i too have high praise for EQ.

i only downside would be, if you only plan to use it to make 1 quilt it would be a waste of money.

its rather costly and if you put out the bucks for it you really need to use it.

i've used it for every quilt i've made in the last 7 years - either for the block design, border design, or the entire quilt... but every quilt has some form on EQ in it.

I love mine. It took me a year to convince myself it could be worth the money but after I got it I can say it is. Do the tutorials and you will have no problems with it.

Several of us at the shop were talking yesterday about the concept of selling kits for small, simple functional items like table runners or placemats. I thought that maybe a program like EQ6 could be used to create the design, and then we could fill the design in using fabrics we have... and then when we run out of one of the fabrics, replace it with something similar and re-create the "picture" so to speak. Or maybe we could use the same pattern, but fill it in with, say, different holiday fabrics, and then EQ6 would, so to speak, sew the demo project.

Now, I've never used EQ6 or even seen a demo. I'm just "imagining" how it might work. I believe that even the project sheets that the manufacturers use to sell their collections, are only "virtual" not "real" quilts. So they (the manufacturers' marketing departments) must also be using some kind of software to create their patterns.

I'd really appreciate it if someone who actually uses EQ6 could tell me if I'm off base about all this, or if how I'm thinking we could use it is at all reasonable.

I suppose I should also ask, about how much EQ6 costs?

Favorite Fabrics you can use it exactly in that way....I use the same designs/patterns and just swap out fabrics all of the time!!!
Yes a lot of these manufactures do use EQ to make the free quilt patterns...as well as other pattern makers.

http://www.electricquilt.com/Shop/EQ6/EQ6.asp

Well, sort of, but if I buy a pattern or a kit I would like to think that the people putting it out have actually sewed the thing together at least once, and that the pattern reflects the lessons learned. I think you can easily tell whether a picture was generated by software or by photographing a real quilt.

EQ6 is a design tool, but it does NOT provide what I expect in a pattern that I actually pay for, or even one that I get free when I buy yardage. It doesn't give step by step sewing directions, which are expected to be included in a pattern. The yardage estimates are helpful, but if you actually make the pattern you may find better ways to cut the fabric that will change the yardage requirements.

So yes, I would say you can get a nice picture of how something would look in different fabrics using EQ6, but you should not use it as a substitute for making the quilt at least once in the real world before you put together a kit.

There are other quilt programs besides EQ. I use Quilt-Pro version 5 and like it just fine. I can create my own blocks, make them PP projects, scale print so they are what ever size I need. web site is www.quiltpro.com they have a demo verison you can try before you buy.

I Also have been getting EQ since it was just EQ. I love it as well. If you look at the video tutorials and do the lessons. You will ge the basics and that will give you the tools to do most anything.

No I wouldn't just use it for one quilt. I'd use it for any other future quilts too. It's just that this one has me stumped by the design and his limited color choice for 48 different fabrics. Thanks for the input!

Thanks. I'll check this out too.

I love my EQ6!!! I did some of the tutorials and I designed my very first quilt and am now teaching it this Fall!!! I'm sooooooooo excited!