Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

Note: Did you hear about the latest EQ8 Update? Be sure to update your EQ8 if you plan to purchase BlockBase+ that way you can use the BlockBase+ blocks in EQ8! Read instructions carefully. (Mac users – this update also fixes macOS Big Sur issues!) Click here to see all the BB+ Top Ten posts. #9 - Block-viewing Options One of the many things that makes BlockBase+ so fun is opening it up and immediately seeing a bunch of colorful blocks! However, sometimes you may not want to see so much color, or maybe you want to see the blocks without the seam lines… well with just one click of the block-viewing options, you can instantly change how you see the blocks! Patch Lines Turn the block seam lines on or off with one click!   Three Colorway Settings View blocks as line drawings, in grayscale or color! Four Display Settings Choose a display size

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Congratulations to the five winners who were chosen at random and emailed Monday, February 22: Cindy Wetzel Linda Trudeau Anne K Bolin Beth Dollar Denise Fobare Thanks to all participants for their interest in BlockBase+ and the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns book! Stay tuned to the blog and our emails for the BlockBase+ release! Contest updated – no purchase necessary!    Our attempt to provide a fun giveaway this week didn’t go the way we intended. We apologize for excluding some customers from being eligible to win. Therefore, we have opened up the contest to everyone… no purchase necessary! Just comment below for a chance to win a free BlockBase+ when it’s available! We’d love to hear your excitement for BlockBase+ or how you’ll use it with Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia! If you see your comment below, you are entered. One comment per person please. On Monday, February

Note: Did you hear about the latest EQ8 Update? Be sure to update your EQ8 if you plan to purchase BlockBase+ that way you can use the BlockBase+ blocks in EQ8! Read instructions carefully. (Mac users – this update also fixes macOS Big Sur issues!) Click here to see all the BB+ Top Ten posts. #10 – User-friendly Interface BlockBase+ was designed to be a very easy program to use. As soon as you open the software, you can see lots of colorful blocks. Look to the left side of the screen for the full Library and browse the block styles! You’ll find over 4,000+ pieced blocks from Barbara Brackman’s Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns organized into categories like Four Patch, Equal Nine Patch, Square in a Square, and more! Just above the library, there are three buttons for navigating through BlockBase+. The first is the library, the second is for searching for blocks, and the third is for

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! And don’t forget to comment on other quilter’s designs too. This month’s block: Striped Heart Where to find it: 03 Foundation Pieced > Hearts Design ideas to get you started With Valentine’s Day just a few days away, I couldn’t help but pick a heart block for this month’s post! My first quilt is a Valentine’s Day tablerunner. I used a variety of Art Gallery Fabrics that can be found in Stash 2020 Download 02. Curious how to make a quilt with pointed ends like this? Check out this Design & Discover lesson! For my second quilt, I

EQ users were very inspired by the Coco Chic collection! Check out the very cool entries we received here! Thanks to all who participated! Winners Two winners were selected by QT Fabrics and will each receive a bundle of Coco Chic! Congratulations to… Sharon Wasteney “I love combining machine applique with creative piecing. The color palette reminded me more of the art nouveau period than art deco so a few curves to compliment the geometric fabric. I would make this using the dimensional cathedral window border with the “windows” pieced to chevron the stripes surrounding the center bouquet.” And…. Judy Knesel “Glad to be back. I wanted to make something for these fabrics that is reminiscent of the Art Deco age of the 1920′s. I love the Gatsby look of this quilt.” Thanks again to all who participated in this challenge. If you’re looking for another chance to win fabric, check

There are a few different ways to make quilts with triangles in EQ8. The simplest way is using a One Patch Quilt layout. Click Design a Quilt from Scratch. Click One Patch Click the LAYOUT tab Click the down arrow under Patch Style to select Lightning You can change the number of units and the finished size of the units. Here is more information on One Patch quilts and how the patches are counted. Click the DESIGN tab. Click Fabric Tools. Please Note: Blocks cannot be placed in One Patch Quilt layouts. See Step 29 for how to add triangles to Layer 2 of any quilt layout. Click Paintbrush. Add colors and fabrics as you wish. Click Add to Project Sketchbook  . If you haven’t named your project yet, EQ8 will prompt you to do so. (To be saved, your item needs to be in the Sketchbook AND your project needs to be

This contest is now closed. Winners announced soon! February’s Fabric of the Month is Rose Whispers by Eleanor Burns of Quilt in a Day for Benartex! Complete with delicate florals, bright stripes, and other colorful patterns, this collection will remind you of sunny spring days! Two bundles of these new fabrics will be given away based on Benartex and Eleanor Burns’ top picks! Submit your EQ design featuring Rose Whispers below… all instructions and contest details are in this post. Good luck! To enter Design your own, original quilt in EQ using the Rose Whispers fabrics then submit an image of it by 11:59pm ET on February 28, 2021. (Instructions for how to submit an image are at the bottom of this post.) Download the free Rose Whispers fabrics for EQ here Rules Your EQ Quilt must only use fabrics from the Rose Whispers collection. One entry per person. (If a second entry is submitted within 24 hours of