Electric Quilt: Software For Better Design, Construction

A review of Electric Quilt 4.0 from Electric Quilt Company

More info from Electric Quilt Company

The first quilt I ever made was a queen-size quilt. Next, I made a twin-size. Then I worked my way down from lap quilts to wall-hangings to coasters. A friend teased me saying that I would have to make virtual quilts next. At the time I didn't realize what a really good idea that was. And I never knew I'd have so much fun doing it.

With Electric Quilt 4.0, the idea of "virtual quilting" becomes real and exciting. EQ4 lets me design virtual quilts and then helps me turn them into real quilts.

How EQ4 Thinks

Designing quilts with EQ4 is almost like designing quilts in the real world. Your quilt design is built from quilt blocks. You can add borders, applique layers, and quilting.

Your workspace in EQ4 is also a lot like your workspace in the real world. There's a Worktable that you use while you're developing your design. And there's a Sketchbook in which you store what you've created on the Worktable.

One way that EQ4 doesn't quite jibe with the real world is in its use of the word "layer." As quilters, we think of layers as the top, the batting, and the backing.

When EQ4 talks about layers, it means something slightly different. EQ4 thinks of a quilt as having three layers: the block layer, the applique layer, and the quilting layer. That's a different approach, but for me it was no problem learning to think the way EQ4 thinks.

How EQ4 Works

To design a quilt, I start by selecting a block from the block library to put on the Worktable. I can change the lines, the colors, and the fabrics that make up the block with just a few clicks of my mouse button. This lets me create better looking quilt designs in a fraction of the time that it takes by conventional design methods.

When I like the way the block looks, I save it in the Sketchbook. EQ4 saves at least three copies of the block. The first is a simple line drawing of the pieces that make up the block. The second is the same as the first, but with shades of grey representing the value of the different fabrics I've selected.

The final copy is the most complex, showing all the colors and fabrics I've selected. EQ4 will also save as many color and fabric combinations of the block as I want to save.

This is one of thousands of blocks you get in Electric Quilt's block library. I can pull it onto my Worktable and change its lines, colors, and fabrics. When it's perfect, I save it in my Sketchbook.

Once I've designed (and saved) all my blocks, I select a layout grid for the quilt. EQ4 gives me a choice of horizontal, on-point, or baby blocks layout grids. If your quilt has more than one size of block in it, you'll use EQ4's "country set" layout grid.

With my blocks designed and my layout grid selected, I place all the blocks onto the block layer of the layout grid I've chosen. Then I select one or more borders for the borders layer from the list of border types.

Finally, I have to design the quilting. I might use the outline version of the block as the quilting design if I want stitch-in-a-ditch, or I could select another design. In any case, whatever I choose for my quilting design gets stored in the quilting layer.

When I'm happy with the quilt I've designed, I save it in the Sketchbook one more time and print a color picture of the quilt and its block(s). I can also print block templates or a paper-piecing pattern to help me piece the quilt.

Finally, I can print the fabric requirements for the project to help me with shopping. The only thing left to do is the actual quilting.

Is that all there is?

The best part of EQ4 is that all this is barely the beginning of its capabilities. I can design my own blocks. They can be geometric shapes, paper-pieced patterns, applique pieces, or quilting templates. And I can save them all in my own block libraries. When I want to make a pattern that I can't draw, I can scan in a picture and trace over it to make my pattern.

Another feature I like is the ability to add to the color and fabric libraries. I can add solid color fabrics that aren't part of the standard set of colors. I can add fabric colorways by changing the colors of the fabric I select. And I can use my scanner to put my own fabric collection into EQ4.

EQ4 lets me create pictures of my blocks and quilts to e-mail to my friends or use with other programs in my computer. I can also print the pictures to use as greeting cards, mailing labels or even quilt labels.

With EQ4 I'm having so much fun designing quilts that I forget to allow time to make them!

EQ4 includes thousands of predefined blocks and fabrics on a CD-ROM. It comes with a beginner's manual to get me started and a design cookbook that will help me learn and use more of the features of the system. EQ4 also comes with on-line support from EQ personnel and designers.

Electric Quilt 4.0 lists for $110, but you can get a better price by shopping around online. And be sure to check out the American Quilter's Society catalog, as they sell EQ4 at a discount to members.

Like any good tool, EQ4 has accessories that you'll want to consider. I'm eyeing the books EQ4 Simplified and EQ4 Magic, and I look forward to getting Stash Fall 1999 and Spring 2000, virtual fabric collections of thousands of fabrics. The Stashes are particularly valuable because you can use them alone or in conjunction with EQ4.

Now that I use EQ4, nobody can tease me about virtual quilts any more, because I create virtual quilts and I'm proud of them! Working virtually I produce more designs and create better looking quilts because making changes is so easy.

And I've got the last laugh -- making virtual quilts with EQ4 is as much fun as making real ones.

Click here to visit
the Electric Quilt forum.