EQ Blog

Cheryl Malkowski is a quilt designer and author from Oregon. She recently sent us a copy of her newest book, Quilt-O-Grams, where she teaches readers how to create quilted postcards and other fun projects using her experienced tips and tricks. Read more about Cheryl and her new book on her website.
As an EQ6 user, Cheryl used the program to help her design some of the projects she creates. In her new book Quilt-O-Grams, Cheryl explains to readers how using EQ6 for her projects. She explains:

“What if you could make a miniature of that complex New York Beauty Quilt or the fancy Baltimore Album quilt without doing a bit of piecing of appliqué? Now you can! With the Electric Quilt (EQ) program, or similar quilt design software, you can design a quilt any way you like and then print it out on fabric.”

Yes, Cheryl used our EQ Printable fabrics as well for some of her projects and gave us a kind nod in the book. Thanks Cheryl! We are so proud of your new book and we are honored by the compliment in not only mentioning us but that you’ve been such an avid EQ user.

Gloria Hansen, author of the new EQ publication Digital Essentials, was featured in the November 2008 issue of Quilters Newsletter magazine! The article is titled, “Digital Entries 101″, an introduction of sorts to working with cameras and digital files. The article is very well written including a glossary to help you understand the jargon as you read. Very exciting, Gloria!

(”Digital Entries 101″ - Taken from Quilters Newsletter magazine November 2008)

If you’re on the fence about getting your copy of Digital Essentials by Gloria Hansen the Quilters Newsletter article is a great introduction. If you like Gloria’s feature, you’ll LOVE the Digital Essentials book!

We were recently asked to co-sponsor a contest for www.allianceforamericanquilts.org. This competition celebrates The Alliance for American Quilts’ fifteen-year mission to document, preserve and share our great quilt heritage. All quilts measure 15″ x 15″ square, and reflect the quiltmaker’s personal history.

View the quilts submitted for the contest.

The third place price package (An EQ6 Prize Package from The Electric Quilt Company containing EQ6 software, three accessory books, plus two fabric CD’s, valued at $250) goes to Kathryn Wright for a gorgeous quilt called Meme’s Button Box.

Congratulations to Kathryn and all the other winners. We were honored to be a part of this endeavor.

What’s next for these beautiful quilts? Contest quilts become a donation to The Alliance for American Quilts and will be auctioned online, with 100% of the proceeds supporting the continuation of their mission.

The Electric Quilt Company has organized and sponsored two computer classrooms of hands-on quilt design software classes this year in Houston.

Are you EQ savvy? Are you going to be in Houston this year? We are looking for volunteer helpers in the classes. You would be a *quiet* helper for those who fall behind, rush ahead or to just need help keeping on track during class.

The complete schedule for both classrooms is listed below. If you are interested and would like to volunteer, please write to AnnRutter@electricquilt.com and let her know which classes fit your schedule, and she’ll let you know which classes still need helpers.

Thank you!

We’re really excited about the new Kaleidoscope Collection CD from Andrea Bishop. We’ve started shipping orders and stocking up for Houston too so it’s been busy around here.

So now that the CDs are on there way out, you’re going to be getting started on all your new projects! So we’ve created the Kaleidoscope Collections Club on our website!

This club is open to everyone who owns the Kaleidoscope Collection CD plus EQ5 or EQ6.

Each month, Andrea will present something new that you can do with designs from the CD. One month you might learn to modify a block, or try out quilt design variations. Another month you may draw from scratch, or learn to rotate fabric to complement the Kaleidoscope design.

The whole idea is to work together, using these Kaleidoscopes, to really design some cools quilts, and learn in the process.

The first project will begin at the end of October. So get your CD now and keep checking in to be a part of the club!

A year ago, my neighbor’s son Nick Mazza was killed in a car accident due to a negligent driver. Despite their obvious heart ache and readjusting to life without him, they were determined to find ways to cherish his memory.

As an organ donor, Nick was able to give life to others in need and through the Community Tissue Services, Nick would be recognized for his continuing gifts. CTS contacted his parents about contributing a memory quilt block to the Connected by Giving remembrance quilt. The quilts are displayed throughout the community in memory of those who gave life to others and to raise awareness for donor need.

I was asked to help design the memory block for Nick. I was honored and though it was difficult to feel the families pain with them, it was rewarding to have been apart of keeping his memory going. I wanted to share the block with you. It is made of Nick’s clothing, a few photo’s chosen by his mom and a red bandanna - his favorite color.

Nick was 20 years old and LOVED to pay his guitar! He really enjoyed music was a goof ball by nature. His two brothers, mother, and step-father are very proud of Nick and like to talk about him and all the crazy things he did that made them smile. He is greatly missed.

For months now we’ve been getting ready for Houston Fall Market and Festival. Can you believe it’s almost time? Well, true to form, we’re bringing some new products with us so consider this a heads up!

Oh yeah… and have we told you about the NEW BOOKS? They’ll be there too!

DIGITAL ESSENTIALS AND BLENDING PHOTOS WITH FABRIC 2 JUST ARRIVED! Literally, we just opened up the first few boxes and savored in the initial burst of “new book” smell. We’re moving at frantic speeds to pack and ship pre-orders and new book orders as they are coming in. So only a few more days now and you’ll have the much anticipated publications in hand!

Yes, all the boxes you see there are only a small handful of the orders we’ve been able to pack today. We sympathize with the UPS guy.

Talk about a testament to the EQ6 manual! Barbara Hilson wrote to us telling her triumphant story of upgrading to EQ6 and taking the time to learn about WHAT she could do with the program and HOW. She took the time to complete lessons in her manual and gave a seven year old quilt design a fresh spin based on what she had learned.

Below is her journey and photos of her finished quilt.

“I bought the fabric in December, 2002 (yes a long time ago) to make a rose quilt for my sister who loves roses. Her name is Rosalee. It was going to be a simple nine patch with embroidered roses between the nine patches. Well - 7 years and 4 months later I knew that was not what it was going to be. I had upgraded EQ5 to EQ6 in January or February of this year and decided to design it in the program. I sat down and did all the tutorials in the book that comes with the program. I started designing the quilt as soon as I finished the tutorials. I love the fact you can download all the fabrics but my fabric was over 5 years old. So the best thing for me to do would be to scan it in. Using the book and the tutorials online I scanned in my fabric, saved to a file. Next I did my embroideries. I had 15 done - wanting only 12. I let my sister decide which ones she wanted. I then scanned those in and started the design. I decided to draw some blocks. I had made the Yellow Brick Road Quilt several times - so it was time for me to put into practice what I had learned in the tutorial. I then drew 3 of the 4 blocks that are used in that quilt. Then I started placing blocks, rearranging many times. There were 14 different versions in my sketchbook before I settled on one. I wanted the focus on the embroidery but I also wanted the beautiful fabric I had chosen to be on display also. I also did all the quilting.

We are so proud of Barbara’s quilt and for investing the time to learn. We encourage users to investigate EQ6 features as much as possible and to expand their design skills. If the manual isn’t enough for you we offer four EQ6 Companion books to help you challenge yourself in becoming a master EQ6er!

EQ6 Block Book
EQ6 Simplified
EQ6 Pieced Drawing
EQ6 Appliqué Drawing

Today, Andrea completed the stencils for Quilting Designs Volume 5! It was a long road between her and Jenny to finish up the over 800 designs that will be in the collection but it was well worth it! We heard the most well deserved sigh of relief when Andrea finished the very last project this morning. The two spent countless hours drawing Quiltmaker stencils to get the designs print ready for you! So make sure you at least check out some of the prettiest designs of the Quilmaker Quilting Design series yet.

The CD is expected to be ready for Fall Market but in the mean time you can check out just a sample of what’s included.

Click on the image to see the stencils up close!

Digital Essentials by Gloria Hansen was chosen as an Editors Pick in the Holiday Issue of Quilting Arts! We wanted to share the lovely write up from the magazine with you all so enjoy!

“At last, a primer on digital design for the artist! Written in plain English with easy-to-follow steps, Digital Essentials demystifies digital imaging software, whether you have a MAC or PC, whether you just want to resize pictures and print them out or design a whole quilt on the computer. Because Gloria knows both computers and quilting, she can tell you what you need to know and why. Working with this book is like having a kindly expert sitting right beside you, guiding you through the digital maze. “

Quilting Arts Mazagine - Sept Holiday issue 2008-2009

Because she won’t brag about them herself, I want to give you a sneak peek at the awesome new collection of kaleidoscope blocks designed by our very own Andrea Bishop!

COMING SOON
Whirly, swirly… so easy to sew! Andrea has been spending a great deal of time designing over 500 foundation pieced kaleidoscope blocks for EQ5 and EQ6. Every block is numbered and ready to print from EQ and is probably easier than you might think to piece! All the blocks simplify down into simple squares. If you can sew by number, then all you need to do is sew half-square triangles together or Kaleidoscope wedges together.

Kaleidoscope Collection includes these categories:
• Basics
• Compasses
• Eight-Point Stars
• Flowers
• Miscellaneous
• Pinwheels
• Snow
• Spikey
• Stars
• Striped
• Traditional-Looking
• Triangles

Basically, the collection is an EQ5 or EQ6 add-on. It installs into your block library and it’s great for people who want more foundation-pieceable blocks. These blocks look great on their own in a medallion-like setting or in groups to create complex-looking designs that are actually really quick to piece.

Add Kaleidoscope blocks to your sketchbook from your Block Library.

In this project we use the Ocean Breeze Block from the pinwheel category.

Play with fabrics in your block and use the Fussy Cut tool to create different effects.

When you print your foundation piecing, all the numbering is done for you. Just follow the numbers! It’s not nearly as difficult as it may appear on paper.

Then admire the final product!

These kaleidoscope blocks are great for trying out fabric placement and fussy-cutting designs. You’ll be creating stunning designs and piecing them faster than you thought possible with the power of EQ’s foundation printouts.

Way to go Andrea! Thanks for giving us even MORE fun blocks to experiment with. We’ll keep you posted on when to expect the CD to be available.

Have you seen the new TV quilting series, “Quilting Arts,” hosted by Pokey Bolton which airs on PBS? Well there’s a new season coming up, and I just returned from a fun trip to Cleveland to tape 6 new episodes. My segments didn’t begin taping until late afternoon, so I hung out backstage (in full make-up no less) until it was my turn, chatting it up with Joel Dewberry, Lyric Kinard, Laura Wasilowski, and Sue Hausmann. (So much fun.)

Then, host Patricia (Pokey) Bolton and I did episodes together on:

Making your own fabric

Printing on fabric

Using words in quilts

Printing skewed blocks

Designing quilts with software

Printing patterns from quilt design software

I’ll let you know when they start airing, and hope you get a chance to see some of them!

Thanks to everyone for entering our “EQ the Mouse Hunt” contest. We just went through all the entries to find the winners. We had a tie for third place and decided to award 2 prizes rather than choose one.

A big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to:

First Place: D. Kathy Willis (27)
Second Place: Barbara Sokol (26)
Third Place (1): Kari Bauer (25)
Third Place (2): Sara Weber (25)

Thanks again for searching! EQ the Mouse is flattered by everyone who went looking for his fan mail photos.