clsurz

I got my EQ7 in yesterday and have installed it on my laptop. Happy to have gotten it at such a good price of $138.00 and free shipping. I had been trying for months to negotiate with various businesses online to get it at no more than $150 and finally last week I got an email offering it for $138.00 with free shipping. Of course I jumped on it straight away.

Now I can design to my hearts content.

I have a sketch pad that I jot down ideas but I'm afraid I can't draw worth a darn. So this program will help me tremendously I believe.

Regarding Expression II which for those of you who have no idea what this electric die cutting machine is it is made by Provo Craft and called the Cricut Expression. I have two other Expressions but one is on it's last legs as they say because I have used it to experiment using various materials and the other I have used primarily to cut cardstock and fabric with. The Cricut Expression II recently launched on HSN Cricuts 5th Anniversay and reason I got it is because of all the upgrades it has as well as an led screen and our not needing the keypads anymore in the machine. It also is compatibale with the Cricut Imagines printer/cutter and will allow us to use those carts as well. We can also flip with this new machine images/projects. Anyway I invested in it to use for cutting fabrics because I love to primarily do appliques and designing my own.

SPEAKING OF EQ7 I know several of you here have this program so how many of you actually make good use of it and design your own blocks to be used in quilt projects later on?

I briefly scan read the book last night and viewed the program after I installed it and saw where it allows the importation of embroidery projects as well as everything else so my question is can we design our own embroidery project on EQ7 besides importing and export it to our embroidery machines library to use later one? I'm assuming it has that capability.

sandyl

Check here: http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-90556-1.htm

I've had so many questions and this area has helped me tremendously. I am signing up for the EQ University class beginning this month.

I have used mine and put together designs using blocks that I've seen on here. It's fun but I still have so much more to learn.
Sandy

quiltinghere

I purchased and installed mine recently but haven't worked with it seriously.

Spring has sprung and there are lots of things outside to get caught up on. I'm in no hurry to get to it because I'm happy to know that I HAVE IT!!!! (and on a new computer too) :) :) :)

I'll have to look into those EQ University classes...I keep hearing about them.

scowlkat

I use my EQ7 all the time to design my quilts. As to importing embroidery, yes, it works so you can preview how your quilt will look with your embroidery designs.

Sounds like you are set for lots of fun!

Hen3rietta

It is one tool among many that I use. What it does it does very well. I generally don't 'design' a quilt from scratch on it and have rarely used it to do a full quilt. I use it to audition blocks or parts of quilts or settings that I've doodled on paper. It's particularly helpful when auditioning colors. It is also very good for resizing squares and printing out a full size pattern, templates, paper piecing and/or rotary cutting directions. 7 has a new feature that's a bit addictive. You can import a photo and turn it into a one block quilt: postage stamp squares, hexes etc.

lllog

Maybe!
You can import embroidery designs as long as they are in the correct form. Unfortuantly, EQ7 doesn't accept all conversions, even if they are in the correct form.

I usually capture a picture of the design and import it as a picture. That works just as well.

Lanny

ThreadHead

As for the Expression II, when I checked into it they told me that it didn't work that well for fabric.
Have they made any progress in that area?
Does it cut the fabric as well as paper items?
I really like some of the intricate designs you can get on paper/stocks and would like to do them on fabrics.

Syl

clsurz

Who did you check with? This NEW machine is an upgrade from the regular Expression and digitial. It was promoted as being good to cut fabric with.

I've successfully cut fabric with the regular Expression as well as the Imagine so don't see why it would not cut with the E2 especially when this machine is an improvement over the other models.

ThreadHead

This was about a year ago, I saw the ad on TV.
I called the number they had on the screen and talked with one of the people who were selling it.
Can you cut intricate pieces of fabric or things like outlines of apples, bears. Will it cut fabric like it cuts paper, like lace?

clsurz

This was about a year ago, I saw the ad on TV.
I called the number they had on the screen and talked with one of the people who were selling it.
Can you cut intricate pieces of fabric or things like outlines of apples, bears. Will it cut fabric like it cuts paper, like lace?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Expression 2 DID NOT come out until April of this year so it can't be the machine you checked on. What came out last year was the Cricut Imagine, a printer and cutting machine. I have that one as well and love it.

All cricut machines will cut fabric to use in applique or paperpiecing.

The Cricut machines will cut fabric to use in appliques or for paperpiecing. If using fabric you must stablize the fabric with either freezer paper, heat n bond, or similar paper on the back of it to hold on the mat.

Some say you need to put the fabric face down on the mat with paper on top so not to shred the fabric however I have never had to do that and my fabric is fine.

Most die cutting machines no matter if electric like the cricut or done manually by cranking the machine like the big shot or accu quilt recommends you put a piece of paper on top of your layer of fabric to cut however I do not use such for any of those machines either and fabric cuts well.

You just have to play with your cricut and experiment. These machines are all different in how they work. For instance I can cut .45 chipboard on my Expression yet most people say they have a hard time cutting even something as small as a cereal box which is not even .20 in thickness.

I have learned to play with my machines and certainly the Cricut Expression cutting all sorts of stuff and it cuts more than what the list recommends.

Just as you would have to get the feel to be comfortable with a sewing machine and getting one that does what you want it to do the same goes with die cutting machines no matter if electronic in nature or hand cranked.

I'm the type of person WHO DOES NOT make a decision about such products based on negativity but instead order the item and test it for myself and test everything others say it can't or won't do and I have hit 99.9% success rate in making it do what others say it won't.

All machines or even software for that matter gives you a downtime like 30 days or more to play with it and if not satisfied return it for a full return and the Cricuts are like that so I test drive whenever a new one comes out because they are improvements over the previous ones.