Blog
Electric Quilt Software Basics – A Review
Hi!
I’ve been busy this week working on some new patterns to share here on our blog over the next few weeks, but not too busy to learn something new! I don’t know about you, but I love it when you can watch or read something and pick up a hint or tip you didn’t know, and you know will make your quilting life so much easier when you apply it.
That’s been the case with the latest class I’ve just done with Creative Spark. I went through Jennifer Rapacki’s “Electric Quilt Software Basics” class, and I’m delighted that I did indeed pick up a few pointers that I’m off to try out.
For those who aren’t converts – the Electric Quilt software is one of the best computer-aided quilt design software programs that is available for quilters who wish to design their own quilts. It’s used by industry professionals, and regular quilters alike, and although there is a comprehensive manual available online to help you navigate this platform, I found that this class was an excellent way to cover the basics and get you designing without feeling overwhelmed.
Jennifer works through the designing process in order – from blocks through to whole quilts, and I did learn a bit from her tips along the way.
For instance, she demonstrated the symmetry tool that I hadn’t previously used –
From the simple quilt above, to a variation like this –
…or like this, just with the click of a button. I think that’s a great way to change things up, and it’s fun to have a play around with some different options too.
In this discussion and demonstration of Electric Quilt Software Basics, Jennifer also covered how to print your blocks and quilts in some depth – both as PDFs and hard copies, and for both PC and Mac users, which makes this a great resource. It was nice to see that she approaches “quilt math” in the same way I do too, and the EQ8 program takes all the guesswork out of what size you need to cut which pieces. All you need to do after printing it out is make any adjustments for total numbers of pieces (for total numbers of blocks in your quilt, if they’re repeated), and then you’re good to go. It even tells you how much yardage you need to get for each colour!
I really enjoyed Jennifer’s demo of how to import fabrics too. Sometimes this really makes the difference when you can see them in your design, to scale, and you can really get an idea of how your finished quilt will look.
As a bit of an extension of the basics too, Jennifer demonstrated how to design custom set quilts. I have to confess – I’ve been using the Electric Quilt program for years, but when I’ve had trickier quilt layouts, I’ve gone back to the good old pencil and grid paper. That works fine, but now I’ve seen just how effective this custom setting tool can be, I think it’s time I stepped up my game and gave this a proper go too!
I have to say, I would recommend this class to anyone who’s either new to Electric Quilt designing, or to anyone who’s maybe had it for a while, but is not perhaps using this great software to it’s full extent. This is a basic level course, but sometimes you need to go back to the basics and get them right first, before you progress to the trickier parts.
Best of all, once you have the class, it’s yours for life, so you can always go back and re-watch or re-download Jennifer’s handout if you need a refresher at any time.
And yes – now that I’ve reviewed it, I do have one free class of Jennifer Rapacki’s “Electric Quilt Software Basics” to give to one lucky reader this week, courtesy of Creative Spark. To be in the running, please share in the comments below why you’d like to be able to use this great quilt design software, and what kind of quilts you’d like to be designing to make.
I’ll randomly draw one lucky recipient for the free class from those who’ve commented, so do it now, before I draw the winning name next Tuesday 29th October.
You can find this class at: https://creativespark.ctpub.com/courses/eq8-software-basics and there’s a bunch of other excellent quilting-related courses on the Creative Spark platform ( at https://creativespark.ctpub.com/ ) worth checking out too.
Keep an eye on this blog too, as I’ll be sharing those new patterns over the next couple of weeks as well, and you don’t want to miss out! Pop your first name and email address in the box at the top RHS, and you’ll be first to hear when they’re posted! 🙂
Enjoy your week!
Regards,
