Ask EQ! - October 2008
Technical questions answered this month by EQ the Mouse
Q: Just who are you Mr. Mouse?
A: Thank you for asking. I am the official EQ Mascot. I have held this position since a winter night in 1993 when Penny noticed me running across her desk and hired me on the spot. At that time the EQ headquarters was housed in the basement of the Neumann/McMorris residence. I had come in from the woods for a bit of warmth and to see if Penny had left lunch crumbs behind. She took me by surprise, we both screamed, then she invited me to join the technical support department of Sara, Andrea and Penny.
So my job is to collect questions from you and to answer them, at times with their help. Do you have a question? If so, send it to the Tech Support email address (techsupport@electricquilt.com). Subject: Ask EQ. I'll answer your question, and you may see it in one of my columns.
October 2008 note from EQ the Mouse: I loved my “Mouse Hunt” contest, and I love all who entered! Congratulations to all the winners:
First Place: D. Kathy Willis, who found all 27 places where I hid my picture.
Second Place: Barbara Sokol
Third Place (1): Kari Bauer
Third Place (2): Sara Weber
Q: What do I do about an error 42 when installing EQ6 on Vista?
This error 42 is Vista's way of asking you for more permission. Here's what to do:
Hold down SHIFT and right-click the red and white EQ6 icon on your computer desktop.
Choose Run As Administrator.
Choose to Allow this.
Now continue with the activation.
Q: When printing, what does “Finished block size” mean?
Finished block size means the size of the block after it has been joined to the other blocks in the quilt. In other words, the finished block size is the size the block will be when the quilt is finished.
Q: Is there a way to scan quilt stencil patterns into EQ6?
You can scan quilt stencil designs. But that does not turn your scanned image into a stencil you can use in EQ6. A stencil can only be created by drawing the design in EQ6. Scanning only creates an image. That image is one that you can use in a variety of ways in EQ6:
1) You can use the image as you would a photo. For example, if you scanned a quilt block, or a photo, you might want to see what that real scanned quilt block would look like in your quilt, or what a photo would look like, if you were making a photo quilt. For either of these uses of an image, you would import the scan by importing it as if it were a photo. See page 138 in the EQ6 User Manual. You would import the image from inside the Photo Library.
2) You can use the image as you would a fabric. For example, if you wanted to scan fabric and use it to color with. To do this you would import the scan by importing it as a fabric. Again, see page 138. You would import the image from inside the Fabric Library.
3) You can use the image to help you draw the block, motif or stencil you want. You Import for Tracing, so you can see the image beneath the drawing worktable to help you draw. Then, looking at your scanned image, you draw your block, motif, or in your case, stencil. See page 262 – 264.
Q: I have EQ6 and my friend has EQ5. Is there a way for me to share my project designs with her?
You can export a block or quilt file and email it to your friend so she can see what you're working on. But there is no way she can use your EQ6 project. That's because EQ6 has new tools that create files that EQ5 would have no way of reading—since these tools do not exist in EQ5.
It is possible to make programs "backward compatible," meaning old files (such as EQ3, EQ4 and EQ5 files) can be read by newer (EQ6) programs. But it is not possible to make our programs "forward compatible" because when we programmed EQ5 we had no idea what tools would be in EQ6 as they did not exist yet.
So people who have not upgraded to EQ6 can only use EQ3, EQ4 or EQ5 project files. People who have EQ6 can use EQ3, EQ4, EQ5 or EQ6 project files.
Q: I've heard you can make a quilt label in EQ6, but I can't figure out how. How?
It's really easy. You use the Set Applique Text tool to type your message on a plain quilt layout, then print it.
The Set Applique Text tool is one of those tools that is not on the toolbar by default. So you need to add it to the toolbar to use it.
To add the Set Applique Text tool:
1 Be on the QUILT worktable.
2 Right-click the right-hand toolbar > click Add/Remove Buttons > click to put a check in front of the Set Applique Text tool if it is unchecked.
This tool works on Layer 2 only. See pages 172 – 173 in the EQ6 User Manual for all the info on this tool.
To make a label:
1 Click QUILT > New Quilt > Horizontal (or, if you are sure you want a plain white background behind your label words, you can use Custom Set and skip to step 4 below).
2 Click the Layout tab. Make the number of blocks 1 hor and 1 ver. You want one large block. No sashes.
3 Click the Paintbrush tool. Unless you want a white background, choose a color for the background of your label and color it. (You cannot color the background in this way if you have a Custom Set quilt layout.)
4 Still in the Fabrics palette, choose a solid color for your text. This is the color in which your typed words will appear as you type.
5 Click Layer 2.
6 Click the Set Applique Text tool.
7 See page 172 in your EQ6 User Manual and start at step 3 to type the words you want on your label.
Also, read through the notes on page 173 which tell you how to recolor, align, or change the text and much more.
After you've typed your words, you may want to finish your label with a beautiful border. It's easy to use the Set Auto Borders tool for this. (Another tool not on the toolbar by default—add it.) Click Layer 1. Then see page 192 for full instructions.
When you print, because you're printing a quilt, the “label” will print as large as it can on the page. If you want it smaller, increase the size of your margins, or export the “label quilt” to Word and print it from there in whatever size you'd like.
For more on creating a label in EQ6 see the video on this. In EQ6 click VIDEOS > Simple Tasks > Making a Quilt Label. (Notice there is also a video there on “Using Auto Borders.”)
Q: I have designed an appliqué block and I would like to know how I can copy and paste one of the flowers from an EQ6 appliqué block onto my new block.
First, have both blocks in your Sketchbook:
Block A: the block you want to copy the design from
Block B: the block you want to paste the copied design onto
1 Click View Sketchbook to open the Sketchbook
2 Click "Block A" > then click the Edit button. This sends "Block A" down to the worktable.
3 Select the flower motif you want to copy. To do this, click the Pick tool, then either drag a select box all around the part of the design you want, OR, hold down your keyboard SHIFT key as you click on each patch in the design you want. By the end of this step you must have all the design you want selected, and only that part.
4 Click EDIT > Copy. (You won't see anything happen.)
5 Click View Sketchbook to open the Sketchbook again.
6 Click "Block B" > then click the Edit button. This sends "Block B" down to the worktable.
7 Click EDIT > Paste. The design you copied from "Block A" will now be on "Block B." While it's still selected, drag it into place where you want it.
8 Click Add to Sketchbook to save it.
Q: How do I name my project? I think I'm naming it, but when I print it always says “Unnamed.”
There is a difference between naming a project and naming a quilt or block.
Naming a project is like naming a file folder that might have any number of quilts or blocks in it, each with a different name.
It is the name of the block or quilt (not the project name) that appears on your printout.
To name a block or quilt, open the Sketchbook, display the block or quilt you want to name, click the Notecard button and type the name. You will then see the name of your quilt or block on your printout.
See page 123 in the EQ6 User Manual for pictures, and more information about naming.
Q: I'm trying to download the Moda fabrics from this page on the Web but I don't get how to do it. Help Mr. Mouse!
I'm on it!
The Moda zipped folder contains .jpg files. These are not files made up into a Library for you, which is what you get when we have a Library file download. They are just individual .jpg files, scanned for you. You need to create a library space for the Moda fabrics, then add them to your library space. Here's how:
1 First unzip the file. Find the Moda zipped fabric file you downloaded > double-click to open it > and choose Extract all files.
2 Next, see pages 143 and 144 in the EQ6 User Manual for setting up a Library and style or styles for the Moda fabrics. You can choose the number of styles you'd like. This gets your My Library ready for the fabric.
3 Now, import the fabric:
Click LIBRARIES > Fabric Library > Import > From Image Files and import the fabric by browsing to find the unzipped folder containing the fabric, opening it, then selecting the individual files you want.
Important Note: On this box, if you click the very last symbol at the top-right you can choose to see thumbnails of all the files. This is *very* handy here, because some of the .jpgs are not of scanned fabric. They may be of photos of stacks of fabric, and other things you will not want to import.
You can look through the fabrics, find the "photos" you don't want, click to select them, then press your keyboard Delete key to delete them.
Once you know that everything left is a fabric you want to import, click the first file, to select it. Now hold down your keyboard CTRL key + your A key (CTRL + A) to select all.
Click Open to import. You'll now be on the Import tab. The first fabric is automatically selected for you.
Use CTRL + A to select them all >click Copy.
Click My Library > Open the Library and click on one of the styles you just made. Make sure the style is open.
Click Paste to paste the fabric into your My Library style.
Click Save Library.
You've just built your own library style of Moda fabrics.
Do you have a question? Send it to Ask
the Mouse (techsupport@electricquilt.com).
