Special Announcements

EQ7 WILL SHIP THROUGHOUT JUNE AND INTO JULY
Thanks to all of you who have ordered EQ7, it will take us over a month to ship all orders out. We have started shipping individual orders this week. But it will take us into July to complete all shipping. When your order is ready to be shipped it will be charged, and you will receive an email about your charge. This will signal that your your order is about to go out in the next 7 - 10 days. Thank you for your patience as we ship. We appreciate your orders and are shipping as fast as we can!

Read about EQ7 and the EQ7 Upgrade.

See our FAQ about EQ7.

For our currently most often-asked EQ7 questions, read EQ the Mouse's special EQ7 FAQ.

Read more about our shipping progress here. 

20TH ANNIVERSARY EQ CRUISE TO FEATURE EQ7. SIGN UP NOW!

Sign up now to join us on a 10 Day / 9 Night Caribbean Cruise - January 28-February 6, 2011. You'll have sun and EQ fun with top-notch teachers Barb Vlack & Mary Ellen Kranz and come home knowing more about EQ7 and with small sewn projects featuring your own cruise photos. BONUS: You'll learn how easy it is to take better vacation (and quilt) photos with one of the quilt world's best photographers and teachers: Gregory Case. See more details about this first-ever EQ cruise.

Interview

INTERVIEW WITH SHARON PEDERSON ABOUT THE "EQ6 ROSE OF SHARON BLOCK CHALLENGE" CONTEST
If they invite you, you will design! Sharon Pederson tells how she and Elizabeth Phillips organized this extremely popular block design contest for EQers, and hints about a possibly follow-up contest coming this fall. Read the interview.

Lessons & Classes

BENNI HARPER LESSON 5: Dove in the Window
We're re-running updated versions of our popular monthly Benni Harper mystery lessons based on quilts from Earlene Fowler's popular books. These short & easy lessons are perfect for EQ6 or EQ7 beginners who want to learn more. Lesson 5 has you download a Dove in the Windows project and try out several layout variations.

FRAN GONZALEZ ONLINE EQ6 CLASSES FOR JUNE ON QUILT UNIVERSITY
Fran Iverson Gonzalez, author of EQ6 Simplified, the tutorial for beginners, has new classes coming up. Sign up for Fran's EQ6 Advanced Layouts beginning June 18. Learn to use EQ6's powerful advanced design tools to create a series of complex quilts in a wide variety of layout styles: Horizontal, On-Point, Medallion, Strip and Custom Set. The exact steps you learn in this class will work with EQ6 or EQ7.

MAY & JUNE HANDS-ON EQ CLASSES
Lots of EQ classes listed for June. Look for an EQ class near you.

ARE YOU TEACHING EQ?
If you are teaching EQ classes, don't forget to let our webmaster know the date, time and location of your classes so we can list them on our website.

KALEIDOSCOPE COLLECTORS
All 12 fun free lessons involving EQ and the Kaleidoscope Collection CD are now up. This is a TERRIFIC way to learn more in EQ5 or EQ6! Try Months 1 - 12.

PREVIOUS MYSTERY QUILT STORIES AND LESSONS
Learn EQ5 or EQ6 by working through our two different Mystery Quilt series: If you are just joining us, start here with Skylights Episode 1 and Skylights Lesson 1.

Then work through the EQuinox mystery, starting with EQuinox Episode 1 and EQuinox Lesson 1.

Show us your quilts! Have you made one of our Mystery quilts? We want to see your quilt or top. Email us a photo and we'll post it in our mystery gallery: Skylight mystery quilts, EQuinox mystery quilts.

News

LINDA ERICKSON WINS ACCUQUILT BARN QUILT CONTEST
Linda's stunning EQ-designed "Windmill" block was selected from 400 entries and will be painted as a 20' x 20' block on Accuquilt's corporate offices in Fremont, Nebraska. Congratulations, Linda! See more about this contest on Ricky Tims' blog.

Linda writes that the idea of a block on barns is "interesting to me since I grew up in Penna where I was familiar with the Penna Dutch hex symbols on their barns."

DANKA KRUSZEWSKA PUBLISHES EQ ARTICLE
Danka Kruszewska's third article on EQ6, "Die virtuelle Welt der Quilt-Software EQ6" was published in the March 2010 issue of Patchwork Gilde magazine.

EQ7 COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS 7
EQ5, EQ6 & EQ7 are ALL fully compatible with Windows 7, as are most of our other software programs. Contact us if you have questions.

ELECTRIC QUILT IS ON FACEBOOK
Electric Quilt has its own Facebook page now, as does EQ the Mouse. Become a Fan of both, and you'll get regular updates when we post something on our blog, or add a new video, or have other news.

EQ the Mouse adores his fans. If you're not yet one, he would love you to "fan him."

To become a fan:
1. Log into your facebook profile
2. Click this link, EQ the Mouse, to become a fan of EQ the Mouse.
3. Click this link, Electric Quilt, to become a fan of Electric Quilt.

FAB FAN FREEBIES
EQ the Mouse announces "Fab Fan Freebies." He explains: He loves his fabulous fans, and will have contests from time to time so he can give out a prize. To be eligible, become his Facebook fan.

Inspiration

JUDY BUTCHER: WILL SHE CREATE 1000 DESIGNS?
Judy Butcher is on a mission to design 1000 virtual quilts by June 7th. Will she make it? Check out Judy Butcher's blog to find out. She plans to have a free project for you to download, available for one week only.

DAILY EQ-DESIGNS BY GLYNIS THOMPSON
Want more inspiration? Glynis has a blog too where she posts daily EQ designs. Check out some of Glynis's latest work.

Clubs

WANT TO START YOUR OWN EQ CLUB?
Download our "Planning an EQ Club" PDF file. See what you need to get started, how to organize and get topic ideas. The Mystery Quilt would make a great club project.

New ClubEQ Challenge
ClubEQ is a free monthly challenge organized by EQ-author, Barb Vlack. To participate, send in a project with 1-2 quilts to penny@electricquilt.com that follow the challenge theme and ClubEQ rules. Imagine getting 50 to 100 quilts for just submitting one.

Support

ASK EQ THE MOUSE!
This month EQ's questions are all about EQ7. Long-time mascot, EQ the Mouse, invites you to submit EQ questions for his column "Ask EQ." Email questions to Tech Support. Put "Ask EQ" in the subject line. He'll answer your question, and perhaps you'll make his monthly Q & A column. Read it here.

Read this month's Ask EQ questions & answers.

EQ the Mouse also invites you to Fan him on Facebook.

MAIL-LIST FOR MAC EQ-ERS
Are you running your EQ on a Mac? Then you may want to subscribe to the free EQonMacs Yahoo group, run by Sheila Williams. For more information, contact Sheila at Sheila@SheilaWilliams.com.

EQ FORUMS
The EQ Forums are waiting for your questions! Visit the EQ Forums and register, then you can ask questions and get answers from EQ staff, authors and other EQ users right on the EQ website.

TECH SUPPORT
A reminder that you can see answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions right on the EQ website. See EQ6 questions here. See EQ5 questions here.

EQ6 UPDATE
If you own EQ6, download and install the free EQ6 Update which makes EQ6 run faster and smarter. You'll know you're updated if in EQ6 you click
HELP > About EQ6 and see "Build 2."

Contests

WINNERS OF "EQ6 ROSE OF SHARON BLOCK CHALLENGE" CONTEST ANNOUNCED
Congratulations to the twelve designers whose blocks were chosen by Ricky Tims & Alex Anderson from the 50 blocks that made the short list selected by Sharon Pederson and Elizabeth Phillips:

Simonetta Marini, San Giovanni, Persiceto,
Bologna, Italy

Judy Best, London, Ontario, Canada

Dianne Gronfors, Bracebridge, Ontario,
Canada

Leslie Collins, El Granada, California, US

Jo Moury, Haymarket, Virginia, US

Rebekah Reinheimer, Jerusalem, Israel*** (winner of the drawing for the top prize, selected by Karey Bresenhan)

Suzy Prickett, Melbourne, Florida, US

Barb Vlack, Saint Charles, Illinois, US

Candace Door, Sidney, Nebraska, US

Pat Daniels, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Claudia Chang, Taipei, Taiwan

Kari Bauer, Oak Park, Illinois, US

We were SO PROUD of the response, and the wonderful designs, and thank EVERYONE who entered the contest. You can read more about the contest on pages 49 - 49 of the current July 2010 issue of American Quilter magazine.

NOTE: The contest was so successful that you can expect announcement of a new and related contest this fall.

Next month we will have a free download of all 800+ Rose of Sharon blocks.

NEW CONTEST: DAFFY TAFFY
Guess how many "EQ7 blue" raspberry taffy pieces are in this jar. If your guess is correct, or closest, you'll win a package of our new Quilter’s Newsprint. (We took lots of this blue taffy to Quilt Market and no one ate it!) Hint: the jar is 11.5 inches high.

To enter, send an email with your guess to our "Contest Contessa" Sarah Shriver:

To: sarahshriver@electricquilt.com
Subject line: Daffy Taffy
Body: The number of taffy pieces you think are in the jar
Your Full Name:
Your Email:

Fabric

FREE DOWNLOAD OF "WEEKENDS" FABRIC FROM FREESPIRIT
Download this free Weekends EQ6 project, then enjoy designing with the new summery fabric line by Erin McMorris before it hits store shelves this fall. Includes the quilt Erin designed for Quilt Market.

DOWNLOAD MORE FREE FABRIC
This month's download is "All Things Purple" which FINALLY WON after being 2nd place for many months. It was neck-and-neck with "Unexpected Color Coordinates." Choose either to download a Library file or a Project file. Be sure to follow the easy steps provided. Then vote for next month's fabric. We take suggestions for future voting options; email penny@electricquilt.com to let her know.

CONNECTING THREADS FABS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD
Connecting Threads has made some of their own fabric collections available especially for EQ6 users as Library files. Find the collections here.

1) Download the file to your Desktop. Extract the zipped file (right-click, then click "Extract All").
2) Place the .FAB file in your My Documents\My EQ6\USER\ folder on your hard drive.
3) Open EQ6 and your fabric library. The collection will appear in your "MY LIBRARY" folder.

MODA FABS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD
Moda has new fabrics available to download as jpeg files, ready to be opened in EQ6.

1) Visit Moda's site, click any brown dot in front of a fabric name, download to your computer (remember where it goes).
2) Go to LIBRARIES > Fabric Library > Import > From Image Files and import the fabric.
3) Add the fabric to your Sketchbook and use it, or save the fabric in My Library (see pages 143 and 144 in the EQ6 User Manual) to use in future projects.

If you need complete steps, EQ the Mouse addresses them in one of his Ask EQ columns.

Show us your work

THE EQ QUILT GALLERY
Check out the beautiful quilts in the "EQ Quilt Gallery." Then send us one of YOURS!

If YOU would like to exhibit, send us a photo of your quilt, plus your EQ project containing the EQ design for this same quilt. Tell us a bit about you, your quilt, your designing, etc. List your website or blog if you have them. Help us show off your designing whether you're a quilting professional or this is your first quilt. Send them to penny@electricquilt.com. We love seeing what you're making and knowing more about you.


Display this blog badge to send others to see your quilt in our gallery.

Freebies

FREE PATTERNS FROM JUDY BUTCHER
Visit Judy Butcher's "Virtual Quilt" site, and you'll find a free pattern for this cute Saddleworth Spools quilt. It's only one of almost 1000 virtual quilts Judy has designed!

For another free pattern, available for one week only:
Judy writes: "Virtual quilt number 1000 has been scheduled for Monday [SEPTEMBER] seventh...The quilt, a mixture of appliqué, antiques and scrap fabrics, will be available as an EQ6 file, and a PDF pattern for one week."

FREE CONNECTING THREADS BEGINNER PATTERNS & TUTORIALS
Karen Johnson, one of our friends at Connecting Threads, has created an on-going series of great new how-to-quilt tutorials especially for beginning quilters. A new lesson appears each month. Here's what's up so far:
February: Pinwheels
March: Nine Patch
April: Stars
May: Flying Geese

And as a bonus, Karen includes free EQ6 project files for each lesson.

FREE BOM FROM HELEEN
Heleen Pinkster has free BOM patterns, available as PDF files. She writes "Each month there will be a new one, also in English. I like to invite people to visit my website, download the free blocks and share pictures from their sewn blocks with me, and other quilters." Thank you, Heleen!

FREEDOM STAR BLOCKS -- FREE FROM BETTY DIETZ WEEKLY
Betty is a long-time EQer who once lived fairly close to EQ headquarters. Every Monday she offers you a new free weekly PDF pattern for a star block. Get the patterns here. She writes: "There will be 50 blocks in total this year and all of them have been designed and the directions created using EQ6." Thanks, Betty!

ONGOING CROP CIRCLE BOM FROM DENISE RUSSART
Denise posts a new block the first Saturday of the month, and removes the earlier blocks. So be sure to get the pattern while it's still available.

Denise has also added new free projects to download here.

Read about her NEW BOM which will start in July.

CHRISTMAS ROW BY ROW QUILT FROM SINDY RODENMAYER
The idea of Sindy's quilt is that you sew all during the year and will have this free Christmas Row by Row quilt ready for quilting starting in August. New free pattern available each month until August. Check it out NOW because come June 1 the May row designs will no longer be available.

FREE BOM FROM MOOSE ON THE PORCH QUILTS
Konda Luckau, of Moose on the Porch Quilts, invites you to participate in her free Block of the Month which started March 1. Visit her blog for a new block every 2 weeks. She writes, "I design all my projects in EQ and consider it my right-hand in quilt design." Sounds like fun.

PATTERN SERIES FROM REGINA GREWE
Regina's easy-to-sew Magic Mushrooms continue to grow. Download them as EQ6 projects.

ONGOING FREE CIVIL WAR BOM FROM GUDRUN
Gudrun, from Belgium, has an easy-to-sew 2010 BOM Civil War BOM. See the design here. And get started here.

FREE QUILTED DESKTOP CALENDAR
Diane Anderson starts a whole year of beautiful desktop calendars for you.

FREE VIEWERS
Want to see a self-running show of your own EQ projects? Download a free project viewer:

Download "EQ6 Show" if you have EQ6. It will show any EQ3, EQ4, EQ5 and EQ6 projects you've made.
Download "EQ5 Show" if you only have EQ5. It will show any EQ3, EQ4 & EQ5 projects you have made.

MORE NEW BLOG BADGES & CHANCES FOR BLOG GIVE-AWAY PRIZE

We've made several NEW blog badges for you. (We also take suggestions for new ones.) Display one on your blog, let us know (write Sarah Shriver at EQ) and we may choose your blog to receive a free prize to give away to a lucky reader of your blog.

FREE EQ6 WEB BUTTONS
Show your EQ spirit by adding an EQ6 button to your website!

DO YOU HAVE FREE EQ PROJECTS OR PATTERNS TO SHARE ON YOUR WEBSITE?
Let us know and we'll list you on the Project Sharing page. Just email our webmaster with the necessary links and information and ask for your site to be considered for inclusion on that page.

Next Month...

COMING NEXT MONTH
* A new contest

* Benni Harper Mystery Lesson 6

* Download for all 800 blocks from Rose of Sharon contest

* Frequently asked questions about EQ7