Eq7
 

What exactly dose this program do? and is there a free demo trial? I am still learning to quilt, will this program make me more confuse then I already am lol!

I dont have that software as it is too expensive for me. You can design your own quilts with it.
I do have Quilt Wizard which is a cheap (29 dollars) quilt design software. You can only use the blocks that are in the software but there are plenty. It is very helpful for layout and color design also.

It is if you like to create your own quilts, there is a steap learning curve so probably not a good choice for a beginner, I would try the 30 dollar quilt wizard to see if its something you would be interested in. There are many beautiful patterns so I don't feel the need to pay almost 200 dollars to make my own. Id rather spend that on fabric for a new quilt

Go to their site & watch a few of the demo videos to get an idea for yourself. http://electricquilt.com/online-shop/electric-quilt-7/

thanks for your reply looks like the quilt wizard is what I want I searched and I think it will help with my problems biggest one being color selection and block arrangement maybe eq 7 in the future I have to do some searching and see where I can buy one that takes paypal thanks again

I would disagree with EQ7 having a steep learning curve. I was able to create & color quilts with minimal effort within a few days of first receiving my first EQ program which was years ago. You can always up your learning skills and go into more depth of learning as your basic quilting skills develop and become more advanced but you will never outgrow the program. That doesn't mean that a beginner can't use it, in fact I found it most helpful for color and fabric selection when I was able to arrange different placement and could actually end up with a quilt that looked like the design I created with the program.

I have EQ7 and I like it, BUT I really enjoy the pattern making aspect of making quilts so it was a worthy investment.

Some say this software is hard, some say it's easy....I think it's just really not very intuitive. It doesn't quite do what I think it will do, or it doesn't quite do it the way I think it should. I'm a programmer and even aside from anything I'm writing/modifying myself, I use a LOT of software so I have definite ideas about how, generally speaking, one can get around within most software. EQ7 seems to break a lot of those rules/traditions so it's a little foreign-feeling to me. I actually have to READ the MANUAL! (shock, horror) ;-)

I actually think the less familiar you are with software in general the easier it might be to learn this software, just because you won't have as many preconceived ideas about how it's going to work. The manual and the in-program help files are pretty good, actually better than average I'd say. (But then again, it kind of HAS to be, since they're so unique!)

Having said all THAT...I like it despite the clumsiness. I design quilt after quilt after quilt on there (and actually sew a lot of them) and I love being able to try out new colorways with just a few clicks. I had a whole pile of quilts I'd designed on graph paper and colored with pencils and I have finally finished re-drawing them all into EQ and am very happy about that - now I can try any colors I want without having to draw it on paper!

The program has a lot of depth, as others noted, and I know it can do more than I know how to do with it right now. And I just ordered EQ Stitch so we'll see how that works.

Hi, I retired as a business software developer 1 year ago. I've been a Programmer since the late 1970's. I think Sewnoma hit the nail on the head - EQ7 is not intuitive. I found using it more difficult than the software I used in my professional career. However, I too love it and would not want to be without it! Like Sewnoma, I also prefer to design my own quilts and it has been indispensable for drafting unique blocks and finalizing layouts, sashings, coloring, borders, sizes, etc.. I've only purchased two quilt patterns (one of them is the Dear Jane software which I'll consider a "pattern"); all remaining quilts have been designed by me on EQ7. It is well worth the learning curve time spent.

If you have used a drawing/photo program like Adobe, it is fairly intuitive. It's the bezier curves that throw most people.

If you can use a photo/drawing program there is a tutorial on this site about designing quilts using Gimp. Gimp is a lot like Photoshop, but it's free, and a fairly good program.

I have a question,is EQStitch a stand alone program? I'm an avid embroider and would like to have software to use to make applique with. thanks in advance for any info you can provide!