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Let me take you through the process of making the quilt. Equilateral Triangle 1
 Cut blue diamond from 1-1/4" strips and side triangles from 1-1/2" strips. The cuts were done with the Star 60 Wedge tool from Studio 180 Design.  Match the flat corner of the triangle (shown with circle) with the edge of the diamond. Also align the raw edges. Sew 1/4 inch seam.  Press all seams open. This will make sure the units lay really flat.  Position another white triangle on the other size of the diamond point. Align the flat corner of the triangle with the edge of the diamond. Sew 1/4 inch seam.  Use the Star 60 tool and align the Flat Edge trim lines with the diamonds. Trim off the top edge (leaving a perfect 1/4 inch seam allowance) .  Cut 1-1/4" Yellow strips and Green strips. Align the 2" horizontal line on the Star 60 tool with the bottom of the yellow 1-1/4" strip. Trim the left and right slanted lines.  Cut yellow and green triangles from the 1-1/4" strips as well.  Match the two raw edges of the Green triangle with the right and bottom raw edges of the of the trapezoid. Sew 1/4" seam.  The sewn unit after pressing open.  Match the raw edges (noted with arrows) of the new unit with the Star 60 Unit. Also, make sure the seam intersections (noted with red circle) are aligned 1/4 inch from raw edge. Consider using a pin to keep it aligned. Sew 1/4 inch seam.  Sewn unit. Ideally all the points will meet perfectly in the center.  Align the sewn edges of the green triangle with the Star 60 wedge tool. One edge should align with the 1" diamond and the other with the 1-1/4" horizontal dotted line. Trim the right edge.  Match the flat edge of the yellow triangle with the bottom of the previous unit. The raw edges should also be aligned. Sew 1/4 inch seam.  Ready for trim down.  Match the 1 inch diamond guidelines from the Star 60 tool with the blue diamond sew lines. Trim the right and left edges.  Rotate the unit so the most recently cut edges align with the left edge and 2 inch horizontal line on the Star 60 tool. Trim the right edge.  Finished Equilateral Triangle. Make 3 for each hexagon (9 total for 3 hexagon blocks). Equilateral Triangle 2
 Construct the teal and white Star 60 units as described in Equilateral Triangle 1.  Cut Green diamonds and triangles from 1-1/4" green strip. Cut yellow triangles from 1-1/4" yellow strip. Cuts should be done with the Star 60 tool.  Align raw edges of yellow triangles with green diamond (red arrows). Sew 1/4" seam on right side (red line).  Align raw edges of green triangle with previous unit (red arrows). Sew 1/4" seam on right side.  Position below the Star 60 Unit.  Align raw edges of parallelogram with equilateral triangles (noted by red arrows). make sure the seam triangle intersections line up (the red circle). Sew 1/4" seam.  Line up sewn seams on white triangle with the 1" diamond guidelines on the Star 60 tool. Trim right edge.  Match the flat edge of the yellow triangle with the previous unit. The raw edge should also be aligned. Sew 1/4" seam.  Ready for trim down.  Match the 1 inch diamond guidelines from the Star 60 tool with the blue diamond sew lines. Trim the right and left edges.  Rotate the unit so the most recently cut edges align with the left edge and 2 inch horizontal line on the Star 60 tool. Trim the right edge.  Finished Equilateral Triangle 2. Make 3 for each hexagon (9 total for 3 hexagon blocks).  Lay out each hexagon block using 3 of equilateral triangle 1 and 3 of equilateral triangle 2. Make sure the rotation of each unit matches the EQ design. Block Construction Join 3 equilateral triangles in a row. Create two rows for each hexagon.  Combine top and bottom rows.  Line up the 3" equilateral triangle lines on the Star 60 wedge tool and trim any extra. There may only be the extra nubs on the bottom to trim. Rotate unit and do the trim down for every triangle section.  Put two 3 inch squares right side together. Line up the center mark on the Star 60 tool and the marking at 1/2 inch. Trim slanted edge.  Using a standard ruler, trim second set of setting triangles to 1/2 inch from slanted cut.  Lay out setting pieces on four sizes of pieced hexagon.  With right sides together lay setting pieces on two corners. Shift the pieces so that the start of the sew lines is 1/4 inch. Sew. Press toward setting corner pieces.  Match up the edge with the 5" diamond line and trim the setting piece on the opposite corner.  Rotate unit 180 degrees and repeat trim down on the other side.  With right sides together lay setting pieces on the other two corners. Shift the pieces so that the start of the sew lines is 1/4 inch. Sew. Press toward setting corner pieces.  Using a standard ruler trim edges of block so the setting triangles are 3/4 inch from hexagon corner. Trim both sides.  Trim top and bottom so that the center line on the ruler is at 1-3/4". The block should now measure 5" x 3-1/2". Quilt Construction Sew 3 blocks together. Center should measure 9-1/2" x 5".  Add 1" x 3-1/2" strips of setting fabric to two sides. Piece should measure 10-1/2" x 5"  Add 1-1/2" x 10-1/2" border pieces to two sides. Add 1-1/2" x 7" border pieces to opposite two sides. Piece should measure 12-1/2" x 7".  To quilt the Miniature Star 60, I stitched in the ditch around the equilateral triangles. For the setting corners and inner border, I quilted about 1/4 inch apart following the angle of the hexagon blocks. I quilted straight lines for the outer border. Everything was eye-balled (with no pre-marking of the quilting lines) Review of Star 60 Tool by Studio 180 DesignI liked that all of my pieces were easy to cut with the Star 60 tool (equilateral triangles, diamonds and the trapazoid pieces). I was even able to cut the setting triangles. Of course the oversized piecing, trim down technique from Studio 180 Design is always a preferred piecing methodology in any of my quilts. I was pleasantly surprised that these miniature units were no problem. The instructions that came with the tool were good -- but there were a lot of them and it was a little easy to get lost the first time cutting and trimming down each unit. I know that I will use this tool again. The tool should be available at local quilt shops. Here is a link directly to the Studio 180 Design website, if you would like to purchase directly from them.  https://deb-tuckers-studio-180-design.myshopify.com/collections/star-60/products/star-61 Hexagon Quilts Designed in EQHexagons are one of my favorite type of designs in my Tech Know Quilter's classes. Tech Know Quilter's is a paid membership program for quilters who wish to master using Electric Quilt 8. Membership is only open a few times a year, so sign up for the wait list to be informed of the next open enrollment period. Here are a few of the hexagon designs created by Tech Know Quilter members. Many of these were class projects -- with a few originals or variations included. (Note that these are not necessarily Star 60 friendly.)
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Scroll down for a virtual quilt show by Tech Know Quilter members. There are many wonderful new blocks and quilts designed using EQ8. Included is a special exhibit of circular quilts by Tech Know Quilter Masters members.
Star 60 Miniature Quilt Design
Since then, I have received my ruler and realized you could use this tool for miniature hexagons. So I decided to go back to the drawing board and create a miniature hexagon quilt that was Star 60 friendly.
The quilt was designed using a one patch layout. It also uses a template designed in the video on May 23rd. Here is the link to the free Equilateral Triangle calculator used in the video. 
Star 60 Friendly Miniature Quilt designed by Kari Schell using EQ8
Next week I am hoping to share my construction techniques for this quilt. It will be your chance to see how I use the Star 60 tool to both cut pieces and trim down sections.
Tech Know Quilter Design Showcase
I love sharing a few of the awesome quilts designed by Tech Know Quilter members. Tech Know Quilters is a paid membership program for those serious about mastery of Electric Quilt 8. You can learn more here and sign up for the wait list for the next open enrollment period.
Apply What You Learned Challenge Quilts
At the end of their June classes, Tech Know Quilter members were encouraged to apply what they learning during June. Those in the Modern Quilts class were encouraged to design a Gees Bend inspired quilt and those in Masters were encouraged to design their own Custom Set quilt in Electric Quilt.
Carol Fox A while ago my friend Riette bought and made one of Judy Niemeyer’s pattern “Fire Island Hosta”(http://www.quiltworx.com/patterns/fire-island-hosta/). At that time I tried to draft it on EQ8 but no avail. Recently I came upon another Judy Niemayer’s design: Blue Lagoon (http://www.quiltworx.com/patterns/blue-lagoon/). As my EQ8 skill has improved since my first try, I decided , as an exercise, to tackle the task again. With Kari’s help I was able to draft it this time. My next project : draft my own Judy Niemeyer style design.
Joyce Drenth The second challenge was 'Bucket List'. Since i already created a quilt of that title this year, I decided to try a new technique on my bucket list. Trispective quilt. Here is my rendition after making a block sized to fit my dimensions. I sized 3 photos of my quilts to dimensions fitting the block size, added them as fabric and fussy-cut them into their respective slots. I printed off the blocks onto fabric and constructed the quilt. So happy!
Watch the video to see the quilt(s) change as the camera moves.
TKQ Masters - Circular Quilts
Tech Know Quilters members are eligible for the Masters program after completing 12 months of Tech Know Quilter classes. During June they worked on Advanced Custom Set and learned to create circular quilts in Electric Quilt.
Masters members receive fewer lessons each month, with more time to devote to their own projects and challenges. I am in love with their designs.
Other Designs
Congratulations to Joyce Drenth who won the EQ8 design challenge on working with Century Solid fabrics by Andover. Here was her Electric Quilt Design
Ombre fabrics fade from light to dark over a length of the fabric or alternatively provide a rainbow of colors. Since we usually work with small fabric swatches in Electric Quilt (which allows for a smaller project size), we need to make some adjustments when working with a piece of fabric which has no "repeat" across the entire width of the fabric.
WARNING: You will find you need a lot of patience when rotating and fussy cutting the ombre fabric on the quilt worktable. When working with these large fabric swatches, you may note that the fabric wants to jump when the repeat is close to the edge of a patch. That is why we include two different rotations of the fabric in the project sketchbook. When one didn't work, I switched to the other fabric. You will probably need to do the same. Since my project looked boring with just the ombre fabric, I added information on creating a posie wreath to overlay on our ombre block.
Here are the blocks created in the video.
Here is my quilt.
Ombre Circle Quilt created by Kari Schell using EQ8
What will you put on your ombre pie quilt?
In the Tech Know Quilter group, a number of members are having fun working on Optical Illusion quilts.
Members have been taking my instructions from the More Optical Illusions class and expanding on the concepts to create original optical illusion quilts. 
More Optical Illusions Partial Set of Projects
Scroll down to see some of the fantastic optical illusion designs created by Tech Know Quilter members this week.
Membership in Tech Know Quilters only opens a few times a year. But you can sign up for the wait list to be informed of the next open enrollment here. Optical Illusion with Quilting EQ8 Tutorial
Would you like to share in a bit of the fun that is happening in the Tech Know Quilter group? I designed the following project for my latest Optical Illusion class -- but didn't have enough room to include it in the course.
So you can learn how to create an optical illusion quilt -- with added quilting lines to compliment the quilt. 
Optical Illusion with Quilting designed by Kari Schell using EQ8
Tech Know Quilters Break the Rules for New Optical Illusion Quilt Designs
To date, I have presented four new optical illusion lessons this month in the Tech Know Quitler's group and no one is following the rules.
Which makes for a wonderful show. Each of the designs shared is a variation of one of the lessons, or they just threw the lesson out and did their own thing. I am so impressed with their designing skills.
The quilt I will be sharing with you today, is one that would be super easy to piece, and a cute way to decorate for Independence Day. If you aren't into red/white/blue quilts, try a different color combination.
The miniature size (23-1/4" x 6-1/8"), also makes it a fun quilt to hang on a door.  4" variable star block (a default block) in the EQ library)
The star blocks are 4 inch finished. There is something about small blocks that just adds to the cuteness factor.
There are two rail fence blocks -- one done in EasyDraw and one in PolyDraw.
The fabric used in designing this quilt is from the Bandana Ballad collection by Michael Miller. The collection is included in Electric Quilts 2020 Stash Download 1 Collection Although it is fun to download fabrics directly from manufacturing websites, it is much more efficient getting them directly from EQ as the fabric is always sized correctly and usually cropped to eliminate tiling problems.
In the video, I also share with you my trick for adding a binding around this quilt. The binding is added for a visual perspective of my final quilt. I always calculate yardage for my binding separately, using my preferred binding method.
Stars and Stripes Quilt designed using EQ8 by Kari Schell
Here is my pieced version of this quilt. It was done many years ago and was gifted to my mother to use as a door hanger in her assisted living facility.
Stars and Stripes Minature Door Hanger made by Kari Schell
Flash Sale - Shoot for the Stars with EQ8
Are you just getting started with Electric Quilt 8 and need some help?
Shoot for the Stars is designed to get you started with Electric Quilt 8 through training delivered straight to your inbox. This series includes 14 short (i.e.. 5-10 minute) videos delivered over the course of a month allowing you to learn the basics of this complex program in bite size increments. The class is currently on sale for $30 (regular $49). Join now. (Sale ends July 8, 2020.)
Evelyn Schirmbeck is currently taking Shoot for the Stars with EQ8. Here is what she posted after her 5th lesson.
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