Piece edges are protected from being edited in some cases. This is sometimes referred to as protection mode.
Protection mode is an automatic feature triggered in the following cases:
If you set a negative value for seam allowance.
If you import a DXF file and select Keep and Protect when importing.
If using the slash and spread feature, when you set the anchor position.
The effect of protection mode is that you cannot edit the piece edges; the contours of the pattern piece cannot be changed outside of the action being performed. In addition, the following icon is displayed:
If you hover over the icon, it displays like this:
Click the icon to display a message appropriate to the protection. For example, when using slash and spread you are asked if you want to implement the spread. Doing so removes the protection.