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.
This week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern features the luminous artwork of Chong-A Hwang, with a glowing Peacock panel and feathers, offset with solid black to make the colors really ‘pop’. If the Peacock is your spirit animal, this beautiful bird brings balance, pride, self-love, courage, confidence, honor, integrity and wisdom. The peacock also inspires ‘showing your true colors’ to those around you.
To make this stunning 53″ x 72″ quilt design, you will start with the 24″ x 44″ central Peacock panel, then add 3 coordinates from the collection, plus a Hoffman Hand-Dye and a Solid Pima Black. The diamond border has pieced squares set on-point, giving this a sparkling quality.
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.
The last year has been an exercise in letting go. We’ve had to let go of almost all our expectations, and float like jellyfish in a mayonnaise jar. Jobs, school, travel, even friendships…all put on hold, or even lost. Quilters know how to take advantage of weeks and months suspended in a confined space. We pull out our stash and we start cutting and sewing. But, it does get tiresome after a year. It is fun to dream of traveling to quilt festivals again, but nobody knows for sure when this rollercoaster of pandemic chaos will end.
The collage above is inspired by the show “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”. I am madly in love with this show. The music, the dancing, the colors, the costumes, and the sets. It makes me so happy. They have a playlist on Spotify so I can keep the snappy music going during the next day. Whatever happened during the day, if we can watch another episode at night just before bedtime, I have the most creative joyful dreams that night. It’s a kick. If you like Broadway musicals, Karaoke night, Bollywood and/or Wes Anderson movies…check it out.
Every few months our suppliers come out with new batches of designs, and right now we are poring over the ‘Spring Release’ collections from many designers and manufacturers. I am seeing the 2nd wave of creativity from artists who have been prolific in Covid lockdown. I am ordering things that won’t ship until Summer of Fall, but it really lifts my spirits to see all this incredible outpouring of creative zingers.
Today I saw artwork from one of our larger suppliers, and several times I gasped out loud with delight. I just love when designers come up with something that nobody has ever thought of, that I know is going to make our customers buzz with fabriholic rapture. And aren’t we lucky that we get to curate these collections and bring you a smorgasbord of textile euphoria each week?
Hope to see many of you at the SAQA online annual conference which starts Thursday (tomorrow!) and runs through next week. If you are interested in art quilting and haven’t heard of SAQA, just google “Studio Art Quilt Associates” or pick up their “Art Quilt Quarterly” here.
…with hope for the future, Luana and Paul
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To make this delightful 51″ x 51″ quilt design, you will start with a 24″ x 44″ block panel. Cut and piece with 5 collection coordinates to make this fun quilt full of sunshine, starry skies and opulent gold 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.
Today Sophie got her 1st vaccine shot, which means now all of our kids have their first dose. Paul and I had our single dose J&J a few weeks ago, so this is bringing another layer of hope for the future. Our staff are also pursuing their vaccine appointments so we are all feeling like there is real visible light at the end of the tunnel now. I am exhausted, and I know you are too, but this is what keeps me going.
We are receiving many emails from our suppliers about supply chain issues. One of the biggest issues has been delays at the port in Southern California. Boats arrive and then have to wait weeks to come into port and unload, so they are docked offshore just waiting. Factories are experiencing delays also, and so many collections have been delayed by a few months. Thanks to our hard-working buyers, we’ve been able to keep our shelves stocked and continue to offer 1000+ new products each month. (This week – 390 new products!)
Fortunately we have many suppliers and therefore many options, so we just keep that fabric pipeline open to keep our warehouse stocked. This week we got our custom order from Langa Lapu Fabrics in South Africa. They don’t have any other orders so they are relying on eQuilter, to keep their ladies employed which means keeping their children fed. When you order these special fabrics, it means we can place the next order. The ladies there thank you.
This week we have a very special purchase – Kaffe Fassett’s new book “In the Studio” is absolutely gorgeous and we got a big batch of signed copies. Our staff was eagerly paging through the office copy, drinking in the luscious images and colors of this beauty. Kaffe Fassett fans will want to add this title to their collection – snag a signed copy while we have them in stock!
We have discussed collecting comfort quilts for the families who have lost loved ones in the recent shooting here in Boulder, but I also would like to put out a call for any quilt guilds or groups who might want to work on memorial quilts for the 10 victims, as we did for Newtown. We would want to present them on the one-year anniversary next year in March, at the very latest. If your group is interested, please contact me at eQuilter.
Thought for the day: Reach out to somebody you haven’t spoken to for a long time – check in on friends who have been shut in over the last year. There are folks out there who are in need of love and companionship and sunshine. I bet you can think of someone you should call right now!
with hope for the future, Luana and Paul
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To make this 61″ x 71″ quilt design, you will start with the 29″ x 44″ digital-printed Owl panel, then piece the striking border with Stonehenge textures and a Hoffman Hand-Dye.
This color combination has a rustic appeal, to hang in a cabin or an earthy living room…but you could also change some of the coordinate fabrics to make a Harry Potter or Halloween theme. Either way, you’ll have this wise owl and the midnight Moon watching over you when you hang up this evocative quilt.
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.
To make this 50″ x 61″ quilt design, you will use the detailed digital-printed fabrics showing antique book covers and spines, add in a Hoffman Hand-Dye and some Stonehenge textures, plus a dazzling Bookbinder’s marbled paper also digital printed on fabric. This is the kind of marbling you find in the handmade paper shops in Venice Italy. We also love the parchment pages used in the border, featuring pages from classic books like Jane Eyre.
You can almost smell that lovely musty scent of old paper, oak shelves, and Eau de Librarian from the back of the Antiquarian Bookstore. We just received a reprint shipment of this popular collection, so snap it up while it is still in stock!
So many things to look at in this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern – with the beloved Hungry Alphabet Animals by artist J. Wecker Frisch. Come dine with this zoomorphic crowd and see what delicacies are on the menu! From the apple eating alligator to the zucchini growing zebra, this beautifully rendered panel will have you charmed with the clever drawings and gorgeous colors.
To make this 61″ x 68″ quilt design, you will start with the 36″ x 44″ Block Panel. Use 2 Hoffman Hand-Dyes and the coordinating Animal Stripe to make the concentric sashing and border, finishing with a Red Gingham binding.
We’ve found that this quilt provides hours of “I Spy” fun with your favorite little person. The engaging animal portraits – all busy with detailed food and settings – provide an adventure in storytelling and make-believe!
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.
Dear Friends – I am still trying to get through all the emails and letters that you sent to us after the March 22 shooting. Here in Boulder we are all still processing what happened, still learning of people in our circles who were affected.
After the Sandy Hook shooting in December 2012, we were inundated with requests from our customers to organize some kind of response from the quilting community. As you may remember, we were discouraged from sending comfort quilts, so we worked with several quilt guilds around the country to organize memorial quilts. These quilts had the names and/or images of all the kids and teachers lost, and they were presented to the city officials to be distributed to community locations like City Hall and local churches.
I have been in touch with the Boulder Emergency Taskforce. (The same group we’ve worked with to support mask-making for front line workers last year, and then later to distribute quilts to the wildfire victims.) We have discussed collecting comfort quilts for the families who have lost loved ones in the event, but I also would like to put out a call for any quilt guilds or groups who might want to work on memorial quilts for the 10 victims, as we did for Newtown. We would want to present them on the one-year anniversary next year in March, at the very latest. If your group is interested, please contact me at eQuilter.
Today it was 80 degrees and sunny. Neighbors were all out in their yards, on their porches, and talking in the streets. The trees are budding out and the tulips will burst into bloom in the next week or so. As we celebrate Easter tomorrow, a holiday symbolic of rebirth and renewal, we have to keep choosing HOPE as we look to the future. I saw many people out walking today, silent, just taking in the blue skies and birdsong, and presumably pondering what it means to be alive and human in the Spring of 2021.
In these photo albums, you can see images of other comfort quilt projects we have organized over the years.
In a few months from now, we will reach a total of $1.8 million donated to non-profit organizations, and rest assured we are sending money to many different organizations who are focused on desperately needed relief in this age of Covid. Thank you for supporting our efforts to help those in need.
Whether you are celebrating Easter, or ending Passover this weekend, we wish you a peaceful and blessed holiday with loved ones.
