Comments are closed – congratulations to Aunt Marti, who blogs at 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks. Better not start using EQ7 until after you’ve finished all 52, Marti – you might just get sidetracked!
If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know how much I love my EQ7 software. I consider it to be a necessary tool for quilters who like to create their own designs or put their own spin on patterns written by others. From simply recoloring a quilt to completely redesigning it, EQ7 gives you the ability to truly make a quilt your own creation.
Imagine my SQUEE! when I received an email from Sarah Shriver at Electric Quilt asking if I’d like to host an EQ7 giveaway! Are you kidding? Of course I’d love an opportunity to share my favorite quilting tool with my readers!
So here’s the situation: I don’t like giveaways that require tons of hoop jumping, but I do feel this prize is worthy of a little effort. To enter, you must leave a comment with some substance. Tell me a story about a quilt you designed, or a special quilt you want to create. Tell me a funny quilting story, or a meaningful story. Tell me why you want a copy of EQ7. Tell me if you have an earlier version, or if you’ve used other quilt design software. Tell me what you find most challenging about designing a quilt, or what your color rut is and how you plan on getting out of it. Tell me SOMETHING so when I draw your name I feel like I know a little bit about you.
I’ll draw a winner on Friday, June 15. The giveaway is open to international entries. The software will ship directly from Electric Quilt. In the meantime, watch this blog because I’m going to be featuring a few of the reasons why I love EQ7 so much!
Piecemeal Quilts 
Wow. I would absolutely LOVE to win a copy of EQ7. Here is why. I am design challenged. Every time I try to design a quilt on my own, it turns out to be a mess. Okay, well not every time. I did have one recent success. BUT, I recently made a quilt for my Dad with Rocky and Bullwinkle Fabric. I had the perfect plan, and it looked great on paper, so I made all the cuts and laid it out and it was awful! I arranged and rearranged many times. It just did not work. I ended up discarding about half the blocks and filled in with some of the backing fabric to make it look, well, not as scary. 🙂 It was an extremely frustrating and disheartening experience. I have been hinting around to my husband about quilt design software ever since. I am currently working on another quilt for my son that I am taking very very slowly so I have a better process and result, but I can’t help but want to use the computer to simplify the process.
Thank you so much to you and EQ for the opportunity!
I would love to win a copy of EQ7, but honestly I’d give it to my mom! I have EQ6 and LOOOVE it. I use it for mock-ups on quilt patterns I either make myself, or one’s I intend to make. I have been downloading fabric jpg’s so I can even see what it will look like in my fabric choices. My mom is 70 this year and has had a resurgence in the love of quilting (inspired by moi, hehe). She is such a wonderful quilter, and when she said to me she’d like to make a certain quilt, but didn’t think she ‘had it in her’ to cut as many pieces as it contained……. I ended up cutting it for her and gave it to her as a ‘pre-cut kit’ for Christmas. She finished it in just a couple months, then pieced another quilt soon after. She is already planning for another quilt, which makes me very happy! Anyhow, I know my mom would get tons of use out of an EQ program 🙂
My older version of EQ (5, I think) did not survive the great hardware crash of ’09. I miss it (and I don’t think it would run on my current OS). I started out quilting putting together my own designs – and doing all the math for sizes and yardages. I rarely got it wrong, but boy, does it take time. I loved EQ because it let me try out color changes, figure yardage and resize things with just a few clicks. It’s a great spur to creativity – it’s easy to lose hours just browsing, designing and playing (wtihout having to clean up the sewing room afterwards!)
Oh, what a great prize! The last big quilt I designed took me days to work out – I had certain things I wanted to include and I had to do so many sketches and working out of measurements before everything fitted. The multiple pieced borders were the hardest to design as I always seemed to be a couple of inches out when I got back to where I started! In the end it turned out really well (phew!) but I think I wore out a couple of rubbers and used so much graph paper I had to nip out for more partway through! I also think it would help me with the numerous small decisions that I seem to dither over when designing a quilt – which way should the stripe go, would 4″ or 6″ blocks look better, etc.
Recently I’ve been thinking about how much I love using patterned fabric for the background but I often get cold feet at the last minute and use something plainer as I worry the background will drown out the foreground – EQ would be a great way to test it out without cutting into the fabric! I’ve never used a quilt design program but I have high hopes that it could down on my dithering!! Thanks for the chance to win!
I love to design quilts, Applique is a doddle but when it comes to the geometric stuff I get the collywobbles. For some reason my EQ6 has ceased to work and I have no idea how to get it working again. Without it the collywobbles have returned. If I am going to replace it the newer version seems to be a better idea so I would love to win it.
At ten years old, my mother forced me take a sewing course in 4-H. While using my grandmother’s old treadle sewing machine, it seemed Mom and I both ended up in tears at every turn. I couldn’t get the hang of working feet, hands and eyes together all at once. I hated sewing!! Fast forward 20 years—My best friend, who I met when I was 30, is a seamstress and has been for many years. She encouraged me to buy my first sewing machine about ten years ago in hopes that I’d learn to make a few things and eventually like sewing. It’s intimidating when she knows so much about sewing, but I have learned to like it more and more. This winter my goal was to make a queen-sized quilt top. A simple nine-patch is what I started with, but then I saw the disappearing nine-patch and decided I liked that better. I finished it, and it’s waiting to be sewn by a long-arm quilter.
Being a very new quilter at 63 years old, I’m finding I like to put my own spin on things at times rather than copy what someone else has done before me. I recently learned from all the mistakes on a baby quilt that I should have a plan BEFORE I begin. Making it up as you go isn’t a good idea! I’ve never used or even seen the EQ, but if it helps you design a quilt before you actually start putting things together, I think it must be a great thing.
Linda
Wow, Sandi! How wonderful ! I think you know me a little bit, as I am a fan of yours and have participated in a couple of QAL’s. Ironwork* is next up to be quilted by the way! I love it! I was truly fascinated how you designed it with your EQ7. Never having tried the software, I can only imagine the possibilities. Anything I have put together, is done hit and miss on my design board. I find it just so hard to visualize layouts, that I rarely do my own design. I sure don’ t want to cut a bunch of fabric only to find it looks terrible!! So, I would welcome the chance to use this amazing software and start expanding my quilting! Thanks!
I would love to try EQ7 again! Many years and two computers ago, I had an early version and had played with it some. I can’t say that I ever really felt comfortable with it, though. It seemed more complicated and thus time consuming for what I wanted to accomplish, as a beginning quilter, at that point in time. Now I think I’m ready to try it again. I’d really like to have a better way to get my ideas down and made doable versus just bouncing around in my head. Thanks for the chance!
I made a special quilt for my son that was red/orange/yellow and blue/teal/purple stars on a black background. I had to design the whole thing on PAPER because I don’t have EQ7 (yet!). I always do a scrappy back, but for this back I made more blocks (all red/orange) on a black background. It took me a year to make but turned out absolutely stunning! Photos here: http://welcomehomefarm-tj.blogspot.com/2012/03/stars-in-night-sky-quilt-done.html
I have EQ6 and would love to win EQ7. I love using it when I have the time. I like the fact that I can play around with blocks without actually having to make them. I have a quilt for my nephew on my design wall right now that I designed using EQ. I am going to be using it next for a quilt that my son has designed. I love using it to redesign block sizes and come out working well for me. I also like its ability to print out paper piecing designs. Thanks for the chance to win.
WOW! This is a marvelous give away! Thank you and EQ both for thinking this up. I am a fairly new quilter. The tools I use when designing a quilt are graph paper, pencil & ruler or sometimes Word or Excel. I would like to design a quilt for my family highlighting the cities/states that we have lived in. I have discovered that I am a visual learner, and this software would be a great help in translating my thoughts into an actual quilt pattern. It is hard for me to envision how the top will look. Sometimes I make photo copies of fabrics and cut-paste them into a block so I can actually see how it will look when finished.
My quilt designing so far has happened in my head or on some graph paper. My first quilt design happened this way: DD and I attended our second quilt class. The quilt we brought to class to work on required no new additional skills than those we’d learnt in the previous class so the teacher suggested we start something else. Right there and then I decided to try appliqué. The teacher decided to teach me fused appliqué and gave me some blocks to look at but after browsing for a while, I opted to design my own house block. I then chose fabrics for the houses and for the roofs but finding the right background fabric wasn’t easy. Eventually I settled on one. I bought what I was told was the right amount but when I went to cut out all my blocks at home later, I didn’t have enough fabric so I had to go to a nearby fabric store and buy some fabric that would work with what I had.
After our next class with that wonderful teacher, I found some local classes that were run weekly and didn’t require a 90 minute trip – each way – to our first teacher. I decided in that first new class that I wanted to learn QAYG; this required that I add sashing to each of my blocks. I had enough of both background fabrics to make the sashing required and this made the quilt top seem more unified. But, in adding the sashing, I made the quilt way too wide for the single (twin) bed I had in mind when I started but the top was too small for our queen bed. So then I had to make some more design decisions about what fabric to add to make a border and how I was going to tie it all together! I like designing this way – solving one challenge after another; it’s a little how I paint landscapes. However, I think having EQ would be fun to play with blocks that I admire too!
I am a 58 year old retired HR Director and I love all things fabric and stitchery. These passions kept me sane during my career. I belong to a wonderful Guild and the best part is my daughter who will turn 35 in a few days has taken up the hobby and joined my Guild. So Tuesday nights are now mother, daughter night. She is so excited about Quilting that she is already surpassing me and is especially involved in our Cuddle Quilt (Charity Quilt) program. I already own EQ7 having upgraded from EQ5 to 6 and now 7. My daugther really, really wants to own and use the program but her budget precludes her from purchasing and her pride won’t let her Mother purchase it for her. For that reason I am grateful for the opportunity to win this giveaway. It would make a wonderful birthday gift don’t you think???
sharon.bourque@sympatico.ca
What a wonderful chance to finally own an EQ programme. I have immersed myself in quilting since retiring from nursing 2 years ago. I have dabbled for more than 30 years , but it has now become almost a full time “occupation” . The only quilt i can claim as designing came about when my then 7 year old granddaughter came to me with a drawing of a view from my home ( i live on the coast) and asked if i could make a quilt for her younger sister’s birthday. I had her father sketch it out full size, onto interfacing, staying true to her naive style. I then set about making the background using a different method of piecing for each section, there is strip piecing, barghallo,postage stamp, and a sort of disappearing nine patch.All of which i think would have been easier to work out in EQ. I then made a sun from crazy patch and a large Pine tree in foundation paper piecing. A A sail boat,train , complete with passengers and planes, doing loop de loops were then machine appliqued to the background. I then added seagulls, dolphins and fish, leaping from the water, and “smoke” from the train . The overall design remained true to her original drawing and was finished with FMQ, clouds, waves, shells and grass, which i had traced on to solvy and then sewn over. You can see it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55642760@N07/5191740388/in/set-72157625304142605. The lucky sister loves it , as do all that see it.
I have seen how useful EQ can be in doing several sampler quilts, friends who have the programme have a MUCH easier time and i am often envious. I can see that even if i don’t win this time , i will eventually succumb to the temptation
I work in an office that does Family Mediation – i.e. helps separating families come to an agreement and learn how to work things out in the future. My idea is for a quilt to hang there. It will have a Mariners Compass in the middle and will have two rows of flying geese – both starting on the left of the compass and flying around the top and the bottom to meet again on the right. It will demonstrate how we help people come together.
I don’t know if EQ7 could help me design that, but I would be very excited to try it out!
Wow – amazing giveaway. EQ has been on my Christmas/birthday list for about a year now – I would love if this came through. It’s amazing to see how flipping the colors works a design – or scrappifying it – or playing with the values [ or putting a design on point. I love the tiling – some of these block of the month have so much potential as a full quilt because of the secondary patterns. I know some people use it to switch block sizes – also looks like a great idea. Anyhow – it’s find a oving home here, so my fingers are crossed!
My story would be about the quilt i’m currently making as a wedding present for a friend (so no photos allowed on the internets yet, it needs to be a surprise!). but it started with an inspiration quilt, that I sketched out and then made some changes… and then some more changes… and then some more… and then probably 6 sheets of paper later I had a design I really liked, and still do now it’s in quilt form!
I remember the first time I saw EQ software – it must have been 9 years ago – and thought “wow, I need that!” I didn’t get it and the EQ software just keeps getting better and better so I am glad I didn’t get that earlier version.
I have been finding and designing blocks for the We Can Do It! Skill Builder Sampler for a year now and EQ would have come in soooo handy. I would love to be able to find a block, size it how I desired and know what size to cut the pieces without doing all of the math myself – at least for the harder/odder blocks. This year I also learned how to paper piece and I would love to be able to print out my own paper piecing templates.
Does the random number generator take into consideration begging? 😉
I’ve already got EQ7, but just can’t get up the nerve to jump in and design something. I do all kinds of other things on the computer, but have been hesitant to work with it — I know, that’s really silly. I’d love it if there were classes near me, or if one of the quilt shows would offer classes — somethinbg that would lead me by the hand! I’ve also got to check out the instructional videos on YouTube. I would still like to enter your drawing though so that I could give it to my friend Nancy, Near Philadelphia. Shoe loves to design quilts, so if I give her the copy I win, maybe we can encourage each other to start playing and designing!
My friends love to hand me a picture and ask “figure out the pattern for me and how much fabric I’ll need”..What? My design software is grid paper and Excel. Part of me would love to own EQ7, another part of me is afraid I’ll become a computer zombie design pattern after pattern and never sewing again. But zombies are good thing … right?
One of my favorite quilting experiences was when I made some coverlets for my little girls. They were very simple blankets — just 2 layers of flannel with some batting in between, sewn together and turned right side out, then tied with perle cotton. What made them special to me was because I’d worked on them in the evenings after the girls had gone to bed, then on Christmas Eve I crept into their bedrooms and tucked their new blankets around them. When they woke up they saw the blankets before they even got out of bed. They were so excited! We decided that Mrs. Claus must have made them. 🙂
Thank you for the chance to win EQ7. What a luxury it would be to have this program!
I’ve never played with EQ at all. I use Incompetech and colored pencils nicked from my kids. Or I make dopey shapes in Paint and then paste them into Punisher, usually with less-than-stellar results. There’s nothing like the satisfaction of having the right tool for the job at hand. Although I will willingly part with my money for a good framing hammer, I hesitate when it comes to spending on quilting tools; some gender or Mom guilt thing I expect.
My current design challenge is this: I have a dear friend who has a VERY exacting eye. She loves blue, but it has to be just the right blue. We’ve joked about it for a few years now because she’s never been able to give me an example of this elusive shade – I suspect it’s somewhere in the cobalt to indigo range but please don’t quote me! I have given up on finding the exact color she keeps in her brain but I haven’t given up on making her a quilt. I’m in a virtual bee group and intend to make her a piece with every shade of blue I can get my hands on; I’m toying with different blocks and layouts and have never been more grateful to be at the tail end of a bee! Ideally I’d like to design my own pattern, something that can incorporate all those hues into something cohesive while maintaining the clean lines she loves.
I’ve been thinking of getting this product for a couple of months now. I’ve only been quilting for two years though and I don’t know if I would use it enough for the price tag. My main reason for wanting to get this is to change fabric colors on patterns. I often come across patterns I like in fabrics I don’t. Visualizing how a quilt will look in different colors just doesn’t come easy and I want to like what I make! Thanks for the opportunity to win your generous giveaway.
I would love to win the EQ7 software. I have found that the best way for me to design is using a design wall, but I no longer have the room for one. I love the immediacy of a design wall. When I design with a pencil and graph paper I end up with 100 partial drawings, a lot of doodles, and utter confusion. I think designing on paper stimulates even more ideas, but the problem is that there is no way I can fully execute all of those ideas on paper and have any time left for quilting. The software seems like the best of both worlds. It would be so great to decide on a design and try out 10 simple variations without losing 2 days.
It would also be great to help pick quilting designs. You can always start over when you are piecing, but once you start quilting it becomes a big hassle to change your mind. Right now I am hand quilting the sampler quilt (okay a variation of it- I never finish a quilt the way I start it) you did last year. I am a little more than half way through the quilting and I want to change it. I’ll be crying while I pull out all of those stitches. Oh, how I wish I had spent a little more time testing designs before I dove in.
I’m fairly new to quilting, having only started this year, but I can honestly say I’ve caught the bug! I’m essentially self-taught and for that reason my first quilt was made from a kit, with some of my own extras to make it a bit bigger. I loved it so much that my second quilt was all of my own design. I’m not much for following patterns, because I like to let the fabric speak to me. Sometimes the size blocks I want to use don’t make assembly very easy, and graph paper will only get me so far!! I’ve recently bought some of the Cat in the Hat fabric and have yet to start on the project for two reasons… one, I had a baby 3 weeks ago today and time has been a bit sparse. The other reason is that the blocks that I know I want to make are all sorts of dimensions and I haven’t had the will to sit down and do the dreaded math! But I’m itching to get started.
Thanks for the opportunity to try and win. I have heard amazing things about EQ7.
Wow, what a great giveaway! I think EQ would help me a lot because I have so many ideas in my head about what I want out of a quilt, but it is so hard to draw them out sometimes, especially if color placement is key. To be able to “fool around” with different blocks, placements, colors and such would be so much fun! And let’s not forget that I too, am math deficient, and anything that helps me figure out sizes and fabric lengths is a wonderful thing!
What a great giveaway! i have an old, old, old version of EQ – I don’t even remember which version it’s so old, but I had it before I moved into my current house – and that was in the late ’90s. I often think I’d love to be able audition different backgrounds, or fabric choices, or settings – that is what I would use EQ for the most I think. I know I’d branch out though to designing. I get stuck with the match a lot of times and just give up.
I have been curious about the EQ7 – my husband even asked me if I ever thought that I would be interested in something like that! Well, it does look amazing and since I am such a thrifty person, I would love to design a quilt and see what it would look like without wasting any precious fabric!! I also love the calculator feature – not a strong skill for me. Since I am a creative soul, it would be fun to experiment and this program would be perfect. Thanks for this awesome giveaway!!
What a fantastic giveaway! I have EQ6, and use it all the time to design quilts. I love planning quilts and end up planning way more than I could ever make. I print the designs out and stick them in a folder until I finally get a chance to make them. I love auditioning new colour choices and trying new things without the commitment of cutting fabric. The way it calculates the yardage that I will need is fabulous too. I can even make my own paper pieced designs! I just started a blog, and am slowly adding photos of all the older quilts I made, most of which I designed with EQ.
This is awesome! I love fiber-arts, but have only gotten into quilting a few years ago. I experienced a loss of a family member and my ‘retail therapy’ ended up being quilting fabric even though I wasn’t a quilter at the time. The bright colors, fun patterns, and lovely feel of the fabric was just what my spirit needed. Fast forward a few years, and I’ve since progressed enough to be able to contribute to a charity drive (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2136882794617&set=o.141322765932892&type=3&theater), as well as designing and sewing a Death Star quilt for a Star Wars-obsessed friend (http://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/njn46/i_just_finished_my_death_star_quilt). This software would help me to continue to develop as a quilt-designer. Thanks for the fantastic giveaway!
Wow! That Death Star quilt is amazing!!!
totally amazing.
Would love EQ7 so I don’t end up with crazy mistakes in my math… I ended up with two donation quilts… as my blocks ended up being too big. I had to add an outer border and make 2 more blocks – so I had two tops with 9blocks instead of one top with 16 blocks… as I couldn’t fit 4 10″ blocks into a max 16″ preemie quilt (backing was supplied by my guild). One has been finished, the other is waiting for the backing to be preshrunk as I just picked it up at our guild meeting…. It’ll be ready for our next meeting.
I’m new to quilting and I heard about the EQ software when I’m browsing the quilting blog. I’d love to have a copy so that I can design the block or quilt using the tools from the software. It’s save a lot of my time and I don’t need to draw my design again on a graph paper. I wish to win it. Thank you ^^
What a wonderful time to have found your blog! I’d love EQ7. At one time I had a very very very old version (3 maybe? I don’t even remember i t was so long ago). I loved being able to design my own quilts, choose fabrics, and adjust and fiddle to my hearts content. Plus – it always saved me from the dreaded wrong sized block. You know, you have a quilt with 2 different blocks and one ends up an inch bigger/smaller than the others. Eeep! I’m notorious for that when I try to “wing it”. In fact I still have a 4th of July quilt WIP gathering dust somewhere that I just haven’t been able to fix. I think I should make that 2nd in line after the quilt I’m working on for my baby girl. Thanks so much for the chance!
Well I have a drawing right now of a quilt that would like to make for my son-n-law. I’m thinking something with the batman fabric as that is his favorite comedic. Maybe chevons or some type of ribbon pattern. The thing is backing out the drawing into the numbers requires a verrrrry clear head and then there are times even when I think I’ve got it right that I was mistaken! So there you go! Just for making life a bit easier with the actuality of quilt making! Love it :o) thanks, Sarah
I haven’t had the chance to play with EQ yet, but it’s been on my wish-list for a long time. I usually sit with colored pencils and graph paper to sketch my designs and color options and while it is an enjoyable process, it is very time consuming. I made a coffee themed, manly quilt for my husband that worked out well… and then made a quilt for my niece to her “black and white with a little bit of neon colors” specifications. I think EQ would have made things simpler for me!
[…] forget to click over here to enter the EQ7 […]
I have never used EQ, but sure have enjoyed watching what you have done. My biggest challenge when designing a quilt is trying to figure out how much fabric of each color I will need.
Thank you so much for having this giveaway! I currently have EQ5, but have just never gotten the hang of it. I’ve heard that EQ7 is much more user friendly.
I’ve been quilting since 2004, but have never been able to design a thing I am a very ‘nervous’ quilter – I only follow patterns and their exact colors 🙂
I have 3 gorgeous grandkids and would love to make each a quilt this year. I can’t find patterns I want, but have an idea of what I’d like to do. With the EQ7, i would be able to design my very own quilt and play around with fabrics/colors. How exciting that would be!!
I have been following your blog for quite a while now and really appreciate all the work you do. I’ve learned quite a bit from you!
Thanks again~
Char
What a wonderful giveaway…. I usually don’t enter, and don’t often post much about myself, but this one is worth it! I have never had any EQ versions. As a consequence, I often just use patterns, and sometimes don’t like how they end up looking in my fabric choicse. I LOVE quilting, but do not have the nack for color and arrangement, or visualizing that many others do…. I wish I did, but so far I don’t. Maybe when I hit 50…. I can always hope. I am a nurse, mother,longarm quilter, and quilting machine dealer…. and so busy that drafting my own patterns or coloring in blocks is time I would rather spend piecing. I am hoping that if I had software, I may be happier with my quilts in the long run!
I have EQ5 and used it a great deal when I had a pattern design company. I love it and find it wonderful to use. It would be super to catch up and see the improvements made to the program. I would love to use it in designing more quilts for myself and for moving into the world of art quilts. Thanks for the chance.!
Four score and a whole long time ago, they used to teach sewing in Home Ec in school. I was the girl who didn’t finish her skirt because I couldn’t dope out how to put the zipper in. Fast forward and I’m brand new to quilting and feeling just like that teenage girl in the Home Ec fashion show with her skirt held together with safety pins. I am forever in the debt of bloggers who have been showing me the way and giving me inspiration.
I know my biggest flaw is that I have trouble matching colors and patterns; I do believe my first quilt looked like the fabric fairy had a queasy tummy and upchucked a quilt for me to sew together. I think because I have a tendency to want to use ALL the favorite fabrics I find rather than put fabrics together that compliment each other. That is much easier said than done. I’d love to be able to create my own “fat quarter bundle” with fabric *I* find and not because a manufacturer/designer says they “go together”.
Yes, Virginia, I’ve stalked the EQ software…like my dog watches me eat a slice of pizza. I dream of being able to scan fabric into the software and then actually piece it together to make something pretty and not putrid LOL. I’ve investigated the others and they don’t compare to EQ7 {{sigh}} for someone as fabrically-challenged and a “queasy quilter” it would be the perfect tool (right next to my trusty seam ripper which I have been known to wield like a ninja sword).
Thanks for the chance,
Michelle
shel704 at aol dot com
[…] forget to click over here to enter the EQ7 […]
I have a background in Graphic design, so most of my quilt projects are at least partially designed in Adobe Illustrator. Really, this program is almost not worth using because it isn’t set up for quiltmaking. It involves all kinds of copying and pasting to duplicate blocks into a quilt layout. And if you want to change out colors, its a pain. And for me, its usually all about getting the right colors! I’d love to be able to click, change and see it immediately!
Also, in Illustrator there is no block library… I have to draw them all in myself, copy, paste, copy, paste… you get the picture.
I pretty much never cut into fabric until I know EXACTLY where I’m going. EQ would be amazing for feeling confident that I’ve got it “right.” I’m sure I would design way more quilts than I actually have time to piece, but there’s no harm in too many ideas, is there?
I love your blog and what you do with your EQ. I could kill for a copy (don’t worry I won’t actually kill anybody for a copy) but I have a Mac and can’t use EQ7 anyway. But EQ do make a version for a Mac and maybe if I won (yeah right like that’s gonna happen) the nice people (I take it they’re nice) at EQ would give you a copy that is Mac happy (ok compatible).
My main quilting problems are numerous to say the least. When I try and put a top together firstly I never can see what fabrics go with what other fabrics and the only way I can do this is to buy fabrics from one range because I know they’ll match.
Then I never know how much fabric to buy and I can’t design my own quilts or even little things because I don’t have a program that can do this for me.
Scanning the fabric in would be totally awesome because then I could see what my huge (and I mean huge) stash would go with each other. I have to start actually making stuff instead of stroking the cloth and staring at it.
I really really want an EQ program so that I can make beautiful quilts just like you do from my own imagination once I have found it – my imagination I mean. I think I might have an imagination by-pass but I’m not entirely sure. I am still looking at new cloth – heck I’ll never stop that, but I have to use some of what I have before I buy anymore.
So what am I going to do now? I am going upstairs where my sewing room is and clear it up because it’s in a terrible mess, sort of thanks to my husband who thinks it’s his dumping ground, but my fabric does contribute to the mess.
Okay I’m leaving you now and really would love to win so thank you so much for the chance and I’m sorry for going on so much.
Oh boy – I’ve wanted EQ for so long…..The last Quilt that I designed was made with arrows. I sketched a pattern on graph paper. Then after I pieced the blocks together I tried to make them do what I had envisioned. It didn’t work but, I was still able to create a the quilt. It was for a challege using a kona solids charm pack. Besides being able to design a quilt I would love it for color placement. Currently I lay my pieces out on the floor take a picture of them and bring it up on the computer to look at it and see where I need to move pieces around, Thanks for the chance – How wonderful this would be!
I would love to win EQ. I have wanted one for a long time. I sometimes design my own quilts on paper with pen, so EQ would be so useful.
Oh really? I’d love to win if only for the chance to win something haha. No really EQ must be fabulous so I hear. I’m just a beginner and just started my first “designed by me” quilt.. or so I like to think. On paper (picture me with loads of pencils and paper wads) I miss any talent to look ahead.. I start a block and after 7 start thinking of how it’s going to look… I think I need EQ! No really!
How awesome to give away such a fabulous tool! I would love to use EQ7 to design paper piecing patterns. I have drawn patterns freehand and find that angles are challenging/off. Imagine if you will, felling like you can only put the pattern together perfectly and you haven’t considered the very edges, or you have to “tuck in” fabric that couldn’t be sewn ….ya, that is me 😀 add in the element of time too as it is usually last minute/deadline when this happens. Thank you for the chance!
Wow! What a great giveaway! I carry a small grid notebook in my purse so that when something inspires a block/quilt I can sketch it out. Unfortunately most of those stay in the book and never make it into a quilt. But, it is great to be able to go back and get ideas. I recently completed a quilt that was in the notebook for a friend that just adopted her daughter from China. It was a quick quilt that I delivered the day before they left and I was able to record all of the details in my notebook. I’d love to be able to take these designs and put them into EQ7 so I could see how the final quilt would look in different layouts. Maybe more of them would get out of the notebook and into actual quilts.Thanks again!
Hi I would love to have the EQ 7, i actually plan out my quilts on the computer a lot. I do not have any quilting software I’m a college student and can’t afford to buy it so I use the Microsoft paint. It would be so awesome to have that and make planning quilts so much easier.
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I love designing my own quilts and sometimes struggle with fabric choices. I could imagine how much easier (and fun ! ) this program would be to play around with different ideas. Thanks for a great giveaway!
I am fairly new to quilting so, at first, I wasn’t sure I wanted this software. After reading all your posts about it I think maybe I do!! I seem to always want to change a pattern, just a bit, but then it takes me ages to work out how much fabric I need how wide to do the sashing etc etc, and I never know how big the quilt is going to turn out until I have finished it. I am useless trying to imagine how colours will look together so most of the time stick to the same as the pattern and I don’t want to do that anymore, I want to be more original. Also I want to try different coloured back grounds (I am a cream or white person!) but I am too scared to in case it doesn’t look right, and in case I waste the fabric (heaven forbid!) So, please put my name in the hat as I think this software could really help me. Linda
I would really love to win this as I have rarely designed my own quilt. But when I have it really hAsnt been a coordinated effort. Generally I pick the fabrics and hope for the best. Obviously that doesn’t always work out. I would love to be able to see what the quilt looks like ahead of time without having to fill in squares on graph paper! Even then it’s only an approximation! I would have so much fun designing quilts!
The reason I would like to win this? Well, I’m a brand new quilter/sewer. I have all the images of quilt designs popping around in my head and I’m awful at drawing, so I have no idea how to design my own quilt. I’ve tried, it hasn’t worked yet. I am so addicted to quilting it’s not funny, but I think with this software I could make the amazing quilts I want to make and make them me, does that make sense? I hope it does. Thanks so much for the chance to win this AMAZING giveaway!!!!!!
I would absolutely love to win a copy of EQ7. I am a very visual person and have the worst time trying to imagine a “whole” from a “part”. In my mind, I cannot multiply a block to see what secondary patterns would appear from a layout. I cannot easily visualize how a quilt would look in a more muted or vibrant color scheme. I can’t imagine what a layout would look like if I placed the blocks on point. BUT, with EQ7, I think all of these things would be possible with a few clicks of the mouse. I have used Google Sketch-up as a rudimentary, sad little version of EQ7, but it is so difficult and not at all user-friendly. I would love to create my own quilt designs and EQ7 seems to be the way to go.
Thanks so much for the chance to win!!!
I’ve been told I should really try this software but I just haven’t done it yet. In my early quilting I designed all of my quilts with good old graph paper and colored pencils. Some of them turned out great and others–not so much. I’ve been quilting a long time and I’ve only actually made two quilts following a pattern. I think my favorite quilt was the one I made for my dad. He plays several string instruments. I had my artistic sister draw the instruments and I appliequed them to the quilt. I quilted the border with musical notes and symbols.
The quilt I’d like to tell you about was made by my great-grandmother, Mary Gehman Horning. In 1896. That’s right — 1896. Mary lived up in the mountains of Colorado, where my great-grandfather was a coal miner. He was a bit of a “roundheel,” which is code for “he ran around.” She was left to raise her four children on her own for months at a time.
She pieced two quilts from indigo fabrics and muslin, completely by hand and heavily quilted. When my Aunt Frances was moving out of her house, she offered me one of the two quilts, saying her daughters weren’t interested in having them (!) I chose the Double Irish Chain — she wanted to wash it before she gave it to me, as it had a smallish stain on one corner. I shrieked, “No, no, not necessary!” and convinced her not to put it through the washing machine. When I brought the quilt back to Colorado, I had it appraised by a Certified Quilt Appraiser, Bobbie Aug. After talking about the fabric, the design, the stitching and the hand-quilting, she asked me if I had an idea what it might be worth. I answered, “Oh, I think with all the quilting, it should be worth about $400-$500.”
She replied, “I am putting an appraised value on this quilt of $3600. You have a treasure I will never have, a quilt from your own family.”
It was just like on “Antiques Roadshow.” All I could say was “you’re kidding,” and “wow!”
My Aunt Frances wrote up a nice little history of Mrs. Horning and gave me a picture of my Great Grand-Mother sewing. Doubly treasured now that Aunt Frances is gone, also.
And yes, I have the quilt stored in acid-free paper in a special acid-free box!
Hi I’m Sara. I have been quilting since I was in highschool. I did take some time off though because of the lack of bright fun modern fabrics. I just got back into it about a year and a half ago. I have been trying to make quilts each time with different color combos and trying to use a new technique each time. I would love EQ though to be able to help me figure out new designs and to help with the yardage requirements, I have a very hard time with this.
Para todos os lados que eu olho eu vejo uma colcha,ou corredor de tabela uma almofada etc…Ontem visitando uma amiga,vi na parede da sala um quadro lindo,pintura à óleo e perguntei se podia fotografar para tentar fazer uma reprodução com retalhos.Estou as voltas com lápis e papel tentando acertar as proporções.Vamos adiante e ver o que acontece comigo em relação a este sorteio,claro que eu preciso desta maravilha.Obrigada.tiacarminhapezzuto@gmail.com
I’m a brand new quilter. I’ve had a bit of time on my hands lately, and haven’t been able to knit much (my usual hobby of choice), so I decided to go to the fabric store and see what I could see. This store is wonderful – it sells lots of roll-ends and second-quality fabrics by weight. Quilting fabrics work out at about 1/3 of full price. Before I knew it, I had a basket full of toning orange fabrics and an idea…
I got my fabrics home, measured them, did some doodling on squared paper and reckoned I had enough to make a quilt for my (super-king sized) bed. I’ve got a plan, I’ve got a design… but I also got some common sense. Never having made a quilt before, I’ve started out with a baby quilt (top is done, next step: basting).
I’ve been drooling over EQ7 already. I had to draw out my big quilt design half a dozen times, with marker pens, to figure out which colour arrangement to use. It made such a big difference – exact same design, different order of lights/mediums/darks. The idea of being able to design my own so easily and recolour in a moment is very appealing!
I never used any of the EQ software but I’ve read a lot about it online!
I would really appreciate the colour options because although I plan designs on graph paper it’s not until I start looking for colours in my stash that I waste so much time trying to make up my mind!!
First of all thanks so much for offering this wonderful giveaway. I think it would be great to win because I tend to get bogged down with a kind of quilting paralysis when trying to work out designs, and if I’m doing something from a photo in a book or magazine, I usually don’t want to recreate it exactly. Also, I have the usual hodgepodge stash and a lot of ideas of how to use them but I think this software could speed that process up a bit;)))-I mean sitting and looking at the stash has it’s pleasures but I think it should actually become something at some point;))))
Thanks again for the chance!
I would love a copy of EQ. I am very new to quilting, I have only been seriously quilting for about 5 months. One of my favorite parts of quilting is the designing of the quilt. Right now I am using powerpoint and I have been figuring out in that program how to most of the ideas I am coming up with but as the software is not designed for that purpose I am sure that using the EQ software will enable me to design better am more intricate quilts quicker and easier.
My favoite quilt I have made so far has been a simple charm pack quilt on the bais with white sashing between the squares. I made it using Ruby by Moda and the best thing about it is that my two year old daughter uses every night as a blanket and looks so adorable with it.
wow what a fabulous giveaway! i would love a copy of E7 because i usually use graph paper and colored pencils and i want to play with the big kids!! i love the fact that you can add specific fabrics to your project ( you can do that, right??) i just know i would have so much fun designing with it.. i work in a quilt shop and a couple of the ladies own it and have such fun playing with it. i have been wanting to come up with a quilt design for my hubby (who is quiltless!) and i think this would be the ticket.
thanks to eq for offering this to you to do a giveaway with!!
I think this software would be ideal for me – I would love to win!! I recently made a charity quilt with 10 fat quarters. I was under a deadline and had to get it done so I went with a simple improv design but if I had ‘designed’ it better I would have had better colour/pattern placement – hence why I would love to win – so I could plan my quilts better!! I have some super precious fabric that I don’t dare cut so by having this would mean I could be confident and cut!!! Thanks for the chance to win!!!
I’m fairly new to quilting and love making different styles of blocks to create quilts, table toppers, runners, etc. The problem with that is trying to figure out what size I need to make each block and then how to put them all together to finish my projects. EQ7 would be the solution to my problem. I could design a project and know exactly what I’ll need to complete it. Thanks for the great giveaway!
Wow, this would be amazing to win! The most challenging part I find in quilting is picking what colors go where. I’ve always wanted to do a quilt without using prints from just one line, but I have such a hard time visualizing how it will look. This would make it so simple to design a quilt, especially the colors!
I would love to win this EQ7! My quilt story? My first quilt was a pinwheel quilt made for my (then) 8 year old daughter for a special Christmas present. I made it out of her favourite “twirly” dresses she had out grown. There I was on Christmas Eve, quilting & trying desperately to finish it. My darling husband had to use pliers not once, but twice to remove needles from my fingernail! (The quilt was done by morning.) To this day my motto is “If I haven’t shed a drop of blood on it, it isn’t done!.
Thanks for the chance to win.
I have been lusting after EQ software for what seems like forever. I ask for it for Christmas..and my birthday..and Christmas again and it just doesn’t seem to show up at my house 😉
I have a graph paper notebook full of designs and something I’ll try to sew them but I’m always short on fabric or I can’t count the squares accurately. There was a quilt I was trying to design based on Chutes and Ladders that I wanted to make because it was the first game I remembered playing when I was little. My graph paper design really didn’t work. I ended up having to scrap it because the blocks I was trying was full of y-seams and off center. It was a mess.
So I’d love to have a copy of EQ7 simply so that I can make my quilt dreams come true..because me and the graph paper are clearly not on the same wavelength.
I’ve designed numerous quilts over the years, usually when a brainstorm just hit me and I quickly put it down on paper. But this past spring I joined an online challenge that really helped me expand my horizons as far as quilt design. Each challenge would give us a theme which was wide open to interpretation. Sometimes there were parameters such as a certain number of colors or something like that, but mostly we could do whatever we came up with. The quilt had to be complete in one week. The limited time and the challenge parameters forced me to do a lot of quick brainstorming and to make decisions and run with them. Only once did I scrap a project and start over. By the end of the 6 or so challenges I felt like my design skills had improved and I was very happy with several of my projects. I love that EQ simplifies the design process by allowing you to test colors, layouts and such and that it calculates fabric yardage for a pattern. Thanks for the chance to win!
I first learned to sew as a child, but it wasn’t until recently that I have really come to enjoy it as more than a passing hobby. Now I’m designing my own things such as bags, aprons, dog vests, etc., and I keep dreaming up quilt patterns… And it all started with paper pieced Geese in a Circle in January… I was in the ‘sitting’ chair in our office while my husband was working one evening, I got cold & decided that I need a quilt that would match our office decor of blue, orange, and white. I stumbled upon the Piece by Number website & fell in love. To audition fabrics, I printed out the pattern, cut the ‘geese’ out and positioned my selections under the openings, taking pictures along the way. I pulled those pictures into Photoshop, cut, painted, twisted, pasted, turned, flipped, and saved until I got it the way I wanted it and then set to work. Having never quilted, let alone paper pieced, I jumped into the deep end, and swam! All my math was done on scratch paper and I got through it all with only one significant cutting error (that I was able to hide in the long run). I’m half way through the quilting phase, but I love this quilt top, and my pieced back. EQ7 would help me get from the idea stage to the sewing stage in a fraction of the time it currently takes me, and it will absolutely be used frequently. Quick sketches in Numbers on my iPad just doesn’t do the ideas in my head justice! Haha!
I’ve never used design software, but my friend’s husband used EQ7 to design a frog quilt for me. It’s made up of different colored frogs that are connected in a circle. It would have impossible without EQ&! He also designed a cowboy boot quilt for me using EQ7. Thanks for the chance to win my own copy! I would love to use it to design more quilts!
I have no prior versions of this software but it looks wonderful; would love to win! I began quilting about 6 years ago. My first finished quilt was a baby quilt for a friend expecting her first baby. Both of her parents died during her pregnancy and I just wanted to give her something special as I knew it was both a very sad and very joyful time for her. I enjoyed making the quilt and I was hooked. I’ve probably given close to 20 quilts away in the years since, in between having 3 babies of my own in those years. I just finished 2 quilts last week for twin girls. I’m working today on one for a baby boy and have several more planned for this year. (I also have a queen size quilt UFO in the closet; I started hand quilting it before my first baby was born and am a LONG way from finishing it! Maybe when my babies are grown!) Thanks for chance to win.
I would love to win a copy. I have been finding it very challenging to make things that aren’t laid out in simple blocks, it’s hard for me to visualize them in my head, and with three cats and no design wall, it’s very frustrating trying to lay things out on the floor and arrange and rearrange trying to figure out how everything looks best. Right now I’m working on a cat body/snail trail tails quilt and I can’t figure out what blocks to make for the edges, what side I should add to etc etc etc. oh I should stick to simple blocks!
I’d really love to be able to have a program that let me see and tinker with a pattern and colors before cutting into anything, I can’t even imagine how much time it would save, and to know how much of each thing I’d need to make so I could just do it all at once instead of a bit at a time…either running out of fabric or ordering too much!
Phew! Thank you for the giveaway!
Hi Sandi, My husband’s nickname is Sandy, short for Sanford. Anyway, I designed and made a quilt named “Nine Patched House” inspired by the Better Homes and Garden’s “Better Home Better Living” trademark red & white house block logo. Without the use of any quilt design software, I prepared my own pattern of instructions for making a quilt, consisting of twelve 12” blocks, sashings and borders which include fabric yardages. So, my guess is that EQ7 would have made that effort much easier. I wrote to Better Homes and Gardens to see if they would be interested in publishing the pattern, but they were not interested. However, when I took my Nine Patched House Quilt and another quilt to get them appraised, the class coordinator at a local quilt shop saw my quilts and loved them. She was impressed with the quality of my work, as well as my color and fabric selections. As a result, she asked me if I’d be interested in teaching classes. It’s been a year now since I began teaching quilt classes and designing quilts for this purpose. Some of my designs have been especially difficult to pattern, because I do not have any design software. Winning EQ7 would certainly simplify my design and pattern making process. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. THANKS!
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I would LOVE a copy of EQ7!! I’m totally design challenged and this would be perfect to help me design some quilts 🙂 I just started quilting recently, so I haven’t quite got the hang of figuring out how different things/colors will look together. Thanks for the chance! 🙂
I’m just a beginning quilter, so I don’t have a lot of stories myself. I have been inspired to try quilting because of my mother-in-law – who makes close to 50 baby quilts every year, and my sister-in-law who makes a lot fewer quilts, but uses more complicated patterns. Last year, she gifted us with a quilt that she had made. I don’t know that she made it specifically for us, but it was done in a deep, forest green with white background. It turned out beautifully and matches our bedroom perfectly!
I don’t have any version of EQ, but I’ve read so much about it that it is on my wish list. The problem is that I keep spending my quilting budget on fabric, so still no EQ! I’ve been sewing since age 10, but only got interested in quilting about 5 years ago. As I get closer to retirement age I think it will be a wonderful way to keep busy.
This would come in very handie. I’m new to quilting but I love to collect vintage quilts. Thanks
I have all sorts of quilt designs running around in my head and I need to get them out so there’s room for the necessary things like remembering to eat dinner or go to my dentist appointment! I need EQ. I’m an IT professional in my day job and like the story of the cobbler’s children with no shoes, I have no quilt software… I use old-fashioned graph paper. Help me move into the 21st century with my quilting!
So, it all started when I was not born yet. My grandmother made a quilt for me. I never understood the significance, other than mine was blue and my brother’s was yellow (he is 3 years younger). I was always crafty/artsy inclined. I took drawing classes, painting classes, etc. but I did not find my medium of quilting until just 2 years ago. I’m hooked. It’s my calling. My Aunt (through marriage) introduced me to sewing/quilting and she really got me hooked. She now says that I am more advanced than she is, and I’m just an “amateur.” When I first saw EQ7 at Paradise Sewing in San Diego (or somewhere in California) I was jealous. I immediately put it on my xmas wishlist. But, it’s too expensive. No one will buy it for me. So, I started mowing lawns to raise the money to buy it. Then, just when I got my savings account up to about $50 I would realize that I had enough money to buy the supplies to make another quilt (for a friend or family member), so I would forego the money towards my EQ7 to make another project/gift. I have to say though, the look on the face of the receiver, is priceless and worth all the time and money I put into it. Needless to say, my savings account keeps getting depleted for other projects and I never get a chance to buy EQ7. I’m very tech savvy, and I know in the end I could make some awesome patterns to make back the money, but I am a sucker for happy faces of the people I make quilts for… I just need to look at it as an investment. It will make me the money back. So, I look at this giveaway as an opportunity to finally make the most of my small talent 🙂 I’m looking forward to getting the tools I need to make a business out of the small thing I have going on. Someday I can quit my job and make a living doing what I really love doing 🙂 Anyway, I wrote a haiku about it:
Love EQ7.
Having it would be heaven.
Following my dream.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Mike.
I can’t tell you how much I’d love to win this software. I consider myself an artist and the thought of being able to design my own quilts easily is just something I’ve been dreaming about. I’ve never used any quilting software before, but I consider myself to be pretty tech savvy. As far as special quilts, I want to make a quilt for each of my young nieces. Something for them to hopefully have as a keepsake to know how much they are loved. Thanks for the chance to win this software. I’ve been wanting it ever since I discovered it existed!
What a fabulous & great giveaway! I don’t have any quilting software so,I think EQ would help me a lot because I have so many ideas in my head about what I want out of a quilt, but it is so hard to draw them out sometimes, especially if color placement is key. To be able to “fool around” with different blocks, placements, colors and such would be so much fun! And let’s not forget that I too, am math deficient, and anything that helps me figure out sizes and fabric lengths is a wonderful thing! I have heard wonderful reviews from everyone in the quilting world, so I definitely would love to win this fantastic prize.
I would love to win EQ7 because I am a computer programmer and it just feels strange to me to not have even seen the most popular quilting software. But I took up quilting during my stay at home mom stint and until I go back to work (later this year) there is little money for quilting in general much less software. Plus it would be fun to play and create without spending money.
I would love to win EQ7 – as a relative newbie to quilting, I’m still intimidated and worried about my color combinations not working as well as I think they would. I think EQ7’s ability to download swatches and allow one to design a quilt using them would help me understand color choices better. I’d also love to experiment with various block configurations without the expense of cutting into fabric. Designing my own blocks, or nesting blocks outwardly seems like it would be fun too. I’d love to try making a whole quilt out of a nesting, repeating block structure, but am too new to do it on my own – I envision something like a sawtooth star, but the final, gigantic flying geese intimidate me.
Why I want the software, well because my biggest problems with quilts is the math, designing is fun, drawing the sketches on paper, playing with ideas (not that I ever truly stick to them); but back to the math, the problem is finding out how much fabric I will need. That is probably the reason why I haven’t started a big quilt since I moved out, I usually used my mother to check on my math, and talk things over with her. I can do it on my own – but there are things I like and things I don’t like, and creating fabric masurement and cutting-layout plans isn’t one of them. And as far as I understood it the software can do that.
I spend an embarrassing amount of time designing stuff that I’ll probably never actually sew. It’s a compulsion. When I give a project that time and effort though, I am usually way happier with the final outcome. Sometimes, as much as I love the finished quilt, designing it is still my favorite part! I think it’s because during that time it becomes like a character to me- it gets its personality, we have fights, and we make up and we bond. I guess that can sound silly to some, but it’s why I love this hobby! I actually wrote about it here: http://thepewteracorn.blogspot.com/2012/04/design-drama.html. I would die for a copy of EQ 7! I am unemployed and don’t have the funds for ‘toys’ like that right now. I have been sewing from my stash, and am enjoying finding ways to use what I have on hand. EQ7 would be such a fun and useful tool for my favorite part of making quilts 🙂
Thank you for the chance to win EQ7. I have EQ5 and have used it to design some quilts that turned out great. I would love to upgrade my software to EQ7. I understand that EQ7 is more user friendly and has many more options. I think that I am to a point in my quilting life of wanting to see more of my own thought come thru to my quilting. I retired about 1 year ago and I have more time to play. I was a draftsman using Acad to draw the designs for the engineers. Now I want to draw my own quilts for me. Again thanks for the chance….Phaye
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I am amazed at the designs that others have created in EQ7. I am a relatively new quilter and am retired with a limited income. With the increasing cost of fabric, I would love to be able to plan my quilts in EQ7 and avoid wasted fabric! Thank you for the opportunity to enter this drawing! 🙂
I have always been intrigued by EQ and would love to give it a try. I have so much trouble putting quilts together. I love fabric but am very reserved when adding it to others to make quilts. I think by seeing it in EQ I would be less hesitant to make those quilts with all the different designs in the fabrics. Thank you for the opportunity and good luck to everyone.
How exciting! I would love to win this! I’ve only been quilting for a few years, but have enjoyed every minute of it! Right now, my pattern planning is grid paper and colored pencils. I can only image what I could do with EQ7! Thanks for the chance!
I’ve only been quilting for a year, but each new project has whetted my appetite for more. I recently ‘designed’ a butterfly-themed quilt on special request from my granddaughter. She loved it, but throughout the project the design felt a bit ‘ad hoc.’ I’m really enjoying expanding my skill set and would love to have a tool to help me design or at least enhance others’ quilt patterns. I find that I buy fabric with one design in mind, and by the time I’m home I have another idea entirely!
I seriously NEED the EQ7 quilt designer. I have been quilting for 4 years and love it. I am starting to design my own quilts recently and am drawn to the modern quilt style but not necessarily using modern quilt fabrics. My bigeest issue is that I cannot seem to visualize color patterns patterns well. What makes sense in my mind doesn’t always look right when I quilt it. My ope is that the software will take the guess work out of my color planning.
OH would I love to win this…..just not in the budget to buy for quite awhile. Here’s my reason…..I can see what I want to create in my head, I can even go to my stash and pick out fabrics BUT I seem to be math challenged!!!!! I know what it should look like but I have wasted more fabric just trying to get the size right. Now I must say, if I have to figure out a discount, NO problem, or keep track of something in my head, NO problem but those 1/8th’s are killing me!
I have tried doing it by computer and graph paper with some success but the visions in my brain are much more than what I have turned out.
I will say that your posts have not made this any easier, just makes me want it more!!!!
I am not new to quilting but ready to spread my wings and do more of my own creations. I have to start using up that stash somehow….
Thanks for the posts and the giveaway.
Oh my gosh, where do I start when trying to explain how much winning the EQ7? I have NEVER designed my own quilt. I’ve tweaked others’ designs, I’ve put in ideas friends/family have had to make it better, I’ve gone to sleep trying to “create” a design, but have never actually come up with what I think looks great. My dream is to design and finish a quilt of my very own to give to my little granddaughter as a reminder of how much I love her. I always ask her: “who loves you the most in the whole world?” She answers “you do.” A “nonna” designed quilt to give to her for a lifetime would remind her that even though I may not be around anymore, nonna still loves her most in the whole world.
I knew that when I retired, I would make a quilt. I started last November, and I’m now working on my sixth quilt. The second quilt, for my granddaughter, has been really challenging. I’ve changed parts of the blocks and re-arranged them on my design wall endlessly, trying to find the right layout. I believe EQ7 could really make this process so much easier. I also needed to change the size of a quilt pattern recently, and spent hours with a pencil and graph paper trying to decide how much to enlarge each block, and how many to make. I would LOVE to have EQ7 to help me!
I’m totally giggling at your comment down here about being distracted by shiny things, lol! I would so love to win this software. I am a budding pattern designer. I’ve been quilting for a few years now and have made many many quilts. It all started when I had a little girl (after having two boys). I wanted to make everything under the sun for her, she totally inspired me. My first quilt was her quilt, the first quilt along from The Old Red Barn Co. Of all the quilts I have made it is still my favorite one to date. I have recently jumped into the world of designing my own patterns and have a few supportive friends who are really pushing me to put them out there and try to sell them. I have since had another child and stay at home with the four of them while my husband works very hard to support us all. I am hoping to be able to make some sort of living off of pattern making and have lots of big plans and dreams. I can’t afford to purchase the software right now so I’ve been entering every giveaway I can, hoping to be the lucky one!
I have been lusting after the EQ7 for a while… well I was lusting after EQ in general I suppose. I design my quilts on paper and I love the process. I must admit however that my head works faster than my hands and I have so many ideas that I would like to work out. Would make my work so much better and so much more efficient.
I’m working on a quilt for my niece at the moment. She’s such a delight and a child after my own heart it seems! When she was very young we would paint together when she came down on vacation and I would read to her. We share a lot in common even in our personalities. The last time I met her she had turned 13 and I had discovered quilting. I was a little nervous about her visit. Would everything change now that she was a teenager. She wanted some paper and paint and came up to my sewing room to get it. Then she asked me if she could give the sewing machine a go. She did and she sewed all summer digging into my scrap basket. 🙂 I gave her a basic quilt lesson and she made a mini quilt, and small pillows, and a small purse… she was unstoppable! 🙂
It was such a joy to share my love for quilts with her. I don’t know if her interests will change as she gets older but it really was fantastic to be able to pass this passion on.
I’m seeing her in July again and I hope she likes the quilt I make for her.
Thanks for the giveaway and also for asking the questions. 🙂
My mother and I either make our own pattern up, or change one we find. I would like to win EQ7 so we can design to our heart’s content BEFORE cutting. As I once made my living via technology, I’m pretty good at using software. The features of EQ7 that would help us tremendously are overlaying a quilt with quilting motifs (we handquilt), replicating blocks and filling in color/fabric selections. Plus, there are so many built-in libraries and EQ7 designs available that can tweak. Thanks to you and EQ for giving us the chance to win EQ7. It would really help these two old quilters.
I’ve never had quilt design software. Up to now I’ve used graph paper, pencil and a ruler to design. I’m a “math” person, so it’s not the end of the world-I have the skill, if not always the patience. The trouble is, it takes a lot of time. There is no way I can take the time to look at 10 different color options for example. It’s also hard to just play. That’s why I’d love to have the Electric Quilt software.
P.S. I still have the graph paper drawings from my first quilt, made more than 30 years ago when I was expecting my first child.
I would love to win a copy of EQ7. I am a Halloween freak and have a lot of quilts that I have designed the hard way. I am currently designing a quilt with Frankenstein as the centre focal section. I am going through a lot of graph paper right now. EQ would make the process SOOOO much easier. Thanks so much for the chance to win a copy.
I was just saying to my hubby how I would love to have EQ for designing quilts because I’m feeling the limits of designing using graph paper and coloured pencils. The reasons you give for loving EQ have me wanting this software even more than before! lol When working on designs, I like to play around with colour placement, layout, sizing, etc. and I think it would be so much quicker than the low tech way I’ve been doing it. EQ sounds like the solution for getting my ideas ready to stitch up – faster and accurately!
I’ve never used quilt designing software. I’m still with the old pencil and paper. I do love computers so it would be something I would find easy to use. I’m a hobby quiltmaker, though, only making a few quilts every winter. That’s why I haven’t needed to purchase software for my little projects. I think having some software on my computer would help me get over the hurdle of staring at some fabric and not knowing where to start. Brainstorming and getting started is a big job.
I don’t have EQ but when I look at all of the beautiful designs everyone is creating it reminds me of Etch a Sketch’s we had as a child. I often wonder how many artists in the Baby Boomer generation got their start on an Etch a Sketch. I usually sit and think about what I want and then paper and pencil in hand go to work but I have no doubt EQ 7 would be more efficient and just plain fun.
I have sketches on backs of envelopes, ideas on post-it-notes, and stacks of graph paper, all with quilty stuff. I would give up playing solitare games on the computer if I had a copy of EQ7!
I’d really like to make a granny square quilt. For many years I’ve wanted to make a quilt and am planning on this being the year but I haven’t started yet. I need to get on the ball! Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
Oh, wow, this would be so cool to win! I use photoshop to play with quilt designs but it has so many limitations. Just adding seam allowances is a nightmare! I had EQ2 a billion years ago and loved it, but it just doesn’t work on newer computers.
Wow! I would love to win this giveaway! I have been wanting to buy this program for quite some time now, and just haven’t put the money together to pick it up. I have only been quilting for about a year or two but I love coming up with my own quilt designs and almost never follow a pattern exactly. I’m always changing it to fit my own style or design ideas. This program would be so wonderful to have and would make it so much easier to take all of my design ideas and quilting creativity and make something amazing with it! Thank you so much for hosting this giveaway!!! ashleatenner26@gmail.com
Winning EQ7 would be fabulous. I’ve only been quilting for about 4 years and I’ve become obsessed with it. I spend waaaay too much time online, whether it be Pinterest or quilting blogs and sites and end up with ‘inspiration overload.’ I would just love to have EQ7 to try out different arrangements of blocks and to try different color combinations. Right now, I make sample blocks but that takes me so long that I’m onto another inspiration before I get a project together. I think that planning with EQ7 would be way more efficient for me than making all those orphan blocks! thanks for the chance.
I would sure love to win the EQ7 software. I am so thankful to be able to quilt again. I used
to quilt a lot. I had 2 strokes, and it affected my left side. I am left handed. I had to learn to
write and walk again. I used my embroidery/stitching/piecing skills for physical therapy. The Lord and 1 1/2 years of physical therapy enabled me to be able to hold a needle again.
I did not think that I could hand quilt again, but last year, I completed my first totally hand done quilt (applique and hand quilted) since my strokes. To my surprise, it won 2nd place in our county fair! It would sure make it a lot easier for me to design my quilt projects if I had this!!! Thanks for the chance to win!!!
wigglypup2@yahoo.com
I would love to win this software! I am still a relatively new quilter–no finished quilts yet! I started a couple and then life got in the way and I didn’t sew for over six years. (Though near the end of that hiatus I got into scrapbooking—which I think has helped me with color and design-or at least at taking risks! LOL)
We have a quilt my husband’s great-grandmother made hanging on our dining room wall. I love to look at it–she used all different colors and patterns–a truly scrappy, vintage quilt. As I have learned more about older quilts I have examined this one and found the little scraps with seams in different squares…etc. BUt., I always say that quilt is there as a reminder to me to take risks. Most of the projects I have right now are quilt kits I bought or were given for gifts. I always figured if I bought the kit, then I know everything will go together! This quilt-in all of its beautiful randomness teaches me daily to stop overtplanning and thinking–to let go and just try being random. Though, I would like to be able to plan out a coulpe ideas I have in my head…
I believe I’m the last person on earth that does not have this software. I hear everyone talking about the quilts they designed and how easy it was in EQ.
I have to say my biggest faults at this time is figuring up how many of what I need, somehow right in the middle of construction something goes wrong with my measurements or I change my mind because I don’t like the way it looks so I stuff it all in a bag in the closet. So far I’ve only pulled one out of the closet and completed it. It took me 5 days just to get the courage to actually dig it out! Another fault is I get stuck on bright colors for everything. I do mean bright, as in “flag the airplane off the tarmac” bright! I walk into a quilt shop and go directly to those colors. The problem is, I want to tone down my taste a bit and add in some neutrals but my imagination is blocked when neutrals come into play. I guess to each his/her own but my mother in-law gave me an eye roll when I handed over the orange, hot pink, & lime table runner.
I appreciate the opportunity to broaden my horizons with EQ, now what program is out there for color de-hancement?
I’m a beginner quilter and have seen some of the amazing quilt designs that quilters have designed on the EQ7. I love how you can change the colors in the program and the quilt looks completely different. I would like to design a special quilt for my hubby. As he deserves to have something made just for him. Also, being new to quilting, I don’t understand the math yet to add things up to get the right amount of fabric. And this program would solve a lot of my issues. Thanks for a chance to win this fabulous program. 🙂
I would really love to win this!! not for me, but for my Sister in Law. see, i already have a copy of EQ7, and i ADORE it! i hardly ever sketch quilts out by hand now. i love the block library, the layout library, and how it has all the measurements figured out for you! it’s simply fabulous. and my SIL, well she’s fabulous too. she’s been quilting quite a bit longer than me, and has helped me out with tips and tricks so much along the way. i’ve learned so much from her. and i’d love to be able to gift her with this ❤ gooberific@yahoo.com
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I first learned about EQ when I picked up a copy of EQ4 at a church rummage sale about ten years ago. I wasn’t a quilter yet, but I had always felt like quilting was something I would probably do at some point in my life, so I paid the $4 and played with the software a little bit. A year later I stopped in a quilt shop in the Outer Banks, which is now closed. I bought 10 fat quarters and pieced together a baby-size quilt top, but didn’t really get into quilting yet. I was using EQ4 to design fair isle knitting patterns.
7 or 8 years later, it was time for me to start quilting. I fell in love with it and sew almost every day. I love sketching out quilts on paper and would like to start designing on my computer. So please, Mr. RNG, pick me 🙂
I am great at designing a quilt on paper, but it never seems to come out right in real life. I would love to see it in EQ before I start the process of construction.
Obrigada,eu tenho ouvido falar das maravilhas feitas com EQ7,gostaria muito de ganhar para ver qual é a desse cara famoso.
Math is the issue here – I just finished a little baby block quilt top, By trial and error I managed to get all the irregular pieces for the top and bottom cut and fit in. I ran upstairs
and when I returned, to my amazement, there were two of those difficult to figure out pieces in the wrong color. Now I think if I had laid this out in EQ7 first, I might have had it right the first time, and not have had to use the try, try, try again method.
I do enjoy reading your blog.
Sharon
This would be amazing to have! I’d love to see what a quilt would look like before I even cut the fabric. This would be so much fun!!
I love to quilt. i do all hand peicing and hand quilting and give them away. i provide everything to make a quilt, although i can’t anymore because i receive less than $400.00 monthly disability. i feel like the lord has blessed me with a talent to share with others, and if i sell them, then i am not doing what the lord wants. i used all the fabric i had to make lap quilts for a nursing home. i have never worked with any computer software, but i have always wanted to try to design a quilt. thank you so much for this wonderful give away. god bless babscorbitt@gmail.com
I would LOVE to win a copy of this. I haven’t created many quilts yet. The next quilt I am planning to work on is a Super Mario Bro. QAL from cuttopieces.blogspot.com. I am so excited! I’m 33 and loved this video game growing up. I have a male friend that is working on a Super Mario quilt right now, but his just has Mario on it. If you click on my blog: http://karrie-s.blogspot.com/ you can see what I’m talking about, at the top of the page, if you don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m REALLY excited for it. I’ve never been in a QAL before. Thanks for the chance to win! I’ve seen what this program can do, and I would appreciate having a copy so much!