Special Announcements

EQ7 IS STILL SHIPPING
We will finish all the pre-publication shipping in July. We are currently shipping overseas pre-pub orders plus any "problem" order that got delayed because of address changes, etc. 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 STILL 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 "Ask EQ" column.

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

The cruise is filling up! 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.

Special Rose of Sharon Download

EQ6 ROSE OF SHARON BLOCK CHALLENGE DOWNLOAD

As promised, here is the link to the download of all 780+ blocks designed by EQ6 users for the EQ6 Rose of Sharon Block Challenge contest.

Read more about the contest here.

THANKS to all the wonderful designers who designed blocks.

These blocks are for your own PERSONAL use only. They were designed by your fellow EQ users as part of the Rose of Sharon Block Challenge. The Partners in that project have agreed to offer them free to you. The Challenge was designed to assist The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) in their fundraising efforts. In support of the AAQI and out of respect for the designers , no commercial use of these patterns is permitted. Please respect the intent of this project and the efforts of everyone involved.

1) Download the .BLK files.
If you have EQ6, download them to:
(My) Documents > My EQ6 > User

If you have EQ7, download them to:
(My) Documents > My EQ7 > User

2) Open EQ6 or EQ7. Go to the Block Library and click the blue bar for the MY LIBRARY section. You will be able to view and use the collection from there.

The .BLK files will not open. You must save them in the User folder for them to work. Click here to download both libraries:
Rose of Sharon (Library 1) [26.8 MB]
Rose of Sharon (Library 2) [15.5 MB]

Block Coloring #1 = in the Island Batik fabric from the EQ6 project
Block Coloring #2 = solid colors from EQ6/EQ7 color palette

Lessons & Classes

NO BENNI HARPER LESSON THIS MONTH
We've been crazy with shipping EQ7... so all hands have been shipping, not creating lessons. Benni will return with Lesson 6: Mariner's Compass NEXT MONTH! Thanks for your patience, Benni fans!

SIGN UP THIS MONTH FOR HOUSTON CLASSES HANDS-ON EQ7 CLASSES
Once again EQ classes will be offered during International Quilt Festival in Houston. See the schedule here. Barb Vlack and Mary Ellen Kranz will teach a variety of EQ7 classes. Registration is handled by www.quilts.com.

FRAN GONZALEZ ONLINE EQ6 CLASSES FOR JULY 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 Building Blocks class which will show you the power of the two EQ6 drawing tables, EasyDraw and PatchDraw. You will learn how to analyze designs, set up the drawing board and use the program’s sophisticated drawing tools to create a collection of pieced and appliquéd designs. The class begins July 16.

JULY & AUGUST HANDS-ON EQ CLASSES
Lots of EQ classes listed for July & August. 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 still up. This is a TERRIFIC way to learn more in EQ5, EQ6 or EQ7! Try Months 1 - 12.

PREVIOUS MYSTERY QUILT STORIES AND LESSONS
Learn EQ5, EQ6 or EQ7 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

EQ7 ARTICLE IN SUMMER ISSUE OF FREE QUILTPOSIUM MAGAZINE
Andrea Bishop shows how to use EQ7 to create a T-shirt quilt. Read more about it on the EQ Blog. To access the article in this magazine, visit the Quiltposium site and register.

MCCALLS QUILTING HOLDS EQ7 TRAINING DAYS FOR STAFF
Mary Ellen Kranz and McCall's Editor-in-Chief, Beth Hayes cooked up a 2 1/2 day training seminar for McCall's Quilting magazine staff members on using EQ7. Mary Ellen, author of the Blending Photos with Fabric books and popular EQ teacher, traveled to the magazine's headquarters in Golden, Colorado for the specialized training session. The result. The McCalls blog declares: EQ7 Rocks!

YOU can take a class from Mary Ellen Kranz or from Barb Vlack in Houston during International Quilt Festival, Nov 1-7, 2010. Or take EQ7 classes from these two teachers on the EQ Cruise in January.

CHERRI HOUSE AUTHORS CITY QUILTS

The quilts in Cherri's new book are all based on grids, and are meant to be fun to make and give and use. We've long admired Cherri's fresh modern vibe (read our earlier interview with her here) and thank her for the special shout out she gave EQ on page 29, saying "I should have a tatoo that says: I [heart] EQ6! Keep up with Cherri on her blog.

KIMBERLY EINMO HAS NEW JELLY ROLL BOOK

Kimberly Einmo showed us her newest book, Jelly Roll Quilts & More, during Spring Quilt Market. Visit this talented EQ designer's site to see more.

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

WHO CAN? ANNE MAUNDRELL'S TOUCAN

Anne's a whiz at tracing photos to make her applique images. Read more about the Toucan image she traced for a friend's wallhanging.

JUDY BUTCHER: CHRISTMAS IN JULY
Loved the variety Judy shows in these graceful evergreens. She has a wonderful eye for proportion, as you'll see in these lovely Christmas quilts.

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

NEW CONTEST:
GUESS WHO IS PREGNANT AT EQ
Another EQ baby is coming later this year. Guess which of our staff members is newly pregnant. You can see the staff here. [Ed. note: we need new pictures! Dean has very short hair now.] We'll choose one winner at random from all correct answers. One guess per person please. The prize: STASH Spring 2010.

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

To: sarahshriver@electricquilt.com
Subject line: Guess Who
Body: The full name of the staff member you are guessing.
Your Full Name:
Your Email:

ANN WALDRON WINS "DAFFY TAFFY" CONTEST
Ann came within 2 taffy pieces when guessing how many pieces of blue rasberry taffy were in our contest jar. Ann's guess: 398. The jar held 400 pieces. Congratulations, Ann. You win a package of our new Quilter's Newsprint.

Fabric

DOWNLOAD MORE FREE FABRIC
This month's download is "Unexpected Color Coordinates" (second place from last month). 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 SODA SHOP PATTERN FROM CHERRI HOUSE
Looking for something cute and fast? No, this is not an email spam subject line, it's a perfect description of Cherri House's quilt available on her blog as a PDF file. See the notice about Cherri's newest book earlier in this newsletter.

FREE PATTERNS FROM PATTI ANDERSON
Check out Patti's pattern sharing page here.
If Patti's name seems familiar it's because Patti Anderson is the author of our popular EQ6 Pieced Drawing book (still perfect to use with EQ7).

FREE COLOR WHEEL PATTERN FROM REEZE HANSON

We love this color wheel from Reeze. It's an EQ6 project. So download it and then open it in EQ6, or follow the steps on page 19 (EQ7 User Manual) to open it in as a project from the "previous EQ version" in EQ7. This will be a good "test" for new EQ7 owners.

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
June: Kaleidoscope

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.

Mark down JULY 28. That's her birthday, and release date for her Crocus Clusterspattern.

Dino RAWR pattern FROM SINDY RODENMAYER
Calling dinosaur lovers: Look for Sindy's Dino RAWR pattern on her Fat Cat Patterns site in the Toddler Designs section.

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.

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: Mariner's Compass

* More frequently asked questions about EQ7