Island Batiks Ambassadors: Playful Paper Piecing

This month challenge for the Island Batik Ambassadors was Playful Paper Piecing. 

#playfulpaperpiecing #islandbatik

 Paper piecing is one of my weakness, I have only done it once before and I found it to be challenging, mainly due to lack of practice.  With that in mind I looked through the EQ7 library and found some crazy blocks I liked. So I starting to play with colors and came up with the below designed with 7 1/2" blocks.    

Original Design in EQ7

I had rough time getting the first couple pieces sewn together when I started, but after that it seemed to flow surprising well.  After the blocks were completed, I thought it would be fun to play with them a little.  I cut the blocks into 4 pieces and added a thin black sashing piece in the middle. This turned out to be a great touch to the placemats.

My choice of fabrics were 5" strips from the Island Batik Stash Building Package.  Then I added the left over fabric for the borders to get the finished projects.

Finished Placemats

The placements add a little color to our breakfast bar.

Some of our other Ambassadors have finished their challenges projects, be sure to check their playful projects:

Bejeweled Quilts
Kauffman Designs
Moosestash Quilting
Bea Quilter 

FunThread Designs
Stone Cottage Designs

What can EQ7 do for you?

What can EQ7 do for you? Whether you are a serious quilt designer or a hobbyist that has a couple of design ideas that you want to play with. EQ7 by the Electronic Quilt Company, is a tool that can speed up your work and expand your creativity. EQ7 is a computer software program which allows you to design a quilt from the basic block to the finished layout. Many of Quilting Affection Patterns are designed in EQ7 especially the pieced patterns.  Let me show you a few features that makes it fun and easy to design your next quilt in EQ7.  

EQ7 contains more than 5,000 ready to use blocks in the Block library, ranging from Foundation, Applique, and Pieced. If you don't see what you are looking for you can draw your own.  Once you are happy with the block, you have the ability to  insert colors or fabrics into the individual pieces. Then if you want to see the design in another color, you can just change them in a matter of seconds without having to completely redrawing the block.

There are over 5000 different scanned fabrics included in the program. You can also scan and import your own fabrics from your own stash.

When you are ready, EQ7 lets you put all the blocks together and build an entire quilt. You have the flexibility to choose the number of rows and columns to include in the quilt. If your block are not all the same size you also will have the ability to create custom layouts.

To add to the fun once the blocks are set in the quilt, you can rotate and change the fabric and or coloring to get different looks. This really enable you to stretch your imagination.

Once the quilt is designed to your liking, EQ7 will provide you with recommended rotary cutting instructions and even calculate the amount of each fabric you will need to build your quilt.

It actually does all of the math for you. You also have the ability to print your fabric yardage charts, rotary cutting charts, templates and foundation piecing.  You can also export images of your quilt so others can see what you are doing.

Here are a few of the quilts that I have designed in EQ7;

EQ7 Design (Bed of Flowers)

Finished Quilt

 

EQ7 Design - Flower Bloom

Actual Quilts

EQ7 is a wonderful tool that allows you to get creative with your quilt designs. This is just the start what you can do with the program, there is so much more. If you worried about the using the software product, Electric Quilt Company, has lots of ways for you to learn, from online tutorials to taking classes at EQ Academy’s.  Also many of your local quilt stores may offer beginning classes.
 

Need more information on EQ7 check out their website at http://electricquilt.com/

This year Electric Quilt Company is celebrating their 25^th Anniversary.  On the 10th of every month check out their blog for updates on contests and giveaways. There are also several social media promotions on Facebook and Instagram.

Make sure your check out these other today Bloggers Celebrating EQ7 Anniversary with themed EQ7 Blog posts.

QuiltShop Gal

FunThreads Designs 

Pamela Quilts

Have a great quilting day,

Tina