EQ8 - Discover New Designs Quickly

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Hello!  I'm back today with another quick tip for EQ8 users. Using EQ8 has allowed me to design quilts that I probably otherwise wouldn't have. I have sometimes "accidentally" discovered new designs just by playing around in EQ8. Keep reading to find out where you might have seen the result of this and not even realized it!

Two years ago, I shared the tutorial for my Country Summer quilt on the Moda Bake Shop. That quilt is shown below. I used Garden Variety by Lella Boutique for Moda Fabrics. 

Earlier this year (I had to double check the date; it feels so much longer!), I shared Country Summer 2 on the Moda Bake Shop, which you can see below. That quilt used Canning Day by Corey Yoder for Moda fabrics.  

Would you have guessed that both of these quilts use the exact same block? Yep!  Keep reading to see how I discovered this second design in EQ8!

Below is the block from the original Country Summer quilt drawn in EQ8.

I decided to play around with fabrics and added a new fabric in the background areas of the block segments that are on the center of the outside edges. 

I kept going with the fabric reversal in those segments and changed the original blue areas to white background fabric. I left the corner units as they were.  

I added that version of the block to my sketchbook and decided to see what it looked like in a quilt. A few minutes later, I had the quilt below and I loved it! It looks so different! This version features Summer Sweet by Sherri and Chelsi for Moda Fabrics.

That's it! Change a few fabrics and I suddenly have a brand new quilt design! I love how I can easily discover new designs just by playing around in EQ8. It has definitely helped my creativity grow!

Of course, these changes did affect the fabric requirements and cutting instructions.  For example, the original quilt can be made with fat eighths, but you need more pieces from each print for the second version so it's not as simple as taking the original pattern instructions and changing which pieces you put where. This is where the new pattern comes in which is great if you are a pattern designer!

If you are still thinking about getting EQ8 for yourself, either to try your hand at designing or just for auditing fabrics, you can check it out in the Electric Quilt Company online store. 

Until next time,

Amanda