Heidi Finds

St. Patrick’s Day is coming. The internet has so many cute ideas for crafts. EverythingEtsy.com has a list of 101 handmade St. Patrick’s Day crafts. I’m showing a few, but there are so many and they have some really great ideas. You could print these out on EQ Printables and make pillows…or print them out on EQ Peel & Stick and stick them anywhere! You can download an EQ7 shamrock blocks here. Print out a large shamrock template and use it to make a  shirt ( I love this heart cut out, so adorable). Or, you can use small a shamrock  make a barrette. In EQ7 you can print whatever size you’d like to make decorations, garland out of a streamer, bean bags (maybe for a game of tossing them into a bucket of gold?) or whatever else you can think of. You could also print out these designs onto

Such a cute idea! Some of these game quilts are made to use as quilts…but some are made to actually be used as board games. I found Scrabble, Backgammon, Twister, Trivial Pursuit, Chutes and Ladders, Parcheesi, Checkers or Chess (you might have a quilt you can use for this already), and even hopscotch (which isn’t a board game, I know, but its’ so cute I included it anyways). There are even quilts that have multiple game boards combined into one quilt. Of course, you can make these in EQ. I made a Scrabble quilt. I started with a horizontal 15 x 15 quilt. (You could add white sashing if you want.) I colored the squares according to the game board. I found a five-pointed star block and modified it a little to be the center star. Then…..I used EQStitch (!!!) to do the game board wording (double letter score, etc.).

A cute idea for Valentine’s Day is conversation heart crafts. So many cute options including pillows, table runners, ornaments, banners, hair clips, pet toys (cat’s can be filled with catnip!) decorations, and I’m sure, many more. An easy way to make these hearts is with EQ7, of course. Then, print them out on EQ Printable Fabric to use in your projects.   You can download this cute project here. I just drew a heart and then, on Layer 2, wrote messages on the heart. You can print the heart block out on EQ Printable fabric, in any size you want (from hair bow to pillow).   If this inspires you to make something, let us know! Email photos to Heidi@electricquilt.com.

Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it, so now is the perfect time to make a printables project!  Have you seen fabric postcards? They are perfect for Valentine’s Day. Check some out from Pinterest. Or, here are some ideas on how to incorporate photos into fabric valentines. And, this wonderful website EverythingEtsy.com has a list of 101 free Valentine’s Day Printables. Here are just 4 examples of 101! And, of course, not only can you use EQ Printables for your fabric postcards, you can design your postcards in EQ7 as well. Here are a few I came up with. Embellish with embroidery, buttons, beads, felt…so many wonderful and adorable options. You can download the EQ7 project, here. If this inspires you to make something, let us know! Email photos to Heidi@electricquilt.com.

A very popular Pinterest project is a family Birthday Board. Very cute and practical too! Just like the example shown, the boards usually have the word “Birthdays” or “Family Birthdays” painted somewhat largely on the board. Then “JFMAMJJASOND” which are the initials of all the months of the year, towards the bottom. The idea is that you have a bunch of wooden circles. Each circle has one family member’s name and date of birth.  So if your birthday is April 14th, you would have your name and the number 14 on a circle. Then you would hang it under the first A (for April). It’s a great idea…and of course you could make it with wood and paint…BUT, why do that when you can make a quilt version?! When I was designing this project in EQ7, I started with the Alphabet (Modified) blocks from the EQ7 library and simplified them

Mug warmers are a fun, quick winter project…with so many options! Like in this example you could have a child write a message (or create some artwork) then print it out on EQ Printables and make it into a sweet mug warmer.     We’ve posted a project download with a mug warmer pattern before. You can download it here!   You could also personalize your mug warmer with your name or your monogram. (You can add the text in Layer 2 in EQ7.)   Or, you could  add motifs to Layer 2 to make some cute designs. And, once you have a design you like, just print it out on EQ Printables and start sewing! If this inspires you to make something, let us know! Email photos to Heidi@electricquilt.com.

When is the last time you spent time at a copy machine trying to shrink down or enlarge a pattern? Usually, it’s not a very fun time (and sometimes not very productive either). Have you ever tried to use EQ7 to re-size patterns instead? For example, here is an adorable pair of baby shoes FREE from Laura Gaag at a Fleetingthing.com. I downloaded the pattern, and cropped the images. Once cropped the sole was 4.533 x 2.607. In EQ7 on the Block Worktable, I clicked the Import Image button and set the block size to exactly what the cropped image size was (4.533 x 2.607). Cropped, the top of the shoe was 4.890 x 4.393. On the Applique Tab, trace the pattern. The original pattern says it makes a size 3 months shoe. But, what if you want a different size? Let’s say that you want to make some tiny shoes