EQ is making a quilt! We’ve got some new employees and want to ensure everyone knows how to sew and understands quilting. (And maybe make a few new quilters!) We decided to do a Sew-Along so you can see our blocks and get to know us all better. Each month, we’re featuring one staff member and their block in the quilt. (Perfect since we have 12 staff members!) If you’d like to sew along and get more details about the project, check them out here.

This month we’re featuring Christine!

Christine has worked at EQ for 11 years. She started as a graphic-design intern, hired to typeset the EQ7 Applique Drawing book. Now, she’s the Director of Marketing! Christine says, “I like a lot of things about working at EQ, but my favorite is how we all work together to do big things for quilters and the quilting industry. It’s so cool to connect with our users on the phone, in a class, or in a live chat, then also see quilts in big magazines that were designed in EQ!”
Christine wouldn’t call herself a quilter (yet!) but before the sew-along she had only sewn one thing—a block that ended up being photographed for Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia (see page 486!). It’s called Twisting Star and pictured on the cover too!

Christine says working at EQ has really changed her perception of quilting.  “I went from knowing pretty much nothing about it to understanding how much time, hard work, patience, and money goes into it! I have so much respect for anyone who has ever completed a whole quilt. It took me days to sew one block, I can’t imagine making a dozen or more, then putting them together, then adding a border, then quilting the whole thing!

I was actually one of the last people to choose a block and the Flying Geese one was 1 of the 2 blocks that were left. I was told that my block can be constructed using both traditional piecing or paper piecing so I decided to try both! Therefore, I used the rotary cutting chart as well as the foundation pattern printed from EQ8 (printed onto Quilter’s Newsprint of course… I see why paper piecers like that!).

I began the left-most section by using the traditional rotary cutting chart. I was a very slow learner as everything from cutting the fabric to the sewing machine was brand new to me. After several attempts, and lots of curvy, crooked lines, I was able to construct something useable. By the end of those couple hours (yes, it took me over 2 hours to complete that first section), I had a pretty good understanding of rotary cutting, but wasn’t very happy with how that section turned out.

Next, I learned how to paper piece. At first, this method was nearly impossible for me to wrap my head around. Everything seemed backward and confusing. But after I sewed a few pieces together and saw how good they looked, something just clicked, and I felt that I could zip through the rest of the block pretty quickly. I loved seeing how well everything was lining up as I completed each patch. That was my favorite part—I could always see how each portion was coming together, and every part looked pretty darn perfect, so I was empowered to continue! When I finished those last two sections, I was shocked at how much better the results were compared to my first section.

I wanted to redo the first section using the paper piecing method so that it would look as good as the other two. However, I decided to keep it as is to show my experience. For me, rotary cutting was very difficult. I am not good at sewing a straight line. I much preferred paper piecing since all I had to do was follow the nice, straight line that was provided for me on the EQ8 printout! Additionally, like I said above, it made such a difference that I could see my progress as I paper pieced as opposed to rotary cutting and sewing separate sections, then hoping they all look good when put together.

Shout out to Jenny and Linda for teaching me both techniques and helping me along the way!”

The block looks great!

Every month we’re also asking a random icebreaker question, just for fun. Christine’s question was, If you could live in a different country for a year, which country would you choose?

Italy! I was just there in May for my wedding! Not only is it so romantic, historical, and beautiful, but there’s also amazing food and wine at your fingertips. What’s not to love?

So that’s nine blocks, nine months, and nine employees done!

Stay tuned for our next post on October 15th. We’ll feature another staff member and block!