I have EQ6 and I love it - I use it all the time. It is well worth the investment.

I have EQ 5, I think. Really like it. I don't use it to it's fullest potential by any stretch of the imagination but I do like it for what I use it for and find it is bascially fairly easy to use. If I were more creative I'm sure it would be a much more powerful tool. And I've not felt the need to upgrade either as a couple of others have said.

I have and use EQ5 and have never felt the need nor could I justify the expense of upgrading. That said, I use it all the time. My quilt or wallhanging is on the screen while I am sewing and designs are tweaked all the time before I actually commit fabric to a project. I never worry about importing fabrics since I just pick a typical fabric and change the colorway so it kind of looks like what I have and go for it. It's not easy to use a "custom" setting in EQ5, but I have. I'm not really a quilt designer so I don't often go there. I've gotten excited about many quilts only to lose interest once I put them in EQ. My new project is to make a small block sampler quilt to see if I will like the result. Taking the time to get it in EQ will save me much grief or spur me forward-we'll see.

I started with EQ6, graded to 7, and will upgrade to 8 when it comes out. I use it all the time and have gotten far more than my money's worth out of it.

I had EQ4, then 5, then 6 now 7 and loved them (though there are a number of quilts I have had to do on graph paper because I could not do them in EQ. I also have Block Base and love it since it gives me oodles of possibilities.

Same here. There's a quilt I've had in my head for literally years. Thought it would be the most spectacular quilt. Recently I drafted it in EQ and decided I didn't like it at all. There are also lots of designs I've drafted that I know I'll probably never make. Some because I don't like them and some because I don't have time. (See my avatar. Love the design but too many projects ahead of it on my to do list.) But it's fun to play. And I think it's given me a better sense of design and color.

Oh I so agree with the both of you. I have imported a few fabrics, but have found there are so many fabrics already in that have the color and scale I'm looking for that the exact fabric is not an issue.