Cattitude

I just received my copy and feel that the basics are pretty intuitive. I am not a computer guru by any stretch....average at best.

The main reason I purchased EQ8 is because of my growing pile of fabric I love but am afraid to cut into. I have a problem visualizing what a fabric will look like in a particular pattern or what the colour placement should be. I will be able to upload that fabric and play with it.

Down the road the idea of designing my own blocks and quilts appeals to me a great deal.

I believe it is going to be a great tool. If you can afford it......go for it!

zozee

I’d pksy around with a free program first, and for maybe 2-3 months to gauge just how often you use it, and why. If you don’t care for designing at all, no program will likely change that. Perhaps you get a bang out of other parts of the quilt making process.

I bought a low end program about a year ago, but after a few playtimes, realized I prefer to do a quick sketch of my idea, fill it with preferred colors by hand, and then figure out the math. The computer slowed me down because I just wanna get cutting and sewing! And also because If something isn’t intuitive, and it’s unnecessary, I skip it.

In the end, it’s a personality and value judgment that only you can make.

SusieQOH

I love what the board members to with theirs and they've helped me a lot!
However, I'm one who is totally daunted by the whole thing. I'm terrible at trying
anything resembling designing a quilt. I love seeing what the others do but it's just
not in me I guess.
My strength appears to be colors and designs to go into a quilt. I'm okay with that
I remember when I first started quilting I had no clue about color value etc. My early quilts were really boring lol

TouchOfRustic

I say, hesitantly, it’s a great program. EQ8 is more intuitive than other versions, but it still really requires you sit down and work through the lessons initially so you can take full advantage of the program’s capabilities. I feel you still need to be a confident quilter and understand the mechanics of piecing. It will give you dimensions or templates, but you still have to know how to construct your quilt. I’d you’re into paper piecing, that’s a rabbit hole you can get lost down designing your own patterns. It’s pricey, but for the right quilter whose willing to stick with it at first, I think it really opens up my creativity,

quiltingshorttimer

I love it for helping me with t-shirt quilt layouts, getting blocks from their library to use for guild BOM, getting cutting measurements on quilts, being able to play around with colors and with block layouts. I have designed a few blocks and put together many quilt designs. But if you aren't interested in designing a quilt, it might not be worth your $$. I do like that I can plug in some quilting motifs to see how those look too--just wish that I was better at drawing my own quilting designs on the blocks/quilts I create in it. Their lessons books are absolutely worth the $$--especially when they are 20% off (several times a year). But they do not give refunds--but great tech support!

romanojg

I have a friend and teacher that loves 8. alot more than 7. If I could afford it I'd upgrade just by watching the things she does.