Welcome to Day One of the Island Batik's November 2021 Blog Hop - Storm at Sea.

The November Challenge for Island Batik required that we make a Storm at Sea quilt, lap size or larger, using the Summer 2021 Fabric bundle. I received the collection Bellingham Bay - designed by Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design.

Bellingham Bay

Those of you who know me know that these are not my favorite colors. I find them dark and depressing.  Guess this was an added dimension to the challenge.  

I turned to EQ8 to mock-up the color combinations to come up with a ...

I am copying from Island Batik relative document: “Use the Studio 180 Design tool you received in your second Ambassador box to make a quilt of any size! The tool you received is designed to make a specific unit in many different sizes, so you can work with small units to make a miniature or large units to make a large quilt. The choice is yours.

Αντιγράφω από το σχετικό έγγραφο των Island Batik: “Χρησιμοποιήστε το εργαλείο που σας έστειλε το Studio 180 Design μέσα στο δεύτερο κουτί σας και φτιάξτε ένα κουίλτ του μεγέθους που θέλετε! Το εργαλείο που ...

I am copying from Island Batik relative document: “Use the Studio 180 Design tool you received in your second Ambassador box to make a quilt of any size! The tool you received is designed to make a specific unit in many different sizes, so you can work with small units to make a miniature or large units to make a large quilt. The choice is yours.

Αντιγράφω από το σχετικό έγγραφο των Island Batik: “Χρησιμοποιήστε το εργαλείο που σας έστειλε το Studio 180 Design μέσα στο δεύτερο κουτί σας και φτιάξτε ένα κουίλτ του μεγέθους που θέλετε! Το εργαλείο που ...

If you have read my blog (or just looked at the pictures!) you know that I delight in string blocks. This is my latest string project.

String Carpenter's Star (82" x 82")

Carpenter's Star (sometimes called Carpenter's Wheel) is a traditional pattern, and layout charts are available in many places online (the one I used is HERE), but I substituted string blocks for the regular color or print blocks.

I drew it on EQ8, so I could get an idea of what I would need.

EQ8 Plan--I did change the four corners to string blocks rather than ...

Love the first design today. No full Wedding Ring blocks, but enough bits for most quilters to recognize the parts.

Looking at both of these I think they would be great designs to use on a tablecloth for the table holding the wedding cake.

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Something else to celebrate …. Electric Quilt is now 30 years old.

I had been quilting for quite a while before EQ was born, and it was quite a few years before I bought EQ5. I had quite a collection of block designs on paper, quite a few of them drafted and ready to use, and I ...

Have you hear the news? The Electric Quilt Company is celebrating 30 years of business! It is hard to believe that another five years have gone by. It seems like just yesterday the new EQ8 version came out. What is EQ8 and the Electric Quilt Company? The EQ Company produces the leading quilt design software (EQ8) which I use just about daily in my own designs. It doesn't write the patterns for you, but it takes out all of the math guess work, cutting and dimensions are easily adapted from line drawings in the program. It even prints out ...

The Serendipity tool in Electric Quilt is the tool I use when I want to be surprised by what I design … after I select the tool and the block EQ does the twisting and turning for me. I love the design above, but not excited about the one below.

The second design has the original block in the side borders.

PS I do love that the link colour matches the quilt designs!

You’ll see in my recent posts that I’m obsessed with learning how much mileage I can get with my Accuquilt GO!Cutter and the dies I already own.

I love the simplicity of the Sawtooth Star block and so I decided to see if I could design some pieced items with it using the dies I have.

Although I don’t own the 8” Go!Cube, I have almost all the shapes (see those in bold print on the list below). The only one shape I was missing was for the “flying geese” part of the star: the ...

A third post with Winding Ways quilt designs! XXX Annika Continue reading →

More Inklingoable Winding Ways quilt designs. This time combined with Inklingo Sunflowers. Continue reading →

Some Inklingoable Winding Ways Quilt designs - inspired by Linda Franz' wonderful new book! XXX Annika Continue reading →

 Good morning!  Happy Passover to my Jewish friends, Happy Holy Week to my Christian friends, and Happy Spring to one and all!  In my house, my younger son has a half day of remote learning today and then he is off for a week of Spring break.  My older son is coming home from college tomorrow afternoon, and we are all going to attend a real, live, in-person worship service together for Easter Sunday, followed by Easter dinner with my mom.  I'm so excited; it's like seeing the light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel ...

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Cheeto helped us draw a winner at random (okay, we used a random generator) and the lucky winner is Judy Valentino! Congratulations, Judy!

I’ve been an avid user of Electric Quilt software since 1992. The first version I used (almost thirty years ago!) was version 3, and I’m now using the most current version which is 8. While all the versions have been amazing through the years, I’m thrilled with how version 8 is so easy to use and user-intuitive. I’m also very proud to be an EQ Artist!

For many years ...

I had a great day! I got most of the writing done - a wee bit more to finish off this morning. And two e-mails that should be sent today with homework assignments, and then I'm up to date for the moment. The more I write, the easier it becomes, and I'm having fun with it. When my students signed up for a class, they never expected to get a "book" after each class. But all my pictures are there, and it can make or break the class for some. 

And I've been getting some interesting pictures back ...

 WHAT A WEEKEND!!!!!!   It was crazy with FIVE different classes or clubs. For a minute, I thought I wasn't going to be ready for all of them, but I was, and everything worked PERFECTLY. That's what happens when you plan. You think I'm outside just walking? Oh no - I'm thinking about staying ahead of the students and planning the upcoming lessons. That walking time is valuable for my brain and for my body!!!

Speaking of which, I'll get the walking update out of the way.  On my Appalachian Trail walk, I'm making amazing progress ...

A cute baby or kid's quilt with piglets, designed by me. XXX Annika Continue reading →

Alright you guys, I know you've heard me sing this song before, but THIS time I mean it.  THIS is the quilt I'm making for Son-the-Younger's upcoming high school graduation:

77 x 99 Kaleidoscope Quilt in Blues, Greens, and Purple

1. Graduation is only 5 months away, and I have ...