EQ Block Spotlight: In a Pickle
One of the things I love about EQ8 quilt design software is that it can help me “scratch an itch.” When there’s a quilt I adore but know that I probably won’t ever make, I can create it virtually with EQ!
Every month on the EQ blog, there’s a feature called Block Spotlight. People are encouraged to design something with a featured block. EQ editors give a few ideas to prime your creative pump and it’s like calisthenics for your creative muscles.
I was happy to see that the August Block Spotlight is Prickly Pickle. It’s from the block library within the software—one of thousands you can use to design your own quilts—and I can’t wait to see how people use it.
A bell went off in my head when I saw the block, because just that week I had seen the photo above and fell in love with the colors in that quilt. The old, softly muted reds, blues, pinks and creams against the faded gold are heavenly.
There is one problem: I don’t know where I grabbed these photos so I can’t properly credit the owner. If they are yours, please let me know.
Since I love that vintage quilt so much, I colored my Block Spotlight in a similar way. And that was really scratching an itch for me!
I adore this quilt but I won’t ever make it. So coloring it and making as many virtual blocks as I wanted to were a wonderful substitute.
When I play with a quilt design, I use the solid colors available in EQ instead of the fabric swatches.
At this point in the process, I’m not thinking about fabric as much as I’m considering the big picture of the color recipe and the values (lightness or darkness).
I will say that I do know my fabric stash well enough to be certain that I could find these in it. I would have to buy the gold fabric, but with virtual, that’s not a problem! See the advantages?? 😊
I love to color things randomly. There are some parameters (a set of colors) but they are loose and the whole thing can flow freely.
It was as much fun to color it in EQ8 as it would be to sew it—maybe more!
And this is what I love about scrappy vintage quilts! They are the most carefree, exuberant and entertaining quilts around.
What I wouldn’t give for the time to sew this! Would you ever get tired of looking at it? Seems there would always be something new to discover! And to demonstrate that the gold is the bomb, look at what happens with a neutral background.
I think it dies. The colors and randomness are still interesting but they don’t hold up the way the gold background does. But you know what?
That is just one person’s opinion!
And that’s the beauty of the quilting world: You are in charge of what you like and what you don’t. If you like it, you can do it!
I wondered about an indigo background. With EQ it’s just a click or two to check it out.
I tried several different blues because blue is funny and I think it’s a hard color in a scrap quilt. (Red is the easiest!)
I saw a wonderful quilt by Sandi Griepenstroh at guild last week in navy and lime green. So I tried something in those colors. (This is why you should be snapping photos during your guild meetings! Color inspiration from here to kingdom come!) Then I had another idea.
Above, the petal shapes are mostly filled in with color. I wondered what would happen if…
I made the insides of the petal shapes the same color as the background. Voila! Totally different look. Now it’s as if you’re peering through curved window panes.
And because I got so excited about this block, before I left it behind, I softened the colors into something I might actually sew, with a more reasonable number of blocks.
Because you never know.
To get started with EQ8 from The Electric Quilt Company, use code EQ8STASHBANDIT for 20% off everything on electricquilt.com. That’s a nice savings! Ends Sept. 30, 2020.
To see what others designed with the same block, visit Block Spotlight! And if you’re an EQ user, jump right in to the fun and design something yourself. If you’re not a user but you want to be, use the code above to get started.