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Design & Discover

Design & Discover – The Serendipity Tool

Posted 01-01-2021 by | Posted in: Design & Discover

The Serendipity tools allow you to magically turn any block into a new original block. It can be lots of fun to play around and experiment but, also very useful. There are seven different Serendipity options that we will try in this month’s Design & Discover. Click Block Worktable Click Create Serendipity You can use the default blocks but if you would like more options click Open Library and add some more to your sketchbook. Click Frame Block Choose a block on the right Choose a frame on the left. There are over 140 to choose from. Click Add to Sketchbook when you have a block you like. Once you click Add to Sketchbook the block you created will go to the bottom of the block column on the right. Click on the new block and add another frame. Click Add to Sketchbook Click Close when you are done experimenting.

Design & Discover: T-shirt Quilts!

Posted 12-01-2020 by | Posted in: Design & Discover

To make your t-shirt quilt, start with a Custom Set quilt. Click Design a quilt from scratch Click Custom Set. You may have to click the double arrows to see the option for Custom Set. Click the LAYOUT tab. Change the Width and Height. In this example I am using 30 x 30. You can always change your size later if you want. However, if you change the size after placing blocks or photos make sure to check Maintain the existing block sizes when resizing the layout. Click Add to Project Sketchbook  . If you haven’t named your project yet, EQ8 will prompt you to do so. (To be saved, your item needs to be in the Sketchbook AND your project needs to be named. Here is more information.) Click the DESIGN tab Click Photo Tools Click Open Library Click Import > from Image files Or, if you don’t have images available to

Design & Discover – Foundation Piecing from a Photo + Applique Pieces!

Posted 11-01-2020 by | Posted in: Design & Discover

This month we’ll be learning how to draw a foundation pieced block from a photo…with the option of also adding applique pieces.  We get a lot of requests for lessons about how to trace pictures of people (or animals) and we want to show how to analyze the photos and break down the process.  If you are interested in foundation piecing we do have another Design & Discover lesson about foundation piecing using an image of an acorn for the example to check out, too. We will be using the EasyDraw tab. Here is a great video about the rules of EasyDraw, it’s very helpful! Click Block Worktable Click NEW BLOCK Click Pieced & Applique Click Easy + Applique Click Tracing Image Click Import Image Navigate to your file. Click Open Crop your image if you would like. Click Drawing Tools Check your Snap Settings. Turn everything off except Snap to

Design & Discover – Drawing Specific Stencils

Posted 10-01-2020 by | Posted in: Design & Discover

Have you ever wanted to draw a stencil for a specific spot on your quilt? Here is a way to do that! Open a previous designed quilt or design one now. Click on the PRINT & EXPORT tab > Export > Image Save as a JPG. After you name the image and click Save, in the JPG options box, let EQ decide the size. IMPORTANT! Write down the size that EQ is saving your image as. You’ll want to make your block size the same size. Click Block Worktable. Click NEW BLOCK > Applique > Motif. In the Precision Bar, change the Block Width and Block Height to the same size your image was (in step 3). Click Tracing Image > Import Image. Select your image. In the Crop box, click OK. Click Drawing Tools. You should now see your quilt in the background of the block. (If not, click the Hide/show image for tracing button on

Design & Discover – Strip Quilts!

Posted 09-01-2020 by | Posted in: Design & Discover

Strip quilts layouts are so versatile! You can use them for the typical strip quilt layouts, but so much more! Click Quilt Worktable Click NEW QUILT Click Horizontal Strip Click LAYOUT tab Under Select a Strip Style choose: Pieced Blocks Set the Width to: 3 Set the Length to : 30 Under the NUMBER OF BLOCKS Set Along length to: 3 Click on the second strip. Under Select a Strip Style choose Half Drop Blocks Set the Width to: 3 Set the Length to : 30 Under the NUMBER OF BLOCKS set Along length to: 3 Click on the third and click the Delete button. Also delete the 4th and 5th rows. Click on the first row. Check the Clone the selected strip box. Click Add. Click on the second row. Check Clone the selected strip. Click Add. Repeat alternating cloning every other row until you have 12 rows. Click the DESIGN tab Click

Design & Discover – Image Worktable

Posted 08-01-2020 by | Posted in: Design & Discover

This month will be an overview of the Image Worktable and we’ll be making quilts with some images we create. Let’s get started! Open EQ8. Click Image Worktable. Click Import Image and navigate to wherever your image is saved on your computer. Click Open. Crop the image if needed. Click Add to Project Sketchbook  . If you haven’t named your project yet, EQ8 will prompt you to do so. (To be saved, your item needs to be in the Sketchbook AND your project needs to be named. Here is more information.) Click Color on the green ribbon. Read about all the Color Tools and have fun experimenting. Create Colorway was used to create the different colored dog. Click Add to Project Sketchbook   to save any variations. Click Histogram on the green ribbon. Read about all the Histogram options. You can start with your original image or one of the variations. These tools are more

Design & Discover – Medallion Quilts

Posted 07-01-2020 by | Posted in: Design & Discover

This month we will be learning four different ways to make Medallion Quilts. The first way is the easiest. #1 Using a Block From the Library Open EQ8 Click Design a Quilt from Scratch Click Horizontal Click the LAYOUT tab Under NUMBER OF BLOCKS Horizontal: 1 Vertical: 1 Under FINISHED SIZE OF BLOCKS Width: 30 Height: 30 Click the BORDERS tab Under Select a Border Style choose: Long Horizontal Under BORDER SIZE make all sides: 4 Click the DESIGN tab Click Open Library Under EQ Libraries > EQ8 Libraries > 01 Classic Pieced >Whole Top Designs - choose a block. The example is using Diamonds in Squares. Click Add to Sketchbook. Click Close. Click Block Tools Click Set Block, and click on the quilt worktable to set your block. Design the quilt as you would like. You can edit the block on the Block Worktable, recolor the block, or whatever you want

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