Electric Quilt Simplified: A Chat with  Fran Iverson Gonzalez

You may be an inferno of creativity, but Fran Iverson Gonzalez wants you to cool down and learn how to take things step by step. As a teacher for Quilt University and an instructor at the International Quilt Festival, she has seen the rush of adrenaline and the impulsive leaps of highly creative quilters many times. But sometimes one's creative goals can only be realized by the disciplined use of tools like Electric Quilt. Fran's desire to help quilters make their visions into reality prompted her to write Electric Quilt Simplified, one of the most popular add-on products to the core Electric Quilt software.

Fran recently took time to answer a few questions for Planet Patchwork about Electric Quilt, her teaching, and her book.

How did you come to be the author of Electric Quilt Simplified?

By the early '90s, I had been teaching a wide range of quilt classes in the Oklahoma City area for several years and wanted to expand my skills and my class list to include instruction on the new computer-assisted quilt design software that was becoming available.

After experimenting with several programs, I decided that EQ2 was the best and most promising choice. As I worked through the EQ2 manual, however, I realized that my students needed a more familiar approach that was less obviously technical in its presentation. So, I wrote an illustrated, step-by-step tutorial in which I taught them EQ2 from a quilter's perspective by designing a simple 9 Patch quilt. This was the beginning of my series of EQ Simplified books.

After I had written EQ2 Simplified, I called The Electric Quilt company to ask permission to use the screen captures in my tutorial. Penny McMorris, the president of EQ Co., happily agreed and requested a copy. Penny and her husband, EQ creator Dean Neumann, were impressed with EQ2 Simplified and decided to promote it. My husband and I published and distributed EQ2 Simplified and EQ3 Simplified. The Electric Quilt Co. has published and distributed subsequent versions of EQ Simplified. This was great for me, since I wanted to spend my time designing, teaching, and playing with EQ...not printing, packaging, and mailing!

What sorts of common mistakes and assumptions do you see when interacting with new EQ users?

The biggest hurdle for most new EQ5 users is learning to think in a step-by-step fashion through the design process. By nature, quilters are very creative and make many intuitive leaps when concocting a quilt, so they are not used to designing in the series of logical steps that EQ requires. Luckily, quilters are very adaptable, so it usually takes just a slight change in mindset for them to shift to this linear approach.

Also, I've noticed that new EQ users often have very unrealistic expectations during their initial learning phase. They want to be able to design very specific and complex quilts immediately, without investing the time that it takes to learn how to use the more advanced design features in the program. They want to just skip to the chase!

EQ truly is simple enough for a beginner and sophisticated enough for a professional BUT there is a real learning curve. As I tell my online students at Quilt University: patience and practice are essential for learning to use EQ to its fullest extent!

Has anyone ever surprised you with a use for EQ (or design feature, etc) you'd never seen before?

Yes! The two most useful and interesting non-quilting applications that I've seen for EQ have been to plan tile floor layouts and furniture arrangement. I've even had several Quilt University students who have used EQ to recreate complex tile designs that they photographed in old European buildings, which they then translated into fabric!

On a personal level, I used EQ5 to plan my studio layout before moving into our new house a few years ago. My husband was surprised that this was the first room up and running...silly boy! I do have the right priorities. ;)

Electric Quilt comes with a manual, but the EQ Company and its retailers often recommend your book as a companion purchase. What makes EQ Simplified worth the extra investment?

EQ Simplified is an excellent companion to the manuals because it is much more than a series of computer exercises that teach EQ skills. It is a practical, project-oriented tutorial that uses complex, appealing quilt designs to help the user learn EQ through direct application and steady repetition. In all versions of my EQ Simplified books, my intention has been for users to create more than just virtual quilts from my instructions. I also want them to be inspired to actually construct these quilts in real fabric. Over the years, hundreds of EQ Simplified readers have told me that they are more confident in their EQ skills after working through my tutorial. As a result, it is much easier for them to create their own original quilts in EQ...from design to construction!

Much of learning a new piece of software (or any new skill) is simply overcoming the fear of the learning curve and the fear of "messing things up." How does EQ Simplified relieve those anxieties?

EQ Simplified has a gentle, repetitive, and progressive approach that takes the stress out of learning how to use such a powerful design program. The user proceeds step-by-step through a series of quilt projects that build on each other throughout the book, so the learning curve is subtle, gradual, and painless!

What are your favorite improvements in EQ over the last three versions?

EQ just keeps getting better and better! EQ5 contains of all the terrific technical improvements made in previous versions of the program. My favorites change daily...according to my needs...but at the moment they are:

• the new Layout and Palette Libraries that make it so easy to put together a spectacular quilt design

• the automatic backup that has saved my life...and sanity...several times,

• the search feature that helps me to find any design quickly in the vast EQ5 libraries,

• the move and delete options that allow me to customize template and foundation pattern printouts,

• the Symmetry tool that creates 16 exciting, rotated and flipped variations of a basic layout

• the cloning feature that duplicates existing strips and borders easily

• the new strip layout styles that significantly expand my design potential into Bargello and other unique strip quilts, and

• the Rotary Cutting Chart that makes it so much easier to cut strips for block construction.

Is there a feature in EQ you're still waiting for, or a feature that was removed you'd like to see return?

EQ5 has all the tools that I need to make the kind of quilts that I love to design and sew but there are a few little things that I would like to have in the next version. I would like to be able to rotate templates and foundation patterns in Print Preview. Also, I would like the quilt name to appear on the fabric yardage estimate. The fact that I can think of only a couple of small improvements is a true testimonial to how good the program is and how responsive EQ Co. is to our long-term input!

Do you have a favorite EQ accessory product?

Yes, I love the EQ5 Block Book! I use it constantly when trolling the Libraries for inspiration.

What are you working on now?

Now that's a loaded question! The short answer is: way too much! The long answer is:

I'm always working online at Quilt University (www.quiltuniversity.com) since my six EQ5 classes run continually in sequence, throughout the year. Part of my daily routine is answering questions on the current Discussion Forums and editing upcoming classes. I also periodically add to the free EQ5 Glossary, an excellent resource that is available to anyone online, even users who are not enrolled at QU.

For me, Quilt University is a very convenient and totally satisfying venue for teaching EQ. I can give students one-on-one attention on their own computers, in their own time, at their own speed. There is an active Discussion Forum for each class in which I encourage students to ask questions that I answer promptly.

As for future projects, I have an idea percolating for a new design and construction class based on a complex quilt that requires a broad range of EQ5 skills. I did a Mystery quilt similar to this several years ago on EQ's website and it was very popular. It was called EQuinox and it can be viewed on my website: http://home.flash.net/~qltcnfig/Samples/Mystery6.htm

Now, in regard to my actual sewing activities....I'm starting to catch up on my 2000 New Year's resolution to clean up and clean out as many projects as possible. It's only taken five years to actually start making a small dent in my fabric stash! I'm continuing to tackle new projects, as well as finish old ones...after first updating them in EQ5, of course.

I have a real incentive now to finish as many projects as I can. My husband and I have lived in Oklahoma for 20 years, but we are originally from New Orleans. Many of our family members lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, so I'm determined to replace as many of their quilts as possible, as they reestablish or relocate their homes.

You can find Fran Iverson Gonzalez on the web at http://home.flash.net/~qltcnfig/ and at QuiltUniversity.com.

Purchase Electric Quilt Simplified at a discount from the Planet Patchwork Store!