Anyone want a puzzle to solve to practice?

The original quilt ends up 96x108 with 12" blocks.
I want to add a 6" border, but still end up with 96x108. (Or close to.)

The fabric requirements for the original are:

7 1/4 yards white
3 3/4 yards colour #1
3 3/4 yards colour #2.
The border will be done in Colour #1.

How much fabric do I need?
And, how many blocks will I make?

Can the programme even do this or am I asking too much?

Any help appreciated, because it's hurting my brain.

Thanks,

Watson

The blocks I can figure out. 96" x 108", made up of 12" blocks, is 8 blocks x 9 blocks = 72 blocks for the original quilt. A 6" border on each side is equal to a single 12" block. Therefore, the new quilt of the same size with a 6" border would be 7 blocks x 8 blocks = 56 blocks for the new quilt.

Have to have another cup of coffee before tackling the yardage.

Edit: Okay, 56/72 = .7777. This means the new quilt blocks comprise about 80% of the old quilt blocks. You can take 80% of the old yardage to figure out the new yardage requirements.

80% of 7.25 yards = 5.8 yards. You could round down to 5-3/4 yards because 80% is a little more than 77%; however, without knowing the number and shapes of the individual pieces, it is safer to round up to 6 yards.

80% of 3.75 yards = 3 yards. For the same reasons as above, I would round up to 3-1/8 yards or 3-1/4 yards.

More coffee needed before I add the border fabric.

Edit 2: I am calculating an additional 2 yards of fabric for the border assuming the 6" strips are cut WOF and pieced to length. Hopefully someone else will check those calculations, as I do not trust my brain at this point.

Thanks, Prism!

I really appreciate the help.

Watson

I've got another question. What is the difference between PatchDraw and EasyDraw? I mean, why do they have both?

I finally finished lesson #1 in the EQ7 Pieced Drawing book (thanks to eparys). It was all in PatchDraw. I thought EasyDraw was easier to use (having been able to figure it out from the Kari Schell video's).

Why do they have both? Can you do some things in PatchDraw that you can't do in EasyDraw?

hope this helps-

http://doyoueq.com/blog/2016/02/quic...es-of-drawing/

Thanks so much, coffee! That is exactly what I wanted to know.

I believe that EQ8 is like going from manual shift in a car to automatic transmission. They have made it that much easier

I still have EQStitch for my embroidery stuff. Borders - if you click on it, you can see the size and that helps you know what size blocks you can fit in. I'm not in front of my computer, so I can't show a screen shot. I found it great to draw up our guild's block of the month and learned a lot that way.

Easy draw is great for patchwork
Basic lines have to go to outside edges. And think about your divisions before setting the size. Ex. For 9 patch, set size at easily divisions of 3 - 6 inches with grid at 12, 12 and next boxes at 24, 24. For 5 inch, use 10, 10, 20, 20.
Patchdraw is good when you want to use just applique shapes.
I use both to do a pieced background then add shapes on top.

I just bought an Accuquilt GO for cutting, but usually use EQ8 for designing my quilts. Is there a way to still design the quilts in EQ8, but have it print out the directions for cutting in Accuquilt shapes?

I designed the Carpenters Wheel as a square quilt in EQ7. Then I wanted to add rows for the size I changed my mind about. Is there a way to shift the blocks downward to center the design in the new size? Here is a picture of where I am:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]594415[/ATTACH]

I hope there is a way because this has been a continuing problem for me. First thing I could think of would be to add pieced block borders at the top so that each border (top only) becomes a part of the body of the quilt.

of couse! thank you. but i'd still like to know about 'shifting' the blocks because i'd run into this before where the 'borders' solution would not work.

QuiltnNan...make your layout 8 x 8 blocks and you will have your central square.

In Borders, make them the width of the blocks (ie 6" border for a 6" finished HST block). Your border style selection is not Long Horizontal, but Blocks from the Drop Down menu. Then list how many blocks you want in the horizontal and vertical borders (at the bottom of the Borders Dialog box). If you need additional borders to increase overall quilt size you can...you can make the vertical borders narrower or 0" and the top and bottom the width you need. I hope this is clear enough for you.

Anyone having trouble updating their EQ8? I was and after working with Matthew at Tech support, I was able to do this--he had me uninstall the one I'd tried to install and then re-install--worked fine. If you are like me, just send an email and they will send you the directions. I did end up calling him cause my computer was not wanting to let it uninstall and re-install--had to tell my security program to allow anything from EQ! Also spent some time last night transferring all the fabric swatches I'd downloaded directly from Manufacturers websites to EQ 7 to EQ8--now I'm ready to roll!

I had EQ7 for a while (before my annual hard drive crash last year) and it just bugged me that it took so many steps to do simple tasks. The makers of the software claim EQ8 is much more intuitive than EQ7. Has anyone found that to be the case? I am considering buying EQ8, but as with most things, I would like to know what other users think of it. Thanks.

I'm competent, but not great with computers, and do find the EQ8 much easier than the EQ7--the buttons make more sense and are not "hidden" like it was so often on my EQ7. I'm still getting used to it, but so far very glad I updated.

I haven't found EQ8 to be any more intuitive, but it does have some very nice features/enhancements that weren't in EQ7. My favorite is that if I edit a block to add or subtract lines, my coloring isn't completely shifted around.

I have EQ7 and would like to design my own applique blocks. I draw what I want on paper or get pictures from coloring books. I can scan to my computer and then I know how to get them into the program but I am having a terrible time using the drawing tools. My question is, is there a trick or easier way to trace or draw them so I can print the templates.

The few times I have tried this I resorted to making sure that that I entered 200 in the Vertical snap and horizontal snap boxes on an 8 inch block so I had a lot of control over where the start and stop of the lines were. Also if your design is curved (if you already know this - lol - just ignore these directions) , I found it helpful to draw a straight line from the start of the curve to the end of the curve, Then pick an arc and draw it from the start to end point (it will more than likely not match
but do not panic). Choose shape and click on the arc - a dotted triangle appears above the arc and if you put the mouse arrow on the point of the triangle and left click - you can drag that point all around and shape the arc it to your drawing.

If I were going to do several intricate applique designs in EQ I might resort to investing in a drawing tablet. I have a really old Waycom pad I used with 4D embroidery - it acts like a mouse but it is a pen and tablet (a lot like when you go to the store and pay with a a credit card and sign your name on the screen).

I have designed a quilt in EQ7 under the title of the quilt pattern with several different layouts. I want to copy one of the layouts to another file where I keep my donation quilt patterns. Is that possible?

Under Libraries in EQ7 there is a Layout Library. You copy from your Sketchbook the layout you want to save and paste it into My Library tab in the Layout Library just as you would if you wanted to save blocks or fabric. It will only save the actual layout not the fabrics and blocks that are used in the quilt - if you want to save those as well you will need to save them in the My Library tab under Block Library. Does this make any sense? lol??

Once you save it there it will be available to any other file

Thanks for the clear reply. Unfortunately, I could not get it to work that way... but you sent me in a direction that got me there. I used the import button and chose my specific quilt project file, then chose the quilt layout and blocks and added them to the donation quilts file. Then just added the blocks to that layout. I had to rotate and flip, just as I had previously done. I think that will save time when I want to add others to my donation quilts file.
thanks again

That actually sounds easier - I will have to look at that!!

I just ordered my EQ8 and a tutorial book from Amazon today. Never used the software before, so I am very.....hopeful :)

their tutorial books are definitely worth the price--and they make quick references when you want to do that type of quilt(block) at a later point. Have fun!

I've got a question/issue that I can't seem to resolve yet...maybe there is something I'm overlooking? When I import fabric from an image file (I do this a lot as my chosen fabrics are not always downloadable from the app)... I find I cannot scale them at all, which ends up looking pretty odd. The software suggests there is a way to use a 'ruler' when importing, but my install does not have it?

Directions say "Notice that the rulers on the worktable don’t match the ruler in the photo. In this example, the worktable ruler show approximately 10 inches and the actual ruler on the fabric shows approximately 18 inches. To get the appropriate scale, we need to adjust the rulers on the worktable to match the ruler in the photo"

I see no ruler at all on the worktable. Any ideas? Thanks much!

I have never tried this but here is a link to the EQ Blog - maybe this will help

https://support.electricquilt.com/ar...-fabric-scale/

I always enjoy a good challenge! Since I have never done this, I have been playing. I did this in EQ8 (I do have 7 as well but did not run it there).

This is what I did ....

- Open the Photo Library
- import the image into the photo library
- then choose "Edit to image worktable" at the top of that box
- in the next popup choose Scale fabric on left
- apply the correct scale
- then below that in EQ8 I have a button "add as fabric"

seems to work for me - let me know if it works for you

just a side note - If I had to follow the directions in the link in my previous post I might never have gotten there - lol. At least to me, the directions were far from clear. Hopefully you can follow mine!!

Thanks for the reply - I'm going to try it this way when I get home! I kept going round and round with the listed tutorials and directions from EQ.

Ohmygoshohmygosh!! I love you! Thank you So Much!! Eparys, that was it! I totally could not have done this on my own, and (shamefacedly) I don't consider myself a dummy as far as computers/software goes. That was not as directed lol!

looked this up in the EQ8 Lessons for Beginners (Basics): when you are in the "import & edit images" worktable, there should be a worktable tools button on the left showing "view actual size" and one that shows "fit to window" Right click over the image and choose "image info" to check how many pixels were used to scan the fabric. It will tell you this plus the size of the image (i.e. 75 pixels and 8.5x11") The book suggest you set your scanner to 72 or 75 dpi in order to scan correctly.

If yo did not scan it into EQ8, but rather imported from the internet (i.e. fabric manufacture's site that hasn't scaled it for EQ) it's suggested you either use the ruler in their image or if you take a picture of a fabric, that you include a ruler in the photo alongside the fabric. After you save it to sketch book you can do the right click on the image to get the image info box (# of pixels, resolution which ideally will be 72-75dpi but probably isn't, size of sample). to make the ruler in your image (that either came with the image off the internet or you placed a ruler in the photo) match the ruler on the image worktable, click the zoom button on the left side of the screen (a blue + button) and drag a marquee box around the ruler at the bottom of the image. then click "fit to window". then in the left hand palatte click "scale fabric"--the tips that you have to scroll down for should show you the way to scale without a ruler.
I highly recommend getting their new books with lessons--I go through them lesson by lesson and then keep to use for reference for those things you don't do all the time! Good luck!

Oooh, how do you do that?!

PS--my EQ8 install imploded last week. I got screen shots to the effect that I had violated the 2-computer allowance (only I hadn't--just one copy of EQ8 on my desk top, plus a second copy on my laptop that I bring to classes, etc. that I have been using since the EQ8 release date last December 2017. Regardless, I uninstalled and reinstalled on just my desktop copy and I was allowed access and permission to proceed once again. Both copies are working again just fine.

Looking for help with a panel. I am trying to create a quilt around a panel and can’t seem to figure out if EQ8 can even do this. Many thanks.

I'm pretty sure it can be done with custom settings... but I've not become comfortable with that... so I'll be looking for other responses.
Alternately, the panel can be put in a one block layout. Then the other blocks could be put in multiple borders?

Maybe someone else has a more elegant solution, but this is how I do it. As I find the custom layout awkward, I create a quilt with one block the size of the panel, then add borders to that. Sometime you need to play around with the size of the panel so that your blocks in the border aren't a funky size. Like - if your panel is 27x42 and you are thinking 6" blocks then the center needs to be 30x42. Then I decide how big I want the quilt and add borders - remember you can add a border to any side individually, in pairs, 3 out of 4 or all four at once to get your desired size and shape. I use either the blocks or tiles option. When I go to sew it - I will add extra fabric to make the panel the size I need it to be. Hope this helps.

Club EQ has an article that shows how to design around a panel: https://doyoueq.com/blog/2017/12/club-eq-using-panels/. I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but hopefully it proves helpful.

so it looks like the EQ club does it the same way eparys and I do it.

LOL - eparys is me!! I replied just above groucho (post #76)

the member who posted post #76