Brother Innovis QC2000 Sewing Machine
by Michelle Marvig
"More hours in the day"; I can already hear the lucky ladies lament when they buy the new Brother Innovis QC2000 sewing machine, because that is what they are going to need to utilise all the functions on this excellent machine. This machine is equipped with all the feet and features a quilter could want, plus a few more extras to play with as well!
This model Brother is a substantial sewing machine, with a large LCD display screen on the right through which the 430 inbuilt stitches are accessed. It is capable of sewing 1000 stitches per minute. The sewing bed of the machine measures 20.5cm from the needle to the body of the machine, and extends to the left by 10cm from the needle. This supports your work while sewing. The flat bed area is made up of the accessory compartment and it can be removed to give you a free arm, or to slide on the larger extension table, which comes as a basic inclusion with this model.
Also included on this model are a knee lifter (for hands-free raising of the sewing foot), a circular sewing attachment, straight stitch plate and foot, and an extra bobbin case, to allow you to use thicker threads in your bobbin when completing decorative work. There are 15 feet to cover almost any function, including a walking foot, a !/4in foot with guide, three free-motion quilting feet, an open-toe appliqué foot and an excellent needle threader — just the right tools for a machine quilter.
Included in the stitches on this machine are all the important stitches for a quilter: blanket stitch, grass stitch, mock hand quilting, three alphabets for labels, embroidery designs for crazy patchwork, and a reduced blanket stitch suitable for mock
hand appliqué.
The machine is equipped with an automatic fabric sensor to adjust the pressure of the foot over different weights of fabric. Also invaluable is the pivot function, which, when engaged, stops with the needle in the fabric and raises the foot for you to change the position of the work underneath. The height of the foot while pivoting can be adjusted. This can also be achieved by using the knee lifter.
The LCD screen is easy to read and the display is intuitive. Changes to stitch widths, lengths, tensions and sewing modes are simple. Extra information can also be accessed through the "Machine Operation" mode, a mini operations manual for the machine right on the screen. The screen can be locked by the press of a button. This can be handy when quilting, as I have changed stitches inadvertently when adjusting the position of a quilt, resulting in a broken needle, unpicking or both!
If there was not enough to play with already, you can also plot in your own stitches through the "My Custom Stitch" mode. It allows you to draw up and save unique stitches. The machine is also capable of stitching in eight different directions in straight stitch and four directions for zig zag. It was interesting to watch the fabric step diagonally across the bed of the machine. As quilters, these are functions we would probably have to play with to find a reason to use them. But on any machine, there are some functions that we use every day, some that we use rarely. The large sewing area, ease of operation and quality of sewing are the everyday functions that quilters will appreciate.
The Brother Innovis QC2000 is a complete machine for a quilter. Sorry, it does not do coffee. See your local Brother dealer for a demonstration.
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|  The Brother Innovis QC2000 |
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