Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

Betty Dalton considers herself a computer novice and beginning quilter. EQ Tech Support begs to differ. We love Betty. Every time she calls for help on a recent project, it’s not a beginning project… it’s something extremely complex. We’ve seen a traced appliqué palm tree in a large center medallion, a complex Lone Star quilt that goes “off the grid” and swirls in the center, and other amazing non-beginner projects. Recently she submitted 2 quilts to the Pidgeon Forge Quilt Fest 2010- one in the Nontraditional category and one in the Challenge category. Betty and won honors on both quilts! This quilt was made with photos of southerners Betty admired (Homer Hickam, Dolly Parton, Maya Angelou, and others). She won for Best Machine Quilting in the MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CHALLENGE – STAR POWER WINNERS category. This appliqué was traced and then digitized. It won in the NON-TRADITIONAL QUILTS category. Betty tells us

There’s a day for everything. Did you know there’s even a day for looking up in the skies to search for UFO’s? June 24th to be exact. Well, rather than all of us running around with tinfoil hats, let’s take a quilter’s spin on June 24th. Quilters refer to UnFinished Objects as their UFO’s. Throw a party to celebrate the fact that none of us are perfect and have finished every project we’ve ever started. Throw the party as a chance to bring those UFO’s, hang out with friends, and work on them so they are eventually finished. Throw a Quilting UFO party: 1 Invite friends and fellow quilters to come to your home with an unfinished object (quilt, block, or other crafty endeavor… it could even been a stack of pants that need hemmed). 2 Make posters that say “I Believe (I can finish this)” or “Quilters made the

We have another great project from Sue Spargo using designs from her Folk-Art Dreams CD. Visit her website to get this project. Enjoy! Spring Has Sprung Pillow Size – 9 x 24 I designed this pillow using one of the blocks from my Mercer Lane quilt. The background is a new hand dyed wool color and it is accented with a fun cotton fabric. The back is one of Kaffe Fassett new Ikat streaks. The appliqu is hand dyed wool and velvet. It is finished with a button closure and a hand inked label. I also accented the flowers with French knots with a tail using a variegated thread. The kit includes the pattern, all wools, cottons, velvet and embellishments to make the pillow. Pillow insert not included. Applique design printed from my Folk Art Dreams CD by Electric Quilt Company. Kit Price $35.00 Folk Art Dreams CD Price $29.95

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EQ’s own Jenny Novinsky is one of the most crafty people I know. She’s a graphic designer, scrapbooker, jewelry maker, and seamstress among many other things. Not too long ago we did some spring cleaning here around the office and donated some fabrics and fabric projects we were no longer using. Jenny snagged this old table skirt from a trade show we attended several years ago, took it home, and turned it into an adorable dress for her daughter Keira! Crafty and resourceful I think we’d all agree that it looks way better on Keira!

Judy B. is The Virtual Quilter. All the quilts on her site are designed in EQ6 and will soon be designed in EQ7! But to commemorate and celebrate EQ6, Judy has challenged herself to post 6 quilts everyday until June 7th (the day EQ7 ships) which will put her at 1000 quilt designs posted since she began! WOW! What a challenge! And even more impressive, she’s made herself accountable to all of us who will be checking in on her to see the beautiful quilts she designs. That’s brave Just has also challenged her readers to play with their EQ6 programs and to post their designs to prove that they deserve and need EQ7. Judy writes: This morning’s virtual quilt is number 750 I have added to my blog. I then issued a challenge to everyone else to play with whatever EQ they have and post their virtual quilts to show that

Ok it’s finally time to announce the winners of the EQ7 Blog Give Away! First I want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who participated in helping to spread the word about EQ7! I cannot say enough about how grateful we all are to all the amazing bloggers and quilters out there. I had the chance to view everyone’s blog and I think you are all so incredibly talented and offer so much great information, stories, quilts, products, and services to your readers. Thank you so much for participating in the EQ7 blog blast! If you aren’t a winner, make sure you check out the winning blogs for a chance to win an EQ7! And read their posts. You will find some GREAT stuff! And now, for the winners: Leeann Hansen http://www.quiltwhangarei.blogspot.com Cherri House http://lizzyhouse.typepad.com/cherry_house_quilts/2010/04/things-i-love-52.html Christine Wipplinger     � http://patchjane2.blogspot.com/ Kiyomi Uchiyama http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/kiyoming/ Jennifer Hadlock http://jennifercanquilt.blogspot.com/2010/04/electric-quilt-7.html Anita Peluso http://bloominworkshop.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/do-you-eq/ Viv Wride