponds to the circle on a point of the triangle on the screen. 8. Click Edit or type E on the keyboard. A popup will open asking if you want to set zero. 9. Click Yes. 10. Type S to set the first point. The machine will move to where the next point on the triangle should be. 11. Jog the machine to be over the place where that point of the triangle really is on the quilt. 12. Type S on the keyboard. The machine will jog to the next point. 13. Adjust this point and type S again. The machine will move to the last point which in this case is the same as the first point. 14. Type S to set the last point. Each time you set a point, the picture on the right of the screen shows where you are in the outline. When you have set the last point, you will no longer see the points of the outline and the first line of the program will be highlighted. The prompt at the bottom of the screen will say Finished Edit. Jog to new start position, set zero. At any time when you are editing a boundary, you can click on the Finish button or type F to finish the edit. 15. Use the rotate, pattern height, pattern width and shift buttons to adjust the pattern in the boundary until you are happy with the way it looks. Dont forget, you can also use Stretch to adjust the appearance of your pattern on the quilt.

Boundary

64

You are now ready to run the pattern. However, you may choose to sew the boundary itself before you sew the pattern inside it. The next exercise will teach you how to do that.

Exercise 20 Sew a Boundary

1. Click the Outline Page tab. 2. Click the Boundary button. 3. Use the R on the keyboard or the red Run/abort button on the machine to sew the boundary. 4. Click on the Execute page. You will notice that Boundary is selected on the Pattern Start box in the center of the page. 5. Run the program to sew the pattern inside the boundary as you normally do. 6. Jog your machine head about 7 inches to the right. 7. Go to the Boundary page. 8. Click on Flip B X and on Flip X. 9. Go to the Outline page. 10. Click on Boundary. 11. Set Zero. 12. Sew the boundary. 13. Go to the Execute page. 14. Sew the pattern inside the boundary.

Boundary

65

Boundary Repeat Pattern

The Boundary page with a repeat pattern has additional boxes that are not on the Boundary page when a motif pattern is loaded. On the left of the screen are boxes marked Quilted Width and Number of Patterns. When you load a boundary, the default quilted width is the pattern width just as it is when you enter a quilted width on the SetUp page. When you enter a boundary width or change the width by editing the boundary, CompuQuilter calculates the number of patterns the same way it does on the SetUp page with no boundary. In the example here, I used a predefined shape and told CompuQuilter my

quilting area is 45 wide and 5 tall. It first opens with one pattern in the border. I then clicked the handle on the left side and dragged the handle to the left edge of the boundary. Next I clicked the handle at the right side of the pattern and dragged it to meet the right edge of the border. CompuQuilter filled the border with the number of repeats of the pattern that would fit into the border evenly. It changed the number in the Quilted width box to reflect the exact distance. Alternatively, you can enter the quilted width into this box and CompuQuilter will do the same calculations but doing that defeats the purpose of using boundaries.

CENTER BUTTON
As with a motif pattern, you will see the three dashed lines when you click on the Morphing button. You click and drag one of those lines to morph the pattern. The amount of the pattern that is changed will depend on the setting of the morphing slider. If that number is 1, then one repeat on each side of the point where you moved the line will be affected. The morph will actually change of the pattern on each side of the selected pattern. If that number is 3, then a whole pattern on each side of the selected pattern will be affected. You may choose to have the slider move from repeat to the number of repeats in the entire row. When you click on the top line, the top half of the section will be distorted. When you click on the bottom line, the bottom half of the section will be distorted. If you click on the center line, the entire section of the pattern will be distorted. Study the examples below to see the changes that can be made.

Center button The Center button works much the same with a repeatable pattern as it does a motif. When you click this button, the row will be moved such that there is an equal amount of space at the top and bottom of the pattern. However, if you have set up the pattern such that it does not touch the left and right edges of the boundary, the center button will treat the entire row as if it were a motif that is there will also be equal spaces at both ends of the row.

MORPH A REPEATABLE
Sometimes a border will be wavy and you cannot fit a pattern into it without sewing outside the border or into the seam. Morph is the tool to solve this problem. First edit the boundary to match what is really on the quilt. Then morph the pattern slightly to keep it within the boundaries of the border. You will notice that when you load a border with a repeatable pattern, the slider shown below appears with a number on the right side. That number represents number of repeats of the pattern that will be changed when you morph the row.

Non Morphed border

Morphed border In the top picture, you can see the green line that indicates where the border was on my quilt. The first turtle goes above the border and the last one doesnt quite meet the top. When I turn on Morphing, I am able to distort sections of the

Morphing Slider

pattern to keep it within the lines of the quilt. Of course a real quilt is not likely to be as misshapen as the example but you can see the flexibility available to you to resolve a common problem. You cannot morph a repeatable pattern if it has been rotated. As with morphing a motif, you must experiment a little to find the best combination for your particular quilt and pattern. Some patterns just do not lend well to morphing. Others will work at one size and not so much at another size. You just have to play with the tools to decide what works for you.

Drag the handle in the upper right corner of the pattern straight up to the upper right corner of the border. You will see that the patterns are stretched evenly across the entire border. What has actually happened in the example below is that the slider was set all the way to the right. The value was 7. To morph from the upper right corner of the row, the program morphed 7 patterns on each side of the place I clicked. In this case, the 7 repeats on the right side of my morph point do not actually exist. The result is that the morph becomes a taper from the left edge to the right edge of the row.

TAPER A BORDER
A problem often encountered by quilters is that the border is wider on one side of the quilt than it is on the other side. There is a shortcut to morph this pattern. First, set up your border as always. Use the pattern handles to position the desired number of patterns in the border. Next move the Morphing slider all the way to the right.

Tapered border After you have tapered the pattern in the border, you may then change the slider to the desired width and morph the patterns to stay within the border.

Exercise 21 Repeatable pattern in a boundary

1. Open the pattern named Anchor E2E in the Border Patterns directory. 2. Click on the Boundary tab at the top of the page. 3. Click the button marked Load at the right of the screen. 4. Select 3" square in the Boundaries directory. 5. Change the boundary width to 22 inches. On a real quilt, you would now edit the boundary to fit the quilt. To save time, we will use the boundary as it is. 6. Move the left edge of the pattern to the left edge of the boundary. 7. Click and drag the right handle of the pattern to the right edge of the boundary. CompuQuilter puts 5 repeats of the pattern into the boundary. 8. Change the pattern height to 2.5". CompuQuilter adds calculates 6 patterns with a pattern height of 2.597.

7. Click on Stretch. 8. Change the Pattern height to 2.5. The pattern is now ready to sew.

Exercise 22 Repeatable pattern in a tapered boundary

1. Open the pattern Turtle Border in the Animals subdirectoy of the Border Patterns directory. 2. Click on the Boundary tab at the top of the page. 3. Load the boundary that is 12 x 4. 4. Set the Boundary Width to 35 and Boundary Height to 3. 5. Edit the boundary so that it is higher on the right than on the left. 6. Use center handle to move the pattern to the left edge of the boundary. 7. Click and drag the right handle to the right edge of the boundary. 8. Turn on Stretch. 9. Change Pattern Height to 2.5. 10. Turn on Morphing button. 11. Move the Morph Slider all the way to the right. 12. Click the handle in the upper right corner of the pattern and drag it to the upper right corner of the border. 13. You may now sew the pattern.

Boundary Array Pattern

You can manipulate an array within a boundary just as you can without a boundary. You will see you have the same buttons for an array as on the SetUp page. You also have the same buttons as on any other boundary page. Some of the buttons are in a different place but they all work the same way they do on the other pages.

Execute page

71

Execute Page

Run/Abort Popup

After choosing a pattern, entering the variables and selecting any options you wish to use, you come to this page to sew the pattern. This is the page where you actually move the machine. Always be sure to keep your fingers and any other objects away from the sewing needle. Serious injury or damage can result from sewing over anything other than fabric and batting. On this page, you can Jog or Move to another position, flip or stagger a pattern or go back to Zero. To the right of the screen are indicator boxes to tell you the current status of the machine such as X and Y axis positions, the jog increment and whether the sewing motor is on or off. The picture at the right of the screen shows how the pattern will look when sewn with the choices you made Execute page

on the SetUp page. If you have restarted a pattern, the picture will show what has already been sewn in a solid blue line. The part of the pattern still to be sewn will be shown in purple dashed lines. There are prompts at the bottom of the screen to help you run the program.

POSITION BOXES

Position boxes In the upper right corner of the screen you will see two boxes. The left one is marked X and the one on the right is marked Y. They both contain a number. These boxes indicate the position of the machine relative to Zero.

72

STATUS BAR

to X0Y0. If you have a custom start point in your pattern, these numbers are the distance from that point to the point where the pattern will begin to be sewn.

Status Bar On the very bottom of the screen is a white line. Messages are stored there similar to the Jog to start position seen in the example above. This message will change as you use CompuQuilter. If you get distracted or confused and dont know where you are in the program, look at this line for a hint. When the program is waiting for some action on your part, the prompt will tell you what it is waiting for. An example of this is when it waits to give you time to pick up the bobbin thread. When you push Run, the pattern begins to load into the queue. A blue line runs along the status line. It is usually too fast to see when you are watching where your fingers are when beginning to sew. But, you may have noticed it if you have loaded a pattern with a huge number of points or you have loaded a two part pattern. In the first case, the program will load as much of the pattern as the memory will hold. It will then sew whatever is in the queue. Then it will pause to load more of the pattern before continuing to sew. With a two part pattern, CompuQuilter will load the first part into the queue. The blue line will only fill part of the status line. As it comes to the next segment of the pattern, CompuQuilter will load it into the queue before continuing to sew.

X and Y Start There is also a second number next to the Y Start position. This number is mostly for programming purposes. Just be aware that if there is a number here, the machine will move by that amount before it starts sewing.

GRID
Near the bottom center of the screen, you will see a button marked Grid ON or Grid OFF. This button works the same as on the SetUp page.

HEAD MOVEMENT SPEED BAR

Head movement speed bar Head movement speed is the rate the machine head travels along the quilt. In the upper left corner of the screen is a slider bar. The number in the box to the left of the Head Movement Speed bar is the rate of travel in inches per second. The value must be between 0.25 and 2.0 inches and the default is 1.5 inches per second. To change the head movement speed, click and drag the left mouse button on the pointer in the speed bar. You may also change the head movement speed by clicking in the Head movement Speed Bar. Then press the right Windows arrow key to increase or the left Windows arrow key to decrease the

X AND Y START VALUES

Just below the Needle Start Position box you will see the labels X Start and Y Start. Next to those labels are some numbers. These numbers are the distance from your Needle Start Position Execute page

73

arrow keys, not the number keypad we usually use. Each time you press an arrow key, the speed changes by 0.1 inch per second. A third way to change the head movement speed is to click in the edit box to the left of the head movement speed bar. Type the speed you want then Enter. Remember that if you change the head movement speed, you will need to make a similar change of speed of the sewing motor speed in order to maintain the same stitch length.

Jog Pad Youll notice the keys are labeled differently than most ten key pads. As with the ten key on your keyboard, when you click on one of these keys, the machine will move in the direction indicated on the key. If you click the button marked X+Y+, the machine will move in the positive direction of both coordinates; to the right and away from you in the Y axis. The numbers on the right of the Jog Pad are the distances the machine will travel each time you click on a key. You can move as little as 0.025" or as much as 10". If you want to move farther than 10", you should probably use Move; its faster.

JOG
To jog is to move the machine under computer control a predetermined distance. There are two ways to jog your machine. One is to simply press one of the number keys on your keyboard. Be sure you are using the number keypad with number lock on as explained in the front of this book.

INCREMENT BY
When you use the number keypad on your keyboard, you use this box to know how far youll move the machine each time you jog. You use the plus (+) key on the keypad to increase the distance and the minus () key to reduce the distance. To make it easier to see from a distance, the background of the box is different for each increment. The second way to jog is to click on the Jog button. When you click on this button, a popup like the one below opens. It looks much like a calculator but it does behave differently. It works just like the number keypad on your keyboard.

Jog Increment Note: you can travel 10" in X only. You are too likely to hit a limit switch if you travel that far in Y.

MOVE
The Move button works much the same as Jog except that the machine moves

Execute page

74

faster so youll will want to use it when you want the machine to travel longer distances. Also, you can choose exactly how far you want to move as opposed to preset increments up to 10 inches. To use this feature, click in the edit box for the X axis if you want to move in that direction. Type in the amount you want to move and ENTER. The cursor will jump to the Y axis box. If you also want to move in the Y axis enter the amount and ENTER. Then click the Move button and the machine will move the indicated amount in each direction.

CompuQuilter marks the starting position as zero on both the X and Y

axes. If you press this button with your mouse or press the G key on the keyboard, the machine will move to the point that has been marked as zero.

SET ZERO
This button will set Zero at the current position of the machine whenever it is pressed. It is most often used when outlining and will be discussed fully in the instructions for the Outlining Page.

If, for example, you want to move the machine 22 inches left and 3 inches down, or toward you, from its present position, you would enter 22 in the X axis box and Enter. The cursor will jump to the Y axis box and you would enter 3 then the Enter key. Click the Move button and the machine will move to the desired position. The numbers you type into these boxes will remain until they are changed. If later you want to move the machine the same amounts, all you need to do is type the M key on the keyboard or leftclick on the Move button and the machine will move again the amount in the boxes from its current position.

GO TO START POSITION

When you click on this button, the machine head will move to the Needle Start Position that is indicated in the Needle Start Position box.

GO TO ROW END
When you click the Go to row end button, the machine will move to the end of the current row. You might use this to check to see that you have the row set up the way you think you do.

GO TO ZERO
Each time you push the Run/abort button to start running a pattern,

Execute page

75

Exercise 23 Moving the machine head

1. If you have fabric on your machine, jog to place your machine over the fabric so that you dont catch the hopping foot on it when you start to move the machine. 2. Click on the tab at the top of the screen marked Execute page. 3. Press the plus (+) and minus (-) keys on the ten key pad on the keyboard several times. Notice that each time you press the +, the number in the lower right corner marked "Jog increment by" gets larger and each time you press the key the number gets smaller. This is the amount in inches that the head will move when you jog. Also notice that when the number changes, the background color changes. This is to make it easier to read the number from a distance. You may not be able to read the number but you will learn which size is which color. 4. Press the + or key to set the increment at 1.000 inch. 5. Making sure the hopping foot will not get caught on the edge of the fabric, press the number 6 on the ten keypad. Each time you press this key, the head will move to the right one inch. Move the head to near the center of the quilting area. 6. Press the 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 keys on the keyboard. Notice each key

causes the head to move in the direction that corresponds to the relationship of the number to the 5 on the keypad. Pressing 6 causes the head to move to the right, and 4 moves it to the left. Pressing 2 causes the head to move toward you and 8 moves it away from you. The 1, 3, 7, and 9 keys move the head diagonally. 7. Change the increment to 0.025, 0.500, and 5.000 inches and press the number keys to observe the amount the machine head moves. Notice the numbers in the Position boxes at the upper right side of the screen when you move the head around. 8. Change the increment to 10.000. Notice the label changed from "X and Y" to "X only" and is highlighted. To avoid hitting a limit switch, you can only jog left or right in increments of 10.000". If you try to move along the Y axis or diagonally, nothing will happen. Move the head left or right. Notice the machine head moves faster than it does when moving in smaller increments. 9. Click on the Jog button at the lower right side of the screen. 10. Repeat steps 5 through 7 except this time click on the buttons on the screen that correspond to the numbers on the keypad. If you have a touch screen, you do not need to click on the buttons with the mouse. Just tap it with your finger. 11. Click Exit to close Jog pad.

Execute page

76

Exercise 24 Speed control

1. Open the Border pattern Diamond Arc. 2. Set your Quilted Width to 40" and Quilted Length to 20". Notice the total thread path is 58 inches long. 3. Go to the Execute Page. Set your head movement speed to 1.5". Approximate sewing time is 43 seconds. Notice the

4. Use the slider to change the head movement speed to 0.25. Notice the time is now 4:20. Thats a big difference With a pattern that is simple curves that dont bend back on themselves, you could run it wide open at 2.0 inches per second. For an intricate pattern you would want to slow down so that your machine is able to produce good stitch quality. Remember that when you make a big change in the speed the head moves across the quilt, you must also make a similar change to the sewing motor speed to keep the same size stitch.

JUMP BOX
You must decide what you want the CompuQuilter program to do when it encounters a jump in a pattern. With a motif your choices are sew from the end of the first segment to the beginning of the next segment, to pull a jump stitch or to anchor and tie off.

sew that circle. This process would be repeated for the last circle.

Jump Circles Jump Box In the example of the three concentric circles, if you select Sew, CompuQuilter will sew the first circle then sew where you see the red line between the first and second circles. It will then sew the second circle and again sew between that circle and the last circle. If you select Jump Stitch, the smallest circle will be sewn first. The machine will do the number of anchor stitches you have set, then move to the beginning of the next circle. It would then do the anchor stitches and then Execute page If you select Anchor tie off, the machine will go through the same process except when it gets to the end of the first circle, it will do a cut bobbin routine. That is to say that it will anchor as usual. Then it will move to the right to pull thread out of the bobbin. It will come back and take a single stitch and move to the right to allow you to cut the threads. When you are finished, the machine will go to the beginning of the next circle and sew that circle as if it were a stand alone pattern.

77

VIEW

pattern and left on a repeating pattern to avoid sewing off the edge of the quilt. You can choose to have it move left or right when it finishes either type of pattern by clicking on one of the Pull direction buttons. View Box

STOP BEFORE PULLING BOBBIN

Just below the box marked Jump, youll see a box like the one above marked View. For all types of pattern that are not repeatable, your only choice is Single. With this selection, the picture of the pattern at the right will show a single copy of the pattern as you have it set up. For a Repeatable pattern, you have two additional choices. You may choose to see a whole row. You will notice that the row number changes according to which row you are on. If it is a cropped row, you will see it as it is cropped. If you are on a row that is staggered, you will see that as well. You may also choose Overall to see how the entire quilt is set up. This is the same as described on the SetUp page.

Stop Before Pulling Bobbin The Stop before pulling bobbin button allows you to choose whether or not to automatically move to pull out bobbin thread after the program has finished sewing a segment. The default is "yes". If you are sewing a short pattern and will be right there ready to pull some slack on the thread, you can save some time by having this set to "no". However, if you leave your machine while it is sewing, you may choose to have it stop and wait for you to return to pull slack before the machine head moves. This assures that you will have time to pull the slack and avoid the risk of breaking a thread or pulling the stitches you have sewn. If this feature is set to "yes", the machine will sew the pattern. At the end of the pattern or segment of a pattern, the program will do an anchor stitch. A pop up window will open to tell you to pull some slack in your top thread. It will wait until you click on OK to tell it you are ready for the machine to move. It will then move 5 inches to pull thread out of the bobbin and move back to the previous position. It will then do whatever is next in the program. That could be to take a stitch and move to bring the bobbin to the top or it could be

PULL LEFT OR PULL RIGHT

Pull Left or Right Buttons When you start and stop sewing a pattern or row, CompuQuilter picks up the bobbin for you just as you would when hand guiding the machine. It will take a single stitch then move over to pull thread out of the bobbin case before you cut it. The default is to move to the right at the beginning and end of a motif

Execute page

78

to move to the next segment and begin sewing it.

FLIP PATTERN X AND Y

Enter. Alternatively, use the clickers next to the box to increase or decrease the number of stitches. At any time the machine is not sewing, you may click this button or use the Hot Key A and CompuQuilter will do an Anchor stitch routine. When you choose Back Stitch in this box, CompuQuilter will sew the distance and the number of stitches you have set in the preferences on the About page. At the beginning or end of a segment when you have chosen backstitch, CompuQuilter will move back along the line of stitching for the distance of one stitch. For example, if you are beginning to sew a segment at 10 stitches per inch, you likely will have set the backstitch length at 10. Compu-Quilter will move back 1/10 inch from the start of pattern. It will then sew the number of stitches you have specified (we suggest 5). Then it will begin sewing the rest of the pattern at the length you have set on your machine. You are still free to increase or decrease the machine sewing speed to fine tune the stitch length to your preference. Doing so will not change the length or number of stitches sewn when it does a backstitch. Again, you may activate this by clicking the button or pressing the hot key A any time the machine is not moving. Your third option is to pull only. In this case, the machine will neither do anchor stitches nor backstitches. It will simply stop sewing at the end of the first segment, move to the beginning of the next segment and begin sewing again.

The Flip Pattern X and Y boxes on this page are the same as on the SetUp page.

ANCHOR STITCH

Anchor Stitch There is a box just over the left side of the view window. It contains radio buttons giving you the choice of Anchor Stitch, Back Stitch or Pull Only. This is where you choose what you want to happen at the beginning and end of a segment. When you first begin to run a pattern, CompuQuilter will go through a Pick up bobbin routine where it will bring the bobbin to the top of the quilt the same as you do when hand guiding the machine. Then if you have chosen Anchor or Back Stitch, CompuQuilter will perform that task before continuing to sew the pattern. When you choose Anchor Stitch in this box, the label on the button to the left will say Anchor Stitch. The machine will do what I call an Anchor Stitch routine. That is the machine will stitch back and forth along the pattern line. The edit box next to this button allows you to choose how many single stitches it will take. To change the number, click in this box, type a number between 0 and 6 and Execute page

NEEDLE START POSITION

In the center of the screen is a box marked Needle Start Position. This box makes it easy for you to position the

79

pattern on your quilt. The choices you have are determined by the type of pattern you are using.

center of row. In the picture above, the large circle at the intersection of the crosshairs represents the position of the needle in your machine when you begin to sew. You must have the view set to show the row in order to see the effect of your choice. If you change the Needle Start Position when the view is set to show a single repeat or Overall, the change will take effect. You just wont be able to see the crosshairs. Which start position you choose will depend on which is easiest to use to position the pattern on the quilt.

Needle Start Position box On a motif pattern, you may choose Start of Pattern, any corner, or Center of Pattern. Boundary will be automatically selected if you have one open. If your pattern is generated with a Custom Start Point defined, you may, but are not required to choose that point. For more information about using custom start points, contact your pattern designer.

Machine Start Corner For example, if we were going to put a corner pattern in the area of a quilt that is framed by a border, we would move the machine to the seam line at the upper left corner of the area to be quilted and select inside corner. The circle represents your needle position and the crosshairs represent the seams in your quilt. When you type R or push the red Run/Abort button on the machine head, the machine will move to the start point of the pattern then begin sewing. You can see how much easier it is to fit your corner on a quilt. No trying to figure out where to start.

Machine Start Repeat On a repeatable pattern, you can choose to start the pattern with the machine at any corner or the start of the pattern. If you have only one row, you may also choose center of pattern and Execute page

80

CHANGE BOBBIN

Phil in Australia has once again found an innovative way to use a CompuQuilter feature. We publish it here with our sincere thanks. "You can stitch the sides of your quilt and return back to where that row begins by using the Set Bobbin Change position button.

You can choose a place that is convenient to change the bobbin. This is especially convenient on a Gammill machine where you must move the head near the edge of the quilt in order to reach the area to change the bobbin. Simply jog the machine to the position you choose and click on the button marked Set. Be sure the position you choose is not off the quilt. Otherwise when you return to the sewing position, you risk getting the machine caught on the edge of the quilt. This setting will remain until you hit a limit switch or turn off CompuQuilter. Each time you load a new quilt you will need to set this position again to be sure it is in the best place for that particular quilt. The lettering on the Set button will be red until you set it and then it will change to black. This is so you know if you have set the position or not. When you are sewing and need to change the bobbin, click on the large button marked Change bobbin. The machine will move to the position you set. The name on the button changes to Return bobbin. When you are finished changing the bobbin, click on the Return button and the machine will return to the place it was when you first moved away to change the bobbin.

1. Align the start of your next row and then set the bobbin change position. 2. Provided you don't hit the X/Y axis limits, you can move anywhere and then set zero to use the vertical (or horizontal) buttons to sew the sides (or top) of the quilt. 3. When done, click Change Bobbin and the head will move back to the original 0,0 at the start of the row. 4. Now click Reset Zero and you are ready to start sewing the row as normal."

MARGIN
Below the Offset values is an edit box marked Margin. Using this button, you can enter an amount of margin between the edge of your quilting area and the pattern. You can either type the amount of margin you want into the box and ENTER, or click your mouse on one of the arrows to increase or decrease the size of your margin. On a motif pattern, the margin will be applied to both the X and Y axes as shown in the example below.

Margin Motif

Execute page

81

On a repeat pattern, the margin affects only the Y axis. In the anchor example at the beginning of this chapter, the margin would be between the "rope" of the anchor and the seam line of the quilt above the anchor.

ONE STITCH BUTTON

This button does a single stitch. Clicking on this button or typing an O on the key board is the same as pressing the single stitch button on the handlebar. You can use this button any time the machine is not moving and it will not affect the pattern you are using.

There are three ways to use this button. You can left click on the button on the screen with the mouse. You can press the hot key R or you can push the red run/abort button on the front panel of the machine. Throughout this book, when I say push the run button, you can use any of these methods to activate the button.

Run dialog box When the machine head is not moving and you push the Run button, a run dialog box will open. It tells you it is waiting for you to pull up the bobbin and then press R to continue the program. You can also jog from this screen or you can click the Quit button and the pattern will be aborted. To jog, use the arrow keys on your keyboard or you can type the hot key, J and the Jog pad will open. Then click the buttons on the screen to jog. When the machine head is moving, you cannot click the button on the screen or do anything else through the computer. If you push the red Run/abort button on the machine head, it behaves as an Abort button. It stops the machine head movement and if you are sewing a pattern, it will also turn off the sewing motor. The following dialog box will open.

CUT BOBBIN BUTTON

When you click this button, the head will move right 5". It will come back 5" and take a single stitch. It will then move to the right 4" and stop to allow you to cut the threads.

SEWING MOTOR
This button will turn the sewing motor on and off. It also indicates if the Sewing motor is on or off when under computer control.

RUN/ABORT BUTTON
Each time you are ready for the program to begin running the pattern, you use the Run button.

Execute page

82

Run/Abort Popup If you are sewing a pattern, you can choose to abort the running of the pattern, continue sewing the pattern or restart the pattern. If you select Abort by clicking on the screen or typing the hot key A, the program will reset the pattern back to the beginning. You would use this option when you want to simply stop what you are doing and do something else You might press the red run/abort button to pause the sewing while you go answer the door or something. When you return, select Continue to finish the pattern. Restart would be chosen when you break a thread or run out of bobbin and want to begin where you left off and finish running the pattern as you have set up. If you push the abort button during a jog or move, the restart button on the popup will be grayed out and unavailable for use.

Sometimes when beginning to sew, I will fail to pick up the bobbin for one reason or another. If you do this, you dont need to Abort and begin again. When the pattern first starts, the machine will take a single stitch and move over one inch. It will stop to give you time to pick up the bobbin. You can jog the machine one inch to the left, do a manual single stitch and jog the machine back to the right one inch. You will then be right where you had been as if you hadnt lost the bobbin thread. The program doesnt know youve done a thing.

WARNING BOX

Limit Switch Warning There are limit switches to prevent running the machine off the table. When you attempt to go too far, the head will stop moving. A warning box will pop up on the screen and tell you that you have reached the limit of movement in the y direction. When this happens, the program will no longer know the position of zero. Before you can do anything else, you must either click on OK or Enter on the keyboard to tell the computer you have read the warning. On early models of CQ that have a run/abort switch, a warning box will also come on when you try to sew with the run switch set to stop.

Execute page

83

Exercise 25 Set Bobbin, Move, Go to Zero

1. Jog your machine near you and near one side of the fabric but not off the fabric. 2. Click the Set button next to the Change bobbin button. A popup opens asking if you want to set the bobbin change position. 3. Click Yes. 4. Mark that spot on your quilt. 5. Jog the machine about 5" away from its current position. 6. Mark that spot on your quilt. 7. Click on Set zero. 8. Click in the Move X box near the bottom of the screen. Enter 5. The cursor will jump to the Move Y box. 9. Enter 1. 10. When you type M on the keyboard, the sewing head will move 5" to the right and 1" away you. Notice the machine moves faster when you use the move box than it does when you jog. This can make a big difference if you are moving a long distance across a quilt. 11. Click on Go to zero. The machine head will move back to the place where you set zero. 12. Click on the Change bobbin button. The machine will move to the position you set as the change bobbin position. 13. Click the same button than now says Return Bobbin. The machine will move back to zero.

Exercise 26 Beginning and ending a pattern

1. Open the pattern named Circles3 in the Motifs folder. 2. Change the Pattern Width to 5. 3. Go to the Execute Page. 4. Select Anchor and set the number of stitches to 3. 5. Move the machine to the lower left corner of an area youd like to sew. 6. Be sure Lower Left Corner is selected in the Machine Start Position box. 7. While holding the threads, press the red button on the machine head. 8. The machine will take a single stitch and move one inch to the right. 9. Pull the bobbin thread to the top of the quilt. 10. While holding both threads, press the red run button again.

Execute page

84

The machine will take a stitch, move a tiny bit to the right, take a stitch, move back to the left and take a stitch. This is the anchor stitch. It will then begin to sew the pattern. At the end of the first circle, the machine will pause to allow you to pull some slack in the thread. 11. Pull about an inch of thread from the tensioner and press the red run button. CompuQuilter will do an anchor stitch, run the second circle, do an anchor stitch then pause again. 12. Repeat step 11. The third circle will be sewn. This time when it finishes the last anchor stitch, the machine will move 5 inches to the right to pull thread out of the bobbin then come back, take a single stitch, then move to the right to give you space to cut the bobbin thread. It will then pause. Notice the prompt at the bottom of the screen tells you it is waiting for you to cut the bobbin thread. 13. After you have cut the thread, push the red button one more time. CompuQuilter will move the machine head back to the machine start position (lower left corner). 14. Change your selection to Backstitch. Also in the Jump box at the right of the screen, change the selection from Jump Stitch to sew. 15. Jog the machine to a place where you can sew the pattern again and run the pattern. Notice that this time, a backstitch was done at the beginning and end of the pattern only. No anchor stitches were necessary because there was no break in the stitching. 16. Cut the bobbin when prompted to finish this pattern. 17. Press the red run button one last time to finish the pattern. The machine head will go back to the machine start position. 18. Lets run this pattern one more time. This time select pull only and Anchor tie off in the two boxes. Notice the difference of when it stitches and when it doesnt. This setting would be used when you want to have extra thread to bury a knot by hand. You would need to remember to pull extra bobbin thread at the end of sewing a segment.

Execute page

85

Execute page

86

Execute Page Motif

INFORMATION BOXES

PATTERN WIDTH BOX

This is the width of the pattern from the farthest left point to its farthest right point. This is the same as on the SetUp page.

Across the top of the screen above the pattern picture are boxes marked Pattern Width, Pattern Height, and Sew time. If the pattern is repeatable, there will also be boxes marked "Row Index" and the Pattern Width box label will change to Row Length. These boxes are only for your information. The information is read from the SetUp page and is repeated here so that you dont have to go back to the Setup page to see the data.

PATTERN HEIGHT BOX

This is the height of the pattern from the highest point to its lowest point. This is the same as on the SetUp page.

SEW TIME BOX

When you have set up your quilt information, CompuQuilter calculates approximately how long it will take to sew each pattern.

Execute

87

Exercise 27 Sew a motif

In the next 3 exercises, we will be sewing in eight 4 inch boxes. You need to either draw two rows about 18 inches long or one row about 36 inches long. Dont get too close to the take up bar. We will be sewing a couple of inches above that line. 1. Go to the SetUp page and open Goldfish in the Animals subdirectory under Motif patterns. 2. Set the Pattern width to 3. 3. Go to the Execute page. 4. Jog to the upper left corner of the first box you drew. 5. Click on Start of pattern in the Needle Start Position box. 6. Now we are ready to run the program. Hang on to the thread and press "R" on the keyboard or push the red button on the machine head. The machine will take a stitch to pick up the bobbin thread and move to the right. It will pause to allow you time to pull up the bobbin. 7. Hold on to both threads and press "R" again. The machine will move back to the start point and anchor stitch. The machine will then begin sewing the pattern. 8. When the machine has finished sewing the pattern, it will anchor stitch and pause. Pull some thread out to relieve tension on the stitches and push the red Run/Abort button on the machine head. The machine will move 5 inches to the right then come back to the end of the stitching. 9. The machine will take a single stitch and move 4" to the right. It will pause to give you time to pull the bobbin thread to the top and clip it. 10. Finally, press R to finish the pattern. The machine will move back to the starting point. Notice that the stitching started at the corner of your box and that the fish is outside the box. See the X and Y start values just over the Margin box. They are both zero. That tells you that when you tell CompuQuilter to run the pattern, it will not move before it begins sewing. This pattern begins on the upper left corner of the box so that means part of the pattern will be outside the box youve drawn. 11. Jog the machine to the upper left corner of the next box. 12. Click on Upper left corner in the Needle Start Position box. 13. Run the program again. Notice the placement of the fish this time. Also notice the X and Y start values. This means that the machine would move 1.026" to the right and toward you 1.861" before it began sewing. 14. Near the bottom of the screen click in the Margin box. Enter 0.5". 15. Jog to the upper left corner of the next box on your quilt.

Execute

88

16. Run the pattern again. Notice it left a margin this time. 17. Now Flip X. Click on Pull Left. Click on Stop before pulling. 18. Jog to the upper left corner of the next box on our quilt. 19. Run the pattern. Keep watch. This pattern only takes seconds to run. machine will not wait for you to pull out thread to relieve tension on the threads. The

Exercise 28 Stretch a motif

Notice the information above the picture on the screen. They say the pattern is 3.000" wide and 2.505" tall. Lets change the pattern to better fit in our square. 1. Go to the SetUp page. 2. Click on Stretch. 3. Click in the Pattern height box. Enter 3. 4. Go back to the Execute page. 5. In the upper left corner of the screen is a slider labeled "Machine head move speed .. Inches Per Second". Click and drag the slider all the way to the left. Notice the box to the left of the slider says ".25". This means the head will move inch per second when the program is run. Notice the Sew time box above the screen says the sewing time will be 1 minute 28 seconds. 6. If you are using a small, intricate pattern, you will want to run the machine slowly. On a large, sweeping pattern, you can run it as fast as it will go. This pattern is an open density so set the Machine head move speed at about 1.75 inches per second. You may need to adjust the speed of your sewing motor to maintain the size stitch you prefer. See the manual that came with your machine to learn how to do this. 7. Notice the sewing time will now be about 13 seconds. 8. Click on Anchor Stitch. 9. Use the clicker to set the anchor thread number of stitches to 5. You can change this for your personal preference between 0 and 6 stitches. 10. Jog to the upper left corner of the box you have drawn on your fabric. 11. Now we are ready to run the program. Hang on to the thread and press "R" on the keyboard. The machine will move to the start point, take a stitch to pick up the bobbin thread and move to the right. It will pause to allow you time to pull up the bobbin. 12. Hold on to both threads and press "R" again. The machine will move back to the start point and anchor stitch. The machine will begin sewing the pattern. 13. When the machine has finished sewing the pattern, it will anchor stitch and pause. Pull some thread out to relieve tension on the stitches and push the red Run/Abort button on the machine head. The machine will move 5 inches to the right, then come back to the end of the stitching. Execute 89

14. The machine will take a single stitch and move 4" to the right. It will pause to give you time to pull the bobbin thread to the top and clip it. 15. Finally, press R to finish the pattern. The machine will move back to the starting point.

Exercise 29 Sew several motifs in a row

1. Go the the SetUp page. 2. Enter 4 in the edit box marked "From end go X". 3. Go to the Execute page. 4. Enter a margin of 0.5" and change the Stop before pulling bobbin back to yes. 5. Select Lower left corner in the Machine Start selection box. 6. Jog to the lower left corner of the first box. 7. Run the pattern the same as you have learned in exercises in the previous exercise. When the machine is finished sewing the first fish, instead of returning to the start, it goes to the lower left corner of the next block. It probably wont be exactly on the corner because you didnt draw the block exactly 4" square. This is the same as on a quilt. 8. Jog to where the corner really is instead of where it should be. 9. Run the pattern just as you did before. 10. Repeat this sequence to sew a third block except at the very end. If this were the last block on your quilt, you wouldnt want the machine to move to the next block. 11. After the pattern has been sewn and you have cut the threads, instead of typing R one last time to finish the pattern, type Q for quit. The program will end right there and wait for you to do something else.

Execute

90

Execute Page Array

Once you have set up an array the way you want it, it is just a motif pattern. You sew it just as you would any other block pattern. The one difference you'll see is that in the Information boxes above the picture. There is a box that tells you the diameter of the array if you have selected a Circular or Wreath Array.

Execute

91

Execute Page Corner

A corner is essentially a special motif. You have the same choices and restrictions as any other motif. There is one addition, however. In your Needle Start Position box, you have an additional choice. That choice is Inside corner.

Most of the time, corners are used to put the pattern in the corner of a border. It is easy to see the intersection of seams on a quilt so it is ideal for setting a corner pattern properly. Well sew a corner when we talk about borders.

Execute

92

Execute Page Repeatable

INFORMATION BOXES

SEW DIRECTION BOX

Information boxes Just above the box that shows the pattern youll see the same information boxes as you've seen on the other Execute pages. However, there is now a new one. It is the Row Index. You set this amount on the SetUp page. It is given here as information so you don't have to go to the SetUp page to see it. A new function on the Execute page when you have a repeatable pattern loaded, is to choose sewing direction. Due to the mechanical design of all sewing machines, they like to sew left to right. A longarm machine is the same as any other sewing machine in that regard. The problem with "sewing 93

Execute

backward" is that it has a tendency to unwind the thread. Eventually that loose thread will be caught by the hook and break. When a pattern contains a lot of direction reversals, this could very well not cause a problem. In that case, you may prefer to sew every other row from right to left. In order to do that, select Alternate in the box before you begin sewing your first row. It is near the top and to the right of the pattern drawing window. When you make this selection, you will sew the first row as always. You will not be allowed to select Center of Pattern or Center of Row in your Needle Start Position box. When you finish sewing the first row, the machine does not go back to the beginning of the row as it usually does. CompuQuilter will flip the definition of the pattern. It will also change your Needle Start Position according to the selection you made. If you selected Upper left corner as your start position, then the second and subsequent even numbered rows will be switched to Upper right corner. If you selected Lower left corner, the even numbered rows will have Lower right corner selected. If you selected Start of pattern, the even numbered rows would still be start of pattern but that point would now be the last point to the right instead of to the left.

reached the capacity of the depth of your machine head, you must index the quilt in order to sew the next rows. To do that, click the Index+ button near the lower left of the screen or use the hot key I. Place a pin under the hopping foot. Then press the Back button next to the Index button or use the hot key K. The machine will return to the position where you indexed. Next, roll the quilt up until the pin is under the hopping foot. You are now ready to sew the next row. If your pattern is small enough that you can sew more than one row, you would click the Index button at the end of each row. When you have filled the available area and must roll up the quilt, you use the Back button once for each row that you were able to sew since rolling up the quilt. Roll the quilt up until the pin is under the hopping foot and you are ready to go.

ROW NUMBER

Row Number Near the lower right of the Execute page is an Edit box marked Row. Of X. The number in the edit box (white background) is the active row. The number next to the word "of" will change based on your setup. When you press the Index+ button, the active row number will increment by one. CompuQuilter uses this to know if a particular row is staggered, sewn right to left, how it is cropped, etc.

INDEX BUTTONS

Index and Back buttons When you have a repeatable pattern open and have finished a row that has

Execute

94

LAST ROW POPUP

When you index to the last row of your quilt, a box similar to the one below will pop up. Now you have the chance to decide how you will handle the difference in how much space is left and how much space was supposed to be left.

in the Last Row Height box, then select No Change. The popup will close and you can then sew the last row. If there is slightly more space than you expected, you might choose to stretch your pattern to fill the area better. Click on the Stretch Height button. The Input Pad will open with the measured jog amount suggested. Click Enter to accept that amount. The Input Pad will close and you are now ready to run your last row.

Last Row Height If the measured distance is not the amount needed for the row to equal the amount in the Last Row Height, choose whether you want to Stretch or Crop the last row to make it the height you measured. If the value is greater than the non-cropped pattern height, you will need to either stretch the pattern or add a row. Most likely, the space left is shorter than the row height should have been. In that case, you might choose to crop or change the amount of crop on that last row. Click the Crop Height button or press the hot key C. Again, the Input Pad will open with the measured distance suggested. Click Enter and you will be ready to sew your next row. If you have measured from Start of Pattern or a lower corner, you could find that the last row height is larger than you think. For example, if you have a pattern that is 10 inches tall and start of pattern is in the middle of that row, or 5 inches. The amount in the popup might be 6 inches. If you choose Crop Height

The option you will choose most often is Jog Measure. When you click that button on the popup, two additional boxes will open. One is a data box. The other is a Jog button. Use the Jog button the same as any other Jog button to move the machine to the bottom of the area you wish to quilt. When you are finished, click Exit on the Jog Pad. The distance you jogged will be in the data box of the Last Row Popup. This number is the distance from the needle at the Needle Start Position to the edge of the quilting area. Just below the Y Position box on the upper right of the screen is an information box with the Last Row Height from the Setup page. This box is only visible when you reach the last row. If your measured distance is such that the last row will be equal to the amount Execute

95

and accept the suggested amount of 6 inches, an error message like the one below will open.

Jog Measure Error Message This is because you forgot that CompuQuilter will double the amount to calculate the pattern height. That will result in CompuQuilter thinking you have 12 inches in which to place a 10 inch pattern. Technically, you should remember that when you enter the amount in the Input pad. I just find it easier to cheat and let CompuQuilter do the math. I suggest you move to Upper left corner in the Needle Start Position box before you measure. After you have CompuQuilter set up to sew the last row the way you want, then switch the Needle Start Position back to your original preference. Normally, you would rarely encounter the need for adding a row. However, I have a hint you might like to try. Since the Quilted Length is an approximation due to shrinkage anyway, I dont bother to measure carefully or to calculate shrinkage. I put in a number that Im sure will be slightly larger than my quilt. I run the pattern as normal and deal with the last row when I get there. If for some reason, there is quite a bit of extra space (perhaps you measured wrong before loading the quilt), you can choose to add a row and deal with the next row being the last row when you get that far. In this case, click the Add Row button or use the hot key A in the

Last Row Popup. CompuQuilter will add a row at the same height as the others in the quilt. It will also put the calculated left over space in the last row box at the upper right corner of the screen. You will run that row and when you Index, you will again be on the last row and have all the options you had before you added the row. There is another way I use the Crop feature to do exactly what I want. I sometimes want to specify the pattern height. This is usually because I want to use the entire throat capacity of my machine. I use the following steps on the setup page. I enter the width of my quilt. Next, I click in the Quilted Length box. Instead of entering a number, I enter the formula of my desired pattern height times the number of rows that is slightly larger than my quilt length (11.5 X 9). Next, I turn on Stretch and enter my desired pattern height (11.5). Finally, I change the number of rows to what I used above (9 in this example). I then run the quilt and crop off the extra on the last row. There could be times when youll want to tell CompuQuilter that you are on a different row than it says. For example, lets say you have 10 rows on a quilt. When you get to the end of the quilt you find that you wont have enough room to sew the last row as you had planned. You might choose to stretch row 9, making it the last row. By entering 10 in this edit box, the Last Row Popup will

Execute

96

open and youll be able to adjust your quilting to your preference. If you change this row number at any time, be careful. Remember that several options affect the way alternating rows are sewn. If you are staggering your pattern, for example, you dont want to tell CompuQuilter you are on the last row that should be an even numbered row (and therefore staggered) when it should be on an odd

numbered row (and therefore not staggered). If you are sewing alternate rows right to left and change the row number, you could sew the wrong direction and go off your quilt. Be sure to check for any other changes that need to be made as well. You might just turn off stagger, turn off alternate or simply move your machine to the other end of a row before sewing.

Exercise 30 Nested edge to edge pattern

1. Open the repeat pattern named "Daisy Panto". 2. Make quilted width 15" and quilted length 15". 3. Click Overall in the View box and click on the zoom button. This pattern is too far apart. 4. Change the number of patterns to 3 and the number of rows to 9. Now the Row spacing is -0.734 and the index is 1.585. That looks better except there are unquilted areas on the top row. 5. Crop the top 50%. That looks better. Notice that the number of rows has been changed to 10. 6. 7. 8. 9. Go to Execute page. Click on Alternate in the Sew Direction box. Select Upper left corner in the Pattern start box. Jog the machine to the upper left corner of the area you are going to quilt.

10. Hold onto the threads and press the red run button to begin sewing the row. 11. When the row is finished, click on the Index+ button or type I to go to the next row. Notice the Row number at the bottom right side of the screen has changed to 2. 12. To save time and fabric, we will not sew all the rows. We are ready to sew Row 2. We are going to tell the computer we will sew row 8. To do that, click in the Row box and type in 8. 13. Sew this row. 14. Click the Index button. The computer now thinks we are on row 9. Sew that row. 15. Click the Index button. 16. No matter how carefully you measure a quilt, the last row is never the size it should have been. The popup that just opened gives you the opportunity to deal with that fact.

Execute

97

Notice also that the Last Row Height has opened in the upper right corner of the screen. It says the last row is currently set to sew at 1.159. Here you would measure your quilt from your needle to the end of the quilt. It will usually be smaller than the calculated height. Lets say you have 1.5 inches left. Select Crop Height. 17. Enter 1.5 in the Input pad that just opened. 18. Now we are in the correct position so sew the last row as before.

SWITCH
When you open a two part pattern, a new box opens in the lower left corner of the Execute page. It is marked Switch. When you finish running one part of the pattern and are ready to run the other

part, you can click on this button instead of going back to the Setup page to change patterns.

Exercise 31 Two part no offset using crop

1. Open the Repeat Pattern Orange Peel-1. 2. On another button, open the Repeat Pattern Orange Peel-2. 3. Click on the Notes page tab at the top of the page to see how this pattern works. You can see from the Metafile that if you index the wrong amount, the pattern will not work as designed. 4. Go to the SetUp page. 5. Enter Quilted Width of 15 and Quilted Length of 13. 6. We dont need to sew it that large so increase the number of patterns to 5. The computer calculates there will be 9 rows. The number of rows cannot be changed because the pattern has a fixed index. The pattern width is 3 and pattern height is 1.5. The bottom row has been automatically cropped to 1 inch tall. On a real quilt, there will have been some shrinkage so that number will actually be smaller. 7. Crop Sides 25%. 8. Go to the Execute Page. 9. Be sure Sew has been selected in the Jump Stitch box and Pull left is selected in the Pull direction box. 10. Run the pattern. 11. Flip Y and run the pattern again. 12. Click the button marked "Switch". The Orange Peel-2 pattern will open. 13. Run the pattern. 14. Flip Y and run the pattern again. Execute 98

15. Index. The machine will move to the start position of the next row. 16. Run all 4 passes of the next row. 17. To save time and space, well skip running the next several rows. Enter 8 in the Row box. 18. Index. The last row popup opened. 19. Click on Crop Height. Enter 0.75". 20. Sew that row. 21. Flip Y. 22. The crop feature works only on one row at a time. CompuQuilter doesnt know you plan to run four passes from this same spot so it turned off the crop. When you Flip Y, the popup will open. 23. Select Crop Height and Enter 0.75". 24. Sew the row. 25. Click Switch. CompuQuilter treats this as going to the last row so the popup opens. 26. Again, select Crop Height and Enter the row height of 0.75. 27. Sew the row. 28. Flip Y. Again, CompuQuilter doesnt know you will run the same pattern from the same position. The Last Row popup will open. 29. Change it to 0.75 and sew the final pass.

Exercise 32 Two part no offset using stretch

We will run the same pattern as before but this time, well stretch the pattern to make it fit. Unless youve closed this out and come back to it, you already have the patterns set up. If not, follow the instructions in the last exercise to get to open the patterns. 1. Click Reset on Orange Peel-1. 2. Enter 15 and 22.5 in the Quilted Width and Quilted Length, respectively. 3. Change the number of patterns to 4. 4. Go to the Execute page. 5. Be sure Sew is selected in the Jump Stitch box and Pull left. 6. Choose Upper left corner in the Needle Start Position box. 7. Run the 4 passes of the first row. 8. Change the number of rows to 11. 9. Press I to Index to the next row. The popup opens. 10. Here you would measure to see how big you want the last row to be. Over a large quilt, it would be slightly smaller than the size of the other rows. Type S on the keyboard to Select Stretch. The popup will open. Enter 2 in the Input Pad. Execute 99

11. Sew the first pass of the last row 12. Hold the Shift while you press the < key to flip Y. Notice the row height has changed. The Last Row popup will open. 13. Type S to select Stretch. Enter 2 in the popup that opened. 14. Sew the second pass of the last row. 15. Type H to switch to the other pattern.. The last row popup opens. 16. Again, type S, 2 and Enter. 17. Sew the third pass of the last row. 18. Type Shift < to flip Y. The Last Row popup will open. 19. Type S, 2 and Enter one more time. 20. Run the last pass of the last row.

Exercise 33 Two part with offsets, Jog Measure

An offset is where a pattern starts or ends inside the outside edge of the pattern. Two part patterns have special rules. If the two parts of the pattern do not have the same pattern width, the pattern is considered to have an offset. If the distance from zero to the top of the pattern is different on the two parts, it is considered to have offsets. This exercise will walk you through how to handle special problems you will encounter when you crop this type of pattern. 1. Open the patterns named Stars E2E1 and Stars E2E2 in the 2 Part Patterns directory. Because his pattern has special offsets, it will look strange on the screen until you do the next step. 2. On Stars E2E1, enter 12 in the quilted width and quilted length boxes. 3. Change pattern height to 2". Notice that there are 6 rows. 4. Click on the button for Stars E2E2. Notice the dimensions you entered in Part 1 have been entered here also. Notice also that there are only 5 rows. This is because there is an offset in Y. 5. Look at the overall view of both parts. You will see that part 2 ends short of the edge of the pattern because it has an offset in X. 6. Click on Stars E2E1. 7. Go to the Execute page. 8. Select Upper left corner in the Needle Start Position box near the left of the screen. 9. Jog your machine to the upper left corner of your quilting area. 10. Run the first part of the pattern. When it is finished sewing, the machine will return to the machine start position.

Execute

100

11. Click Go to Zero or use the hot key, G. 12. Click the Switch button or use the hot key H. This will go to Stars E2E 2. 13. Select Start of Pattern in the Needle Start Position box. 14. Run the second part of the pattern. When it is finished, the machine will return to the machine start position. 15. Click the Index+ button or use the hot key I to index to the next row. 16. Click the Switch button or use the hot key H. 17. Start of Pattern will be automatically selected in the Needle Start Position box. Run the first part of the pattern for the second row. When finished, the machine will return to zero. 18. Click the Switch button or use the hot key H. 19. Run the second part of the second row. 20. Click the Switch button or use the hot key H to bring up part 1 of the pattern. 21. Click the Index+ button or use the hot key I to index to the next row. 22. Put 5 in the Row number. 23. Run this pass. This will be the first part on the 5th row. 24. Draw a line to represent the bottom edge of your quilting area. Make it about 1 inch down from the position of the needle. 25. Click the radio button to select Sew in the Jump box. 26. Click the Switch button or press the hot key H. The Last Row popup will open. 27. Select Jog Measure. 28. Click the Jog button that just opened. The Jogpad opens. 29. Jog the machine to the end of the quilting area. 30. Exit the Jogpad. 31. Use the hot key C to select Crop height. The machine goes to zero and the Input pad opens with the amount you jogged in the equation window. 32. Enter to accept the amount you jogged in the equation window. Both the Input pad and the Last Row popups close. 33. Run the pattern. 34. Click the Switch button or press the hot key H. 35. Click the Index+ button or use the hot key I to index to the next row. 36. Select Jog Measure. 37. Click the Jog button that just opened. 38. Jog to the end of the quilting area.

Execute

101

39. Exit the Jogpad. 40. Click Crop height. The Input pad opens. 41. Enter to accept the amount you jogged in the equation window. The last Row popup closes. 42. Run the last pass of the pattern.

Exercise 34 Staggered edge to edge pattern

1. Open the Repeat pattern named Life Ring. 2. Check the Notes page for instructions. It says to stagger every other row. 3. Go back to the SetUp page. Enter a quilted width of 12" and quilted length of 12". The program calculates a pattern width of 6" and height of 3.429". It says there will be 2 patterns across and 3 rows down. It also says the scale factor is 0.857, there will be 0.857" between each row and the row index will be 4.286". 4. Select Overall in the View box. 5. We dont need to sew the pattern so large so lets make the number of patterns 5. This gives us a pattern height of 1.371" and a row spacing of 3.443. 6. Change the number of rows to 12. The row index is changed to 0.966 and the row spacing is -0.405. 7. Click the Stagger button so it says yes. Notice a pattern has been added and the sides are automatically cropped 50%. You could change that but I like that amount on this pattern. 8. Crop the top 50%. You will notice that a row has been added. 9. Click Zoom. I think if we crop a little more, we can have a smoother beginning to our quilt. Change the top crop to 55%. I like that better! 10. Click on the Execute page tab. 11. Select Sew in the Jump Stitch box. 12. The easiest way to locate the pattern on this quilt is to use the upper left corner. Make that selection in the Needle Start Position box. You dont need to leave any margins in this example. 13. Jog the machine to the upper left corner of the area you are going to quilt. 14. Run the pattern. You will notice the machine head moved to the right before beginning to sew. This and all odd numbered rows will be shifted to the right. 15. Click Index or type I to index to the next row. Notice the Row number has changed to 2. 16. Run the pattern. CompuQuilter has not shifted this row and all even numbered rows to the right. They begin sewing at the left edge so that every other row is staggered and will nest.

Execute

102

17. Change the row number to 12. 18. Click Index. The last row popup opens. 19. Select Crop Height and enter 0.5. 20. Run the pattern.

PATTERN START AND END

Sometimes it is a lot easier to let the computer fit a row of patterns between two points. One example may be when you turn a quilt to put borders down the sides. You don't have to be so careful to get it back on the frame perfectly straight. To use this feature, jog to the point you want to start the row and click on the Pattern Start button or type S on the key board. Then jog to where you want the row to end and click on the Pattern End button or type E on the key board.

the SetUp page. There you can enter the height of the patterns you wish to sew between the points. Then you return to the Execute page and push the red Run/Abort button to sew the row between the points. If a repeatable pattern sews outside the start and/or end points, the program will automatically compensate for this. In other words, the entire pattern will always stay within the quilted width you have identified. If you use pattern start and pattern end, a window will pop up asking if you want to keep the pattern between the start and end points. If you are tying corners together, you will need to say no. Otherwise, you will want to say yes.

If you are already near the end of the row, it is not necessary to go to the beginning to set Pattern Start then return to the end to set Pattern End. You can set the point for the pattern end before going back to set the pattern start. The program will calculate the distance and angle between the two points and switch you to the Pattern Height box on

Reset Pattern Start/End When you click on Pattern Set, it is grayed out to remind you to set the Pattern End. If you make a mistake, you can click the Reset button to start over again. The position you set as your Pattern start will be erased and the button activated so you can enter a new value. These boxes will not be visible when you have a motif pattern loaded.

Exercise 35 Border pattern in a sashing

Draw lines on your fabric to represent a border on a quilt that is about 12" long and 3" wide. Make it higher on one end than on the other as if the quilt is not on the table straight.

Execute

103

1. Open the Repeat pattern named Spiral CQ. 2. Click on the Execute page tab. 3. Jog the machine to the bottom left corner of the border you have drawn. 4. Click the Pattern Start button or type S. A popup will ask if you want keep the pattern between the start and end points. 5. Choose Yes. 6. Jog to the bottom right corner of the border you have drawn. 7. Click the Pattern End button or type E. 8. The computer will then go to the SetUp page. The input keypad will open. Notice there is now a value in the Rotate pattern box. 9. Enter 2.5 in the pattern height box. The computer calculates the number of whole patterns it can fit in the length as closely as possible to what you entered. 10. Lets say we want a 1/4" margin on top and bottom of the pattern within the border. Use Margin clicker to change the margin to 0.25". 11. Click on Stretch. 12. Enter 2.5 in the Pattern height box. 13. Go back to the Execute page. 14. Choose lower left corner in the Needle Start Position box. 15. Click on Go to Zero. The machine will move to the bottom left corner where you started. This is because you have not yet set zero at the start point of the pattern. When you click on Run, the machine will move to the proper point near the center of the pattern before it will begin to run. The pattern will be sewn entirely inside the border. 16. Sew the pattern.

Exercise 36 Border pattern with non-directional corners

To put a border on a quilt, you first put in both corners and tie the border between them. This exercise shows you how to use corners that are specifically designed as corners. 1. Draw lines on your fabric to represent the top borders of a quilt including corners. Make the border 2" wide and about 12" long 2. Open the corner directory and select the pattern named Paris Corner. 3. Click on the notes page to read the instructions. From the picture, you can see how you will want your pattern to fit into the border. 4. Click on the SetUp page tab or type U on the keyboard. 5. Click in the border edit box and enter 2". Careful! This is the Border edit box, not the pattern size. Execute 104

. Click the up Margin + clicker until you have a margin of " or click in the box and enter 0.25. Note the pattern height is 1.50. 7. Go to the Execute page. 8. Select inside corner as your start point. 9. Jog machine to inside corner of border. 10. Run the pattern. 11. Jog to the inside corner of the right side of the border. 12. Flip X and repeat the run process to run that corner. Now you are ready to sew the border between the corners. 13. Click on the SetUp page tab . 14. Click on the name of any pattern except the Paris Corner. Dont close the corner pattern because you will need it to sew the bottom corners. 15. Click Open 16. The popup box will ask you if you want to replace the pattern. Click on Yes. 17. Open the pattern named Paris E2E that is in the Border Patterns directory. 18. Go to the Execute page. 19. Jog the machine to the end of the stitching on the corner on the left side. 20. Click on Pattern Start or type S. 21. Jog the machine to the beginning of the stitching of the corner on the right side. 22. Click on Pattern End or type E. 23. The computer jumps to the SetUp page. Enter 1.5 in the Pattern height. 24. Turn on Stretch. 25. Change the Pattern height to 1.5 to make it exactly the same height as the corner. 26. Go to the Execute page. 27. Select Start of pattern in the Needle Start Position box. 28. Type G to go to zero. 29. Now run the pattern as usual. On a real quilt, you would complete the interior of the quilt. When you reach the bottom of the quilt, you would put the corners in the same as on the top except you would flip Y. Then you would sew the border between the corners with Y flipped. Finally, you would take the quilt off the frame and turn it. You would sew the borders tying them to the corners the same way you did the top and bottom corners. Be sure to check the orientation of the border.

Execute

105

Exercise 37 Border pattern with directional corners

Some corner patterns are directional and therefore should not be flipped. They are designed to run around the quilt. This exercise will help you understand that statement. 1. Follow the instructions for running a border with non-directional corners except use the pattern Cat pouncing. 2. Run the first corner the same as you did for Paris. For the other corners, instead of flipping X and Y, rotate the corner -90. Use the picture on the Execute screen to be sure you have the corner oriented correctly.

Exercise 38 Border pattern with motif as corners

1. Draw a 2" border with corners on your quilt. 2. Open the pattern Heart from the motif directory. 3. Set the pattern width to 1.5". 4. Click the Rotate + 45 button to position the pattern. On the left side of the quilt, you will rotate the pattern +45 and on the right rotate it -45. On the bottom of the quilt, you will also flip Y to do those corners. 5. Click on the Execute page tab. Move the machine head to the inside left corner of the border. Select lower right corner in the Needle Start Position box. 6. Use the clicker to add the desired margin. 7. Run the pattern. 8. Follow these same instructions to put the pattern in the other 4 corners. You will change the rotation, flip and pattern start according to which corner you are working on. Since this pattern will not be tied to the border, you will then just follow the instructions above to sew a border.

Execute

106

Outline Page

There are times when you will want to set a series of points along the path that you wish to sew. One of those times may be when you want to accurately stitch in the ditch. Another time you would want to use this feature is to echo a pattern or appliqu on a quilt. It is somewhat slow. If you are skilled doing freehand and using a ruler, it would be faster to use that method. However, for those of us without those skills, the Outline feature is very accurate

there will be a complete drawing of your outline in the picture box.

FINISH BUTTON
When you have set all the points of an outline, click on the Finish button to let the computer know that there are no more points in that profile. When you are editing an outline you do not have to edit every point. At any time, you may click this Finish button. Any remaining points will not be moved. You can see the list of the points you have defined in the box at the right of the machine.

SET POINT
Jog or move to the point you wish to begin sewing and Set Zero. Jog to the second point and click on the Set Point button. Repeat the last step until you have defined the entire line you wish to sew. You will note that as you input a point, the picture at the right of the screen will show a line between that point and the last one. When you finish,

NEW OUTLINE
This button erases the pattern shown in the list box to the right and tells the computer that you are going to create a new profile.

Outline

107

EDIT
The Edit button allows you to modify a profile that is loaded to make it conform more closely to the pattern you want to outline. After you have sewn the pattern you have defined, you might wish to repeat the same outline in another place on the quilt. For example, you may wish to stitch in the ditch each piece of an Ohio Star block. You would create the outline and run the machine for the first block. However, no two blocks are identical so the pattern you set for the first block will not do what you want it to do in the second block. To resolve this problem, you would edit the outline. To do this, first jog to the point on the next block that corresponds to the point where you began on the first block. Click on the Set Zero button or type Z on the keyboard. You will see that the numbers in the X and Y-axis boxes are changed to 0.000. Then click on the Edit button or type E on the keyboard. Next click the Set Position button. The machine will quickly move to the second point you have defined in the outline. If the machine is at the point you wish to sew, click on the Set Position button and the machine will move to the third point. If the machine is not at the position you wish to sew, jog to the correct position before clicking the Set Position button. Continue fine tuning the outline until you have reached the last point. You will know it is the last point because when you click Set Position, the machine will not move. Click on the Run button and begin sewing the pattern. You repeat this process for each block you wish to sew.

At any time, you can click on the Finish button to stop and go back to the beginning.

INSERT A POINT
You may use this button when you are editing an outline and wish to add a point. When you click this button, the software will insert a point between its current position and the next point.

DELETE A POINT
You may use this button to delete a point when editing an outline. When a point is highlighted, just click this button. The point will be deleted.

LOAD OUTLINE BUTTONS

There are four buttons on the right side of the screen just above the pattern picture box. These buttons work much like the pattern buttons on the SetUp page. The difference is that these buttons contain outlines that you have loaded. Obviously, you can have up to 4 outlines loaded at any one time. When you click on one of the buttons, the outline previously opened using that button will open. You will then be able to edit that outline, replace it with a saved outline or create a new outline. These outlines are available on any pattern you have open.

BOUNDARY
When you have a boundary loaded, you may use this button to tell CompuQuilter to sew the boundary you have loaded as though it is an outline. You first open the pattern you wish to use. Next select the boundary and edit it to fit the area on your quilt. Or, you may choose to create an entirely new boundary. Then you set up your pattern within that boundary the way it pleases you. Go to 108

Outline

the Outline page and click on the Boundary button. You can then sew the Boundary. When finished, you can go to the Execute page and sew your pattern inside that boundary.

STOP BEFORE PULLING BOBBIN

This button allows you to choose whether or not to automatically move to pull out bobbin thread after the program has finished sewing. The default is yes. If you are sewing a short pattern and will be right there ready to pull some slack on the thread, you can save some time by having this set to no. However, if you leave your machine while it is sewing, you may choose to have it stop and wait for you to return to pull slack before the machine head moves. This assures that you will have time to pull the slack and avoid the risk of breaking a thread or pulling the stitches you have sewn.

black. You can move either X, Y, or both. The machine will move the specified amount from its current position. The machine will not move until you have Entered a number for both directions. If, for example, you want to move the machine 22 inches left and 3 inches down, or toward you, from its present position, you would enter 22 in the Xaxis box and Enter. The cursor will jump to the Y-axis box and you would enter 3 then Enter. The cursor will jump to the Move button. When you Enter again, the machine will move the desired position. The numbers you type into this box will remain until they are changed. If later you want to move the machine the same way, all you need to do is type the M key on the keyboard or left-click on the Move button and the machine will move again the amount in the boxes from its current position.

JOG
When you click on this button, a keypad pops up that can be used the same way the ten key pad on the keyboard is used. You will notice the numbers on the keypad have been replaced by symbols that indicate which way the machine will move. You can still use the arrow keys on the keyboard if you prefer.

LOAD
You click on this button to use a profile that you have previously saved.

SAVE
After defining a profile, this button will save it so that you can use it another time. It will be saved as an outline and you must access it through the Outline page.

MOVE
This button is similar to the Jog button except the machine moves faster. You will want to use this feature when you want the machine to travel longer distances. Click in the box for the X or Y-axis and type in the distance you want to move. The number will be red until you Enter. After you Enter, the number is stored in the program and will be

SAVE AS
After you have defined an outline, this button allows you to save that profile as a Pattern. It is no longer an outline and you must access the pattern through the SetUp page.

Outline

109

Exercise 39 Outline
1. Click on the Outline page tab or type L to go to the Outline page 2. Draw two stars about the same size on your quilt. 3. If there is an outline on the screen, click on the New Outline button or type W. A box will pop up asking if you want to save the outline you are closing. 4. Click on No. 5. Jog to a point of the star. 6. Click Set Point or type S to set zero and put a point there. 7. Jog to a position between where you are and the next point of the star. 8. Click Set Point or type S to put a point there. 9. Jog to the next point of the star. 10. Type S to set a point there. Notice that each time you set a point, a line is drawn between the previous point and the new one. 11. Repeat steps 7, 8, 9 and10 until the star is completed except for the last line. 12. To set the last point, type G or the Go to zero button. 13. Type Set point one more time. 14. Click the Finish button or type F. This completes your outline. A drawing of your outline is on your screen. 15. Now hold your threads and push the red Run/Abort button on the machine head to begin sewing just as you do on the Execute page.

Exercise 40 Edit outline profile

If this design were echoing an appliqud piece on a quilt, it would likely be repeated somewhere. However, this being cloth and it being hand work, the second appliqu would not be exactly the same as the first. It would be very time consuming to have to retrace each appliqu individually. The same is true for stitch in the ditch. This exercise shows you how to edit the first outline you make. 1. Jog to the first point of the second star that you drew. 2. Click the Edit button or type E. 3. A popup will ask if you want to set zero. Click Yes. CQ sets the start point at the new zero. 4. We will not want to add a point between the first and second points so type S or click the Set point button. The machine moves to the next point. 5. This point will not be exactly where it should be. Jog to where the point needs to be. 6. Type S to set the point at this position. The machine will jog to the next point. 7. This time, lets set a point between this point and the next one. Jog to where you want to add the point and click Insert or type I. The machine moves to the next point. Outline 110

8. Click the delete button for this one. Continue adjusting the points around the star. Each time you set a point, the picture on the right of the screen shows where you are in the outline. When you have set the last point, the machine will not move, you will no longer see the points of the outline and the first line of the program will be highlighted. The prompt at the bottom of the screen will say Finished Edit. 9. Run your pattern as usual. You now have the option to save the outline if you choose to do so. Usually, this will be a one time use only and youll simply let it be deleted. However, it could perhaps end up with a design youd like to keep as a motif or as a basis of a repeatable pattern youd like to make. You may save the outline as an outline. If you do that, then the outline can be edited the way you just did but you cannot do all the manipulating that can be done on a motif. Alternatively, you may save the outline as a motif. You will then be able to stretch rotate, flip, etc. the pattern as you can any motif but you will not be able to edit the points as you did as an outline. The best of both worlds is to save it as both an outline and a motif. Just remember, that if you edit the outline, it does not edit the motif. Youd have to save it again as a motif if you wanted to do that.

Exercise 41 Save outline

1. Click on the Save Outline button. A dialog box will open. 2. Type a name for the design. 3. Go to the directory where you wish to save outlines. We save them in the Boundaries file since they can actually be used as boundaries. You can create a new folder for them if you wish. 4. Click Save. 5. Click on the Save As button. A popup box will ask you if the pattern is repeatable. 6. Click No. A dialog box will open. 7. Type the name for the pattern. This does not have to be the same name as the outline. 8. Find the motif directory and click Open. 9. Click Save. 10. You now have the pattern saved both as an outline and as a motif. When you want to use the outline, go to the outline page of any motif and click on Retrieve. A dialog box will open where you can select from among all the outlines that have been saved on your computer.

Outline

111

Notes page

On this page you will see a drawing of the pattern you have chosen. If it is a repeatable pattern, the drawing will show what the pattern looks like after sewing several rows. Above the box that contains the picture is a text box that you cannot edit. The designer uses this place to give the user any instructions on how to use the pattern. It is also where any copyright should be added. On the left of the page, there is a box that is for your personal use. Here you may keep any notes about the pattern that may be of use to you in the future. Some patterns that I have used have notes already in them. If they mean nothing to you, feel free to delete them. Notes

Type any information you would like to keep with this pattern and click on the Save Note button. One very important way to use this feature is to keep track of shrinkage. Quilting causes some shrinkage on all quilts. Weve found it to average between 2% and 3%. This can be significant when setting up a quilt. Especially with a large quilt using a tight pattern and a thick batting, you will want to record how much it shrank. Next time you use that pattern, youll be able to tell the computer that the Quilted Length is shorter than you measured it by the percentage of shrinkage and get more accurate placement of your pattern on your quilt.

113

Another example of the type of notes you may wish to keep is that the pattern looks best to you in a particular size or that you must remember to have the top of the clouds to the top of the quilt. You may want to make a note about how

much thread or bobbins it used or how long it took to run the pattern at a certain size. This box is for your personal use. Put anything you want to remember about this pattern in this box.

Notes

114

Restart Page

This feature allows you to pick up where you left off and finish a row if you break a thread or run out of bobbin. First, stop the machine by pressing the red run/abort button on the machine head. See Operator Interface at the beginning of this book. A window will pop up asking if you want to abort, continue or restart. Click on abort. Next, fix the problem, i.e. put in a new bobbin or rethread the machine. Then Mark the point where you wish to start sewing again by one of the three methods listed later. It is a good idea to overlap the last few stitches sewn to anchor them. The picture at the right of the screen shows the data points that are listed in the box to the far right. The list at the far right of the screen is the actual pattern program. Each line is a point along the x and y axes. The Restart

computer actually causes the machine to sew from point to point according to this list. Just under this window you will see the number of points in this pattern.

RECOVER ZERO
Sometimes, you may lose zero. This can happen if you hit a limit switch or if you inadvertently press the set zero button. It is a simple matter to find zero on a repeat pattern. You simply move to the beginning of the row and press the Z or the set zero button on the screen. However with a motif or corner, zero is often the center of the pattern and there is nothing you can see to identify that point. You can attempt to line up on the same spot where you first started but to get it exact is very difficult if not impossible. The Recover zero button solves that problem for you. You simply move the 115

machine to the point where it started sewing and tell the computer to Reset Zero from there. Once that is done, you can restart your pattern.

results in a point being exactly on top of another point. This can make it difficult to select the point you want. These buttons make it much easier. Select the point where you wish to restart. Use F and B to move along the pattern line to determine if you have selected the point you want. If not, go back to the selected point and click on the button marked Under Point. To be certain, you may want to use F and B again to double check that you have selected the correct point.

SELECT RESTART POINT

You may tell the computer where to begin sewing the pattern by one of three methods. You may double click on a line in the list. The machine will move to the point you have selected. Or you may click on a point in the picture to select your restart position. Again, the machine will move to the corresponding position on the quilt.

MARK
When restarting, this button identifies the point where you wish to begin sewing again. To use this, jog to the point on the quilt where you wish to begin sewing. Click the Mark button. The program starts at the beginning of the list box and searches for the first point that is within a 1/4 circle around the position marked. Note, that may not be the point that is closest to your needle. The machine will move to that point and highlight that line of the program. The picture on the right side of the screen will show the selected point inside a circle. The part of the pattern that has already been sewn will be shown in blue and the part still to be sewn will be red as in the picture below. If the point that has been selected is marked, click the Run button. If the correct point has not been selected, jog closer and click Mark again. If the computer could not find a point within that 1/4 circle, a message will tell you Position not found on the status bar at the bottom of the screen. In that case, use Between explained later. 116

Or you may jog the machine to the point on the quilt and tell the computer to find that point in the program. Which method you choose is determined by which is easiest.

Under/Over Point

SELECT OVER/UNDER POINT

Many patterns backtrack over a line of stitching or cross over a line that has already been stitched. This sometimes Restart

ZOOM
Sometimes, as in the picture below, it can be very difficult to find the exact point where you wish to restart because there are too many points too close together. The zoom in and zoom out buttons will make it much easier to locate the exact spot you want to see. Each time you click on the Zoom In button, the picture will zoom one step closer. Each time you click on the Zoom Out button, the picture will zoom one step farther out. To quickly go back to see the entire pattern, click on the Show all button. The picture below shows the pattern after clicking zoom in several times.

which direction the machine will sew from there. You can type B or F as many times as necessary to be sure the machine is going the desired direction.

JOG
This works the same way on the ReStart page as it does on the Execute page.

INCREMENT BY
This works the same way on the ReStart page as it does on the Execute page.

BETWEEN
When restarting a pattern, you must have the machine head within 1/4 inch of a data point in order for the computer to find it. On some patterns, there are no data points within that span. For example, a star might have points only at the points and none across the straight line.

BACK UP ONE POINT

After marking the point to restart you can click on this button or type B on the keyboard and the machine will move back one line of the pattern list. In that case, you must mark a point before the place where you want to actually start sewing. There will always be a data point at an intersection or where the line changes directions. Jog the machine to the first point before the place you want to begin sewing. After jogging to that point, click the Mark button again to find the point of the intersection. Next, jog to the place where you actually wish to begin sewing. Click the Between button. The program will return to the Execute page

GO FORWARD ONE POINT

After marking the point to restart you can click on this button or type F on the keyboard and the machine will move forward one line of the pattern list. This is useful when you want to be sure you have picked up the desired point. For example, if a line crosses another line in your pattern and you select a point near the intersection, you may not be sure Restart

117

and begin running the pattern from that point. In the picture above, there are data points only at each point of the star. The line between any two points will always be bigger than 1/4", so you would always have to use Between to restart this pattern.

RUN BUTTON.
This button returns you to the Execute page and begins sewing the pattern from the point you have selected. The dialog box below will open. It works the same way the Run dialog boxes do on the other pages. You may notice that this dialog box tells you to click run or to push the red run/abort button. It also tells you the coordinates of the point at which it will begin sewing. Phil in Australia offers this tip. Use the Restart page to check to be sure your pattern will fit into the quilting area the way you think it will. Set up your pattern, then go to the Restart page. Double click on several points in the pattern and watch to see that the needle will stay within your area when the machine moves to that point.

PATTERN SEGMENT
Sometimes you may wish to resew just a segment of a pattern instead of beginning at a point and finishing the entire pattern. Perhaps you had leaned on your machine while it was running and distorted your pattern. You can frog stitch the bad section and use Restart to do just that segment. To use this feature, you set your restart point the same as always. There is a small check box just below the Recover zero button. When you check this box the label for the Mark button changes to say Mark segment end point. It is highlighted in yellow. You then select a point the same way you did the Restart point.

Exercise 42 Restart a pattern

It is a fact of life that if you sew, you run out of bobbin or break thread. This exercise simulates that event in order for you to learn how to deal with the problem. 1. Click on any repeat pattern. 2. Start running the pattern as normal. 3. Push the red Abort button on the front panel. Release the button and the sewing motor will stop. 4. A popup will open. You have actually paused the sewing of the pattern. This popup is asking you if you want to continue sewing or if you want to abort the pattern. In this case, you want to abort the pattern. To do that, push and hold the button for a few moments until you see the red status line across the bottom of the screen.

Restart

118

5. Pull some slack on your thread. 6. Type C to cut the bobbin and cut both threads. 7. Push the red button to finish the cut bobbin command. 8. Go to the ReStart page. 9. Jog the machine to the point where you wish to start sewing again. 10. Type M to mark the selected point. 11. Check the picture on the screen. The blue line shows the part of the pattern that has already been sewn. The purple line shows what will be sewn. If the correct point has not been marked, then double click on the point on the picture that is correct. The machine will move to the point selected. 12. If you are close but not exactly on the point you want to begin, use the F and B keys to move forward and backward one point at a time in the program until you are where you want to be. 13. Click the Run button or press the red Run/Abort button on the machine head. 14. The computer will go back to the Execute page and the Run dialog box will open. Push the red Run/Abort button on the machine head for run and begin sewing to finish the pattern.

Exercise 43 Restart using between

In order to find the restart position, you must be within of a data point in the pattern. That is not a problem for most patterns. However, some patterns with long, straight lines dont have that many data points. Well now see how to solve that problem. 1. Open the motif pattern named Star 2. Change the pattern height to 4. 3. Begin to run the pattern as normal 4. Push the red Run/Abort button on the front panel. The machine will stop. 5. A popup will open. You have actually paused the sewing of the pattern. This popup is asking you if you want to continue sewing or if you want to abort the pattern. In this case, you want to abort the pattern. To do that, push and hold the button for a few moments until the red line across the bottom of the screen closes. 6. Cut your threads using the Cut bobbin button or by typing C. Dont forget the final button push to finish the cut bobbin routine. 7. Jog the machine away from the pattern to simulate your sewing past the point where you ran out of bobbin. 8. Click on the ReStart page tab. 9. Jog back to where it stopped sewing. 10. Type M or click on the Mark button on the screen.

Restart

119

11. A message comes up that says Position not found. You are too far away from a data point. Jog the machine back to the corner just preceding your current position. 12. Type M again. This time the message comes up that says the position was found. 13. Jog the machine forward to the point where you want to begin sewing. 14. Click the Between button or type W. The program will go back to the Execute page. 15. Push the red Run/Abort button on the machine head to finish sewing the pattern.

Exercise 44 Restart using reset zero

There is one last problem you may encounter when trying to restart a pattern. If you hit a limit switch, the program does an emergency stop and loses zero. Or I have been known to inadvertently press Z when I meant to press G and that of course, resets zero. It usually isnt a problem but if it occurs when trying to restart a motif, it can be a disaster. This exercise will simulate that event so you can learn how to deal with it. 1. Open any motif pattern. 2. Begin sewing it and stop and abort it as in the previous exercises. 3. Jog the machine away from the pattern a little bit. 4. To simulate the mistake, type Z to lose zero. 5. Go to the ReStart page. 6. Jog the machine to the point where the pattern started sewing. Note this is the first stitch taken, not the point of origin and not the pattern start box. 7. Click on the Recover Zero button. The program will calculate where zero should be and set it there. 8. Now you can continue to restart your pattern as usual.

Exercise 45 Resew a segment

1. Set up any repeatable pattern to sew 10 or 12 inches. 2. Sew a row. Do not start another row or set zero. 3. Well not take the time to really frog stitch. Instead, just mark start and end points of a segment 4. Go to the ReStart page. 5. Jog the machine to the point where the segment starts. 6. Click Mark. 7. Click on the Set end of pattern segment check box. 7. Jog to the end of the segment.

Restart

120

8. Click Mark. 9. Push the red Run/abort button or click the Run button on the screen. The machine will automatically move back to the beginning of the segment. 10. Now you push the red Run/Abort button to resew that segment your pattern.

Restart

121

DXF to CQ

DXF to CQ is a companion program for CompuQuilter. This program converts your DXF pattern file into a format that CompuQuilter can sew. Ill point out several tools in this program that may come in handy for you. An understanding of how this program works will make digitizing patterns easier.

OPEN
First, of course is the Open button. When you click that button, you need to find the pattern in the directory where you have stored your DXF pattern files. The first time you open this program, the computer will default to the directory c://CompuQuilter/drawings/dxf. After that, it will default to the last directory you used.

If you have used AutoSketch to generate the pattern with arcs inside of curves, an error message may pop up when you bring that pattern into DXF to CQ. The popup says The pattern has arcs in a polyline. Explode the pattern in AutoSketch. You must first click OK. The pattern will open but you will notice that a straight line has been drawn from the first and last points of each arc instead of drawing the arc as you designed it. The solution is simply what the popup says. You just close CompuQuilter and reopen the pattern with the .skf extension in AutoSketch. You can open the DXF file but AutoSketch will automatically convert it to an SKF and it may not be exactly the way you wanted. Explode the pattern. Then save it as a DXF, open CompuQuilter and try again. 123

DXF TO CQ

When you open a file, you will see the pattern on the screen as shown on the previous page. The green and red arrows indicate the position of X0.000 Y0.000. It could be anywhere in or near the pattern. It doesnt have to be in the pattern. The drawing will be scaled to include the point of origin wherever it is.

PATTERN LIST
When you open the file to be converted, the pattern is automatically brought into this window. The list box to the right of the screen contains the instructions for CQ to sew the Pattern. The numbers are the coordinates of the points that comprise the pattern. It also contains information such as whether or not the pattern is repeatable or a corner, and if there are jumps or no sew lines. Well talk more about those instructions throughout the remainder of this manual.

PATTERN INFORMATION
The lines in the drawing are different colors and types. A solid blue line indicates the first element that will be sewn. The pattern above is one continuous line made up of more than one entity. When there are jumps or no sew lines as in the example above, each element is a different color. There are 10 colors available. Any more than that will be gray. Dashed lines indicate jumps in the pattern and will not be sewn.

EXIT CQ
The Exit CQ button is the same as all other Windows based programs. If you click this button, CompuQuilter will close.

SAVE
The program stores the pattern in the last directory you used to save a pattern.

In the upper left corner of the screen youll find a list of information about the open pattern. The name of the pattern is beside the label Source File. Below that are notes saying if the file is repeatable, the width and height of the pattern, how many points comprise the pattern and the number of jumps and No sew lines in the pattern.

JUMPS
Jumps are created when the program is unable to determine the sewing path. For example, a design is digitized and then another entity is added in front of the first entity drawn. Usually, if the digitizer intended to have a jump, a no sew line would have been drawn. Therefore, jumps are usually 124

RESTART
When you click the Restart button, it discards all changes. You can now begin as though you have just opened the pattern. DXF TO CQ

unintentional and should be eliminated but they dont have to be in order for CompuQuilter to sew the pattern.

NO SEW JUMPS
A No sew jump is a single straight line drawn from the end of one entity in your pattern to the start point of another entity in your pattern. The style of line must be a line that is anything other than a solid line. When DXF to CQ encounters this line, the program tells CompuQuilter to make a jump stitch along the path of that line.

clicking this button will reverse the direction the pattern sews. The button label will change to Unflip. You can click on the button again to undo the flip.

CORNER ON/OFF
The next button is marked Corner Off. When you click on this button, it changes to Corner On. At the bottom of the list box to the right youll find the word Corner if you have turned Corner on. This tells CompuQuilter to treat this pattern as a corner when doing the math to place it on the quilt. If your corner is not designed as a CompuQuilter corner and you click this button, the image will be shown with X0Y0 at the intersection of the centerlines of the horizontal and vertical borders. You will immediately be able to see that the pattern does not fit into a corner. Do not confuse a motif designed to be used in a corner with a pattern that is designed to be used as a CompuQuilter corner. If you tell CompuQuilter that a motif is a corner, the math will not work correctly and the pattern will be difficult to place on the quilt when you attempt to sew the pattern. For more information, see How to Make a Corner Pattern in the appendix of this manual.

PATTERN NOTES BOX

Near the top center of the screen is a large box marked Pattern Notes. You can type any remarks youd like in this box. If you have special instructions about how to run this pattern, they can be written here. These notes will become part of the pattern in CompuQuilter and will be shown when the pattern is opened and the user clicks on the Notes page.

SAVE NOTE
Whatever you type into the edit box will be saved. The next time you open DXF to CQ that note will be in the box for all patterns you open. This is a good place to save your copyright statement so that you dont have to type it for each pattern.

POINTS ON/OFF
This button is a toggle switch. When you click on this button, you will be able to see the points that comprise the pattern. You can click it again to turn the points off. When points are on, you can left click the mouse to select a point. The point 125

FLIP
On the top right of the screen there is a series of buttons. The first is marked Flip. If a pattern is sewing backward, DXF TO CQ

will turn yellow. The value of the point will be highlighted in the list box at the right of the screen. If you click on a value in the list box, the point with that value will be selected and the point will turn yellow. When you press the Windows arrow keys (not the number keys as in CQ), you can move through the pattern one point at a time. The left arrow will move forward through the pattern in the direction it will be sewn. The right arrow will move backward through the pattern, opposite the direction the pattern will be sewn. The up and down arrows perform the same except backward. The up key moves up in the list box which is back in the pattern and the down arrow moves down the list box which is forward in the pattern. When a point is selected and is yellow, you can delete it by pressing the delete key. You can insert a point between the selected point and the next point to be sewn by pressing the insert key. When a point is selected, the program puts the value (the X and Y coordinates) in the edit box above the list box. When you click in the edit box, you can change the value of the selected point or when you hold the Ctrl key and press one of the Windows arrow keys, you can move the point in the direction indicated on the arrow key. The point will be moved 0.010 each time you click the arrow key.

points but still keep the integrity of the design. Sharp points will still be sharp but there will be fewer points.

When you click on this button, it will be grayed out and a button called Undo will be turned on. If you click this button, the points that had been removed will be reinstated. You cannot Optimize twice in a row. You can click Optimize then Undo and then Optimize again.

FIXED INDEX
To the right of the Notes box is a box marked Index =. This is where you tell CompuQuilter to keep a fixed index on a repeatable pattern. A good example of this is the pattern called Orange Peel. You can see from the picture below that the index must be exact or the circles wont be complete. When this pattern was drawn in AutoSketch, it was measured to see what the index should be. Having a fixed index does not force you to sew the pattern with exactly that amount of index. It simply tells CompuQuilter to calculate the index based on this amount. When you have finished a row while running CompuQuilter, you press I to index to the beginning of the next row. CompuQuilter moves the head toward you by the calculated amount. In CompuQuilter, you are free to set the fixed index any amount you want before sewing the next path. You are also free to jog the machine head to any position you want. You simply wont be able to see a picture of the effect that jogging will have on the pattern.

OPTIMIZE POINTS
If you are digitizing a pattern with Pre Design or you are using a sketch polyline, excessive points will be generated. CompuQuilter will run better if you reduce the number of points. To do this, use the Optimize Points button. CompuQuilter will remove unneeded DXF TO CQ

126

ZOOM IN, OUT, AND SHOW ALL

The Zoom in button will zoom in and centers the selected point. Each time you click this button, the zoom will be doubled. Each time you click the Zoom out button, the zoom will be halved. The Show All button refits the complete pattern on the screen. When you first open a pattern, the first point will be the selected point. You can select a different point by first clicking the Points On button. The Zoom buttons will then focus on the selected point.

TAG
This same pattern is a good example of how the next box is used. It is used to tag one file to another. Orange Peel is made up of two different files. One is the semicircles that create the top and bottom of the circle. The other is the pair of arcs that create the other half of the row of circles. When you change the size of one pattern, you want the size of the other pattern changed by the same amount. To accomplish this, you type the name of the second pattern in the first pattern when you are converting it with DXF to CQ. Then when you convert the second pattern, you put the name of the first in this box. CompuQuilter will read this tag and know that if one pattern is changed, the other must be changed to match.

GRID
Next to the Show All button is a button marked Grid. You can turn the grid on and off and adjust the size just as you can on any other page of CompuQuilter. You may enter a number in the box to the right of the button or use the clickers to change the size of the grid.

HOW DXF TO CQ WORKS

In order to make a pattern work for CompuQuilter, it will help to understand how DXF to CQ works. First, lets define a pattern. Generally, it is a continuous line that is made up any combination of lines, arcs, curves, polylines and no sew lines. DXF to CQ converts those elements into one sewing path that may have parts that are not sewn. In order for DXF to CQ to know how you want the pattern to be sewn, it must know where you want the pattern to start and then tie it all together to the end. When a dxf file is opened, the program determines the start of the pattern in the following order:

ENCODE
Finally, there is a check box marked Encode beside an input box marked Serial number. Each CompuQuilter has a unique serial number and a hardware lock without which CompuQuilter will not run. A pattern designer can check this box and enter the serial number in the input box. Then that copy of the pattern will only run on the system that has that unique serial number. This number can be found on the About page in CompuQuilter. DXF TO CQ

127

Item 1: It looks for an entity that starts or ends inside a circle with a radius of 0.10 or smaller. If this is not found, DXF to CQ goes to Item 2. Item 2: It looks for an entity that starts or ends at X0.000 Y0.000. That point is indicated by green and red arrows. If this also fails, DXF to CQ goes to Item 3. Item 3: It uses the first entity drawn. If a pattern is drawn to meet the first or second criteria above, and all elements are tied together, most patterns will convert easily. If not, then the following tools are available to solve any problems that are encountered. Once DXF to CQ has identified the beginning of the pattern, it goes on to connect the entities into one continuous path regardless of the direction and sequence in which they were drawn. If the program encounters a gap of a specified distance., it will treat the pattern as though the gap does not exist. You can adjust the length of the gap by using the slider next to the box. You can set it anywhere from .100 to 1.00 If the gap is greater than the distance you set, there will be a jump in the pattern.

long and start at X0.000 Y0.000 and end at Y0.000. If the last point is greater than one inch from the first point along the X axis and is within 0.10 of the Y value of the first point but is not on zero, the program will ask if you wish to move the last point to Y=0 in order to make the pattern repeatable. If the program cannot join all entities into one continuous curve, it stops sorting. This can happen because the program used the first entity drawn as the start point and that entity was between two other entities. To correct this problem, use the Select First Button. Alternatively, this could be caused because the program could not determine which of more than one entity to add to the path next. To avoid this problem, use No sew lines in your pattern. The smallest arc that can be used in a drawing has a radius of 0.025. CompuQuilter does allow jumps in a pattern. For example, if you were to draw a building with windows. You could draw the building as one continuous line but the windows could be separate entities. In CompuQuilter, you can tell the program whether you want it to cut the bobbin between the segments. You can also set the number of anchor stitches to 0 if you dont want it to anchor between the two line segments. See the Setup page section of this manual for more detailed instructions. DXF to CQ cannot convert an arc that is within a polyline. In order to make a pattern like this convert, reopen the pattern in AutoSketch and explode the polyline back into its original components. Save it again in the DXF 128

Once the program has the pattern in one continuous line, it automatically moves the start of the pattern to X0.000 Y0.000 if it isnt already there. You can choose to move it back to where it had been if youd like. Next the program checks to see if the pattern is repeatable. A repeatable pattern must be greater than one inch DXF TO CQ

format. Now it will convert when you reopen it in DXF to CQ. DXF to CQ does not recognize the metric system. You must use inches to size your drawings.

the pattern is changed to a continuous line and X0Y0 has been moved to the beginning of the pattern.

MOVE START BUTTON

When a pattern is first opened, DXF to CQ checks to see if it starts on zero. If not, the program checks for a small circle that indicates the beginning of the pattern. If the program finds neither, it automatically moves zero to the beginning of the first entity drawn. There is a toggle button above the list box marked Move Start. If you click on the button, zero will be moved back to the point of origin as the pattern was drawn. If you click it again, zero will be moved back to the beginning of the pattern. If the zero is already at the start of the pattern, you will not see the button.

BUTTONS SHOWN ONLY WHEN NEEDED.

There are some buttons that show only when they are needed. The program will turn the buttons on at the point where that information is needed.

SELECT FIRST BUTTON

When you digitize a pattern and save it in DXF format, it is saved in the order in which you drew the pattern. When you open that pattern in DXF to CQ, it is read in the order it was saved in DXF format. If the program did not find the small circle at the beginning of an entity or the start of pattern was not on X0Y0, then the pattern uses the first entity listed in the DXF file as the beginning of your pattern. The program automatically moves X0Y0 to the beginning of that entity. The picture above shows a pattern that was drawn with an entity added in front of the first entity. It did not start at X0Y0 and there was no tiny circle to indicate the start of pattern. Therefore it started with the first entity drawn. This creates jumps in the pattern. Jumps are indicated by dashed lines. Obviously, one would not want to sew this pattern with the jumps as shown. In order to correct this problem, click on the Select first button. A dialog box pops up telling you to select the point where you wish the pattern to begin. Click OK and then click on or near the beginning of the pattern. You will see DXF TO CQ

PROBLEM SOLVING
If you have unintended jumps in your pattern, there can be several problems. Try these steps to resolve those problems.

ERASER DUST

One cause of unintended jumps is there may be eraser dust in your pattern. You will know this is the case because you have a jump going off to nowhere. To resolve it, turn on points. Click on the points at the end of the jump. The selected point will be highlighted in the 129

program list at the right of the screen. Delete the point or points together with the Move just in front of the selected points until the jump is eliminated.

must take this pattern back into AutoSketch. Follow the instructions below: 1. Select the Trim Join tool. 2. Click on the first entity you want to be sewn. 3. Click on the second entity you want to sew. 4. Click on the second entity again. 5. Click on the third entity. Continue this process until you have manually joined all the elements into one continuous line.

GAP TOO LARGE

If you intend to jump an area without sewing, use a no sew line.

AMBIGUOUS PATH
The pattern above shows an example of a path that DXF to CQ cannot convert without jumps. It was able to identify the path of the first three arcs drawn but after that, it didnt know where to go so it just placed them in the order they were drawn with jumps. There is no way to resolve this problem in DXF to CQ. You

DXF TO CQ

130

Edit Page

The Edit page allows you to make minor adjustments to a CompuQuilter pattern. The Open Pattern button works the same as other Open buttons. You can click on that button to open a pattern that has been saved in a CompuQuilter format only. If you are working with a DXF or qli pattern, use the DXF to CQ Page instead of the Edit Page. Some of the buttons on this page such as Zoom in and Out are already familiar to you. The Points On/Off works the same as it does in the DXF to CQ program. You will notice that the entire file path is above the picture box when you open a pattern. You are familiar with the pattern list box at the right of the screen. Below that is a box marked Pattern Notes. Here is anything that was entered in the Pattern Notes box in the DXF to CQ program. Edit

To move a point in the pattern, you need to turn points on. Click and drag the point you wish to move. You will not be allowed to select the first or last point of a repeatable pattern. To convert a repeatable pattern to a motif, you need to save it as a DXF and modify it in a drawing program. If you wish to move a point a tiny amount, you can click on the point. Then click on the coordinate in the box above the list box. Then you can move the point by pressing the Windows arrow keys while holding down the Ctl key. When you save a file either as a pattern or a DXF, CompuQuilter will suggest the name of the pattern with Edited after it. You can change it to anything you wish. If you remove the word Edited, CompuQuilter will ask if you wish to overwrite the original file. 131

Maintenance
REPLACING X DRIVE CABLE
Eventually, you may need to replace the drive cable on your table. Remove the old cable and follow these directions to install a new one. The cable is called vinyl coated wire rope. It is part number 8912T2 available from www.mcmaster.com.

1. Insert one end of the cable into the hole on the X pulley that is closest to the motor. This is on the left side of the table.

2. Tighten the set screw in the pulley using a 1/16 hex key.

3. Wind the cable onto the pulley by rotating the pulley counter-clockwise until the cable is wrapped to the last groove.

Maintenance

134

4. Place a piece of tape over the cable to hold it in place.

5. String the cable to the right across the front of the table to the Front Crossover. Place the cable in the slot on the top pulley.

6. String the cable across the end of the table to the rear crossover. Put the cable in the slot on the bottom pulley.

7. Take the cable to the right across the back of the table to the X tension assembly. Wrap it around the pulley from the bottom to the top.

Maintenance

135

8. Now you will reverse direction. Take the cable to the left back to the Rear crossover. This time put the cable in the slot on the top pulley.

9. Take the cable around to the front crossover. Put the cable in the slot in the bottom pulley.

The cable should cross at the end of the table. 10. String the cable back to the X motor pulley on the left side of the table. Wrap it around the bottom to the hole closest to the table.

11. Remove the tape and Insert the cable into the hole and tighten the set screw, pulling the cable fairly tight. 12. Go to the back of the table to the X tension assembly. Pull the tension slider to the right and tighten the finger screw.

Maintenance

136

13. You will have loosened the tension slider in order to remove the old cable. Lock it in place with the screw in the middle of the tension slider using a 1/8 hex key. 14. Go back to the front of the table. Rotate the X motor pulley until the hole closest to the table is facing toward the floor. 15. Move the machine head and carriage to the left of the table until it is about 1 inch from the X motor mount. The mount is the piece that holds the motor to the table (silver in this picture). This picture shows the carriage without the head on it.

16. Attach the X hookup block to the carriage.

17. Place the top run of the cable into the X hookup block between the block and the clamp. 18. Tighten the clamp onto the cable using a 1/16 hex key. 19. Repeat steps 16 to 18 for the rear X hookup block at the back of the carriage.

Maintenance

137

ADJUSTING X CABLE TENSION

After your system has been used for a few days, the cable will seat itself in the grooves of the pulley. This will cause the cables to be loose. Later, you may notice that the machine wobbles or that your stitches seem wobbly. This could be caused by the cable stretching, especially if you have the tension too tight. Use the following instructions to adjust that tension to give you better stitch quality. 1. Using a 1/16 hex key, loosen the screw at the end of the tension assembly. 2. Use your thumb to move the slider to the right to incease tension on the cable. 3. Retighten the screw. The cable should only be tight enough to stay straight across the length of the table with very little sag.

ADJUSTING Y CABLE TENSION

1. There are two locking screws in slots near the pullies (shown at the right in the picture). They are the ones with the rounded top. Loosen but do not remove them using a 1/8 hex key. 2. Insert a 5/64 hex key into the ends of the adjustment set screws and turn right to tighten the cable. These are the ones that are perpendicular to the mounting plate. Adjust first one screw then the other to keep the edge of the sliding plate as parallel to the mounting plate as possible.

Y Axis Adjustment Assembly 3. Tighten the locking screws until they are snug but not tight.

Maintenance

138

Troubleshooting
PROGRAM MISBEHAVING.
If your program is acting strange, the first thing you need to do is go to our website to check the date of the software. Sometimes, minor bugs are fixed that most people dont find. We dont bother everyone with constantly updating the program to fix small bugs they havent found but if you have found it, you may need to update your program. If that doesnt work, call your dealer for help.

PROGRAM NOT RESPONDING.

First, look at the status bar at the bottom of the page to see if the program is calculating. Especially if you have selected Overview in the view box when you make a change, it can take a while for CompuQuilter to do the necessary math. Press the abort button. A box will come up telling you that motion was aborted. Press the enter key to acknowledge the pop up window. You may then continue what you were doing.

MACHINE STARTS SEWING.

If the computer has been off and you reboot the computer with the machine turned on, the machine may start sewing. Turn the machine off then back on. It should now work correctly. To avoid this problem in the future, always turn on the computer, start CompuQuilter, then turn on the machine. If you are running CQ on a Millie, has the electricity momentarily dropped out? If so, this will cause the machine electronics to reboot.

MACHINE WONT JOG.

Check to see if the number lock is turned on. Be sure you are using the number keypad and not the Windows arrow keys.

PROGRAM QUITS BEFORE FINISHING THE ROW.

Check the blue status line at the bottom of the screen. If the program is loading the pattern, just wait. Some patterns can have so many data points that there isnt enough memory to hold it all. The program will load as much as it can and sew it. Then it will stop and load the rest and finish sewing.

MACHINE WONT MOVE.

Check to see if the power box at the left side of the table is turned on. Be sure you are on a page where you are allowed to move (Execute, ReStart, Outline or Boundary). If you inadvertently used the Windows arrow key instead of the numeric key pad, you need to click on the Jog button on the screen. Go to the Notes page and type something in the text box. If you cannot type in this box, check for a loose connection. If you are able to type in the text box, turn Num Lock on.

Help

140

NEEDLE NOT IN THE UP POSITION.

A-1 machine rotate the thumb wheel on the machine head until the needle is in the highest position. APQS Millie - 5th LED on left LED block on top of head of machine/left side if not on when needle stops - #8 pot inside near front of machine on right side needs to be adjusted so it does. This is because the machine isnt set properly for the level of power coming to it. This is an issue that the customer needs to get instructions from APQS to reset their machine.

MACHINE STARTS RUNNING WHEN THE COMPUTER IS BOOTING UP.

You have booted the computer with the machine turned on. When the computer first boots up, it goes through a routine to check all the switches. Always turn the power to the machine off until the computer has finished rebooting.

THE PATTERN IS DISTORTED WHEN SEWN.

First, are you leaning on the bars? This will cause pattern distortion. Is the fabric secure? If there isnt enough tension, the fabric can move and this will cause pattern distortion. With time, the cables that move the sewing head stretch. Periodically, they may need to be adjusted. Follow the procedures under Cable adjustments near the beginning of this manual. If that does not do it, check to be sure the hookup block is securely fastened to the cable and does not slip on the cable.

MACHINE SLIPS WHEN JOGGING, MOVING OR SEWING.

Check cable tension and cable hook-up blocks. If they need to be adjusted, follow the procedures under Cable adjustments.

MACHINE STOPPED SEWING BUT HEAD KEPT MOVING.

If you are running CQ on an A-1 machine, this is a machine problem. It may be a loose wire. Take back off machine and check to see that all plugs are tight. Check the connections in the junction box. If you are running CQ on an APQS machine, did the machine reboot? If so, turn everything off and turn it back on in the correct order. What is the setting of the front Panel Ver. In the CQ Settings page? All of them should be changed to version 2 for CQ 4.

DIVISION BY ZERO OR I/O ERROR MESSAGE.

Input/output error message. This message means that you are trying to use a file that is being used in another application or that the program cannot find. Usually, a pattern is used from a USB drive then the drive is removed. When you go back to use it again, the file is not there. Put the drive back into the port and copy the pattern to the CompuQuilter directory. This should solve the problem. Are you using the pattern Straight line? That pattern creates problems because it has no height. Log onto CompuQuilter.com and download Straight line 2.cqp. It has a tiny, tiny curve that you will not notice but the computer will detect it and it will work for you. Help 141

Head moves when I push minus key on Execute page.

The minus key is used as a hot key in two separate places. One is to change the jog increment and the other is to "unindex" after indexing. This was fixed in version 4.021. Download the newest software.

Machine continues to run at the end of the row when I changed to version 4.021.
This is a setup problem. Call Technical support for instructions.

SPARE PARTS
The following parts are wear items and may someday need to be replaced.

PART Fuse 5 x 20mm 5 amp Vinyl coated wire rope

PART NUMBER 270-1056 8912T2

SUPPLIER Radio Shack www.mcmaster.com

Help

142

Software Updates
Periodically the CompuQuilter software is updated to either fix a bug that has been found or to add enhancements to the program. Updates to software are always free. If there is ever an enhancement that requires a change of hardware, we will, of course, have to charge you for that. When there is an update, we will make an announcement on our website. We will also do a mass e-mail to all registered CompuQuilter owners. In that e-mail, we will tell you how to download and install the program on your computer will be included. Obviously, in order to notify you of updates, we have to have a current e-mail address for you. If you change your e-mail address, be sure to let us know so we can update our records and keep your system current. To do that, log onto our website at www.compuquilter.com. Click on any tab at the top of the page and log on. Click on My Profile at the right of the screen. Click on Edit above your name. Change the e-mail address and click Submit at the bottom of the page. While you are there, click on Profile Information and be sure that form is filled in completely. It will help us provide better customer service if it is ever needed. If you do not have e-mail, contact your dealer to get the updates.

Help

143

How to get help

If you need help running your machine, call your dealer or the manufacturer of your machine. If you need help running your CompuQuilter, call your dealer. For more information about our company and our products, please visit our web site at www.compuquilter.com. Of course, we will always be delighted to hear your questions or comments. You may contact us at:

S&D Stitches, Inc. 5203 North Hwy 94 Rogers, AR 72756 e-mail: info@compuquilter.com

Help

144

Index
= Sign, 61 Add row, 95 Alternate, 94 Anchor stitch, 16, 79 Anchor tie off, 77 Approx Sewing time, 22 Array, 10, 19, 24, 49, 71, 91 Aspect ratio, 60 Back button, 94 Back stitch, 17, 79 Back up one point, 117 Background color, 17 Baste, 4 Between button, 117 Border, 9, 35, 69 Bottom crop, 38 Bottom row, 43 Boundary, 20, 57, 58, 59, 64, 67, 71, 108, 140 Boundary height, 59 Boundary width, 59 Bury a knot, 85 Cartesian Coordinate, 14 Center button, 61, 68 Center mouse button, 61 Change bobbin button, 81 Circular array, 51 Clear button, 62 Corner, 9, 28, 33, 34, 80, 92, 125 Crop Height, 95 Crop top, 38, 41 Custom start point, 20 Cut bobbin button, 82 Default setting, 16 Delete point, 108 Demo mode, 9 Do nothing button, 13 Draw slow, 24 Drive cable, 63 Drive cables, 3 DXF to CQ, 123 E2E, 9 Edge-to-edge, 9, 39 Edit, 58, 90, 96, 125 Edit boundary, 58 Edit box, 10 Edit button, 108 Edit page, 131 Edit points, 126 Encode, 127 Encrypt, 15 Exit CQ button, 124 Finish button, 58, 107 Fixed index, 126 Fixed row index, 42 Flash drive, 16 Flip, 125 Flip B, 59 Flip pattern, 79 Flip Pattern, 29 Forward one point, 117 From end go, 31 From start go, 30 Gap, 128 Go to row end, 75 Go to start position, 75 Go to Zero, 75 Grid, 127 Grid button, 24 Grid defaults, 17 Grid on/off, 39, 73 H.A.M., 13, 9 Handles, 60

Index

145

Hardware Assist Module, 13, 9 Head move speed, 16 Help, 18 Hook up block, 3 Hot key, 11 Increment, 10 Index button, 94 Information boxes, 10 Input keypad, 12 Insert point, 108 Jog, 8, 10, 95, 109, 117, 140, 141 Jog button, 74 Jog increment, 74 Jog Measure, 95 Jog pad, 74, 95 Jump selection box, 77 Jump stitch, 17, 77 Jumps, 51, 124 Last row height, 95 Last row popup, 95 Linear array, 49 Load, 57, 109 Load outline, 108 Machine head move speed, 8, 73 Machine start position, 79 Major diameter, 51 Margin, 35, 81 Mark button, 116 Memory stick, 16 Minor diameter, 51 Morphing, 62 Morphing slider, 68 Motif, 9 Motor speed, 7, 8 Move, 74 Move Start, 129 New boundary, 58 New outline, 107

No change button, 95 No sew jump, 125 Notes, 113 Nudge, 61 Number lock, 10 Number of patterns, 41 Number of Patterns, 67 Number of rows, 41 Offset, 40 One stitch button, 82 Open button, 20, 21 Optimize Points button, 126 Outline, 107 Outlining, 64, 109, 140 Overall, 78 Overall view, 38 Pattern buttons, 20 Pattern directories, 19 Pattern End, 103 Pattern gap, 50 Pattern height, 27, 40 Pattern height box, 87 Pattern information, 124 Pattern list, 124 Pattern Start, 103 Pattern type, 23 Pattern width, 27, 40 Pattern width box, 87 Percent of queue, 23 Points on/off, 125 Position boxes, 72 Preferences, 16 Print, 25 Pull direction, 78 Pull only, 17 Q Buffer, 15 Quilted Length, 39 Quilted Width, 39

Index

146

Radio button, 10 Recover zero, 115 Repeat pattern, 37 Reset, 23 Reset Pattern Start, 103 Restart button, 124 Retrieve settings button, 24 Right click to zoom, 60 Rotate, 22, 24, 34, 59, 64 Rotate 45, 29 Rotate Pattern box, 28 Row index, 42 Row index box, 93 Row number, 94 Row spacing, 42 Row x, 78 Run button, 82 Run/abort button, 82 Run/Abort button, 7, 63, 64, 83, 88, 89, 118 Save, 18, 59, 109, 124 Save settings, 23 Scale, 38 Scanner, 11 Select first button, 128, 129 Select restart position, 116 Serial number, 13, 9, 15, 127 Set button, 81 Set point, 58, 107 Set zero, 75 Sew direction, 17, 93 Sew jump, 77 Sew time box, 87 Sewing area limit, 38 Sewing motor on/off, 82 Shortcut key, 11

Show quilt, 85 Sides crop, 38 Single, 78 Speed mode, 13 Stagger, 39, 42, 47 Start program, 4 Startup Procedure, 4 Status bar, 73 Stitch regulation, 13 Stop before pulling bobbin button, 78, 109 Straight Line, 5 Stretch, 10, 24, 27, 43, 64, 89, 96 Stretch height, 95 Surge protector, 11 Switch button, 98 Tag files, 127 Tagged two part pattern, 48 Taper, 69 Total stitch length, 23 Touch screen monitor, 2 Training, 12 Undo, 126 Undo/redo, 23 USB port, 16 Version number, 15 View box, 37, 78 Warning box, 83 Warranty, 11 Windows arrow keys, 10 Wireless keyboard, 11 Wreath array, 53 X Start, 73 Y Start, 73 Zoom, 38, 117, 127 Zoom level slider, 60

Index

147