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Critter Motifs Update Excerpt of Critter Motifs drawn in EQ8 by Kari Schell
Since our Stay at Home order, I have been doing regular live drawing events. It has provided me an opportunity to interact with people on a regular basis during this isolation period and improve my basic drawing skills.
I current have over 30 motifs and will be bring this exercise to a close at the end of the month. 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 live events are done 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. Drafting a Monkey Motif Using EQ8
Here is Curious George from the video.
Curious George Drafted in EQ8 by Kari Schell
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 March class, they were encouraged to apply what they learned during the month of March.
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..
Other Projects
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.
Carol Mallozzi
Tech Know Quilter Pieced Projects
Electric Quilt just released the Dear Jane Add-on for EQ. As I have been playing with the new software this week, I have also been reflecting on my Dear Jane journey. In this post I will share a part of that journey (and a few of my Dear Jane quilts). I will also share a really cool new feature from the add-on software in my EQ8 video tutorial.
My Dear Jane Journey
My love of Dear Jane began in June 2000 (almost 20 years ago) when a new guild was being started by JoAnn Atikins (now the owner of Four Seasons Quilt Shop)..
My original plan was to do a few blocks and make a small quilt based on the blocks in Brenda Popadakis' book Dear Jane: The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt. I ended up creating my own layout, including thirteen original triangles and five additional blocks. There are a total of 174 blocks, 68 triangles and 4 corners – not including the unused duplicate triangles as a result of a tracking glitch. (I needed the new add-on software back in 2000.) There are 421 separate fabrics. Based on a purchase of a fat quarter for each fabric, I estimate the quilt cost $950 in supplies alone. All blocks were redrafted using Electric Quilt 4 to aide in my construction. The quilt took five years to complete.  Kari with her Dear Jane Journey quilt in 2005
Those in the Dear Jane Minnesota Quilt Guild became some of my closest quilting friends. One year we did a road trip to Shipshewana for a Jane Stickle retreat.
Pam, Kari, Elizabeth, Morgan, Sherry, JoAnn and Deb in Shipshewana
We also began doing our own retreats, in the winter at Four Seasons Quilt shop and in summer at St. Bens College. We also had numerous exchanges and challenges that had a Dear Jane aspect to them.
As I was writing this post, I attempted to track down some of my quilts inspired by Dear Jane. Here were the ones I could locate in my stacks of quilts.
Signature Exchange
In this exchange, each participant did the same block All blocks needed to be signed and dated. Each participant was required to produce a block that was representative of their larger “Jane quilt”. Since there were many different fabric themes, the biggest part of the challenge was figuring out how to put them all together. 
Taupe Exchange
For this exchange each participant picked a Dear Jane block (we eliminated many of the “easy blocks” from the options) and made 16 blocks (6” finished). These blocks were exchanged in May 2009 and by August 11 of the 14 participants had their quilts completed (in time for our first Dear Jane show). 
Blue and Yellow Exchange
In 2001/2002 there were a series of exchanges with approximately 10-15 participants in each exchange. Each person chose a different block from Dear Jane and made one for each of the other participants. This particular quilt was featured in the original Dear Jane software released by Electric Quilt in 2003. 
Dear Jane Circle of Friends by Kari Schell
Being a huge Dear Jane fan, I was super excited to hear that Electric Quilt was updating their Dear Jane software. The new version is compatible with EQ8 and can be purchased for either a MAC or a PC.
Dear Jane Project Tracking
My latest Dear Jane adventure is attempting the blocks at 2.25" finished size. I've been stalled on this for a long time (more than care to think about). I am not very happy about the quality of some of my completed blocks and trying to decide if I should redo some of them or possibly even abandon the project. But I pulled out my finished blocks and decided to use them to test the new Dear Jane project tracker feature included in the Dear Jane Add-on Software just released by EQ.
I laid each of my pieced blocks on a piece of foam core board and then just snapped individual pictures on my phone. 
Kari's Dear Jane blocks in 2.25" finished sizes
Everything else was done in Electric Quilt as shown in this video tutorial.
Kari's Dear Jane Progress Report using the Dear Jane Add-on Software for EQ8
Dear Jane Add-on for EQ8
Electric Quilt has informed me that they have a special introductory price for the new add-on software through April 30, 2020 and gave me permission to share their offer with you. The regular price is $49.95. The introductory price is $32.47. You can purchase directly from EQ here.
With the Covid-19 challenges, I am staying put this Easter. I will still celebrate Easter--with online services hosted by my church. We are learning how to do church through Zoom and I appreciate still being able to see friends via this method. But I am looking forward to the day we can meet again in person.
When thinking about how I could share Easter with my family, I decided I would send the North Dakota clan an Easter postcard. I just got it done -- so it won't actually reach them in time. But hopefully they will enjoy the late offering. In my video tutorial, I will share how to draft this in EQ8.
Here is the quilt from the video.
Happy Easter Postcard created in EQ8 by Kari Schell
I chose to foundation piece the blocks. If you are new to foundation piecing, I share some of my favorite foundation piecing tips and products in this tutorial.
If you would like the foundations and some basic instructions for this project, please download the pdf instructions by clicking on the picture below. 
EQ8 Drawing Blocks
The EQ8 Drawing Blocks book does a deep dive in drafting blocks in all the EQ8 block worktable options. This is a great way to master working with EQ8.
Purchase a copy of the book from On Point Quilter for $5 off. The price has been adjusted in the store to reflect the sale price. I would be happy to autograph a copy of the book if you wish.
Price: (normally $29.95) On sale for $24.95 through April 15, 2020.
Face Mask Production
Across the country -- and I suspect across the world -- quilters have been stepping up to the challenge of supplying face masks to hospitals, clinics, care facilities and essential workers who need to stay safe during this pandemic.
There are a lot of videos on how to sew these masks. I decided that the simple ones to sew made the most sense as more people can participate and they take much less time per mask to produce. For my first set of masks, I followed the video tutorial provided Deaconess Hospital. My one modification was using two different fabrics for the front and back of the masks. I used a batik for the front as I had read that a tighter weave cotton is better than a loose weave. For the backs I used flannel. It is important that users not get confused and flip the direction of the masks as that puts them at a greater risk.
What to Do without Elastic
I am now down to my last yard of elastic and elastic is hard to come by. It seems we are all working on masks and have been exhausting the supply of this resource.
I read that you can replace the elastic with four ties. The ties will be cut 1-1/2" x 18" and double folded. Here is a video showing how to sew the ties. For my next set of masks, I plan to follow the instructions in this video for sewing the ties and will replace the elastic as shown in the first video with these ties. However, I think I will stick with using just two layers for my masks as that was what was requested by my local hospital. Create a Cutting Chart to be Efficient in Fabric Usage
Since I want to be efficient in the use of my fabric and I have a very large collection of Fat Quarters -- I wanted to figure out how to make the best use out of each fat quarter. For any non-quilters -- a fat quarter is a piece of fabric that is approximate 18" x 20".
Using Electric Quilt, I create cutting charts for two fat quarters. Each set of two fat quarters will produce three masks with very little waste. In my video tutorial, I will share how you can use EQ8 to create your own cutting charts -- either for yourself or to share with someone else working on masks.
You are welcome to use my cutting charts.
With two one yard cuts of fabric, you can cut out enough ties and mask panels for 12 face masks.
How many masks are you hoping to complete?
Critter Motif Update
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