Back to Top

Just Because

Blog-worthy topics we think you might enjoy reading.

Helen Rusch Phillips and Remembering Quilts – Capturing Memories on Fabric

Posted 11-04-2014 by | Posted in: From Our Users Just Because Printable Fabric Gallery

Helen Rusch Phillips makes photo quilts…very special photo quilts. She says her goal is to “bring comfort”…and she does, in more ways than one. Helen says, “I taught myself how to print Photos on Fabric after losing my mother following her issues with Alzheimer’s. I saw what can be done for people dealing with memory issues in their waning years or memory loss due to injury/illness and bring relief to patients, family members or caregivers. My passion later grew to assist families with Veterans dealing with TBI/PTSD. And later yet to honor and remember our fallen heroes. It is an amazing experience to help families tell a story with their photos. I chose “Remembering Quilts” because it is a blend of what technology has to offer with the traditional warmth and caring of a family quilt. I started making the Remembering Flags before Memorial Day 2012 to bring a little

Barbara Brackman and her historical Block of the Week

Posted 10-28-2014 by | Posted in: Favorite Posts Just Because More for EQers Related Blogs

Barbara Brackman is a quilt historian and author. She has written books on quilting during the Civil War including Facts and Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery and Quilts From the Civil War. Her Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns contains more than 4000 pieced quilt patterns, gathered from printed sources published between 1830 and 1970. (EQ’s BlockBase is based on Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.) She has many other books, including her newest, Emporia Rose: Applique Quilts. Barbara also has a free block weekly on her blog along with historical information and stories.   Barbara says, “I have been reading Jane Austen biographies for several years, trying to figure out what it was like to live in England about 1800. I realized how much Austen’s life and her family influenced her novels so I thought I’d do a block of the week in 2014 with a

Using EQStitch for Quilting!

Posted 10-22-2014 by | Posted in: Favorite Posts From Our Users Just Because Look What I Did

I had a lot of fun using EQStitch and my embroidery machine to quilt my most recent project – a baby quilt. I saw a similar baby quilt on Pinterest and thought it would be the perfect project for quilting, block by block in the hoop, using my embroidery machine. I’m not totally sure why I thought this…because I thought it would be easy to find the center of a 4-inch square because it’s plain? Because I figured it would be a lot easier to handle the size of a baby quilt than something larger? Whatever the original thought, it turned out to be super easy AND super fun. If you like, you can download the EQStitch project or the EQ7 project and check it out. I assembled the top and the back and sprayed and pinned my quilt sandwich together. I was ready to start the quilting. Since I

Free Pumpkin Project!

Posted 10-14-2014 by | Posted in: Downloads Heidi Finds Just Because More for EQers

One nice thing about EQ is trying out different options before deciding on a quilt! Here are 3 EQ versions and a real fabric version of the quilt. Which is your favorite? Either way, you can download the EQ7 project here, or the EQ8 project here. We have hundreds of free projects available as a way to thanks our users for buying our programs and as a way to show and teach what is possible with EQ products. *****There isn’t a non-EQ version available for this project. No PDFs are available. EQ7 or EQ8 are required to get this pattern.***** If this inspires you to make something, let us know! Email photos to Heidi@electricquilt.com.

Turn Blocks into Embroidery!

Posted 10-08-2014 by | Posted in: EQ Software Tips EQStitch From Our Users Just Because More for EQers My EQ Boutique

    EQStitch user, Iris Dinter, has taken the block patterns 12 Funny Snowmen by Christiane Wipplinger and turned them into embroidery!   And, there are so many great block add ons for EQ7 that YOU could turn into embroidery, too!   What a great idea!

Get your stencils onto your quilt without tracing!

Posted 09-29-2014 by | Posted in: EQ Software Tips From Our Users Just Because More for EQers

One of our very smart users, Jodie Witherell, recently emailed us with a great idea. Jodie used Sulky Soluble Stabilizer Fabri-Solvy to get her quilting stencil onto her quilt. Here is what she did: Jodie designed her quilt in EQ7. She used an eagle block from EQ7 as a stencil, simply by putting it on Layer 3 of the quilt. Did you know any block you place on Layer 3 of your quilt will show up as a stencil?   (Sometimes it’s better to turn the block into a motif for Layer 2 or 3. To do this you would open the block to the block worktable. Next, Select All > Copy. Then click Block > New Block > PatchDraw Motif > Paste > Add to Sketchbook. It will be on the Motifs tab of the Block palette.) After Jodie had her eagle just the way just wanted it, she

Creating a Keepsake

Posted 08-14-2014 by | Posted in: From Our Users Just Because Look What I Did Uncategorized

There are so many different inspirations for quilting. Creating a keepsake for someone special is probably at the top of the list. Last August, my oldest son was getting married and, as a parent, you always want to do something special as a wedding gift – create a keepsake. Since I had worked for Electric Quilt for over 20 years, wasn’t the obvious gift a wedding quilt?  For an avid quilter, the answer would be an easy yes. For me, well, the answer was not so obvious. Yes, I know how to quilt, but I certainly would not call myself an avid quilter. My inspiration, or should I say, my “feeling of pressure” to make a quilt started in early 2013. I’m in product development here at EQ and was knee-deep in the release of EQStitch in early 2013. All I had time for at that point was to “think”

« Page 8 »