I’ve partnered with Electric Quilt to share about how I use EQ8 in my quilt design, and since designing with negative space is sort of my thing, I thought I’d share a tutorial on a few different ways to get your designs with negative space into EQ8. I’ll be showing you the techniques using the quilt design shown above, which is one of the simplest ways of adding negative space, but I’ve noted below what sort of other designs these techniques are good for.

Technique 1: Blank Blocks

The quickest way to get an idea of ...

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us today. I've decided to start blogging (on a regular basis) again. I would like to share my knowledge and experiences for those of you who wish to learn, experiment and better your own quilts. Here is one of my first Quilt Editorials for 2020 - #queditorial.

I would like to share with you my approach to modern vs traditional quilt designing.

As you might already know, I actually design a little bit of both. Although I truly classify myself as a modern-traditionalist, some others see me as a modern quilter. Where's the difference ...

With the Stellar BOM now wrapped up, that means that I’ve been working with AccuQuilt Australia for over two years… what?! Time flies when you’re having fun! It also means that it’s time for a new block of the month using the AccuQuilt Qube system.

The first BOM series was Patisserie, and inspired by all sorts of yummy pastries. The second BOM series was Stellar, and inspired by all things space. When it came time to thing of what to do next, I was sitting at my computer with EQ8 open looking out at our backyard when ...

I’m delighted to have partnered with Electric Quilt to share a little more about how I use EQ8 software to design my quilts! EQ has a monthly block spotlight in which users are challenged to design a quilt using that block. This month’s block is Pinwheel Square, above.

To start, I decided to play around with the coloring in the block to see what else I could emphasize.

This is definitely a fun block, but it wasn’t really doing it for me that day, and so instead of continuing to play around with the block in its ...

I decided to make my Easy Baby Quilt again. I have made this quilt twice already, but both times given it away. I have this gorgeous hedgehog fabric and thought it might be fun to stitch this up again.

So, in the midst of my sadness over losing my dog to cancer, I have not yet loaded the Jingle quilt that I was planning to start quilting between Christmas and New Year's.  That is a challenge that requires more positive energy than I could muster right now.  Instead, I've been piecing more of those Birds In the Air blocks for my Spirit Song Dress Code quilt, which is a total tangent (squirrel) from the projects I'd intended to be working on and finishing right now, but it's cathartic.  I had intended to use these HST ...

A Christmas Tree Quilt Design based on Inklingo Drunkard's Trail blocks, to wish you Merry Christmas adn a Happy New Year! XXX Annika Continue reading →

I am thrilled to announce that I am an Aurifil Color Builder 2020 Designer !  The Colors of Italy will be the 2020 theme. We designers will be creating a series of blocks for a worldwide Sew A Long.  The free (yes free) blocks and patterns will be available monthly on Pat Sloan’s’s blog.  Pat [ ...Continue Reading ]

The post Aurifil Color Builder Designer appeared first on Carole Lyles Shaw.

It has been awhile since I've had the luxury of sewing for relaxation, for myself, without any deadlines or external demands.  You guys -- this is so much FUN!  I snuck back up to my studio after dinner last night, thinking I'd just putter around for 30 minutes or so, and before I knew it, it was after eleven.  

These are all 4" Birds In the Air blocks right now, nothing is joined together.  I'm still deciding if I like the mix, adding in new fabrics, and rearranging the blocks on the wall.  Although this is a scrappy ...

The fabrics shown in this post were given to me by Island Batik.

Last January Island Batik gave me a secret bundle to hold onto till November, it was Tropical Escape shown above. I sat and looking at the bundle of gorgeous fabrics, waiting for them to talk to me. The goal is for me to introduce the Tropical Escape fabric line by making a quilt showcasing as many of the 20 fabrics as possible.

I decided to use Studio 180 Design’s BlockBuster pattern #29 Pointsettia. This block requires the Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star, Split Rects and ...

I've been catching up on my "52 Blocks in 52 Weeks" project.  I cut out parts for 4 or 5 blocks, and then sew them together.    I finished up to block 43 last night, but then downloaded block 44 this morning.

A screen recording of how to draw an Apple Core block in EQ8 Continue reading →

First off, I need to thank Matt at Electric Quilt Tech Support for figuring out how to create a layout for this quilt in EQ8.  I am not taking credit for his solution, just writing it down before I forget how I did it and sharing it with other EQ users who want to play with similar quilt designs on their own.

EQ8 Quilt Design Using Hexagons and Equilateral Triangles

I took a workshop with Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably last week!  The project was the Mediterranean Hexagons quilt from the book Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in Morocco, available on Amazon here (affiliate link).

Brandon Mably and Rebecca the Rebellious Workshop Student

Everyone loved this workshop except me.  

Using the right quilt tools makes all the difference when you are quilting.  Good tools help you cut and sew more accurately and generally make the entire process more enjoyable.

And, you don’t have to spend a lot of money–just focus on a few high quality items and they will last forever.

Here are some of my favorite tools.  No affiliate links–opinions based on personal use only.

Shop Local

As always, please check with your favorite local quilt shop or local shops with online shops before going to ‘big’ retailers. Note:  there are NO buying links in ...

Even though Rotterdam is a major city, even on global scale, we did not have a decent chocolate shop until recently! Sure, there were already some shops and department stores who sell filled chocolates. But most of them use the … Continue reading →

Welcome back to part two of how to design a quilt pattern! In part one, I shared about how the Origami design came to be, and working out the fabric to use, so that means that it’s time to run the numbers. That is, work out the quilt maths* so that it’s a good quality pattern that is fun to work with!

*here in Australia, we say “maths”; in the US, “math” is used. I am so accustomed to using either interchangeably, so this post includes both wherever/however it comes out. Welcome to life as in “international ...