Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

As the song goes, “let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start!” In early May 2020, when we were all working from home, EQ had a Zoom-staff meeting. Someone mentioned that the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA), about 20 miles north of EQ’s headquarters in Bowling Green, OH, was opening an exhibit in the fall featuring quilts. Being a native of Bowling Green (aka, BG), I reached out to Todd Ahrens, Director of Development for the museum, and also an active member of the BG community. I introduced myself, mentioned possible personal connections we have, and also suggested the potential for 2 great Ohio institutions to work together. Todd’s response was terrific and he was gung-ho to figure out how we could collaborate. A couple weeks later over Zoom, members of EQ and TMA met and talked about the exhibit, Radical Tradition: Amercian Quilts and Social

2020 was a challenging year.  Start 2021 by treating yourself.  I turn to my sewing room for inspiration and it provides me with a calming retreat area in my own home.  It starts with my favorite inspiration tool–EQ8.  Browsing the huge built-in libraries for blocks and layouts gives me just the right space to start experimenting with new design ideas I had not tried before. I like to start my process by looking through the block library in EQ8.  I also have many add-on libraries that the EQ company has provided us with to add to the already massive library of blocks in the program.  I simply scroll through the library and look at the blocks and choose one that I have not tried before. Open your EQ8 program    and start a new project called ‘Treat Yourself in 2021′. I can look at the blocks by category or by construction method. 

Did you buy your “Brackman” yet? Acquisitions Editor at Golden Peak Media, Lori Baker, gives a “peek” into Barbara Brackman’s new Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. Play the video below to hear all about it (and BlockBase+ software too!). Place your order now! Or better yet, call your favorite quilt shop and ask if they have these products! U.S. shops, Canadian shops, and retailers overseas are selling it! Whether you had an older version of BlockBase or are brand new to it, you’re going to love the new interface, ease of use, enhanced printing options, and fun new features. In just a couple clicks, you can have printouts of rotary-cutting charts, templates, or foundation patterns for the 4,000+ blocks from the Encyclopedia IN ANY SIZE! You enter a size, and BOOM, it’s ready to print! Also, if you were wondering if there are any big new features in this new version… SPOILER ALERT…

Welcome to the first EQ8 Block Spotlight post of 2021! 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. If you’re a brand new EQ8 user, I hope you’ll join in the fun! This monthly series is great motivation to dig into the software and practice your new EQ8 skills. And if you’ve been using EQ8 for a while, I hope these posts will inspire you to try something new! Don’t forget to comment on other quilter’s designs too. Let’s build each other up! This month’s block: Western Spy Where to find it: 01 Classic Pieced > Eight-Pointed Stars Design ideas to get you started This block is so great on its own; it doesn’t need a fancy layout to shine! This is a simple 4 x 4 horizontal

This challenge is closed. Watch for another blog post announcing the winner! Kicking off the new year with two chances to win fabric! January’s Fabric of the Month is Coco Chic by EQ user, Reed Johnson of Blue Bear Quilts for QT Fabrics. Inspired by the Roaring 20′s, QT Fabrics reimagined fabrics from their 1920s archive for a fresh collection!  Coco Chic offers hints of Art Deco design and on-trend color for then and now!  Arriving at shops in February! Two bundles of these new fabrics will be given away to QT Fabrics’ top picks! Submit your EQ design featuring Coco Chic below… all instructions and contest details are in this post. Good luck! To enter Design your own, original quilt in EQ using the Coco Chic fabrics then submit an image of it by 11:59pm ET on January 31, 2021. (Instructions for how to submit an image are at the bottom of this post.) Download the

The Serendipity tools allow you to magically turn any block into a new original block. It can be lots of fun to play around and experiment but, also very useful. There are seven different Serendipity options that we will try in this month’s Design & Discover. Click Block Worktable Click Create Serendipity You can use the default blocks but if you would like more options click Open Library and add some more to your sketchbook. Click Frame Block Choose a block on the right Choose a frame on the left. There are over 140 to choose from. Click Add to Sketchbook when you have a block you like. Once you click Add to Sketchbook the block you created will go to the bottom of the block column on the right. Click on the new block and add another frame. Click Add to Sketchbook Click Close when you are done experimenting.

Snowy days are on their way if you don’t already have a pile outside.  With visions of snowflakes and fun in the snow, I have just the thing to warm up your design skills.   This lesson explores using prairie points, not just for a quilt border, but to add dimension to this frosty Winter Star quilt.  We are going to use EQ8 to help us with the designing.  Our secret weapon will be the magic of Layer 2 on the Design Worktable. Quilt Layers Remember there are three layers that you can work with in Electric Quilt.  We are going to use the first two layers. Layer 1 is made of of pieced or applique blocks sewn together to make the quilt top. Layer 2 is for blocks, motifs and text that are sewn on top of the quilt top.  You drag your blocks or motifs from the palette over