Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

Margaret has been hard at work in her sewing room creating a series of some really beautiful and interesting quilts. They are a work in progress but I want to give you a sneak peek! Using our EQ printables, Margaret printed 8.5″ x 11″ photos of flowers onto fabric then soaked and dried them. She then cut the photos into several strips using a rotary cutter. Then, Margaret sorted through her boxes of fabric to find colors and patterns that complimented the flower photo so that the photo would blend and contrast harmoniously with the fabrics she chose. Spreading the strips a few inches apart from each other, but still the the correct order, Margaret planned out which fabrics would be placed in between each of the strips. The result is a stunning abstract image! After finishing the quilt, Margaret quilted around the fabric patterns (in this case, she quilted

We had a tech support question this weekend about drawing a certain block. After answering it I found I had a good list of tips on how I was able to draw it, so I thought I’d share. Let’s say you want to recreate a block with a bunch of triangles, diamonds, parallelograms, trapezoids, etc. Along the block edge, count up all the squares (this is A). Count up the remaining triangle hypotenuse thingies (this is B). Using either the 7-10-7 or 41-58-41 (A-B-A) method. Give all your A’s and B’s those values. This will give you the number of snaps you need. Set up a block and those snaps that will work with the units you come up with. Draw a line across the block and use Partition to find where your lines should go. When I was trying to find example blocks, the only ones I could think

So, in December 2007 we had an “Inspiration from Architecture” ClubEQ challenge. Jane Turgeon from Northeastern Ontario decided to try doing her bathroom tile border in EQ and submitted it as her project. Here’s a picture of the original EQ design: She says: “This diamond inset is on the wall and floor of our new bathroom. I used Seminole piecing as the construction technique. The pieced border is simulated in EQ (in layer 2) to get the grout to line up.” Jane wrote in to say her tiling project was done. Here’s a picture of the finished bathroom. If you’re trying to figure out why the color is bolder and more in the foreground near that tan part of the picture, are you in for a surprise. The Roman blind now has a band from this EQ design that lines up with the wall tile insert. Wow Jane. Super duper

Here’s a quick tip for when you want to have a patch touch the edge of your block. Turn on your Precision Bar and enter your own value for the position X or Y. TOP EDGE: Set Y to 0.000 LEFT EDGE: Set X to 0.000 BOTTOM EDGE: Set Y to be Block Size minus Motif Height. RIGHT EDGE: Set X to be Block Size minus Motif Width. In the picture above, the block is 8″ and the motif is 2.410″ wide.[8 - 2.410 = 5.590]

We love hearing and seeing the projects you’ve created in EQ. Even more, we love it when EQ users are sharing their patterns, blocks, and tips with each other! Suzy Prickett is one of those users and she’s very enthusiastic about sharing! Check out her recent EQ designed table runner, Flowerburst. She’s made her original block design available for you too! Suzy is a great student too. We read that she has been keeping up on her EQ6 Appliqué Drawing Lessons and experimenting with drawing herself. Here are two blocks she’s finished. One is from an EQ lesson and the other is her own arrangement. Great work, Suzy. To see more of Suzy’s EQ creations visit her blog posting “EQ Fun”. She done some beautiful quilts!

My mom wanted to make a quilt for her little sister. Susie had just had a kidney transplant. Mom wanted Susie to be able to curl up on the couch under a cozy quilt that shielded her from the A/C and reminded her that she’s loved even when we’re on the other side of the US. So, one night I get a phone call from my mom. “Andrea, sweetie, I don’t know what to do with the blocks now!” When I asked her what blocks, she said “I made Ohio Stars on a muslin background: 2 pink, 2 yellow and 2 blue. I have some left over colors and very little left over muslin.” “Mom, do you have a ruler? Can you measure the blocks for me?” “Sure, they are all 17¼ inches.” “Eeek, those are huge. That’s 16¾ inches finished. And you only have 6 blocks? Not 9?” “Well,

“What is a scrap quilt? Ask ten quilters and you’ll get ten different answers.” ~M’Liss Rae Hawley’s Scrappy Quilts There may not be one master concoction for a scrap quilt but M’Liss Rae Hawley certainly has some beautiful recipes to get you started! Her new book “M’Liss Rae Hawley’s Scrappy Quilts” is a fun guide for creating your own scrap quilts whether your a beginner or an advanced quilter. As an experienced quilter, designer, author, and soon-to-be television host (M’Liss’s Quilting World on PBS), M’Liss is a very successful and talented woman. We are honored to be able to say that M’Liss is a long time EQ user and that her scrappy quilts were designed using the EQ6 program. We are excited for this great new book and we encourage you to take advantage of her designs and then get started designing your own scrap quilts in EQ! M’Liss, we