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Tree of Life Prayer Shawl Quilt

2/27/2021

 

Heads Up on a Free EQ8 Mystery

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Are you ready to take your Electric Quilt 8 skills to the next level?  I will be sharing how to draft a series of newly designed piecing friendly blocks that would be suitable for a Spring themed quilt.   You will be the first to see these new designs. 

This free challenge is designed for both beginners to Electric Quilt 8 and those that would like to expand their bock drawing skills to a whole new level. My goal is to encourage you to spend a small amount of time using Electric Quilt each day to allow you to become much more comfortable with the software.

Although the mystery is FREE, you must sign up to receive the video tutorials. The mystery will start on Wednesday, March 10th.
Learn More About the Spring Fever Mystery
Enroll in the Spring Fever Mystery

Tree of Life Prayer Shawl Quilt

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Tree of Life Prayer Shawl Quilt (68" x 34-3/4")
A pastor at my church requested prayer quilts for a local nursing home.  He wanted something tangible that could be used to pray for the resident.  Rather than a full size quilt, we realized that it would be more appropriate to do something the size of a prayer shawl that could be draped over the shoulders of the person.  

Fortunately there were lots of posts on prayer crocheted prayer shawls and I found the size was general between 24 and 36 inches high with a length of around 70 inches.

I didn't want to create something too complicated, but thought it would be appropriate to use a block with a Biblical reference or name.

In this blog post, I will share how to draft one of my designs using Electric Quilt.  The tree block is designed with a 10 x 10 grid and finishes at 10" x 10".  Since the block was directional, it looked better when placed on point, so I merged it with an on point block.  A 10 inch block will measure 14-1/4" on the diagonal.  

For those of you that are into the math, the size of the center block was backed into after creating an on-point tile square border.  An on-point tile square border ensures that all blocks (patches) have the same width and height.  It will add a spacer border so that everything fits.  To eliminate the spacer border, you can increase the size of blocks and border prior to the tile on point border.   What I chose to adjust was the width of the center block so that everything fit. 
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Finished Sizes for Center of Prayer Quilt
If you are not into the math, just use the numbers as laid out in the video.  I've verified that they will work.

Note that in Electric Quilt we always design in finished sizes (before seam allowances).
I used the default palette to color the quilt.  But I am debating scrapping out the blocks and combining them with 2 background fabrics and along with a border fabric.
My quilt group at church will be creating a number of prayer quilts for this project.  I look forward to sharing pictures at we get them pieced and quilted.

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Happy quilting.

​Kari

Join the On Point Quilter weekly newsletter and receive regular tips and inspiration on using Electric Quilt 8 along with the  Free 12 Top
Tips for EQ8 video guide.
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Tech Know Quilters January 2021 Showcase

2/20/2021

 
My mother (who is in Assisted Living) received her second vaccine a little over two weeks ago.  I decided to surprise her by taking her out for a late birthday meal.  It will be her first time in over a year that she has been able to leave her Assisted Living Center.  Unless you count the trip by ambulance to the ER after a fall.   

So instead of working on an Electric Quilt tutorial for this blog post I will be driving to North Dakota today for a short trip.  I already have an idea for next week  that I think you will enjoy.

Be inspired by the showcase of projects Tech Know Quilter members have been doing.

January Apply What You Learned Challenge

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. 

Tech Know Quilters is open to new members only a few times a year.  You can sign up for the wait list here and we will notify you of the next open enrollment period.   ​

​I love having people at different stages of the EQ journey submitting designs.  I am so proud of this group of quilt designers.
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Alla Blanca just started in Tech Know Quilters
Alla Blanca - I have had a FQ bundle with associated panel for a decade. Wanted to put squares from the panel into my "your blocks in a box" layout, which I have only used for 12" sampler blocks in the past. In Working with Fabrics, I was able to find the fabric on Moda's website, resize the panel, and fussy cut the panel squares to fit in the quilt. It's a busy set of fabrics, so maybe I won't use them all, but this was a super-helpful unit to get me using this 2011 fabric!  Alla plans to piece her quilt.
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Joyce Drenth I was in the Master Dresden class this month and utilized several of my blocks to create a new setting
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Lynne Maramieri Working with Fabric Images, Lesson 9 Advanced Rotation. I imported fabric from Northcott to re-colour this quilt. Having lots of fun!
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Elisa Welch Cossey-Brock The first quilt I saw that I fell in love with was a bargello quilt. So excited to learn how. I never follow all the instructions so here is my modern bargello. I hope you enjoy my craziness! (This was created from one 24 inch block.)
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Karen Eddie Neal Finished designing the Dresden for the tie quilt. But still not sure if I might want to change something. Hopefully I can start making it soon as the colors will be quiet different as I used what was in EQ.
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Camille Lechliter I LOVE the Reproduction Quilts class! Here's one I found in a 1987 book - "Fans Galore for Modern Quilters" by Betty Boyink. The block is called "Milady's Fan Variation (Feathered Fan Friends)", The traditional "Milady's Fan" is one of "Aunt Martha's" patterns.
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Camille Lechliter Here's another quilt block pattern I found in "Quiltin' Time", Vol. 1, c1982, by Maxine Utterback and Cheryl Zibell. It's called "Gordian Knot."
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Edith Craig I am in Month 1 where we discussed fabric libraries, placing fabrics in a quilt, block libraries, and changing the colors within the block. I have created 2 versions of this simple quilt using blocks and fabrics from the EQ libraries.
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Edith Craig Version 2
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Jackie Rigert I have all the paper piece templates, and fabric ready to go for an illusion quilt.
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Sandra Roybal DoYouEQ Project (January 2018) Ready to be quilted.
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Sandy Roybal Finished a 2020 Mystery. One less UFO!
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Sandy Roybal 2020 Mystery Back
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Sharon Kazel I took the Modern Quilts class this month and enjoyed learning about custom set quilt designs.
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Julie Pedersen This is my quilt that I designed for the last lesson of the Masters Modern Dresden Class. I love this.
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Moira Hewitt I took mix and match medallion borders, I learned about the swath tool, and how to draft corner blocks.
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Kristy Goodin Soard I took Kari's Masters Modern Dresden class and wanted to use our classmate, Reed Johnson's, new fabric line, Coco Chic to create the majority of my quilt. I had fun making a modern looking quilt, and Reed's fabrics are sensational.
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Dorothee Ilgner In the dresden class I learned how to bring a block from poly draw into easy draw. Using the partitioning tool I drew some more lines to get this block with a slight 3-dimensional look.
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Linda Carlson Masters Modern Dresden (inspired by Lesson 6)
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Dotty Smalley My goal in the TKQ Modern Dresden class was to create a Dresden using strips from a jelly roll. Here is my design.
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Dotty Smalley Here is the quilt I made using part of a jelly roll. The Dresden was made using Me and My Sister's Double Wide Dresden ruler and the star used The Strip Tube Ruler by Cozy Quilt Designs. Thank you Kari Schell for all of the great lessons.
Join the Wait List to Learn About the next Enrollment for TKQ

Dresden City or Town Quilt Challenge

The Master's challenge for January was to design a Dresden city or town quilt.  The inspiration for this challenge came from the a pattern by Persimmon Dreams (Kim Lapacek).   Also check out her Pinterest page.   The goal was not to copy her pattern, but to create a circular quilt comprised of homes in your real or imaginary town.  
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Jan Guerard
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Carole Fox
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Kristy Goodin Soard When I went to Pinterest to research for the Master's Challenge for Modern Dresdens, I found one that was made with Cherrywood Fabrics that I thought was gorgeous. So I simply recreated that quilt.
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Linda Carlson
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Pat Olivier I have admired these village quilts for a long time. I would never have considered it a Dresden. Now I need to make it.
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Tina Rohde EQ Drawing
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Tina Rohde Here is the finished wall hanging.
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Joyce Drenth Sparked by Alex Anderson's current birdhouse project, I decided to make my houses 'bird' houses! I used Andover's Century Solids for my quilt.
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Curryanne Hostetler My Master's Challenge as a Table runner.
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Holly Wilson
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Holly Wilson
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Pat Olivier This was definitely a challenge. It is my subdivision where old retired hippie's live.
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Julie Pedersen Here is my City at Night dresden.
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Nancy Haddad Lacey Halloween Houses
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Kathleen Scargle McCormick I decided to use fabric designed by Reed Johnson and enter this in the EQ challenge too....2 challenges with one pattern. Liked the fussy cutting and the work of the windows, and some details being done by the fabric. Great fabric, Reed and a fun challenge from EQ and Kari!
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Joy Hegglund
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Dorothee Ilgner Does anybody of you know the 'gone away lake' stories from Elizabeth Enright? When thinking of this challenge I remembered the sweet stories I loved as a child. I depicted a row of summer houses around a lake with the mirror images in the water. In the middle of the lake is Craneycrow, a small island.
Join the Wait List to Learn About the next Enrollment for TKQ

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Happy quilting.

​Kari

Join the On Point Quilter weekly newsletter and receive regular tips and inspiration on using Electric Quilt 8 along with the  Free 12 Top
Tips for EQ8 video guide.
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My First Electric Quilt Purchase

2/13/2021

 
Scroll down for a free Electric Quilt 8 tutorial on two quilt options featuring heart blocks of two different sizes.

Why Did You Buy Electric Quilt?

This week, someone asked me why I purchased Electric Quilt.  My first EQ purchase was quite a while ago (back in the EQ4 days).  But there were two problems I was dealing with that I believed EQ could help me solve.
Issue #1 -- Quilt Pictures without a Pattern

I was still a relatively new quilter and had begun buying a collection of books, patterns and magazines.  In one magazine I saw a picture of a quilt that combined Wheel blocks  with Jacob's Ladder blocks.  The pictured quilt really appealed to me, but unfortunately there were no instructions on how to make the quilt. ​
I purchased some graph paper and colored pencils and ultimately I was able to draft both of the blocks.  But it was a pretty frustrating experience and then I had to figure out sizing, cutting information, and yardage.  

I ultimately was able to finish the quilt.  But I kept thinking that there needed to be a better way. ​
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Issue #2 -- Errors in Pattern Instructions

I had another quilt that I worked on from a pattern.  The quilt was a full-size quilt.  I closely followed the instructions in the pattern to cut out and piece the blocks.  However, I started noticing that I had to do a fair amount of "stretching" to get my pieces to come together.    I went back and double checked that I had cut the pieces correctly and then double checked my seam allowances.  Both were ok.  I ultimately took out the graph paper and redrew the block and recalculated the sizes needed for the triangles.  The sizes were off by 3/8 of an inch.  Unfortunately I did not have enough fabric to fix the problem.  Ultimately I trashed the entire quilt wasting about $80 in fabric.

I also began talking to my quilting friends who shared with me that there were certain designers that always had errors in their patterns.  This was a bit distressing as the quilts appealed to me and I wanted to be able to make them without a lot of problems.
Solving My Problems
My purchase of Electric Quilt 4 was motivated by wanting to be able to double check the math before working with purchased patterns along with the ability to easily draft a favorite quilt and have cutting instructions along with fabric yardage information. 

Ultimately I learned that I could do so much more with Electric Quilt.  It is my #1 quilting tool and is used with every quilt I make.  And it has entertained me by allowing me to draft a whole bunch of quilts that I will never find the time to make.
Would You Like to Share Your Story?

I would love to know why you made the decision to purchase your first version of Electric Quilt.  Was there a particular problem you were trying to solve or was there a particular feature that appealed to you?  Send me a note, or post a response in the comments below.

​Or are you still on the fence -- debating your first EQ purchase?

Simple Heart Quilt Options

In My Favorite Hearts blog post I shared how to draft  two pieced heart blocks and how to create a custom set quilt that incorporates the blocks.  I also shared how to add a block (or motif) from another EQ project file.
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4" Heart Block Drafted in EasyDraw
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6" Heart Block Drafted in EasyDraw
I also released a new pattern that includes my favorite technique for constructing these blocks and also included some simple applique that can be cut out using your favorite Electric Cutting system (Cricut, Silhouette or Brother Scan N Cut).
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The full pattern with the bonus cutting files is on sale for the new release price of $5.  The sale ends February 14, 2021.
Purchase Valentine Quilt Pattern
In this weeks free EQ8 video tutorial, I will share will you two other quilt options for those 4" and 6" pieced heart blocks.
Here is the horizontal strip quilt from the video.  This quilt finishes (before binding) 30" x 38".  It includes nine six inch blocks and 10 four inch blocks.
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Here is the horizontal quilt with sashing from the video.  This quilt finishes (before binding) 34" x 44".  It includes six six inch blocks and 16 four inch blocks.
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A Few Additional Heart Quilts 

I was excited to see pictures of your heart quilts inspired by last weeks free tutorial.  Thanks so much for sharing your creations.
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Happy quilting.

​Kari

Join the On Point Quilter weekly newsletter and receive regular tips and inspiration on using Electric Quilt 8 along with the  Free 12 Top
Tips for EQ8 video guide.
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My Favorite Hearts

2/6/2021

 

Sharing Your Heart

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Every time I share a quilt, I feel I am sharing a piece of my heart with the person gifted with the quilt. 

This last week, I learned that a recipient of a quilt that I created with some friends from my church passed away.  The family shared with us that she was covered with the quilt during her last days on earth. I like to think that it comforted both her and her family to know that she was loved. 

My guess is that many of you also express your love in the quilts you make for others.

My Favorite Hearts

This week I decided to share how to draft a couple of my favorite pieced heart blocks.  These blocks were originally drawn for a class I created on Calendar Quilts.  This Electric Quilt 8 class is available to Tech Know Quilter members and includes a quilt for every month of the year.  
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Selected projects from the Calendar Quilts class available for Tech Know Quilter members.
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In the class, I also included how to combine the quilts with a calendar (also designed in Electric Quilt) that could be used as a screen share on your computer.

If you are a current Tech Know Quilter member and are interested in adding on this class, send us a note so we can send you the discount code for the add-on class.  If you are not a current Tech Know Quilter member, you can learn more about Tech Know Quilters and sign up for the wait list for the next open enrollment period here.
In the following free tutorial I will share how to draft the two pieced blocks and how to create a custom set quilt that incorporates the blocks.  I also share how to add a block (or motif) from another EQ project file.
Here are the blocks from the video.
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Four Inch Heart Block
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Six Inch Heart Block
The blocks and quilt were colored using the Riley Blake collection New Dawn designed by Citrus and Mint Designs.  I liked the pinks along with the modern vibe of the fabric.  They were included in the Stash 2020 Download Collection 2 that is available for purchase from Electric Quilt.  

You can also download the the swatches directly from Riley Blake.  The collection was released in August 2020 --- so it should still be available in quilt shops and online.

Here is my designed Valentine quilt using the New Dawn fabrics.
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Valentine Quilt designed by Kari Schell using New Dawn fabrics.

New Pattern Release -- Valentine

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Valentine Quilt by Kari Schell
I just released a new pattern that use the folded corner technique to easily piece the quilt along with adding some simple applique. 

The pattern also includes files for using your favorite electronic cutting system for the the applique elements.  This includes a svg file sized for Cricut Design Space, a CWPRJ file for Brother Canvas Workspace and a Silhouette V3 file for Silhouette Studio users. 

​The full pattern with the bonus cutting files is on sale this week, for the new release price of $5.  The sale ends February 14, 2021.
Purchase Valentine Quilt Pattern

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Happy quilting.

​Kari

Join the On Point Quilter weekly newsletter and receive regular tips and inspiration on using Electric Quilt 8 along with the  Free 12 Top
Tips for EQ8 video guide.
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    Kari Schell

    Electric Quilt Expert and Educator and Pattern Designer.

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  • Blog
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  • EQ Training
    • Tech Know Quilters Electric Quilt 8 Membership Training
    • Shoot for the Stars with EQ8
    • Electric Quilt 8 Sneak Peek
    • Scheduling a Workshop or Lecture
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  • Free Stuff
    • Other Video Tutorials