Quilt Design Made Easy
Written: Jul 19 '02 (Updated Oct 12 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use, extensive block and fabric choices, prints templates, calculates needed fabric yardage
Cons: sometimes my personal fabric library doesn't display correctly, search & scan features could be better
The Bottom Line: Quilt-Pro has changed the way I design quilts. I can't imagine not having this program! It's as important to my sewing as fabric and thread.
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| dlstewart's Full Review: Quilt-Pro Version 4 |
A thoughtful friend gifted me with Quilt-Pro version 3. I loved the software so much that I upgraded to Quilt-Pro version 4. I’m very glad I did.
What is Quilt-Pro?
Quilt-Pro is a software program that allows the user to create quilt blocks or entire quilts on the computer. Using pallets of fabric swatches (the program comes with a huge assortment) it is easy to customize the quilt blocks from the built-in library. Just choose a quilt block, click an area in the quilt block, and then click a fabric … presto! It’s better than a coloring book. It is simple to create quilt blocks from scratch and to combine quilt blocks, sashing and borders into a finished quilt. Another plus is that it is easy to print templates for the quilt blocks, and the program will calculate how much fabric is needed to create the quilt. Quilt Pro is an excellent environment to experiment with design and color before cutting fabric.
The User’s Guide
The Quilt-Pro program comes with a paperback User’s Guide (223 pages) printed in black and white (no color diagrams but the book is fine without them). The Table of Contents reads as follows:
Installing Quilt-Pro – page 1
Upgrading from Version 3 to Version 4 – page 3
What’s New in Version 4 – page 5
Getting Started – page 7
Lesson 1 (creating a quilt) – page 19
Lesson 2 (paint blocks, flip blocks and add a pieced border) – page 27
Lesson 3 (printouts for sewing your quilt) – page 33
Lesson 4 (drawing a block with patches) – page 39
Lesson 5 (draw block with “rotary cutter” tool) – page 53
How To Guide:
Quilts – page 57
Blocks – page 107
Patches & Drawing – page 131
Foundation Blocks – page 155
Templates – page 161
Pieced Borders & Sashes – page 167
Fabrics & Colors – page 171
File Management – page 197
Miscellaneous Features – 209
Index – page 219
Just How Easy is Quilt-Pro to Use?
The entire program comes on a single CD and is simple to install. The User’s Guide offers step-by-step instructions on each facet of the program. Quilt-Pro version 4 also comes with a built-in “Quilt-Pro Assistant” to make using the program even easier. Rest the cursor on an item in the menu or tool pallet, and the Assistant explains how to use it. When I first learned to use Quilt-Pro (version 3), even though I am an experienced computer user, I needed the book to understand the basics of constructing a quilt on the computer. After a few tries (and mistakes), I found the program easy to use. I wish Quilt-Pro version 3 had included that assistant!
To help you begin a project, Quilt-Pro version 4 offers two Quilt Wizards to assist in speedy quilt creation. The Quilt Wizard is a utility in which you can create a quilt by choosing the size of your blocks, how many blocks, the layout (straight blocks, diagonal blocks, blocks “on point”, hexagonal or baby blocks), sashing, up to ten borders and binding. The Block Wizard enables you to customize the on-screen workspace to create blocks. Quilt-Pro also offers “rotary cutting” instructions for blocks that can be cut using this technique. With over 1,000 blocks to choose from, as well as sashing variations and straight or on-point settings, the design possibilities are extensive. The program works in three layers so that it is easy to view pieced blocks, appliqué blocks and the final quilt stencil (over 50 quilt stencils are included – or design your own) to see how the quilt will look when finished. The layers allow the designer to make changes to each layer without disturbing the work on the other layers of the quilt.
The “drag and drop” technique is also available to design quilts. From the quilt block library, click on a block and drag it into the design grid. Drag a variety of blocks onto the grid to create a Sampler Quilt. If you wish to customize a fabric pallet, use the “drag and drop” technique to move fabrics from the fabric library into a new fabric pallet. Just give the new fabric pallet a name and save it for future use. It’s also a snap to alter the color of fabrics in the fabric pallet and to customize colors or create color gradations for a hand-dyed look.
Selecting fabrics to customize quilt blocks is as simple as pointing and clicking. Select a pointing device from the tool bar. One pointer (a solid white arrow) will change one piece in the block at a time. Another pointer (an rainbow-colored arrow) changes all the same fabric in a block with one click on the fabric pallet. For instance, I have opened a quilt block that I want to color in red, blue and gold fabrics. I click on a pointer (the solid white arrow) in the tool bar then click a piece in the quilt block. Next I click on a fabric in the fabric pallet (ex: a red floral). Ta Da! The piece I had clicked in the quilt block now shows the red floral fabric. Using the solid arrow pointer, I can singly click each piece in the quilt block and assign different (or the same) fabrics to each one. If I had colored ten pieces in the block with the same blue fabric, I could select the rainbow-colored pointer, click one of the blue fabrics in the quilt block, then click a different fabric from the color pallet (ex: a gold check). All the blue pieces are now changed to the gold check. Quilt design made easy!
Another wonderful feature is the Search option. Click on “File” from the drop-down menu and then “Search”. You can search for blocks, borders, fabrics, quilts and sashes by a variety of file types. Enter a keyword (such as Log Cabin) and the program will search by any word, all words or the exact phrase. It is also possible to have Quilt-Pro search outside the Quilt-Pro program, which is very useful if you have created blocks or quilts and saved them to a different directory or on a computer disk. While the program searches, it appears as if nothing is happening on the computer (it would be nice to have an icon or ruler indicating that the machine is working – the cursor doesn’t even change shape). But when the search is finished, the results are displayed pictorially and by name and location. I love this handy feature.
What I Create with Quilt-Pro
I do a lot of foundation piecing (also known as “paper piecing”). To do foundation piecing, a quilt block pattern is printed on an ordinary 8 ½” x 11” piece of paper. Each section in the block is numbered starting with the number one and using sequential numbers until all the block pieces are numbered. The block is sewn in the order of the numbers. (For instance, a Log Cabin Courthouse Step block has 17 sections comprised of rectangles and squares. These sections would be labeled starting with the number one and ending with the number 17.) The sewer then applies the first fabric to the area numbered “one” (sewing through both fabric and paper), the next piece of fabric is sewn to section two, and so on in numerical order, using a “sew and flip” method until the block is completed. Using this method allows greater sewing accuracy, produces sharp corners and allows the quilter to easily sew with tiny pieces of fabric.
For example:
I decide to create a paper-piece block that is 4-inches square. I choose the block I want to print by clicking on “File” from the drop-down menu, and then click “Open” then click “Block”. Now I choose the quilt block from the block library. After selecting the quilt block, I decide to print the block as a foundation pattern. I click “File” from the drop-down menu, and then click “Print Foundation”. A new screen opens that shows the block and offers options to customize the block. I can print the block any size I desire. When I choose to print the block as a 4-inch square, the program lets me know that two patterns will fit on one piece of 8 ½” x 11” paper. I can also choose from these options: flip the block vertically or horizontally, print a mirror-image of the block, print the numbers in each section of the block, draw dashed lines or thick lines. I choose how many copies to print. Once I’ve chosen my options, I press the “Print” button. If I need help, there is a “Help” button. A preview button offers a view of the block before printing.
I have also used Quilt-Pro to design entire quilts before I touch real fabric. In this way, I can switch colors and fabrics, and arrange design elements such as blocks, sashing, borders, settings, sizing … the possibilities are only limited by one’s imagination. Quilt-Pro offers free online downloads of additional blocks and fabric swatches, too. If you want to work with your own fabric stash, the program allows you to scan your fabrics and import them into Quilt-Pro. (I haven’t had much luck scanning my fabrics. The colors don’t scan “true” and look nothing like the actual fabric. For me, it’s easier to use the library of fabric swatches, which are snippets of real fabrics by well-known manufacturers. The downloadable fabric swatches include current lines by manufacturers such as Benartex, Cranston, Debbie Mumm, Hoffman, Kaye Wood, RJR, Timeless Treasures and many more.)
I have also printed blocks to create templates for cutting fabric. A “Template Wizard” walks one through the process of creating templates. After selecting a quilt block, the first step is to choose the finished size of the quilt block. Next, an image shows the unique pieces in the template. You can choose to label the individual templates as “A”, “B”, “C”, etc. If desired, the templates will also print with grain lines. The default seam allowance added is ¼-inch, but this can easily be adjusted to whatever seam allowance size is needed. Preview the templates, and then select the “Print” button to print them.
Why Upgrade to Quilt Pro Version 4?
Here are my primary reasons for upgrading:
1. In Version 3, I could only open one fabric pallet at a time. Version 4 offers the option of opening and using more than one fabric pallet for a project. Now I can open multiple pallets and have a storehouse of fabric to choose from. (In Version 3, I had to customize a fabric pallet for each project in order to have all the fabrics I needed in one place. That’s not necessary in Version 4.)
2. In Version 3, whenever I changed fabric pallets in the middle of a project, every fabric in the on-screen project would change to the fabrics in the newly opened pallet. Talk about frustrating! Version 4 solves this problem. I can open multiple fabric pallets and the project I’m working on doesn’t change unless I “tell” it to. Also, my fabric choices are “saved” with the project so that when I open the project again, it is exactly as I saved it.
3. In Version 3, fabric pallets were limited to displaying only 64 fabric swatches per pallet. Version 4 offers unlimited fabric swatches per pallet. I tend to keep my fabric pallets organized by theme or color and limit myself to a maximum of 75 swatches in each pallet so that the pallets quickly load on the computer. But it’s nice knowing that I can add as many fabrics to a pallet as I please.
Additional Optional “Accessories”
Quilt-Pro is compatible with Foundation Factory and Block Factory. Available are a variety of CDs filled with quilt block patterns that can be imported into Quilt-Pro. Each CD costs about $30. Some of the CD titles available are:
Foundation Factory (Standard Edition) – includes over 500 quilt blocks and an illustrated foundation piecing tutorial.
Foundation Factory: Carol Doak Designer Edition – includes over 300 blocks from Carol Doak’s books. (Many people consider Carol Doak the “mother” of foundation piecing.)
Foundation Factory: Quilt Magazine Designer Edition – includes over 500 Foundation blocks by Jean Ann Eitel and Debby Kratovil, editors of Quilt Magazine and instructions for five quilts as well as a quilt photo gallery.
Foundation Factory: 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars – this is a Carol Doak special edition CD featuring designs from her book 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars.
Foundation Factory: 40 Bright and Bold Paper-Pieced Blocks -- includes all 40 blocks from Carol Doak's book 40 Bright and Bold Paper-Pieced Blocks.
Block Factory: Mariner’s Compass – includes over 130 different Mariner's Compass blocks, also includes a bonus Mariner's Compass screensaver.
Block Factory: Kansas City Star – this is Volume 1 of a planned series. This CD includes approximately 300 patterns originally published from 1928 through 1935 in the Kansas City Star newspaper.
Update (August 12, 2003)
It's been a year since I wrote this review and just wanted to say that I'm still using my QuiltPro 4 and am loving it. A quilting friend and I have started offering each other quilt challenges where we set certain rules such as quilt size, theme, fabrics. We are now first designing our quilts using quilting software and sharing our printouts with each other before we start sewing. After the projects are finished, it's interesting to see how our initial ideas began and how they changed over the course of quilt making. Fun!
Update (October 12, 2007)
I updated to Quilt-Pro 5. You can read my review about it by clicking on th is link Quilt-Pro 5 Review.
I've been very happy using Quilt-Pro 4, but the new version offers (in my opinion) a better fabric library. There are also some new bells and whistles to the program. I've been using it for two years now and love it.
Summary
I love Quilt-Pro version 4. It has become as important to my sewing as fabric and thread. I can’t imagine designing a quilt without Quilt-Pro. Quilt-Pro has saved me from making color mistakes and potential design flaws. Every time I open Quilt-Pro, I silently thank the friend who gave me this gift.
I hope you found this review useful.
Enjoy your day,
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
System Requirements:
Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/NT2000/XP
Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher
16MB Ram
800x600 video display, 256 color (16 bit or higher recommended)
Mouse or other pointing device
Disk Space:
50MB for a basic installation (no scanned fabrics)
250MB if you install all the scanned fabrics
Macintosh version (Quilt-Pro version 3) also available:
Quilt-Pro for Macintosh runs on OS X as a classic application.
Mac OS 7.1 or higher
Color QuickDraw (your system can display 256 or more colors)
16mb RAM
30mb Hard Disk space
Mouse or compatible pointing device
I paid $39.95 for the upgrade. The full program costs $79.95. If Quilt-Pro version 4 is purchased directly from Quilt-Pro Systems, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee (just save the original packaging, all documentation and the sales receipt).
Please read my other reviews:
Olfa Self-Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
Olfa 12" Self-Healing *Rotating* Cutting Mat
Olfa 18mm Rotary Cutter
Olfa 28mm Rotary Cutter
Olfa 45mm Rotary Cutter
Olfa Rotary Cutter Replacement Wheels B all sizes
Olfa 4-pack Mini Weights with Organizer
Olfa Weights
Quilter's Dream Sewing Table
Horn of America Deluxe Sewing Chair
Ott Lite Flex-Arm Plus True Color Lamp
Keepsake Quilting Online Store
Joann .com Fabric & Craft Store
Janome Jem Sewing Machine
Copyright 2002 Dawn L. Stewart
Recommended:
Yes
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