Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

This is a special bonus post for the EQ7 Summer Drawing Series Sew Along! If you’d like a little extra practice with the EasyDraw Worktable, here are a few variations to try. I’ll give you some hints on how to draw these blocks, but I won’t be writing out step-by-step instructions because I’d like you to give your new drawing skills a workout. For each of these blocks, start with the original Lesson 1 Block on the Block Worktable (open the Sketchbook > click Block 1 to select it > click Edit). Simply add or subtract lines to make the variation block. Make sure to Add to Sketchbook  after you’ve completed each variation. Click here to download the Mini Lesson PDF file. Use the Line tool  to draw an on-point square. Use the Pick tool  to delete all the lines inside the on-point square. Use the Pick tool  to delete

Valerie at re-engineered.blogspot.com made a beautiful quilt with split hexagons. What a great idea! I made one in EQ7. You can download the file here. Here is how I did it…. After playing around for a bit I decided just to make a long skinny block. Mine is 2 x 30. I then started a Vertical Strip Quilt. I popped the blocks in and flipped every other one. Then I started playing around. For this quilt I right clicked on a color then clicked Add Shades & Tints. It will add darker and lighter variations of the color you picked to the sketchbook. Then, I clicked the Random Recolor tool. Here is that same quilt after I clicked  Random Recolor > Map to fabrics. The first quilt after  Random Recolor Tool > Shift Hue. The first quilt and  Random Recolor Tool > Randomize. And of course you could make a

These owls have personality! Each applique owl is set in a pieced block setting. Get the full written pattern for this quilt at MyEQBoutique.com.

There is a great website with all kinds of letters you can use. There are over 1000 letters A’s to choose from but they have at least 300 for each letter. Punctuation too! Whitney at Shanty-2-chic.com made this adorable wall hanging with the letters. You could print the letters onto EQ Printable Fabric and incorporate words or letters into a quilt.  You could also do all kinds of cute crafts with these letters and EQ Peel & Stick. Here is a project I made for Mother’s Day. I imported all the letters as fabric. (Library > Fabric Library > Import button > from Image Files > select your files > Open > Add to Sketchbook > Close.) Download here. You could even print it out on paper and turn it into a card! If this inspires you to make something, let us know! Email photos to Heidi@electricquilt.com.

One of our users, Lynda DeTray, says,“I’ve just returned from the Sauder Village Quilt Show here in Ohio and was thrilled to see that my quilt, Diamonds & Rust, won third place in the Large Wall Quilt/Machine Quilted division. I originally created the quilt in EQ7 as a finalist in the 2012 McCall’s Quilt Design Star contest. I love using EQ7 to design; it’s so versatile and allows me to manipulate different elements of the quilt until I’m satisfied with both the design and the ease with which I can piece the design. (I had written a blog post about my design process here  and check out  here for a photo of my winning quilt. I also want to share a tip for using EQ. I’ve created a lot of designs in EQ, some that I’ve made and many that I haven’t gotten to yet. I had enough designs where

Gorgeous applique collection, from Denise Russart, now available at MyEQBoutique.com.