Quiltpro For The Mac

Now anyone can easily design quilts with Quilt-Pro Version 5 for Macintosh. Our premium quilt design software gives you the creative freedom to design any quilt you can imagine! Create quilts with 8 different layout styles. Draw your own blocks with 4 drawing grids. Includes over 1500 foundation and traditional pieced blocks. Quilt-Pro 6 for Windows, easy to use quilting software for FREE Get Deal Quilt-Pro has two types of screens, one for drawing blocks or quilts and one for automatic quilt layout. Quilt-Pro has the ability to have multiple screens for both the Block and Quilt Layout open at the same time (see example.).

• Quilt Pro For The Macy S

Quilt Pro 5 for Mac OS X - First Lookby Christina HollandIt’sbeen a while – probably 6 years or more – since I last used Quilt-Pro. In thattime, I’ve converted to full-time Macintosh use. I bought myself a handy littleMac laptop, running the latest operating system, OS X (10.4, aka 'Tiger'). I’vebeen designing my own quilts in the meantime, but to do so, I’ve had to run theElectric Quilt software on (gasp) my husband’s PC.I’d really like to have quilt designsoftware on my Mac.

It’s the computer I use every day, the lightweight laptop Itake everywhere with me. Shouldn’t I be able to do my quilt designing there,too?I was glad to see a version of Quilt-Procome out for Mac OS X, but I had reservations. On the one hand, Mac usersdesperately need a quilt design program that runs natively on the OS X operatingsystem. On the other hand, the old version for the Mac (under OS 9) was clunkyand crashed a lot. So how does Quilt-Pro 5 for the Mac stack up?Well,it’s a lot more robust than I remember. I opened it up and designed three smallquilts, with several original blocks. I had them all open at once, and it nevercrashed.

So that’s good.You can design your quilt with as manyblocks as you like, in any size and configuration. Quilt-Pro has automaticselections under “quilt: layout” for quilts with either one repeating block oralternating between two blocks, or you can set it to “sampler” and place eachblock individually as you like it.The block design tool took me a few minutesto figure out. I thought if I drew lines dividing the block into sections, Icould then dump color into each section. Doing it that way dumpsone color over the whole block. In fact, you have to use the shape tools(triangle, rectangle, etc.) to define the areas, and then put color in each one.This makes me wonder what the point of being able to draw lines is.

Maybe youcan use the lines to sketch it out for yourself, and then overlay the shapes? Ireally don’t know.Overall, the block tool works prettysmoothly, although I couldn’t get the shapes or lines to place at anythingsmaller than ¼ inch measurements (so, for instance, I couldn’t make a strip ¾inch wide within a small block). That may be a preference setting I wasn’t ableto locate, though. Once you have your block done, you can click to close thewindow, and it will prompt you to save your block.Then, there’s a button on the toolbar to letyou place your new block, or one of a multitude from the block library, ontoyour quilt.Here’sthe main thing that bothered me about this product: there are way too manywindows. Every button you push, you first get a little pop-up message in a newwindow telling you which button you just pushed. You have to click past that(although fortunately the first time any particular message pops up, it offersyou the option of “never tell me that again”) and then your selection opens up,in a new window, of course.The problem is, I’m working on a laptop. Ihave a 12” screen.

There’s not a lot of real estate for so many windows. You’vegot your quilt window, your block design window, your color pallet, yourtoolbox, your fabric store, etc. They’re going to overlap, and some are probablygoing to get hidden. Now, the Macintosh OS X operating system has a solution forthat, called “Expose.” You just push the F9 button, and all the windows sort ofslide apart and get small enough that you can see what’s what, and when youclick on the window you want, they all go back to full size but with thepreferred window in front.Unfortunately,Quilt-Pro doesn’t play nice with Expose. Push F9, and you get only the mainwindow for whatever quilt projects you have open, and none of the ancillarywindows.

So if you’ve mislaid the toolbox, for instance, you have to startdigging around and minimizing windows until it resurfaces. Not handy.If Expose is too hard to program in, and Ican see that it might be, a nice alternative might have been opening up new tabson the main window, instead of a new window for everything.Still, Quilt-Pro 5 is robust and fairlyversatile. It will let you have several different quilt projects open at once.It’ll calculate the yardage you need of each fabric and let you either printthat information or just see it on the screen.Best of all, it’ll run on your Mac.!(c)Copyright 1995-2012 by The Virtual Quilt Company. All rights reserved.Four Wheel Drive for yourMachine!TheTutto Machine-on-Wheels is the strongest, most lightweight, and mostergonomically friendly of sewing machine luggage choices!and check out the wide assortment ofsizes and colors (and great prices) for this highly maneuverable carrier fortaking your sewing machine across town or around the world!Visit our sister sites.

By Vicki TymczyszynI have just had the fun–and privilege!– of testing the new Quilt-Pro V. 6 quilt design software. (Note: V.6 is for Windows, but there’s also V.5 for Mac users.)So, full disclosure here: I have played with and used EQ since it was a baby, back in the days of EQ5, and I have recently purchased the upgrade for EQ8. I’m reasonably adept at computerized quilt design. I’m also an architect, and have logged many hours on AutoCad software.Because I have used both programs–agreed, I am more familiar with EQ–I’d like to discuss some of the advantages of Quilt-Pro by comparing it to my past experiences.Both systems have block libraries, but Quilt-Pro has expanded that notion into specific border and quilt libraries, as well. The border libraries are awesome!

I think you could find one for almost any quilt you could imagine, and if you couldn’t, you could use one of these as a jumping-off point to design your own. In EQ, you need to create blocks that match your border sizes and then insert them. So, there might be a bit more drawing with EQ.But let’s get back to the block libraries. Quilt-Pro has included some very basic block units.

Let’s look at some that I have saved with my favorites:By using these basic units, I created four different, yet similar, blocks. I think you can see how the possibilities are endless. (Watch the clock, you might be at your computer playing for a very long while.)Changing the size of the blocks or units is super-easy, too. Just go back into the Block Wizard and change the size from 4 to 12 or back again, depending on whether you are using these simple blocks as filler or alternate blocks, or as a unit in a larger quilt block.Once you are satisfied with your block design, start playing with the quilt layout. Again you have plenty of choices, including a random design.

(Great for you modern designers out there.)I know a random design is possible with other quilt design programs, but you will have lots more drawing to do before you can get to that point than you would with Quilt-Pro. If you’re familiar with other drawing programs, such as AutoCad, Adobe Illustrator, etc., you may see some similarities with Quilt-Pro. I am well-versed at doing line drawings with EQ, but with Quilt-Pro, when you draw blocks, I found it is best to use shapes. This way they are already enclosed spaces and you can color them easily.

I drew some blocks rather than use the block library to test out the Quilt-Pro drawing capabilities and it didn’t take long to get the shape I needed by manipulating the triangles. Pretty fun!This design was colored using some of the fabrics already in the fabric gallery. It is organized by pattern, color or manufacturer.

Quilt Pro For The Macy S

There are plenty to choose from, including solids, but I suspect it is easy to add more of your own from downloading of websites or importing a photo.The quilt above has a simple border, but look what happens when I use one of the borders from their library (see below). This is a setting using alternate blocks, pick your two blocks and bam! Almost done.In these last three shots, I changed the look of the quilt by changing the quilt layout from 1 block without sashing, then adding sashing, then, adding an alternate block setting.

All in a matter of minutes. And now with an alternate block added.I really have just scratched the surface of Quilt-Pro, but I really like what I see. I know enough about the other programs I use to be dangerous and tend to stumble my way around, but this program is pretty intuitive if you know anything about design or drawing programs.

Even if you don’t, your learning curve will be very short.editor’s note: Quilt-Pro Systems also has software specifically for the quilter who wants a simpler way to play around with quilt design. Block Party’s companion modules include 13 different Basics blocks, as well as two Designer modules featuring foundation pieced designs by Carol Doak. To learn more about Block Party, check out theQuilt. Breathe.Vicky Tymczyszyn is a prolific and lifelong quilter, teacher, designer and former technical editor of Generation Q Magazine. With the X-ray vision of an architect (she actually is one), Vicki can pretty much look at a block or sewn item and almost always improve its construction method. She was also sewing cosplay before cosplay was cool, having created many complex techie costumes for her now-grown children.

Her creative center of operations is Moorpark, California, where she lives with pilot husband Jym, a few dogs and many, many yards of fabric.