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Volume 6, No. 1, Spring/Summer 1999
View Other Floppy Gazettes
 

CONTENTS: Announcements - EQ4 Simplified - Mailbox - Fabric Scanning Tips - ClubEQ - Ask EQ - Show & Tell - Recognizing EQ Designers - Other Uses for EQ4 - Web Sightings.



 Other Uses For EQ4:


Make Quilt Block Boxes

[finished box] Sara Harder, from Bloomington, Minnesota impressed us when she sent some beautiful origami boxes she made using fabrics and block patterns from EQ4. These boxes are a festive way to give presents (although we think the boxes are presents in themselves).

Here are Sara's box instructions (Sara credits the book Calligraphy Crafts by Mei-Lan Hom and Mary Worthington for these directions):

1. Start with a square piece of text-weight paper, gift-wrap, or fabric bonded to paper. Boxes can be made any size. But the bigger the box, the heavier the materials need to be. To figure the size square needed, double the diagonal of the finished box you desire. (Sarah used square quilt layouts and printed them out about 7 inches square.)
2. As with all origami, be as precise as possible. Cut and fold carefully creasing all folds well!
3. Draw two diagonal lines on the wrong side of the square to be folded. This locates the center.
4. Fold one corner to the center and then fold over again to the diagonal line. Unfold. Do all four corners, one at a time.
5. To make the corners, pleat the middle square on each side. Place the thumb and forefinger along the sides of the pleat line. Place the other forefinger on the other side of the paper and push it up at the pleat line into the thumb and forefinger. Crease the pleat line.
6. To assemble, fold two opposite corners into the center, folding the two sides up. Fold the two remaining corners into the box.
7. Use a dab of glue to hold the points down in the lid of the box. A sticker can be used too.
8. To make the bottom, start with a square ¼ - ½ inch smaller than the lid square. This will vary according to the thickness of the paper, especially if you have bonded paper or fabric to another paper.
9. Have four sheets of paper ready. When #2 box doesn't fit with #1, make #3 to fit it. Then with your last sheet, make a match for #2. This way there is no waste, instead, two boxes!
[step 3]    [step 4 part one]    [step 4 part two]    [step 5]    [step 6 part one]


Making Fabric Computer Wallpaper

Pat Tribbey, from North Lauderdale, Florida and the Webmaster for ClubEQ had to let us know about a recent discovery with the new Electric Quilt 4. We thought we'd share it with you - hope you like this innovative idea!.

All those gorgeous fabrics in EQ4!

I just experimented with the Electric Quilt 4 and made wallpaper for my computer desktop with one of the Designer Fabrics.

Here's how you can do it:

1. In EQ4, on the WORKTABLE menu, click Work on Block.
2. On the BLOCK menu point to New Block, click on PatchDraw.
3. Click the Save in Sketchbook button. EQ4 will ask if you are sure you want to save a plain block.
4. Click Yes.
5. Click on the Color tab.
6. Color the plain block with any fabric that you desire.
7. Click the Export Snapshot button. Nothing will happen. Your cursor will look like a magnifying glass with a crosshair in the center.
8. Click, hold, and drag the cursor from the top-left of the block to the bottom-right. (You do not have to enclose the whole block - in fact, it will make the wallpaper smaller in memory size if you just enclose part of it.)
9. Release the mouse. You will see an Export Snapshot pop-up menu appear.
10. Click the Save as bitmap file button. You can export it to the Windows directory, but it doesn't really matter which directory you put it in. I created a sub-directory I call Wallpaper in which I put all my wallpaper files. Name the block, and remember what you called it and where you exported it.
11. Click Save.
12. Minimize EQ4 so you're back on the Windows desktop.
13. Right-click anywhere on the Windows desktop.
14. Click Properties. You'll see tabs.
15. Click the Background tab showing.
16. Click the Browse button. Navigate to find the .bmp file you just exported and saved.
17. Double-click on the .bmp file.
18. Click Stretch and then click Apply.
There ya go... a designer fabric desktop!
Quilt tip from EQ's Shipping Manager

Our shipping manager, Jan Nelson, is also a quilter. Recently, Jan told us a neat trick that she uses when she is piecing blocks together, so we thought we'd share it with all of you. Thanks Jan!

Here's how to turn a pizza box into a portable flannel board for patchwork designing.

1. Get an extra large pizza box (usually 14 to 16 inches square).
2. Open the box, and measure the inside bottom.
3. Cut a piece of flannel to fit inside the box (where the pizza usually sits). Flannel makes a great surface for holding block pieces in place while you're designing because most fabrics "stick" to this fuzzy foundation.
4. "Piece" your block design together on the flannel in the pizza box.
5. When you're done working, close the box lid and your block is safe from kids and cats, or can be easily transported to a guild meeting.

[We here at EQ must admit that the reason we printed this tip for our users was not purely selfless. Instead, we hope to alleviate some complaints from your non-quilting family members. Let us explain. Since the release of EQ4 we've received many messages that you, our users, have been so engrossed in our products that you've forgotten to cook dinner (we won't even mention cleaning, washing, etc.) for those more needy family members. Therefore, we thought this tip would be a great trick for you AND would help you keep your families fed!]



CONTENTS: Announcements - EQ4 Simplified - Mailbox - Fabric Scanning Tips - ClubEQ - Ask EQ - Show & Tell - Recognizing EQ Designers - Other Uses for EQ4 - Web Sightings.

 
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