Cutting Out a Paper Snowflake from Electric Quilt to Silhouette Cameo

Cutting Out a Paper Snowflake

1/12/2019

Last week I shared a tutorial on how to create one of a kind snowflakes using EQ8 and I have been seeing some great creations on social media.

If you missed the tutorial, you will definitely want to go back and check it out.

Drafting Paper Snowflake in EQ8

This week I have remained obsessed with these snowflakes and really want to use them in a quilt project. I quickly realized that they were pretty intricate and cutting them out by hand would be super tedious. So I decided it was time to pull out my Silhouette Cameo (it is the one without a number) and see if I could cut them there.

This ended up being a little more involved that I had planned as the first few snowflakes were a disaster -- fabric was shifting and cuts were not clean. However I had some conversations with others on Facebook and kept playing. And after a number of different experiments I finally found the "secret formula" for cutting these out.

I will share all in my current tutorial. How I transfer designs from EQ to the Silhouette Design Studio along with my suggestions for a successful cut.

I want to give a shout out to C J Tinkle. She has created numerous appliques using her Silhouette Cameo 3. She mentioned to me that she had successfully used the following settings -- which were different than what I ended up with -- but a great starting point.. So it really is important to experiment and see what works for your machine.

C J Tinkles Suggestions for Successful Applique with her Silhouette Cameo 3

Fusible: Shades Soft Fuse, paper off, fusible side down on the mat.
Burnish it in place with a roller.
Fabric: Thin (Cotton Print)
Ratchet Blade on 3, Speed 5, Force 33, Passes 2

I also started researching other digital cutting options -- and found that Cricut has a digital cutting machine that uses a rotary cutting blade. It is more expensive than the Silhouette -- but may be worth it if it works as well as the advertisements. Anybody out there currently using the Cricut Maker for cutting fabric appliques? I would be interested in your opinion.

Kari's Successfully Cut Snowflake (in Fabric). This was cut at 7-3/4 inches.

I am currently at a retreat and fused and stitched 3 of the snowflakes for a mini-quilt. Here is the result. Now on to design new borders.

Kari Schell's Paper Snowflakes -- stitched and waiting for borders.

Introduction to Applique - EQ8 Online Class

Are you ready to finally master using the applique tools in Electric Quilt 8? I have an online class that will provide you everything you need to get started in using these tools within EQ8.

The tutorials will be sent out over the next 30 days, with 10 minute videos along with full illustrated detailed tutorials for every step in the process.

Use coupon code 2019Applique for $10 discount. Coupon good through 1/21/2019.

Current TKQ Members: This class is offered within Tech Know Quilters. However if you want to double up with your current class, send me a note for the discounted TKQ price.

Purchase Introduction to Applique Class

Happy quilting.

Kari

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Elizabeth DiCrescenzo

1/13/2019 04:52:26 pm

I purchased a Cricut Maker recently (It's the one with the rotary blade.) With the idea of using it to cut wool applique. I can't say it has been a total success. Mind you, I am a real newbie and I probably have a large learning curve ahead of me. I did find that putting the fabric down with steam a seam on the mat worked best. I also used the "tweed" setting for the fabric helped as well. The difficulty for me was scanning in the designs and transferring and manipulating the designs in the software. I would very much like to hear from others who are using Cricut Maker for cutting applique.

Dennis M Nichols-Faber

1/13/2019 08:53:55 pm

I am wondering if anyone can help me with using my cricut on how to get the designs from EQ8 to the cricut.

Judy B link

1/15/2019 05:45:03 pm

I will use my Brother Scan'n'Cut ... this is the sort of thing it was designed to do! Simply save the design in the size you need as a jpeg, feed it directly to the cutter or use a USB stick for the transfer. Easy and accurate.

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