EQ Blog

I hope you all have had a chance to play with the star layouts in the EQ5 or EQ6 library. Beth Davis did… and wow. You should see the spectacular “Star Burst” quilt she came up with. Here’s what Beth says:

“I thought you might enjoy seeing a quilt that I just completed. It is called “Star Burst” and is 102″ X 102″. I designed it using EQ5. I used one of the existing quilt layouts from the library. I used a pineapple block with commercial fabric for the 8 pointed star and radiating star points. I tried different pieced blocks for the plain block areas but nothing was working.”

Beth’s “Star Burst” quilt

“Last summer I took a Shibori class with Marjie McWilliams at Quiltuniversity.com. When I auditioned the star burst hand dyed fabric in those plain blocks, I thought the quilt came to life. I was able to dye an additional 7 yards with similar color and pattern. The quilting was done with 12 wt. variable cotton thread on top and 30 wt. in the bobbin. Because the quilt was so bright, I didn’t want the stitching to get lost. I stitched flames radiating from the center.”

Corner and Hand-dyed detail

Can you see the Pineapple block she’s talking about? I outlined it here in white to show *just how much piecing* was involved in making this quilt.

Beth goes on to say:

“The part that I think is so neat is that the software will skew a square block into a diamond and print accurate foundation or templates for you. Thanks for making such a great product. I am thoroughly enjoying my EQ6.”

Thank you Beth for making such a great quilt and sharing the pictures with us!

A while back I showed you some projects Margaret was making incorporating the printable fabric photos of leaves. Well I promised I’d show you the finished pieces and she’s finally done!

Below are a few photos of the finished quilt. Circling the center diamond, there are four photos of leaves and greenery. By themselves they are just four diagonal blocks made from photos but Margaret has done something really cool to really make them apart of the quilt.

Take a look at the finished quilt from far away

Now zoomed in on the center photos.

Now REALLY close, you can see what Margaret has done.

You can see that the photo of the leaf is inside the tiled rectangle but then you can see that the photo of the leaf somehow extends out from the photo as if it’s growing into the quilt! Using each photo as a starting point, Margaret imagined what the rest of the leaf might look like and cut it out of green fabric. She then fused the leaf to the quilt and quilted around the outline of the leaf so it would stand out. She did this to all four photos and the outcome is that the photo and the quilt become one in the same and are a unified piece.

I love this Margaret!

Maureen from New York shared a very special printable fabrics project with us. Her niece was getting married and Maureen made her a VERY special purse to carry on her big day. The purse was made of material from her mother’s wedding dress, material from her mother’s veil, and photos of the dress receipt, wedding photo, and newspaper announcement on EQ printable fabric. The purse turned out beautifully and is such a unique and sentimental gift.

“I love your fabric sheets. This is the first time I used them. I was making a purse for my niece, who is getting married, I used the velvet from my mother’s wedding dress and the Madeira lace from her veil. I had her wedding picture, the bill for the wedding dress and the announcement from the newspaper. printed all of these on the fabric and used it as the lining for the purse…. I am hoping that the bride comes up with an idea to sign her name and pass the purse down to younger brides in the family.”

Maureen, Farr Port Jervis NY

Maureen, what a thoughtful idea with a beautiful outcome. Thank you for sharing this with us.

If you’ve ever used Wreathmaker and wanted to do more… here’s a technique I’ve used a lot to redraw the Quiltmaker blocks for the Quilting Designs series.

Pages 244-245 in the EQ6 User Manual describe the Ellipse tool a little bit.

1. Add the Ellipse tool to your PatchDraw Appliqué toolbar.
2. Drag out a big ellipse.
3. Ensure its a perfect circle by typing in the size in the Precision Bar.
4. Make the size the same size as your block.
5. Change the ellipse style to “partition evenly into sections.”
6. Set the number of times you want the design to be in the circle.
7. Center the ellipse using the Precision bar button.
8. If you don’t want it perfectly up and down you can rotate it some number of degrees (like 5 or 18.2… whatever you want).
9. Make a second smaller perfect circle and center it.

Your block should look something like this now:

***EDIT*** On the Precision Bar, click Convert to Patch for both circles. (Or, go to the Color tab and back to the Applique tab to convert them both at the same time.)

Convert the whole thing to guides. And draw in one of the wedges. Make the line start and end on the smaller circle where it crosses the wedge line.

Then, write down the position (X, Y) and size (W, H) of the shape from the precision bar when the object is selected. Do this math:
Block Width - x - w = ??? x for new piece
Block Height - y - h = ??? y for new piece

Clone and rotate the shape 180 degrees. Type in the numbers you get for the position of the new piece. You should be able to Select All, and rotate and center to get the rest that go around the circle. The degree of rotation depends on how many wedges you have. I did 12 wedges (360/12=30), so once I have the the first set I can rotate the new cloned pairs 30 degrees until I complete the circle.

I know this is like …. super-duper-advanced PatchDraw, but I know if I don’t write it down now, I’ll forget.

Here are some other quilting stencils done with this same technique.

I love to play in EQ6. I wanted to share yet another use for “BLOCK > Serendipity > Merge Blocks”.

If you start a new block in EasyDraw and draw this:

Then you can merge it with any other block in your Sketchbook to create a “Shadowed Block”. Set the new block in a Horizontal quilt with sashing, color it, and you’ll get this:

Happy EQ-ing!

In the previous post, I showed you a Mariner’s Compass quilt by Bobbinhead who I now know is Bethany. Bethany sent me a link to another blog she more frequently posts to and where you can see the finished Mariner’s Compass quilt top.

But… she still hasn’t tackled the circle in the middle! She’s getting there She’s trying some things to decrease the focus from the large circle center.

Bethany, it looks stunning! Great job and let us know how you end up finishing your center!

Looking through some fellow EQ users’ blogs, I came across a beautiful Mariner’s Compass quilt design in EQ6 by Bobbinhead. She’s experimented with several design but began working on a wall hanging and it’s turning out nicely!

Mariner’s Compass Quilt from Bobbinhead’s Quilting Hideout.

Now she’s down to the center piece and wasn’t sure how she was going to approach it but had a few good ideas. We wanted to pass on some suggestions as well! The center can be pieced or appliquéd as Bobbinhead has mentioned. We recommend an appliqué approach by using a top stitch.

If you want to avoid having to deal with a circular center, you can also do a Mariner’s Compass star that simplifies into a 4-Patch where the spikes go all the way to the center (which would also help you when piecing).

Congrats on starting with such a complex quilt, Bobbinhead! If you too want to make a Mariner’s Compass quilt, start by experimenting in EQ6 with the Auto Borders and a 1×1 Horizontal or On-Point quilt. If you need extra help, try doing Lesson 2 in the EQ6 User Manual (it covers how to make a medallion quilt and add borders).

We got an email from Roberta Campbell from State College who shared with us her creative EQ6 designed projects that are worth sharing! Roberta designed a shower curtain and matching window valence and a fitted bed quilt with matching window valence for her home. She says’,

“Just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed EQ. I like the idea that I can plan a quilt and then take the blocks and print out in different sizes for valences, dresser “doilies” etc”.

Look at some of her coordinating home fashions

Shower Curtain

Window Valence

Fitted Quilt

Window Valence

It just goes to show you the versatility of the EQ6 program! It’s not just for making your traditional quilt but also decorating your home. Very cool ideas, Roberta! Thank you for sharing.

We’ve had a lot of questions about Lone Star quilts in techsupport recently. For those of you who have not seen this technique yet, pay attention to the fastest Lone Star you’ll ever make (virtually).

In the LIBRARIES > Layout Library > Basics by Style, get the first layout in “Stars” and add it to your Sketchbook.

Get some blocks from the Block Library or draw them yourself. (Four Patch, Nine Patch, Sixteen Patch, etc.)

Edit the quilt from the Sketchbook, set the blocks in the diamond spaces.

If you’re chicken like me when it comes to partial seams and Y-seams, set Half Square Triangles in the setting triangles, so each part simplifies down to triangles in squares.

This works for all sorts of blocks. Remember, if it was foundation-pieceable as one unit (like a Diamond in the Square) when it was square… it will still be foundation-pieceable as one unit when it’s skewed.

I would print Templates or Foundation Pattern to get the pieces and make sure you check “size from quilt!”

Happy EQ-ing!

We started another contest! This one ends August 31, 2008.

EQ the Mouse hid himself all over the www.electricquilt.com web site. Go find as many as you can and send in your answer.

Those with the highest correct answer will have their names put in a hat for the prize drawing. Everyone who enters will receive a free EQ5 or EQ6 project with some cool new blocks, quilts, and fabrics.

View the complete contest rules and how to enter

Enjoy!

In this month’s issue of Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting you will find Sue Spargo’s Aimee Rabbit Pin Keeper project from the software program, Sue Spargo’s Folk Art Dreams. Such a cute project! Sue completed this special pin keeper especially for Love of Quilting in these beautiful springy colors! We just love Sue’s work and are overjoyed to see them published so beautifully.

Get connected with Sue on her blog to hear more about her work and her life.

Vanessa Wedding wrote to say:

EQ6 is the best mother’s day gift I’ve had in eons! I use it to post and sell the quilt patterns I’ve designed on my blog.

Check out two of Vanessa’s cool ideas on her blog:
Golden Glow Block - how color can change a design

Cherry Blossom - making a 5-petal pieced flower

If you use EQ for your blog, email me at webmaster@electricquilt.com and tell me about it.

Recently, a few projects completed by our own Andrea Bishop were published in Fabric Trends magazine using our printable fabrics! Here are her adorable photo purse and pillow as they appeared in the magazine:

From the June/July issue of Fabric Trends.

Andrea printed 25-30 2.5″ x 2.5″ squares of assorted, tightly cropped images onto our printable fabrics. She then cut them apart using a rotary cutter and re-arranged them to be sewn together into her pillow or purse! So cute.

If the thought of sewing together tiny squares scares you away from a project like this, try arranging your photo squares, as you want them, side-by-side in a photo editing software such as Photoshop. Then print the solid image onto EQ printable fabric. Trim away the surrounding fabric and sew your single finished photo collage right into your pillow or purse! Talk about easy!

This is a really fun project for kids that lets them help decorate their room themselves or make gifts for friends with their photos on a pillow!

Some other really cool printable fabric project ideas:

Fabric Postcards

Photo Place Mats

Got grandkids? What cooler grandma’s house feature then a personalized place mat for your favorite little ones!?

Peel & Stick Fabric - Fabric Boxes, photo journals, fabric flowers, and diaries

Yup! Everything in this photo was made from our Peel & Stick fabric sheets! Even the rose buds! Cover old boxes with beautiful images printed onto self-adhesive fabric to give it a whole new life or decorate your photo albums, journals and more!

Clear Overlay Photo Lamp

This photo lamp was made using our clear overlay sheets. These clear transparencies can be printed on using an inkjet or lasar printer or copy machine. The photos print with great color and when put into photo slides and wrapped around alight bulb, the photos pop and make for a stunning way to display your photos from vacations.

So have we sparked your creative fire??? Show us what you’re making!

So, I’ve always wanted to draw a tessellation. They are so cool the way they interlock and look like animals sometimes. I never thought I was creative enough to figure it out and draw it. Then I had an “Aha!” moment.

I’m still not anywhere close to M.C. Escher artwork, but, I’ve figured out something fun in EQ6 I thought I’d share.

A tessellation is easy if you start with a square and what you subtract from one side you add to the other.

This is a silly way to do it, but start a new PatchDraw Block. On the Pieced tab, fill the block with half-square triangles. (My block is 10×10 and I kept only 6×6 in the center.) With the Pick tool, move a triangle from one side of the block to the other. Keep going until you’ve moved as much as you want. Stop if you think you’ve lost your place. Then save the block, convert it to guides, and draw with the PolyLine tool around the outside to create one patch. Save the block again and set it to size on a custom set quilt (my blocks are 10×10 and the positions of the patches actually ended up being at inch marks.)

I’m hoping I will find an animal in there some day, for now I’ll just be content that I finally drew one and the pieces interlock.

Happy EQ-ing!

UPDATE: Sarah @ EQ and I both found a bunny in the original design. I’m so happy that I made an animal that interlocks. Wooohooo. Here’s the picture:

M. Mercedes Silva wrote in to show one of her virtual ClubEQ designs that made it into fabric reality. Check out Mercedes’ original ClubEQ quilt “Firework”:

Mercedes wrote:
“Our guild had a fabric challenge (Robert Kaufman,”The fire within II’ D#6040), so I made the quilt from ClubEQ January 2007 #28. I did strip piecing, but it was not easy. I wish that I had done paper piecing instead. Well it is done now and my husband likes it very much, so much that he wanted in his office. Thanks for this wonderful program! Happy Quilting!”

Finished quilt by Mercedes:

You can see how the two have totally different effects when you flip-flop the lights and darks. I really like the way it turned out. So much piecing! Great job Mercedes!