Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

I need a Zen moment.  Life is going so fast!  Back to school, Halloween, Remembrance Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas planning all get jumbled together and come so fast!  I turn to my EQ to play a little and give my busy mind a rest.  How about you?  Do you use your EQ to unwind?  Zen to me means repeating patterns that intersect to create new patterns that I can choose to print, stitch, or deconstruct into pieces to meld together with other pieces.  I do love my stitches, so I tend to create in EQ and see how I can add stitches to my quilting to create that Zen feel. Open your EQ8 program then create a new project and name it ‘ZEN WITH EQ8′.   In the upper right corner of the screen, click on the block worktable icon to begin your design process.  The default setting in EQ

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. Whether you’re a brand new EQ8 user or a seasoned pro, come join in the fun! This month’s block: Rick-Rack Star Where to find it: 01 Classic Pieced > Eight-Pointed Stars Design ideas to get you started This block looked like the perfect centerpiece for a medallion quilt to me. This is a 1 x 1 horizontal layout surrounded by 11 borders of different styles and sizes. The fabrics are from the Flirtation collection by Zen Chic for Moda. ‘Tis the season! I love holiday quilts, so I couldn’t help but design another Christmas quilt this month. The featured block is used in the four center block spaces of this on-point layout. I removed

A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in last month’s design challenge! Be sure to view all the stunning quilts submitted here. Winner One winner was selected by Riley Blake Designs and fabric designer Heather Peterson! Congratulations to…. Winner: Amanda Riddle Honorable Mentions Don’t forget to look at all the amazing submissions to this challenge. Here are a few honorable mentions! More Chances to Win Rooville by Kimberly Einmo for Benartex is November’s Fabric of the Month! Download the collection and enter in our design challenge for another chance to win some fabric!

EQ8 has lots of add-ons available. Some include blocks, some include quilts, and some include fabrics! Here’s how to download and install add-ons and if you have any trouble, you can always contact us. Once your add-on is installed, depending on the specific add-on, there are different ways to access it. If the add-on includes quilts… Click Open an existing project then choose a project from the list and click OK. The quilt above is from Heather Valentine Four Seasons Spring Quilts. If your add-on includes blocks… Click Libraries > Block Library Then you can click either Edit to Block Worktable, Select All Blocks, or Add to Sketchbook. If you don’t see any blocks make sure your Block Library is fully open. The blocks above are from Heather Valentine Four Seasons Spring Quilts. If your add-on includes fabrics… Click Libraries > Fabric Library If you don’t see any fabrics make sure your

This contest is now closed. Winners announced here! This November, we’re thankful for this exciting Fabric of the Month! Our featured collection this month is Rooville, designed by Kimberly Einmo for Benartex. A year spent living in the remote Australian outback — complete with daily kangaroo visitors — was the inspiration for this bright, whimsical fabric collection. Cute kangaroos, native foliage, feathers and other amazing creatures, including koalas and brilliantly colored birds, star in these cheerful fabric prints which are sure to be part of many beautiful quilts, home decor items and apparel! A bundle of these fabrics will be given away to two lucky winners! Submit your EQ design featuring Rooville below…all instructions and contest details are in this post. Good luck! To enter In order to enter for the giveaway you must submit a quilt using the current Fabric of the Month AND comment on at least one other person’s quilt you like by

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. Whether you’re a brand new EQ8 user or a seasoned pro, come join in the fun! This month’s block: Pineapple (2 Strips) Where to find it: 03 Foundation Pieced > Pineapples (Hint: It’s the very last block in the section.) Design ideas to get you started This first quilt uses a Vertical Strip layout so that I could stagger the columns of blocks. The strip styles alternate between Pieced Blocks and Half Drop Blocks. I accentuated the “squircles” in the blocks by coloring those patches turquoise. The second quilt uses a standard horizontal layout. I colored the blocks in a more traditional pineapple style for this design. The large square patch in the center

So many beautiful quilts were entered into last month’s design challenge, we loved seeing them all! Be sure to check them out here. Winner One winner was selected by fabric designer Laurie Simpson! Congratulations to…. Winner: Cath L Honorable Mentions Don’t forget to look at all the amazing submissions to this challenge. Here are a few honorable mentions! More Chances to Win Market Street by Heather Peterson for Riley Blake is October’s Fabric of the Month! Download the collection and enter in our design challenge for another chance to win some fabric!