Going into and out of manual mode when custom quilting.

When custom quilting, I try to minimise the starts and stops. On a quilt where I need to do manual quilting but want iQ to stitch most of the rest, I set up my stitching sequence so that I can easily switch between computer control and human control. In this video I show how I do that, by choosing stop to cut threads as a transition between the sequenced patterns that iQ will stitch.  I can only do this because of iQ's unique drive motors. If I had to undo belts then re-enagage them, it would be more difficult.
While seasoned iQ users know this, I thought this video might help new owners as well as demonstrate the advantage of iQ's drive wheel system to those thinking about buying a computer system for their quilting machines.

8.20.15 software update - Configurations.

With this software update, changes have been made to the way you can configure iQ to suit your needs. Many things that could be changed on the preferences page before have now been moved to their relevant screens, right where they will be most useful and easy to alter for each quilt you are stitching. This video is an overview of the new configurations. They are fully explained in the release notes. If you prefer to watch this video on Youtube because you cannot view the whole picture here, go to this link:
https://youtu.be/RMABQLCdvyQ

Motor Auto Setup

Everyone is going to love this!  iQ can now set the motor engagement strengths itself. No more listening for the growl or watching the lift spindle, wondering if you have the strengths set too low or too high. After updating your software to the August 2015 version (8.20.15), use this feature. Make a note of your current motor engagement strengths then run the auto setup. Did iQ change them?

When you are just running this to set your motor engagement strengths, if your X motor is mounted at the front of your carriage, you need to push your machine close to the take up bar before running the X motor auto setup. If your X motor is mounted at the back of your carriage, bring your machine close to the front of the table before running the auto setup.

To watch the video on Youtube, go to this link: https://youtu.be/p1evl0yMgkA

Shape Shift and Magnet Tool configurations

With the August 2015 software update, new features have been added to shape shift and magnet tool. We are now able to preview the size of the effect circle and move it before the effect begins.
In this video I explain these changes, but also please read the release notes for this update.

Go to this link if you prefer to watch the video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/mRIGQ_oX7so

Organizing patterns using Evernote

Angela Huffman demonstrates how she uses Evernote to organize both her iQ patterns and quilting inspiration photos in this video.

Using Shape Shift

I've been working on one of my own quilts so it isn't perfect. I created a pattern to fit in the space beside each pieced fan and found that I needed to modify the pattern in many of the blocks so that it would stitch where I wanted it to stitch. This video shows how I used shape shift to alter the pattern slightly. It might not be clear in the film, but after touching the screen, I move the stylus to alter the pattern. You'll see I didn't need to move it a lot.
Shape shift is such a useful tool - try it out!

Using Divide Pattern to create a Pantograph.

This video shows how divide pattern can be used to make a pantograph pattern out of a closed pattern.

Creating a line pattern using Divide pattern

This video shows how a line pattern can be made using divide pattern. Divide pattern allows a closed pattern to be converted into an open pattern so it can be used as a line pattern or pantograph.
This also shows the new remove button and scale reading. I show removing just one pattern from the pattern queue, ofcourse any number can be removed so if you've previewed several patterns, you can quickly remove any you don't want to use. Make sure they are on the screen and still red when you touch remove to take them out of the queue.

Software update 03.29.15

Here are the main new features:
- Divide Pattern makes it easy to quilt a pattern that is larger than your machine's throat depth. You were able to do this by using Split, but Divide Pattern does it simpler. It also allows you to use most closed patterns in Pantograph or Line Pattern. 
- Those customers who replaced their CQ with the iQ can now load their patterns in *,cmd or *.cqp formats directly with Load Designs, he patterns will be converted on the fly to *.iqp
- Upon popular demand, a crosshair cursor was added, selectable in System->Interface Setup/Test.
- Another wishlist request was fulfilled by the addition of selective removal of patterns from the queue and clearing the pattern memory in Line Pattern.
- A new CAP pattern, Warped Mesh was added.
- Now you can convert a pattern to a block point by point, in addition to the contour method. This feature allows operations (e.g. move or edit) on multiple blocks by converting them to patterns, using the multiple pattern editing features, and converting them back to blocks.
In addition to these, some more wishlist items were implemented, together with improvements of existing features.
Note that this release does not contain StiQ or DesignPad versions, they will be added later.
Please update your iQ with the new version and start exploring the new features. As always, your feedback is very important to us, for you are the real designers of the iQ.

This video is an introduction to Divide/Open Pattern