Bringing Quilting into the 21st Century?

Answer 1

Creating beautiful and imaginative quilts has been a challenge enjoyed by women for many years. Not just done by women as a hobby, quilting has supplied families with useable creations to display or use for warmth. Quilts can be designed to commemorate such events are weddings and births. For years quilters designed quilts on paper, transferred patterns by hand and hand stitched designs onto their finished quilts. Today, there are several home software programs available to aid you in creating beautiful quilts for you to craft.

Developed in the late 1980’s and 1990’s, home software programs give you the option to create a layout, plan color schemes, calculate yardages of fabric and choose decorative touches to embellish your quilt. Software programs are even available for embroidery machines that stitch the designs that give quilts their signature look. The Quilt Software Network has reviews on some of the most popular home software programs available to quilters.

Electric Quilt 5 features include block drawing and interactive quilt design. You can use this program to design quilts, blocks and preview the color schemes of your quilts. Users of Electric Quilt 5 report that this program is very comprehensive and easy to use.

Block Base, published by Electric Quilt is a home software program that you can use to design quilt blocks. You can switch colors, move blocks around and export blocks you design to other programs.

PC Quiltwas one of the first home software programs available. Since its debut in 1987 it has developed into a user friendly program. Not only does it offer design and color options, PC Quilt gives you the option of working with a split screen. This frees you from having to maximize and minimize screens while using the software. While you work in one half of the screen, the other half is updated with your changes. The program also comes with pre-designed blocks so that you can use.

Quilt Pro 4.0 is the newest version of 1-2-3 Quilt! With new features such as drag and drop, Quilt Pro 4.0 is an excellent program for new and seasoned quilters alike. You can design your quilt in layers, select colors and fabrics. You also have the option to design your own quilt blocks or choose from pre-designed blocks that come with the program.

Sew Precise with Shirley Liby is a program geared toward paper piecing enthusiasts. Not only does it have the ability to help you design your quilt, but Ms. Liby has included many tips and information about quilting into the program.

STASH is a home software program that has hundreds of real fabric patterns scanned into it. With STASH you can see exactly what your quilt will look like as you choose from the many fabric combinations available.

These programs are just a few of the many available. Like all hobbies, quilting is undergoing constant change as new technologies become available. Fons & Porter’s website is a goldmine of information. They have pages you can access for free and they offer a video library for only $19.95 a year that gives you access to all of their instructional videos and television programs. A Google search will reveal many more sites that offer free quilting designs and home software programs for you to purchase.