To make this 55″ x 61″ quilt design, you will start with the Old Made 24″ x 44″ Quilting Card Panel, then cut up another block panel into individual ‘cards’ to be pieced with Kona Solid, then add a pumpkin coordinate border and Kona Solid Black to complete this wickedly amusing wall hanging!
Happy May! ….one of my favorite times of year here in Colorado.
This week I had a meeting with the director of the Wild Foundation. (One of our 7 main non-profit recipients.) We had a long talk about the current situation regarding poaching of endangered species. China has passed a law that punishes those who market endangered species parts, so the market has shifted to Vietnam. Poachers in Africa who are raising money to buy arms, are chased out of one country, only to take up residence (and destruction) in another neighboring country. There is an overlap with the issues that Engineers Without Borders, and Doctors Without Borders are dealing with on the continent. The more I talk to those fighting these issues, the more I learn, and the more I see how they are all interconnected. The victims are wildlife, children, mothers, those living in poverty. This is why we have a commitment to a variety of non-profits that are interconnected in ways that might surprise you.
You may recall that I was scheduled to speak as an Artist-Activist and Activist-Curator at the World Wilderness Congress in Jaipur last year, but the event was cancelled due to Covid. However my work on this topic continues, and I’ll have some more news in the next week.
I am sure you are feeling the same way that I do, with regard to the terrible Covid news out of India. We have many quilter friends in India so we are sending you blessings for health and safety during this difficult time. Last year I gave a presentation to the India Quilt Festival, and there was so much joy and creative talent expressed in their online quilt exhibit. If you attend one of my online “International Quilt Trends” lectures later this year, you’ll see images of many of those beautiful Indian quilts.
Next weekend is Mothers Day here in the US. If you are a mom, or if you have a mom, I want to remind you that eQuilter gift certificates make a great last-minute gift! They can be sent by snail mail, or sent out immediately by email! That way Mom can pick out exactly what she wants. Feel free to drop hints by sending this link to your beloved children.
I will finish by saying that the Jacaranda Egret and Blue Heron art panels at the top of the newsletter, are two of the most gorgeous things I have seen in the last year. It is a collector piece. These days it is not always guaranteed that a collection will be reprinted, so I remind you that if you see something that captures your heart, order before it runs out to avoid disappointment.
Sophie would like to send out a special thank you to everyone who contributed to her graduation quilt which was just delivered to our front doorstep this week. (She graduated from high school a year ago.) The purple school colors and the music theme, and the embroidered details are just beautiful! Thank you!
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This bold and colorful 49″ x 69″ quilt begins with the best-selling Timeless Treasures Aurora panel, and is framed by coordinating Aurora blocks, solid black sateen, and two cobalt blue Shimmering Galaxy borders.
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.
As you may know, we have established close relationships with many non-profits and relief organizations, so that our charity program may help those in need. This includes groups that work internationally, nationally, regionally and locally…like when Colorado has had floods, fires, and now our hometown tragic mass shooting.
Yesterday I received a request from our contact at the Boulder Emergency Taskforce, asking if we could put out a call for comfort quilts, for those traumatized by our March 22 mass shooting. This includes the families of the 10 victims, and the 150 first responders who rushed to the King Soopers to save lives.
There will be an event for these folks on May 15, and if you would like to donate a special comfort quilt to these families, police, and other first responders, please drop off or ship to us to arrive by May 13. If for some reason your gift arrives after that date, we still have the means to distribute your quilt to one of the people in our community who were impacted by the event.
We know there were 115 people inside shopping, and another 25 people in the parking lot, when the shooting started. We are thinking about these people too, and everyone in that neighborhood whose life was forever changed by what they witnessed. We have so many friends in that neighborhood who are still processing what happened that day, in the grocery store that was a community institution. Struggles with depression and PTSD are common after an experience like this.
To ship a quilt to us:
eQuilter.com – 6201 Spine Rd. Suite A, Boulder Colo 80301
If you want confirmation that the quilt arrived, please choose a method of shipping with a tracking number. We will not have time to contact you to confirm receipt.
To drop off a quilt to us:
Call us at 303-527-0856 when you arrive. Be sure to bring your cell phone. Our front door is still locked and staff are still wearing masks and social distancing. Our phone number is also posted on the front door. We are open Monday – Friday, 8 am to 5 pm.
Please do share this blog link with anyone (or any group) who might wish to contribute.
I’d also like to remind you that we’d like to present memorial quilts to the community next year on the one year anniversary, listing all 10 victims, including police officer Eric Talley who rushed in first. He was the father of 7 young children. Please contact me if you are interested in making a community memorial quilt wall hanging.
We want to thank the first responders for their courage and compassion during this terrible event, and we want to hold the families in the comfort of a handmade quilt.
If you send a quilt (lap size to bed size) be sure to put a label on the back so they know where it came from. Target size is a generous lap/nap quilt to small bed quilt – imagine someone curled up on the couch wanting to snuggle under a comfort quilt. However we will take whatever you wish to donate, that you think is appropriate.
As always, we ask for your donations to be fragrance free, odor free, animal hair free…to avoid any allergy issues for the recipients.
…with hope for the future, Luana and Paul
* The photo above is the spontaneous memorial for Officer Eric Talley at the Police Station, 2 days after the event.
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One of the pleasures of summertime is catching the fragrance of flowering gardens on the breeze, and following the sweet scent to the source. This week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern captures the moment of entering a garden in full bloom, celebrating Lilac & Hydrangeas, Roses & Peonies, and the Honeybees, Dragonflies & Butterflies who accompany this seasonal celebration.
To make this 64″ x 64″ quilt design, you will start with the main 24″ x 44″ floral panel, then cut up and piece the blocks in another panel. Use the floral stripe for the border, and then enjoy your own garden oasis.
It has been such a fun week hanging out with fellow art quilters and textile artists at the SAQA annual conference, which featured the work (and studios!) of Australian and New Zealand quilters. Many thanks to everyone who worked hard to put on this event. We look forward to an IN-PERSON event in St Petersburg Florida in April 28 – May 1, 2022. If you are interested in making art quilts and don’t know about SAQA, google ‘Studio Art Quilt Associates’ and join us!
If you’ve been with eQuilter for awhile, no doubt you are aware of our charity program which is approaching a total of $1.8 million raised for our list of non-profits. Today I met with 2 special people from 2 of those organizations.
The founder of Engineers Without Borders (Bernard) is also an engineering professor here at CU Boulder. We also have a friend (Tom) who is a retired administrator for Doctors Without Borders. Both of them have spent a lot of time working in refugee camps, and dealing with poverty and healthcare challenges in troubled countries. The 3 of us have resumed our monthly lunches where we share stories and ideas about how to make the world a better place.
We have an ISS astronaut friend who has moved to Boulder in the last year, who is also a member of EWB, so hope to have him join us next time after the launch of his book “Floating in Darkness”, which is about his time on the Intl Space Station. Ron Garan’s book is being released on May 4th, so we have to assume he is a fellow Star Wars nerd. (May the Fourth be with you….) Ron called Bernard from the space station to wish him a happy birthday a few years ago, but he missed the call! Darn!
Anyway, those are the kind of stories we share at lunch. We have a shared passion for supporting organizations who are working for World Peace, which includes engineering projects to help promote peace in troubled regions, and helping refugees who have lost their homes due to conflict. That is why these non-profits are 2 of the 7 charities you will see listed, when you finish up your eQuilter order.
As Margaret Mead wrote: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
with hope for the future, Luana and Paul
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To make this 66″ x 58″ stunning quilt design, you will start with the 36″ x 44″ Geisha Pair Panel, then cut up the 24″ x 44″ block panel, and piece with the 3 gorgeous Sakura/floral prints plus 2 Hoffman Hand-Dyes and a Kona Solid Black. This is a finely detailed screen printed collection with Gold Metallic accents.
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.
No kidding this was a real headline in the last few days. The BBC reports that the Suez Canal blockage and worldwide supply chain issues due to the pandemic, have resulted in a worldwide shortage of Garden Gnomes!
Fortunately here at eQuilter we have anticipated the Worldwide Gnome Shortage and have stocked up heavily on Gnome fabrics from several different designers. Whew! We even have a few Gnome patterns in stock. Disaster averted!
This week started out with a bang. My mom had an accident (a fall) and I spent Monday at the emergency room with her. It was the longest amount of time I’ve spent with her since the pandemic started, but of course that is not the way I wanted to spend time with her.
Due to the injuries, when I brought her home from the hospital, they allowed me to come back to her room in her nursing home for awhile…also the first time in a year. (I’ve had two 30-minute supervised visits in the nursing home lobby, in the last couple weeks…first in-person visits in a year.)
Thank goodness I am vaccinated which opened the door for my entry. She was starving, because she had missed lunch, and enduring the ER uses up a lot of calories. So they brought her a tray of all kinds of things to tempt her. She looked at everything, and nothing was appealing to her. I said “Hey Mom, you know what they say…Life is Uncertain. Eat Dessert First.”
She looked at me, blinked a couple times, and said “I’ll have that chocolate ice cream.”
She scarfed down the ice cream, then the tomato soup, and then the chicken noodle soup. Turned up her nose at the orange jello.
At times like this, you just have to keep your sense of humor.
Mom is stable, and will be recovering from her injuries for several weeks, but none appear to be life-threatening. I made the most of my time with her, because we never know what tomorrow will bring. I held her hand and stroked her brow, while they stitched her up. When we were alone in the room, I sang what her mother used to sing to her. “You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine…” The same song she used to sing to me at bedtime, and what I sang to my kids when I tucked them in when they were little.
…with hope for the future, Luana and Paul
p.s. We need to sell our last few chocolate bars before it gets too warm. Please buy the last few bars of the season, on sale now for Mothers Day!
To make this 46″ x 53″ quilt design, you will start by cutting up two digital-printed panels, one with large vigettes, and the other with smaller blocks. Piece with a Hoffman Hand-Dye sashing, and add a tropical flower and butterfly border.
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.
Boulder is a hotbed of quilt artistry and textile genius, and I feel so lucky to have so many talented quilters living in the Front Range area. (Boulder, Denver, up and down the Colorado Rocky Mountains) Our state guild is active all over the state, our art quilt guild is world class, we have so many local/city guilds, and in the last 10 years we’ve had Modern Quilt Guilds popping up all over. I can only hope in some small way we’ve helped to support these fertile creative groups to incubate and expand the quilting arts in our area. My fervent wish is that all of you have these kinds of local support groups. If not, start your own!
This week I had lunch (in an outdoor plastic restaurant bubble) with an old friend. We started a creative support group with 6 people, a few years before eQuilter was launched. All of the members have gone on to have glorious quilting careers, locally and/or nationally. We have all gotten involved with guilds, galleries, or businesses that support and inspire other quilters.
Our local quilt Museum is just closing the Nihon Quilt exhibit, which helped to fill my thirst for Japanese quilts. (since there was no Tokyo Quilt Festival this year.) On Monday one of our local quilt artists will have her own exhibit opening up at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. Barbara Beasley is known for her sensitive detailed animal portraits, and we are lucky to call her a friend. Sophie and I took her one-day class at our state guild’s Fall Retreat a couple years ago, and now Sophie is a huge fan as well.
Barbara is featured in the brand new SAQA “Art Quilt Quarterly” and we also have her new book “Walk on the Wild Side“. We got this new SAQA magazine in stock on Friday, just in time for the SAQA annual conference which kicked off yesterday, and runs through next week. It has been so fantastic to see old friends online, from around the world. Say what you will about Zoom fatigue, but I am still thrilled to say hello to friends in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe & UK, Canada and Brazil. Equally thrilled to see US artists from so many states…both coasts and everything in between. We live in challenging times, but coming together with our quilting tribe is what keeps us going…til we meet again.
