EQ8 Software Tutorial: Drafting a Star Quilt With Hexagons and Equilateral Triangles

First off, I need to thank Matt at Electric Quilt Tech Support for figuring out how to create a layout for this quilt in EQ8.  I am not taking credit for his solution, just writing it down before I forget how I did it and sharing it with other EQ users who want to play with similar quilt designs on their own.

EQ8 Quilt Design Using Hexagons and Equilateral Triangles

When you go into EQ8 to start a new project, you see a bunch of different layout options -- horizontal square blocks, on-point square blocks, variable on-point diamond shaped blocks, baby blocks, variable blocks, horizontal or vertical strips, one patch, photo patchwork, custom set...  But none of those is an obvious choice when you want to make a TWO patch quilt, using hexagons and triangles.  The fastest and easiest way to get this layout in EQ so you can audition fabrics is to choose Variable Point layout style and then create a diamond shaped block that encompasses one hexagon with one triangle at the top and one triangle at the bottom.  

Choose Variable Point Layout Style

Next, click on the Layout tab to tweak the dimensions of the diamonds to match your desired hexagon size.

Set the Width and Height to Match Your Templates

I had acrylic cutting templates that I wanted to use to actually cut my fabrics for this project, so I used the measurements of my actual templates to ensure that fabric prints would be represented to scale on my computer screen.  In the Width field, you want to enter the point-to point measurement across your hexagon from seamline to seamline.  But, for the Height field, you want the height of one hexagon with triangles attached at the top and bottom, not the height of the hexagon alone.  For those of us who haven't seen the inside of a geometry classroom in a few decades (ahem!), there are nifty online calculators that will automatically give you the measurements for hexagons here and for equilateral triangles here.  In order for your triangles and hexagons to fit together in a quilt, the sides of the hexagons need to be the same length as the size of the equilateral triangles.  If you already have a set of acrylic templates that you'll be using like I did, it's easiest to just measure your actual template (making sure to exclude the seam allowances).  Using my hexagon and equilateral triangle templates, those measurements are 7.5" Width and 13" Height.  

Now we need to create that block by opening up the Block Worktable.

This Block Magically Transforms Into a Hexagon When It's Stretched Into Our Diamond Layout

And this is the ridiculously easy block that will magically turn into a hexagon with a pair of equilateral triangles once we plop it onto our diamond quilt layout and the EQ software stretches it to fit the diamond.  I drew this as a 6" x 6" block, with diagonal lines going from the 3" center points.  It doesn't matter what size the block is on the block worktable because EQ is going to resize it to fit the block size stipulated in the quilt layout.  What matters is that the diagonal lines go from the exact center of one side to the exact center of the adjacent side of that block.

Same Block, Colored With Fabric

Next, I clicked on the color tab and put a lovely Anna Maria Horner fabric in the center for my hexagon, with two different gold print fabrics for my triangle star points.  Then I added the block to my project Sketchbook and switched back to the Quilt Worktable.

Setting My New Block In My Variable Point Quilt Layout

In the screenshot above, I've set just one of these new blocks into the quilt layout that we set up in the first step.  See how my center floral fabric has stretched to fit the dimensions of my diamond block, creating a perfect hexagon?  Now look what happens when I fill all of the other diamonds with the same block:

Ta-Da!  Hexagon Stars!

How cool -- yet simple -- is that?!  That's how I created the different fabric combinations for my Kaffe Fassett Mediterranean Hexagons workshop in last week's post.

I'm linking up today's post with:

·       Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

·       Moving it Forward at Em's Scrap Bag

Using EQ7 to Preview Fabric Selections: 1930s Farmer's Wife Block #3 "Alice"

Alice Block #3, Version 1

The 6" blocks in the 1930s Farmer's Wife sampler quilt are complex and time consuming to piece.  I don't want to spend a lot of time putting a block together only to step back and look at the finished block and hate it.  I know a lot of quilters will precut fabric pieces without seam allowances and lay them out like a mosaic to preview how their fabric choices will look together in a block, but that wastes fabric since you have to cut all new pieces with seam allowances for your block.  Another option is to print out several line drawings of the block and test out different colored schemes with colored pencils, but it's difficult to match your fabric values and prints accurately.  However, none of that is necessary if you use EQ7 quilt design software to preview your fabric combos.

Alice Block #3, Version 2

With Block #3 "Alice," I created a 1-block quilt in EQ7 and set the block size to 6" x 6".  It's important that your block size is correct because EQ7 will use that information to accurately scale your fabric print (so that you are accurately seeing how that print will look cut up into the actual size patches in your block).  I did a search in the block library for "Alice" and came up with a block that was very similar to the Alice block in the 1930s Farmer's Wife book.  I just had to edit the block in the block worktable, removing a couple of seam lines and adding a few additional seam lines at the corners of the block.You can even rotate your fabric within your block patches, as I did in my first version of the block, so that your stripes or chevrons or whatever radiate in a specific way, and there is a tool for fussy cutting as well that will let you center a specific print motif in your patch. 

Alice Block #3, Version 3

Once I had recreated the block in EQ7, I was able to swap out fabrics with a click of my mouse, trying out many combinations of prints, solids, contrast levels, etc. within just a few minutes.  I don't always use the exact same fabrics in EQ7 as what I'm contemplating in my stash, but I can usually find something close enough.  The idea is to brainstorm lots of different possibilities for what the block could be.  I don't use EQ to pick fabrics for every block, but it was really useful for this one because there were so many patches that it was difficult to envision mentally, and I didn't want to just recreate what someone else had done with the block.  I wasn't wild about the Alice block initially, but now that I've been playing with it, it's growing on me.

Alice Block #3, Version 4

I think I want a white background with this block, one print, and two strongly contrasting solids.  I am really liking the black at the moment, and I did use some solid black sparingly on my #2 Aimee block.  It will depend on the print that I end up choosing from my stash (in this last version, a really dark gray/blue solid pulled from the print would have been better than black.  Maybe. 

Meanwhile, I think it's time for another paper pieced pineapple block, don't you?  I've got a busy week coming up, with rehearsals for Mary Poppins (I'm playing the Bird Woman), volunteer tutoring, getting the kids to and from their activities, and lots more work to do on my new and improved web site for my interior design business.  Then there are the eternal unending tasks to contend with: vacuuming, laundry, grocery shopping...  And hopefully a little exercise.  Which is why I have six or seven quilts in progress, and nothing finished to show for myself so far this year!

And the Tweaking Goes On: Design in Progress for Anders' Pineapple Log Cabin Quilt

In my last post, I showed this EQ7 pineapple log cabin project that I am planning as a second quilt project for my 11-year-old son, Anders, to make:

 

Once I had selected one of the simplest (fewest pieces) pineapple log cabin blocks and set up the layout and sizes, I let Anders play around in the software to come up with a color scheme for his quilt.  He decided on a black background with red and blue:   

 

 

Then I talked to him about what he wants to do with this quilt after it's finished.  With his first quilt project, he started to get discouraged about how long it was taking when he did not have many of his blocks finished, and he wanted it to be DONE so we made it pretty small -- but then he was disappointed that it wasn't big enough for him to snuggle under.  I originally set up his pineapple log cabin to be a 3 x 3 layout of 12" blocks, for a finished size of about 36" x 36", but Anders decided he wants his quilt to be twin sized to go on his bed.  Hmmm...  I have a feeling Mom might end up making a lot of these blocks if my junior quilter loses interest before it's finished!

 

I like Anders' color scheme, except that the lighter value reds and blues read a little too pastel raspberry pink and aqua from a distance.  That's due to which fabrics were loaded into the project sketchbook for him to choose from and him not knowing where to look to find more choices.  Knowing that he likes mostly batiks and wants reds and blues, I went back through those fabric stash add-ins and pulled lots more red and blue fabrics to add to the project scrapbook, and decided to mix in reddish orange fabrics with the reds for variety instead of lighter reds that would read pink.  I ended up with this:

 

 

...And here's what the whole twin sized quilt would look like, with a 6 x 8 layout of 48 12" blocks:

 

Before we start cutting any fabric, I'll let Anders play around with the colors and fabrics a bit more in EQ7 to make sure he likes it.  Once he gives the design on screen a thumbs up, we'll root through my ACTUAL fabric stash for close matches and maybe pick up some fat quarters of anything I don't have so he can make up a test block.  Two purposes to the test block, by the way:

 

1. Once the block is finished, I can import an actual photo of the block into EQ7 to get a much more realistic preview of what the finished quilt would look like using that combinations of fabrics, to be SURE it's what we want.

 

2. More importantly, Anders will get an idea of how long it takes to make a paper pieced pineapple log cabin block with 37 patches in it, and he will either be excited and want to make 47 more of them -- or he will realize that it's a bigger commitment than he is ready for.  In which case I'll guide him towards an easier block like a square in a square, or suggest making the quilt throw sized with fewer blocks, or even a table runner.

 

One more thing I wanted to share before signing off -- I got a photo of my Uncle Merle with his new grandson all snuggled up in the Amish Baby 54-40 or Fight quilt that I made for him! 

 

 

How sweet is that?  THAT'S why I wrestle with Minky backing and satin binding.  :-)  I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday at Stitch By Stitch and Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts.  Then I'm off to Anders' Spring orchestra concert.  Have a great afternoon!

Design Wall Monday: Pineapple Paper Piecing and EQ7 Magic

First Paper Pieced Pineapple Block Completed, 17 3/4"

Happy Monday!  I continued to work on my first pineapple block in odd moments over the weekend, and finished up the first of 36 blocks this morning.  I love how it came out!  The paper piecing was super easy and fun, and what took the longest was selecting and cutting the fabric for each strip.  You can read more about that process here in case you missed that post. 

Now, for the magic: After finishing this first block, I wanted to get a sneak peak of what the finished quilt might look like.  This quilt will be fake scrappy, as most of my quilts are (meaning that I mimic the look of a thrifty, dig-through-the-scrap-bin quilt by purchasing lots of NEW fabric and cutting it up into little pieces for my projects), but I'll be using the same coral red fabric for the centers and corners of my blocks, and similar combinations of neutrals, greens, and blues.  So I photographed my block from above, cropped out the seam allowances, and used my nifty new EQ7 quilt design software to resize the block photo and duplicate it into a quilt design.  This is what my finished quilt will look like:



Sneaky Peaky: My FUTURE Finished Pineapple Log Cabin Quilt, 104" x 104"

How cool is that?  This is almost exactly what I had envisioned for this project, so I can proceed as planned.  But if I didn't like the sneak peak, I would be able to make changes to my fabric choices after just one "practice" block, rather than having to make four or more blocks in real life and then realizing I didn't like the overall effect after hanging them on the design wall. 

So I'd say the quilting software was a really good purchase.  I've only watched a couple of the tutorial videos and played around with it a bit through trial-and-error so far, so I've only scratched the surface of its capabilities, but I can tell already that I'll probably be using EQ7 in some capacity for all of my future projects. 

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times, as well as the NewFO linky party at Cat Patches.  I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been working on as well.  Happy stitching!

In Pursuit of Paper Pieced Pineapple Perfection

Pineapple Block In Progress: 33 Pieces Sewn, 64 Pieces (and 35 more blocks) to go!

I forced myself to finish those wretched throw pillows last week.  I'll show them to you in a few days, but right now I don't feel like looking at them! 

I rewarded myself for all of that grunt sewing with some pineapple play time.  In case you missed my earlier post about this project, I'm making the 17 3/4" paper pieced pineapple blocks using a free pattern that I downloaded here from Fons & Porter.  Now that I've worked out a few kinks, the first pineapple block is coming together very smoothly.  Fons & Porter labeled this a "challenging" project, but I think it's ideal for a beginner paper piecer like me -- the only "challenging" part was figuring out how to work the large format printer at the FedEx print shop... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

FedEx To the Rescue!

Since most of our printers can only handle 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of paper, the Fons & Porter pattern prints out in six sections and the instructions tell you to "join them together."  But they don't tell you HOW to join them together!  At first, I printed out the foundation pattern sections on special paper piecing foundation paper and carefully taped them together with Scotch Magic Tape, aligning the registration marks as accurately as possible.  This was a pain in the butt.  Then, when I started paper piecing my pineapple block, I only managed to get five fabric pieces sewn down before I realized that the Scotch Magic Tape was shrinking from the heat of my iron, distorting my foundation patter so that it was wavy instead of flat.  I didn't want to reduce the temperature setting of my iron because I needed every seam allowance to lie flat like a pancake and I know I'm not supposed to use steam or starch with foundation paper patterns.  So I printed off another block in sections, carefully taped them all together, and headed out to my local FedEx print shop.

Default Printer Settings that Don't Work

The large format printer at the FedEx shop prints onto rolls of paper that are trimmed internally to fit the size of whatever you're printing.  The girl at the FedEx shop was helpful and friendly, but she only knew the basics of how to work the large format printer and it took me about an hour of trial and error before I figured out that, in order to get copies of the entire foundation pattern with nothing cut off and a little extra white space around the outside line, I needed to feed my original into the machine perfectly centered and I needed to change the Width setting on the printer from "Auto" to "24.0" Bond.  Even after a 10% off coupon it cost about $80 to print 38 of these giant foundation patterns (36 for my California King sized quilt, plus two extras in case of oopses), and the printer paper is a little heavier than the specialty foundation piecing papers sold in quilt shops, but I think the tradeoff will be more than worth it.  No more fussing with tape and hoping my alignment is identical from block to block, and I have all of my pineapple foundations printed and neatly trimmed, ready to go. 

Making a Start: Size 90/14 Needle, Open Toe Presser Foot, and 50/3 Cotton Thread



Back in my studio, I set up my Bernina 750 QE for paper piecing.  I'm using my 20D presser foot with Dual Feed engaged, my straight stitch plate, centered needle position, and piecing straight stitch #1326.  I'm using regular weight 50/3 Mettler cotton thread instead of Aurifil to make my seams a little stronger, since I'll be stressing them by ripping all of the paper away eventually.  I started off using the 90/14 Jeans needle (pictured above) that was in my machine from my last project, but when that got dull I switched to a 90/14 Schmetz Quilting needle and saw improvement in my stitch quality right away, so that's what I'd recommend.  Other than shortening the stitch length to 1.5 and reducing the top tension to 3.25, those were the only adjustments I had to make -- and I was pleased to see that, when I saved the altered stitch in my machine's Personal Program menu, the tension adjustments were saved as well as the altered stitch length.  Since the pineapple block is sewn outward from the center, I'm bringing my bobbin thread up at the beginning of each seam just like I would if I was quilting, and then I use my machine's automatic thread trimmer (the scissors button on the front of the machine) to automatically trim my threads at the end of each seam. 

I have very little paper piecing experience, and if I can do this, anyone can.  I made one paper pieced star block from Carol Doake's book, and that's the full extent of my paper piecing experience.  So, if making a paper pieced pineapple block was truly too challenging for a beginner, I would be having a terrible time right now.  In fact, the pineapple block is really easy to paper piece because it's all done with strips that are all cut to the same width.  There are no fussy little triangles that you might accidentally sew down with their points going in the wrong direction, and you don't have to stop and think about how much to overcut each piece and how to position it before you can sew it in place.  The only reason this is slow going for me in the beginning is because I want a very scrappy look for this quilt and I have got LOTS of fabric strewn all over my studio -- I spend at least 15 minutes deciding which fabric I want to use next, and then I have to press the fabric and cut off a 1 1/2" strip. 

Check Fabric Alignment Just Prior to Stitching

The sewing itself is so easy that it's mindless.  I don't even have to pin anything, I just sit down at the machine, place the strip where it needs to go, flip the foundation pattern carefully and slide it under the needle, peek underneath to make sure my raw fabric edges are still more or less aligned (see photo at left), and then sew down the dotted line.  With paper piecing, there is no measuring after every seam or worrying about whether your seam allowance is accurate.  As long as you sew right on the lines, every little point comes out perfectly every single time. 

So if any of you have ever wanted to make a pineapple quilt of your own, I encourage you to give it a try.  There are a lot of smaller paper pieced pineapple block patterns available if you don't want to deal with printing blocks as big as mine.  Alex Anderson has one in her book, Paper Piecing with Alex Anderson, that can be printed on regular sized paper. 

I love how my pineapple block looks so far.  As I mentioned earlier, this quilt is destined for my master bedroom and it's going to need 36 of these 17 1/2" pineapple blocks in order to comfortably fit a California King bed, factoring in the inevitable shrinkage that happens during quilting and the initial laundering.  That's why it's nice to have several projects -- UnFinished Objects (UFOs) or Works In Progress (WIPs) to rotate between, so I can switch to a different project when I get tired of paper piecing strips.

Speaking of WIPs, remember the Bear Paw blocks I was working on?  I may have changed my mind about setting my 10 1/2" bear paw blocks on point with plain white alternate blocks as I had originally intended.  I did this mockup in EQ7 quilt design software (birthday gift from my sons!) and it looks kind of boring:

Option 1

Of course, I'm still learning how to use the design software and I have not yet figured out how to adjust the scale of an imported fabric image -- that's why my LouLou Thi Clippings fabric looks like an old-fashioned granny floral (no offense to you hip and stylish grannies out there).  My bear paw blocks look much better in real life:

I bought some hand dyed marbled fabrics from Marjorie Lee Bevis that I really love with the LouLou Thi print.  They remind me of an artist's palette, with all the oil paints swirled and blended to paint the focal print.  I know I'm going to make some 3" sawtooth star blocks out of the marbled fabrics for this quilt, and initially I was thinking of using the stars for a border.  But then I played some more in EQ and came up with this:

Option 2

Again, I'm still learning EQ and haven't yet figured out how to get my sawtooth border sized the way I want it, or how to get rid of the gap at the corners of my ribbon border.  But I kind of like the look of straight set bear paw blocks with 3" sashing and 3" sawtooth star sashing posts.  So I'm going to make up sixteen sawtooth stars so I can play with them on my design wall and figure out which version I like best. 

This post has ended up MUCH longer than what I had planned to write, so I'm going to sign off now and step away from the computer.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

So, Do You EQ? And More Importantly, Should I?

Photo Courtesy Electric Quilt, Quilt Design by Deb Crine

I have been intrigued by the possibilities of Electric Quilt (EQ)software for several years, but have not purchased it yet. In my interior design business, I went through several purchases of design rendering software that worked great if you limited the furniture shapes and drapery styles in your projects to the vector line drawings that came preloaded into the design software, but whenever I wanted to create something totally different and unique for a client (which turned out to be most of the time), the software ended up being a nightmare and a limitation instead of the great time saver I thought it would be. My husband calls those my "shelfware" purchases, software I invested in that I end up not using, and it's just sitting on the shelf getting dusty and making me feel guilty.  I do have Bernina's DesignerPlus embroidery design software (v6)  that I use often and I did eventually find an interior design software that I was able to use successfully most of the time.  I understand that every software package has a learning curve and I am willing to put in the time to learn how to use a new software program, as long as the investment of time and money will pay off with the results I'm looking for.  My frustration with design software in the past has always been hitting a roadblock when I want to design something "outside the box" of what the software designers anticipated users would try to do.




Layout I Wanted To Use

So, EQ: I'm interested for two reasons, but not sure if EQ can help me with either. First, I like to use as many different fabrics in my quilts as I can and with my recent scrappy Drunkard's Path quilt for Lars's bedroom, I was not able to use the layout I wanted because I ended up not having enough value contrast for the pattern to show up. 

 

See how the "path" pattern didn't show up with my blocks?

I do like how this quilt turned out in the end, but I had originally planned to make a Drunkard's Path quilt and I'm pretty sure that it's a Mill Wheel or something else when you lay the blocks this way. 


Finished "Drunken Dragons" Quilt with Alternate Block Layout

It annoys me to have started out making something from scratch, and then to STILL not have it end up the way I wanted it to be. 

 

I know that I could have previewed fabric selections ahead of time on the computer using the Drunkard's Path block that is surely already included in the EQ software

s block library, and I understand that there are even "stash" CDs available with major manufacturer's current fabric offerings so I could have played with color and value alone, or actually filled each patch with a fabric pattern the way I fill drapery panels with fabric in my interior design software. But there's no "Rebecca's Stash" CD with all of MY fabrics, and whereas I might use three or four fabrics in a window treatment design, there could be HUNDREDS of fabrics in a single quilt.

I know from the EQ web site that you can scan in, upload, and save your own fabrics in EQ7.  The web site also says that the software will "automatically scale" your fabric so the design you create in EQ is what you get when you make it up in your actual fabric.  It seems as though you can also rotate patterned fabric in EQ to accurately preview "fussy cutting" options for large prints in EQ7, but I don't know how well those functions really work.  Also, I often use fabric scraps for which I no longer have big yardage pieces to scan, and if I had hundreds of tiny scraps to audition it would take forever to scan them all in.  I wonder whether there is an easier way to play around with color and value for scrappy quilt designs in EQ7?

Vervain Monado fabric, Havana colorway

The other thing I was hoping that I could do with EQ7 is to create some really weird curved blocks. I love these traditional, huge scale drapery prints that have pattern repeats that are basically on-point quilt block shapes, except that the top and bottom are pointy and the sides are curved, like tessellated onions that fit together, like the Monado fabric from Vervain shown at left, which is actually my kitchen drapery fabric.  Wouldn't it be cool to do Baltimore style applique on blocks that fit together that way, maybe even with serpentine sashing from modified hexagon shapes?  I have never seen a quilt like that before -- would EQ7 allow me to easily create a templates for a block and borders like that so that everything (hopefully!) would fit together and lay flat at the end? Or when they say you can "draw any block" with EQ7, is that limited to square or rectangular blocks with straight lines?

 

Fontenay Vase Fabric from F. Schumacher, Porcelain Blue

The F. Schumacher linen print shown above is one of Bernie's favorites.  I suppose I could just do boring (but expensive!) drapery panels from this fabric, but the more I look at this print, the more I'm seeing applique possibilities with lots of embroidery embellishment.  Those darling little green grapes or berries or whatever they are: stuffed!  The little dots on the edges of the taupey beige border around the urn: French knots!  And instead of making every block the same on my quilt, I could do a different historical Baltimore Album urn with flowers on each block. 

 

So...  Do you have EQ?  If so, do you use it?  Can it do what I want it to do?  Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated.