bonnyh

Please check this out. Rhonda is giving classes on EQ5. This was week 1 and info is still available. •Rhonda's Electric Quilt Class - Week 1 - Introduction -- by Rhonda. Just PM her and I'm pretty sure she'll help you out.

nhweaver

There is a beginner EQ7 class at Quilt University, Jan 20 2012. Registration opens 5 weeks before the class. I have marked the info on my calendar. I have EQ7 and do simple things with it, but will try a QU class to see what it offers.

Steady Stiching

Ditto to what she said.....I do know someone who got the upgrade and it just looked like more bells and whistles..but since I cant use the bells and whistles I now have I opted not to upgrade. And to be honest I feel that the company has done a disservice to those of us EQ users who chose not to upgrade by changing the suffix making it impossible for previous version users not to be able to read EQ7 files. It took Microsoft ten years to change their suffix in .doc files. Shame on EQ

Jan C

I started with EQ6 and now have EQ7. Unfortunately multiple health issues have slowed my use down and skill level considerably. I don't find the tutorials very helpful so I either give up or just do something different. I do find he program helpful for choosing / selecting colours and their placement as well as quilt design. I currently have a 32 block kaleiderscope quilt that I started in a class. I have experimented with various layouts eg horizontal V point on point, as well as colour for the sashing and borders. This has been very helpful. All in all I love the program, I just wish I was more proficient with it.

lfstamper

Rhonda is offering weekly instructions on EQ 5-7 which has been great. Here's the link if you are interested.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/tags/electric+quilt.html

Johanna Fritz

I am glad we have an EQ section. About 6 months ago, I upgraded to EQ7 and LOVE, LOVE it. I have to be honest. I really struggled with EQ5 during the time that I had it. Some things just didn't seem to be so "intuitive." EQ7 is so much better. I would suggest to start, get a cheap notebook and read one chapter a night in the user manual. I know this sounds annoying when you want to jump into creating, but it does help.I read and put notes in my notebook. I call it my Quick Reference. I listed things I would use myself. I made an underlined notes, going through each chapter and adding a page reference to the left of each subject listed. Paging through the notes, it helps you understand how it all fits together, and you aren't constantly pulling out the huge owners manual, as you can turn to the notes on the chapter you need. I was stuck at my in-law and read the whole manual and took notes in a weekend.

**Right now, if supplies are not gone, EQ is selling the piecing and applique books for EQ6 (same directions for EQ7) at half price, as of last week. I bought both of those when I got the software. BIG, big help if you plan to design a lot at all, as I do.

Suggestion: if you are new to EQ7, I would read chapter 2 (Sketchbook) before chapter 1 (Projects). I didn't really understand about how the sketchbook works, stacked blocks etc. There are free videos from EQ (whether you own EQ7 or not) on You Tube, just do a search. The videos are 3-4 min long. I think there are 5 or 6(?) EQ7 has interactive help. You just type in under "how do I..." and you see it on screen. Very nice.

I design blocks, settings, quilts etc. every day using EQ. I cannot say enough good about it. If you might be interested in me posting something here for you all, kind of a "Did you know you can....in EQ"? and give you a pg reference, I would be happy to post that here if enough people are interested. I won't bore everyone with explaining the process in detail, just the note and the page number in the reference manual. It might be nice for those who are thinking about buying EQ, because you will get a better understanding about what you can do. Thanks and post away questions. I will do my best to direct you to an answer in the 3 books that I have. Sorry that I cannot suggest help for EQ5. I don't have it anymore.

JoanneS

You can ask that question directly of EQ - there's an email address in the book. Sorry - I don't have my book, because I've already sent all my stuff to AZ where I spend the winter. Somebody else, please post it. When I first started using EQ5, I asked a LOT of questions this way, and Penny was VERY patient and answered all my questions within a few hours.

JoanneS

Mostly, it's a matter of how many squares are in the block. There are a zillion blocks with 9 squares in them. Many complement each other and form new designs when you alternate them in a quilt. The same goes for 16 patches, etc etc.

quiltgal

I bought EQ6 and then upgraded to EQ7 as soon as that came out. I was told by people who have EQ5 that were buying EQ6 or 7 upgrade from me in January 2011 at my booth at the Kingsland Quilt show that there were issues with it that made it hard to use that they knew were corrected in EQ6. I took a workshop taught by Barb Vlack (she wrote one of the how to books for EQ6) through my local quilt guild on EQ6 a couple of months after I got it and that was real helpful. I find EQ7 easier to use and it has more options than EQ6, so in my opinion is much easier to use and worthwhile to upgrade.

quiltgal

[email protected] is the email address.