Making Posies and Wreaths in EQ8

A wreath of flowers is a symbol of affection in Hawaiian culture. In this tutorial, we will learn how to design a sweet Haku Lei (flower crown) quilt using the PosieMaker and WreathMaker tools in EQ8. Then we’ll use the Print tools to make a pattern for the appliqué wreath and pieced border.

Step-by-step instructions follow the video.

Part 1 – Designing the Flower

1. On the Welcome Page, go to the Draw Blocks column and choose “Design a block from scratch”.
2. Under the New Block tab, choose “Applique”.
3. Under Block Style, choose “Motif”.
4. Now we’re on the Draw tab. Under Drawing Tools, choose “Shapes” then choose “PosieMaker”.
5. In the PosieMaker dialogue box, you can adjust the settings and see how they’ll look in the Preview window. I chose a Petal Edge Style with 5 repeats. I lowered the Petal & burst adjustment to 10% and reduced the Size of center to 30%.
   
   
   
   
6. With the Posie selected, click on “Center in Block”. (You can tell if an object is selected if there are eight nodes around it and four-way arrow in the middle. If the object is not selected, use the Pick tool to click on it.)
7. With the Posie still selected, click on “Clone” to make another copy of the Posie. Center it in the block as well.
8. With the second Posie selected, click on “Resize” and reduce it to 80% horizontally and vertically.
9. With the top Posie still selected, enter the number 36 in the box beside Segment Rotation and click “Apply”. This will rotate the top Posie by 36 degrees.
10. Under Drawing Tools, choose “Shapes” then choose “Circle”. Click and drag to draw a circle on the Posie. You can adjust the size by dragging on a corner node or by entering new values in the Width and Height boxes. You can move the circle by clicking and holding on the four-way arrow.
    
    

Part 2 – Designing the Wreath

11. When you are satisfied with your flower design, choose the Pick tool. Starting in the top left corner, click and drag to form a marquis box around the flower. This will select all three objects in the flower at the same time (the first Posie at 100%, the second rotated Posie at 80%, and the circle).
12. Click on WreathMaker. In the WreathMaker dialogue box, you can adjust the settings and see how they’ll look in the Preview window. I chose 12 clusters, increased the Cluster spacing to 100%, and resized the cluster to 80%.
    
    
    
    
13. Now I’d like to rotate every other flower. To do this, use the Pick tool and hold down the shift key on the keyboard while clicking on a circle, and two Posies. (Holding the shift key will allow you to select multiple objects.)
14. The number 36 should still be in the Segment Rotation box. Click “Apply” to rotate the three selected objects at the same time. If you run into difficulty, click on the Undo arrow and try again. Repeat for every other flower.
15. Click on the Color tab and choose the Paintbrush tool.
16. Click on a green fabric swatch to select it, then click on a large Posie to apply the fabric to that object. Click on all the large Posies to make them green.
17. Click on a white fabric swatch to select it, then click on the smaller Posies to make them white.
18. Click on a yellow fabric swatch to select it, then click on the circles to make them yellow.
19. Now we want to bring the white flowers to the front, so the white petals aren’t covered by the green petals. To do this, use the Select tool and hold down shift while clicking on a white flower and its yellow circle. The selected objects will have highlighted edges. Click on “Send to Front”.
20. Repeat for all the white flowers and yellow circles.
    
    
    
    
21. Add the wreath design to your sketchbook by clicking on the icon in the left tool bar with a plus sign over a sketchbook. Since we haven’t named our project yet, give it a name like Haku Lei and click Save.

Part 3 – Designing the Border Blocks

22. Click on the New Block tab. Choose Pieced and then choose EasyDraw.
23. Set the block width and height to 2.0.
24. Use the Line tool to draw a vertical line at 1.0 and a horizontal line at 1.0.
25. On the top half of the block, draw 45-degree diagonal lines from top left to bottom right.
26. On the bottom half of the block, draw 45-degree diagonal lines from top right to bottom left.
27. Click on the Color tab and choose the Paintbrush tool.
28. Choose a fabric for the background. (You can change it later.) Click on the two triangles on the left edge and the two triangles on the right edge..
29. Use the same yellow fabric from the flowers to create a chevron shape with the remaining triangles.
    
    
30. Add the block design to your sketchbook by clicking on the “Add to Sketchbook” icon in the left tool bar.
31. Choose the same white fabric as the flowers and click on the yellow triangles to make them white. Add this version of the block to your sketchbook.
32. On the top menu bar, click on Libraries then choose Block Library. Choose the Diamond in a Square category and double-click on the first block “Diamond in the Square”. This will put the block onto the Block Worktable.
33. Click on the Color tab and choose the Paintbrush tool.
34. Use the same background fabric for the four triangles and the same yellow fabric for the diamond. Add this block to your sketchbook by clicking on the icon in the left toolbar.
35. Choose the same white fabric and change the yellow diamond to a white diamond. Add this version of the block to your sketchbook.

Part 4 – Designing the Quilt

36. Click on the Quilt Worktable icon. Click on the New Quilt tab and choose Horizontal.
37. Click on the Layout tab and change the number of blocks to 1. Make the block width and height equal to 15.5 inches.
38. Click on the Borders tab. Change the size of Border 1 to 0.25 inches. The quilt should now measure 16” x 16”.
39. Click Add to add another border. Change the size of Border 2 to 2.0 inches and change the Border Style to “Blocks”. Make the number of blocks in the border 8. The quilt should now measure 20” x 20”.
40. Click Add to add another border. Change the size of Border 3 to 0.25 inches. The quilt should now measure 20.5” x 20.5”.
41. Click on the Design tab and choose Block Tools. Click on the Set Block tool and choose the white chevron block. Leaving the corners empty, click on every other block in the border.
42. With the chevron block still selected, click on the arrow at the bottom of the Sketchbook Blocks window to change from the white chevron to the yellow chevron. Leaving the corners empty, click on every other block in the border.
43. Choose the Diamond in the Square block. Add two white diamond blocks in the corners next to the yellow chevrons and two yellow diamond blocks in the corners next to the white chevrons.
44. Click on the Rotate tool. Rotate the chevrons so that each yellow chevron points to a white chevron.
45. Click on Fabric Tools and choose the Paintbrush tool. Place the same background fabric in the center block. (If you’re not sure which fabric you used, use the Eyedropper Tool to click on the fabric in the border.)
46. Color the quarter-inch borders with the same green fabric you used for the large Posies. (Hold down the Control key on the keyboard while clicking, to add the fabric to all four borders at one time.)
47. Click on the Layer 2 tab at the bottom of the Quilt Worktable. Layer 2 is for appliqué.
48. Click on Block Tools and choose the Set Block tool. Click on the Motifs tab and click and drag the flower wreath onto the background square.
49. Choose the Adjust Tool and click on the flower wreath to select it. Change the Block size to 14 inches, then click on Center Horizontally and Center Vertically.
50. Add the quilt design to your sketchbook.
    

Part 5 – Using the Print Tools for the Quilt Pattern

51. Click on the Print & Export tab and choose Print.
52. While on Layer 2, click on the flower wreath to select it. Click on the Print Block tool. Choose “use size from quilt” and print “as an appliqué pattern”. This will give you the layout for your appliqué design. You’ll have to print it in tiles and tape it together.
53. Click on the Print Templates tool, and this will give you the templates for the circles and the two flower sizes. You don’t need twelve copies, so you can delete the extras and move a circle onto the same page before printing.
54. Click on Layer 1 then click on the background block to select it. It finishes at 15.5” x 15.5”, so you will need to cut a 16” square of fabric for the background.
55. Click on a chevron block to select it. Click on the Rotary Cutting tool. This tells you to cut 1-7/8” strips into half-square triangles and to make four yellow patches and four gray triangles per block. There are 16 yellow chevron blocks and 16 white chevron blocks, so you’ll need 16×4=64 yellow and white half-square triangles and 128 gray triangles.
56. Click on a Diamond in the Square block to select it and click on the Rotary Cutting tool. This tells you to cut four more gray half-square triangles from 1-7/8” strips per block, so 4×4=16 + 128 = 144. You’ll also need two white and two yellow squares at 1-15/16”x 1-15/16” for the center diamond.

The PosieMaker and WreathMaker tools in EQ8 make designing this Haku Lei flower crown quilt a breeze!