An Interview with Fran Iverson Gonzalez - June 2007

by Penny McMorris

Q: How long have you been quilting and what got you started?

A: That's a good question with a long answer! I've been making quilts for almost 30 years. It really started with my love for sewing which developed in a family of very skilled seamstresses. However, I didn't discover the art of quilting until I was an adult.

Historically, fabric was always available in my hometown of New Orleans and so the emphasis was on sophisticated fashion, not quilting. My Grandma Flo could make anything... with or without a pattern, and usually in a single afternoon. She whipped up leather bomber jackets in the 1940s for my Grandpa, Vogue evening gowns for my Mom to wear to USO dances, wedding ensembles for entire bridal parties, holiday dresses for her many granddaughters, and elaborate costumes for annual Mardi Gras balls. My Mom was also an excellent seamstress and she taught me very well. I inherited their passion for design and textiles and made most of my clothes until I got married in 1971.

I started quilting in 1977 when we lived in North Carolina. My husband Larry was a post-doctoral fellow and our daughter Karen was only a year old at the time. I wanted to make Christmas gifts for our extended families, as I did every year, but our budget was tight. I looked though my supplies and noticed that I did have a nice stash of scraps after so many years of garment construction, so everyone got quilted pillows that Christmas. They were a big hit. By the time we moved to Chicago a year later, I couldn't keep enough graph paper in the house for all of the quilts I wanted to design. When the rotary cutter and self-healing mat revolutionized quilting around 1979, I was hooked for life!

Q: How and when did you first get involved with EQ software?

A: After we moved to Oklahoma City in 1986, I started teaching quilt classes. I first heard about EQ in 1994 from a friend who worked at our local quilt store. With strong encouragement from my husband Larry who is a neuroscientist and an incredible computer whiz, I bought EQ2 and was totally addicted within days. As a matter of fact, I would spend hours playing before I noticed that the day was gone, our daughter Karen was home from school, and it was almost time for dinner!

Q: What made you want to start teaching it?

A: I was so excited about what EQ2 could do that I wanted to teach a class in my local quilt store, along with my quilt construction classes. I couldn't believe how much I could accomplish so quickly in EQ2 when it used to take me days to plan a quilt and do all of the necessary calculations. Also, the fact that I could actually test the value placement in the layout before cutting the fabric was just too cool. That capability alone saved me so much time, money, and frustration!

I realize now that I had a real advantage by being here in Oklahoma, where quilting is an integral part of territorial history and is greatly appreciated as an art form. This translates into a strong community of generational quilters, many excellent resources, and incredible creative energy.

Q: What inspired you to write and market your first book?

A: As I worked through the EQ2 manual, I had a hard time understanding the computer jargon. Luckily, Larry could explain the terminology whenever I needed help. It occurred to me, though, that I could "translate" the instructions into steps that my quilting students could understand more easily. So, I wrote a tutorial for EQ2 and called EQ Co. right before Christmas in Dec. 1994 to ask for permission to use the screen captures in my booklet. You answered the phone, Penny, and you were so nice and so eager to see my tutorial. You requested a copy and my new career with EQ started at that moment!

Q: Help me remember, you self-published EQ3 Simplified, then EQ published EQ4 Simplified and EQ5 Simplified, right?

A: You're almost right... you forgot EQ2 Simplified! I self-published EQ2 Simplified and then EQ3 Simplified. EQ Company endorsed both. You cannot imagine how delighted I was to have EQ Company publish and distribute the rest of my Simplified tutorials so that I could relinquish the marketing, printing, and shipping activities and get back to more designing, sewing, and teaching!

Q: What changes in your students have you noticed between when you first started teaching and now? And has this made you change anything in your Simplified book for EQ6?

A: When I first started teaching EQ about 13 years ago, most of my students were experienced quilters but had no personal computer skills. Now most of my EQ students have more confidence with computers than they have with quilting. That's quite a change!

I've gradually changed my approach as EQ has evolved to satisfy its changing audience. Many more convenient, easy-to-use features have been added to EQ6 to increase the program's usability and design potential. As a result, I spend more time in this version of my Simplified book explaining the pre-set features and the expanded options that make the art of quilting even more accessible to EQ users.

Q: You now teach through www.quiltuniversity.com. Can you tell those not familiar with online classes a bit about how taking an online class works?

A: Sure! It's VERY easy to take a class at Quilt University. A student enrolls for a class online and receives a password to the classroom. One lesson is posted each Saturday until every lesson for that class is posted. Once a lesson is posted, it is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the duration of the class. The classroom is open for an additional two weeks beyond the week of the last lesson. For example, for a three session class, the classroom is open for a total of five weeks.

In addition to the formal lessons, there is an interactive Discussion Forum in each class that is always open. The teacher checks this Forum regularly and answers questions within 24 hours. This is the real heart of the class because it's interactive on a one-to-one basis. Participation on the Forum is optional but strongly encouraged because everyone, including the teacher, benefits from every question. Students can gain as much information on the Forum as they can in the lessons themselves!

There is also a Gallery for each class in which students can display their work as well as an EQ Glossary that describes the functions of various tools in EQ. The EQ Glossary is available to everyone, even those users who are not currently enrolled in a QU class. To try the QU experience, enroll in the free sample class that is offered there, in the list next to the Registration Calendar.

Q: Do you have a target audience you write for? In other words, who do you think would especially benefit from EQ6 Simplified?

A: Anyone who works through EQ6 Simplified will benefit, no matter what their computer or quilting skill levels are... beginner, intermediate, or advanced. My target audience is anyone who wants to learn EQ6 using a clear, step-by-step, project-oriented approach in which one lesson builds on the next.

The program has so much potential and so many features that there's always something new to learn on every level, no matter how much a user knows before she/he starts the book! My goal is to give my readers a very firm base that will give them the confidence to explore the vast capability of EQ6 on their own.

Q: Do you have students who test your book lessons after you write them?

A: Oh yes! I carefully choose testers who vary in computer and quilting experience. My testers for EQ6 Simplified were real troopers and I'm very happy with their testing techniques. My book has benefited greatly from their accumulated input and experience.

Q: As the guru of EQ beginners, what advice do you have for new EQ6 users?

Learn EQ6 by designing real quilts that you want to construct. I use this approach in EQ6 Simplified by presenting original quilts that I think will appeal to new users.

EQ6 is very easy to use on the basic level, but it is very powerful on many other levels. If you want to learn to use the program to its fullest potential, you will have to invest the time and effort that is necessary.

Use all of the resources available to you to help you to use EQ6 effectively. This includes the EQ6 Manual, the EQ6 Help file, EQ6 Simplified, Quilt University, and all of the free information available to you on the Electric Quilt website.

EQ6 is an amazing design tool, but there is no substitute for working with fabric. If you are a quilting novice, invest in a good reference book for beginning quilters. My high school art teacher always said that you can never truly understand an art form until you understand the limitations of that medium. In this case, the medium is fabric.

Q: And what about your Skylights Mystery Quilt --- do you think Mitzi is going to solve the "Mystery of the Missing Quilt?" I love that quilt you designed!

A: Thanks!! Mitzi is a tremendously clever, competent, and witty young woman and I can guarantee that she will solve the Mystery of the Missing Quilt with flair. Finding the Sky Lights quilt will be well worth her efforts!


	Home Products Users Retailers Support Forums Blog Media Do you EQ? Artist