Have you been stuck at home this last week?  I realized that being home and listening to news programs is not very helpful to my mood and I have been missing my daily visits to the ice rinks (my exercise of choice).    I've also been missing much of my normal live social interaction.  After a couple of days of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to engage more with my EQ8 community by going live every day.  This ensures I have at least one adult conversation each day.  You are welcome to join that conversation.

As of this morning, I have 10 posted videos with 10 different critters.  During the "stay at home" period I am planning to add to the collection. 

If you would like to join a live session or watch any or all of the old videos, make sure to follow my Facebook page.  I will typically post an announcement 30 minutes to an hour before going live.  The first couple of recordings were direct cast on Facebook -- but I started having problems with engagement between Zoom and Facebook, so I just decided to do them on Zoom.  The good news with Zoom is that participants can un-mute and ask questions or provide feedback.

Note:  The videos are un-edited -- so they are longer than tutorials on my blog or in my classes.

As a bonus to my Tech Know Quilter members, I will be offering them my Critter Motif EQ8 file at the conclusion of my live events.  Just an added incentive to join during the March 2020 promotion.  

Here is the drawing from the video.

I hope to see you at one of my live events next week.

As a quilter, I find that I can never have enough bags.  We all need a place to store those in-process projects.  And it is so convenient when we need to grab a project to work on during the next guild meeting meeting.  I even have a group of bags all set to go for my next quilt retreat.

If you can relate, I have a new bag idea for you.  It is quilt related -- but there is no quilting involved.

Two weeks ago, I created a design and  transferred a block I drafted in Electric Quilt 8 to Cricut Design Space.  If you missed that tutorial, you will want to catch it here.

The video tutorial this week shows my process for adding the design to a canvas tote.

The supplies used in my project are as follows.  Please note that links are affiliate links and I will receive a small commission on any purchases.

• Love to Quilt design (from previous blog post)
• Black Canvas Bag size 16.5 x 13 (link is to a white bag as the black is out of stock)
• Cricut Maker
• Home printer
• Blue LightGrip Mat for Cricut Maker
• JoLee's Transfer Paper - Dark
• Heat Transfer Vinyl Sheets Starter Pack 
• Iron
• Parchment Paper

In my video tutorial, I shared that I used my laser printer -- rather than the inkjet printer recommended for transfer sheets.  I only used the iron for 10 seconds in each area during the transfer to the canvas.  I did not notice any melting during the process and was pleased with my ending design.

I am thinking that this might be a good item for the boutique for my quilt guild -- and am already thinking about who I could gift with the bag.

Or maybe I should find another of my Electric Quilt designs for the next bag.  Lots to think about.

Tech Know Quilters is a membership of Electric Quilt 8 owners who are mastering Electric Quilt through online training.  At the end of their February class, they were encouraged to apply what they learned during the month of February. 

Tech Know Quilters is open to new members only a few times a year.  Thee will be an open enrollment offering next week -- but just for those on the wait list.  You can sign up for the wait list here.   

During February TKQ Masters Members had classes in Advanced Foundation Piecing.  They were challenged to take a photo and create a foundation friendly pattern inspired by their photo.  I think they did a phenomenal job.

Here are some additional projects created by Tech Know Quilter members -- they are a very talented group who are doing amazing things with Electric Quilt 8.  

I challenged the Master's Group within Tech Know Quilters to design an Irish Chain quilt.  Here were some of the early submissions. 
​
A great group of quilts to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

Tech Know Quilter's only opens enrollment to new members a few times a year.  There will be an open enrollment at the end of this month to those that are on the wait list.  So please sign up for the wait list if you are interested in receiving more information on the program.

Note that Tech Know Quilter's classes are all virtual and can be completed at your convenience from the comfort of your own home.

It can sometimes be a challenge to figure out how to take a very traditional block and make it modern.  Here is my approach.  This would be a great project for those just starting with Electric Quilt.

I then set the three blocks in an on point layout.  Note that the setting triangles and corners used the second Clip and Flip option.

I then used Benartex' Geo Pop Collection by Christa Watson to recolor the quilt.  Geo Pop is the free Fabric of the Month download that you can still download from Do You EQ.

This is a great beginner project for someone new to Electric Quilt 8.   Please share your quilts in the Learning EQ Facebook Group.

Scroll down to see some new amazing quilts from Tech Know Quilter members as they share some of their favorite quilts completed in January.

I recently purchased a Cricut Maker and have been having fun learning how to use it.  This week I watched a tutorial on using Print and Cut.  With Print and Cut you can print an image on your home printer and then cut it out using a Cricut machine.  The light bulb went on and I thought -- this is how we could feature those complex EQ8 designs that we will never get around to piecing. 

Please tell me I am not the only one with a treasure trove of EQ projects that will never become a quilt or a wall hanging.

In this tutorial, I will share exactly how I modified and exported a design in EQ to make it cutting friendly.  Then I will take you through setting up a project using Cricut Design Space along with the rest of the process to create the love to quilt design that would be suitable for putting on a canvas tote.

If you would like to see the EQ tutorial for drafting the teeny, tiny heart block used in the video, click here.

The font I used in the Love to Quilt design was Angelica Script Font.  I obtained it from Creative Fabrica.  This website offers a free font every day and this was one of the fonts they offered for free earlier this year.   It is called a Modern Calligraphy Font.

If you are debating whether a Cricut is in your future, you can download a free copy of Design Space here and follow my process to create your own Love to Quilt design.

Tech Know Quilters is a membership of Electric Quilt 8 owners who are mastering Electric Quilt through online training.  At the end of their January class, they were encouraged to apply what they learned during the month of January.  We had a fair number of completed projects this month -- showing how they have moved from design to construction.

During January, I introduced a new class in which we drafted 12 different calendar quilts. Here are some of the blocks and quilts from the class.

Tech Know Quilter's Masters members have been in Tech Know Quilters for at least 12 months.  They are committed to expanding their use of EQ through design.  Their challenge for January was to create their own calendar block or quilt.

Tech Know Quilters will also post designs as they work through their monthly lessons.  Some will follow the design exactly as laid out.  Others will choose to exercise their creativity muscle and expand upon the lesson.

My current plans are to open enrollment to new members at the end of March.  Invitations to join will be sent out to those on the wait list. Learn more about Tech Know Quilters and sign up for the wait list here, 

Last week, I shared drafting a postcard quilt that had a heart, in a heart, in a heart.  If you would like to create this pattern for yourself, please check out the EQ8 tutorial in last weeks bog.  

I mentioned I had purchased a couple of new items for foundation piecing and decided to try they out when constructing the postcard quilt. 

• See my review of  Foundation Stuff compared to the newsprint I typically use.   
• Plus, see how to use the Triple-Duty 8" Seam Allowance Guide in constructing the Teeny Tiny Heart Postcard. 

Both products were purchased from georgesiciliano.com

When doing foundations, we need a base that has printed foundations that we will use as guidelines for sewing.  The new product I tried was Foundation Stuff.  
​
Here is a personal comparison of the three foundations I currently use.  I printed out my Teeny Tiny Hearts foundations on all three.

This is the brand I have been using for the last five plus years.  It goes through the printer without a problem and it is super easy to cut and to tear off.  Of the brands I was comparing, it was the hardest to see through -- but newsprint will darken over time (and the paper was purchased a number of years ago).  The biggest downside is that the paper can easily tear ahead of the removal process -- particularly when working with micro foundations.

The current price of the paper on Amazon Prime is $13.92 for 100 sheets.

The EQ Printables newsprint was a little lighter than color than the Carol Doak's paper (and as a result a bit easier to see through).  This could be because the paper is stored in a sealed bag which gives it less exposure to light and air.

It printed beautifully and appears to handle just like the Carol Doak's newsprint.

It retails for $9.95 for 100 sheets on the EQ website (and on my website as well).  This does not include shipping.

This is lightweight foundation material created by George & Virgia Siciliano.  The cover notes the following.  "Stabilizes fabric during stitching allowing for accurate seam lines.  It is durable, transparent and does not stretch.  Can be left in your project for added stability.  It's washable & dry-cleanable.  Can be marked with pen, iron-on transfers & rubber stamps.  Will go through printers and copiers."

When doing my miniature heart block (with the first heart foundation being under 3/4"), I found there was no splitting of the foundation during the sewing process.  I had set my stitches to 1.2 on my machine since I had seams that were less than 1/8" in length.  Very impressive.

It is a nice white material and is much easier to see through than the other two brands.  It was soft  -- as a result I would be comfortable leaving it in my projects.  But it also seemed as easy to remove as the other brands.  So leaving it in versus removal can be your choice.

It did do a nice job of printing -- however, my paper was slightly wrinkled when I removed it from my printer.  The wrinkles appear to have happened after the print as I was able to iron them out and did not notice an issue with distortion.  I ran three different sheets through my  Brother Laserjet printer with similar results.  I would recommend testing this will your own printer.

It retails on www.georgesiciliano.com for $15 for 50 sheets  plus a $3 charge for shipping.  So this is the most expensive of the options.

For most of my foundations, I will use the EQ Printables Quilter's Newsprint.  The ease of running through the printer and the price point being the biggest advantages.

For minis, I will use Foundation Stuff, as I did appreciate that the foundation didn't fall apart during the pull-back, nor did it split when sewing my very small stitches.

While purchasing Foundation Stuff, I also saw that George Siciliano had a Triple-Duty Seam Allowance Guide.  I was curious how it compared to the Add-A-Quarter and Add-an-Eighth tools from CM Tools.  I typically use the Add-A-Quarter guide for all my foundation blocks and it is the tool I recommend in my foundation patterns.  .

I will share my experience with the Triple-Duty Seam Allowance Guide (along with using  Foundation Stuff)  in my video for the week.

I had a few nightmares with uploading videos from my phone to my computer and needed to abandon the first video where I sewed the center of my heart.  However, since the primary purpose of the video was to share how I use the Triple-Duty 8" Seam Allowance Guide, this should give you a good idea of the process.

I've now completed two postcards.  These are really a lot of fun.

Would you like a downloadable copy of the foundation for the Teeny Tiny Heart block?  You can download it here. 

Make sure to double check the sizing before using the foundations asprinters can distort pdfs.  Two copies of the block are included on the page.