I absolutely love the EQ8 design software, and had a blast just playing around in the program with prefabricated quilt blocks. My favourite part of all of it, fabric selection. If you are on the fence about designing your own quilts, take the plunge and have some fun while learning how to do it!

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is how do I design my quilts?? And the answer is, EQ8!!!! I can’t imagine doing what I do without it. The program is very user friendly and was easy to learn. I love that I can be inspired by something and easily sit at my computer and sketch up a quilt in minutes. And being able to then add fabric choices allows me to see exactly what my quilt will look like before I make a single cut. This tool has just become invaluable and I use it everyday in my quilt designing!!!

EQ8 is an integral part of my design process and simplifies the process so much! I love being able to see digital mockups of my projects before cutting a single piece and I enjoy being able to draft my ideas multiple times until I get it just right. Now that I design fabric, I can upload my fabric files into EQ8 to see how they’ll play in certain blocks. It’s one of the most important tools in my “designer toolbelt” and I couldn’t recommend it enough!

I have been using EQ 7 for about 8 years now and love it!!! I can’t imagine doing what I do without it. But I will admit, I have been hesitant to upgrade to the new EQ8 because I assumed there would be that whole learning curve time of figuring out a new program. Well, I can say now, I totally should not have hesitated because I finally switched over to EQ8 and it is so awesome!!!! I love the new Fabric Library in EQ8!!! Like my favorite Moda Grunge, and Kona Cottons, and Bella Solids and the list goes on. And that whole learning curve I was worried about, silly of me. EQ8 kept the same basic structure of program, they just made it more user friendly. So you can design the same way you did in EQ7, but now the buttons are easier to find and flow with more sense. And what I really love, when I find something new in this program that I have no clue about there are Tips with explanations right below it to explain the new feature to me. So smart!!! So ya, in summary, so glad I made the switch and looking forward to lots more designing!!!

I went back to the website this evening, entered my information, ordered and paid for my upgrade, downloaded EQ8, started it up and had a quick look at what’s new – all in less than an hour! It was such an easy purchase and installation, I am very impressed. I like the quick quilts section, especially the one patch quilts – Hexagons! Lovely.

I absolutely adore my EQ8 and all my add-ons and use it pretty much every single day – so, I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone at The Electric Quilt Company for enhancing my design experience and creating such a quality product – my studio is a happier place because of all of you!! The newsletters, website support, and blog are icing on the cake…

I must congratulate your company on the EQ8 program. I recently upgraded from EQ7, which I found difficult to work with. I almost did not upgrade, assuming I would again have difficulty using the program. I was pleasantly surprised to find EQ8 to be quite user friendly…much more fun…than the older program. It’s very rewarding to be able to produce results quickly without frustration.

I recently purchased the “EQ8 Lessons for Beginners” workbook which has greatly improved my learning curve. I was able to input a quilt design from a magazine which contained several different block sizes, scan in my fabric choices and have a visual of my project within an hour. This gave me the assurance that the quilt would turn out as I had envisioned it to be, and I am confident that I will be able to create my own designs as easily in the future.

I highly recommend EQ8 and “Lessons for Beginners.” Great products!

I’ve used EQ software extensively since it’s earliest days for all my books, patterns, and workshop designs. EQ8 introduces a totally new look and format that’s extremely user friendly. I’ve already started my designing my new projects on it. Thank you EQ for the best update ever!

I love foundation paper piecing design! EQ7 made the process so much easier for me but EQ8 adds features that make the process even more enjoyable. Foundation pattern pieces can be color coded. The foundation sections can be rotated in print preview. Block colorings are undisturbed when a drawing needs to be edited. And when numbering and grouping foundation sections, the window will now accommodate a rectangular block. Lastly, when my quilt top design is mocked up, I can remove the foundation lines from the screen with a single click! I am thrilled with these improvements and look forward to discovering more!

I adore [EQ8] and I wish I’d purchased it years ago. Compared to other graphic design software, like my Bernina machine embroidery software ($2,500 MSRP), Adobe PhotoShop & DreamWeaver web design software (currently sold on a subscription basis for $600 PER YEAR), or the interior design software I use for my work ($497), EQ8 is an unbelievable value for the gold standard quilt design software on the market at under $200. No more guessing whether I should go with a darker or a lighter shade, or wondering if I have enough value contrast in my fabrics for the piecing pattern to stand out in the finished quilt. I find EQ8 very easy to use, and the new interface with v8 is actually a lot MORE intuitive for new users than EQ7 was. The icons and fonts are bigger and easier to find and the cool design tools that you might forget about are right there on your worktable now where you can see them. Obviously users who are upgrading from a previous version will need to take the time to get acquainted with the new interface, but I can get to what I want now with FEWER clicks, without having to hunt around in drop-down menus, and I find that I’m going to the manual LESS frequently now.

I do have some prior experience with other graphic design software programs (which is why I am so SHOCKED by how little EQ8 costs when it can do so much). There are step-by-step lessons included with EQ8 that you can access right from the drop-down menu. They walk you through what you need to know to get started right away. When I bought this program, I taught myself how to use it just from those lessons and from playing around in the software, trying out different tools to see what they do. The Electric Quilt web site offers books for advanced techniques, add on packages (additional block designs or virtual fabrics to design with) and just a WEALTH of educational resources. They are doing step-by-step tutorials on a regular basis now on their blog, too. I’ve only had to contact EQ Tech Support a couple of times when I wanted to design something really weird and outside the norm, but both times I got a response with a detailed solution within 24 hours. So I am a huge, HUGE fan of EQ8, giving me Niemann Marcus quality products and service at Walmart prices!

By the way, you do not even need to learn everything the software can do in order to get your money’s worth out of it. When you buy EQ8, it comes with 6,779 copyright-free blocks included in the Block Library, organized by type for browsing but you can also search by keyword. So if you type in “Ohio Star,” up pops every version of Ohio Star you can imagine. All you have to do is pick one, type in what size block you want, and then you can choose whether you want to print a rotary cutting chart, foundation paper piecing pattern, or old school templates. This software will pay for itself even if the only thing you ever use it for is printing out block patterns, because you will never have to buy a quilt pattern — or buy a book or a magazine to get the pattern — ever again.

Hello EQ!
I just downloaded EQ8. Wow! I am so impressed with the new look. I’ve loved EQ since version 4 and was honored to attend the first Electric Quilt Academy. I love your program. I teach quilt making and especially like teaching my own EQ designed quilts. Congratulations on EQ8!! You’ve done a great job.

The tools palette is great, very easy to read and find what you need with the icon and a short description. The tips under the tools is very helpful, especially for new users with a description and how to use the tools on that palette.
Love the new look of the Sketchbook. So clean and easy to see the blocks and quilts. The ability to resize the Sketchbook windows is wonderful.
The new feature that calculates how many fat quarters required to make a quilt in the yardage calculation makes it so easy to use fat quarter collections or even small amounts of fabric in my stash.
Same wonderful program with a fresh new look and some added features. Easier to use and learn.

My favorite new feature happens to be the new ways fabric can be viewed. It is amazing how easy and fast it is to color a quilt design now that you can actually see a significant piece of the fabric.
The software is a magical pad of graph paper and colored pencils. What used to take hours of sketching and coloring (again and again) is now accomplished in a few clicks of a mouse, leaving more time to actually see your designs come to life. PS. EQ also does all the math for you… now what can be better than that???

Congratulations on your marvelous new EQ8! Just wanted to say “thank you” for making EQ8 so user friendly.
While I am still in the discovery mode, I have found so many improvements that make this design software even easier to use – having access to so many things at the click of a mouse without having to figure out an icon or drop down a menu. I especially appreciate all the changes to the printing module. As a paper piece quilter, I am thrilled with the changes – no more taping foundation paper together. It is worth the cost of the upgrade alone to be able to move sections around to fit on pages that won’t need to be taped together. I did also purchase the Lesson Book for Beginners, although I have been using EQ7 since 2014. It is very well written and most helpful for exploring all the changes. While I seldom write reviews, Electric Quilt has earned a five out five star rating with me!

I just downloaded EQ8 for Mac, upgrading from EQ7. I haven’t had a chance to actually do quilt designing, but had to say “Thank you very much” for this upgrade. You have clearly addressed the one issue that has been the most difficult for me: the interface. Even at first glance, EQ8 is clearly a huge “makeover”, taking advantage of many of the new user support features commonly offered by modern operating systems. I have always loved the functionality of EQ7, and now there is a spiffy interface to match! Thank you very much indeed!

Just want to thank you for a beautiful product. I just opened my upgrade and smiled endlessly. Also downloaded the quick start and the user manual. I have been using EQ since Version 3 and each has been better but you have surpassed all my expectations this time! Got to go now and learn.