Tiffany Hayes is an EQ8 user who has managed to combine a few of her loves; quilting, traveling, and being with her hubby! I’m jumping ahead, so let’s backtrack and learn a little more about Tiffany.

EQ: Hi Tiffany and thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us! Tell us about yourself.
Tiffany:
Hi! I live in Lancaster, CA – that’s out in the Mojave Desert. I have been married for 32 years to Scott. We have 3 grown kids who are all married and living both close and far from us. We have 2 grandsons as well. Scott and I love to travel and enjoy spending time together. Sounds kinda like a fairy tale, but it gets even better. Scott digitizes (my) quilt designs and then quilts them up!

EQ: Wow, that is pretty great! How did you get into quilting?
Tiffany:
Way back when I decided to make a quilt for a friend. I was working in a copy center at the time and the local quilt guild would come in once a month and order copies of their newsletter. I would always love to get my hands on a copy and read about everything quilt related. I decided I would make up my own design and create a quilt – I didn’t know that most people don’t start off that way! :-o

EQ: Do you remember that first quilt?
Tiffany:
Yes, I remember what it looked like, but I gave it away and didn’t even take a picture. I do know I used quite a lofty batting, all polyester, I believe.

EQ: What was your first experience with EQ?
Tiffany:
I started with EQ4. I was not computer savvy at the time. I read the manual, took classes both at my local guild and store, and even took online classes, and I am so glad I did! I am always learning new things the EQ software can do.

EQ: Thanks for being a loyal EQ supporter! How has EQ changed your design process?
Tiffany:
That first quilt I designed was a paper and pencil process. Now I use EQ for 98% of the quilts I design.

EQ: How did you become a quilting instructor on cruises?
Tiffany:
I had designed a few quilt patterns using the Little House on the Prairie line by Andover Fabrics. Stitchin’ Heaven Travel was planning a cruise using the Little House on the Prairie theme and I was asked if I’d be interested in teaching one of the patterns I designed. Of course, I said YES! That was back in March 2016.

Tiffany’s first teaching cruise.

EQ: How neat and what a great experience! In the next few months you’ll be teaching on cruises going to Alaska and Panama – have you been to either before?
Tiffany:
I have been on an Alaskan cruise before about 5 years ago.

EQ: What are you most looking forward to on the cruises?
Tiffany:
Spending time with quilters (who become great friends, many of them cruise over & over again), hanging out with Scott, dressing up for dinner, going to the shows, and of course, the Alaskan view!

Here’s a picture of the ship, Vision of the Seas, Tiffany will be on for the Panama cruise.

EQ: How do you choose which quilts you’ll teach on the cruises?
Tiffany:
Deb Lutrell, from Stitchin’ Heaven, works with the teachers to decide which quilts will be taught. Occasionally, she’ll ask if a teacher is willing to teach a quilt they did not design, which is the case for the upcoming Alaskan cruise. However, I did design “Time to Shine” for American Patchwork & Quilting which I’ll be teaching on the Panama cruise. In fact, Deb saw the quilt and asked me to recolor it so it fit the Panama Canal cruise better.

The picture on the left was Tiffany’s original Time To Shine quilt for APQ. The version on the right was recolored to be more tropical for the Panama Canal cruise.
(Thank goodness it’s so easy to change colors in EQ8!)

I also designed the Gold Rush quilt for an upcoming 2020 Alaskan cruise. Of course, both were designed using EQ8! ;-)

Gold Rush quilt.

EQ: How can people join you on these cruises?
Tiffany:
The cruises fill rather quickly (sure enough, Tiffany’s 2 upcoming cruises are sold out). If someone is interested in future cruises, they need to visit Stitchin’ Heaven Travel and see what is available. There are already 14 options in 2020 calling your name!

EQ: Since you’re doling out advice, I’ll bring the questions back to EQ and ask, what would you tell people if they’re thinking about buying EQ?
Tiffany:
Just get it! Watch the videos, take classes, join the EQ email, and do the lessons (you can find lessons on both the support site and blog).

EQ: What’s your favorite thing about EQ/8?
Tiffany:
The Symmetry Tool! Well, I love how EQ allows me to design quilts and have my own business. But, that Symmetry Tool is just plain cool! I love to design asymmetric blocks and then just give them a whirl and see what happens. (Read about the Symmetry Tool here.)

EQ: How many projects do you generally work on at the same time?
Tiffany:
I have projects in all stages. I think I have about 20 digital designs currently waiting for the fabric to be printed. I have patterns in the hand-written stage, and some patterns in the computer-writing stage. I even have some actual fabric ready to turn into quilts.

Here are some of Tiffany’s quilts she designed using EQ and then the actual physical (i.e., not just on the computer screen) quilt.

The Asteria quilt is a Block of the Month (you can find the pattern on Tiffany’s website) which Tiffany filmed an online class for with Craftsy (now Blueprint).

Gaia is another BOM. Tiffany created both of these BOMs using a tool she developed called the Goddess Tool, which was made possible by using the Template pieces that print out from EQ!

Tiffany created another tool, again with the help of EQ’s Templates, to use on this sweet Faceted Ombre Heart quilt, and others, called the 90° Triangle Tool. You can find this tool on her website.

I don’t know about our readers, but these are all amazing, as well as terrific examples of how you can use EQ to know exactly what the finished quilt is going to look like (I can barely tell the difference between the designs in EQ and the finished quilt)!

EQ: If you can tell us, what are you working on now?
Tiffany:
I have a new fabric line coming out! It is a batik line with Banyan Batiks. It is called Sazerac (which is a very early whiskey drink). The colors are warm and give you that old time, warm-inside-you feeling.

EQ: Can’t wait to see that fabric! Where can people see more of your work?
Tiffany:
My website is: NeedleInAHayesStack.biz
You can also find me on Facebook and Instagram. My patterns are carried in many local quilt stores. I frequently have quilts in magazines and catalogs. You have probably seen my work and didn’t even know it. I kinda like it that way. Although I do speak and teach at quilt guilds and occasionally a large show.

EQ: Again, thanks for pausing long enough to answer these questions. Bon voyage and happy designing & quilting!