Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

These women are all fantastic designers, authors, and quilters we look to for fabulous creations. They are among many pioneers who have shaped the quilting industry into the wonderful world that it is today. We are so honored that these women, among many others, have expressed their shared love for the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman (speaking of pioneers!). Tula puts it perfectly when she says, “No matter how much we evolve as quilters, our foundation will always remain rooted in the traditional building blocks of patchwork.” Judy says, “Barbara’s research is invaluable, and her system for organizing blocks by their construction basis is genius. It allows you to easily find a pattern and learn its name, based on what it looks like.” Learn how to use the book here. In case you’re not familiar with previous editions of Barbara’s Encyclopedia, take it from Alex Anderson, “When

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. Whether you’re a brand new EQ8 user or a seasoned pro, come join in the fun! This month’s block: Checkerboard Where to find it: 01 Classic Pieced > Four X Design ideas to get you started This block is pretty simple, but that gives you plenty of space for creativity! I look forward to seeing what everyone does with this block. My first quilt is a 5 x 5 horizontal layout. I alternated the original Checkerboard block with a simplified version of the block where I deleted the lines in the center square. It is mostly colored with Tula Pink fabrics and I did a little fussy cutting with the floral print. The

The Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns is 522 pages of quilty goodness with 4,000+ blocks to inspire your next quilting project! The book is primarily a reference on how to identify quilt blocks. Curious how to use the book to identify a quilt pattern? Let’s step through an example using an antique block found at an estate sale. Here is a photo of the block I’m trying to identify: Key for Locating Patterns The Key for Locating Patterns starts on page 7 of the Encyclopedia. Step 1 asks if the pieces are not organized in square blocks. This block is square, so we can move on to the next step. Step 2 asks if the block is a Medallion, Two or Three Block, or a Block with a Sashing set. None of those apply to this block. Moving on! When I get to Step 3, I can start working my way

We always love to see the beautiful entries that are submitted to a design challenge! The Good Vibes quilts are awesome!! (See them in the original post here.) Thanks to everyone for participating! Winners There are two winners for this challenge; one selected by Benartex, and one by Christa!  Each will receive a bundle of the Good Vibes fabrics!! Congratulations to….. Benartex’s Choice: Karen Kehl “This was so much fun! I love the playfulness of these fabrics and I have enjoyed seeing everyone’s quilts. I decided to modernize a traditional block. I love the range of colors and how this quilt pops!” Christa’s Choice: Elizabeth Wickes “I call this the Color Maze and it is meant to showcase the low volume/high volume and contrasting colorways of Good Vibes! The high volume prints are on the outside with the longest lines and the low volume are on the inside. Fun patterns when you

This month we’ll be learning how to draw a foundation pieced block from a photo…with the option of also adding applique pieces.  We get a lot of requests for lessons about how to trace pictures of people (or animals) and we want to show how to analyze the photos and break down the process.  If you are interested in foundation piecing we do have another Design & Discover lesson about foundation piecing using an image of an acorn for the example to check out, too. We will be using the EasyDraw tab. Here is a great video about the rules of EasyDraw, it’s very helpful! Click Block Worktable Click NEW BLOCK Click Pieced & Applique Click Easy + Applique Click Tracing Image Click Import Image Navigate to your file. Click Open Crop your image if you would like. Click Drawing Tools Check your Snap Settings. Turn everything off except Snap to

Another fabric giveaway!! November’s Fabric of the Month is PURE SOLIDS by Art Gallery Fabrics! The purest hues meet Art Gallery Fabrics’ soft hand and superior quality. Now all the solid fabrics you have been looking for to match your collections are here. Ranging in a vibrant assortment of colors, PURE SOLIDS have new characteristics you’ll love while maintaining the virtues that made them famous. The unique and improved dip-dye technique leads to the most brilliant colors ever. Now all PURE SOLIDS are internationally OEKO-TEX certified, so you can rest assured the dyes are the most environmentally safe to use for the sewing industry. The premium cottons have the softest hand and the lowest shrinkage percentage (1% – 2%). They almost don’t fray, making them ideal for all kinds of projects. Art Gallery Fabrics’ goal is always to offer you fabrics that will make you “FEEL THE DIFFERENCE” Two fat-quarter bundles of

Part of the magic and fun of Electric Quilt is trying out blocks and color combinations virtually.  You can get a good feel for the look of your quilt before you cut into those precious fabrics.  In this lesson, we are going to play with fabrics and color on a traditional Pineapple block.  This exercise is created to stretch your limits and let you just play with color and design.   From here you can use the designs and principles to ‘play’ with color on any quilt block to create the perfect masterpiece quilt. Pineapple Color Play Skillset: Beginner Skill Builders: Add fabrics to a project Edit the fabrics and colors on a block and quilt First, let’s get some fun fabrics.  We are going to download one of the free fabrics of the month.  Go to  doyoueq.com and select the Fabric of the Month tab.  Click on the display to be taken to the fabric