Good Morning, my lovelies! We're switching gears completely today, from the low-tech, needle turn, hand stitched appliqué I shared last time to today's focus: the exciting creative possibilities of computer software and modern die cutting methods to make challenging quilt patterns more accessible and more enjoyable for more quilters than ever before. 😊. Today's blog post includes affiliate links to products I use and adore.
Those of you who've been with me for a while know that Electric Quilt software (the current version is EQ8) is one of my favorite quilting tools. Before I started using EQ software, I had a couple of really disappointing quilts where I realized only after spending months cutting and sewing blocks that I did not have the right value contrasts to get the effect I envisioned in the finished quilt and too many prints were fighting for dominance, etc. It is an amazing thing to be able to "try out" limitless combinations not just of colors, but of actual fabric prints in quilt shops today, and know for sure how they will look in your quilt BEFORE you buy them.
EQ8 software has advanced capabilities that are great for professional quilt pattern designers, but most quilters will get their money's worth out of the program just from using the most basic features. You don't normally need to draft your own block in the software because there is a library included in the software with hundreds of traditional quilt blocks and then there are inexpensive add-ons that you can purchase to add even more quilt blocks to your library, like the one I'm going to share with you today -- a collaboration between The Electric Quilt Company and AccuQuilt, the makers of the AccuQuilt GO! die cutting system. This is something I swear I wished into being! If you already own EQ software and you have also purchased any of AccuQuilt's BOB "Block On Board" dies, you need to pop over to EQ right now and check out the software add-ons that will enable you to design quilts using those dies. Here's my full disclosure: I paid full price for my EQ software years ago and it has been worth every penny for the money it has saved me in wasting good fabric on lousy ideas. I have also spent my own money on lots and lots of AccuQuilt dies, some of which I love and use regularly, others not so much. When EQ first released their AccuQuilt BOB Collections 1 & 2, I bought them immediately because I already owned several of the BOB dies included in those collections. EQ just recently released a smaller add-on containing all of the BOB dies that were introduced in 2025, the AccuQuilt GO! BOB 2025 Collection, for just $15.95, and I was given this last digital add-on in exchange for sharing my honest review. I downloaded the 2025 BOB Collection blocks into my EQ software and started playing with them right before I left for QuiltCon... and that's why I snapped up the AccuQuilt #55392 New York Beauty 9" Finished BOB die with a show discount and lugged it around the show while I looked at all the pretty quilts!
 |
| New York Beauty: EQ8, AccuQuilt GO! BOB, + Art Gallery Fabrics |
In my opinion, the most useful and life-altering (for quilters!) AccuQuilt dies are the ones for quilt blocks with curved pieces that are tedious to cut by hand, difficult to cut accurately, and challenging to sew together. New York Beauty is one of those designs, but the AccuQuilt die cut fabric patches can be cut swiftly, accurately, and with automatic notches added to every patch for matching up opposing curves once you sit down to sew. In the screen shot above, I've designed a 39" x 39" baby quilt, the perfect size for a play mat or stroller quilt, that is completely to scale using mostly Art Gallery fabrics plus a Kaffe Fasset stripe print. I love it so much!
It's just 24 9" New York Beauty blocks, with the fabrics doing all the heavy lifting. In EQ software, the fabric prints are automatically adjusted to the correct scale for the size of your quilt blocks so you can see exactly how much of the print will show in each patch. You can rotate the direction of the prints and even drag them around to preview what it will look like to fussy cut individual motifs, all before cutting into your precious favorite fabrics. |
| AccuQuilt GO! 9 inch New York Beauty "Block On Board" |
Now, on the AccuQuilt web site, they tout die cutting as an alternative to "tedious foundation paper piecing" a New York Beauty block. Well, some of us quilters (including Yours Truly) LOVE foundation paper piecing. I am planning to use the AccuQuilt die to cut out shapes A, B, D and C (see image above). Now that I have not just any New York Beauty block, but the specific AccuQuilt New York Beauty block in my EQ8 software, I can print out foundation paper piecing patterns for just the pieced arc sections and then join my FPP arcs to the die cut curved patches -- with notches for matching! I'm so excited! That's why I had to buy the die. It's like that children's book, If You Give a Quilter a Pancake, she will have to buy the whole quilt shop to go along with it... 😉
 |
| You Can Print Foundation Paper Piecing Version in EQ8 to Match AccuQuilt Die Pieces! |
Per the EQ documentation, "Blocks with curves are drawn with 95% accuracy where EQ templates closely match the AccuQuilt die shapes but may vary slightly." So no one is guaranteeing that my foundation paper pieced arc will fit perfectly with my die cut patches for this block. Um, 95% accuracy? Are you kidding me? That is WELL within the margin of error needed to ease a quilt block together, and probably a lot more accurate than what I'd get if I sewed all those triangle patches together individually, notches or no notches. I'll take my chances!
So here's what I have so far: I printed out a full color image of the entire quilt design, to be stuck on the bulletin board as a guide during cutting and construction, and I printed one FPP arc pattern. When/if I'm ready to start this quilt, I'll print 24 of those pieced arc FPP patterns directly onto newsprint.
 |
| FPP Arc Pattern + Design Rendering Printed from EQ8 |
Did you catch that "when/if" I make that quilt? The New York Beauty die was expensive even on sale. Surely Rebecca is planning to use the die to make a quilt, right? Well, Rebecca is smitten with antique New York Beauty quilts from the 19th century, like this one:
 |
| Antique NYB Quilt from Momoe's Cupboard post here |
And this one:
 |
| Antique NYB Quilt, from Barbara Brackman's Post here |
I wondered what it would look like if I combined the AccuQuilt New York Beauty block with a spiky pieced sashing. But I didn't have to wonder for very long... Click, click, click, and PRESTO! Now I have a design for a 64" x 64" traditionally inspired New York Beauty quilt with pieced double diamond sashing and LeMoyne stars:
 |
| AccuQuilt NYB Blocks + EQ8 Double Diamond Sashing + Stars |
I had to do zero math and zero drafting to create those elaborate double diamond pieced sashings to fit the AccuQuilt NYB blocks. This is one of the many pieced sashing styles included in EQ8 software and the program automatically sizes it to fit your blocks, even if your blocks are unusual sizes. I have options for how to construct them, too. I could print out rotary cutting charts, individual templates for the different shapes, or foundation paper piecing patterns. I choose foundation paper piecing patterns, and this is how that looks for one sashing strip as generated by the EQ software:
 |
| EQ Generated FPP Patterns for Double Diamond Sashing |
I am so excited about this idea!!! Notice how, having generated the foundation paper piecing patterns after coloring my quilt in the software, the patterns can be printed in COLOR. No more sewing the wrong fabric in the wrong spot! I believe that feature was brought in when they went from EQ7 to the newest EQ8, and it's definitely a reason to upgrade from an older version of the software if you are into FPP.
I have always wanted to make a New York Beauty quilt and now I have an actual game plan for two very different quilts made with this block, quilts that look anything but "cookie cutter" as we sometimes think of AccuQuilt quilts.
Well, you know me and rabbit holes. I was so pleased with what I'd come up with for the New York Beauty BOB die that I started thinking about another AccuQuilt BOB die I own but have not yet used, #55078 GO! Double Wedding Ring 11 1/2" Finished. This is an older BOB die that is not in the 2025 software add-in that I got for free. It's one of the 41 BOB blocks included in EQ8's AccuQuilt GO! BOB Collector's Edition One, for which I paid full price as soon as it was released a few years ago.
Here's a screenshot of me playing with the AccuQuilt 11 1/2" Double Wedding Ring block in EQ8 software, using solid color fabrics. These aren't just painted with generic colors, by the way -- I'm coloring my quilt design with specific solid fabric colors available from manufacturers like Bella Solids, Kona Solids etc. and, once I am satisfied with what I'm seeing on my computer screen, I can print out a shopping list of exactly which fabrics to purchase in order to bring this design to life in real fabric.
 |
| Designing in EQ8 for the AccuQuilt 11 1/2 inch Double Wedding Ring BOB Die |
How cool is that! It's a completely different look from the batik with white background version on the die packaging:
 |
| AccuQuilt #55078 Double Wedding Ring 11 1/2 inch BOB |
So basically, The Electric Quilt company gave me a free $15 software download, in exchange for which I spent 5-10 hours researching antique New York Beauty blocks, exploring design possibilities in the software, and then got so giddy with excitement that I ran out and impulsively bought an AccuQuilt die that probably cost 10x the "free" download. (I don't remember what I paid for it at the show, but as of this writing AccuQuilt is running a 20% off site-wide March Madness promotion that includes the New York Beauty and Double Wedding Ring dies).
Now, am I making either of these quilts immediately? No, I am not, because I am currently consumed with the making of my Stonefields sampler quilt and also wanting to finish quilting my Deco Bed Quilt before starting something new. My NYB and DWR designs are saved projects in my EQ8 software, and they will be ready and waiting for me when I'm ready for them! Special thanks to The Electric Quilt Company for luring me into temptation gifting me the 2025 AccuQuilt BOB Collection add-in, and for designing cool software products that open up boundless possibilities for today's quilters. If the 19th century makers of antique quilts could see the tools we have today, it would blow their minds and they would be knocking each other down to try them!
I'm linking up with some of my favorite linky parties:
MONDAY
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Musings at Songbird Designs
TUESDAY
To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
THURSDAY
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
FRIDAY
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre
Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty
TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday
SUNDAY
Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué
Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts
Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework
No comments:
Post a Comment