eQuilter Blog

This weekend I watched the screening of the Metropolitan Opera’s “El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego” – a dazzling new production with fabulous sets and costumes. (Of course, the music was wonderful as well!) I was reminded of my many visits to Mexico City for the Mexico Quilt Festival, which sadly ended with the pandemic. But on those quilt festival trips, I visited the Blue House (Casa Azul) where Frida grew up, and the art studios of both Frida Kahlo and her artist husband Diego Rivera.

During those years, I took art and museum tours which included the monumental murals by Diego, and saw the exhibit with Frida’s indigenous costumes, colorful jewelry, and prosthetics. “Frida” with Salma Hayek (2002) is still one of my alltime favorite movies, and I often play the film’s soundtrack when I am in the studio.

Here is the photo album from Mexico City, with Casa Azul, Diego’s murals, and more. The photo above is Frida’s paints and palette, her easel and wheelchair, in The Blue House where she spent most of her life. She was driven to make art, despite her pain and disabilities. I suspect that many of you quilt, sew, and create to help deal with similar challenges.

This Friday evening I am speaking on “Art and Activism” on World Environment Day in Houston Texas, and I am bringing several of my story art quilts to display for the event. You can find more information, and a link to register, on this blog post.

If you have not subscribed to my artist blog yet, be sure to check out my gallery and exhibit schedule, and sign up for exhibit updates.

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website and blog!
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
June 5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston

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.

Long weekends at the beginning or end of a season are prime time to organize your work space, review your stash and supplies, and make plans for your next few projects.

Deadlines for the Fall quilt festivals are on the horizon, for those of you daring to dream of seeing your work in a public exhibit.

Right now I am finishing up one project, cleaning my studio, and making plans for the summer. I like the quiet of a long weekend to work on my own projects that require a lot of focus.

On Memorial Day, we remember those we have lost, but we also celebrate life with friends and family. We wish you a creative start to the season.

Sharing your passion for fabrics….
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
June 4-5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston



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

See Luana’s Artist Blog, 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.

I am writing to you today from Lowell Massachusetts, where one of my art quilts is in a Soul Stories exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum. I’ll be giving a lecture about Soul Stories today, attending the artist reception, and we all will enjoy talking to visitors about our work.

Paul and I celebrated our 31 year wedding anniversary this last week. Those years keep rolling by. The time goes by faster when we are having fun – working together to bring you lots of beautiful fabrics!

We had a scare this week with our older male golden retriever Leo. We thought we were going to lose him, but we have him on some new meds and he is slowly improving. In the meantime, we found out the DNA of our new young stray rescue dog River. She is a 1-2 year old Black-Brindle. Imagine how surprised we were to find out she is half Golden, and half Great Pyrenees! She is an enigma of nature!

Sharing your passion for fabrics….
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
June 4-5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston



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

See Luana’s Artist Blog, 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.

Do you remember the first time you saw Yoda use The Force to beat the bad guys in a Star Wars movie? I do! I was in a movie theater, and the packed audience broke out in applause and cheering. Now, for a new generation we have Baby Yoda as a budding hero. (Also known as Grogu)

Knowing how our Mandalorian and Grogu prints sold out during the 2019-2023 series, I wanted to let you know we still have some collectible yardage of 6 Mandalorian/Grogu designs. Maybe snag some now before the movie comes out and your grandkids are begging for a Grogu quilt.

Sometimes we feel small and powerless, and we need a reminder of that Shakespeare quote… “Though she be little, she is fierce.”

From Rocky Raccoon to Mighty Mouse, pop culture is full of tiny heroes who wield surprisingly great power. This little Mouse Wizard is reminding me of all the other movie characters who are diminutive but surprise us with their strength…like Dobby, Baby Groot, Stitch, Baby Jack in the Incredibles, and Ant Man.

Personally, I loved the stories of Stuart Little – written by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams. This 1945 children’s novel about a tiny, unlikely hero…is timeless. Fortunately there is also a 1999 Stuart Little movie, with the perfectly cast Michael J. Fox as the little mouse’s voice.

But what about the little girl heroes?
We need to see more of these female stories for our daughters. Ruby Bridges, Anne Frank, Malala, and Greta Thunberg are admired for their courage. As a girl I loved the books about Pippi Longstocking. I suspect my Swedish grandmother introduced my mother to these stories. Author Astrid Lindgren explained that “Pippi represents my own childish longing for a person who has power but does not abuse it.” Although she is the self-proclaimed “strongest girl in the world”, Pippi often uses nonviolence to solve conflicts, via guile and creativity, to protect other children from bullying. That’s my kinda gal!

Subscribe to my artist website and blog!
www.luanarubin.com

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

Travel/Lecture Dates:
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception & Lecture
June 5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston

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.

I think that today – Mothers Day – has more meaning to all of our eQuilter customers than almost any other holiday. Why? Because so many of us learned our beloved craft from our mothers or grandmothers. And in addition, we have taught our children, or grandchildren, to sit with us and share the joy of stitching. The pride and satisfaction that comes from making and gifting our first quilt, is something we never forget. The love and generosity flows from a mother’s heart into every stitch of those quilts.

If you are thinking of a last minute gift for your own mother, or perhaps someone who is a new mother, we remind you that an emailed eQuilter.com Gift Certificate will be instantly received by the recipient!

I hope you saw my blog on Wednesday. You’ll find a link to attend my lecture at the New England Quilt Museum next weekend. If you can’t make the artist reception, I hope you can see the Soul Stories exhibit while it is there. The exhibit will be traveling to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK this summer also!

Sharing your passion for fabrics….
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
June 4-5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston



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

See Luana’s Artist Blog, 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.