Quilt Fill

Embird Embroidery Software Tutorial

This tutorial explains how to fill an empty area with a Quilt fill pattern. It is also possible to fill color areas of a converted background image.

Note: See also Double-click to Fill Empty Area in Editor, Fractal Fill, Mesh Fill, Create Emoji Design and Surprise Me! - Create a new design with only a few clicks.

1 - Run Embird and click the "Editor" menu to switch to the Editor window.

2 - Open a design using the "File > Open" menu; for example, open the free design "squirrel".

3 - Double-click an empty area to fill it with stitches (Picture No. 1).

1. Double-click an empty area to fill it with stitches

4 - Select the "Quilt" type of filling (Picture No. 2).

2. Select Quilt fill type

5 - A dialog with "Quilt" fill settings will appear (Picture No. 3). Select a pattern, change parameters, and click the "OK" button to fill the clicked empty area.

3. Quilt fill settings

There are eight types of quilt fills available, with various parameters for each fill, allowing you to create many combinations:

Tip: Change a parameter and after a short while watch the Preview box to see how it affects the final result.

Point distribution:

Random 1, Random 2 - Centers of quilt elements are random but cover the whole filled area.

Triangle - Centers of quilt elements are distributed in a triangle form.

Grid - Centers of quilt elements are distributed in a grid form.

Hexagonal - Centers of quilt elements are distributed in a hexagonal form.

Boundary - Centers of quilt elements are along the boundary (of the "squirrel" in this example).

Settings:

Offset - Specify the offset from the outside boundary (i.e., offset from hoop edges in this example) which is not filled. Switch ON the small checkbox at the right side to include the boundary curve in the fill.

Bounce - Specify the bounce from cavities (i.e., offset from the "squirrel" in this example, because this is a cavity in the filled area). Switch ON the small checkbox at the right side to include the boundary curve in the fill.

Stitch Length - Specify the stitch length.

Layers - Specify the layers (strands of thread) for stitching.

Fill Pattern:

Distance - Specify the distance between elements.

Scale - Specify the relative size of elements; multiply it by Distance to get the absolute size.

Spacing - Specify the spacing between elements in some patterns.

Subset - Specify less than 100%, e.g., 80%, to create a two-color fill with the second color having smaller (80%) elements (Nestled, Regular).

Twin - Specify less than 100%, e.g., 50%, to append to the chosen element its twin having 50% size (Branching, Nestled, Regular).

Angle - Specify the angle of element rotation; above 360 deg means random angle/random mirror (Regular).

Seed - Specify the size of the first element; others will have 100%-Seed size, etc. Specify 50% to have elements of the same size (Nestled).

In Circle - Put the element into a circle (Nestled, Regular).

Check the pictures below showing various fills:

4. Stipple fill pattern

5. Scratches fill pattern

6. Vine fill pattern

7. Fixed fill pattern

8. Branching fill pattern

9. Branching fill pattern, element with Twin

10. Nestled fill pattern

11. Nestled fill pattern, element with Twin

12. Nestled fill pattern, two colors with Subset 60%

13. Wanderer fill pattern

14. Regular fill pattern

15. Regular fill pattern, two colors with Subset 60%

6 - It is possible to add custom elements for filling (valid per one session). Click the button "Font Engine" (no. 1 in Picture No. 16).

Note: This feature requires registration of the Font Engine Plug-in

16. Custom elements are available

7 - Select a font, e.g., "Windings", and specify which characters you want to use as custom elements. Finally, click the "OK" button to add the new elements to the end of the list (no. 2 in Picture No. 16).

17. Create custom elements from TrueType font characters in Font Engine

18. Nestled fill pattern with custom elements from Font Engine

19. Regular fill pattern with custom elements from Font Engine rotated randomly (angle 360 deg)

8 - There is a special element "Boundary" in the list, which is dynamically changed based on the boundary of the filled area (or its cavity) (Picture No. 20).

20. Regular fill pattern with "Boundary" element and 8 mm bounce

9 - It is possible to convert color areas in a background image to stitches and fill them with Quilt patterns (Picture No. 21 and above).

Note: See also Surprise Me! - Create a new design with only a few clicks.

21. Image converted to contours and stitches, Regular fill pattern with multiple elements (offset and bounce are 0 mm)

22. Image converted to stitches, Stipple fill pattern (offset and bounce are 0 mm)

23. Image converted to stitches, Fixed width fill pattern (offset and bounce are 0 mm)

24. Image converted to contours and stitches, Nestled fill pattern with multiple elements (offset and bounce are 0 mm)

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