Do you have Electric Quilt? Do you use it? Do you love it? My answers are yes, yes and yes! I don’t use it EQ to it’s fullest but the parts I use, I love and can’t imagine not having.
If I had to name my favorite part of EQ, it would be the ease in which it allows me to fit perfect borders. As a longarm quilter, I’ve seen some major border boo-boos due to improper fitting. While my piecing isn’t always perfect, I’m pretty confident that I get a good 1/4″ seam so I can always trust the measurements of my EQ drawings to match my actual piecing.
Look at this screen capture. Click it to make it larger.
Assume I’ve just added the border made from the 4″ squares. That border is highlighted in gray. Next I’m going to add the outermost side borders. I look at the little box that says “Size of quilt including this border” and I see that the top is now 57″ x 75″ and that doesn’t include seam allowances. So, this side border needs to be 75-1/2″.
Then once I add those side borders, I click on the outermost border and it becomes highlighted.
I now see that “Size of quilt including this border” shows that the quilt is 63″ x 81″. This tells me that my top and bottom border pieces need to be 63-1/2″ long.
No guessing, no wondering, no measuring top, bottom and middle to take an average. EQ is such a useful tool, even if I don’t know how to use it to its fullest extent.
A shameless plug here — if you need an upgrade or want to try EQ, I have it for sale on my website. The sales from my website help to maintain the website and the blog so when you need some of the items that I have for sale (my book, patterns, backing fabric and EQ items), I very much appreciate your business. For the month of September, there is no charge for shipping on EQ, both full version and upgrade.
Amy says
If I buy EQ (I’m not) will you throw in an extra 3 or 4 hours in the day?
Yvonne says
I do have Eq6 and I know how to use it very minimally. 🙁 I really do want to learn how to use it.
Pam says
I’m learning EQ6. It’s new for me so any tips you want to throw out will be gratefully appreciated.
Karen L says
I used to have EQ4, but I like Amy need the extra hours in the day!!!! I like the principal behind using EQ to figure out sizes and whatnot…..but what happens when you are a less than perfect sewer…….nothing beats actual measurements to make sure those borders will be flat!!!!
Karen L
Amanda says
I bought EQ many years ago, upgraded to EQ5, and got EQ6 as soon as it came out 2 years ago. I didn’t open it’s box until recently, and I still haven’t loaded it into my computer.
I love the tips you give on using it. Maybe it will encourage me to give it a try.
How’s your family? Mine is getting the rain today, but all is well.
Laila Mogensen says
I have EQ6 and I just LOVE it, I try to play around and learn something new as often as possible. It’s so fun to use and I can the only thing to say about that is: Go for it, just buy it and enjoy!!!
Ava says
Do you know how to find out how much fabric you’ll need for each piece?
Barb D in Maine says
I have had EQ since the beginning – I love it! But it does have it’s limitations! I had an opportunity to take a class from Mary Ellen Kranz a couple of years ago and I learned a lot – and, I use it a lot! I have recently ordered (but not yet received) Quilt-Pro, Version 5 – I figure with both programs I can design to my heart’s content!! The main reason I was attracted to this particuar software was the ability to print handouts (for my classses) for all my blocks – spliting the segments away, etc. I cannot do that with EQ6 – what do you use for your handouts?