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. 

Weekend Recap: Getting Our Thanksgiving Groove On

Does Martha look smug to you in this picture?  If so, it's probably because SHE was organized enough to order her fresh heritage turkey for Thanksgiving on November 1st instead of waiting until a week before the holiday.  Also probably because one of her underlings cooked this turkey, and she just gets to glide in after being professionally styled and made up, slip on an apron, and pose with the beautifully cooked golden bird. 

I'm not yet recovered from Halloween (and no, I do NOT remember where I hid your candy, boys, so stop asking!), but the show must go on and Thanksgiving Dinner will open to an expectant, hungry crowd in just a few days.  When I called to order my fresh turkey a few days ago, Whole Foods informed me that they had already pre-sold their entire fresh turkey inventory for both their heritage and their organic birds.  Then I called Earth Fare and managed to snag their very last available fresh organic turkey.  Whew! 

The Victor With His Vegetable Prize

Yesterday morning Bernie and Lars went on the 15th Annual Buttercup Squash Scavenger Hunt.  They go from one grocery store to the next in their search for this delicious but elusive squash, overcoming obstacles like crowded parking lots and trolls disguised as produce specialists who insist that butterCUP squash is the same thing as butterNUT squash (no, it isn't).  Midway through their squash odyssey, Bernie called and requested that I send photographic proof of this squash variety's existence to his iPhone so he could battle the scorn and ignorance of the grocery clerks with the weapons of Truth and Technology.  Ultimately, as usual, he arrived home triumphantly with twice as much buttercup squash as we need for his Buttercup Squash and Leek Soup.  Every year, I ask him whether he really wants to go to all the trouble of tracking down the squash and hacking them up to make his peppery soup with them again, and every year he replies that he looks forward to the Squash Hunt and it would not be Thanksgiving without it.  He cooked and pureed his soup Saturday afternoon, while I made the Cranberry Citrus Compote. 

Cooked Whole Cranberry-Citrus Compote, cooling on the stove top

It feels good to have some of the menu items crossed off the list already.  Tomorrow or the next day, I'll need to bake spiced pecans for the stuffing and make the roux for the gravy.  I also have to throw one of those green bean casseroles together for the annual school feast, which happens on Tuesday. 

A lot of cleaning happened this weekend as well, with even Lars pitching in to dust and polish furniture in the dining room, living room, and in my office.  We always put up our Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving, and I told my family that every room has to get a thorough cleaning before any decorations can come out.  Now that everything is spic and span and gleaming again, and my house is smelling like holiday food, I'm starting to feel more enthusiastic about the approaching holiday season.

Meanwhile, Bernie has been working hard on the built-ins that I designed for Lars's bedroom to accommodate his staggering collection of LEGO sets (which he refuses to disassemble, and which had previously occupied nearly every square inch of his bedroom FLOOR).  We repainted the walls in Sherwin Williams 6523 Denim, which really makes the white trim paint pop and looks much more "big kid" than the sky blue wall color that he had previously. 

Lars's Built-In LEGO Display Shelving Nearing Completion

Lars started putting LEGO sets away on the new adjustable shelving (deeper than book shelves, so they can accommodate even the largest assembled sets), but he stalled out and left piles all over the place.  I think a Mommy Intervention will happen while he's at school tomorrow -- organization is not his strong suit, and right now Bernie can't even get past the toy piles to measure for the doors that go on the bottom cabinets and the drawer fronts that go on the two drawers beneath the window seat.  At some point I'm going to make a cornice to go above the window and a boxed cushion and throw pillows for the window seat itself.  The main objective is to create order out of chaos before Christmas morning and Lars's birthday the very next day.

Although I helped Anders work on his quilt this afternoon, I have not had a chance to work on any of my own sewing projects in several days, which is making me irritable.  My applique blocks for Jingle are all finished and what with all the cleaning, holiday planning, homework assistance/supervision, and back-to-back 504 Plan meetings at the kids' school last week, I haven't gotten up to the sewing room at all.  It's really a bummer not having a hand sewing project to carry around with me.  I've promised myself to knock out the last four pieced blocks for my Jingle quilt first, and then I can start in on the large center medallion applique piece.

Where did this weekend go?