This is BlockBase when you use the programme on its own outside of the EQ5 software. Here you can research a name or a block's printing history, look for a block that you vaguely remember from your grandmother's quilt, seek blocks within a theme or patch size, or explore and then dream of a quilt to be.

In the column on the left, are the Pattern Categories for all the blocks. Here, I have clicked on 'Realistic' then clicked on the subcategory 'Flowers' and chose the block you see highlighted in white. In total, there are twenty-two categories!

After clicking on my block, I went to the toolbar above and clicked the 'Notecard' tool and then the 'Namelist' tool. I learned this block is called Kentucky Lily and it appeared in Kentucky Pride Quilts in 1982 and who the magazine publishers are. I can do this for each block in BlockBase.

Here is the BlockBase toolbar. The six tools on the left pertain to your 'Project' book which is the BlockBase version of the EQ5 Sketchbook. According to the Electric Quilt Company, "these tools let you create, open, save, view, add or remove blocks from your project. The next six tools let you view information on your block as well as export or print. The last five tools are for searching whether by name, number, wildcard, keyword or source."

I am going to give the search tools a try and have clicked on the 'Search by Keyword' tool and the dialog box to the left popped up. When I clicked on the down arrow in the search category window a drop down menu presented me with 9 possible categories and as you can see I chose History. I was further presented with 6 possible keywords and chose Queens.

Below, you can view some of the search results presented to me. Each block either mentions the word Queen in its name or has a possible connection to the word Queen such as Castle, Queen's Pride or Twelve Crowns. The block that is highlighted in white was published under the names Queen Charlotte's Crown or Queen's Crown according to Barbara Bachman's research.

You might have noticed above that my search results have appeared on a 'tabbed' page. You have three tabs in the BlockBase window where blocks can be found or placed: BlockBase, Project or Search Results. I have minimalized the BlockBase window for these screenshots; otherwise, you would be able to see all the tabs at once.

BlockBase allows you to view its blocks in many ways: in 2 to 5 rows, in colour or greyscale, in outline or not. You can customize to meet your own needs, or preferences.

Here are two other nice features offered by BlockBase. You will notice above I have gone to the 'Equal Nine Patch' pattern category and within that category went to 'Like Shoo Fly.' All told, there are 43 blocks in that subcategory and you would probably recognize many. The block I have chosen is highlighted in white and when I went to the 'Namelist' tool I discovered it was published under three names: Capital T, Cut the Corners, and Double T.

I right clicked on the block and the menu to the left popped up. Below are the results of clicking on the two top features in the menu: Zoom Block, and Quick Quilt.

'Zoom Block' places the block in a separate pop-up window enlarging the block in the process while the 'Quick Quilt' pop-up allows you to view a quilt using just that one block thus giving you a sense of the secondary patterns that emerge. The number at the top of each window is Barbara Bachman's file card reference number for that block and the three ducks are mine!

Finally, the last option we will explore in this first brief tour is printing. With my 'Like Shoo Fly' block highlighted, I clicked on the printer tool on the toolbar above and was presented with 5 choices: I could print a picture of the block; information for using Marti Mitchell's 'Perfect Patchwork Templates'; or choose a foundation, template or rotary cutting pattern. It is the last three choices that are pictured below.

BlockBase truly is as the Electric Quilt Company says, "the ultimate quilting block reference." Blocks can be searched for in numerous ways using the Search tools or you can take a relaxing tour through each category and subcategory marveling at the ingenuity of past quilters. When you find a block that inspires you, you can add it to your Project Book for future reference. Then, when you are ready to design your quilt, you can import your project book directly into EQ5. This is what we will explore next: BlockBase with EQ5.