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Jenny

I started working at Electric Quilt as a graphic design intern back in 2001 and stayed on after I graduated from college. I’ve caught the quilting bug while working here at EQ–you can only see so many beautiful quilts before you want to try making one yourself! I blog about everything from sewing to EQ tutorials. My favorite posts are the sew alongs I get to host with all of you!

Recent Posts by Jenny

New Add-on & Sew-and-Tell: Kaleidoscope Collection Two!

Posted 02-12-2025 by | Posted in: Downloads   EQ Company News   EQ News and Press   New Products  

Quilters love kaleidoscope blocks and we couldn’t stop with just one collection! We are excited to announce our newest add-on, Kaleidoscope Collection Two, is now available! Purchase and download today to add 500+ kaleidoscope-style blocks to the EQ8 Block Library.

We want to see your kaleidoscope blocks! Scroll down for details on the Sew-and-Tell and prize pack giveaway!

These new blocks are the perfect next step for quilters who loved the Kaleidoscope Collection One designs, or for any fan of foundation paper piecing! Each block is drawn in two different ways and the magic happens in the corners! When Star Corner style blocks are set together in a layout, a star is formed in the corners. When Square Corner style blocks are set together in a layout, an on-point square is formed.

Check out the blocks where the piecing happens in the corners for even more unique secondary designs!

Designs include compasses, unique eight-pointed stars, flowers and plants, log-cabin-style construction, and more!  The blocks in the seasonal category are perfect for your next holiday-themed quilt—from Valentine’s Day to the Fourth of July to Christmas and Hannukah and everything in between!

Use the blocks in your quilt designs at any size, then print the foundation pattern. Our EQ Printables Quilter’s Newsprint is perfect for foundation paper piecing. It’s easy to stitch through and tears away cleanly.

Sew-and-Tell & GIVEAWAY!

These blocks are so much fun to make, you won’t be able to stop at just one! We’d love to see the blocks you make using the designs in this new add-on.

Come back to the blog on March 15 (National Quilting Day!) and upload a photo of your sewn Kaleidoscope Collection Two block for a chance to win a pack of Quilter’s Newsprint and a fun prize bundle of fabric, notions, and EQ swag! If you post a pic of your block on social media, tag us @theelectricquiltcompany so we can see what you’re making.

If you don’t have the software yet, you can still play along for a chance to win! Download the PDF for the block shown below.

Download PDF >

This free FPP block is K2 Pinwheel 11 Star Corners and makes a 12″ finished block. When printing the PDF, make sure the scale is set to 100% or Actual Size (“Fit” or “Shrink” should NOT be checked in your printer settings). If you’d like to double-check the size, measure the bottom edge of Section A on the first page. The measurement between the dotted seam allowance lines should be 6.5″.

Tips for Foundation Paper Piecing

Hi, Jenny here! I drew all the blocks in this new add-on and I LOVE foundation paper piecing! FPP can take a bit of practice to get the hang of, but it’s well worth the effort for those perfect points! If you are new to FPP, below are some tips and resources to help you get started. In the Kaleidoscope Collection Two add-on, the blocks in the Stripes categories are great for beginners.

  • Shorten your stitch length. This will create more holes in the paper while you stitch, and make it easier to tear out the paper when the block is complete.
  • Cut your patches larger than you think you need, especially if you’re new to FPP. This will help ensure that your fabric covers the whole patch when you press it open.
  • After each patch is added to the section, trim your seam allowance to 1/4″ and press.
  • Use a glue stick to help keep fabric in place. There’s a lot of flipping back and forth with FPP. I find it easier to use a dab of glue, rather than pins that you have to be careful not to stitch over.

There are lots of great video tutorials available if you are new to FPP. Here are a few of my favorites that are similar to how I foundation piece:

Liza Taylor Handmade: How To Foundation Paper Piece

Pin Cut Sew: Foundation Paper Piecing Tutorial

American Patchwork & Quilting: Top Tips for Easier Foundation Piecing

Giveaway Details

  • Sewn block must be from the Kaleidoscope Collection Two add-on, or using the free foundation pattern download included in this blog post.
  • Each person may submit up to three different blocks. Each block must be a different kaleidoscope block from the add-on (making the same block in three different colorways doesn’t count!).
  • Entries can be a sewn block, or part of a finished project (pillow, wallhanging, etc.).
  • Your block photo must be submitted on the March 15th Sew-and-Tell blog post by 3/17/2025 at 11:59pm ET.
  • By submitting your block photo for this giveaway, you also grant the Electric Quilt Company permission to share your image on social media.
  • Please only submit a photo of your Kaleidoscope Collection Two block. No other images allowed.
  • Three lucky winners will receive a pack of Quilter’s Newsprint and a prize bundle! The winners will be selected randomly. Good luck to all participants, we can’t wait to see your blocks!

Add these new blocks to the EQ8 Block Library, print your foundations, and start stitching! Then we’ll see you back here on March 15th to show off those sewn blocks!

EQ8 Block Spotlight: Whirlpool

Posted 02-10-2025 by | Posted in: EQ8 Block Spotlight  

Welcome to the EQ8 Block Spotlight! Each month we highlight a block from the EQ8 Block Library with a few design ideas. Then we want you to show us what you can do with the block. If you’re a brand new EQ8 user, I hope you’ll join in the fun! This monthly series is great motivation to dig into the software and practice your new EQ8 skills. And if you’ve been using EQ8 for a while, I hope these posts will inspire you to try something new! Don’t forget to comment on other quilter’s designs too. Let’s build each other up! This month’s block: Whirlpool Where to find it: 01 Classic Pieced > Four Patch Design ideas to spark your creativity This first quilt is a custom set layout. It’s an offset layout that repeats three blocks–Whirlpool, Four X, and a star block I drew on the Block Worktable. Here’s

EQ8 Block Spotlight: Sedona’s Star

Posted 12-10-2024 by | Posted in: EQ8 Block Spotlight  

Welcome to the EQ8 Block Spotlight! Each month we highlight a block from the EQ8 Block Library with a few design ideas. Then we want you to show us what you can do with the block. We hope these posts will inspire you to try something new and expand your EQ skills! This month’s block: Sedona’s Star Where to find it: 03 Foundation Pieced > Holidays – Christmas Design ideas to spark your creativity I love a good Christmas quilt, so I stuck with the red and green coloring from the library for my first quilt. This fabric collection is Pine Valley by BasicGrey, which I downloaded from Moda’s website (here’s how to import fabric images from a website). This is a 5 x 5 horizontal layout, and I paired the featured block with an original block I drew on the Block Worktable. The Sedona’s Star block is in the

EQ8 Block Spotlight: Off-Center 8 Log Cabin

Posted 11-10-2024 by | Posted in: EQ8 Block Spotlight  

Welcome to the EQ8 Block Spotlight! Each month we highlight a block from the EQ8 Block Library with a few design ideas. Then we want you to show us what you can do with the block. We hope these posts will inspire you to try something new and expand your EQ skills! This month’s block: Off-Center 8 Log Cabin Where to find it: 03 Foundation Pieced > Log Cabins Design ideas to spark your creativity I started with a 6 x 6 horizontal layout for this quilt. I played with the Symmetry tool for a bit. Then decided I should mix it up with some curved piecing. So I edited the original log cabin block to add a large arc and deleted all the “logs” inside the arc. Then I replaced half the blocks in the quilt with the new variation. I used a classic black-and-white color scheme for my

EQ8 Block Spotlight: Nine Patch Star Variation

Posted 10-10-2024 by | Posted in: EQ8 Block Spotlight  

Welcome to the EQ8 Block Spotlight! Each month we highlight a block from the EQ8 Block Library with a few design ideas. Then we want you to show us what you can do with the block. We hope these posts will inspire you to try something new and expand your EQ skills! This month’s block: Nine Patch Star Variation Where to find it: 01 Classic Pieced > Five Patch Design ideas to spark your creativity This first quilt is a 4 x 4 horizontal layout. The Nine Patch Star Variation block is set in the four corners of the layout on Layer 1. The fifth block is set on Layer 2 so it could be centered on the quilt top. The rest of the layout is filled with a half version of the block. I drew a diagonal line through the block on the Block Worktable and deleted the lines

New Product Series & Giveaway!

Posted 10-01-2024 by | Posted in: EQ Company News   EQ News and Press   More for EQers  

Peanut butter & jelly, Bert & Ernie, movies & popcorn… Some things are just better together. Like EQ8 and AccuQuilt®! The Electric Quilt Company and AccuQuilt are happy to announce your favorite pair of quilting tools are now even easier to use together! EQ8 and AccuQuilt GO! Qube® dies are coming together to bring quilters an exciting new series of add-on products, making it more streamlined to design quilts that can be cut using your favorite dies. Six AccuQuilt GO! Qube add-on products for EQ8 software will be released in 2024. The first add-on, AccuQuilt GO! Qube: Mix & Match, Plus Corners and Angles, will be released in just a few weeks on October 21. One lucky winner will get their hands on this new add-on early! More details about the giveaway below. The AccuQuilt GO! Qube: Mix & Match, Plus Corners and Angles add-on features all 216 blocks designed

EQ8 Block Spotlight: Cross 9

Posted 09-10-2024 by | Posted in: EQ8 Block Spotlight  

Welcome to the EQ8 Block Spotlight! Each month we highlight a block from the EQ8 Block Library with a few design ideas. Then we want you to show us what you can do with the block. We hope these posts will inspire you to try something new and expand your EQ skills! This month’s block: Cross 9 Where to find it: 02 Contemporary Pieced > Cross Variations Design ideas to spark your creativity My first quilt is a simple 4 x 4 horizontal layout. I thought the large squares in the corners of the block could use some extra interest, so I used a directional fabric in those patches and rotated using the Rotate Fabric tool. The fabric used in this design is from the Maeve collection by Crystal Manning for Moda. It’s available in the newest Stash add-on. For my second quilt design, I choose to edit the block