For hundreds of years, women all over this planet have been sewing quilts to keep their family members warm. And for all of these centuries, women had to do all the work "by hand" ... meaning their production was severely limited by the large numbers of hours required to design and sew the quilt by hand.

Today, though, we can use software to do much of the tedious work for us. Modern software takes much of the tedious work out of designing a quilt and it even streamlines the cutting process. If you also own a quilting machine, the bulk of the labor can be handled by machines, without sacrificing the quilt maker's pride and creativity.

1. Electric Quilt  http://www.electricquilt.com/  Electric Quilt ® 6 software Price: $149.95
Requires XP or Vista and an internet connection

While EQ6 is the newest and most advanced version of Electric Quilt software, it's also the most user-friendly. This incredibly full-featured quilt design and drawing program has been especially designed with beginners as well as advanced designers in mind. Use it to design quilts, draw blocks, scan in fabrics or select from over 20,000 blocks, fabrics, colors, embroidery, photos, threads, quilt layouts and borders included in EQ6. Use EQ6 simply to try out colors, or print patterns in any size. Or use EQ6 to forge a quilting career, producing professional, high-resolution block and quilt images print-ready for books or magazines.  This is software you'll never outgrow!

Quilt Design Wizard Software

Great gift for grandchildren and the computer-phobic!
QDW is a software for beginning quilters and beginning computer users. It is an inexpensive way for you to try quilt designing on your computer for the first time. If you only need simple pieced blocks, straight/horizontal layouts, on-point layouts, and want to play with color, then Quilt Design Wizard may be for you.

Quilt Design Wizard is a very simple program. The database includes 200 quilt patterns and 3,000 fabric samples, which allows you to experiment with huge numbers of combinations on your monitor before even buying your thread.  It's inexpensive and easy to use.

PCQuilt is the easiest quilting software to learn and to use. PCQuilt is simple and direct. If you are looking for an easy way to try out designs and colors for your quilts, look no further.

PCQuilt allows you to simply open a block and play with it or draw your own. The quilt makes itself while you design the block. Everything you need to design your quilt is on one easy to use toolbar.

PCQuilt has been a favorite of quiltmakers since its introduction in 1987.  Over the past 18 years, we have listened to users and have made this program as user friendly and as easy to use as possible from toolbars and quick keys to a concise, readable manual.  We know you don't want to spend more time designing your quilt than making it so we've kept it simple.

Bargello Designer 32

Bargello Designer is specifically for bargello quilts, rather than block or applique ones. It is simple and easy to use and includes 23 bargello templates, 9 of which are in the classic "flame" design. Its interface is quite simple to use: the quilter chooses such options as number of rows, strips, fabrics, pattern, height and width and with the click of a mouse, her pattern is ready for viewing. These are the default settings and the user can further design her own bargello quilt with the "Custom Bargello Setups" options.

On the downside, Bargello Designer doesn't have a fabrics library of its own. But it does allow the user to view other quilt patterns, bmp files, jpg files and more. Still, this is a cumbersome way to handle the fabric issue and we wish for a built-in fabric library.

Creative Impulse is a revolutionary new pattern creation program. Utilizing totally new concepts, it allows for the creation of incredible and unique patterns - even if the user isn't particularly artistic. A simple mouse-click and Creative Impulse starts creating new and unique patterns - a new one every 5 seconds. Simply view these until you find one that you like.

Creative Impulse 2000 states upfront that if the user wants thousands of blocks and large varieties of fabric to choose from, this software is not the right choice. Instead, it bills itself as being perfect for "traditional" quilters who want to take classic quilt blocks and combine them in large numbers of new patterns. The user chooses a few traditional blocks - then the software uses mathematical equations to rapidly rotate these same blocks through huge numbers of patterns. Just like a kaleidoscope, a slight turn creates startling new patterns out of the same original materials and shapes.

In addition, there are such settings as "distortion" "tessellation" or "manipulation" which increase the variations, allowing the program owners to claim that the quilter can create an "infinite" number of possible quilt patterns - all from traditional blocks that have been in use for centuries.

Quilting software has undoubtedly expanded the creative possibilities of today's quilters. Rather than relying on a single picture in a magazine or book as the pattern or inspiration for a new project, and then hoping that the chosen colors will do well in that design, the quilt maker can see - in advance - what her new creation will look like.  More traditional quilters scoff at the use of software but that's an outdated prejudice. Software only increases creative possibilities, rather than reducing them.

QuiltSOFT

QuiltSOFT is the leading Windows software for designing quilts. There are over 100,000 registered users. With QuiltSOFT you can design complete quilts, including custom blocks and color palettes for each quilt. QuiltSOFT creates your templates and estimates the yardage for your quilt. The program comes with master libraries of quilts, blocks, and color palettes for you to use and to add to.

123, Quilt!

Choose a layout and and a border. Next, add any of the 500 blocks included in the program. Rotate the blocks to create your own unique design. Choose from more than 2000 fabrics to color your quilt. Then make your quilts a reality. Print rotary cutting charts, foundations, or templates. Finally, let 1-2-3 Quilt! calculate how much fabric you will need.

Most importantly, help is included on each page of the program. You don’t need to spend time studying a complicated manual to use 1-2-3 Quilt. Move through the program intuitively, at your own pace. Make changes. Start over. No problem.

And there is no risk – TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT – on us! Download now and use 1-2-3 Quilt! for 30 days. That’s how confident we are that you will find this quilting software to be exactly what you’ve hoped. Filled with functionality and - EASY!

Quilt Pro Version 5

The answer is Yes! We asked, and you gave us your answer... you want quilting software that is easier to use!

Introducing the New Quilt-Pro Version 5: With features like One-Touch Block and Fabric Libraries, Quilt Wizard, Scanning Wizard, and our exclusive Quilt-Pro Assistant, Quilt-Pro Version 5 is now easier than ever!"

Quilt-Pro Version 5 is the result of more than a year spent talking with quilters just like you. We conducted discussion groups, phone interviews and on-line surveys. We watched quilters use the program and learned by teaching Quilt-Pro classes.

The answer we received from you was very clear: make Quilt-Pro easier to use!

The challenge for us was to make Quilt-Pro simpler and easier to use without sacrificing any of the creativity and flexibility you have come to expect from Quilt-Pro. We invite you to take a look at what's new in Quilt-Pro Version 5 and you'll see for yourself all that Quilt-Pro 5 has to offer:

If you have a software package you would like us to include in this list please send information about it to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it