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When I first drafted this block, I struggled with what to call it.
Depending on how you look at it, the shapes could be flowers. Or maybe umbrellas. But the more I worked with the design, the more it reminded me of a set of colorful spinning pinwheels—so Spinner felt like the perfect name. One of my favorite design surprises happens when the blocks come together in the quilt layout. The corners of the blocks meet to form eight-pointed stars, creating a secondary pattern that almost feels like magic. Those unexpected stars quickly became my favorite part of the design. Drafting the Spinner Block
In Electric Quilt 8, open the Block Worktable and select:
New Block → Pieced → PolyDraw
Drafting the Corner Units
Drafted Spinner Block
Drafting the Setting Triangle Blocks
Drafting the Corner Triangle Blocks
Drafting the Quilt
To assemble the quilt, move to the Quilt Worktable and create a new On Point quilt.
On the Layout tab, set:
On the Borders tab, add two borders:
Then go to the Design tab and place your blocks, rotating them as needed to create the spinner effect and reveal the eight-pointed stars at the intersections. 
Spinner Quilt Created using EQ8
Spinner Video Tutorial
For a full walkthrough of the drafting and quilt design process, watch the video tutorial below.
Construction Tips
If you decide to make this quilt, I recommend foundation piecing the blocks.
In Print & Export, choose Foundation and select Start Over and Resection. For the cleanest construction:
This keeps the units manageable and helps maintain accurate points. 
Proposed Foundation Sectioning for Spinner Blocks
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Are you a fan of English Paper Piecing? Or maybe you’ve been curious about trying it with a small project.
If so, this tutorial is for you. In this lesson, we’ll draft a five-pointed star in Electric Quilt 8 that works beautifully for English Paper Piecing. The surprising part? The entire star begins with the Ellipse tool in the Appliqué workspace. Once drafted, we’ll also explore how to use the star to create a wreath block and a simple quilt design. Drafting the Five Pointed Star
In Electric Quilt 8, open the Block Worktable and select:
New Block → Pieced and Appliqué → Easy Plus Appliqué Many EQ users think the Ellipse tool is only useful for drawing circles. But with a few adjustments, it becomes a powerful drafting tool.
Creating a Star Wreath with Wreathmaker
Designing the Five-Pointed Star Quilt
Next, place the block in a quilt layout.
Create a Horizontal Quilt Layout with one block. For my quilt, I set the block size to 20″ × 20″, but you can adjust the size to fit your project. For the borders:
To echo the geometry of the star, set the number of border blocks so the diamonds visually align with the five star points. I used:
This creates a border that reinforces the star’s structure and rhythm. 
Five Pointed Star Quilt
Five-Pointed Star Quilt Video Tutorial
For a full walkthrough of the drafting and design process, watch the video tutorial below.
Construction Suggestions
Tip for Users of Electronic Cutting Systems
If you use an electronic cutting system such as a Cricut Maker, you can generate cutting files from EQ8 templates. Here’s one method:
Inkscape is a free, open-source vector graphics editor available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. One important note: always double-check the scale when moving between programs. Some software—particularly Cricut Design Space—can change sizing during import.
Did you know you can draft foundation-friendly blocks directly in PolyDraw in Electric Quilt 8?
For this tutorial, I reworked a star block I originally shared with my Tech Know Quilter Masters members and redesigned it specifically with paper piecing in mind. The result? A bold, dramatic star that looks complex — but is surprisingly manageable when broken into foundations. And if you’ve been wanting to strengthen your foundation drafting skills, this is your final opportunity. Last Chance: Foundation Friendly Designs with EQ8 – $49
Enrollment for Foundation Friendly Designs with EQ8 is open through February 28, 2026 at the special price of $49. Class begins March 4th.
This class isn’t just about clicking through steps. We focus on understanding the process behind foundation drafting so you can confidently create your own designs — not just replicate mine. If you’ve ever struggled with:
This class was designed for you. 
The Magic Star Block
One important tip:
When drawing new patches in PolyDraw, be sure that at least one line of the new patch matches an existing edge in the section. This keeps the units connected and prevents drafting issues. It becomes much clearer when you see the process in action in the video tutorial. Quilt Layout
Video Tutorial
Watch the full video to see:
Foundation Piecing the Blocks
Each foundation section is shaped like a half-square triangle.
For the quilt, you’ll need both orientations of that triangle. Each block requires:
Using Rotary Cutting Charts for Oversized Pieces
Make sure to change the seam allowances back to .25 after print out your rotary cutting chart. EQ will remember the changed seam allowance on your next project.
Working with Parallelograms
For parallelograms, EQ provides the size of one angled edge rather than the full rectangle width. To calculate the rectangle:
If you pre-cut the angles for the center star pieces, positioning the first two patches becomes much easier. 
Page 1 of Rotary Cutting Chart
New to Foundation Piecing?
If you haven’t tried paper piecing before, I’ve included the step-by-step method I prefer.
Foundation piecing allows you to achieve crisp points, sharp angles, and complex-looking designs with precision. Once you understand how to draft foundations correctly in EQ8, the creative possibilities expand dramatically.
Final Reminder
This is the last opportunity to enroll in Foundation Friendly Designs with EQ8 for $49.
Enrollment closes February 28, 2026. Class begins March 4th. If you’re ready to move beyond following patterns and start confidently drafting your own foundation-friendly designs, I would love to see you inside the class. 
Do you struggle with drafting foundation blocks in EQ8? If you’ve ever wondered how to break a complex image into foundation-friendly sections—or how to draw lines in the correct order so EQ sections it properly—this tutorial will walk you through the process step by step.
In today’s post, I’m sharing how tracing an image can help you clearly “see” the sections before you ever stitch a seam. Inspiration: The Beauty of Ice Dance
While I don’t watch much television, I become completely captivated by the Winter Olympics every four years. My favorite event? Ice dance in figure skating.
I’m fascinated by the intricacy of the step sequences and the precision required for partners to stay perfectly in sync. The elegance and athleticism of these teams is truly spellbinding. Ice skating is also my personal exercise of choice. I love visiting rinks in the Twin Cities to take ice dance lessons and practice patterned dances. No jumps, spins, twizzles, lifts, or dramatic holds for me—but skating has given me a deep appreciation for the incredible skill Olympic athletes bring to the ice. That love of skating inspired today’s foundation-friendly designs. Blocks for Tracing
I created two skating-inspired images specifically designed to be foundation friendly:
Download and save the images to your computer. Then import them into Electric Quilt 8 and trace them on the Block Worktable. Tracing is one of the most effective ways to understand how a pictorial design can be divided into logical foundation sections.
Tips for Drafting Foundation Blocks
Here are my top drafting tips from the video tutorial:
1. Adjust Your Snap Settings After importing your image, change your snap settings to Snap to Lines and Arcs only. This gives you maximum flexibility when placing lines. 2. Use Undo Immediately If a line connects incorrectly, select Undo right away and redraw it. Extra nodes can create unintended bends in your lines—and those bends affect how EQ automatically sections the foundation. 3. Save Frequently Save your block after completing each section. If a later section causes issues, you can return to a clean version instead of starting from scratch. 4. Preview Foundations as You Go After completing each section:
5. Use Snap to Node Strategically When starting or ending a line at an existing node:
Ice Dance Foundation Video Tutorial
Watch the full video to see the complete drafting process of the Ice Dance block—from sectioning to tracing to previewing your foundation results.
Featuring a Single Block in a Quilt
Pictorial foundation blocks often shine brightest when they are the star of the quilt.
Consider:
Ice Dance Quilt by Kari Schell
Ready to Improve Your Foundation Drafting Skills?
If working through today’s Ice Dance block sparked new ideas — or highlighted areas where you’d like more confidence — I’d love to invite you to go deeper.
In my Foundation Friendly Designs with EQ8 class, we focus on understanding the process behind foundation drafting so you can confidently create your own designs — not just follow steps. Right now, the class is on sale for $49 through February 28, 2026. What Is Foundation Piecing? Foundation piecing (sometimes called paper piecing) is a technique where fabric is sewn directly onto a printed foundation, stitching precisely on the drawn lines. It’s ideal for designs that require accuracy or include unusual shapes. Why Foundation Drafting Matters in EQ8 Foundation piecing truly shines when designing:
And in this class, we cover all of these — step by step. You’ll learn how to:
Class begins Wednesday, March 4th. If foundation drafting has ever felt intimidating — or if you're ready to confidently design your own pictorial blocks inside EQ8 — this class will give you the structure, clarity, and guided practice to make it click. 
So… are you Team Wonky or Team Precision?
Last week we bravely turned Snap to Grid OFF and embraced playful, wonky heart and flying geese blocks. It was creative, freeing — and maybe just a little nerve-wracking for those who love accuracy. If the wonky approach made you slightly jittery, this week is for you. We’re recreating the quilt using precision-drafted blocks that are easy to rotary cut, simple to piece, and wonderfully calming. A Quick Look Back: Team Wonky
Here were the wonky blocks and quilts from last week’s tutorial.
If you missed it, you can check out the full tutorial here.
Now let’s rebuild the design with clean lines and perfect symmetry. Drafting the Precision Blocks
All of the precision blocks were drafted in EasyDraw, and the most important setting?
Turn Snap to Grid ON. That single step keeps everything aligned and ensures the blocks will piece beautifully.
How Serendipity>Merge Blocks Works
The Merge Blocks feature on the Block Worktable allows you to combine Sketchbook blocks to create entirely new blocks.
Here’s how it works: When you open the Merge Blocks dialog, EQ evaluates the blocks in your Sketchbook to determine which ones qualify as a background block. Only certain blocks appear on the left side of the dialog. To qualify as a background block:
Any suitable block in your Sketchbook can then be merged into that background block. It’s one of those features that feels like magic once you understand how it works. Building the Precision Heart Variations
The single precision heart block was merged with three previously drafted blocks:
Creating a Two-Heart Block
Creating the Precision Quilts
Once the precision blocks are drafted and merged, it’s time to update the quilt layouts.
Precision Hearts — Horizontal Layout
Precision Hearts Horizontal Quilt Layout
Precision Hearts — On-Point Layout
Precision Hearts - On Point Layout
Watch the Video Tutorial
Be sure to watch the full video below for step-by-step instructions on:
Team Wonky or Team Precision?
Now that you’ve explored both versions…
Do you enjoy the playful freedom of wonky designs? Or do you prefer the calm, symmetry, and rotary-cut friendliness of precision piecing? I’d love to hear which team you’re on.
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Kari SchellElectric Quilt Expert and Educator and Pattern Designer. Categories
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