EQ6 - Electric Quilt 6

System Requirements

Requires Windows ® XP, Windows ® Vista, or Windows ® 7 and an internet connection (4 activations included). Will run on Macs through Virtual PC or Parallels (XP or Vista version). Please check the complete system requirements before buying this program.

Details

Top Ten Reasons Why You Need EQ6...

While EQ6 is the newest and most advanced version of our best-selling Electric Quilt software, it's also the most user-friendly. This incredibly full-featured quilt design and drawing program has been especially designed with beginners as well as advanced designers in mind. Use it to design quilts, draw blocks, scan in fabrics or select from over 20,000 blocks, fabrics, colors, embroidery, photos, threads, quilt layouts and borders included in EQ6. Use EQ6 simply to try out colors, or print patterns in any size. Or use EQ6 to forge a quilting career, producing professional, high-resolution block and quilt images print-ready for books or magazines. This is software you'll never outgrow!

1. Patterns

EQ6 has over 4300 blocks which can be printed in any size.

• Pieced blocks
• Appliqué blocks
• Paper Piecing (Foundation) blocks
• Quilting Stencils

• Over 1200 NEW blocks since EQ5
• Classic Pieced: Baskets, Chains, Dresden Fans & Plates, Feathered Stars, Lone Stars, Maltese Cross, Pickle Dishes, Priscilla blocks, Variable Stars, Wedding Rings, and Whole Top Designs
• Contemporary Pieced: Fans, Sun Compasses, and World Flags
• Foundation Pieced: Alphabets, Animals, Beach Panorama, Cars & Trucks, Crazy Blocks, Flowers, Houses, New York Beauties, and Toys
• Classic Appliqué: Baskets, Eight Elements, Silhouettes, and Vases
• Contemporary Appliqué: Dogs, Hawaiian, Purses & Bags, and Shoes
• Motifs: Birds, Butterflies, Grapes & Vines, Leaves, and Wreaths
• Quilting Stencils: Border Stencils, Flowers, Hearts, Leaves, and Ribbons
• Border Blocks: Checked, Curved, Interwoven, Picket, Scrolls, Striped, Swags, Triangular, and Vines
• NEW Find blocks by category in the Block library: We've marked all the blocks according to difficulty, piecing info, holidays, and themes so you can just search for a Five Patch block with rectangles only or a Christmas block with Flowers.

2. Quilts

The number of quilts you can create in EQ6 is endless. You can start new blank quilts in any of our automatic styles, get quilts from the layout library by size or style, create your own quilt layout from a block, or even use a quick quilt already made for you!

Automatic Styles Quickly make Samplers, On-Point Quilts, Medallions, or Baby Blocks using any of the 8 automatic styles.
Horizontal	On-point (1)	NEW On-point (2)	Variable Point (1)	NEW Variable Point (2)
Baby Blocks	Variable Blocks	Horizontal Strip Quilt	Vertical Strip Quilt	One Patch Quilt
		Or use our "anything goes" Custom Set quilt layout and design freely on a large blank quilt layout, setting any block, any size, any place on your quilt.
	Custom Set

Layout Library Quilts
Need to make a queen sized quilt, but feeling particularly un-creative? Or, do you want to start a medallion quilt and don't know where to begin? Open up the Layout library and use a ready-made quilt layout as a starting point for the quilt of your dreams.

• By Size - Different layouts (horizontal, on-point, Bargello, Grandmother's Flower Garden, etc.) in sizes from California King all the way to Crib. Even includes layouts for Miniature Quilts, Table Runners, and Placemats.
• By Style - Showcase your blocks in a quilt from any one of the numerous styles, including Horizontal or On-Point Medallions, Stars, and Irregular Grids.

NEW Create a Quilt from a Block
Choose any block from the library or one that you draw which has horizontal and vertical lines. Convert it to a quilt and you can set blocks in all the spaces!

Turn this block: into this quilt:

NEW Quick Quilts
When you start the program you can create or open your own projects or start with one of ours. Just open the project, choose your quilt size and print away! The quilt is already designed for you. Swap out colors or fabrics if you like to make it your own.

You can add the extras to any quilt

• "Float" appliqué designs or pieced blocks on top of your quilt.
• "Quilt" your quilt with any thread color you'd like.
• Create sashes and multiple borders.
• Keep note cards on each quilt, saving design ideas.

3. Borders

We've added new tools, new blocks, and new border styles!

• Use the NEW Set Auto Border tool to put a border around your quilt in any of the following styles: Checked, Curved, Flying Geese, Scrolls, Swags, and more.
• Try out any of the NEW Border Blocks in the Block Library including: Interwoven Styles, Single Block Patterns, and Appliqué Vines.
• We've added 2 NEW border styles to help you line up blocks between multiple borders.

4. Fabrics

EQ6 has over 5000 newly scanned fabrics... the same quality as the ones you would find in the fabric stores or in our STASH series.

• Fabrics by Category - need some dots? or how about an antique double-pink? Just pick fabrics from any of the 1280 fabrics organized in these categories: Antique, Colors, Geometric, Holidays, Nature or Region.
• Fabrics by Color - yes, there is a difference between plum and violet, and between rust, warm brown and gray brown. Pick from any of the 1225 fabrics organized by color. And you can even search the entire library by Color.
• Fabrics by Manufacturer - Choose fabrics from any of these manufacturers basic lines: Andover, Benartex, Classic Cottons, FreeSpirit, Hoffman, Maywood Studio, Michael Miller, Moda, Northcott, P&B Textiles, Red Rooster, RJR, Robert Kaufman, South Sea Imports, Timeless Treasures, Troy, and Wilmington Prints.

There are endless possibilities for the included fabrics:

• Want to see what your quilt would really look like with the fabrics you have in mind? Scan your own fabrics and import them into EQ6. Color your quilt with the real fabrics you plan to use before you even sew one stitch. Store the scanned fabrics in EQ6 and create your own fabric library.
• NEW Search by Color in the Fabric library.
• NEW Fabric scales automatically on the quilt. What you see on the screen is what you’ll get !
• IMPROVED Fussy-cut fabrics to see a fabric's design better.
• Make your own colors, including shaded palettes.
• NEW Rotate fabrics right on your screen by degrees or to the edge of a seam (even when you don't know the degree by which you need to rotate).
• NEW Random Recolor - Recolor your quilt to be lighter/darker, more or less saturated, change the colors around the color wheel or even randomly color your quilt with a click!

 

5. Print

• Templates - Specify the size of seam allowance around each patch. Move or delete templates before you print. NEW Rotate templates on print preview.
• Foundation Patterns - EQ6 numbers each pattern, separating units and adding seam allowance. If you draw a pattern, EQ6 numbers it for you. Move or delete foundation pattern sections before you print.
• Rotary Cutting Charts - Print rotary cutting charts for blocks in EQ6 or blocks you design yourself.
• Blocks - Print them as line drawings, in gray scale, in color, as appliqué patterns, or as quilting stencils! Print off your favorite blocks as line drawings and make quick coloring book pages for children.
• Quilts - Print your quilts as line drawings or colored with fabrics.
• IMPROVED Fabric Yardage Estimates - Calculate yardage in inches or centimeters and print yardage charts.

You can also draw and print your own original patterns.

6. Libraries

We've streamlined the libraries to be easier to use. NEW Now you can import directly from other projects and files, and copy and paste right into your library.

In addition to the 4300+ blocks in the Block Library, 5000+ scanned fabrics in the Fabric Library, 400+ quilts in the Layout Library, you will also be able to use items from the:

• NEW Importing Features - Now you can import from other EQ software projects or shopping bags right through the library. Just open the library you need and choose Import from Project (use this for BlockBase searches, EQ5 projects or palettes, and STASH shopping bags). Or, you can import image files through the photo or fabric library. You can also import your own embroidery designs (.EXP format only) to try out on your latest quilt, then save in your own embroidery library
• Embroidery Library - Jazz up your quilt with all new images of embroidery designs from Viking, PFAFF, and Cactus Punch. Try out the embroidery on your quilt to decide if you want to get the embroidery card so you can sew out the designs.
• NEW Photo Library - Photo and memory quilts have never been this much fun! Use any of our forest, garden, sky or textured pictures to create life-like fabric. Or, import your own pictures of family, events, or scenery to build up your own collection of photos to use in quilts. Photos can be in the JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, or TIFF format.
• NEW Thread Library - Ackermann, Aurifil, Coats & Clark, Gutermann, Mettler, Robison-Anton, Signature, Sulky, Superior, Valdani, and YLI have let us know their thread colors so you can color your embroidery and quilting stitches with the spool you're actually using! You can also create a Thread library of your own spools.

7. Drawing tools

We've completely reworked the drawing side of EQ. You can draw blocks from scratch and even make new blocks without drawing!

• Draw pieced, appliqué or combination blocks.
• Draw pieced blocks almost as quickly as you would draw a block on paper in EasyDraw.
• Draw appliqué blocks in PatchDraw using easy drag and drop patches (hearts, leaves, feathers, tear-drops, circles, triangles, octagons and more).
• NEW Draw with the Freehand tool to make realistic patches.
• NEW Vines, scrolls, and stems have never been easier than with the new Brush Stroke tool.
• NEW Draw pieced blocks in PatchDraw using “click and snap” grids for stars, kaleidoscopes, and compasses.
• Use the WreathMaker to turn shapes into wreaths or quick quilting stencils.
• Draw sash or border blocks with ease on a rectangular drawing board.
• Draw just about anything from a 4-Patch to a Giant Dahlia or Lone Star.
• NEW Import images to trace and turn your favorite picture or drawing into a block. Images imported for tracing can be in the JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, or TIFF format. Choose how you want the image cropped and how transparent you want it right from EQ6.

8. Help, Help, and more Help

Learning has never been easier or more fun.

• The EQ6 User Manual is the best book we’ve ever written! We've split the 304 pages up into lessons and documentation. There are 6 fun and easy lessons for learning how to set up quilts, print, use layers, draw in EasyDraw and draw in PatchDraw. We took nothing for granted and made the lessons work for people who have never used a computer before. You’ll also get step-by-step instructions on working with every tool and feature.
• Watch any of the 60+ Help Videos, then try the steps yourself. It's like having a teacher right there beside you! Videos have been grouped into Getting Started, Designing Quilts, Using the Quilt Tools, Drawing Blocks, Simple Tasks, and Printing. You'll learn everything from "What is a Project?" to "How to make a Quilt Label."
• Try out the EQ6 Help Files. Each part of the program is documented with color pictures and directions. It's like surfing a web site of EQ6 knowledge. Here we've been able to get a lot more "wordy" than in the book because these are web pages, not book pages. So, if you need a further explanation of anything you learn in the software, just check out the Help Contents, or find it using the Index, or Search.
• If that isn't enough, we've even added ToolHelp - Turn on the Dynamic ToolHelp and a window will appear at the side of your worktable. Hover over any button in any toolbar and learn what it does.

9. For the Advanced Designer

EQ6 is a teacher and pattern-maker’s dream:

• NEW Fabrics - import fabrics in JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, or TIFF formats and it automatically rescales perfectly on the quilt or block.
• Letters - write on your quilts with the NEW Set Applique Text tool. You can add a verse or add sewing directions right on top of the quilt. It's up to you.
• Export Metafiles - export vector images in the .EMF format that are outline only, outline and fill, or fill only. Fill colors are the average color of the fabric in the block. Directions are included in the EQ6 User Manual for how to pull apart and label metafiles to make a piecing diagram in Microsoft® Word.
• NEW Export Images - you need a high resolution image? What size? What format? EQ6 can do it and the fabric is scaled perfectly. Magazine editors and book publishers will love you!

10. For the Beginning Designer

Tilt a Block

Just because EQ6 can do so much, doesn't mean that it still can't be easy to use. We've kept our beginning quilters and beginning computer users in mind throughout the entire software design and documentation process.

• NEW Draw without drawing - Need a new block? Use the Serendipity tools to frame, merge, and tilt blocks without drawing a thing.
• NEW Add borders full of blocks in 3-4 clicks - Use the Set Auto Borders tool to make your quilt look stunning.
• NEW Use Quick Quilt Projects - try any of these quilt favorites to color, resize, print, and sew.
• NEW Make quilt labels - Use the new text tool to write out your labels and make the back of your quilt as interesting as the front.
• NEW Find blocks within your sewing capabilities - all the library blocks have been marked according to difficulty. So if you're a beginning quilter, why not try beginning block with rectangles only? Or how about a beginning block with rectangles and triangles only?
• NEW Learn the software like you have a teacher beside you - We've made the videos and EQ6 User Manual lessons as user-friendly as possible with you in mind.

Features

Here is a list of all the new features that went into EQ6.

The Libraries

1. Overall friendlier interface
2. View the Library and the Project Sketchbook items in the same dialog
3. Select multiple items to add to the Sketchbook with one click
4. Select multiple items and delete them from the Sketchbook with one click
5. Ability to sort and delete from the Project Sketchbook from within the Library
6. Ability to link to other EQ product libraries from within the Library dialog
7. Expanded notecards that can flip and be pinned down for viewing continuous items
8. Import items from other EQ projects
9. Ability to display more items within the dialog
10. Ability to build My Library files for all design items
11. Efficient copy and paste procedures for building custom libraries
12. Unlimited My Library files
13. Easy interface for naming libraries and styles
14. Search for blocks by pre-defined categories like construction method or skill level
15. Search for fabrics by text or color
16. Search for layouts, embroidery or photos by text
17. Search for thread by text or color
18. Import fabric scans or photo images using BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF formats
19. Import embroidery designs using EXP format
20. Addition of a Photo Library
21. Addition of a Thread Library
22. Ability to create thread by RGB values

The Project Sketchbook

1. Ability to see more than one quilt at a time
2. Separate sections for embroidery, photos and thread
3. Ability to move the entire dialog
4. Expanded notecards that can be flipped and pinned
5. Double-click to edit blocks and quilts to the worktable
6. Sort capability for all sections
7. Context menus for additional functionality specific to the section

Printing and Exporting

1. Rotate templates before printing
2. Option for larger key block for template patterns and rotary cutting charts
3. Resizable foundation pattern dialog
4. Improved labeling of foundation patterns
5. Increased control over EQ’s foundation numbering scheme
6. Saving of foundation numbering
7. Ability to print partial foundation patterns
8. Ability to select setting triangles and print clipped blocks patterns
9. Mirror option for printing blocks
10. Prints template patterns for text set on quilt
11. Export metafiles with fill color or with outline and fill
12. Export high resolution images in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF formats

Quilt Worktable

1. New on-point layout style
2. More options for locking sliders so they move together instead of separately
3. More size information readily available within the palettes
4. Two new border styles
5. Ability to hide or show layers on the quilt as you’re designing
6. Option for always starting with a 4x4 horizontal layout
7. Default border style is user settable
8. Create a custom quilt layout from a block drawing with just a click
9. Rulers for the quilt worktable
10. Adjustable origin for the quilt rulers
11. New Set Applique Text tool
12. New Random Recolor tool
13. New Set Auto Borders tool
14. New Set Photo tool
15. New Set Embroidery tool
16. New Thread tools
17. New Rotate Fabric tool
18. New Erase Block tool
19. New Paintbrush tools for freehand coloring of patches
20. Friendlier interface for viewing block colorings and selecting a coloring
21. Ability to add a plain block
22. New position for the graph pad
23. Ability to center a block in the quilt
24. Fussy cut positioning of fabric is saved with the quilt

Block Worktable

1. New precision bar for easier drawing board adjustments
2. Ability to draw pieced PatchDraw blocks
3. Addition of special grids: 8 point star, circle, arc, kaleidoscope, octagon
4. New PolyDraw tools
5. Settable grid dot size
6. Settable color for grid dots
7. Ability to hide or show layers on the block as you’re drawing
8. Ability to center selected segments
9. New Ellipse tool for drawing appliqué
10. New Rectangle tool for drawing appliqué
11. New Brush Stroke tool for drawing appliqué
12. New Freehand tool for drawing appliqué
13. Shape Bezier curves by dragging directly on the curve
14. Auto selection of segment as soon as it’s drawn
15. Tool specific precision bars for greater customization of drawing techniques
16. Saving of fussy cut position of fabric
17. Auto fill when patches are closed using PatchDraw
18. Saving of open patches
19. Adjust the stacking order of patching on the drawing layer or the color layer
20. Serendipity options for creating new blocks by tilting, merging or framing
21. Block palette on the color tab for quick editing of blocks
22. Improved options for importing an image for tracing.

Overall

1. Fabric scales based on the size of the block or quilt
2. Most Recently Used Fabrics appear at the top of the fabrics palette
3. Add and remove tools from toolbar
4. Display large or small tools
5. Customize the style of the tools
6. Flyout tools for greater flexibility of tools
7. Ability to restore to original default settings
8. Large video screen with more videos
9. Quick quilt projects
10. Dynamic Toolhelp window
11. Worktable tools for quickly changing worktables
12. Implementation of an intro splash screen
13. Tip of the Day option on startup or from the Help menu

That's 100 new features!

Includes

EQ6 comes with the EQ6 User Manual and a CD to install. But, of course you always have us to call or email whenever you need help.

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