Swimming with Sea Turtles: My First EQ8 FPP Challenge Quilt

I did it! 🐢✨ My Sea Turtle Foundation Paper Piecing quilt is officially finished — and what a journey it has been. This quilt was made for the Linus Connection Quilt Challenge, where we were each given a bundle of fat quarters to transform into something special for a child.

At first, I didn’t recognize the fabrics or designers when I chose my bundle, but the colors were too gorgeous to pass up. After finishing the quilt, I snapped some photos and ran them through Google Lens — and poof! That’s when I discovered I’d been working with treasures: Tilda Jubilee Bird Tree, Tilda Flower Tree, and Tilda Harvest prints.

With such playful, detailed prints and a rich color scheme, I knew I wanted to push myself. That’s when the idea of sea turtles gliding through coral reefs came to life.

🐚 Shelling Out the Design in EQ8

This was my very first attempt at creating a large-scale FPP design in EQ8. My mom gifted me subscriptions to EQ8 training programs for Christmas, and I watched the paper piecing section with keen interest. “Looks easy,” I thought. “Piece of cake,” I told myself. Surely if EQ8 could generate the pattern, I could just sew it together, right? 😅 Famous last words.

Here’s how it all went down:

1. Starting with fabrics. I photographed the challenge bundle.

2. Idea to image. I dropped the photo into ChatGPT with the prompt: "I'd like to do a foundation paper piece design of sea turtles. This is the fabric I have to work with. I am thinking that the colors would work well for coral reefs and the dark red and green prints would work well for turtle shells. I can add some blue fabric for the background ocean. Can you create an image that can help me visualize a foundation paper pieced quilt about sea turtles made from these colors. The design should be suitable for a teenager".  After a few tries, I found one that felt right. 

3) Cropping & sizing. Using Canva, I cropped the image to 4:5 ratio — which translated perfectly into a layout of four blocks wide by five blocks tall.  I chopped off the top turtle (how many turtles do we really need, honestly!).  

4) Splitting the image. To make it workable, I divided the image into 20 smaller JPGs (4×5 grid) with PineTools’ free Split Image tool.

5) Tracing in EQ8. Then the real work started! I pulled each section into EQ8’s EasyDraw Block Designer, traced the pattern lines, assigned the fabrics and said, "That's Perfect!"

6) Print it out on Foundation Paper. I then used EQ's Print Foundation functionality to print each block's template on newsprint-style foundation paper. At that point I thought: “Wow, this was so easy!” and skipped off to my sewing machine.  Sure, it did look a little complicated.  Me? Worry?  Maybe a little...

7) Reality check. Three days later, covered in thread and little bits of foundation paper. I had dulled my seam ripper and was muttering under my breath.  I was also telling anyone who’d listen: “I am NEVER. DOING. THIS. AGAIN!”

 

Here’s what I learned:

🧵 Turtle-y Tricky Lessons

• So. Many. Tiny. Pieces. Without pruning the design, I ended up with gorgeous curves — but also hundreds of tiny angles. One block had 33 separate pieces! EQ8 generated the design successfully - but it obviously thought I was better at this than I really am -- some blocks had so many subsections that I even had to wrestle with Y seams.  Here is what one block looked like. 

• Fabric confusion is real. EQ8 doesn’t label fabrics on the foundation pattern. I had to look up each fabric, hand-label them, and cross my fingers. Even then, I mixed up a couple. (One mistake snuck through — can you spot it? If you do, drop a comment!)
• Give yourself plenty of time. Starting this close to the challenge deadline was not my best decision. I was rushed (and slightly panicked). Every seam matters, and this process is slow. I made it through but by the time I reached the borders, I was so worn out I went with something simple.

 

🌊 Lessons Learned (So Far)

Would I do it again? Two days ago, I’d have said “absolutely not.” But now that the quilt top is done, the drama is fading… and I’m already planning my next one. Quilters are nothing if not optimistic. 😉

Here’s what I’ll do differently next time:

• Pruning is your friend. I’ll simplify in certain areas while keeping the curves that make it special.
• Label everything (twice). Stickers, tape, scribbles — whatever it takes to keep track of fabrics.
• EQ8 is powerful, not magic. It will give you the pattern, but you still need a sewing strategy.

🐢 The Joy of the Challenge

Even with the hiccups, I’m glad I jumped in. This quilt reminded me that quilting is equal parts puzzle, art, and determination. And the best part? When it’s finished, it will be gifted to a child through the Linus Connection 💛. And honestly… it looks pretty awesome!

✨ Stay tuned — I’m considering a video or blog tutorial about my next FPP quilt in EQ8. Would you like a step-by-step (and maybe a laugh at my fabric mix-ups)? Let me know in the comments!

All the best,

Christine