Island Batik Modern Challenge and EQ7

Today you get a two for one deal….some EQ7 fun and an Island Batik Ambassadors challenge.

This month we were given a modern quilt challenge. First I had to figure out what a modern quilt really was. I searched and found that modern quilts might contain…

• Bold colors
• High contrast
• Large graphic areas
• Improvisational piecing
• Minimalism and negative space
• Alternate grid work

An idea for some blocks tumbling across the quilt popped into my mind so I headed over to my EQ7.

My first step was to draw a block and set it in the corners of my quilt layout.

Did you know you can click the little red square on the Grid Tool to get a fly out menu? Just click and drag the grid to draw your block in one motion.

Then I started fill in some colors until I had my general concept.

I really didn’t need to sew all those white blocks so I went back and removed some of the lines to simplify the spaces.

Tumbling squares were added on Layer 2. Then I added the Island Batik fabrics to my Sketchbook and auditioned them in the final design.

Many of Island Batik’s Blenders and Basics read as solids but with a little extra interest.

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into the design process.

Why is it always cloudy on the day I need to take a quilt photo?

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Be sure to visit all the Island Batik Ambassadors and see what they’ve got going for
♥Modern Batik Challenge♥

Nan from Purrfect Spots Designs
Turid from Den Syende Himmel
Stephanie from Quilt’n Party
Pamela from Pamela Quilts
Anna from Ark Angel Creations
Kathy from Kathy’s Kwilts and More
Jessica from Desert Bloom Quilting
Connie from Freemotion by the River
Kate from Seams Like a Dream
Sharon from Yellow Cat Quilt Designs
Tina from Quilting Affection Designs
Jennifer from The Inquiring Quilter
Barb from Bejeweled Quilts
Sally from Sally’s Quilting Corner
Jeanette from Inch Worm Fabrics
Connie from Kauffman Designs
Joan from Moosestash Quilting
Bernadine from Needle and Foot
Bea from Beaquilter
Cheryl from Cheryl Lynch Quilts
Maryellen from Mary Mack’s Blog
Joyce from Hearts Creations
Marlene from Kissed Quilts
Karen from The Quilt Rambler
Marian from Seams to be Sew
Laura from Slice of Pi Quilts
Linda from Inspired Layers
Vicki from Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting
Nancy from Masterpiece Quilting
Carol from FunThreads Designs
Terri from Meanderings Along Lizard Creek
Alison from Little Bunny Quilts
Suzy from Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Jean-Sophie from Sophie Junction
Janet from Whispers of Yore

#modernbatikchallenge #islandbatik

Island Batik Mini Madness

The Island Batik Ambassadors have March Mini Madness!!!
The rules for this month’s challenge were that it had to be paper pieced and had to be less than 24”

Finished size 14” x 14”

I started with the Crazy Pineapple block from  EQ7.

Next I played with rotating the block.

This is the layout I liked the best.

Now for the FUN part….COLORING. I imported Island Batik Dotalicious Fire fabrics. I was soooo excited to get a pack of rainbow fabrics! YUMMY!!!

You can find the EQ7 tutorial HERE for adding fabrics.

No matter how hard I try I always end up coming back to rainbows on black. I just love the way rainbow colors pop….but it’s still fun to see all the options.

 
Ahhhh, this one is actually very soothing.

Then simply click print and sew!
My project was quilted with Aurifil thread.

Videos on how to select Aurifil threads to use HERE
Yummy thread color chart HERE

 

Be sure to visit all the Island Batik Ambassadors and see what they’ve got going for
♥March Mini Madness♥

Nan from Purrfect Spots Designs
Turid from Den Syende Himmel
Stephanie from Quilt’n Party
Pamela from Pamela Quilts
Anna from Ark Angel Creations
Kathy from Kathy’s Kwilts and More
Jessica from Desert Bloom Quilting
Connie from Freemotion by the River
Kate from Seams Like a Dream
Sharon from Yellow Cat Quilt Designs
Tina from Quilting Affection Designs
Jennifer from The Inquiring Quilter
Barb from Bejeweled Quilts
Sally from Sally’s Quilting Corner
Jeanette from Inch Worm Fabrics
Connie from Kauffman Designs
Joan from Moosestash Quilting
Bernadine from Needle and Foot
Bea from Beaquilter
Cheryl from Cheryl Lynch Quilts
Maryellen from Mary Mack’s Blog
Joyce from Hearts Creations
Marlene from Kissed Quilts
Karen from The Quilt Rambler
Marian from Seams to be Sew
Laura from Slice of Pi Quilts
Linda from Inspired Layers
Vicki from Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting
Nancy from Masterpiece Quilting
Carol from FunThreads Designs
Terri from Meanderings Along Lizard Creek
Alison from Little Bunny Quilts
Suzy from Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Jean-Sophie from Sophie Junction
Janet from Whispers of Yore

#batik #islandbatik #minimadness #electricquilt7 #EQ7

Adding Fabric to EQ7 Libraries

Squeak, squeak. That’s the sound of me getting my post up at the last minute.

As you know I just LOVE my EQ7. It’s like play time everytime I sit down. Today I imported the sland Batik Dotalicious fabric scans into my Libraries for tomorrow’s project and thought I’d share the process.

STEP 1 – Save the fabric images to your desktop or in a folder so you can easily find them. You can scan your own fabric or find image files from company websites that offer them.

STEP 2 – (User manual page 61) 
In EQ7 click LIBRARIES>FABRIC LIBRARIES. In the dialog box click MY LIBRARY then ADD LIBRARY. Give the new library a name. I use the name of the fabric line.

STEP 3 – (User manual page 61)
In the same diaglog box click IMPORT> FROM IMAGE FILES and find your saved fabric scans. Use CTRL and A key to select all of them. Click OPEN. Your images are now saved in the IMPORT RESULTS folder of EQ7 but must be moved to the new library you created for them.

 

STEP 4 – Click CTRL and A key to select all the images you imported. Click COPY.

Now click MY LIBRARY and find the library folder you created. Click PASTE. The fabrics are now in a libary for you to use anytime with any project. Woot!!

Stop back to see what I did with my YUMMY fabrics!!!

EQ7 Layers and Light Bulbs

Layers and Light Bulbs

As you add appliqués, embroidery and stencils your design can start to become complicated. You can toggle the layer views on and off using the Light Bulb feature to help you work without distractions.

• Click WORKTABLE OPTIONS >VIEW SETTINGS>Check the box for PROVIDE ICON TO SHOW AND HIDE QUILT LAYERS. Click OK.

On each Layer Tab you now see a light bulb. These light bulbs can be turned on and off to toggle the other layer views on and off.

For example, on Layer 1 the entire quilt is visible (blocks, applique, stencils).

 

If you want to work on the blocks without distractions from the applique and stencils…

• From the Layer 1 tab click the light bulb on the Layer 2 and 3 tabs to turn them off.

Notice that the designs on those layers are no longer visible. You can easily work with the blocks on  without distractions.

 

If you want to work on the applique without distractions …

• From the Layer 2 tab turn off the light bulb on Layer 1 and 3. The blocks from Layer 1 will fade to the background and stencils will disappear allowing you to easily work with your appliqué design.

You can toggle Layers and Light Bulbs on and off as needed to easily work on your blocks, applique and quilting designs.

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Hope you learned something new.

Hope over to enter the giveaway from Electric Quilt.

More blogs posting tips, tricks and tutorials today.

Tina of Quilting Affection

Carole of From My Carolina Home

Marian of Seams to be Sew

Pamela of Pamela Quilts

Carol of FunThreads Designs (me)

Quiltshop Gal

EQ7 Stencils and Thread Tool…

  Today let’s talk about adding quilting to our designs….

Layer 3 is used to set stencils or quilting designs, thread and embroidery.

There is a Block Library catagory 07Stencils. These designs will show up on the Stencils tab. But, any motif or block can be used as a stencil. When set on layer 3 blocks will appear as an outline image (today’s tutorial).

Here I’ve zoomed in to the upper left corner of the quilt. You can zoom in and out as needed.

• Click Set Block tool . I’m going to use a block as a stencil. Select the Four X block and drag it to the quilt. The block will appear as a black outline or stencil.

 

The block is bigger than our quilt square and needs to be adjusted.The steps to set and adjust a stencil will be similar to setting the motif design on Layer 2.

• Click the Adjust tool and click the stencil to select it.
• On the Graph Pad, resize the stencil to 3 x 3 which is the size of the corner block.

• Drag the stencil in to place over the corner block. You can use the arrow keys on the keyboard or the tool bar to fine tune your moving.

TADA! A quilting stencil has been added….But wait there’s more….

 

Set Thread Tool

Let’s add the Set Thread tool . This is a hidden tool that needs to be added to the tool bar.

• Click Customize Tool Bar>Click Add Remove Buttons>Check the Set Thread tool to add it.
• Click the Set Thread tool on the tool bar and a dialog box will open.

Set the following…

Check COLOR and select a color thread.
Check STYLE and click the dashed line
Check WEIGHT and click the second line thickness.

• Click the little arrow on the corner of the Set Thread tool to open the flyout menu. Select the tool you want to color with.

Thread Paintbrush – colors one line at a time
Thread Spraycan – colors all lines in the block at once
Thread Color Swap – colors all the lines in the quilt layer

• Click on the lines of the Four X block to recolor it with thread. Click Refesh to remove any remaining black lines.
• Save to Sketchook . This step is important to register the changes to the design. If you skip this step it will only recognise the default black block when using copy and paste.
• You can use copy and paste to place the stencil on other blocks as needed.

Align Tool

Let’s make sure our stencils are perfectly aligned.

• Using the Adjsut tool, click the first stencil on the top row. Hold the Shift key and click second stencil on the top row to select them as a group.
• On the Graph Pad click the Align Top . This will use the first stencil as a guide to align the second one.
• Use this process to align stencils horizontally or vertically as needed.

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Hope you learned a new trick or two.

Hope over to enter the giveaway from Electric Quilt.

More blogs posting tips, tricks and tutorials today.

Tina of Quilting Affection

Carole of From My Carolina Home

Marian of Seams to be Sew

Pamela of Pamela Quilts

Carol of FunThreads Designs (me)

Quiltshop Gal

Having Fun with EQ7

Today I’m going to share some tips for getting your EQ7 files cleaned up and organized. The more you create the happier you’ll be if you stay organized.

 

Organizing PJ7 Files with Images

Last month I gave you a tip for organizing your PJ7 files using quilt images. You can find that HERE in case you misesd it.

 

File Name Tip

Recently I’ve started to include the creation date in the project file name. It saves time not having to actually open a file and access the notecard to find that information.

For example I’d save my file as… Tiptoe Through Quilt 8-12-15.PJ7

 

Adding Notecards
User Manual page 41

When you’re done creating your project it’s a good idea to clean up your Sketchbook. Delete unwanted items and create Notecards for items you’re keeping. Items borrowed from the Libraries already come with the name and library location filled in.

Give your items a name and include useful information like fabric line used, creation notes, and copyright date. Be sure to include searchable terms so EQ will include your block in library searches…more on that next.

To make a Notecard…Open SKETCHBOOK> select an item>click NOTECARD

 

Create Custom Libraries
User Manual page 61-64

EQ7 let’s you create your own libraries to store items you’ve created. Items you add will be included in searches and can be added to any project Sketchbook. This is where those Notecards come in handy.

Start by accessing the library you want to add to….LIBRARIES>BLOCK LIBRARY (or library of your choice). Have you noticed the tab called MY LIBRARY?

Click the MY LIBRARY tab> click ADD LIBRARY button. A dialog box opens allowing you to name your library and select how many subfolders or “styles” you want in it.

Once your Libary is set up you can change the subfolder or “style” names by right clicking on them and selecting modify style.

 

Add Items to My Library

Step 1 – Open the LIBRARY folder you want to add to.

Click LIBRARIES>BLOCK LIBRARY (or library of your choice)

Step 2 – Click the SKETCHBOOK tab and you’ll see the project contents. Select the items you want to save and click COPY. Notice you’re viewing the Sketchbook contents from the Block Libraries (top of screen) so the options at the bottom are different.

Hint: you can select multiple items by holding CTRL and clicking on them or select everything at once by holding CTRL and clicking A.

Step 3 – Click the MY LIBRARIES tab and make sure the subfolder is selected. Click PASTE to place the items in the library subfolder.

Notice that the library I just saved into, RANDOM MOTIF>FLOWERS, now appears on the item’s Notecard. Now your item will be included in EQ7 searches. Remember if you want to go directly to the items you have to look in the MY LIBRARY tab.

 

I hope you learned something new or helpful.

Hop over to Electric Quilt and enter to win this months prizes.

#eq25

More blogs posting tips, tricks and tutorials today.

Marian of Seams to be Sew

Pamela of Pamela Quilts

Mary of Quiltin Grandma

Carol of FunThreads Designs (me)

Quiltshop Gal