Stash is a stand alone programme that can be linked to the Electric Quilt design software. When you download Stash it installs a desktop icon that you click on to open the programme. I am using an older version of Stash and have minimalized its workspace for this tour. When you open the programme you are greeted with the workspace above. The Stash tools are in the upper left corner and become active depending on what function you are performing. The fabric manufacturers are listed in the column on the left and when clicked will open up and display different fabric lines. There are three tabs on the workspace: 'Stash' which will display the fabric lines, 'Shopping Bag' which displays your selected fabrics from Stash, and 'Search Results' which is self-explanatory. You can move from one tab to another at any time.

I clicked on 'Quilting Treasures' in the left column and discovered there are four lines of fabrics for that company in this version of Stash. I clicked on 'Basic 3' and am presented with 15 swatches. I have the cursor hovering over the third fabric on the top line and a tooltip tells me the swatch is a Basics 3 fabric by K.P. Kids.

I can gain more information about the swatch by clicking on it and then clicking on the 'Notecard' tool in the upper left toolbar. I am presented with the swatch's name and manufacturer's reference number, the fabric line, the designer and copyright holder.

With Stash, the fun begins when you use the two 'search' tools: 'search by colour' and 'search by category'. This is where the programme earns its keep. I will explain briefly how both features work using the highlighted swatch above.

After clicking on a swatch and then clicking on the 'Search by Colour' tool, Stash presents the dialog box on the right. The goal of the search is to find fabrics matching a colour that is from or blends with the swatch. You can then choose to search within all installed Stash programmes and all manufacturers or narrow the search to a few.

Stash picks a colour by default but you can change that colour by clicking on the black arrow beside it and use the drop down box to find your own colour. I've chosen 'Three Ducks' yellow. This is a great way to experiment with all the different colour plans: Complimentary, Split-Complimentary, Analogous and Triadic.

My search results are above. I searched only within that particular Stash programme but within all the manufacturers and you may be able to notice that Stash has found 50 different swatches based on my colour choice.

Let's take a look now at the 'Search by Category' tool. These are fabric categories; so, Stash gives you options such as: Abstract, Floral, Geometric, Historical, etc. I will use that same fabric swatch with this new search.

Again, with this dialog box I can use the default colour but, I have chosen my own. I will search in all the manufacturers and the category I have picked is 'Tone on Tone.' The results from this search are shown below.

Stash is presenting me now with 29 Tone on Tone swatches that fit closely with my chosen colour.

From both types of searches, I can pick fabrics and put them into my 'Shopping bag' using the 'Add to Shopping Bag' tool. I can then bring my Shopping Bag into my EQ 5 or 6 Sketchbook and colour away. If I am absolutely delighted with the quilt results, I can use another handy Stash feature.

This is the Shopping Bag I have created using the two different search tools. I accessed the Shopping Bag by clicking on the Shopping Bag tab along the bottom. Now, I can print out those fabric choices.

I have clicked on the print tool and am presented with all my fabric choices which you can see in the top diagram. The second image is after using the Zoom tool to check the details. Printing out the Shopping Bag presents a picture of each swatch along with its fabric line name and manufacturer. I can now use that information to search online or take it to my nearest fabric store.

There, I have managed to find just the right fabrics for my quilt from the latest fabric lines between baking two batches of cookies while still in my pajamas. Does it get any better than that?

 
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