Electric Quilt Free Trial

[Kathy Douds]

Thanks for this, I own electric quilt, but am A Quilt Show member. The $800 price tag seemed both steep and a misstep given the competition. I didn't feel it was worth it to look further. Happy that you did that for me. I'm glad to see EQ also compares well in operations.

Thanks so much for this! The cost alone is a deal-breaker for me, but your other points would have killed the deal anyway. I truly appreciate your time and generosity in sharing your findings and opinions. I feel like you just gave me a full day I could have spent on this.

I'm so glad I have EQ8. As I read your comparisons of the two software systems, I wondered how much Design N Quilt would cost, given its limitations. I would have believed $80, but never would I imagine a list price of $800.

Thanks for taking the time to do a deep-dive comparison, Kari. I, too, am baffled as to why anyone would bring a rinky-dink version of quilt design software to market and price it at four times the cost of the industry-standard program that we all are already loving and using! Even the embroidery capability doesn't make up for the difference, because it's not going to be a robust embroidery digitizing program like Art & Stitch, Wilcom, Bernina embroidery software etc. And the missing features of fussy cutting and rotating fabrics can be hugely important when you're wanting to create a quilt design that plays with the possibilities of an ombre fabric, for instance. LOVE my EQ8 and I wouldn't switch to that silly Design N Quilt even if they paid ME $800!

I think I'll just stay with my EQ8 program. It appears to me, to be a much easier program to use and WAY more choices.
Thank you for the comparisons as I'll used them as talking points should the two programs come up in conversation.

Thanks for doing the deep dive comparison Kari. This was a real service for the quilting community. I was anxious to take a look at this software to see its capabilities and to see if it had any functions which were missing in EQ8. It is hard to tell in the trial version if the printouts do more than EQ8 can. Thanks so much for sharing your expertise and your opinions. As always, you are the boss!

Thanks for doing this Kari. Very useful when I have to tell people what quilting software is available to them in the UK. I share your views about Design N Quilt being less functional and hugely more expensive than EQ8 and that's not just because we are familiar with the latter. The embroidery feature would probably not be a decision maker for most people either as those of us with embroidery machines would probably already have a program that satisfies our needs in that direction. As for the price - they are going to find it very difficult to sell at that price tag to those who do their homework before buying.

I wasn't looking for other design programs so I wasn't aware of this program. I started with a simple design program (called Quilt Pro I think) that has not been supported or updated for several years. It was a nice little program, very easy to navigate and learn. it was under $70 and in my opinion a better program than this $800 program. It did not have the embroidery function. I found the Design N Quilt screen visually overwhelming and hard to find things. It made me think of "Inkscape" (A great program with a steep learning curve). Thanks for the review of this program. Its lack of versatility, very busy screen layout, limited preloaded libraries, block design limitations and and steep price are all reasons not to purchase. For me, no way to preview stencils on a quilt would be a additional deal breaker. Even if I was given a copy of Design N Quilt I would rather buy EQ8 because of its versatility and because I am a Mac user.

The second (and third and fourth) time, I played around with cutting and folding until I had what you see above. There is some trial and error involved. Fortunately, freezer paper is inexpensive. You can see that I put half-scallops at each end for a much better result.

I attached all four borders to the quilt with my cheater method so they lie nice and flat. Then I was ready to mark the scallops. I used the freezer paper as a template and marked along its edges with a mechanical chalk pencil.

I will still publish blog posts and post content much the same as I always have, however the shop portion of my webpage will be closed down. I will not be offering any published patterns. Juggling a full time job, raising some rapidly growing children, and maintaining a business had grown to be too much for one person. Taking a step back from the self-publications is a way for me to maintain a healthy work/life balance.

As I am not particularly tech savvy when it comes to programming and website design, there is going to be some trial and error and I figure out how to reel things in without completely crashing the website. So please, if you come for a visit and things are down, be patient. I will have the website up and running like it used to after some trial and error.

I want to thank everyone for their love and support these past 11 years and counting. I cannot believe how far we have come together! I am looking forward to continuing to create and share my work with your, and please keep sending me your pictures and makes, its something I truly enjoy!

Today I will be introducing you to my lineup of patterns for the Nightshade Deja Vu collection by Tula Pink. The original Nightshade is one of the most highly sought after out of print (OOP) collections. The Deja Vu line features more colorization, brighter fabrics, two new scales and a new print!

I loves the vibrant hues in Nightshade Deja Vu. The spider blossom print is my absolute favorite of the collection. I briefly lived in a heritage home that was 100+ years old. The scaled down prints were reminiscent of the carpet in that house. It was large, and empty, and for a time I lived completely alone in it. I had so many ideas, and a story started to play out in my designs.

I imagined some dark, lonely heroine wandering the halls of a large, rambling manor, searching for secrets and avoiding the ghosts of their past. Walking the same halls day after day, wearing a path through the ancient flooring.

The heroine finds themselves in a lost, forgotten corner of the library. Amongst the webbed and dusty tomes, one seems to glow with an inner light. Reaching out, trancelike, the brush of warm pebbled leather awakens a matching glow within their chest, waking the magic inside.

As the magic wakes, our heroine finds herself immersed in a new world of color and light, imbued and overlaid upon both the animate and inanimate. With this newfound sight, they make new discoveries that only help them grow their power.

In a forgotten cellar room, hidden under the rotting floor, a journal is found. Written by a long forgotten ancestor, it tells the story of three sisters, all gifted with powers. as our heroine dives deeper into the mysterious past, they realize they are the last remaining descendant of these sisters.

I taught Delphinium at the Petting Fabrics retreat this past April, and it was a huge hit. The quilters did an amazing job with their fussy cutting and piecing. The kits were a collaborative effort between Georgina and myself, and I love how they turned out.

I LOVE Delphinium, and plan on making it again. Its the perfect pattern for large scale print fussy cutting, and the Y-seams are large and easy to sew. You get a little bit of everything with this one.

Everglow is a neon lovers dream, with 4 new feature prints and 8 electrifying colorways. I have three patterns for the line, and I had so much fun designing to feature each of the elements in the line. Hippos, giraffes, lions and elephants take center stage in this whimsical collection. My favorite print is the Lion, and I love the orange/green colorways that go with it. My close second is the hippo. The small details, like the birds and the body shadows under the water really bring the print to life.

First up is Sparkler. This quilt features fussy cutting and precision piecing to create a block exploding with color. I wanted the animal prints to really stand out. My inspiration for this quilt was fireworks. I love how bright and loud they are, and how fireworks spark joy for those who watch. I wanted the same feeling in this quilt. I love how the supporting stripes, dots, and fairy flakes bring the center star to life around the print.

The White with Black Dots yardage for the Border Units should be 1 5/8 yards. This has been updated in version 1.1. I you purchased the PDF you can redownload the updated pattern. If you purchased the paper pattern, please make the note on the fabric requirements on the back cover. Thank you!

I worked very hard on this and I am still not 100% sure everything is going to work. Please be patient with me, and I will try to fix any issues that may come up. There is only 1 of each item available. Thank you everyone!

Thank you for your order! If you have questions about your purchase, please contact me directly. The shop has been deactivated in the meantime. All orders have been shipped via UPS or Canada Post.

The prices will vary. I thought long and hard about the pricing models for these. Some take a lot more time, some take a lot more fabric. I have taken many things into account, and have settled on only charging for the cost of materials. For many of these samples my labor has been paid already, and I really want my quilts to find their forever homes. I am one of those maybe-not-so-strange-after-all people that tends to personify their art, and I know that each quilt has its perfect home, and have been ready to find them for a while. I have a hard time letting go.

I started off small in one of my Facebook groups, and I am feeling ready to start the quilt adoptions! I know that my own mental health and creativity is tied in with my stash of fabrics and quilts, and the sheer number has gotten overwhelming, to the point that I feel it affecting my sewing.