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As you may have read in the last post, I have no experience using EQ Stitch. I don't even have an embroidery machine. I did own one for about a year -- but I really struggled with it and decided machine embroidery was not for me. The post this week, may have me rethinking that decision.
I knew I wanted to offer the option of embroidery designs in the exchange as they really provide a wonderful way to decorate these eggs. Since this wasn't my area of specialty, I reached out to Yvonne Menear. She is an expert in using EQ Stitch and has even written the EQ Stitch Companion Book offered through Electric Quilt.
I was ecstatic when she agreed to create a video on decorating an Easter egg using EQ Stitch. This video covers creating the egg, creating an applique design, adding embroidery, and then creating redwork. And all in six minutes. This woman is seriously talented. Click on this link for the video.
Are you hooked? I was amazed at how easy this appears to be. I am rethinking whether I need an embroidery machine and this softwear.
Yvonne Menear Additional Information
Yvonne Menear is an international speaker and educator for the home sewing industry. She concentrates on teaching quilting, machine embroidery, quilt design, digitizing machine embroidery, and teaching basic computer skills for the home sewer.
Yvonne has become the EQStitch guru for The Electric Quilt Company. Her expertise has helped in the development of the EQStitch digitizing plug-in, as well as provided great learning outlets for users, through classes, lectures and retreats, a YouTube channel, an EQStitch Yahoo Group, a Learning EQStitch book and online classes at EQ University.
Her Website: http://www.yvonnemenear.com/
EQ University Classes: Yvonne offers two online classes using EQ Stitch. Click on the images below to get a complete class description and register.
Electric Quilt Books and Software
Easter Egg Exchange - Final Call
Just a reminder that your Electric Quilt and Art and Stitch Designs are due by this Tuesday. Send them to me at [email protected].
If you need more information, please check out one of the following blog posts: I look forward to seeing your designs.
Happy quilting.
Kari Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
Last week I did a video in Art and Stitch that showed how I drafted an Easter egg and made the design continuous so I could easily stitch it out my my longarm. I haven't heard from many of you. I'm hoping it was the nice weather or maybe spring break. It is still not to late to create your own decorated egg. For those that were having some issues with the video, I have a suggestion. Make sure you click on the title of the post before running the video. I found when I did this, I was able to run it on my desktop, tablet and even my old 4S Iphone. If it still doesn't work, you may want to try a different time of day (when the internet in your neighborhood is a little less busy). I personally will try to have shorter videos going forward; as I also suspect that is part of the issue. Electric Quilt Applique Easter Egg
Easter Egg Contest (really this is just an exchange)As I mentioned last week, I am sponsoring an Easter Egg exchange. Please feel free to submit either an Art and Stitch Design or an Electric Quilt (applique or embroidery) design. Do you need some ideas for decorating your egg -- try a Google Search. There are lots of options out there.  Here are the guidelines: Anyone who submits a design is a winner (but you must submit a design to win). Those who submit a design will have access to a members only page on my website. From this page they can download files from all the exchange participants. However, you must have the source software to be able to use the file. If you do not submit a design, you will not be able to receive the files. Once you have completed the design, label it with your name. Send me the file at [email protected]. For those using EQ Stitch, please send me a PJ7 file. (If you attached stitches, you can send the P7E file as well.) To create the PJ7 file, click File>Export Project as PJ7 (No Stiching). Due date is Tuesday, March 31st. Here are the files with the basic egg shape.
National Sewing DayAre you celebrating National Quilting Day today? I will be celebrating by meeting with one of my small groups for a bit of sewing and some serious fun. Happy quilting. Kari Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
Last week, "It's a Quilt Thing" offered a free digital pattern for a quilted placement. "Welcome Easter" has chicks and bunnies which can be colored with Crayola Crayons. The coloring can be made permanent by heat setting the crayons with a warm iron. Or, if you would like to use them again next year, you can just wash them. I immediately needed to put some muslin on my machine and stitch out a number of those placemats. Then I had a little room left on the muslin and decided I needed a couple of oval placemats as well. I needed to do some modification of the design to make it work for the ovals. I found this worked best in Art and Stitch.
Then I thought -- what if I just placed the bunny in an egg shape for a small "mug rug"? Back to Art and Stitch.
Creating my own Easter Egg DesignsAs this was stitching out I began thinking about all the other possible ways to decorate my egg. Also -- did I want a stitch design or did I want to create applique shapes? Should I do this in Art and Stitch or in Electric Quilt? I decided to start with some basic zigzags and circles and played in both Electric Quilt and Art and Stitch.
This week I will share the video showing how I created the Art and Stitch egg (including how I made the stitching continuous). This was why I chose to put my circles in a row. Next week I will share how I created the Electric Quilt design. If you watch both videos, you will better understand the differences in the drawing tools. I share a few new tools in this video including the tracing wizard and transform. Easter Egg Contest
As I was working on my Easter egg, I thought this would be a fun idea for another exchange. This one will be open to users of Electric Quilt, EQ Stitch, Art and Stitch, and Art and Stitch Plus. Anyone who submits a design is a winner (but you must submit a design to win). Those who submit a design will have access to a members only page on my website. From this page they can download files from all the exchange participants. However, you must have the source software to be able to use the file. If you do not submit a design, you will not be able to receive the files. Once you have completed the design, label it with your name. Send me the file at [email protected]. For those using the embroidery programs, please also send me a screenshot of your finished design as I don't own the embroidery software modules. Due date is Saturday, March 28th. Here are the files with the basic egg shape.
How the member only pages work: When I receive your submission, I will set you up as a member using your current e-mail address. You will receive an email asking you to set a personal password for the site. I will link your email address with the private page. You will need to log in on my site to be able to access the private page. Membership is only required for the private pages. The login button will change to "My Account". You will then be able to choose the page to access. I will post pictures of the submitted designs on an upcoming blog post with your name (but will not provide access to the files). Etsy Shop Now Open
Happy quilting. Kari Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
Antique Tulip Applique Quilt
Have you use the clip block feature before? In a layout like this one, I find it useful. Here is the final quilt (EQ rendition). If you end up making the quilt, I would love to see photos.  St. Cloud Heritage Club MeetingThursday evening I was privileged to be able to present my lecture on Specialty Rulers to the quilt guild in St. Cloud. It was also fun to get first peak at their raffle quilt -- it was amazing with over 3000 pieces in it. I am looking forward to attending their show next fall.  Heritage Club Quilters 2015 Raffle Quilt  Heritage Club Quilters Guild Meeting God's Light Warms the SoulI am currently exhibiting 11 of my quilts in a private showing at North Heights Lutheran Church. The exhibit is entitled "God's Light Warms the Soul". It includes original designs (including Sun Rays, Whim Wham Stars, It's a Mystery and Be My Valentine) along with quilts I made from purchased designs. The address is: North Heights Lutheran Church 1700 West Hwy. 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112 The closing date for the exhibit has been extended until the end of March. So there is still time to see the quilts! Elsa and Anna Quilt Update The Elsa and Anna panel quilt is now finished. I even have the binding completed. This was a lot of fun to quilt with textures for the clothing, and lots of snowflakes throughout the rest of the quilt. Below are close-ups, so you can get a better view of the quilting. I received a question on how I lined up the creative fill I completed in Art and Stitch with the actual quilting space on my machine. True confessions -- I didn't. I ended up bringing in the creative fill before clipping. I created a "block" by outlining the clothing using the trace feature on my Intelliquilter. I then clipped the creative fill using my newly created block. Featured Pattern - Smiling Irish Eyes
Happy quilting. Kari Sign up for my newsletter to stay current on what's happening in my studio and learn more quilting tips. As a thank you, I'll send you a FREE pattern for this small maple leaf quilt.
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Kari SchellElectric Quilt Expert and Educator and Pattern Designer. Categories
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