Adobe Illustrator

Well now… I sure didn’t know how easy some tasks were in Illustrator.  It’s amazing once one puts their mind to learning this program.  I’ve dabbled in AI quite a bit for doing some minor things.  In the past, I’ve designed ads, logos, forms and other items for my other business, but it was always mind boggling to be able to do certain things.  I really have never used it for quilt design, but boy oh boy was I missing out.

I’ve had EQ8 since the first version.  I’ve always used it to design my own quilts.  It is very easy to use.  On the fly, one can design a quilt very quickly and now I’m finding it’s a great tool to use in conjunction with AI.  I had no idea I could bring my EQ8 blocks into AI as vector images.  Well, there’s a few steps to make that happen, but once done, the sky is the limit as to placement of those blocks.  

This is a sample of what AI is capable of creating.  The log cabin block was brought into AI.  I then quickly distributed the blocks on rotation and added these shapes to make it easier to piece.  The main block now will be the log cabin block looking like it’s on-point, but it’s actually a long cabin square in a square.  By making it a square in a square, the piecer will have an easier time assembling the quilt with no Y seams.  I had a hard time trying to do this in EQ8.  They do have a layout similar to what I’ve just created, but it would have created Y seams and I really want my patterns to be easy and Y seams are NOT my idea of a fun time.  This design is in it’s infancy, but I’m loving what the possibilities are with these two programs talking to each-other. 

Now back to the writing process with some other designs.  Until next time…. happy quilting!