CONTENTS: Announcements - Ask EQ - Free Stuff - Stitched With Love - STASH Fall 2000 - Works For Me - Benni Harper Lessons - Show & Tell - Author! Author! - BlockBase - EQ Holiday Card - Quilt University - YesUCan - Perfect Tool.



Ask EQ

Frequently asked questions from our software users, answered by our mascot, EQ the Mouse.

Sorting

Q: Can I sort blocks in my project?
A: Yes. Here's how:

1. On the QUILT worktable, click the Set tool. This displays the Sketchbook blocks palette, showing the blocks in your project.
2. Point to any block and right-click. A menu pops up.
3. Choose Sort blocks from the menu.
4. Sort the blocks by clicking directly on each block in the order you want them to appear. Click the Start Over button if you make a mistake and want to begin again.
5. Click Close when you are done sorting. You need not sort all the blocks. Sort only the those you want to sort. When you click Close the rest of the blocks follow automatically.

Q: When I change colors in my fabrics, how can I find the colors I want quickly?
A: When you make print fabrics in new colorways (see EQ4 Design Cookbook, page 118) you can save yourself from having to scroll through colors randomly by presorting the color palette. Try this:

1. Sort the solid colors, putting only those colors that you want to use in the "Change colorway" up in the front of the palette.
2. Right-click a fabric and choose Add Colorway.
3. Beneath the right-hand swatch, click the arrow button that shows left-pointing arrow and a bar. This always takes you to black.
4. Click the arrow pointing to the right. You now see the first color in the palette -- the first color you sorted. With each forward click, you'll see the next color in the palette. You are starting at the front of the color palette, working your way back. By presorting the colors (step #1), you can find the colors you want without needing to scroll through the entire palette.

Coloring

Q: Why can't I color the side triangles in my on-point quilt? I set them into Layer 1 of a Country Set Layout.
A: You cannot color the side triangles because the Country Set space isn't a block - it's just a large open space for you to set blocks into. You must first set a block into that space, and then you can color it.

You can either set individual blocks, or you can save time by setting one big, blank block the size of your Country Set quilt layout, then setting your on-point blocks on top of this, in Layer 2.

To make a blank block:


1. Click WORKTABLE -- Work on Block.
2. Click Save in Sketchbook and answer Yes when asked if you want to save a blank block to the Sketchbook.
   
   To set the blank block onto your quilt:
   
3. Click WORKTABLE - Work on Quilt. Be on Layer 1.
4. Click the block in the Sketchbook Blocks palette, to select it.
5. Point to the quilt and drag the mouse. A box forms. When you release the mouse the blank block sets into Layer 1. Don't worry that it doesn't fit the space perfectly.
6. If you don't have the Graph Pad on the bottom of the screen, click VIEW and choose Graph Pad. Tip: You will want to know the size of your Country Set layout for the next steps. Click on the Layout tab to see the size.
7. Click the Layer 1 tab.
8. Click the Adjust tool.
9. Click the block you just set in your quilt. Use the Graph Pad's size arrows (center numbers) to make the block exactly that size. The block won't fit exactly yet.
10. Use the Graph Pad's location arrows (left numbers) to make each number say 0.00. This makes the block fit your space exactly.
11. Click the Layer 2 tab.
12. Set your on-point blocks into Layer 2. Tip: Set all of the blocks quickly, paying no attention to size or location. Then click the Adjust tool, resize one block the perfect size. Next, hold down the SHIFT key on your keyboard as you click all the other blocks. Now click the Graph Pad's Same Size tool. The selected blocks resize. (They become the size of the first "perfect" block.) Drag them into position.

Drawing

Q: Why did my whiskers disappear? I drew a PatchDraw cat, but the whiskers don't show in the Sketchbook.
A: EQ knows you can't piece or appliqué a line (you can only embroider a line), so won't save it. But you can draw a PatchDraw rectangle, then edit it, making it long and skinny. Then use this as a whisker.

Q: Can I flip a block drawing to get its mirror image?
A: Yes. Have your block on the EasyDraw screen, then do this: On the EDIT menu, choose Select All. This selects all lines in the block. Right-click anywhere. A menu pops up. Click on Symmetry. The Symmetry pop up menu appears. Click on Flip H (for horizontally). Your block drawing flips. Click on Save in Sketchbook. If you have trouble saving your block to the Sketchbook, or find your drawing missing lines when you color it, your drawing may not quite fit the grid correctly. Perhaps during the "flip," when lines were unhooked from their Snap to dots, they didn't get properly hooked again. Zoom in, making sure each line ends exactly on a Snap to point. If you can't what is causing the problem, you can convert the drawing to guides, and redraw. (See EQ4 Design Cookbook, page 77.)

Q: I'm drawing a 5-patch block. Why do lines disappear?
A: I'm guessing your Snap Points still say 24 x 24. You need to change these. Your 5-patch needs to be drawn on Snap Points that are a multiple of 5, to fit the block. Your lines are disappearing because they are not "hooking" onto the Snap points correctly. It's as if you're trying to draw a block on graph paper of the wrong size. On the BLOCK menu, choose Drawing Board Setup. Change the Snap Points to 25 x 25 or 30 x 30.

SNAP POINTS

In general, make your Snap points evenly divisible by your patch number. 24 x 24 Snap points are evenly divisible by 4 and 9 for a 4-patch or 9 patch, for example. 25 x 25 Snap points are evenly divisible by 5 for a 5-patch. 28 x 28 Snap points are evenly divisible by 7, for a 7-patch.

Q: How do I change Snap Points?
A: On the BLOCK menu, choose Drawing Board Setup. The Snap points are there.

Q: I don't "get" Snap Points. What's the deal?
A: Snap points are what we call the grid points across the EasyDraw block. Lines snap to these points. The reason EasyDraw got its name is because this drawing method lets you create patches by simply drawing lines. (Other drawing programs make you draw the whole patch - drawing a 9-patch by drawing 9 squares rather than drawing 4 lines.)

But, EasyDraw needs you to start and stop your lines so all lines connect to one another at "Snap points." EQ can make a patch ONLY when it finds these points where lines touch or intersect.

Think of the Snap points as graph paper divisions. If you only had 3 graph paper squares, you could not draw a 4 patch block. It just wouldn't fit.

So, you must fit your drawing to the Snap points on your block. Most (not all) blocks can be drawn on 24 x 24 Snap points. This means you usually won't need to change the Snap points. But some blocks, 5-patch, 7-patch and others, can't fit on 24 x 24 Snap points.

FIGURING SNAP POINTS
If you don't know the patch number, here's how to figure Snap points:

1. Determine the smallest unit of the block
2. See how many times this repeated unit could fit across the block. This number must be evenly divisible by the Snap points.

For example:

Look at the corner square of this block. You might guess this square could be repeated 4 or 5 times across the block. Drawing the block, you'll find that 4 won't work - the square fits 5 times. That means your Snap points must be divisible by 5. So you'd need to change your Snap points to 25 x 25 or 30 X 30.

Q:

1. On the PRINT menu, choose Preferences.
2. On the Print Quality tab, try choosing quality 2, 3 or 4 and see which printout you like best.

Note: EQ's print quality feature acts as a "reducing glass." This lets you scale printed fabric in your printout. The quilt and block size remain unchanged. Only the scale of the fabric print changes as you change the print quality number. A high number requires considerably more memory than a low one. Not all printers can print from all value numbers. Same Size button

Q: I get an error message when opening EQ4. Help?
A: If you have a problem opening EQ4, please restore the program defaults by following the directions below for the version number you have: FOR VERSION 4.0 Best way: Download and install the free EQ4.1 upgrade find it on this page of the EQ Web site http://www.electricquilt.com/Users/Downloads/eq4update.htm

Alternate way: Reinstall EQ4 from the EQ4.0 CD. (Do not uninstall.) Choose the option: Restore Default Configuration (rather than the selected option: Install All Files).

FOR VERSION 4.1 At the Windows desktop choose Start -- Programs -- Electric Quilt -- EQ4 Setup Follow on-screen instructions to restore the default program configuration. Note: When asked for Company name, you must type something (anything) in that line in order to make the "Next" button enabled.

Q: How do I tell if I have EQ4.0 or EQ4.1?
A: If you can't open EQ4 to check version number, then, at the Windows desktop choose Start - Programs - Electric Quilt - EQ4 Setup. If you do not see EQ4 Setup, then you have EQ version 4.0

To check version number if you're in EQ4, click the HELP menu and choose About EQ4. The version number (4.0 or 4.1) shows there. Version 4.0 owners should visit the EQ Web site and download the free EQ4.1 upgrade. The free upgrade also comes with two products: STASH, and the EQ4 Magic book by Barb Vlack.

Redwork

Q: Is there a way to do redwork in EQ4?
A: Yes. Redwork means red embroidery stitches on white (muslin) fabric, a style popular around 1900 - 1915 that grew out of the interest in embroidery during the crazy quilt period (1880 - 1900). To simulate redwork in EQ4:

1. Set appliqué motifs (from the EQ4 Block Library) in Layer 3.
2. Click the Adjust tool.
3. Click the motif you set onto your quilt.
4. Click the Thread Color tool.
5. Click a red solid color in the color palette. Instant redwork!