Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Plaid loveliness

I have to just hope that the recipient of this gift isn't reading my blog!  Didn't the plaid quilt turn out wonderfully?  I'm very pleased with it.

I've been working on some diamond log cabin blocks that I cut out a long time ago and got frustrated with, mostly because they were cut from jelly rolls and the stretchiness of the cross grain strips was making the blocks difficult to assemble without distortion.  I wanted to mock up the design in EQ and decide on borders but can't for the life of me figure out how, or even IF, you can make non-rectangular blocks like these in EQ6.  Does anyone have any idea how to make 60 degree angle diamond blocks in EQ?

4 comments:

Marla said...

Love this! Love plaids! Love, love churndash! If the receipient has seen it on your blog and is dismayed...well, I know another!!!

Paula, the quilter said...

I pulled this information from http://www.electricquilt.com/Users/News/2009/2009_05_2.asp#6 EQ6 works the same as EQ7. I hope this helps

************************************

Q: I want to draw blocks using either 60 degree or 45 degree triangles to make hexagons or octagons. Have tips on drawing these?

Andrea answers this one:

There are 2 ways to draw blocks in EQ6. One is to use EasyDraw. You draw lines as you would on graph paper. The program interprets the lines, creates intersections, and makes templates accordingly. The other way is to use PatchDraw. You draw all sides to the shape and then fit the shapes together.

EasyDraw must always be a square or rectangle. PatchDraw doesn't need to have all the sides.
EasyDraw lets you create really complex designs that fit in these squares. PatchDraw lets you draw a lot of stuff, but not nearly as complex.

If you used PatchDraw:
In EQ6, it is possible to create hexagon and octagon blocks. For the last ClubEQ challenge we used the new Circle grid in Pieced PatchDraw to make hexagons:
http://www.electricquilt.com/Albums/09/0902/lg/0902q001.jpg
http://www.electricquilt.com/Albums/09/0902/lg/0902q002.jpg

It takes a while to nudge the hexagons side by side in a custom set quilt. It is possible, but extremely difficult for beginners. We did not have as many participants with that challenge as we normally do.

Octagons can be done in the same manner, using either the Octagon or Kaleidoscope grids in Pieced PatchDraw.

If you used EasyDraw:
All the octagon blocks for the Kaleidoscope Collection CD were done using EasyDraw. These would be examples of blocks possible:
http://www.electricquilt.com/Shop/Kalei/Kalei.asp

Hexagons are a little more difficult in EasyDraw because you kind of have to tilt your head and get the base grid before segmenting away. Here's an example of a hexagon quilt done using this method:
http://www.doyoueq.com/blog/?p=49

If you were building inside triangles to create the hexagons, you'd do something like this:
http://patchpieces.com/files/eqarchives/triangletwist2.pdf

So it is possible, but it is difficult. No matter which way you draw the blocks, I highly recommend getting the EQ6 Pieced Drawing book (which covers both EasyDraw and PatchDraw) and going through the lessons.

*karendianne. said...

What a pretty quilt! Very pretty.

Kathryn said...

This is gorgeous. And I'm another one who likes the churndash block.
I love the oak leaf design the long arm quilter has put on. Someone is going to be a very happy recipient!