Electric Quilt 7 does it all and it is easier than ever for new and experienced users! Quilts, Blocks and now PHOTOS! Includes all the design features of EQ5 & EQ6 plus all new design tools for beginning and advanced users. Learn to use the software by watching the 10 videos targeted for beginners. Then go through the 22 printable full-color PDF lessons for comprehensive, step-by-step lessons that show you how to design quilts, draw blocks, work with images, and print patterns. It's like having a teacher right there with you! EQ7 includes over 5,000 copyright-free blocks. Use and re-use blocks as patterns or quilting stencils. Choose any size or use EQ7's new Serendipity tools to magically transform any existing block into a new original block. Search for blocks by Name or by Category. Searching by Category allows you to find blocks by theme, piecing style, or difficulty level.

Quilts can be as simple- or as complex-looking as you like. EQ7 can help whether you want to make a horizontal quilt with plain squares, or an intricate custom quilt with blocks of all different sizes. Choose from any of our 10 automatic layouts, over 540 pre-designed layouts by size & by style, popular quick-quilts, or draw your own layout. The possibilities are endless.

 

Automatic Layouts
Quickly make Samplers, On-Point Quilts, and Medallion Quilts using any of the automatic styles. You can even create One-Patch quilts based off photos using the new Photo Patchwork layout style.

 

Pre-Designed Layouts by Size or Style
Need queen-sized or center medallion quilt? The Layout library has over 540 pre-designed layouts for you to fill with blocks and fabrics. With over 120 new layouts since EQ6, including new "Hexagonal" and "Twelve 12 Inch Blocks" categories, you can have a lot of fun using these layouts as a starting point.

 

Start with a Quick-Quilt
We've included many popular traditional designs in the "Start with a quick-quilt project" section. If you need a Double Irish Chain quilt, just select the Irish Chain project, and choose from the different quilt sizes in the Sketchbook. These quilts can be edited, re-colored, re-designed, or even just printed. They are quick and easy to use.

 

Create a Quilt from a Block
Draw your own grids and turn them into Custom Set quilts. Once you've drawn the block, you're only a few clicks away from turning it into a quilt layout that can be filled with blocks and fabrics.

 

You can set any pieced or applique blocks into your border or sash spaces. Browse through hundreds of ready-made border and sash blocks just waiting for you in the EQ7 Block Library. Choose from over 290 pre-designed Auto Borders, or create your own. Have as many borders as you like. You pick the width -- EQ7 does the math, fitting borders perfectly for you. Central Medallions only take a few clicks to design.

 

Choose Symmetries from the Image menu and you'll be on your way to a whole world of new image possibilities. EQ7 has over 45 different effects that can be applied to images, including artistic, noise, blur and many more. Filters allow you to sharpen, unsharpen, or detect the edges of your image. Square and Circular symmetries take portions of your image and repeat them according to your choices. You can apply more than one to an image for a truly unique effect. Print these images onto printable fabric to use as whole photos in your memory quilts, or chop the printed images up to make one-of-a-kind fabrics for your piecing.

 

Draw beautiful, original blocks and stencils, or let EQ7 create new blocks for you. Draw pieced blocks in EasyDraw or Pieced PatchDraw. EasyDraw works like a pencil and paper. Draw straight lines and arcs and subdivide as needed. Pieced PatchDraw has click-and-snap grids, designed to simplify drawing complex blocks like New York Beauty, Wheel, Kaleidoscope, and Eight-Point Star blocks.

 

Applique blocks and quilting stencils can be drawn using pull-out shapes like hearts, leaves, tear-drops, circles, squares, and more. The Freehand tool lets you draw freely, just as you would doodle on paper. For drawing help, you can import an image and trace right over it. Vines and leaves are easy with the Brush Stroke and Swath tools. Just decide whether you want a plain vine or one filled with flying geese or diamonds.

 

Print Templates, Foundation Patterns, and Rotary Cutting Charts. Choose any pattern style, and any size. Or print right from the quilt. EQ7 remembers the size on the quilt, and the block's orientation too -- so perfect for skewed blocks. Print blocks in any size, as line drawings or colored in fabric. Print dotted-line quilting stencils. You can even print more than one block on the page, perfect for English paper piecing templates, or even quilt-themed gift tags. Print quilts as line drawings (like kids' coloring book pages) or colored in fabric. Or create fancy borders with an empty center, then write on the center to create a quilt label. Print yardage estimates for the whole quilt at once with 2 clicks. Print multiple photos at once. Just drag and drop your photos on the new Photo Layout page, fitting photos together so you don't waste an inch of printable fabric.

 

Create professional images of your blocks and quilts to use in class hand-outs. Or send them to magazine & book publishers, or commercial printers. Export parts of your design to show a work-in-progress for classes. For example, drag a selection box around a row in your quilt, then paste it into your Word document to illustrate your how-to instructions. Export full-color images or outline drawings of your quilt or blocks to use as Web images, guild newsletter pictures, magazine or book illustrations, pattern covers or just to show off. You choose the file type (jpg, gif, tif, png or bmp) and resolution, from 75 to 600 dpi. Export metafiles of blocks (vector drawings) to "explode" to illustrate piecing diagrams you. The EQ7 User Manual shows you how to pull apart the patches in Word.

 

Activation and deactivation is as easy as two clicks of the mouse. Install on as many computers as you like and quickly transfer activations from computer to computer. This new policy gives you complete freedom to manage your own activations --- and no dongle to worry about! Includes EQ7 User Manual for step-by-step instructions.

Minimum system requirements for EQ7:

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 or 8 (32 or 64 bit)
• Internet access (Internet required for activation, deactivation, and periodic validations.)
• 750 MB of available hard-disk space
• CD-ROM drive
• Netbook compatible