| I am dashing off this note to you before I head to the airport for the Festival of Quilts (FOQ) at Birmingham in the UK. This is my first overseas trip since the Tokyo Quilt Festival in January 2020! I am excited to be attending this big quilt festival with exhibits from all over Europe. The last time I attended FOQ was in August 2019. eQuilter is sponsoring the SAQA “Forced to Flee” gallery at FOQ, on the topic of refugees. As you know this topic is even more timely now since the war in Ukraine started. The number of displaced people worldwide has surpassed 100 million for the first time. It is truly hard to comprehend, unless you have witnessed this firsthand. Because of our close relationship with our non-profit partners, I have had many meetings with those who have actually worked in refugee camps around the world. Today, one in every 78 people on earth is displaced. Through our partnerships with Doctors Without Borders, Mission of Love and Engineers Without Borders, we are using our business as a force for good and we thank you for your support of our family business and our charity program. 10 days ago you might have attended the Long Beach Quilt Festival, where we sponsored the “Celebration of Color” exhibit and cash prizes. I wanted to share this beautiful burst of color – the First Place winner in the Modern category of this contest. (quilt image above) “Chroma Infinitum” by Susan McKinney – Artist Statement: “Ordered chaos and infinite color. A promise of what lies beyond what is seen. Paper-pieced with over 50 colors from 77 unique block templates. Tessellated triangles were digitally drawn, no 2 triangles alike, then quilted by machine.” Through the crazy Supply Chain Rollercoaster of the Pandemic, we have maintained our commitment to stocking Modern Solid products for you – currently we have over 640 colors of Modern Solid Cottons, and over 100 Solid Pre-Cuts for your slicing and stitching pleasure. Recently I was interviewed via Zoom by Bob Ruggiero, VP from Quilts Inc (organizer of the Quilt Festival in Long Beach and Houston) on the topic of COLOR, and you can watch that interview HERE. Are you coming to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK? Register now for my power point lecture “International Quilt Trends” this Friday at 10 am, lecture code #512. You will be inspired! (Bring a notebook.) If you see me on the show floor, please do say hello! Keep an eye out for my quilt “Stardust Mothers” – which was recently at the ‘Sacred Threads’ show in the Washington DC area. Sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, watch our videos, or follow us on Facebook. Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter pages for Color and Design ideas. Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar: Aug 17-21 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK – Quilt Trends Lecture & SAQA Forced to Flee (Register for Luana’s trend lecture – Friday 10 am.) Sept 21-23 – SAQA Conference – San Diego CA October 2022 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada |
