Colors of the Southwest

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Luana

After spending a week immersing myself in the colors of the red rock canyons in Southwest Colorado, under our brilliant blue skies, I am back in the studio absolutely inspired by my week with 80 fellow textile artists. As you hopefully read last Thursday, I spent a week at the Alegre Retreat which has been organized by Katie Pasquini Masopust for the last 29 years. It has been held at the Gateway Canyon Resort for the last 15 years…a stunning setting full of intense color during the day, and starry skies at night.

There are art quilts hanging all through the resort, including these 2 quilts by Katie, who was also inspired by the red rock colors. Her Triptych (top horizontal quilt image) is so wide, I had to trim a little off the side to fit it into this collage. This large piece hangs in the event center. The vertical quilt image hangs in the lobby in the reception area. The owners are quilt collectors, and fans of Katie’s. You will recognize the iconic red rock in the top quilt, from last week’s blog post.

I’ve added a few of our current favorite Southwest fabrics as a backdrop in this collage image. If you have spent time in the Southwest, you understand the power of the red earth, the sage green grasses, under the big blue sky. The fact that we had some snowy peaks in the distance last week was just the cherry on top. If you’ve spent time in the Four Corners states (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico & Colorado) you know the magic of Southwest colors. Did you know that “Colorado” means “Color Red”?

The last hour of my inbound drive one week ago, was south of Grand Junction into this long scenic canyon. At one point I saw a sign point off to the left, to the Uncompahgre Wilderness area. That is where my endangered butterfly – the Uncompahgre Fritillary – is fighting extinction! I can only hope that this quilt will carry the message of endangered pollinators and threatened species, to those making decisions about climate change and habitat destruction. (This quilt will be in the SAQA Camouflage exhibit in Houston later this year.)

This week I am previewing collections from our suppliers, that will ship later this year. Today I placed orders for lots of gorgeous fabrics that I know you are going to love this Fall!

Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

Follow Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for quilt & travel images, review our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Subscribe to Luana’s Artist Website blog for more creative inspiration.

Travel/Quilt Dates:
May 1-7 – London & Canterbury, UK
June 19-21 – Quilt Canada, Edmonton
August – World Wilderness Congress, Rapid City SD
December – Textile & Costume Tour – Italy

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Free Quilt Pattern – Sea Turtle Breeze

Posted on April 11, 2024 by Luana

Tonight we bring you this peaceful scene, featuring the underwater world of the Sea Turtle, featuring Northcott’s exquisite ‘Sea Breeze’ collection.

To make this 49″ x 64″ quilt design, you will start with the single border sea turtle main fabric. This lush work of art is created using the alcohol ink medium, and this artist’s work has been wildly popular with eQuilter customers. We’ve combined four other Northcott coordinates for the pieced border, accenting the underwater landscape.

This quilt brings a dreamy vibe to a room, as a wall-hanging. As a Nap/Lap quilt, you’ll be gliding through tropical waters in your sweet dreams as you sleep under this quilt.

…from the ‘Sea Breeze’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this exquisite quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

Order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our thousands of fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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Hello from Gateway Canyon

Posted on April 11, 2024 by Luana

This week I am finally attending the Alegre Retreat in Gateway Canyon in Southwest Colorado. This is something I’ve wanted to do for at least 15 years. 20 years ago I took a class with Katie Pasquini Masopust at Art Quilt Tahoe, which is another ‘destination’ art quilt retreat. Katie has hosted her own Alegre art quilt retreat for 29 years now. It used to be in Santa Fe and now it is in this red rock canyon about an hour south of Grand Junction. I am delighted and surprised at how many people I know here, but I am also making new friends who share my passion for making art with textiles.

There is a scholarship for textile artists under 30 who wish to attend an Alegre Retreat. The young man who won last year, is back again this year as a paying participant. I chatted with him today, and he told me his work is on the cover of the new issue of Patchwork Professional (German art quilt magazine) just now coming out. He is a grad student! I would say that attending an art quilt retreat and taking a weeklong workshop can give a big boost to your artwork. We will stock this new issue of Patchwork Professional in the new future. I have written a couple articles for this beautiful magazine, and I urge you to check it out, and use Google Translate in your phone, to translate the articles in German.

If you are interested in attending a similar destination art quilt workshop, there are also annual seminars in Asilomar, Hudson River Valley Art Center and Madeleine Island. And of course there are others as well. These 5 I have mentioned are some of the best known.

We have also just received a shipment of Great Australian Quilts, featuring our friend Pam Holland on the cover. It is so fun to see our wildly creative artist friends receiving this kind of recognition. As far as we know, eQuilter is the only retailer in the US carrying these magazines. Check them out and find out why!

Today the DAR Museum (Wash DC) featured my ‘Stardust Mothers’ quilt on their social media. I am working on a similar, but larger piece here. The faces on this 8 foot wide quilt are also painted with Inktense and Gel medium. It is called ‘The Children of War’ and is about the childhood victims of the many wars happening around the world today. I am planning to enter it in a show this year, so hopefully you will see it in the future. I hope you are also able to work on a meaningful project that stirs your creativity this month.

Sharing your love of fabric…and color…
Luana and Paul

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Free Quilt Pattern – Mysterious Fox

Posted on April 7, 2024 by Luana

Tonight’s Free Quilt Pattern features our exclusive Fox digital panel, intricately illustrated with jewel-tone colors and mystical, mandala shapes.

To make this 52″ x 70″ quilt design, you will start with the central 25″ x 44″ Mysterious Red Fox panel. You will use 3 Hoffman Hand-Dyes, offset by solid black, to create the coordinating four Fox Paw corner blocks.

This exclusive pattern displays a powerful, contemplative image, and would make a great gift for fox-loving friends!

…from the ‘Mystic Animals’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

Order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our thousands of fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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Windy Weekend

Posted on April 6, 2024 by Luana

We are in the middle of a windstorm here in Boulder, with gusts up to 100 mph which is a little nerve-wracking. This is exactly the kind of weather we had a couple years ago when a fire swept into the city and burned 1100 homes in a few hours. It has been a strange week, with earthquakes in Taiwan and New Jersey/New York! I emailed our quilt artist friend Danny Amazonas, and was relieved to know he and his wife are ok after their big tremblor. Friends in NJ and NY were surprised to see their chandeliers swinging Friday morning. Having experienced earthquakes as a kid in California, and in Japan and Taiwan when I lived in Asia, I know it is very unnerving when the floor begins to shake and drop under your feet.

I am putting the last few details in place for my Textile and Costume tour in Italy, the first half of December. Registration is expected to open up next week. If you want advance notice before it opens up to the public, contact customer service to be put on the list.

Sunday I am supposed to drive across the Continental Divide to Grand Junction (in the tail end of a snowstorm) and then down to Gateway Canyon for the Alegre Retreat. The following Saturday I’ll be stopping at the quilt festival in Grand Junction, on the way back home. I am working on two very large pieces during the retreat, and hoping to get a lot of work done in the ‘independent study’ room. Hoping to see the peach blossoms as I drive through Palisade!

This week I was blessed to experience 2 owls hooting back and forth at each other from 2 giant old trees, just after sunset. I could see their pointy ear silhouettes against the twilight sky, and their deep-throated “Whoo-whooooo” calls made my scalp tingle. Those magical moments that Nature brings to us when least expected, are the things that inspire me in the studio.

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Travel/Quilt Dates:
April 7-12 – Allegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 1-7 – London & Canterbury, UK
August – World Wilderness Congress, Rapid City SD
December – Textile & Costume Tour – Italy


Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

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Free Quilt Pattern – Spectacular Kitty Floral

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Luana

This gorgeous Ginger Kitty is all ready for a Springtime Garden Party, in this week’s eQuilter.com Free Quilt Pattern. The details in this artwork – the green reflective eyes – the wisps of soft fur and whiskers – the dreamy florals – make this a very special collectible piece of artwork.

To make this 63″ x 63″ quilt design, you will start with our charming 43″ x 44″ exclusive digital panel. You will fussy cut large realistic blossoms for the corner blocks. We’ve used a Turquoise lozenge-shaped ombre border inset to give a luminous quality, set against the Kona Solid Black.

…from the ‘Spectacular Pets’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this exquisite quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

Order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our thousands of fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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Multitudes

Posted on April 3, 2024 by Luana

I’ve been on a quest for 35 years. My goal is to fill out my stash with every color, every shade and tint and hue and value so that when I need something for a project, it is (somewhere) on my shelf. Lately I’ve been filling in the last few slots from the eQuilter scrap bin. As I get ready for a weeklong artist retreat, I have a sense of urgency.

As new color trends and unique color combinations catch my eye, I have to review my stash. A little Plum here, a little Marigold there, and maybe a little Deep Teal and Sprout Green too. Am I done yet? Never. That is half the fun of being a quilter, if I dare say so myself. It is the eternal quest for the perfect color. It never ends, but it is a noble quest.

For those of you on a similar quest, we try to help out by cutting our own special collections of fat quarters in house. I am the one who initiates a new fat quarter packet, and chooses the colors that go into these collections that will hopefully scratch that particular chromatic itch we all get now and then.

This week I am featuring another quilt from the Modern Quilt Guild’s festival – QuiltCon. This cheerful quilt (upper left quadrant of collage above) is more fun than a Spring garden, with pieced blocks that resemble an ombre gradient. It illustrates a warm analogous color story that warms us like sunshine and tulips…chirping robins and giggling babies.

Heather Akerberg is the quiltmaker for this piece, which she titled “Multitudes”. Karen McTavish also helped with the machine quilting, and Heather added some hand quilting.

Heather writes:
“Our unique experiences, thoughts, beliefs and memories all inform who we are at any given moment. We are multitudes. Utilizing simple shapes, this quilt explores how our identities are layered and varied. Using shifts in value and hue, vibrancy and depth are created. ‘Multitudes’ was constructed using a mix of foundation paper and traditional piecing with a mix of shot cotton and quilting cotton, mostly from my scrap bins.”

You can see a larger image of this quilt on this page.

Be sure to check out my photos from QuiltCon 2024!

If you have not subscribed to my artist blog yet, follow this link to see my latest process post about a Fierce Mama Bear art quilt, made for the SAQA Spotlight auction.

Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul

* Quilt by Heather Akerberg is set im a collage of Fat Quarter images, available now at eQuilter.com

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

Follow Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for quilt & travel images, review our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Subscribe to Luana’s Artist Website blog for more creative inspiration.

Travel/Quilt Dates:
April 7-12 – Allegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 1-7 – London & Canterbury, UK
August – World Wilderness Congress, Rapid City SD
December – Textile & Costume Tour – Italy

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Free Quilt Pattern – Mystic Kitty

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Luana

Behold the green eyes of this mystical kitty, who sees all and knows all, in this week’s Free Quilt Pattern. This mesmerizing portrait captures the intensity of this cosmic cat’s gaze, surrounded by marbleized colors and opulent embellishments.

To make this 71″ wide x 55″ high quilt design, you will start with our exclusive 28″ x 44″ digital-printed panel. We have used 3 analogous colors of Paula Nadelstern’s “Poured Color” marbled prints, combined with Kona Solid Black, to construct the pieced border.

As a wall hanging, this is a real conversation piece for the true Ailurophile. (Cat lover) Or use this as a Nap quilt or small bed coverlet for fantastical feline dreams. The jewel tones of Emerald, Peridot and Citrine really ‘pop’ against the solid black in the pieced frame. This just might be your cat’s favorite new quilt!

…from the ‘Mystic Animals’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this exquisite quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

Order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our thousands of fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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Spring Chocolate Sale

Posted on March 30, 2024 by Luana

Well, the time has come to clear out our Artisan Chocolates for the season, and I know from experience they go fast. Place your order now for 30% off. If you order 5 chocolate bars and a spool of thread, we won’t tell anybody. Or, you can order 5 spools of thread and one bar of chocolate for a low-cal dopamine hit. *giggle*

I want to make sure you don’t miss these special new products this week:

Evolon 58 gsm – 40″ wide Back in Stock, New 80″ wide by the yard!
Goofy Cherry Blossom new tea towels.
Caryl Bryer Fallert‘s Ombre collection back in stock – 24 colors + Fat Strip Precut
2 New SAQA Books – Fierce Planets & StitchPUNK

This week I am busy prepping for a one-week art quilt retreat in SW Colorado – the Allegre Retreat which was founded by Katie Pasquini Masopust. I met her 20+ years ago at Art Quilt Tahoe. I am finally going to check off this bucket list item, and hopefully get a lot of work done there. I am not in a class, but I am doing an independent study retreat. One of the teachers is Susan Carlson, who we had scheduled to teach here in 2020, but had to cancel (along with Paula Nadelstern) because of the pandemic. Sigh…..

Today I was out at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, gathering signatures for a ballot initiative to ban Trophy Hunting of Big Cats in Colorado. On the walk back to my car, I saw the new residents: beautiful silver foxes who were rescued from a fur farm. eQuilter is a “Founder” – we have donated to their huge wildlife refuge in SE Colorado where lions and tigers and bears live in outdoor acreage after being rescued from horrendous abusive situations. They have started a Horse Refuge for mustangs that are rounded up destined for a tragic demise – but are saved at the auction and sent to the refuge to run free again.

If you would like advance notice of my Textile & Costume tour in Italy in early December, contact Customer Service and they will put you on that list.

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Travel/Quilt Dates:
April 7-12 Allegre Retreat
May 1-7 – England
August – World Wilderness Congress
December – Textile/Costume Tour – Italy

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

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Free Quilt Pattern – Barnyard Babies

Posted on March 28, 2024 by Luana

Celebrate the arrival of Spring with this adorable collection of baby animals, in this week’s Free Quilt Pattern. Each block is a sweet portrait of a little baby animal, featuring a bright-eyed lamb, fuzzy pink piglet, soft yellow chicks, carrot-nibbling bunny, curious calf, and sassy kid. (goat)

To make this 63″ x 69″ quilt, you will start with two 24″ x 44″ Barnyard Babies block panels, piecing blocks to make 3 rows in the central section. Join blocks with coordinating blender. Use matching Barnyard Stripe to create border, with outer border of blue blender. Finish with coordinating red paisley print for the binding.

This a fun Nap/Lap quilt for a retired farmer, maybe a wall hanging in the barn, or a delightful gift for a new baby. Also makes a great gift for your vet who will be delivering some of these baby animals this spring!

…from the ‘Barnyard Babies’ collection by South Africa designer Clint Eagar for P&B Textiles.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this exquisite quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

Order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our thousands of fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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