| For hundreds of years, women all over this planet | | | | software. |
| have been sewing quilts to keep their family members | | | | 3. Bargello Designer 32: |
| warm. And for all of these centuries, women had to | | | | Bargello Designer is specifically for bargello quilts, rather |
| do all the work "by hand" ... meaning their production | | | | than block or applique ones. It is simple and easy to |
| was severely limited by the large numbers of hours | | | | use and includes 23 bargello templates, 9 of which are |
| required to design and sew the quilt by hand. | | | | in the classic "flame" design. Its interface is quite simple |
| Today, though, we can use software to do much of | | | | to use: the quilter chooses such options as number of |
| the tedious work for us. Modern software takes much | | | | rows, strips, fabrics, pattern, height and width and with |
| of the tedious work out of designing a quilt and it even | | | | the click of a mouse, her pattern is ready for viewing. |
| streamlines the cutting process. If you also own a | | | | These are the default settings and the user can |
| quilting machine, the bulk of the labor can be handled | | | | further design her own bargello quilt with the "Custom |
| by machines, without sacrificing the quilt maker's pride | | | | Bargello Setups" options. |
| and creativity. | | | | On the downside, Bargello Designer doesn't have a |
| Here are four of the most popular quilting software | | | | fabrics library of its own. But it does allow the user to |
| systems: | | | | view other quilt patterns, bmp files, jpg files and more. |
| 1. PC Quilt for Windows: | | | | Still, this is a cumbersome way to handle the fabric |
| PB Quilt is not intuitive or easy to use. The interface | | | | issue and we wish for a built-in fabric library. |
| requires some direction and unless the quilter is familiar | | | | 4. Creative Impulse 2000: |
| with how to use the program, she will most likely have | | | | Creative Impulse 2000 states upfront that if the user |
| to invest hours of her time just figuring out how to | | | | wants thousands of blocks and large varieties of |
| operate it. | | | | fabric to choose from, this software is not the right |
| On the plus side, it has a drop down menu that offers | | | | choice. Instead, it bills itself as being perfect for |
| classic quilting patterns like leaves, petals, tulips, stars | | | | "traditional" quilters who want to take classic quilt |
| and moons. If none of those suit you, you can design | | | | blocks and combine them in large numbers of new |
| your own with tools that even make it possible to | | | | patterns. The user chooses a few traditional blocks - |
| draw circles. An added bonus: you can scan in your | | | | then the software uses mathematical equations to |
| own fabrics and see how your finished quilt will look | | | | rapidly rotate these same blocks through huge |
| before you set a single stitch. | | | | numbers of patterns. Just like a kaleidoscope, a slight |
| Advertised as the only quilting software made for | | | | turn creates startling new patterns out of the same |
| quilters by quilters, PC Quilt is a simple, yet powerful | | | | original materials and shapes. |
| program. It allows easy creation of blocks as well as | | | | In addition, there are such settings as "distortion" |
| an excellent ability to create ready-to-print-out | | | | "tessellation" or "manipulation" which increase the |
| templates, thus allowing the quilter to execute her | | | | variations, allowing the program owners to claim that |
| ideas much more easily. The major drawback is the | | | | the quilter can create an "infinite" number of possible |
| relatively difficult interface, making an inexperienced | | | | quilt patterns - all from traditional blocks that have been |
| user spend a few days before figuring everything out. | | | | in use for centuries. |
| You can even print templates that include seam | | | | Quilting software has undoubtedly expanded the |
| allowances. It does everything for you but the cutting | | | | creative possibilities of today's quilters. Rather than |
| and sewing! | | | | relying on a single picture in a magazine or book as the |
| 2. Quilt Design Wizard: | | | | pattern or inspiration for a new project, and then |
| Quilt Design Wizard is a very simple program. The | | | | hoping that the chosen colors will do well in that design, |
| database includes 200 quilt patterns and 3,000 fabric | | | | the quilt maker can see - in advance - what her new |
| samples, which allows you to experiment with huge | | | | creation will look like. More traditional quilters scoff at |
| numbers of combinations on your monitor before even | | | | the use of software but that's an outdated prejudice. |
| buying your thread. It's inexpensive and easy to use | | | | Software only increases creative possibilities, rather |
| but it has a major limitation - you cannot create your | | | | than reducing them. |
| own patterns. Thus, it is less versatile than other quilting | | | | |