Behind the Mouse: The Electric Quilt Blog

Just a few days ago, we received our proof copy of the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns from the printer – and WOW this thing is gorgeous! Even though it’s just a proof, we couldn’t help but share some inside pages with you! If the 4,000+ blocks weren’t enough, you’re sure to love the beautiful photographs that are sprinkled throughout this 522-pager!  (P.S. If you sent us a sewn block, you might see it in this book like these two beauties contributed by Jan Beckert of Newfane, VT and Elizabeth Schultz of Waynesville, NC!). See more in our preview video!  Learn more! Why would you want the new edition of the Encyclopedia? What’s BlockBase all about? Find out here. Order now! Click here to buy the book! Join us on Facebook! Are you on Facebook? If so, join our Event with Barbara Brackman to hear all about the book, from

You’ve probably heard about our new, and upcoming products from author and quilt historian, Barbara Brackman: The third edition of Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns book and a new version of BlockBase software.  What you may not know is what exactly these products are, or why you’d want them! Let us explain each one… The Encyclopedia Book Summary: The Encyclopedia is a reference primarily on how to identify quilt blocks. In the intro to the book, Barbara explains that she used 20th century magazines and articles, mainly between 1920 and 1950, and mostly from the midwest, for her research. Her goal was to put a name with each block and find when it was first published. This book is the result of all her hard work! It is organized like an encyclopedia and a great way to figure out the name of a block. Even if you’re not in search of a

Welcome to  DESIGN AND SEW ALONG 3- LESSON SIX Lessons with Yvonne.  I hope you have enjoyed the first five lessons of this series.  In this final lesson, we will work with the quilt layout worktable to bring our lesson block designs together to create quilt design options. The name of this class is DESIGN AND SEW ALONG.  I do hope you are stitching some of the designs we have created in our EQ8 program.  I would love to see some of the designs that are sewn. Remember to watch the video at the end of the blog to start with to familiarize yourself with the steps we will be taking during these class written lessons.  A picture is worth a thousand words and visual learning is helpful for any of the classes. Remember to save an image of your favorite quilt from this class to post to the EQ blog page in the comment

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: Origami Star Where to find it: 01 Classic Pieced > Five- and Six-Pointed Stars Design ideas to get you started This first quilt is an on-point layout. I made an alternate block to go with the Origami Star by deleting all the lines inside the circle. The stencil was created using the StencilMaker tool on the Block Worktable (you have to choose Applique > Motif as your block style to access this tool). I used the Holliberry collection by Corey Yoder to color my quilt, which you can find in the EQ Stash Online

Welcome to  DESIGN AND SEW ALONG 3- LESSON Five Lessons with Yvonne.  I hope you have enjoyed the first four lessons of this series.  In this lesson, we will explore the Summer months and the holidays of July 4 (USA) July 1 (Canada).    Each set of lessons explores some different tools to use to create the 16-inch blocks we determined to be the size of all the blocks in our continuing lessons. The name of this class is DESIGN AND SEW ALONG.  I do hope you are sewing some of the designs we have created in our EQ8 program.  I would love to see some of the designs that are sewn. Remember to watch the video at the end of the blog to start with to familiarize yourself with the steps we will be taking during these class written lessons.  A picture is worth a thousand words and visual learning is helpful for

As always, we received so many beautiful entries in the Illuminations challenge! (See them in the original post here.) Thanks to everyone for participating! Winners There are two winners for this challenge; both selected randomly.  Each will receive a bundle of the Illuminations fabrics – YAY!! Congratulations to….. Donna Royson “Using the 54-40-or fight block as guidance, I designed this quilt but had some challenges with needing the borders to complete the secondary pattern of circles. The block is 12″ containing (9) 4″ units. For the first border, and to complete the circle, I only needed half of the 4″. So, I created two borders with width of 2″ each. The first border is defined as Blocks and I was able to insert the proper blocks to complete the circle. It was quite a challenge but well worth the trouble!”  Judy Knesel “I created about 20 different designs with this fabric

This contest is closed. Winners announced soon! TWO NEW CHANCES TO WIN FABRIC! October’s Fabric of the Month is Good Vibes, by our good friend, Christa Watson for Benartex! Two fat-quarter bundles of these fun fabrics will be given away so submit your EQ design using them! All instructions and contest details are below. Good luck! To enter Design your own, original quilt in EQ using the Good Vibes fabrics then submit an image of it by 11:59pm ET on October 31, 2020. (Instructions for how to submit an image are at the bottom of this post.) Download the free Good Vibes fabrics for EQ here Rules Your EQ Quilt must only use fabrics from the Good Vibes collection. One entry per person. (If a second entry is submitted within 24 hours of the original entry, we will accept the more recent entry. For example, if you submit an incomplete quilt, or the wrong quilt from your sketchbook, you