'Folk Art Blocks' from Three Ducks on a Roof

 
 

Classic Appliqué
Patterns for EQ Software

Folk Art Blocks

$ 26.95 CDN

This EQ Classic Appliqué CD offers 200 patterns dating from 1850 to 1900. According to the Electric Quilt Company, "this was a period known for red and green appliqué, appliqué samplers and quilts featuring four large appliqué blocks." The possibilities with this CD are limited only by your imagination; from Civil War or late-Victorian reproduction quilts to modern quilts with a country theme.

Now, Folk Art Blocks is an EQ5 software add-on; in other words, you cannot access the blocks except through the software. When downloaded, these blocks are placed directly into your EQ5 Block Library.

Here is my Block Library. As you can see, not only do I have Folk Art installed but also the Baltimore Album CD. In addition, I have BlockBase which will be presented to you elsewhere on this website.

I have opened up the Folk Art Library and have gone to the 'Flowers in Vases' category and the first four images within that category are displayed on the right. I am going to play and see what I can do with a block and have chosen 'Kentucky Flowerpot' in the upper right hand corner. To use the block, I click on it and then click on the Copy button below. The block is now placed in my project Sketchbook.

 

And, here is my sketchbook. My 'Kentucky Flowerpot' has joined two other blocks I copied earlier. I have clicked on the block which is why it is highlighted in blue. I will now click on the Edit button below and place the block on my EQ5 Block Worktable.

Here, now, is the block in its 'line' form. If you look at the tabs below the drawing, you will notice this is a 'PatchDraw' block. When you become familiar with the EQ software, this tells you that each piece or patch within this block has been individually created. It also tells you that if each piece is a 'closed' patch you can pull the block apart and this is where the fun really begins!

This is the beauty of EQ's design: you can make these blocks your own. So, I have looked at the block and have decided I want to remove the sprigs that are hanging down beside the pot. I clicked on the Select tool on the right toolbar (it is the top depressed button). Then, I moved over to a patch I wanted to remove and clicked on it and a dotted box appeared around the patch. I then headed to the Scissors tool at the top of the left toolbar beside the drawing, clicked on this button and 'cut' or 'deleted' the boxed patch. I pulled all the patches I wanted to remove in the block out onto the worktable to show you the separate patches and then began deleting. You do not need to take this extra step.

Once I removed all the chosen patches, I was ready to 'colour' my block. In this instance, I went to the Palette Library and loaded the 'Classic Appliqué Folk Art' Palette (seemed like a sensible choice). You can see the result above.

There is now one final step which is to print the pattern. Since this is an appliqué, the only way to reproduce this block is by using templates. EQ5 knows this and when you click on the Printer icon button on the far left toolbar, you are presented with only the Templates option (many pieced blocks will present with rotary, foundation, and template printing options). I clicked on Templates and the Print Templates window appeared. I set my block size and clicked on Preview.

Now, as much as I admire the Electric Quilt Company, its software does not display 'artificial intelligence.' Therefore, when I hit preview I was presented with a template for every piece in the block! It being up to me to supply the intelligence, I began eliminating all the unnecessary templates. You don't have to do this of course but why waste the paper and ink? Below is the result and shows the templates I believe I needed. One stem piece is still highlighted in red because I have just finished moving it.

I hope this gives you a good idea of what you can expect with the Folk Art CD and what you can do with its blocks. As with all EQ products, this CD is well-thought out, well-prepared and is a joy to use. As I mentioned earlier, add imagination and the possibilities with these blocks are limitless. Have fun!
Happy Quilting
Anita