Making the Switch . . . EQ7 to EQ8

So one of the most frequently asked questions I get is how do I design my quilts??   And the answer is, EQ!!!!    I will see something that inspires me and either take a picture of it or draw a quick doodle, and then I sit at the computer and draw it up in Electric Quilt.  I have been using EQ 7 for about 8 years now and love it!!!  I can't imagine doing what I do without it.    But I will admit, I have been hesitant to upgrade to the new EQ8 because I assumed there would be that whole learning curve time of figuring out a new program.   Well, I can say now, I totally should not have hesitated because I finally switched over to EQ8 and it is so awesome!!!! 

My biggest concern with making the switch was thinking I would lose all of my old EQ7 files.  Silly worry, they totally made it possible to transfer the files and it was a piece of cake. There was even a step by step tutorial on EQ's site on how to do it.    Which was good, because I realized as I saved each file, that I have over 200 quilt designs in this program!!!  Wow, that is a lot!!!  And I have to say, it was fun to get to see each of the quilts I have done over the years as I transferred them ;) 

 Oh, and on a total side note, If you are looking at the names of my quilts and wondering what's up with the extra numbers . . .I label all of my quilts in EQ with them to make them easier to find.   My Pattern files start with a 1 (and you can spy 3 new working on patterns without numbers yet :)   My Book quilts start with a 2 (as well as an Acronym of the book title).  Published quilts start with a 3 (and MAG for Magazine or CB for Compilation Book).  Quilt-Along quilts start with a 4, and Tutorial quilts start with a 5.  And if I am working on something new I just label it with a name that leaves it at the bottom of the list.    It just makes it so much easier to find what I am looking for in the 200 plus names of quilts ;)    Just a little helpful hint in case you use EQ as well. 

Okay, random side note done, back to the new EQ!!   I love the new Fabric Library in EQ8!!!   EQ7 didn't have a whole lot of fabrics in the program so I got really good at Importing whatever I wanted to work with.    Which of course, EQ8 still has so that is awesome as I love being able to see exactly what a certain fabric line will look like in the quilt design.   But EQ8 also has lots of Basic fabrics already imported!!   Like my favorite Moda Grunge, and Kona Cottons, and Bella Solids and the list goes on.  And I just love the idea of being able to design knowing exactly what color solid I am using and not having to match up my best guess from the computer to a swatch card when I am done ;)   

And that whole learning curve I was worried about, silly of me.   EQ8 kept the same basic structure of program, they just made it more user friendly.  So you can design the same way you did in EQ7, but now the buttons are easier to find and flow with more sense.   And what I really love, when I find something new in this program that I have no clue about (like the new create serendipity button) there are Tips with explanations right below it to explain the new feature to me.   So smart!!!

And speaking of new features, I have been having so much fun playing around with the new Polydraw feature.  It is like a CAD program where you are designing pieces rather than lines.   And the Clone and Flip Left and Right options make drawing so much faster.  Just draw one piece and then paste it to another spot.    So fun!!!  I have a feeling I will be exploring this section a whole lot more :)  

So ya, I am wishing I would have made the switch a while ago ;)    I am sure I will be sharing more of the EQ8 stuff I learn over the next little bit.    I am so glad I was introduced to EQ way back when.   It really is such a wonderful program for anyone who has a desire to design quilts!!  It was a total game changer for me, and I am excited to see what new features EQ8 will add to my creative abilities.   Oh, and just in case you are in the same boat I was, I was happy to find that you don't have to buy EQ8 outright if you already have a previous EQ program.  You can simply pay a smaller fee to Upgrade your already existing program.  Isn't that just so sweet of EQ!!!  

So ya, in summary, So glad I made the Switch and looking forward to lots more designing!!!  

And now I am curious, do any of you wonderful readers EQ???  If not, have you thought about a quilt designing software??  Just wondering :)  

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day so let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway :)

The winner of the $25.00 Gift Certificate from  Lou Lou's Fabric Shop is . . .  Number #34 . . .   Congrats Rosemary!!!   I have emailed you :)   

 

        

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Olie and Evie.  Rhonda has so many wonderful  fabric for you to shop from!!   And you don't want to miss these last chance clearances!! Also, be sure to check out the Layer Cake Discounts this week, good for stocking up on those little treasures :) 

And Rhonda's has a fantastic Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!!     Olie and Evie  is giving one lucky winner a Fat Quarter Pack of the new Zen Chic Spotted 2019 collection!!!!    I just love these gorgeous colors and they will make someone an awesome quilt!!!   

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me a favorite quilting trend you have spotted lately??   

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Olie and Evie love.   You can follow them on  Facebook, Instagram  or Pinterest or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Olie and Evie Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday,  August 13th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Happy Little Things BOM - Block 1!!!

It's the first Monday in August and that means the start of the Happy Little Things Block of the Month!!!    This fun BOM is hosted by Jacquelynne Steves and you can still sign up as it will go from now until the end of the year ;)   And you can read all about Block 1 over at Jacquelynne's blog!!!   And if you are visiting Happy Quilting for the first time, welcome!!!   I hope you will look around for a bit as I have been writting here for 9 years and have so many fun quilt tutorials, project tutorials, quilt alongs, and patterns to share ;)   And without further ado . . .  these are my Block 1's :)

And yes, I made two blocks.   I decided to do a different finished layout (surprise, surprise) and so I am actually planning on making two of each block instead of just 1.  But I love that because it means  I get to see the total difference fabric placement makes in each block, which is always great!!   

I am using Gretel Fabrics from my wonderful friend Amy Smart and I just love how adorable they are in these blocks.  I especially love those scrappy log cabin strips bordering the blocks.   So cute!!!   And isn't the center fabric just perfect!!   I decided to leave the center of the blocks plain and just fussy cut the fabrics I used for them :)  And those little flowers . . . it's hard to not make them the center of every block ;)   

And there they are!!!  Two #1 Blocks for the Happy Little Things BOM!!!    And if you are quilting along be sure to share all of your Happy Little Things  progress on social media with #HappyLittleThingsBOM and #HappyLittleThingsQuilt  and add them to the Happy Little Things Facebook Group.   And be sure to check out  these other bloggers to see lots more Block 1 Eye Candy and enter for more chances to win the August Giveaway!!!

A Quilting Life                               Flamingo Toes 

Podunk Pretties                            Kathy's Quilts  

The Crafty Quilter                         The Quilting Nook  

                  Allie-Oops Sweet Happy Life 

GIVEAWAY CLOSED -  The Winner is #321 . . . Carol!!!  Congrats, I have emailed you :)

Yup, I said Giveaway!!!  With each month's block there will be a Happy Little Things Giveaway and you can enter at each blog as each blogger will be giving away a Olfa Prize Pack!!!  How great is that!!!

To enter is simple.   We are going to run this the same way we do all of our Terrific Tuesday Giveaways :)   (Which is tomorrow so if you are visiting for the first time, be sure to come back for a chance to win some more!!!)      

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries. (but international winners will recieve an alternate prize from Jacquelynne :)    Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger!!    Comments can be left by clicking on the # Comments link in Red at the bottom of this post :)

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment telling me if you have ever participated in a Block of the Month before??

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Happy Quilting love. You can follow Happy Quilting on Bloglovin, Email Updates, or RSS to get daily updates.  Or you can like Happy Quilting on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Flickr.   Any one way will do . . . Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Happy Quilting Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Sunday, August 11th, when I will announce a winner and update it on this post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Panguitch Quilt Walk - 2019

 So this morning I realized that I somehow forgot to post my classes from the Panguitch Quilt Walk clear back in June!!! Ya, I will just add that with the other things I am blaming on this summer, tee hee hee.   Anyhow, I had such a wonderful time in Panguitch!!!  The classes are always so much fun and just filled with the nicest people!!   I love that I get to see friends that I have met and had in classes over the 8 years I have been teaching there.   And of course, there are always new faces and friends to be made and it is just such a happy atmosphere.   We truly are happy quilting!!!  And this time, my daughter came along, so double bonus!!!

The first class I taught was on Thursday evening and it was my  Square Dance Pattern :) This is always a fun class to teach as it is super fast and easy!!!   It's just a great class to just sew without having to think to much and everyone always get's so much done ;)  In fact, it was so popular that this was actually an added class so that more people could get in the class.  And I am so glad they did because we had such a great time!!!

Friday Afternoon was the "first" signed up class for Square Dance Pattern.  And we had a super full class which just made it all the more fun.  Gotta love the sound of machines just humming away ;)    And I just loved getting to see all of the different fabric combinations everyone choose.   They really mixed it up and I can't wait to see these finished ;) 

And Saturday morning I got to teach my final class from my Playground Picnic Pattern.  And I have to say, I just love teaching this class.   The pattern just doesn't go together the way you assume it will, and when students in class see how much easier it is then it looks, they just get all kinds of smiles, and that of course, makes me smile in turn :)  It was just such a fun class and these ladies did such a great job!!! 

And the best thing about teaching at a retreat year after year, I get to see awesome finshes from past years classes!!!   It is just so neat to see what started as a block in class, all finished and quilted :)   And this year, I had one student that brought back her beautiful Petal Pop quilt that she made!!   Isn't it just so pretty :) 

And speaking of bringing quilts back, I had two ladies from my Thursday night class, stop by my Saturday Morning class to share their finished Square Dance Quilt tops!!!  Wow, like as in a day later!!!   I told you, fun and fast ;) 

And don't they both just look amazing!!!!   I just love the happy batiks, makes me totally want to remake this quilt in all batiks as well ;)  Both ladies just did such a fantastic job and I am so glad they brought them back to show me, what a treat!!!

And speaking of treats, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post and in this post, my daughter Jessi came along, and spent the weekend working on her own project.   You might recall this project Jessi started last year using the tutorial from Cluck, Cluck, Sew.  Well, she finished all of her blocks and aren't they just so fun!!!   She is in the process of sewing the rows together now and then it's on to the long arm, so hopefully she will be able to share this finish soon ;)   So proud of that girl!!!! 

And that is a wrap on the Panguitch Quilt Walk 2019 :)   Thanks again for having me Panguitch and I can't wait for next year!!!  And if you are in the Utah Area, the Utah Quilt Guild is holding Quilt Fest 2019 in September and I am super excited to be teaching Pave The Way and True North there!!!   Maybe I will see you in one of them ;)  

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

Wishes for Wanderings Fabric Tour!!!

I had so much fun participating in my good friends Jina and Lori first fabric line tour, Prairie Sisters, and was thrilled when they asked if I wanted to participate in their second fabric line,  Wanderings Fabric Blog Tour !!!  And just like before, I decided I wanted to make up a new quilt design that was something soft and sweet, just like the  Wanderings Fabric !!   And here it is ;)  I am calling it Wishes!!

 I just loving working with these beautiful Poppie Cottons!!!  The color palate of  Wanderings is quite different from what I normally sew with.  It is so muted and soft, but it just makes it oh so pretty.   And I love all of the tiny flowers and butterflies, and the blender prints are perfect for tying it all together.  

So I have had this Wishes design in my EQ file for some time now and I was just waiting for the right fabric to come along.   I just love all of the soft colors in those blocks.   It really just makes the design well, twinkle ;)    The Wishes design is a really fun one to make that has a lot of basic quilting techniques to learn along the way.  Some tiny piecing in the stars, some stitch and flip in the small twinkles, and some lattice blocks in the large twinkle.    All fun and fast and and so great to learn.   

And while I was really hoping to get this quilted in time for the Fabric Tour, I am planning on making Wishes a new Happy Quilting Pattern  so I wanted to do some custom quilting and time just ran out :)  Honestly, I don't know why I think I can get anything done in the summer.    I have plans to make it in 4 size options and the block is big, so that is always fun because before you know it, you have enough blocks for a really big quilt!!    It is going to be so awesome.   (and when it is released, it will be on sale, just sayin :)  

And I really hope to have this pattern Coming Soon!!!   And it should come out right about the same time that Decades Past from the previous fabric tour comes out as well. Wow, I can't believe I don't have that one done yet.  True Story guys, I was gone more days in the summer than I was home.   But it's all good, because my kids are growing and I don't want to miss those moments ;)    They all go back to school in less than two weeks and then life can return to some kind of  "normal" routine.   And then I have some serious pattern work to get done!!   (I am working on 2 more as well but those are slated more towards the end of the year ;)    For now, I am  going to load Wishes on the Longarm and just enjoy quilting on these beautiful Wanderings fabrics!!!

Thank you so much to Jina and Lori for allowing me to play with these fantastic Poppie Cottons fabrics!!!   And for more  Wanderings fun, be sure to Hop over to the Poppie Cottons blog  to check out more blogger goodies from this awesome fabric blog tour :)

Thanks for popping in today and every day.  I am just so grateful to have this space to share my love of quilting!!!

Have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!