Electric Quilt 4 Frequently Asked Questions
I get the message "Library Files are corrupted." What should I do?
If you receive the message, "Library file data is corrupt." after linking EQ4 to BlockBase, it means that EQ4 is having difficulty reading the BlockBase files. To correct this, do the following:
If you are comfortable renaming and creating folders and copying files, do the following (or see the complete step-by-step directions just below this).
Quick Steps:
- Find the LIB folder inside the BB1 folder.
- Rename the folder LIBB.
- Then create a new folder giving it the original name of LIB.
- Copy all of the files from the LIBB folder into the LIB folder.
- That's it.
You do not need to reinstall EQ4 or re-link BlockBase. Just start EQ4 and open the Block Library. You should see 20 books under the BlockBase book.
Detailed Steps (use these steps if you do not understand how to do the need more help than provided in the 4 steps above):
If you want step-by-step instructions: (These directions assume you have installed BlockBase and EQ4 in the default (recommended) locations.)
- Close EQ4 if you have it open.
- At the Windows desktop, double-click on My Computer.
- Double-click on the C: drive. A new window will open showing all the folders on the C drive.
- Find the BB1 folder and double-click on it. A window will open showing all the files and folders inside the BB1 folder. You should see a folder called LIB.
- Click once on the LIB folder to select it. A highlight will appear behind the letters LIB.
- Click on File on the main menu bar of this window.
- Choose Rename. This will put a rectangular box surrounding the letters LIB indicating you are in "edit mode."
- Type the name LIBB. Now the folder is renamed. We need to copy the files that are inside this folders.
- Double-click on the LIBB folder. A window will open showing all the files inside the folder.
- Click on Edit on this window's main menu bar.
- Click Select All. You will see all the names of the files become highlighted.
- Click on Edit on the main menu bar.
- Click Copy. You won't see any kind of visual clue that anything has happened, but all the files have been copied to the Window's clipboard (a place for temporary storage).
- Close this window by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the window. (Don't close My Computer -- so on some computers you may need to click the Up Folder icon or the Back Arrow button rather than clicking the X.) Now you will be looking at the BB1 window again. You should see BB1 on the title bar of the window.
- Click on File on the main menu bar of this window.
- Point to New and choose Folder. A new folder will appear in this window. If you don't see it right away, you may need to make the window bigger or use the scroll bar to scroll the view so you can see it.
- When you find the new folder, it will be highlighted and in edit mode ready to be renamed. The current name will be NEW FOLDER. (If it is not highlighted with the rectangular box around it indicating edit mode, click on the folder to select it and choose Rename from the File menu.)
- Name this new folder LIB.
- Double-click on the new LIB folder to open it. A new window will appear. There are no files in the folder yet so the window is empty. 20. Click on Edit on the main menu bar of this window.
- Click on Paste. You will see several files appear inside the window. These are the files that had been copied to the Window's clipboard.
- Click on the X in the upper right corner of this window and all the other windows open in the background until you are back to the Windows desktop.
- Start EQ4.
- Click on Libraries on the main menu.
- Click on Block Library. You should no longer see any error message. When you click on the BlockBase book, 20 books should appear.
I opened an EQ3 (or BlockBase) project and My Library blocks look funny. Why?
There is nothing wrong. All of the blocks are still in the library, but they don't display ell because of the limited colors in your EQ3 project. It is best to display the library blocks in grayscale when working with an EQ3 project. Use the arrow buttons in the Block Library dialog to adjust the colorings. Adding colors to your EQ3 project will improve the display of the blocks.
I double-click on the Library files but only see "No Blocks." Why?
When you open the Block Library it will always say "No Blocks" until you finally open the book pages. If you double-click and can't seem to open a book (following the steps in the EQ4 Design Cookbook, page 50), then perhaps double-click is not registering because the speed of your mouse click is set too high for you.
To check this, minimize (or exit) EQ4, then from the Win 95/98 Start button:
- Choose Start - (Settings) - Control Panel.
- Double-click on the Mouse icon.
- On the buttons tab, look for the double-click speed slider bar. Is it set all the way to the right (fast)? You can test to see if it's set too fast for you by double-clicking on the test box, to see if your double-click will open it. (It's a jack-in-the-box which will open.) If you can't open the box, then the mouse speed is set too fast.
- If so, drag the slider to the left, to make it slower. Then test again. Leave the mouse click set at a speed that allows you to open the box.
- Once you've reset the mouse speed, try again to open the Block Library books (following the steps in the EQ4 Design Cookbook, page 50).
The My Library styles are empty. Why?
These empty styles are like bookshelves waiting for you to fill. Save your own blocks and notes here.
How do I build a block library?
When you draw a block, color it in grayscale or solids, make a notecard to name the block, then save it in My Library by choosing Add Block from the Library menu. There's room for storing 5000+ blocks.
The reason we suggest coloring blocks in grayscale (black, white, grays) or solid colors is that fabric print-colored blocks will not save in the library. The prints will change to solids. So make "working copies" of your blocks for the library, and save the fancy fabric-colored blocks in your projects.
I put blocks in My Library. But now I can't find them. Where did they go?
Scroll to the bottom of the style list and you'll find them. The styles get listed alphabetically. So if you change Style 1 to a name starting with T, U, V, W, X, Y or Z (something alphabetically after "Style,") you'll find them at the very bottom of the list.
I'm looking for a certain block. How can I find it?
Look in the Block Index. To find the Block Index:
- Choose EQ4 Help from the Help menu.
- Click on Block Index.
- Click on the first letter of the block name you're looking for. You will see where to find the block in the library if it's there.
What are Appliqué Motifs?
Applique Motifs are appliqué patches without a background square. "Float" these designs on top of your quilt. For example, place colorful leaves on a Log Cabin quilt; sprinkle stars across your quilt out onto the border.
How do you use Applique Motifs?
You use Applique Motifs in layer 2. Here is how:
- Design a quilt.
- Click on the layer 2 tab.
- Set the Applique Motifs on layer 2.
- Remember: To recolor, flip, or rotate the motifs, you must be on the layer 2 tab.
Are those the only quilting stencils in the library?
All library blocks can be made into quilting stencils.
To see a block design as a quilting stencil, set it into your quilt on layer 3. To print any block as a quilting stencil:
- Get the block on the Block worktable or select the block from the quilt.
- On the File menu, point to Print, click Block.
- In the Print Block dialog box, under Printing style, click the circle beside Quilting Stencil.
Sometimes the blocks do not seem to be in the same colors I remember seeing the last time I used the program.
The blocks in the library are colored with the default color palette. If you have opened an EQ3 project, you do not have all the default colors and so the blocks will not display in the same way. If you have an EQ3 project, it is best to look at the blocks in the library in the grayscale coloring.
I saved my blocks in a library style but they are not showing the correct colors. Why?
The library does not save information about the fabrics used in a block. If you have saved a fabric-colored block to the library, when you look at it, the patches that had been filled with fabric will appear white. It's best to think of the library as a place to save designs, not colorings.
I have trouble renaming the styles of My Library files. What am I doing wrong?
Click on the style to highlight it. Click a second time to enter edit mode. Do not try to double-click. It is not a double-click. You must click on Save Library for that style to save the name even if you haven't changed any of the blocks in the style.
How do I transfer blocks EQ3 "My Library" files in into EQ4?
You need to save the blocks in projects, then resave them in EQ4's My Library. Here's how:
- In EQ3, open a file in My Library.
- Copy all of the blocks in one or more of your My Library files.
- Close the library.
- Use Save As to save the blocks as an EQ3 project.
- Repeat the above until you've made projects containing all of your blocks.
- Exit from EQ3; Open EQ4.
- Open the EQ3 projects (follow steps on page 7 in the EQ4 Design Cookbook) to open an EQ3 project containing library blocks.
- Save the blocks in the EQ4 library. (Follow steps on page 56-57 of the EQ4 Design Cookbook.)
How do I access Sew Precise or BlockBase blocks in the EQ4 library?
If you own other Electric Quilt products: BlockBase, Sew Precise Collections 1&2, Sew Precise Collection 3 Shirley Liby Designs, then you can choose to have all the blocks from these programs appear in the Block Library of EQ4. (Do not follow the SP instructions that mention EQ3. These are old instructions.) How to do this depends on what version of EQ4 you have.
First, find out what version of EQ4 you have:
- Get into EQ4
- Click on HELP on the main menu bar - click on About EQ4. You will see version 4.0 or version 4.1.
If you have version 4.1
If you install EQ4.1 after you have Sew Precise or BlockBase on the same computer, EQ4.1 automatically finds Sew Precise or BlockBase in the EQ4 library for you.
So, if you first installed EQ4.1, and later installed Sew Precise, please do this:
- From the Windows Desktop choose Start - Programs - Electric Quilt - EQ4 Setup.
- Follow the on-screen instructions, making sure you have a check in the option box marked: Link to other EQ programs.
That's all you need to do. EQ4.1 will link to Sew Precise or BlockBase for you.
If you have version 4.0 you can either:
- Download the free EQ4.1 upgrade by clicking here and following the instructions. Installing the upgrade will do the linking to Sew Precise or BlockBase for you.
- OR
- Reinstall EQ4.0. (Do not uninstall EQ4.0 first. You are reinstalling in order to link.) Choose the option "link to other EQ programs." The program will link automatically.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to choose the same destination folder the second time you run the setup as you do the first time. (In other words, be sure you know where you put the other program on your computer. You need the correct "address" or EQ4 can't find the block files.)
- Put the EQ4 CD in the drive and follow the installation instructions, as if you were reinstalling EQ4 just as you installed it the first time.
- But this time, when you get the the Setup Options dialog, choose "Link EQ4 to other EQ programs."
- Choose the products you have installed on your computer and the location of the files. (Remember: you need to tell EQ4 the correct location or this link will not work.)
- When you have completed the installation a second time, start EQ4.
- If you receive the message, "EQ4\RES\DEFAULT1.PJ4 contains an invalid path." this means that the second time you ran the installation, you did not choose the same destination folder as you did the first time. Run the installation program again choosing the same path as the original installation.
- After you have successfully completed the setup to link the programs, open the EQ4 Block Library. You will see the other EQ products listed.
- Double-click on the book to open the files and then open the pages to see the blocks. These blocks do not appear in their original fabric colorings. They appear in random solid colors ready for you to use in EQ4.
NOTE: If the book appears with the product name but does not open when you double-click on it, then you need run the setup again making sure that you choose the correct location (path) to the files.
Can I link to the EQ3 block library?
No. You do not need to link to the EQ3 block library. All quilt blocks in the EQ3 block library are in the EQ4 block library, plus 700 more.
Is there any way to change the shape of a Library block?
You can change the shape of a library block into a rectangle by 3 different means:
- Change the shape of the drawing board to a rectangle by choosing Drawing Board Setup on the BLOCK menu. Then, open the Sketchbook, choose the block you have selected from the Library, and click on the Edit button to send the block down to the worktable block you've turned into a rectangle.
- OR Set the block into a rectangular block space -- to do this change the block size on the layout tab so it is a rectangle.
- OR Print the block specifying a different height and width to print it as a rectangle.
I linked to Sew Precise Collection 3. Why do I see "Alternate Blocks" there?
Everyone who has SP3: Shirley Liby Designs actually gets two sets of blocks: 1 Alternate Patterns 2 Collection 3
In SP3 you don't see the 2 sets, but they're there. You automatically see the square blocks with spacers. You see the other set only if you choose "print withoutspacers."
If you do not know what spacers are, get into SP3, click on Help, click on Frequently Asked Questions, and you'll see an illustrated discussion of spacers which explains them in pictures better than in words.
If you have linked EQ4 to SP3: - what you see as "Collection 3" blocks are the designs with "spacers" -- spacers are what we call filler pieces that make a rectangular block a square. For example, a baby bottle with small "spacer" rectangles at either side, making up the rest of the square. These are the blocks you automatically see in Sew Precise 3. - what you see as "Alternate Patterns" are the designs without the spacers.
How do I name blocks in My Library?
To name a block:
- Open the Sketchbook. (If you have already put the block in My Library, open My Library and copy the block, to put it in your Sketchbook.)
- Click the Notecard button.
- Click beside the Name line, to put the typing cursor there.
- Type a name.
- Close the notecard.
- Close the Sketchbook.
- Add the block to My Library. Note: If you had previously had the block in My Library, unnamed, remove the "unnamed" block, and then add the "named" block.
Why do my blocks look like they're displaying so oddly?
If you have opened an EQ3 or BB1 project, the blocks in the EQ4 library will temporarily look oddly colored because you are seeing them in old EQ3 or BB1 colors while your project is loaded. Exit from EQ4, enter again without opening a project, and you'll see the EQ4 library blocks in their normal EQ4 colors.
If the blocks look odd and you do not have an EQ3 or BB1 project loaded, try setting your graphics hardware acceleration down and see if this makes a difference. To do this, start at the Windows desktop. Click Start - Settings - Control Panel - Display - Settings tab - Advanced button - Performance tab. You'll see a slider bar for Graphics hardware accelaration. If yours is set on high, slide the bar to the left to turn it down a notch or two. Then look at EQ4 again to see if there's a difference.
