Even a Novice EQ6er Can Design

Since I really had no idea what I was going to use for the backing on the cat quilt for BFF J, I used my EQ6 (Electric Quilting 6) several times on this project.

The quilt kit that I used to get the panels for the front came with backing for the panels in the cat pattern on turquoise, but there was not enough to back the quilt top I designed using the panels. I actually tried to order more of the turquoise fabric for the back, but when the order arrived it was the cat pattern on purple. (That happens sometimes with colors on computers I was told by the company). When I tried to find the turquoise, every internet shop I called, and all the quilt shops I visited were either out and didn't know if they would get more, or they never carried it.

After some hesitation on my part to give up on finding the material I needed, I decided to try to get a design using EQ6. Now I admit that I haven't read the book that came with the software, or watched the videos, so it is hit and miss for me to use this wonderful software, but I was able to come up with many designs and color them in with the fabrics I had before deciding I didn't like any of the designs I had chosen. They just weren't giving me the "feeling."

Then BFF and I went shopping one day because I decided I wanted several different fabrics that coordinated with the quilt top for the back, even if I still hadn't decided on a final pattern. I figured 1/4 yard of each fabric would do, and I bought 15 different fabrics. I also knew I would have to coordinate the transition fabric from the front to the back by carrying on the richness of the front, but not over powering the back, or allowing the back to make the front look cheap. I knew in my head what I needed but it took a lot of shopping to find "the fabric." Once again I didn't know how much to buy, so I went with 1 yard. Then everything sat on the shelf, with no plan, no pattern, nothing, until BFF was looking through one of my new quilt magazines one day and mentioned how much she liked a particular pattern. I did not tell her at that time, because I had to read the directions, but I was pretty sure the back design had been decided.

The problem then became how to make the back the same size as the front. Adding blocks did not work due to the size of the blocks. Yes, I could have worked on resizing all the blocks and working it out, but that was more math than I cared to do for anyone, family, Sis, BFF, or the girls, and I don't know how to do that on EQ6. In the end, I made the blocks, and decided to make it work with the use of borders.

I pulled up the EQ6, drew out my block, put it into a quilt, colored the quilt with the fabrics that the oldest scanned in and then worked it all out from there. Then I checked the fabric yardage needed in what I designed, and I was ready to sew.

Once the borders are on, the back of the cat quilt should resemble something like this:

One of these days I will probably sit down and really learn all the ins and out of this software, but for now I have figured out enough to know that I will be pretty happy with the cat quilt back when it is completed, despite the fact that 2 black paw prints touch.