It has been a hectic week. It has been a privilege to welcome a new group of EQ enthusiasts into Tech Know Quilters. It was super fun to meet up with some of them at a private help session on Thursday.
For those that were part of the Fall Migration webinars, your bonus is still a work in progress. It has been taking a little longer than expected. But I hope to get it out to you shortly. In MN, the weather has finally started to feel like fall. I have my jacket on (huddled over my computer) as I write this post. I am still resisting turning on the heat. But may need to break down this weekend. I always get a bit excited when working with fall colors in my quilts. So I am super excited to share my latest quilt creation. Fall Pinwheel EQ8 Tutorail
I've always loved quilts comprised of two alternating blocks. To get started, I found a block in BlockBase+. If you would like to learn more, here is a post I did on Block Base+ a year ago.
The block is in Category 08: Four Patch and the Subcategory 13 Like Dutchman's Puzzle. They are square blocks divided into four parts by horizontal and vertical seams. Each quarter of the block is repeated in some rotation in the other four corners.
If you don't own BlockBase+, you can draft this block in EasyDraw. I suggest setting the block width and height at 8" x 8". Set your snaps horizontal and vertical at 4 x 4. The only snapping option needed is Snap to Grid. I know you can do this.
For fabrics, I went back to the Flourish by QT Fabrics collection. This was the one used in the Fall Migration project. Both the color and the leaves in the fabric are really speaking to me. This was one of the free Fabric of the Month download from Electric Quilt -- and the fabric is still findable in quilt stores.
In the video, I share how to start with your initial block (in my case the Pinwheel block) and create a coordinating block using the same grid structure and incorporating some of the elements of the first block.
Check out how the background fabric creates a lattice design around the on point square. I suspect if you didn't know the design process, it would be hard to know exactly what was block A and block B.
Then it was necessary to decide if I should do anything special with the large on point squares. For those of you who love the actual quilting process, it is a great place to showcase some awesome quilt design.
I elected to add a touch of applique. In the EQ8 library, I found a leaf under Motifs>Leaves. I used wreathmaker to turn the leaf into a group of four leaves and incorporated it in my alternate block.
Check out the entire process in my video tutorial.
Here is the final quilt from the video.
I would love to see your Fall Pinwheel quilt. What modifications will you make to personalize the design? Although I used 12" blocks in the quilt, it would also work well at 4", 6", 8" or 12". It would also be easily adaptable for a bed quilt.
Feel free to post pictures in the Learning EQ Facebook group post.
Every month I offer a challenge opportunity to my Tech Know Quilter Masters members. These are my more advanced students. The challenges give them an opportunity to expand their Electric Quilt 8 skills -- but more importantly their design skills. The members have mentioned that I should participate in the challenges as well.
No worries if you don't own BlockBase+ (yet). This is a super easy block to draft directly in Electric Quilt 8 and I will share how in this video.
But wait there's more!
For the challenge, I decided to play with a variation of the block. I was intrigued by the rectangle patch in the block and was curious what it would look like if I shared that space with another copy of the same block. In the video, you will see how to play the "what if" game and design your new block using custom set in the quilt worktable.
Here is the idea I ended up pursuing.
From there you will learn how to take your custom set design and use it as a tracing image. Along with a fast way to draft the new block in EasyDraw. You will also learn how to figure out how the best size and snap points for the new block.
Here is my Louisiana variation from the video.
I would love to see your Louisiana block. (FYI for the TKQ Masters members -- no need to share ahead of my post next week as I plan to post your quilts at that time.) ?
Check back next week to see a quilt using this block. Spoiler alert -- there just may be an additional change to this block. And learn how to use elements from your block as a guide for your pieced borders as well.
There will also be a show of the quilts Tech Know Quilter members designed for their challenge. I've looked at them and can say with a great deal of confidence that they will amaze you with their designs.
Quilting should be easy. However, sometimes getting all those points to match up can take the fun out of the quilting process. So I thought I would create a "no stress" block that is both easy to draft and easy to piece.
The fabric collection I decided to use, is one of the free monthly downloads from DoYouEQ.com.
The no stress blocks started with a basic 9-patch block. Rather than "precision" flying geese units I drew some random lines for a more casual look.
I then decided to "tilt" the block using Serendipity. As part of the "tilt" process I rotated the inside of the design 90 degrees to ensure the blocks looks different.
Learn how to create the blocks and quilt with the video.
For the first quilt, I chose to add a binding to finish off the 3 x 3 layout.
But I rarely stop at just one design. So for the next quilt, I decided to carry the "no stress" look into the borders. But for the borders, I chose to create some "no stress" half square triangles rather than flying geese units.
Continuing with the "what if" game, I decided to swap the coloring in the centers for the "light background" and "dark background" blocks.
For another option, I thought I would use a third background fabric for the centers. And just for fun decided to fussy cut them.
There are so many more ways you could personal this quilt. It might be fun to use sky colors for the background and star colors for the stars. How would you make this your own?
Feel free to share pictures of your quilts in the Learning EQ Facebook group. I've set up a dedicated post for your designs.
In Minnesota parents are getting ready to send their kids back to school with the official start date for most schools on September 5th. This quilt is in honor of teachers and school workers.
It is a two color red and white quilt -- so super simple to color. And a fun quilt to piece once the drafting is done.
Here is the quilt from the video.
Feel free to draft this quilt in EQ8. Or bonus points, if you use the block in a different layout. I would love to see pictures of your quilt. Feel free to share in the Learning EQ Facebook group.
Tech Know Quilter Showcase
Terry McCaskey
Using my improved TKQ Custom Set tools I have finally re-visited a 2019 UFO. This was a bit challenging for me...even though a simple design...made doubly troublesome because it is a "modern design" (not typical for me). Plus I am nearly out of the black & white stash fabric (which are polished cottons) so a redesign needed to happen. Now a 110 sketches into this puzzle and I have landed on my top two and have made progress in actually getting it together. You can let me know which outer border gets a thumbs up...or if I should go back to the drawing board.
Kristy Goodin Soard I just finished the Design Your Own Sampler Layout Masters class. Here is my quilt and my template (both done in EQ).
Renae Frank Butler I am a Group Leader for Quilts of Valor. So many times I like to play with ideas that might be appropriate for our group. I almost never use the colors and blocks given the lesson. I thought two of my quilts from lesson 4 & 7 could be improved on in one I lightened and changed the background blocks along with other changes. In the other I went to less busy blocks and worked with color changes.
Helen Warwick Combining two quilt patterns to come up with one I can’t wait to make. I drafted the block and added sashings not in the original pattern. I changed the size of the blocks from 20 to 16 inches. The original pattern was Enchanted Garden by Jason Yenter. The other pattern for the next quilt is Woodland Creatures by Quilts By Rosemary. I plan to call the combined quilt Enchanted Garden Creatures After Dark. I have been having so much fun just being able to find something I like and combining with other pattern parts. Thank you Kari for all that I have learned. You are the BEST!!!
Each month, I provide a challenge to Tech Know Quilter Masters members. In July, their challenge was to use a random color generator to generate three colors. Then to design a quilt using those three fabrics. The only other color that could be added was a background. They were also allowed to use "fabrics" to replace the random color.
I decided to challenge myself to complete the challenge and will be sharing my process and quilt in this blog post as well. Tech Know Quilter Masters Random Color Generator Challenge Showcase
Here are the designs submitted by Masters members in July. Tech Know Quilters Masters members are more advanced and are working on stretching both their design and their Electric Quilt skills.
Mary Groesbeck
I was expecting 3 colors that I would have to force to play together against their (and my) will...and look what I got. A real red, a blue black, and a good green. Anything with red and black will work for me. My Random Color Generator Project
Some of the TKQ Masters members have suggested that I should participate in these challenges myself. So I thought I would walk you through my project -- along with some of my thought processes as I was creating the quilt.
The modifications to the block resulted in an asymmetrical design. Which gives so many more options on the quilt worktable.Here are the quilts from the video saved after selecting Symmetry.
I hope you enjoyed seeing my thought process as I designed a quilt for the challenge -- as well as how the quilts were created in EQ8.
I would love to see your use of my modified block. With a different set of fabrics or colors. If you would like to try the Random Color Generator, you can locate it here. Post you pictures on the Learning EQ8 Facebook group. Tech Know Quilters Working with Fabric Class
The first Tech Know Quilters class is all above working with fabrics and colors in Electric Quilt 8.
If you would like to join Tech Know Quilters ahead of the next open enrollment period, send me a note and I will send you information on getting started in September -- back to school for you. |
Kari SchellElectric Quilt Expert and Educator and Pattern Designer. Categories
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