IrelandDragonQuilting

I am hoping that someone who has the equilt? I think it is called that. Can tell me if you can also take photographs and convert them into quilts.

rusty quilter

I have EQ7 and although you can import pictures of fabrics, I am not sure about converting a picture to a quilt.

IrelandDragonQuilting

Thanks rusty! I wonder if you can import in a picture, free hand draw around it to be able to either applique or paperpiece. I just don't want to spend that type of money if it is not capable to perform what I need it to :)

IrelandDragonQuilting

I am such a twit, I just found my answer, if bothered to do some more reading I would of found it. sheesh, (smacking self on forehead!)

thepolyparrot

You can import images and trace them with EQ (Electric Quilt) to turn them into blocks, but I'm not sure you can get where you want to go with EQ all by itself.

I just got a book called "Quilted Photography" by Tammie Bowser. I thought it would show me how to turn a photo into a grid in Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop (which I am certain is possible) but instead, she writes at the very end of her book that she's developed a piece of software called Quilted Photo Express. You can see it here:
http://www.softexpressions.com/softw...PhotXpress.php

To use a photo editor, I think you'd need to pixelate the photo, greyscale it and then decrease the color depth to 16 or 32 colors. (Tammie Bowser suggests 24, but Paint Shop Pro gives you 16 colors or 32 colors as options.) Each of those 16 or 32 colors would represent a particular value from light to dark and would get assigned a number, 1-16 or 1-32.

Then, you'd have to scan your fabrics and greyscale each of those to assign them a number on the value scale.

The grid becomes a chart like you would use for counted cross stitch. You could enlarge one copy of the grid and substitute numbers for the grey blotches to make it easier to translate to fabric.

Your fabric is cut in small squares and is applied to gridded fusible web, like you're doing a watercolor quilt. After fusing, you'd sew all the vertical seams, clip the creases in back, then sew all the horizontal seams.

I bought a bolt of the gridded fusible a few years ago... I have made neither a photo quilt nor a watercolor quilt. So much for good intentions, hm? ;)

thepolyparrot

Yes, you can trace your image and EQ will turn it into templates or paper foundations.

It's really a great piece of software for all the cool stuff you can do with it. The ability to print foundations and templates is worth its weight in gold - I'm doing that Barbara Brackman BOW and a lot of the blocks aren't suited to an 8" finished square, so without foundation or templates, you've got to fiddle with eighths and sixteenths. (Yuck!)

But, it's also absolutely wonderful to have the yardage figured out for you! And your rotary cutting! Both of these charts have little snippets of your exact fabrics right there on the page, too. :) Very, very cool software.

IrelandDragonQuilting

Thank you very much thepolyparrot! I sincerely appreciate it! I think I will get it and see what I can do :)

QuiltnNan

That you CAN do with EQ. EQ is worth every penny of the cost. I've had it for years and makes designing and tweaking the colors a breeze!