Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

Did you know you can see how the embroidery  you created in EQStitch will look on the quilt layout in EQ7?  You can determine if you want to stitch in alternate blocks, on a border, or over several blocks based on the size of the design you create.  You just need to keep in mind what hoop size you have for your particular machine and design within those restrictions.  You can always multi hoop for continuous designs that flow from one point to another. Once you have created your design and added it to the sketchbook, you will also see an image of the design in the sketchbook on the embellishment tab.  These are images of  your design and not the actual stitches needed to sew the design at the machine.  If you are placing your designs onto a quilt, you can design the quilt on the quilt worktable and

EQ welcomes Art Gallery Fabrics designer, Pat Bravo to its family of EQ Artists! Pat is a long-time EQ user and loves to encourage other quilters to take advantage of EQ’s design features. Her fabric collections have been featured in our EQ Stash Online downloads and she has been a delight to chat with at trade shows. Check out her EQ Artist profile and visit her website to see her fabulous designs!           “EQ is an addiction! I use it with all of my quilts for accurate measurements and I love it. I recommend it to every quilter and beginner quilter I know.” -Pat Bravo    Take a look at some of the beautiful quilts Pat has designed with EQ7:   See more of Pat’s beautiful quilts on her website: www.patbravo.com. Love her fabrics? Find her collections in our EQ Stash Online downloads for EQ7!

And the winner is: Carol Baldry! Congrats Carol! Thank you all for participating! This contest is now closed. See our contest schedule for next month’s sponsor! Welcome to the third of ELEVEN giveaways we’re hosting on our blog this year. Each contest will open on the 10th of every month and feature one of our 25th Anniversary sponsors. March Featured Sponsor: Moda Fabrics!  They’ve provided LOTS of precuts for one lucky winner on our blog! To enter, answer this question by commenting below: Which EQ Boutique collection do you like best and why? (View EQ Boutique collections here.) Wait, there’s more! Win an EQ7 on Moda’s blog! EQ 25th Anniversary blog contests close at 9am ET on the 25th of every month. Winner announced on the 25th of every month. Participation in each monthly EQ contest counts as one entry toward the grand prize giveaways thus allowing for up to

My Library Basics Creating custom libraries in the My Library section (formerly User Libraries) lets you save your favorite items in a library so you can use them anytime you use EQ7. This is a great way to save blocks you’ve drawn, blocks created using the Serendipity feature, imported fabrics and photos, and any of your most frequently used items. Creating a Custom Library: 1. Choose a library from the LIBRARIES menu. The library dialog will display. (In this example, we’ll be using the Block Library.) 2. Click My Library at the top-left of the dialog box. 3. Click Add Library  at the bottom-left of the dialog box. The Add New Library dialog box will display. 4. Type a name for the library. Use a name that will help remind you of the types of items in this category. For example: Merged Blocks would be a good name for blocks

Today I’d like to introduce you to our last (but definitely not least!) EQ Academy teacher, Barb Vlack! Barb has been a part of the EQ family almost as long as Dean & Penny! If you’ve ever participated in one of our monthly Club EQ challenges, you’ll recognize Barb as the club leader who has inspired EQ users worldwide to learn more about the software for more than 20 years. Barb has been a user of the Electric Quilt software since version 1 was introduced in 1991 and has helped in the development of several versions of EQ as a beta tester and as a “Can-you-do-this?” idea person. She has authored three books published by The Electric Quilt Company: Too Much Fun! (1997), EQ4 Magic (1999), and EQ5 Quilt Design (2003). She also contributed to the EQ with Me: Quilt Design book. For Heroes by Barb Vlack, Designed for ClubEQ challenge,

Being creative is a step by step process.  Your finished creation is a testament to your thoughtful care in developing your imagined project.  Everyone approaches how they create differently.  The creative process is unique to you.  Which tools you choose to use, what colors you determine your creation to have, and the many layers of texture all help to express your thoughts on design.  The EQ7/EQStitch program gives us such great flexibility that we can design anything we can imagine. Sometimes when I just need inspiration, I simply look at all the designs in the EQ Libraries and then choose something I can combine or edit in order to create my own unique designs for machine embroidery.  While browsing the libraries I often have an idea hatch into an embroidery design. Launch your EQStitch program from your desktop. Click on the work on stitching worktable icon at the top of

Recently, I came across some really astonishing quilts and just had to find out if they were designed in EQ! I contacted Amy Krasnansky, the designer of these quilts, and as it turns out, she IS an EQ user! Amy Krasnansky began quilting in five minute increments snatched while tending her toddler son fifteen years ago. After covering her household, friends, and family with quilts, she began entering them in shows and contests. She has designed quilts for Quilter’s World magazine and the book Quilts Made With Rulers. Her quilt Time Flies But We Take the Train won grand prize in the Grand Central Terminal Centennial contest, and her quilt Do You See What I See? was recently declared a finalist in the National Quilt Museum’s 25th Anniversary contest. She works part-time as a software engineer and lives in Baltimore with her husband and two children. For more of her