Club EQ Challenge 3 inch blocks

December Club EQ

Barb Vlack, Quilting Heroine and EQ Guru, has announced the December ClubEQ challenge and it is perfect for Inklingoists!

Design to Size

The challenge is to design with certain shapes which can be cut with Accuquilt, but it is open to quilters who don’t have a die cutter.

Designing to a certain size is a perfect introduction to ClubEQ for anyone who is planning to enter the Inklingo contest, Love the lines. Quilt more! which starts next month.

Limited Shapes and Sizes

The December challenge is to use certain squares and triangles. (Details at Club EQ).

The Inklingo LTL Contest next month will have more choice of shapes, but the EQ strategy is the same, so I prepared an example. Designing to a certain size is just a matter of setting up the quilt layout properly.

Is it inklingoable?

This step is important for the contest next month.

I confirmed that 3 inch squares, 3 inch HST (half square triangles), and 3 inch QST (quarter square triangles) are all inklingoable by checking the Inklingo  Index of Shapes under the Support tab.

These are all 3 inch blocks, finished—square, HST, QST, etc.

All Inklingo Shapes are named with the finished size, so there is no math, like adding or subtracting 7/8 or 1.25.

Where to get the blocks in EQ?

Barb gave a great hint in her email announcement: “This is also a good time to get acquainted with Electric Quilt LIBRARIES > BlockLibrary > Search > By Category > Rectangles and Triangles.”

Many blocks have been provided in the “block library” in Electric Quilt, so you don’t have to draw them from scratch, just place them in a quilt.

I started by creating a new project and loading up the sketchbook with blocks which use squares, HST, and QST.

Since the rules require 3 inch shapes, I can see that some blocks are are 6 x 6, some are 9 x 9, and some are 12 x 12.

(One of the ones shown in the sketchbook above would not work, because if the square is 3 inches, the HST would be 1.5 inches, and if the HST was 3 inches, the square would be 6 inches. They are not sizes I want for the challenge. Can you spot it?)

These three blocks are all displayed the same size in the EQ sketchbook, but with 3 inch units, these blocks are 6, 9, and 12 inches.

I must remember the sizes when I set up the quilt layout, and be careful to use the blocks in appropriate spaces.

I started with sixteen 9-inch star blocks and added a border (3 inches).

I changed my mind about using blue, and it just took a few moments to “swap colors!” This is amazing!

I added more 6 and 9 inch borders until the quilt was bed size. EQ calculates it for me! In this case, 85 x85. Then I placed 6 and 9 inch blocks in the spaces.

I changed my mind about colors a few times, as you can see.

Then I did a little tweaking on “Layer 2” to superimpose a block in each corner. I had never used Layer 2 before, but I found everything I needed to know in EQ Help.

I liked the way it blended the “borders” I had started with, so I kept playing on Layer 2. Isn’t this cool?

If I want to, I can find fabric swatches in the “fabric library” and improve the design.

This little example assumes you are familiar with the basics of EQ—setting up a new project, creating a new quilt layout, getting blocks from the library into the sketchbook, and adding borders. They are all easy, simple steps that every EQer learns quickly.

Accuquilt and Inklingo

Quilters love perfect shapes without measuring or math.

With Inklingo, you use the Inkjet printer and ink you already have, to Print, Cut, and Sew!

12 QST printing with Inklingo

Inklingo gives you perfect shapes without measuring or math PLUS perfect stitching lines and matching marks on the fabric—for a tiny fraction of the cost of a die cutter and dies! Inklingo also uses fabric efficiently, so you don’t waste money or run out of fabric.

Inklingo quilters cut along a perfect, precise line—several layers at a time with a rotary cutter—instead of turning a crank. Inklingo quilters can use scissors instead if they want it to be portable.

You don’t need EQ to use Inklingo, but it is fun to design in EQ with Inklingo shapes!

Monkey and I are considering doing other examples using Barb’s December shapes.

Please let me know if you have questions about this one, okay?

Linda & Monkey

New to Inklingo? Order and download free shapes and start sewing in the next few minutes. Quick Start (Always FREE.) There are triangles, diamonds, and squares in the free collection—great for dozens of different blocks.

Inklingo for Beginners

Tilde’s 15 Minute Challenge

5 thoughts on “Club EQ Challenge 3 inch blocks”

  1. Hello Linda,
    I have played and redesigned the same quilt this morning on my EQ6. It was a great way to review the basics in EQ… so fun and the design is so great that I’d like to actually stitch it 😉

    Reply
  2. I try to keep in mind what it was like to get EQ4 when it was new (2000? 2001?). I hesitated to learn how to use it. When I finally did get started, it was much easier than I imagined. Jump in! You can do it!

    Reply
  3. I agree with Cyn! I’m a beginner with EQ, but these instructions are so clear, I think even I can do it. I’m glad there are more and more designs out there that are Inklingoable. But maybe they were always there and we just didn’t make the connection… Duh!!! Thanks Linda!

    Reply
  4. Love this, Linda. I really appreciate all the EQ ‘how to’ info as well. I’m still an EQ-beginner. I am so happy that Inklingo is easy, straightforward, and practically “brain-goof-proof”!
    Hugs,
    Cyn; -)

    Reply

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