Foundation Paper Piecing in EQ

Start by turning on the ruler on your worktable. In the Worktable pull down menu, click on Work on Block then click on View then click on Ruler. Your ruler horizontal and vertical rulers are now active.

Adjust your grid to accommodate the divisions in your block. For example, if you are designing a block which uses 1/8" markings on your ruler, multiply the size of your block by 8 and change the drawing board set up to that many points. You wont see all the dots but they are there, so when you draw a line that snaps to grid, it will go to the correct place.

Once you have drawn your block in EQ, the program will number the paper piecing pattern for you or you can number them yourself. You can even re-group the pieces if you wish.  You can also change the line thicknesses. Click on the Line Thickness box to make it open, then use your keyboard arrows (not your mouse) to select the thickness.

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Double check the Options tab and be sure you have checked the "separate units" box.

When I create two inch foundation blocks I can only get the printer to print 2 across . Is there any way in EQ to print 3 across on a page?

You can decrease the page margins. To do this, choose Page Setup from the FILE menu. If you have the units separated it takes more space, so you may or may not be able to fit in more blocks.

I am trying to print foundation patterns, and find that the patterns print so that they need to be taped together. Is there a way to designate what pieces will be on which page so that this doesn't happen?

Depending on which version of EQ6 that you have, you can move around those pieces.  Here is what you can try, however, to force templates onto another page:

- Try printing landscape instead of portrait orientation.

- Try increasing the right margin of the paper

To do either or both, choose Page Setup from the FILE menu.  Again depending the version you are using, you can delete template pieces by clicking on them and then pressing your delete key on your keyboard.

Here is a workaround: When you see, in the Print Preview, that your foundation pattern units are going to print with an overlap, do this: In Print, Foundation Patterns, Sections tab, click on Start Over. You can click on patches and regroup them for foundation units. Each time you click on patches that should be grouped into one unit, click on the Group button. Do this for all the units in the block EXCEPT the one that wants to be printed as an overlap. Do not click on the patches for this unit at all.

Click on Preview and you will see all the units you did group ready to print out EXCEPT the one that was errant. Print. Go back and do the grouping again, only backwards. Do only the unit that you didn't print the first time through. In Preview, only that unit will show up, and you can print that out.

This also works when you want a whole foundation unit printed on one page without tiling onto another, provided it will fit on one page). In the Sections tab, group only the patches for a unit that will fit on a single page. Check how the units fit by clicking on Preview. You can always rearrange if necessary.

To delete an individual template before printing:

Select a block on your quilt layout, click on File/Print/Templates. Choose size and other options, then click on Preview. The tools referred to in the Help file will appear on the left of the Preview menu. They are: the Zoom tool, the Select Template tool, and the Delete Template tool.

To eliminate a particular template, click on the Select Template tool ( the Arrow), and then click on the template that you want to delete. It will highlight in red. Click on the Delete Template tool (the red X) to delete this template.

To delete a foundation pattern section before printing:

Select a block on your quilt layout and then click on File/Print/Foundation Pattern. Choose size and other options. On the Sections tab, click on Start Over. Select each group that you want to print, being sure to click on the Group button after each section has been identified. To delete a foundation pattern section from the printing, simply *don't* select it! Click on Preview to check your selection and then click on Print.

EQ4 doesn’t recognize your rotated blocks when you print an outline drawing of a quilt. So trick it, by coloring your whole quilt white, then choosing the printing option "showing fabrics." You'll get a printout of a white quilt — therefore an outline drawing -- with blocks rotated. Your printout will not unrotate your blocks as you had before with Outline Drawing.

The thinnest paper you can find. There are commercially made papers for Use unprinted newspaper, or buy a roll of paper from a medical supply house. Even telephone book pages will work. We sell

Use Patchdraw, and use the hexagon tool to draw your template. Export metafile drawing to another program like Word, and from there you can copy the template as many times as you need to fill a sheet. Or, you can make the block size large, say 8 by 10" or whatever your maximum printable paper size is. Then draw and duplicate the template as many times as you need to. When you print the block (as many pages as you want) you should get a whole page of 'em. Don’t forget, when drawing in PatchDraw, you *must* draw enclosed patches, just as if you were drawing the applique patch itself.

• Use Ctrl+A to select all lines on the Pieced tab of the Overlaid worktable.
• Use Ctrl+C to copy these lines.
• Click on Block --> New Block --> EasyDraw.
• Make sure the Drawing Board Setup matches the settings that you used on the Pieced tab of the Overlaid worktable: Block/Drawing Board Setup.
• Use Ctrl+V to paste your copied design onto the EasyDraw worktable. Position the design. Click off of the design to deselect all lines.
• Click on the Select tool and, using the Shift key, click on all of the lines that you want to eliminate. Use the Delete key to remove the selected lines.
• Edit the block as desired.

You name your block on the notecard. Then, in the Print drop down box, click on the Options tab. Make sure there is a check in the box next to Print Name.

Yes. Click on the Line Thickness box to make it open, then use your keyboard arrow keys to scroll through the various thicknesses.

How do I shift the parts of the paper-piecing units before printing?

Use the "Section" tab in the "Print Foundation Pattern" window to group
sections together and then print them a section at a time.

Can I flip paper piecing blocks?

Yes, but there is a glitch in EQ6 that causes the flipped ones to print out with the seam allowance inside the block rather than outside.  Use the mirror image option instead.  To do this, put a check in the box next to Mirror on the options tab of the Print dialog box for Foundation Pattern.