Welcome to our blog series, Do You EQ Too? Each month, we will spotlight a different EQ user and their quilts! If you haven’t already, you can read our introduction post here.
This month we are spotlighting Karen Kuske! Karen is a pattern designer, instructor, and longtime EQ user. Having lived in Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Tennessee, and more, Karen often finds inspiration from the surroundings of where she’s lived and traveled.
“I learned to sew at a very young age, made most of my own clothes, some home decor items and more,” says Karen. “So, I really enjoy working with fabrics and colors. In 2000, I took a beginner quilting class and loved it. After making my 1st quilt in the class, I started buying quilting books and learned how to design my own quilts. Within a short time, I started designing and making patterns to sell on a website I created. At a local quilt show I discovered EQ4 and bought it. Been upgrading and using the EQ program ever since.”
Karen used EQ to design all 142 of her pieced lighthouse patterns, which depict lighthouses from 29 different states!
“At the time I started designing patterns, I was living aboard my boat and had a great liking of lighthouses. My first patterns were lighthouses which I designed based on my photos of lighthouses I passed while boating. The first series of 5 were lights on the Chesapeake Bay.”
“I also have 23 other patterns available (paper pieced and raw-edge applique) which include a mountain series, wildflowers, landscape, seascape, and cupboards.”
“I also vere off onto other subjects, like the food cupboards and making fabric look like glass pieces in a glass cabinet. Fabric and colors are my favorite things to work with.”
“I’ve enjoyed teaching classes relative to art quilting,” says Karen, “including raw edge applique for landscapes and seascapes, dying and painting fabrics, marbling fabrics, and printing photos on fabric.”
Thank you Karen for sharing your wonderful quilts and story with us! Be sure to visit Karen’s website to see all her patterns and quilts for sale!
Tell us your story!
To be considered for our next spotlight, write a brief comment below and attach an image of an EQ-designed quilt or project you’re proud of! You can also tag us @theelectricquiltcompany on Instagram or @ElectricQuilt on Facebook, or use our hashtags #EQ8 and #DoYouEQ.
Each month we will select a quilter from all the submissions we’ve received. So if you weren’t picked this month, you can still be featured in future months!
Join us next month as we spotlight another quilter! View all Do You EQ Too? posts >>
How to submit an image of your quilt:
- In the comment form below, tell us a little bit about your quilt or story. Then click Browse to include the image of your quilt.
- Select your quilt, then click Submit Comment.