QuiltAssistant is not designed to be a cheap alternative to commercial software like Electric Quilt or Quilt-Pro.It is not geared toward the design of complete block-based quilts, nor does ithave libraries of blocks or fabrics to play with. Instead, it focuses on specific tasks liketurning photos into quilts and quickly drafting quilt blocks or pacer piecing patterns.
The newly designed user interface allows for faster learning and more complete designs compared to previous versions of the software. A customizable workspace, guided designing and helpful tips make it easy to get started right away.
With EQ8, you get 11 Quick Quilt projects with 75 different quilts. This includes t-shirt quilts, quilt labels, traditional designs, table runners and modern designs. You can use these projects as they are, or you can modify them to make them your own.
The software also includes 6,200 new fabrics, which have been scanned, cropped and imported into the Fabric Library. Each fabric includes the line, designer, manufacturer name and the SKU number, which makes it easy to find and purchase the fabric for each project.
Does anybody have a good recommendation for quilt designing software for a Mac? I have no idea what to choose and would love some insight. I'd like to design wonky blocks and quilts with non traditional layouts.... any suggestions? Thanks so much!
4:39AM, 8 August 2011 PST(permalink)
You can do much worse than using a powerful bitmap graphics program like gimp or Photoshop (I use gimp because it's free, but it essentially covers the Photoshop territory). I imagine Adobe Illustrator would be even better, though I'm not a user of it. Where these approaches are limited is that it's tricky to simulate various types of scrappy combinations. However, if you've got blocks on a wall, you can very easily take a photograph copy sections into layers, and rearrange them.
If I wanted to buy EQ, I'd use VMware Fusion to run it (and I have every reason to think it would work perfectly, on an intel mac) - but, that's power user territory, for sure.
(It sounds to me like one of the draws of EQ, is that it'll give you yardage and cutting lists... and I'm totally uninterested in that. Perhaps if you have more detail on the design problem that you're trying to solve, we can find you more specific suggestions?)
ages ago(permalink)
I used to solely use pencil and paper, but have now switched to Adobe Illustrator and wish I had done that sooner! (I skill sketch though too, but primarily design in Illustrator). I realize that Illustrator doesn't have quilting features, but it works for me to be able to create blocks, duplicate/rearrange/color/change quickly how I like. I've even created templates in illustrator. There's a very big learning curve to illustrator though. Maybe EQ will come out with a Mac version soon. Maybe we should all suggest that to them!
ages ago(permalink)
I use a little program called OmniGraffle to design quilts on a mac. It's function is more like Visio but it works great for me to do design.
I considered designing a quilt design program for the iPad/iPhone, I write software requirements for a living, figured I could put that skill to use! I guess I should add a mac version. : )
ages ago(permalink)
I'm bumping this. I have a Mac and I also have Photoshop CS5. Would it even be worth it for me to buy EQ or Quilt Pro? Are there any good tutorials on designing quilts on photoshop?
ages ago(permalink)
I have a mac and CS5 too and I own Quilt Pro and EQ6 and have never really used it. I played with it.. but its not part of "process"
I used to do a style of CAD for CMOS layout at a Processor maker in real life and Quilt Pro is a very basic stripped down version of ancient CAD software. which was so hard for me to use - I can draw faster.
I had intended to investigate architectural software as an alternative but went back to pen /pencil.
I dont design or write patterns for others and really really dont want to sit and compute my quilts. .
I really like sewing and designing more on the fly. I feel like I can tell quilts that are "produced" by software. Its not my favorite look.
ages ago(permalink)
Thanks Rachel, for the input. I am definitely design more on the fly, too and be hands on (with clothing, I prefer draping, to flat patterning), so maybe I'll just stick with my CS5 and pen and paper and not worry about spending money on a quilt program.
ages ago(permalink)
This thread is old at this point, but having JUST gone through this whole agonizing ordeal I might as well put in my 2 cents for anyone who stumbles upon this in the future. Please note that these are just my humble opinions!!
I am a Certified Mac Technician (aka Apple Genius, except I work for a school rather than store). I have a 2011 27" iMac. I use VMWare Fusion to run Electric Quilt 7 and have absolutely zero problems. The idea that running virtualizations on a Mac is buggy died several years ago, although I will say VMWare definitely does a better job than Parallels.
I bought EQ7 because I've been using the free software Quilt Assistant to make paper pieced patterns and wanted something with better output/layout options. Turns out EQ7 isn't much better than QA for paper piecing, and in order to make the layouts look really nice you really need to output them to Illustrator to further edit them. Had I realized this I would have just stuck with QA and illustrator since I do actually already have it and use it frequently. I honestly think anyone who has a decent grasp on using Illustrator would be fine to use it for quilt design, but it also doesn't have the fabric and block library that EQ7 has, and therein lies the advantage. The built in tools specific to designing QUILTS. The fabrics, premade blocks, yardage and cutting guides. Those are the things that make EQ7 a worthwhile purchase compared to Illustrator.
At this point I own, and use regularly: EQ7, Quilt Assistant, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe InDesign.
So here's my personal software recommendations depending on user goals:
Simple quilt patterns only, just for personal use - try Quilt Assistant first, upgrade to EQ7 if affordable and desired
Making your own paper piecing patterns, just for personal use- Quilt Assistant only
Making quilt patterns to sell, regular piecing only - EQ7 + InDesign (or other layout design software)
Making paper piecing patterns to sell - Quilt Assistant + Illustrator + InDesign, using illustrator to do large quilt repetition images and traditionally pieced block design instead of EQ7.
Illustrator is for editing the actual pattern pieces, changing fonts, rotating template pieces, etc, and InDesign is for writing the pattern. I prefer InDesign because it automatically sizes template pieces accurately the first time, no resizing or un-resizing needed. Lots of software can be used to write a pattern, I just prefer InDesign the most. You could also try Word, OpenOffice, Pages (but be careful because Pages resizes your images if they're high dpi and you'll have to un-resize them, which can make for wonky paper pieced blocks if you're not 100% accurate! This little problem is what drove me to switch to InDesign.)
ages ago(permalink)
I would LOVE more information about using Illustrator for writing quilt patterns! And how you take images out of EQ8. I am pretty good at designing in EQ8, but how and what to use out of it to write a pattern would be great! I am actullay just finalizing the first pattern I would love to write!
This is the push I needed! I have only been quilting for a few short years but keep dreaming about designing my own patterns. I received a Flourish planner for Christmas from my sister in law and have been planning how to design and share patterns. One in my mini goals has been researching EQ8 and have been waiting for a sale or code and this was it. Thanks for sharing Elizabeth and hope the course has enough interest.
The Block Library is full of over 6,700 pre-drawn designs ready for you to use in your quilt designs. Use these blocks as they are, or edit them to add your own touch. Use existing blocks to create completely new ones with the Serendipity feature!
In this article, we consider all the tiny things a wide range of embroiderers with different ideas, designs, and execution look at when choosing embroidery software, to present a list that covers a wide range of needs and capabilities.
Embroidery software can help you edit your designs (colors, parts, sizes, merges, etc.), add complex graphics (symbols, letters, various shapes), quilt, and store your designs and design ideas. It simplifies how you access, share, and use the embroidery designs you create.
If you love designing your own quilts, then using a software application is really the way to go. It will streamline the process but more importantly, it will allow you to view different color and fabric variations as well as different quilt designs with just a few clicks of your mouse.
The Block Library contains 10 different quilt block categories that include over 6000 different quilt blocks. You can use these blocks to help design your quilt or you can select one and make changes to it.
d0d94e66b7