Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

Welcome to our blog series, Do You EQ Too? Each month, we will spotlight a different EQ user and their quilts! If you haven’t already, you can read our introduction post here. This month we are spotlighting Pamela Pandolfi! Pam uses EQ8 to design custom quilts that utilize fabric, thread, paint, and ink to create beautiful pieces of art. “As a part of a multi-generation family of crafters — and 19-year proprietor of an alterations/costume design business,” says Pam, “it wasn’t until participating in my first quilting retreat in 2007 that I recognized quilting as my passion and avenue of personal artistic creativity. Although I do not hold an art degree, and never considered myself an artist until recently. In learning about quilting, I discovered that quilting has more to do with ‘trouble shooting’ than perfection as long as it looks good to the viewer (totally my opinion). Art also follows that same ‘perfection

Thank you to everyone who participated in February’s design challenge! Check out the amazing entries we received here! Winner One winner was selected by the Benartex team. Congratulations to…. Winner: Scott Woxman A Note from Benartex “There were so many great design submissions, we truly enjoyed seeing what each designer created with the collection.” – Benartex 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 Bonfire Batiks by Moda is March’s Fabric of the Month! Download the collection and enter in our design challenge for another chance to win some fabric!

Let’s see how this month’s free project Lucky Leaves was designed. You can download the project here. Be sure to check out the other free projects available. There are over 320 to choose from! The project includes 51 new fabrics! And this cute block!   Here is how to design this quilt: Click the NEW QUILT > Horizontal Click the LAYOUT tab Under NUMBER OF BLOCKS make the Horizontal and Vertical: 2 Under FINISHED SIZE OF BLOCKS make the Width and Height: 9 Under FINISHED SIZE OF SASHING make the Width and Height: .75 Click the BORDERS tab For the first border’s style choose Corner Blocks and make all sides: .75 For the second border’s style choose Long Horizontal and make all sides: 2.250 For the third border’s style choose Long Horizontal and make all sides: .250 Click the DESIGN tab > Block Tools > Set Block Click on the

This contest is now closed. Winners announced here! Spring may be still on it’s way, but March’s Fabric of the Month is here! This month we are excited to share Bonfire Batiks by Moda as our featured collection! Showcasing rich jewel tones in an assortment of your favorite batiks, these fabrics are sure to make stunning designs! A bundle of these fabrics will be given away to three lucky winners! Submit your EQ design featuring Bonfire Batiks 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 the end of the month. If you’re the first person to submit a quilt, make sure to come back and comment on someone else’s quilt before the contest ends. Instructions for how to submit an image are at the

Welcome to the EQ8 Block Spotlight series! 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: Mosaic, No. 6(6) Where to find it: 01 Classic Pieced > Antique Mosaics Design ideas to get you started For my first design, I combined the featured block with two of the default blocks that every EQ project starts with—EQ Default Variable Star and EQ Default Mosaic, No. 2(2). The quilt is colored with fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics’ Dusk Fusion collection. For my second quilt, I created two variations of the Mosaic block on the Block Worktable that I’m calling Cherry Blossoms and Sunflowers.  Here’s a look at the seams I added to the

Everyone’s learning style is different. Some prefer handwritten steps, like a user manual or lesson book. Some prefer on-screen videos to watch a demonstration, then they repeat what they saw. Others like the immersive experience of a hands-on, in-person, live class. We are proud to offer all three types of these educational opportunities for our customers.          For those of you who like the in-person experience, consider coming to our EQ Academy workshop this Spring in Ohio! We have dozens of students already enrolled from all over the U.S. (and Canada!). Think of all the friends you’ll make! EQ Academy is held March 30-April 1 in northern Ohio. Though it makes for a fantastic weekend of learning, you don’t have to stay all three days. Come for just one or two classes to learn what you’re really interested in! Several hotel options are available, local quilt shops are

In November we announced that we’ve teamed up with the Quilts of Valor Foundation® (QOVF) for a special 8-month collaboration! We’re requesting both an image of your EQ-software-QOV design and a picture of the accompanying finished Quilt of Valor®. Scroll down below to read more details about this fabulous event! Robin Harris On this QOV National Sew Day, how special to be highlighting another designer (who I’m sure is working on a QOV as you read this)! While Robin Harris is the featured quilter, she gives equal credit to her Stars & Stripes QOV group in Florida (group #75703)! The group gets together to work on and award over 50 QOV every year! As Robin says, the group’s principle is “many hands make light work!” Robin has been quilting since the late 1980s, and after moving from New York to Florida with her husband in 2015, has been a member of the Stars & Stripes group