Last week I shared a tutorial on how to create one of a kind snowflakes using EQ8 and I have been seeing some great creations on social media.  

If you missed the tutorial, you will definitely want to go back and check it out.

This week I have remained obsessed with these snowflakes and really want to use them in a quilt project.  I quickly realized that they were pretty intricate and cutting them out by hand would be super tedious.  So I decided it was time to pull out my Silhouette Cameo (it is the one without a number) and see if I could cut them there.

This ended up being a little more involved that I had planned as the first few snowflakes were a disaster -- fabric was shifting and cuts were not clean.  However I had some conversations with others on Facebook and kept playing.  And after a number of different experiments I finally found the "secret formula" for cutting these out.

​I will share all in my current tutorial.  How I transfer designs from EQ to the Silhouette Design Studio along with my suggestions for a successful cut.

I want to give a shout out to C J Tinkle.  She has created numerous appliques using her Silhouette Cameo 3.  She mentioned to me that she had successfully used the following settings -- which were different than what I ended up with -- but a great starting point..  So it really is important to experiment and see what works for your machine.

I also started researching other digital cutting options -- and found that Cricut has a digital cutting machine that uses a rotary cutting blade.  It is more expensive than the Silhouette -- but may be worth it if it works as well as the advertisements.  Anybody out there currently using the Cricut Maker for cutting fabric appliques?  I would be interested in your opinion.

I am currently at a retreat and fused and stitched 3 of the snowflakes for a mini-quilt.  Here is the result.  Now on to design new borders.

Are you ready to finally master using the applique tools in Electric Quilt 8?  I have an online class that will provide you everything you need to get started in using these tools within EQ8. ​

I liked cutting out paper snowflakes as a child, although I think most were octagon shapes.  I found a fun site online that showed how to make hexagon paper snowflakes.

After working through the tutorial, I began to think about the easiest way to make these using EQ8.  Check out how I chose to make mine using the applique tools in this free EQ8 video tutorial.

Once you get started, these can be rather addictive.  Here are four different designs I created.  And I can see there may need to be more snowflakes in my future.

Here is a quilt I drafted using those blocks.

If you choose to make your own paper snowflakes, feel free to post on the Learning EQ Facebook group.  If you are not a member, just request membership and answer a few questions.  I would love to add you and I would love to see your creations.

Are you ready to finally master using the applique tools in Electric Quilt 8?  I have an online class that will provide you everything you need to get started in using these tools within EQ8. 

After celebrating Christmas with family in North Dakota, I returned a day early (beating the blizzard).  In hindsight -- it was a very good decision.  Now I have been busy preparing for 2019 and welcoming a new group of members to the Tech Know Quilter group.

For this blog post, I decided to feature some of the amazing work that has been happening in the Tech Know Quilter group.  I am so impressed by both the design skills and the skills in using EQ8 by this talented group.

At the end of each month, I like to challenge the Tech Know Quilter members to create a block or a quilt that applies the lessons they learned during the previous month. 

With the Advent Quilt challenge, I haven't had a chance to highlight some of their most recent work.

We are currently on day 22 of the Advent Calendar Challenge.  The challenge for today was "read the Christmas story".    I decided I wanted a nativity block that was foundation piecing friendly.  Learn how I chose to draft this using EasyDraw in this weeks free EQ8 video tutorial.

Here is the block from the video.

Here are the blocks presented last week.

My updated Advent Calendar  tree -- only three blocks to go.

Are you just getting started with Electric Quilt 8 and need some help? 

Shoot for the Stars is designed to get you started with Electric Quilt 8 through training delivered straight to your inbox.  This series includes 14 short (ie. 5-10 minute) videos delivered over the course of a month allowing you to learn the basics of this complex program in bite size increments.

​The class is currently on sale for $25 (regular $35).  Join now.