Inspired by a Hungry Caterpillar Panel
When looking at panels this week, I came across these two picnic panels from Andover Fabric. I saw the panels on a number of online stores -- but I used the images from Andover's site.
Each panel measures approximately 24 x 44. I thought I would share my idea for incorporating the blocks in a new quilt. The tutorial will also discuss figuring out the size of the each of the squares and creating a block that incorporates the images. And the design could be adapted with a different panel of square images.
There are additional fabrics from Andover that could be used for your quilt. I decided to keep mine simple and just used fabrics that were already in my project sketchbook.
But if you want to incorporate the additional Andover fabrics, feel free to download them from the Andover website and add them to your project. Sizing and Editing the Fabric Panel in Electric Quilt 8
Save one of the Hungry Caterpillar Picnic panels above on your computer.
Or save another panel from either Andover or another website. If you use a different panel, make sure to find the size of the panel. If the size isn't on the manufacturer's website, you can often find it on a store that is selling the panel that will provide its measurements. The panel I used in the video measured 22 x 44.
Create the Block
Color the block and add to sketchbook.
Easy Draw Picket Fence Design
Create the Quilt
Layout Settings on the Quilt Worktable
Select Auto Border.
Under the Miscellaneous category, locate the Keyboard border and click on a block in Border 2. Go to the Border tab and select Border #2. Change the blocks in border to 5 Horizontal and 7 Vertical. Note that the size of blocks are not the same -- but are similar in size.
Finish coloring the quilt and Add to Sketchbook.
Hungry Caterpillar Quilt Designed by Kari Schell using EQ8
Learn more in the video tutorial.
Modification Ideas:
Will you do a Hungry Caterpillar quilt -- or something different? I look forward to seeing your design in the Learning EQ Facebook group.
Boston Commons is a type of patchwork quilt featuring small, often postage stamp-sized squares, arranged in a grid-like design.
In looking at Boston Commons quilts on the Quilt Index, I found that they included Trip Around the World quilts in addition to those I typically attributed to the title Boston Commons.
Mountain Mist Boston Commons Batting Wrapper Pattern
Creating a Coloring Sheet for a Boston Commons Quilt in Electric Quilt
For my design, I elected to draft a quilt similar to the Mountain Mist quilt with sections of on point squares interspersed with borders.
When using Electric Quilt, I typically like to start with a block and then design the quilt using that block. For the Boston Commons quilt, I turned the process around. I started by creating a One Patch Layout which I used as a coloring sheet for the design.
Here is my coloring sheet. I chose to color only the "dark" squares in my quilt.
EQ8 Coloring Worksheet for Boston Commons
I started in the upper left corner and colored each border block with a different fabric.
My goals were to :
When I did my coloring, I wasn't sure where I was going to include the piecing for those diagonal segments (dark red and orange) for the corners. I ultimately decided to include them in the left and right borders. 
Identified Border Blocks and Sizes
I identified the following blocks:
There was a small hole where the "L-Shape" meets between blocks 1 and 2. I decided to include that small piece in Block 1. That will need to be pieced with an inset corner.
With the tape measure, I also measured the width of Border 1 (5") and Border 3 (5").
Boston Commons Quilt Drafted with Electric Quilt 8
I was then ready to get started drafting the "real" quilt in Electric Quilt. This is the one covered in the video tutorial.
Finishing the Boston Commons Quilt
See more on drafting the blocks and quilt in the Boston Commons video tutorial.
Boston Commons - Final Exported from EQ8
Now it is time for you to play. Now that you know the "technique", you can vary the sizes of your borders (and border blocks). Or change out the coloring -- this would be a great quilt to use up your extra scraps.
Share your design in the Learning EQ Facebook Group.
Last week I shared about my participation in a Pictionary Challenge I gave to my Tech Know Quilter members.
Using an online Pictionary Generator, I had the following three items to incorporate in my quilt:
Last week I designed the swimming pool as a pieced block and created a layout for my quilt. If you missed the post, you can find the tutorial here.
Adding Applique Elements to the Pictionary Quilt
In this weeks video, I will take you through the process of drafting the cherries and the doll block. If you would like to replicate my blocks, feel free to save the images on your computer and import them for tracing in Electric Quilt 8.
I decided to add a life preserver to allow the doll to float in the swimming pool.
This was drafted as two blocks in PolyDraw. Using two blocks allows you to layer part of the life preserver below the doll and part above the doll. Make sure to place the blocks in the exact same spot so both parts line up on the quilt worktable..
Check out the full tutorial.
Here is the final quilt.
Pictionary Challenge Quilt by Kari Schell (Swimming Pool, Doll, Cherry)
Feel free to post any pictures and comments in the Learning EQ Facebook Group.
One of the games our family enjoys playing is Pictionary. This became the inspiration for a recent challenge for my Tech Know Quilter Masters members.
How do you play the game Pictionary?
Players roll the die that determine how many spaces they move on the game board and draw a card, finding the secret word on the card that matches the category from the game board. One player sketches a picture representing the word to try to get their teammate to guess the word within 1 minute. TKQ Masters Pictionary Challenge
For my challenge to the Tech Know Quilter Masters members, participants were told to use an online Pictionary Word Generator to generate three words.
And then to select one of the words. And use that word to design a quilt. We had a fair number of over-achievers who decided to take it a step further and design a quilt using all three words. As you can probably guess, we had some pretty wild and crazy quilts. I love the creativity of this group.
Reproducing My Pictionary Quilt
I also challenged myself to go through the challenge.
My words were
Pictionary Generator
Here is my final quilt.
Kari's Pictionary Quilt with Swimming Pool, Doll and Cherry
For the swimming pool, I decided to create a pieced block that I placed in an on point setting. The doll and cherries were added as applique elements to the quilt.
In this blog post, I will cover all the pieced elements of the quilt. In next weeks blog post, I will cover the applique elements.
The swimming pool could be simplified:
I decided to make the quilt more interesting and added simple piecing for each of these elements. I drew the edges of the swimming pool as a stand alone block and then used the merge block option under Serendipity to add the water. Here were my blocks from the video. Pictionary Pieced Blocks
Challenges in drawing the half square triangle block
When you watch the video, you will notice that when duplicating a section of half square triangles and placing in other quadrants on the block, I ended up with the dreaded Polygon error because of some overlapping lines. If that happens to you, there is no need to panic. This is easily fixable as you will see in the video. The one thing that is critical when pasting lines that end up outside the boundaries of the block (which I did in the video), you must delete them to ensure you don't corrupt your project file. If you are worried, there is no need to copy and paste the lines in the upper left quadrant as I did in the video. You can just draw all the half square triangles for the remaining quadrants -- with no lines extending outside the worktable. I thought my approach was a bit faster -- but either would definitely work. Pictionary Quilt
For the quilt, I used an on point layout with 1 block with the size of 30" x 30".
Pictionary On Point Layout
Change the first border to blocks.
Change the size of border #1 to 2-1/2". Set the number of blocks in border at 17" x 17". Add a second border. Change the size to 1/2" and the style to mitered. This will be the binding. 
Border #1 - Blocks. Each block will be 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" (finished size)
Here is the quilt from the video -- waiting for the applique.
Pictionary Pieced Blocks and Layout
I think this layout and the blocks would be a great background for other quilts -- what would you do with these blocks?
Next week I plan to cover the applique for the quilt.
Feel free to post any pictures and comments in the Learning EQ Facebook Group.
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Kari SchellElectric Quilt Expert and Educator and Pattern Designer. Categories
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