My quilting thoughts and inspirations sprinkled with a glimpse of life down on the farm

Friday, January 31, 2014

EQ Blog Hop - Red & White Quilts


Hopefully you will have seen this Blog Hop this week. It is the kickoff for a year of Red and White Quilt Challenges SewCalGal is running this year.
The idea of this week's blog hop is to show how much fun it is to use EQ software!!
Even if you don't have the software, take a look at the links, you never know what you will learn. The year of challenges is for anyone, you don't have to have EQ software, if you have an interest in Red and White quilts (or even in quilts full stop) you may find something that tempts you. (There is even a challenge for R&W quilts that are already made!)

When it was suggested I take part in this Blog hop I was pretty concerned - I've seen other clever people do fabulous tutorials and make fabulous quilts using their Electric Quilt software, and while I am a keen user, I'm very much an amateur and a wannabee really.
However, we all know the best way to learn is to play. So what if I just played and saw what happened??! Maybe it would encourage others who are in the same boat to do just the same. A whole lot of playing sounded fun to me!!
(If you don't have the software, just scroll through and see the pretty pictures!)
I decided to take one block and see what I could do with it.
Bear's Paw
A word that I love is 'Serendipity'. It sounds good and opens up a world of possibilities.
So my post today is based around the Serendipity function of EQ7. It is not a function I had really looked at before and I have had a blast.
Choose a block you want to play with and click on the following in your EQ7 software.
Work on Block > Block> Serendipity
The first option is 'frame' - lots of possibilities —
Serendipity>Frame
Serendipity>Frame
Serendipity>Frame
 The second option is Tilt —
Serendipity>Tilt
Select the angle you want it tilited at.
It seems to be in increments of .25'
The third option is Merge. For this you need to import another block to merge with your first block.
Not all blocks can be merged, but a bit of playing finds plenty to choose from :-)

Serendipity>Merge
The block above merged with one of my
'framed' Bears Paw.
The fourth option gets even more tricky. Essentially EQ7 takes your block, chops it up and reorganises it!
Clip and Flip.
Serendipity>Clipand Flip
Serendipity>Clip and Flip
Using one of the 'framed' blocks.
Fifth option - Shrink and Flip - more tricky business going on!
Serendipity>Shrink and Flip
Again, using one of the 'framed' blocks.
 Sixth option - Kaleidoscope
Serendipity>Kaleidoscope
There are different options for this,
based on the different quarters that EQ7
splits your block up into.
Seventh Option - Fancy Star
Serendipity>FancyStar
Original Bears Paw block used.
Whew! You can see that just from one block I have created many new ones!! The options appear endless!! Of course not all of them are pretty and not all of them are practical (but what a challenge to sew some of them!!). If I'd known about this button for my Stars class last year I would have saved myself a lot of redrawing!!!
Of course you can open up each new block you have created and edit it, resize, draw in bits (or take bits away), recolour and so on.

So the next phase of my playing was to see how the blocks would work in quilts.
I chose a simple layout with a simple border and just plonked the blocks on it.
Here are some quilt possibilities —
Simple with the original Bears Paw, centre block colours
swapped over.
Using one of the framed blocks
Framed and flipped
Shrink and flip
Combining the kaleidoscope with shrink and flip
(This photo enlarged as the colours went silly on the smaller size.)

A shrunken one in the middle
As you can see, I had a lot of fun while PLAYING! Now to think a little more and work out which - if any - I want to sew up. Some will have funny measurements which will make piecing difficult, some will be better suited to foundation piecing rather than straight piecing and some will go into the delete bucket.
However some are worth a second look and I could end up with something truly unique! 
It doesn't take a lot of time to play but it can be very rewarding - so, if you are like me and have some underused EQ software - PLAY!!!

The other participants in the Bloghop are —

KISSed Quilts with Marlene
Beaquilter with Bea

I haven't visited them yet as I wanted to write my post without influence (or feelings of inadequacy!!)...I look forward to their wise words - the glimpses I've seen when I did the linkups looked very impressive!!

Don't forget to visit SewCalGal too, for more information on this year's Red and White Challenges as well as more EQ7 tips and techniques. 

Happy playing everyone, thankyou for visiting
Have a great day,

31 comments:

  1. Some really fun options there. I can see that it would be hazardous to my quilting time to own EQ. I would spend all my time playing with it and get no quilting done! : )

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  2. How fun!! I don't have EQ - I'm the old fashioned gal - graph paper, rule, and pencil (with eraser!!lol)

    Love the stars!!

    Blessings

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  3. I've always loved the Bear's Paw block. So fun to see such variety that can be created with that block via the powerful Serendipity tool.

    Great post, tips and tutorial. Thanks for participating in this EQ blog hop and inspiring others to play with EQ. Possibilities are endless and you certainly inspired me.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  4. great post of the different things you can do with EQ.... looks fun...
    Hugz

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  5. You have really given us a great idea of just what fun it can be to use the Serendipity tool Raewyn! Lots of great blocks and quilts!

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  6. I have EQ7. After seeing what you have done with it, I know mine is definitely underused. Nice job!

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  7. WOWZIE!! Lots of options! So little time! Good luck & have fun is all I can say.

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  8. Great tutorial! Love that fancy star at the end.

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  9. I am a new EQ7 user so I really appreciate your explaining what Serendipity can do-I have not explored that yet!

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  10. what a lot of variety you ave created with your EQ 7 wondered about buying it but do not think I would use it enough to justify the cost, struggle to blog and understand the computer as it is.

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  11. Raewyn, I don't have EQ but I very much enjoyed this post. I can see now the benefit of owning it and see that it would be a blast to play with.

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  12. Dear Raewyn,
    your playin looks great, but I would have some problems making a red-white Quilt. I would have to visit the next Patchwork-Shop ;-)))
    Hugs
    sigisart

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  13. Great blog post, Raewyn! Thanks for the inspiration. My EQ is definitely under used and I need to remedy that. I've never really played with Seredipity, but I will now :)

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  14. ohhh I love serendipity- though I don't know if I've actually SEWED anything using that feature, but it's fun to play with.... yours look GREAT!

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  15. I definitely need to try that serendipity! Thanks for exposing us to its options!

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  16. Thanks for the demonstration. I have EQ7 and you have inspired me to try using this tool.

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  17. Wow! Didn't know about Serendipity... looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for the excellent tutorial.

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  18. Very interesting. My DH bought all the EQ versions up to number 4. Then I said enough! I just wasn't using them. Maybe someday I'l give it another go. You've shown some neat functions. Almost too many choices!

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  19. Thank you for sharing. I have EQ7, but I didn't know how to do this.

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  20. Thankyou for sharing Raewyn it is all very interesting.xx

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  21. All of this looks so wonderful to me Raewyn - but my gosh it's well beyond anything I could do.. as the topper I sent you attests!
    I hope you enjoy your year of playing with the software x

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  22. Thank you, that was so useful. I've never used that tool before, but I definitely will now!

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  23. Thanks for sharing this. I love it.

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  24. Great seeing this, all new to me, gosh lots to sew, nice stars, hope you enjoy it all:-)
    Happy Sewing, Raewyn!

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  25. There is so much I need to learn about EQ7! So far I've only really dipped my toe in but I can see the possibilities are huge. Thanks for some great inspiration!

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  26. If I ever get the time... This is intriguing, and something I would love to try..I really like the designs you have done... Very smart :)

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  27. Wow that was quite the virtual quilt show you put on, I thoroughly enjoyed it!!

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  28. Very clever, it's fun to see all the different ideas you came up with!!

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  29. Wow wow wow! I think my favourite is the kaleidoscope - i can just see it in my mind all made up and stunning!

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  30. How amazing! Now I'm on a mission....somewhere I have a very early copy of this software.....need to find it and check it out! Hope all's well in NZ :)

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