Welcome to Block 2 of our Jump Start Sew Along. In this lesson we’re going to concentrate on fabric—how to use the fabrics built into the Fabric Library and how to add new fabrics.
Let’s get started!
(Want an easy-to-print version of this lesson? Click here to download the Block 2 Lesson PDF file.)
- Open EQ7.
- Click the Open an existing project tab in the Project Helper window and open your sew along project file, which we named “Jump Start Sew Along” in the first lesson. Most likely, your project will be listed under Most recently used projects (unless you’ve designed lots of projects since our last lesson!). Click on the project file name to select it, then click OK. The Sketchbook will appear.
- Remember that the Sketchbook holds all the “ingredients” for our quilt designs. Click the Blocks section on the left. You’ll see the four blocks that we copied from the Block Library in the first lesson.
- Now click the Quilts section on the left. The quilt we created in Lesson 1 will be selected (because it’s the only quilt layout we’ve saved so far). Click the Edit button. The quilt is now on the Quilt Worktable.
- Click the Set Block tool on the right toolbar.
- Click the Eccentric Star block in the Blocks Palette, then click the lower-left block space on the quilt to pop the block into place.
- Now let’s talk fabric. Click the Paintbrush tool
on the right toolbar. The Fabric Palette appears with the default group of fabrics that EQ7 always starts with. Use the scrollbar under the swatches to see all the fabrics. You also have the option to use solid colors by clicking the Colors tab in the palette. It’s a great group of fabrics to start with, but let’s see how to add more fabrics to our project.
- On the top menu bar, click LIBRARIES > Fabric Library. EQ7’s Fabric Library has over 5,000 fabrics ready to use. They are broken into three sections: By Category, By Color, and By Manufacturer.
- Click around and see what’s there. When you see a fabric you like, click on it (look for the blue outline to know it’s selected) and then click Add to Sketchbook. The fabric will disappear to let you know it’s been added (don’t worry, next time you visit the Fabric Library the swatch will be back!).
How to Add More Fabrics
EQ7 comes with a great selection of fabric built-in, but new fabrics are always being released so you want to be able to add new fabrics to your projects. Here are your options for adding more fabrics to your EQ7.
Scanning your own fabric
So you have fabric in your stash that you’d like to use in your quilt design. If you have a scanner, you can scan the fabrics and import them through the Fabric Library.
The key to good fabric scanning is prepping the fabric. Press it to get rid of wrinkles and make sure there’s no lint or stray threads on the fabric. When I scan fabric I like to flatten it down on the scanner using a book.
Every scanner has slightly different settings to choose from. Here are my basic guidelines to follow:
Resolution: 72-75 dpi
Size: 500 x 500 pixels – This size is usually sufficient to give you an accurate depiction of the fabric. You can go larger, but if you import a lot of large fabric scans, EQ7 may get a bit sluggish.
Descreen (or Magazine) – You may not have this option, but if you do, use it. It keeps the weave of the fabric from creating a moiré effect on screen (think about that crazy pattern that can happen when you see someone wearing a striped shirt on tv).
Save as a JPG file.
I make a folder to store all my fabric scans here:
Documents > My EQ7 > My Fabric Scans
After you’ve saved your scans, here’s how to import them into EQ7:
- In the Fabric Library, click the Import button and choose From Image Files.
- Navigate to the folder where you’ve saved the scans. Select the image file(s) you’d like to import (if you’d like to select multiple files, hold down the CTRL key or the Command key on your keyboard as you click on each file) and click Open.
- Make sure you use the Add to Sketchbook button to add these fabrics to your project.
Saving Fabric Images from the Web
You can also save fabric images from websites and import them into EQ7.
Warning: When you save images from websites, the images may not display at the proper scale. Sometimes websites reduce their fabric images so that you can see more of the design repeat. This means that when you import the images into EQ7, you will not have an accurate preview of the fabric in your quilt. For example, polka dots that look like they’re about 1/4” on the screen, may be much larger on the actual fabric.
Depending on your internet browser and the website you’re visiting, you can usually right-click on an image and choose Save Image As. Then you can navigate to the folder where you’d like to save the image and click the Save button.
Some fabric companies make it super easy to import their fabrics into EQ7. Check out this blog post about Connecting Threads—they’ve already created EQ7 library files for you!
After you’ve saved the images, you can follow the same importing steps listed under scanning.
FREE Fabric Downloads from Do You EQ
Every month we offer a free fabric download to add new fabrics to your EQ7. Follow the instructions provided to link the fabrics to your Fabric Library.
EQ Stash Online
Instantly download the newest fabrics from the top designers by purchasing EQ Stash Online. Visit our shop to see the fabric collections available in each download. The product will automatically link to your EQ7 Fabric Library.
- Click Close when you are done adding fabrics to the Sketchbook.
- Back on the Quilt Worktable, the Paintbrush tool is still selected, so the Fabric Palette is still on your screen. Drag the scrollbar under the swatches all the way to the end. Your new fabrics will always be added to the end of the palette.
- Click on a swatch in the palette (look for the blue outline around the swatch, to know it’s selected) and then click on a patch in the quilt. Play around with coloring the blocks for a while. If you don’t like the way something looks, choose a different fabric and click on a patch again to re-color.
- Click the Spraycan tool
on the right toolbar. This is another coloring tool that allows you to change the fabric in all matching patches in a block at the same time. Give it a try.
- When you’re happy with your fabric choices, click Add to Sketchbook to save the in-progress quilt.
- On the right toolbar, click the Select tool .
- Click on the Eccentric Star block in the quilt to select it (it will have a green outline).
My personal preference for this block would be to use the rotary cutting chart, but since I showed you the rotary cutting chart in this first lesson, I’m going to take you through printing the templates for this block. Again, if you’d prefer to piece the block a different way (using the Rotary Cutting Chart or the Foundation Pattern), feel free to use those print styles instead.
- Click the Print button on the top menu bar, and choose Templates from the drop-down menu.
- The block size that we set on the Layout tab in the first lesson (9 inches) will automatically be selected in the Print dialog. If you’d like to make the block a different size, click the circle next to Custom block size and type the new size in the Width and Height boxes above. IMPORTANT: Remember that in EQ7 you are working in finished sizes (the final size of your block after all the seams have been sewn). EQ7 adds the seam allowance for you when you print the patterns.
- Click the Preview button. A preview of the templates printout will appear on screen.
- This block only has two templates, so everything fits on one sheet of paper nicely. If your pattern contains lots of patches, you may want to re-position the templates on the page(s). Let’s try that out. Click the Move button at the top and then drag the templates around on the page.
(Note: You also have the option to delete unwanted templates in the Print Preview. This is especially helpful for applique blocks. To delete templates, click the the Delete button at the top. Then click on the template to select it (it will have a red outline). Hit the Delete key on your keyboard and the selected template will disappear.) - Click the Print button at the top of the screen to print the templates, or click Close if you do not want to print at this time (then click Close again to return to the Quilt Worktable).
- Click the Save button and then close EQ7.
You’ve made it through Lesson Two! We’ll meet back here on Friday, May 30th to share our blocks.
Want to see this lesson in action? Watch the video below!
05-19-2014
2:27 pm
Hi. Is there a way, when importing scanned fabrics (or via web), to save those as some sort of Collection or Group in the Fabric Library? I want to be able to be able to save and access all pieces in my stash from the same collection. Thanks.
05-19-2014
4:02 pm
Yes, Colleen! It’s called a “My Library” and you can save fabrics there that you’d like to have available every time you open EQ7 (opposed to saving the fabric in the Sketchbook, which only makes it available in one project).
If you have the PC user manual, you can find directions for creating a My Library on pages 61-64.
Or you can find this info in the on-screen help. In EQ7, click HELP > Search. Type “My Library Basics” in the search box.
05-23-2014
5:24 pm
Thanks, Jenny! I use the Mac version now, but still have my PC book, and the pages you pointed me to worked. I was able to Copy fabric scans from my Sketchbook (after Importing) and Paste those into a custom fabric collection/sub-category in My Library.
05-19-2014
8:17 pm
This is great, Thank you
05-19-2014
8:47 pm
Thank so much for all this information. I was able to learn things that I didn’t know before.
05-19-2014
9:58 pm
I have a stash of fabric that I am going to use for these lessons and nothing else at this time. Would it be better to import these fabrics and move them to “My Library” or you say Sketchbook “which makes it available in one project?”
Thanks, I learn something new every time!
05-21-2014
9:47 am
Hi Lin,
If you only intend to use these fabrics in the sew along project, I would just save them to the Sketchbook.
If it’s a group of fabrics you plan to use in lots of different projects, then I would create a My Library.
05-22-2014
12:30 am
I think the directions for scanning fabrics in this lesson assumed that you are scanning a piece of fabric large enough to fill the entire scanning area. I’m using a charm pack for this project. When I scanned the squares as directed, the “import” did not work because the square showed up as a tiny part of the overall image when I added it to the sketchbook. However, when I went to the EQ7 manual, I found the section describing how to adjust the scan on page 208. After straightening and cropping the image, I was able to successfully add the fabrics. This might be helpful for others who might be working with pre-cuts.
05-22-2014
11:14 am
Teri,
You could also have imported from the IMAGE worktable (click the Import Image button on the left toolbar), then used the Crop tool to crop out everything but your fabric square.
If you use this method, be sure to click IMAGE > Add to Sketchbook as Fabric. (Items just “added to Sketchbook” get added as Photos. You want yours added as fabric.
05-22-2014
10:53 pm
Oh, this is so cool!! I bought this program over a year ago tried it out and got frustrated. I like the way you teach, PDF instructions as well as the video. This allows me to view what I will be doing before I attempt it. I’m hooked…I may learn to design yet, Thank you!!
05-24-2014
2:13 am
Hello. I noticed on the Rotary Cutting instructions for both block one and block two that EQ7 wants us to cut out a full square of each fabric on HSTs. For example, if I have 4 identical HSTs in the block (using fabric A and fabric B), EQ7 wants me to cut 4 squares from A and 4 squares from B. Yet, all I really need is 2 squares from A and 2 squares from B to make 4 identical HSTs. Is there a way to correct this in EQ7? Thanks.
05-24-2014
9:36 am
I read the Rotary Cutting Diagram diagram for the ‘brown-green-orange’ Eccentric Star differently than you do. For me the patch count for the green and brown correspond to letter A shapes in the coloring, which are triangles, four of each color. The triangles, per the drawing, are cut from fabric that measures both 3.5″ on the height and on the width whether one cuts a triangle from a square or a strip that is 3.5″ tall by say 40″ wide. Whether one constructs the block with individual triangles or half square triangle construction, knowing the unfinished height and width are 3.5″ is the information I am looking for.
05-28-2014
12:54 pm
The patch count refers to the final shape that you’re cutting out, not the the number of squares you’re cutting from the strip.
05-28-2014
11:06 am
This has been a great tutorial, however, I am struggling with importing my fabrics to “My Library” instead of the sketchbook. I did 2 different methods and was unsuccessful. First, I scanned the fabric as an image and made all the appropriate adjustments on the “Image Worktable”; “Add to Sketchbook as Fabric”. The scanned fabric appears in the fabric library (at the end) but I can’t import it to “My Library” for easy access. Second, I scanned the fabric to a folder on my computer, imported it into “Fabric Library” and cannot attach the fabric into the folder that I added under “My Library”.
05-28-2014
1:11 pm
If you have the fabric in your Sketchbook, here’s how to add it to a My Library:
In the Fabric Library, click the Sketchbook section on the left.
Select the fabric(s) you’d like to use and click the Copy button.
Click the My Library section on the left.
Click the Add Library button. Type a name for the library in the dialog box that appears and choose how many styles you’d like. Click OK.
Click on the new library name on the left, and then click on one of the styles below it.
Click the Paste button. Your copied fabrics will appear.
Click the Save Library button.
Now your fabrics will be available every time you open EQ7.
06-05-2014
5:38 am
Jenny – thank you very much for the instructions
06-17-2014
12:20 pm
This post is so informative. EQ customer education/support is making it possible for me to use EQ7. I am not computer intuitive! Thanks again!
07-13-2015
2:52 pm
I scanned my fabric but when I tried to add it I got an error message that the resolution is too large. How do I adjust it? I have an hp photo printer and I scanned my fabric using the photo scan
07-15-2015
9:59 am
Hi Karen,
We recommend that your fabric scans be 72 dpi at around 500 x 500 pixels. This is just a recommendation, and is not always ideal for every fabric scan. For example, you may want to scan a larger portion of the fabric if it’s a very large scale print. This recommendation is just to keep you from importing lots and lots of large, hi-res fabrics that may cause the program to run a bit slower.
The error message you received is just a warning; it does not block you from continuing on with the import. So if you’d like to import your hi-res scan as it is, click OK and then add the fabric to your Sketchbook.
If you’d like to use a lower resolution fabric, you’ll have to look in your scanner settings and choose to scan the fabric at 72 pr 75 dpi. OR you can import your existing hi-res scan to the Image Worktable of EQ7. Then choose IMAGE > Resize Image and then adjust the resolution there. Just be sure to keep the width and height the same, or the scale of your fabric will be off.
Best wishes,
Jenny @ EQ