You won't find one single program that has everything we should be able to find in one place. Not at any price. Not yet. (The folks at Electric Quilt have my wish list for EQ7. we shall see. LOL)
I finally settled on Electric Quilt6. EQ5 has a really good reputation and now sells at a deep discount. but i have this ridiculous need to start with the latest version available of anything.
to be brutally honest, i am underwhelmed by the content. not as much as i expected. i'm sure the numbers they state are accurate. just doesn't "feel" like that much, if you know what i mean. However, that is not an issue for me because i want to draw my own and crank out templates, foundations, yardage estimates, designs, etc. to compile patterns.
i'm not crazy about the way my fabric scans look when i import them to my designs. but i'll bet that's because i haven't fiddled yet until i find the right scanning settings to make them look as good as the ones already included in the software.
-i love the fact that it comes with a book. a real live book! i can carry it from room to room and everything. LOL
-you can use the book as a text book and follow along with the step by step lessons. or you can skip to the second half, or bounce around to wherever the specific piece of information can be found.
-they have the best customer support staff i have dealt with in years. i mean the BEST.
it is the most expensive, that's for sure. i fished and i fished for one with as many features and as widely known great reputation but a lower price. not saying it's the only one with a good reputation. just saying it's the best known, and the one that all the other software companies run to keep up with. so, i finally took a deep breath and wrote the check.
i have no regrets. :-)