Wednesday night I am flying to Birmingham England, for the Festival of Quilts. They are celebrating their 20th anniversary and I am excited to photograph the quilt exhibit this year. This has been the biggest show for Europe for many years, and I always look forward to seeing quilts from not only all over the UK (Ireland, Scotland, Wales & England) but also quilts from all over the continent. My favorites are the quilts that show some of the culture of their home country. From Finland and Netherlands, to Spain and Italy, it is a smorgasbord of color trends, fascinating techniques, and creative brilliance.
The last 2 weeks I’ve been madly working on 2 big projects – a writing project (which I’ll tell you about later this year) and a quilt that will premier at an art exhibit about endangered pollinators, opening August 14 at the Boulder Museum. (“Little Creatures”)
As you may know I’ve been developing a collaboration with the Endangered Species Coalition in Washington DC, and I was invited to make a piece for this project. I chose the Uncompahgre Fritillary – an endangered Colorado butterfly that lives in a small range in our mountains. They have also asked me to speak on “Art & Activism” Sept 14 at CU Boulder. More details to come.
It is one of the biggest quilts I’ve made so far – at 40″ x 60″ it has been a challenge to get it done before this trip! Some of the products I’ve used to get this quilt finished on my Bernina Q20:
Martelli Quilting Hoops, Sewers Aid, Silicone Spray, SoftFuse, Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite, Titanium Non-Stick Needles, Goddess Pressing Sheets, 72″ Wide Wool Felt, Karen Kay Buckley Scissors, and a Lightbox! And lots of beautiful colors of Aurifil Threads. The quilt is made from leftover scraps of eQuilter batiks and hand-dyes. After you guys buy all the yardage, I go ‘dumpster diving’ in our scrap hamper, and pull out batiks for my project. You can find a wide range of batiks and hand-dyes on our site of course, and you get first pick! All of these products – fabric, notions, fusibles, batting, thread – are available at eQuilter.
Contact Customer Service for more information.
These products are all Luana-tested and Luana-approved. *wink*
I will share a photo of the quilt when I get back.
Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul
Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.
See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, review our blog, or follow us on Facebook.
Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.
Travel/Quilt Calendar:
August 2-7 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska (via Homer)
Sept 14 – “Art & Activism” lecture at CU Boulder
Sept 28-30 – AQSG Seminar – Louisville, KY
Oct 27 – Nov 3 – Quilt Market/Festival – Houston TX
