Are You Ready to Design Your Own Quilts using Electric Quilt 8

11/10/2023

I remember agonizing over my first purchase of Electric Quilt. I loved quilting and had a ton of patterns and books – more than I could ever use in my lifetime. Can you relate?

I wasn’t completely convinced I needed the software. However, I also realized that those purchased patterns were not always accurate and there were quilts that I saw in magazines and at shows that did not have patterns. And I didn't necessarily want to make an exact replica of the quilts from patterns I had bought.

Once I started using the software, I knew I couldn’t live without it. I quickly found that I recouped my investment in the software through significantly fewer PIGS (projects in grocery sacks). You know those quilts that you thought would be your next masterpiece. But as you got started piecing them, you realized something wasn’t quite right.

I knew from my own struggles that the initial purchase of Electric Quilt 8 can be a challenging decision. As a result, I want to help you resolve whether the software will be useful for you.

In this blog post I will be sharing with you:

The top six reasons to purchase EQ8
Three reasons why not

Six Reasons to Purchase Electric Quilt 8

After purchasing Electric Quilt and working with it (and teaching others how to use it), I've come to realize that Electric Quilt 8 is hands down the best tool I have purchased for creating both blocks and quilts.

Full disclosure. I use it personally, but I also teach people how to get the best use of the program. I am pretty sure you know which side of the fence I will come down on.

But I want you to go into this with your eyes open. So I will also be sharing some of the objections to buying…to help you make the right decision for you.

#1 - Audition Your Favorite Fabrics

When is the last time you bought a pattern because you loved the quilt on the cover? And then realized that the fabric is no longer available. Or maybe it doesn't work well with the other colors in the room you are hoping to use the quilt in. If you have trouble visualizing what your favorite fabrics will look like in your quilt pattern, you are perfectly normal.

Before Electric Quilt, I lost count of the number of times I purchased some fabulous fabrics, cut them up and realized (after the point of no return) they wouldn’t work with my selected quilt pattern.

With Electric Quilt 8 you have the option to audition fabrics before your first cut. This can even be done before spending money on fabric.

The EQ8 Fabric Library comes pre-loaded with 6,200 fabrics from top manufacturers! This may look intimidating. But don’t worry. The fabric library is well organized and very easy to use.

Add a Stash fabric download from Electric Quilt which provides images of some of the newest fabrics on the market.
You can also add fabrics from the web! Download fabric images from a website, then import into EQ8.
You can even scan or photograph your fabric and import into EQ8.

#2 - Never Manually Calculate Fabric Yardage Requirements Again

One of my favorite features of Electric Quilt 8 is the ability to obtain fabric yardage requirements with a push of a button. If you use fabric from the Electric Quilt library, it even will provide you with a fabric reference number to assist you in purchasing the fabric at your favorite quilt shop.

Bonus: A new feature in Electric Quilt 8 is the option of printing the number of Fat Quarters needed for your quilt.

#3 - Modify Blocks and Quilts from Purchased Patterns

Have you purchased a pattern and realized there are things you would like to change? Maybe the block needs to be tweaked to use your favorite ruler or die set. Or maybe the sizes or layout needs to be adjusted so the quilt can work for your bed -- and then of course you need to adjust the yardage requirements to accommodate the new size.

Good news! Electric Quilt 8 has three different sets of tools for drawing your own blocks or redrafting a block from a picture.

EasyDraw tools are similar to working with graph paper and pencil, just like you use to do.

And if you want to draw a more complex design, PolyDraw tools also allows you to create pieced blocks that are not based on a standard graph paper type of grid. Think circular or kaleidoscope types of designs.

If you are into hexagonal quilts, PolyDraw also provides us the ability to create interlocking blocks.

And if you love applique, you will definitely be interested in the applique toolkit. I have not found an applique project that cannot be drafting using Electric Quilt 8.

However, before starting to draft your own block, you may want to check if your block is in the Electric Quilt block library. With the release of EQ8, Electric Quilt added 1400 new bocks to their already extensive library. Giving us a total of 6500 blocks to choose from for starting our next quilt.

But if you cannot locate your favorite block in the library, there is no need to worry. There is the option to import a picture of the block and trace it. This is probably my all time favorite feature of Electric Quilt 8. This is an area I love working with Electric Quilt users on and an area of focus in Tech Know Quilters - a paid membership program for Electric Quilt 8 users.

There are also options to add more blocks to the library through collections such as as Block Base Plus based on Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns. Choose from collections by Judy Martin, Marsha McCloskey or even Dear Jane. And the beauty is that all of these blocks will be able to be modified by you within Electric Quilt 8.

Within Electric Quilt 8, they even have added a group of Serendipity tools that provides a fast way to create entirely new blocks based on a previously drafted block. I find this is a great option for creating brand new original quilt blocks on days I am not feeling super creative.

#4 - Select Your Favorite Construction Method

Many potential Electric Quilt 8 users wondering if the software will assist them in constructing their block. Electric Quilt does assume that users are familiar with basic quilt construction techniques. The software will not teach you how to applique, foundation piece or even piece together rotary cut patches. It will also not provide you step by step instructions typically found in a purchased quilt pattern.

However it will provide you with a variety of tools to facilitate cutting fabric and even the foundations to paper piece your blocks. The method of construction is your choice.

Here is an example of a typical Electric Quilt 8 rotary cutting chart for a block colored in the fabrics of your choice.

Electric Quilt 8 will also provide you the foundations (assuming your pattern is foundation friendly). You also have the option to section and number yourself if you would prefer a different set of foundations.

For every block there is always an option to produce templates -- with or without seam allowances..

#5 - Save Money

All it takes is two quilts that didn't come out as you had envisioned them to recoup the cost of purchasing Electric Quilt 8. Maybe just one at the current price of fabric.

And think about how much less fabric you will need to purchase when you can design your entire quilt complete with fabrics before investing.

And if you have shelves filled with fabric, you can design with the fabrics on your shelves and start working through that large stash. That may also make other members of your household happy.

#6 –Support

Electric Quilt 8 has an incredible reference manual with great instructions and illustrations -- all available in the help section of the program. There are also some decent getting started videos on the EQ website. Along with hundreds of free videos in my blog posts (onpointquilter.com) and on YouTube. Electric Quilt's support for EQ8 users is second to none.

The challenge many new users to Electric Quilt 8 experience is that because there is so much functionality with the program it is easy to become overwhelmed. If you purchase Electric Quilt 8, you should plan on time to get comfortable with the software.

Frankly it is because of this I have created a variety of well-structured training programs for Electric Quilt 8 users. I know how quilters learn best and I know the things to learn first -- to ensure long term success with the program.

Summary of top Reasons to Purchase

Electric Quilt 8 is fantastic for:

Auditioning your favorite fabrics in your quilts (before making them)
Push of a button fabric yardage charts
Ability to draft and modify any quilt block from a purchased pattern
The option of selecting your favorite construction method
Saving money on fabric purchases.
Support once you have purchased the software.

But of course you know there are also reasons why it may not be a great fit Because obviously it can’t be a good fit for every quilter. Next, I will now go into the reasons it may not be a good fit for you.

Reasons Buying Electric Quilt 8 May Not Be Right for You

#1 - You Want to Do All Your Quilt Designing on a Tablet or Phone

You may enjoy perusing Pinterest and watching You Tube videos on your tablet or phone and would love to be able to design your quilts on your phone or tablet.

EQ8 will not run on Chromebooks or any devices running Android or iOS. EQ8 requires one of the following Windows or Mac operating systems:

Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows 7 with Service Pack 1
macOS Monterey (12), Big Sur (11) Intel and M1 processors, Catalina (10.15), Mojave (10.14), High Sierra (10.13)

#2 - You Enjoy Creating Quilts from Kits

Many quilters love purchasing quilts and are very comfortable making them exactly as laid out in the quilt. If most of your quilts are from kits, there is probably not a need for Electric Quilt 8 -- unless you decide to modify the kit (or find a problem with the instructions in the kit or pattern).

#3 - You Love Designing with Graph Paper

Do you find that you enjoy designing with graph paper and colored pencils and enjoy figuring out the math for your quilt blocks and quilts? I know of a number of professional quilt designers who still enjoy using graph paper and pencils to create their blocks and quilts.

I have found that graph paper can be a decent solution when all your blocks are comprised of squares, rectangles and half square triangles. And you are comfortable calculating your own rotary cutting and fabric yardage calculations. And you are good with selecting fabric based on your colored pencil renditions of your blocks and quilt.

If this is you, EQ8 is not necessary. However even if you love designing with graph paper, you my find that sometimes you get stuck. And do you really enjoy doing all those calculations by hand all of the time? Sometimes it is so much easier relying on the software to take the tedium out of the design process so you can focus on the parts your truly enjoy. If graph paper and colored pencils are not providing the results you desire, Electric Quilt 8 may provide you with so much more.

Summary

Now that I have summed up the top reasons to purchase along with some reasons not to, I hope I have provided clarity on what is best for you.

Honestly, I believe that the reasons to purchase are much stronger than those not to purchase. Although it is not right for everybody, it is a great tool for many quilters.

If you are ready to purchase, I would like to provide you with some bonuses if you decide to purchase through my affiliate link below.

Affiliate Link Bonus #1 Goose Goose Duck Challenge Material

Goose Goose Duck Video Series – Video series covering creation of six different pieced “goose and duck blocks using Electric Quilt 8 along a number of layouts.
12 Goose Goose Duck patterns
7 Sampler Quilt Patterns
Kari’s Goose Goose Duck Electric Quilt 8 project file with 35 blocks and 19 quilts.

This bonus is only available if you purchase through the affiliate link.

Affiliate Link Bonus #2 Spring Fever Challenge Material

Spring Fever Video Series – Video series covering creation of seven original foundation friendly blocks plus related quilt.
Kari’s Spring Fever EQ8 project file.

This bonus is only available if you purchase through the affiliate link.

Ready to Purchase Electric Quilt 8?

Just click on the picture, enter your name and email and you will receive my affiliate link to purchase Electric Quilt on the Electric Quilt website. Then watch for a follow up email from me where I will ask you for your purchase info.

Kari

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