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Red and White Stars and Bars Quilt

8/27/2022

 
The International Quilt Museum currently has an exhibit of Red and White Quilts that were donated by Joanna S. Rose.  In 2011 her collection of 651 quilts was displayed in New York in an exhibition entitled "Infinite Variety:  Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts".  
PictureStars and Bars quilt of the month from the International Quilt Museum. IQM 2022.001.0098
The Stars and Bars quilt was made between 1860-1880 and is a gift of Joanna S. Rose to the International Quilt museum.  IQM 2022.001.0098

"The printed Turkey red fabric of this quilt helps to date it. It was a popular choice for quiltmakers of the mid-nineteenth century, prior to the development of synthetic red dyes. A dye process known as discharge printing created the tiny yellow floral design set against the red ground. First, the fabric is dyed red. Next, a discharge paste, or bleach, is applied – often in a specific small-scale design – removing the red color. A second color is either included in the discharge paste, simultaneously filling the bleached areas, or added in a separate print process."

This is a great quilt to practice your EQ8 drafting skills.  The blocks are simple ones -- but the layout is a little tricky.  Can you figure it out before watching the video?
Here is my quilt from the video.
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Stars and Bars drafted in EQ8 by Kari Schell
Here are a few key measurements if you are drafting the quilt.
  • The quilt center was drafted at 24" x 28".
  • Border 1 was 1".  There were 24 horizontal and 28 vertical blocks.
  • Border 2 was 5".  Stars were added on Layer 2.
  • Border 3 was 1".  There were 36 horizontal and 34 vertical blocks.
  • Border 4 (binding) was 1/4" mitered.
  • The quilt finished at 38-1/2" x 37-1/2". 
Making the Quilt Larger
You could make the quilt larger by adjusting the size of the small half square triangle blocks.  For example -- if that block was changed to from 1" to 2", double the size of the center and each of the borders (other than the binding).

Tech Know Quilters Virtual Quilt Show

Current Tech Know Quilter members were challenged to apply what they learned at the end of their June class.   As you can see they learned a lot! ​
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Nanne Panne I made a fabric using what I learned last month. (100 x 150 cm)
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Lee Wiencki Created in Introduction to PolyDraw.
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Shawn Spjut For this one I combined one of the medallions we did in the Medallion class with the first Bargello we did.
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Helen Hicks This particular one is “Angela Walters” Fillers FMQING along going on now. I took a snap shot of the quilt, created fabric sheet 12x12 , run it through the printer, and here I have a mock-up of the original panel to do my FMQing exercises on. When I build up my confidence, I will then apply to the actual panel. All of this was done in EQ8.
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Terry McCaskey The Polydraw class has been very challenging. Thanks Kari. I still have miles to go to learn the technique. Here is a sample of the compass block re-drawn with 8 flying geese to match the points.
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Terry McCaskey Here is another practice doodle adding appliquéd geese and flowers to the basic design.
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Rhonda Goss I took the Masters diamond class this month.
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Patricia Hansen I was in the master's diamond class and have entered my final quilt which I call Diamonds in the Sky.
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Lynne Maramieri This is a Table Runner I designed while taking the Masters Diamond class this past month. Thank you Kari for your easy to follow style of teaching. I have learned more about EQ8 than I ever thought possible and look forward to learning more.
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Linda Carlson I combined a block from Lesson 3 and 7 and put them in a variable block layout. The fabrics spoke loudly, so I only added a binding.
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Nancy Kiley I participated in the Mix and Match Medallion Centers TKQ class this month. I played with a wedge star and bear paw block to create my favorite for the month!
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Julie Pedersen Here is my quilt. I took the Masters Diamonds class this month. I combined 3 of the blocks that we created in a variable on point setting and recolored the blocks. This month's lessons were a bit of a challenge especially when I chose my own block to work on.
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Brigitte Lee This month I worked on Modern Quilts 2. This class helped me a lot with the design of the quilt below which I needed to design for a student. The corner and sides were a little challenging but I finally got it right. I used Aboriginal Fabrics (S&M Textiles) together with Quilters Linen from Kaufman.
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Edith Craig My basic class for this month was Modern Quilts 2. The attached quilt is a variation from Lesson 11 using the Fibonacci principle. I added a little bit of applique and additional borders. It is exciting to put the concepts from different classes together to make a project.
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Mary Groesbeck I'm in table runners. This is my favorite so far.
You can learn more about the Tech Know Quilters membership program and sign up for the wait list for the next open enrollment period here.

Masters Tumbling Blocks Challenge

The Masters challenge in June was to design a tumbling blocks quilt.   The tumbling blocks quilt could be built on a hexagon quilt layout, a baby block layout (that could include pieced blocks in each of the diamonds) or incorporated in a block or blocks in a standard quilt layout.  They were encouraged to make it traditional or make it modern.
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Mary Groesbeck What I love about the Masters' Challenges is that (as is obviously the point), the more skills we have the easier these get. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment while entertaining my small brain with fun designs. Thanks for these, and this one was quite entertaining. It's a baby quilt...49"x51"--I could make an even size before piecing it, since I will be paper-piecing and don't mind odd sizes there.
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Helen Hicks Here’s my tumbling block rendition “rambling crayons”
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Lynne Maramieri Tumbling Blocks. This is an exact rendition of what I thought of when I read the challenge.
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Linda Carlson This is the result of making the 60 degree star style quilt in EQ into a block. Kari figured out how to take the pre-designed one-block quilt into a block during the Masters Help session.
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Rhonda Goss Baby size quilt in patriotic fabrics
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Julie Pedersen Here is my Masters Challenge using a baby blocks layout and the blocks we used in the Masters Diamonds class for lesson 3. I like how the diamonds in the center of the block create a path that weaves back and forth through the quilt.
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Julie Pedersen When I pulled up the original, I noticed stars as a secondary design, so I tried to create some 3D ones using various colors.
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Pat Harkin 1 of 3
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Pat Harkin 2 of 3
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Pat Harkin 3 of 3
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Edith Craig Inspirational Photo
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Edith Craig Here is my block.
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Edith Craig And her is the quilt.
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Fran Heisey I have been having way too much fun with this challenge.
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Fran Heisey
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Fran Heisey
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Fran Heisey
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Dorothee Ilgner I was inspired by a quilt by Kay Rhodes from Jinny Beyer's book 'Designing Tessilations'
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Curryanne Hostetler
Tech Know Quilters members are eligible for the Masters program after completing 12 months of Tech Know Quilter classes.  Masters members receive fewer lessons each month, with more time to devote to their own projects and challenges.

Drop me a note if you have completed over 12 months of Tech Know Quilters and are interested in learning more about the Masters program.
​
You can learn more about the regular Tech Know Quilters membership program and sign up for the wait list for the next open enrollment period here.
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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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Lemoyne Star Starburst EQ8 Design

8/20/2022

 
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One of my favorite uses of Electric Quilt is to draft a block in EQ using the technique I plan to use to piece the block and then create my own quilt layout for the block.
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The video tutorial this week was inspired by the Studio 180 Design Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star tool along with the Starburst Technique Sheet. 

I loved how easy it is to piece this block using Deb Tucker's over-sized piecing/trim down techniques.  No need for foundation patterns, templates or set-in seams.  My kind of block!


In this video I will cover drafting the block using PolyDraw, using Serendipity to frame the block for a fun complementary design and creating a quilt using an On Point setting.


Here are the blocks and quilts from the video.
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Starburst Block 1
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Starburst Block 2
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Starburst Quilt

Tech Know Quilters Specialty Rulers and Dies Class

There are a lot of tools on the market that can make cutting and piecing our quilts so much easier.  However when it comes to designing we need to develop our skill set to understand the best options for creating blocks and quilts that can utilize these tools.  Even if you don’t use the tools discussed in this class, you will learn that the techniques transfer to most quilting rulers and dies.  This class has a lot of fun bonuses built into the lessons that you are not going to want to miss.

There are sessions on Studio 180 Design tools, Hex N More, Wedge Rulers and Accuquilt Dies along with working with Electronic Cutting Systems like Silhouette, Cricut and Brother Scan N Cut.

Here are just some of the projects you will learn to create in the class.  
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If you are a Tech Know Quilter member, you are welcome to select this as one of your monthly classes (or even add it on to your planned class).  Just send us a note if you would like to do either of these options in September.  Note that it is a more advanced class.

If you are currently not a member, you can learn more and sign up for the wait list here.

Sale on Studio 180 Design Rulers

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I have a few Deb Tucker rulers -- 15% off through August 2022 -- while quantities last.  Make sure to use the code STUDIO180 when checking out to receive the discount.
Purchase Studio 180 Design Rulers

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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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Gees Bend Postage Stamp Quilt

8/13/2022

 
Have you heard of the Gees Bend quilts and their quilt makers?  Many of the leaders in the Modern Quilt movement, have considered their quilts a significant  influence on their work. 

Did you know that you can create a Gees Bend-like quilt using Electric Quilt?  Check out the video tutorial on a Gees Bend Postage Stamp Quilt.  And then be amazed by the latest designs from those in the Tech Know Quilters EQ8 Membership Studio.

Gees Bend Background

Information from:
http://www.soulsgrowndeep.org/gees-bend-quiltmakers
 
 “The women of Gee’s Bend—a small, remote, black community in Alabama—have created hundreds of quilt masterpieces dating from the early twentieth century to the present. Resembling an inland island, Gee’s Bend is surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River. The seven hundred or so inhabitants of this small, rural community are mostly descendants of slaves, and for generations they worked the fields belonging to the local Pettway plantation. Quilt makers there have produced countless patchwork masterpieces beginning as far back as the mid-nineteenth century, with the oldest existing examples dating from the 1920s. Enlivened by a visual imagination that extends the expressive boundaries of the quilt genre, these astounding creations constitute a crucial chapter in the history of African American art.
 
Gee’s Bend quilts carry forward an old and proud tradition of textiles made for home and family. They represent only a part of the rich body of African American quilts. But they are in a league by themselves. Few other places can boast the extent of Gee’s Bend’s artistic achievement, the result of both geographical isolation and an unusual degree of cultural continuity. In few places elsewhere have works been found by three and sometimes four generations of women in the same family, or works that bear witness to visual conversations among community quilting groups and lineages. Gee’s Bend’s art also stands out for its flair—quilts composed boldly and improvisationally, in geometries that transform recycled work clothes and dresses, feed sacks, and fabric remnants.”

Gees Bend Postage Stamp Quilt Tutorial

In 2006, the United States Postal Service issued Quilts of Gee's Bend commemorative stamps, which featured ten designs chosen by USPS art director Derry Noyes. These same designs would be featured in the Gee's Bend Quilt Mural Trail, which was created in 2007.
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I selected one of the designs to draft using Electric Quilt 8.  The biggest challenge is the different sized patches in these quilts -- including those for the border.  As a result I decided to draft the entire quilt as a single block.

I did the coloring of the block in the quilt worktable as it allowed me to place a copy of the picture right next to the quilt.  The quilt appeared to be pieced with solids, so I chose to work with colors rather than fabrics for the quilt.  Although I could have drawn curved lines, I decided to stick with straight lines when drafting.

When I went to color the block, I did find a couple of errors in my original drafting.  The video also includes the process of fixing those errors.
Check out the final quilt along with my inspirational photo.
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Tech Know Quilter's Gees Bend-like Quilts

In the Modern Quilt class, Tech Know Quilter members were challenged to create their own quilt in the spirit of Gees Bend using Electric Quilt. This was a chance for them to think outside the box along with stretch their own EQ drawing skills.   

I did a blog post in 2018 where I shared a number of their quilts.  But as users have continued to take the class, I thought I would share some of their newer designs with you.  I think after looking at the quilts you will agree that they did an amazing job.

​And can you believe they did this without a formal "how to" video.
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Madeline Brown I had seen them on display and the starkness and darkness of them is what I remember.
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Debbi Treusch Inspired by Marrisia Pettway.
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Wanda Jewell
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Mary Landon A copy of Martha jane Pettway's quilt. The challenge was trying to make the lines wonky.
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Rick Danner My experiment was to create fabric from fabric--ie, utilizing every scrap of fabric to create larger pieces of fabric from which patches are cut and then sewn together. I fabricated 12X18 pieces of "fabric" from "scraps" in a polydraw block then translated those images into fabric and used them to color the block in Easy Draw. I think this honors the ethic of the women of Gee's bend who did not have whole yard goods with which to work.
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Suzanne Kehm Golden
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Suzanne Kehm Golden
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Joan Marie
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Joan Marie (another coloration)
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Nancy Messuri What a fascinating and rich history. I loved these quilts and all the different styles. I drafted a couple of my own designs with whatever inspiration came to me after viewing all the quilts on the website you shared. The first...
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Nancy Messuri And the second...
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Curryanne Hostetler
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Curryanne Hostetler
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Carol Mallozzi
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Carole Fox
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Carole Fox (with the block outline)
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Pam Varner
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Rhonda Goss
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Marlu Allan
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Maureen Feron Pinwill (inspired by Nettie Pettway Young)
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Tina Rohde I recreated my version of the Gees Bend quilt done by Nettie Young. Learned to make a half circle and succeeded to layout in custom layout.
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Helen Hicks
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Tina Rohde - Improv Block Quilt
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Tina Rohde - Recolored and removed quilt lines.
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Lisa Ward
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Collien Kaseberg (made with jeans, gray sweatshirts and pillow ticking)
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Cathy Yule Norris I was inspired by Rita Mae Pettway's "Housetop" quilt. I found it in the link you provided. I redrew my version of the quilt in EQ8 and then set the block into a star setting. Fun!
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Charmaine Devaney
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Rosemarie Hanus I'm working on the H variation by Nettie Young. Here is one block; that's my progress so far. I wanted the half circles to not be perfectly rounded - that was harder than I thought. The off centered placement of the other circles was also on purpose. I think that the original was applique, but I started down the piecing path, and kept going.
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Rosemarie Hanus I also got inspired by circles and non straight lines, so I did this.
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Karen Humphrey I was inspired by Susie Willie Seltzer. Her blocks reminded me of a log cabin block.
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Carmen Sidlaruk I was inspired by quilts by Mertlene Perkins, Addie Pearl Nicholson, and Gertrude Milller for this first quilt
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Carmen Sidlaruk This second quilt was inspired by Gertrude Millers quilt.
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Carmen Sidlaruk This one was inspired by Addie Peral Nicholson's quilt
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Connie Fairbrother Herbert
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Connie Fairbrother Herbert - another option
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Linda Crawford Scott
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Irene Floyd My first quilt was inspired by Sue Willie Seltzer. I was drawn to the "pointy" lines in the blocks.
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Irene Floyd Henrietta Pettway's quilt was my inspiration for this one.
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Alice Hertel How liberating!!!
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Sharon Kazel I was inspired by Lucy Mingo and the housetop log cabin block.
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Eva Jones My inspiration by Margaret Bennett, Housetop - Nine Block Variation.
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Moira Hewitt
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Margo Reppert I started with the default blocks, converted some of them to guides and drew them wonky.
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Lynne Maramieri
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Edith Craig I typically call these "crumb quilts" and usually work freehand with whatever strikes my fancy.
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Betty Kotoriy I was inspired by the long abstract lines I found in some of the Gees Bend examples.
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Edith Craig - updated coloration
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Mari Stenger
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Mari Stenger
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Brigitte Lee Thank you for this lesson, Kari. First I thought, what? no video? How to manage? But looking at a few of the Gees Bend Quilts I got carried away.
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Brigitte Lee - another coloration
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Helen Clark Boland I used a simple block and then used clip and flip to make a new block.
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Roxanna Khoury
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Anne Hurlburt
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Patricia Hansen I looked up the Gee's Bend quilts and really liked the ones by Minnie Sue Coleman and Ruby Gamble, both of which were reminiscent of log cabins, so I designed mine in a similar fashion.
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Patricia Hansen (another coloration)
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Gloria Worthen Jacobs - version 1
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Gloria Worthen Jacobs - version 2
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Gloria Worthen Jacobs - version 3
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Gloria Worthen Jacobs Flower Power
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Gloria Worthen Jacobs
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Dianna Carter
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Katherine Martin Geometrics at Gee's Bend.
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Zdenka Nemoethova
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Dawn Wilson Low I got to see the Gees Bend Quilt several years ago when they toured and admired Annie Mae Young's quilt using denim work clothes. I tried to reproduce the general look of her quilt and then randomized the color choices.
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Dawn Wilson Low Randomized
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Gabriella Palmieri I loved Jessie Pettway's story and wanted to try making her own quilt. I love geometric shapes.
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Lee Wiencki
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Christel Frischmuth
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Ann Cornett Horsley
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Shawn Spjut Started out as a table runner.....way too much fun to stop there.
Learn more about Tech Know Quilters and sign up for the wait list to join this amazing group of designers and quilters.

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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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Escape to the Islands Word Art Quilt

8/6/2022

 
Last week I shared how to use Electric Quilt 8 as graph paper to create your own block alphabet.  And then use your graph paper quilt as a guide to draw the blocks in EasyDraw. 

​For this weeks quilt, you will want to go back and draft a few of the letters.  To save time, just pick the ones that you will use in your quilt.  No need to do them all.
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Block Alphabet EQ8 Tutorial
Here are the EasyDraw blocks you will need for a "beach" quilt.  All of them have a finished size of 3" x 5".
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Fabric for the Beach Quilt

Each month, Electric Quilt produces a new free fabric collection that we can download and use in our Electric Quilt projects.  The August 2022 collection is Island Vibes II.  It was designed by Linda Hahn for Banyan Batiks.  Just click on the picture and follow the instructions to download this collection to your computer and load it into EQ8.
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Once the fabric collection is in your Electric Quilt library,  add it to your Block Alphabet project (the project you set up last week).

Beach Quilt

I decided to put a spacer of 1/2" and borders of 1" around each of the letters for the beach quilt.  The good news is this is very easy to do.  In the video, I will show you how to draft a "merge" block. 

​It is super important to have only snap to grid turned on when drafting this block.  If snap to grid wasn't turned on, the lines for the rectangle in the center will not be perfect horizontal and vertical lines and the block will not be considered an appropriate block to accept another block.
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For your quilt layout, you can choose between a quilt with a horizontal layout or one with a vertical layout.  It all depends on the space you would like to use to display your quilt.

I am curious which layout you prefer?
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Beach Quilt - Horizontal Layout by Kari Schell
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Beach Quilt - Vertical Layout by Kari Schell
Of course these quilts would also work for a name -- maybe for a child or grandchild.  Here is the same quilt I did with my name.
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I am looking forward to see what quilt you end up designing -- and what fabric you use for your quilt.  Feel free to post a picture in the Learning EQ Facebook group.
Escape to the Islands Learning EQ Facebook Post
On a personal note, I am looking forward to retreating with my local quilting group at the end of next week.  It is so fun to be able to get away with friends as we work on our quilts.  I just cut out a quilt to work on at the retreat.  It only has a zillion half square triangles in it -- so we will see how much I get done.

​I hope you find some quilting time this week as well.
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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
  • About
  • 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
  • Store
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  • Contact
  • Free Stuff
    • Other Video Tutorials