Contest Tips – Love the Lines!

Happy New Year!

It’s time to get busy creating quilts with Inklingo shapes in Electric Quilt software for the Love the Lines Contest!

I have a few simple tips to get you started.

  • Block Library
  • Add Borders
  • Alt Click
  • Ctrl Z
  • Add to Sketchbook
  • Fabric Library
  • Swap Colors

This quilt in the Drunkard’s Path Design Book (free download from Inklingo!) seems to get more attention than the others.

It is easy peasy to design in EQ.

Inklingo Sizes

The first thing is to identify the sizes which are available in Inklingo format.

Inklingo has 6 sizes so far!

Units are 2, 3, 3.5, 4, 6, and 7 inches.

You can see all of the available sizes on the website, either in the Index of Shapes or on the Main Drunkard’s Path Page.

Size of the Blocks

With 2 inch units, these are 4 inch blocks.
With 4 inch units, these are 8 inch blocks.
With 6 inch units, these are 12 inch blocks.

Are you with me so far?

Find it or Draw it!

This block is already in the EQ block library, so I don’t even need to draw it! It has been waiting there patiently for me, looking green.

How did I find it? I just scrolled through Libraries > Block Library > Classic Pieced > Drunkard’s Path, and there it was. The colors are not what I want, of course, but the outline is great. If I had known the name of the block, I could have used the Search button. (Libraries >Block Library > Search > By Notecard > Baseball)

I add it to the Sketchbook (button on bottom right).

Note: The size of the circle in relation to the square might be slightly different than the actual Inklingo shapes, but it won’t matter for this design. We are just designing in EQ. When it’s time to print and sew with Inklingo, it won’t make any difference. (In some cases, it would.) I have not even bothered to check. It looks similar, and that’s enough.

(Notice that the Project Sketchbook has different tabs for Quilts, Blocks, Fabrics, etc. I’m on the Blocks tab.)

Re-color it!

Sketchbook > Blocks > Edit, and I can create the two color variations I want to start with. That is just a few clicks of the mouse, then add to Sketchbook.

Making progress!

My blocks are ready, so from now on I will be in Worktable > Work on Quilt.

Start in the Middle

Since I see this quilt as a series of borders, I start in the middle and add one border after another, choosing the border Style “blocks” from the dropdown menu, and using the 4, 8 and 12 inch blocks. (The ones made with 2, 4, and 6 inch units, shown above).

For a quilter who has played with EQ a bit before, that is probably all you need to know.

Step by Step?

On the other hand, if you haven’t used EQ for a little while, here are a few hints:

Worktable > Work on Quilt

Quilt > New Quilt > Horizontal

Layout > 8 x 8  and Finished size of blocks 4 x 4

Layer 1 > Set Block > Sketchbook Blocks opens > Alt-Click to set one coloring of the block.

  • Click sets the block in one space.
  • Alt-Click sets the block in every other space.
  • Ctrl-Click sets the block in every space.

That is such a cool thing to know! Monkey has to take a deep breath and think about it. We love the way EQ speeds up the process!

Alt-Click on the other coloring to complete the checkerboard. Of course you can click in each space individually, but Alt-Click is magical!

There is more magic too: The block in the Sketchbook is size-less. Its size is determined by the space in the quilt layout where you put it. It’s just plain brilliant!

Stop and think a minute, if you like. We’ll wait.

MY VERY BEST TIP?  Ctrl Z

If you make a boo-boo, use Ctrl Z to “undo.”

This is something I use all day long no matter what software I am using. Its not just for Electric Quilt. Since this shortcut works in just about ALL software, it is worth learning. I even used it when I was writing this paragraph!

You can undo 10 steps in EQ—or even 20 steps, if you change the default settings (File > Preferences > General). I leave mine set at 10 undos. Funny word for a great, great tool.

Add to Sketchbook

By the way, this is a good time to “Add to Sketchbook.”  I do this a lot. I end up with several unfinished layouts in my Sketchbook, but they can be handy if I lose my way in a design and realize I want to start over—without going all the way back to “square one.”  The extras are easy to delete at the end.

It’s good practice to click “Add to Sketchbook” often!

Next?  Borders!

I am going to use 6 borders. Each border is numbered out from the center by EQ. When you add a border, it is added outside the one that is currently highlighted in gray. You can click on another border to insert a border between others.

After you have done one or two borders it makes complete sense, but here are the numbers I used:

Borders > 1 > Blocks > 8 – 8 – 8 – 8 (Use the slider to change them all at once.) and Blocks in border 4 x 4. (Notice how that makes them squares.)

Add to Sketchbook? Good idea!

Borders > Add > 2 > Style Blocks > 8 – 8 – 8 – 8, Blocks in border 6 x 6

Add to Sketchbook

Borders > Add > 3 > Style  Blocks > 4 – 4 – 4- 4, Blocks in border 16 x 16

Add to Sketchbook

Borders > Add > 4 > Style Blocks > 12 – 12 – 12 – 12, Blocks in border 6 x 6

Add to Sketchbook

Borders > Add > 5 > Style Blocks > 12 – 12 – 12 – 12, Blocks in border 8 x 8

Add to Sketchbook

Borders > Add > 6 > Style Mitered > 0.5 – 0.5 – 0.5 – 0.5  (This represents the binding.)

Add to Sketchbook

The whole layout is ready and waiting to be filled in with blocks!

Set Blocks

Layer 1 > Set Block > click to fill in all the spaces.

Remember that if you put the wrong coloring in one of the spaces, you can use Ctrl-Z if you notice it right away. Otherwise, you can just click on the correct coloring in the Sketchbook and click again to replace it. EQ is very forgiving.

Add to Sketchbook

Layer 1 > Paintbrush to fill the final border. Ctrl-Click fills the same color on all 4 sides at once.

Add to Sketchbook

Clean it up

When you submit a design for the contest, you must have only one quilt in the Sketchbook.

I saved 7 times in this example, so I would have to clean it up. That is all described in “the rules.”

I don’t consider this design to be finished. It is just a starting point. It could be scrappy or multi-colored, and the borders could be in a different order, and I could use more shapes, as long as the sizes match Inklingo sizes.

It is such a bold design that if I was sewing it for our bedroom, I think I would like to see it in all neutrals, low contrast, curvy, and relaxing—maybe replacing the white with several different ivory fabrics, and replacing the red with several different beiges and taupes. What would you like to see?

Fabric Library

There are fabulous choices in the Fabric Library—including real fabrics you can find in your local quilt shop!

Northcott is providing wonderful prizes, so let’s check the Northcott folders first:

Libraries > Fabric Library > By Manufacturer > Northcott > Stonehenge Ooooooh! Be still my heart!

Swap Colors!

I can change all the white to ivory and all the red to blue by using the “swap color” tool.

Two or three clicks—and done!

I’m going to keep playing with this one. When I’m finished, Inklingo will show me exactly how much fabric I need.

Inklingo curves are the easiest ones you will ever sew, thanks to the perfect shapes and matching marks printed on the fabric!

It is all described in the Drunkard’s Path Design Book—free for a limited time only! There are dozens of designs to get you started too.

The fantastic prizes from EQ, Northcott, and Inklingo should be enough incentive to enter a design in the contest, and you will feel great when you learn how to use the wonderful EQ tools you already have!

New Year’s Resolution

Learn more tricks for designing with Inklingo shapes in Electric Quilt, okay?

Monkey and I have more tips for the LTL Contest with different Inklingo shapes, but please let me know what you are most interested in learning, okay? Support at EQ is fabulous too.

It’s going to be a great year for quilting, don’t you think?

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

8 thoughts on “Contest Tips – Love the Lines!”

  1. Hi Cyn, I am very pleased that you liked the tutorial. There are more coming too. I hope you will enter a design. I have received a few contest entries and I can already tell that everyone is going to want the files for the top 25. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Oh, Linda, what an absolutely fantastic and simple tutorial you have written. What an incentive to enter the contest & be successful with a design.

    Reply
  3. Great instruction – so clear! Love it. Thank you, Linda. I have bookmarked this blog entry to I can refer back to it easily and quickly. Many of us are reaching outside our comfort zones to become more proficient in EQ. I know I am. Your guidance, support and encouragement are deeply appreciated. Thank you!
    Thanks to Monkey, too, as I bet he had his hand and two-cents in this tute somewhere. lol
    Hugs,
    Cyn; -)

    Reply
  4. This is a fabulous tutorial – and I know I’ll be referring to it often as I plan and design a quilt or two for the contest! You’ve made it so easy to understand that I know I won’t get frustrated and give up!

    Reply
  5. Hi Jillian, There will be discussion and tips in the Inklingo Yahoo Group too. That is a great place to ask questions if you get stuck, but I think you will be amazed how quickly you pick it up.

    Reply
  6. Okay, you have convinced me. I’m going to take an hour a day to learn EQ. I want to give Anneke stiff competition in the Love the Lines contest!
    Don’t know enough yet about what I want to learn to ask about it. I’m hoping the shapes I want are in the EQ block library already…

    Reply

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