eQuilter Blog

Ever since we opened eQuilter in March 1999, it has become more obvious every year, that some of you are year-round collectors of Halloween-themed fabrics. I guess you could say it is the flip side of the coin, compared to those who like to collect Christmas/holiday/Winter fabrics. These savvy collectors know that both of these themes are seasonal fabrics that usually are ‘one and done’ which means there is one printing, and then it is gone forever.

However, we have some perennial favorites in this category that we DO reprint in our exclusive Rubin Design Studio collections. After many years of frustration when our suppliers would run out quickly, and not reprint….we took matters into our own hands. We still buy beautiful artwork from our suppliers, but when a Rubin design sells out quickly, we just put in an order for a reprint. That’s for all you die-hard collectors!

One important tip for you:
If you see something you love….it haunts you….but you don’t jump on it fast enough and it sells out….just contact our customer service department and we’ll email or call you when it is back in stock. Many of you take advantage of this service. Also many of you subscribe to our Back in Stock email list so you can pounce on those reprints the day they come in. Serious Fabriholic Ninjas – we see you!

One week from now I’ll be on a plane to Houston for the Intl Quilt Festival. I have 2 quilts in the show this year. My “250 Years of American Wilderness” is in the Landscape gallery, and my large wolf quilt “Invisible Borders” is in the very special exhibit “Soul Stories”. This is a new group of artists whose group exhibit is premiering in Houston this year. (Next year we will be at the New England Quilt Museum in the Spring, and the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK in August.)

You can see a preview of my 2 quilts here, but I hope you can see them in person!

I’ll be at the gallery talks for Soul Stories on Friday and Saturday at 2 pm so if you are coming please come to these artist talks and say hello afterwards! I am also attending the SAQA member event on Friday 5-7 pm and hope to see many of you there.

eQuilter is also the sponsor for the $5K Master Award which went to Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry this year. Be sure to see all the big winners, including Best of Show by Ricky Tims.

Sharing our passion for fabric…and cats!
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website.
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Oct 9-12 – Houston Quilt Festival – Soul Stories
Nov 2-6 – Art Quilt Tahoe – Independent Study
Nov 7-10 – Sacred Threads – Indianapolis – Art & Activism lecture
Nov 21-23 – Taiwan Quilt Festival – Taipei – Feature Artist & Speaker
Dec 10 – Canadian Quilt Association – Zoom Lecture – Intl Quilt Trends
Feb 2 – SAQA Europe/Middle East – Zoom Lecture
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC

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.

As I have mentioned before, our house is full of dogs and cats. This week we are coming to terms with the fact that our 2 yr old Rosie is going to be a special needs doggie. Our boy Leo is turning 10 soon so we just hope he lives a long healthy life. Rosie has epilepsy, and we’ve had a lot of visits to the vet in the last several months. But she is the sweetest girl and we love her so much so….we will take care of her. I know many of you can relate, with similar pet situations.

In 2 weeks I’ll be in Houston, celebrating the talent and beauty created by fellow artists! I have 2 pieces in the show, and I will be at the Soul Stories gallery talks on Friday and Saturday at 2 pm. Please make a note in your schedule to come to one of those talks. I am excited to share this talented group of artists with you.

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Oct 9-12 – Houston Quilt Festival – Soul Stories
Nov 2-6 – Art Quilt Tahoe – Independent Study
Nov 7-10 – Sacred Threads – Indianapolis – Art & Activism lecture
Nov 21-23 – Taiwan Quilt Festival – Taipei – Feature Artist & Speaker
Dec 10 – Canadian Quilt Association – Zoom Lecture – Intl Quilt Trends
Feb 2 – SAQA Europe/Middle East – Zoom Lecture
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC

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.

Ten days ago I was in Tucson at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for the Camouflage exhibit reception. It was a super fast trip because I have too many pots on the stove (so to speak) right now, but it was a glorious 24 hours. I had been to this museum about 9 years ago, and always wanted to go back. One of the reasons was because of its proximity to the Saguaro National Parkland, but also the museum is set in a huge botanic garden full of desert flora. At the end of summer the gardens are full of blooming cacti, and buzzing with many kinds of pollinators. I was also tickled to see a quail family come skittering out of the underbrush as the sun set.

One of our great inspiration opportunities is travel, and often it is the landscape and the local flora and fauna that delight us the most. In this case it was a chance to wander through a wonderland of statuesque saguaro, stickery cacti, and the kind of chittering birds who come out as the sun drops along with the temperature.

I stayed as the staffed cleaned up after the party, and caught a ride with the director of the art institute. We shared our love of sunset and landscapes so she took me on a scenic back road so we could enjoy the golden hour and the colors of the sky reflected on the red rocks.

Here I share some of my photos from that afternoon, and I hope it will inspire you to get out and gather inspiration from the turning colors of the Fall season. Fall landed with a thump on Monday here in Colorado – with up to a foot of snow in the high country – and a dark monsoon rain with overnight temps in the 40s. Today we had a steady soaking rain, and as I drove home, I enjoyed the brilliant golden-greens of the wet landscape that is just starting to turn colors.

Enjoy the colors of your season, wherever you are!

Sharing our passion for fabric…and cats!
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website.
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Oct 9-12 – Houston Quilt Festival – Soul Stories
Nov 2-6 – Art Quilt Tahoe – Independent Study
Nov 7-10 – Sacred Threads – Indianapolis – Art & Activism lecture
Nov 21-23 – Taiwan Quilt Festival – Taipei – Feature Artist & Speaker
Dec 10 – Canadian Quilt Association – Zoom Lecture – Intl Quilt Trends
Feb 2 – SAQA Europe/Middle East – Zoom Lecture
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC

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.

Congratulations to all the big winners in the Houston Quilt Festival, which were announced last Monday. Caryl Bryer-Fallert Gentry was the winner of the eQuilter Master Award, and Ricky Tims won Best of Show. I look forward to seeing all the fantastic quilts in person in 2.5 weeks!

Monday is the Fall Equinox, so this weekend is truly the end of Summer. Do you find that you are drawn to a different palette of colors as the leaves begin to turn, and the air cools at night? Perhaps you will experiment with new textures in your projects, or play with new embellishments? Trying new things is what keeps textile art and quiltmaking fun…and fresh.

If you have not tried a magazine for new ideas, the turning of the season might be the perfect time to consider something unique? I have my favorites (Quilting Arts and Art Quilting Studio) and I look forward to new techniques whenever a new issue lands on my desk. What is your favorite magazine?

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Oct 9-12 – Houston Quilt Festival – Soul Stories
Nov 2-6 – Art Quilt Tahoe – Independent Study
Nov 7-10 – Sacred Threads – Indianapolis – Art & Activism lecture
Nov 21-23 – Taiwan Quilt Festival – Taipei – Feature Artist & Speaker
Dec 10 – Canadian Quilt Association – Zoom Lecture – Intl Quilt Trends
Feb 2 – SAQA Europe/Middle East – Zoom Lecture
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC

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.

We are very aware that many of you are dedicated Crazy Cat Ladies (and Lads), with kitty assistants lolling across your current quilt projects on your sewing machines. Yes many of you are dog lovers as well, but this is an Ode to the Ailurophiles out there. You know who you are.

I got my first dog at 5 years old, but I picked out my first cat at a pet shop when I was about 12 years old. I picked out an adult rescue cat and brought it back to my home which for some reason my mother accepted. The shop keeper told me it was a boy, so I named him Timothy. However as the weeks went by and Timothy’s belly swelled with mysterious wiggles, we suspected that he was a she. Yes in fact Timothy had kittens a few weeks later which was a shock and delight. That was back in the day, before we knew to spay cats.

Now our daughter is away at college and has an apartment. A year ago she got herself a 5 year old rescue kitty named Grapefruit, whom she adores. Grapefruit is a grey, peach and cream calico.

And here’s a funny story….when Paul and I first met in 1994, we each had 2 cats. He had 2 British Shorthairs. I had a tuxedo and a tabby. So our first home together had 4 cats. And multiple lint brushes. Now we have 2 dogs and 3 rescue cats. We adore our furry family and we can see from all the cat and dog fabrics that you collect…that you share our devotion to fuzzy friends.

Our exclusive collection of Cat fabrics is legendary…and sometimes very silly. This week we also have the new Quiltfolk book of CATS, which features several of our talented customers’ work. Featured on page 106 is a OBW quilt called “Bedazzled” by artist Jackie OBrien featuring eQuilter’s very own panel by Rubin Design Studio called Intricate Illustrated Kitty.

Fellow crazy cat lads & ladies can join my Fabriholic Kitty Club on Facebook, where you can post as many cat photos, memes and videos as you like, and nobody will unfriend you. Meow!

Sharing our passion for fabric…and cats!
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website.
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Oct 9-12 – Houston Quilt Festival – Soul Stories
Nov 2-6 – Art Quilt Tahoe – Independent Study
Nov 7-10 – Sacred Threads – Indianapolis – Art & Activism lecture
Nov 21-23 – Taiwan Quilt Festival – Taipei – Feature Artist & Speaker
Dec 10 – Canadian Quilt Association – Zoom Lecture – Intl Quilt Trends
Feb 2 – SAQA Europe/Middle East – Zoom Lecture
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC

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