One of our most popular design motifs is *Wolves* – representing the wild free spirit of the Northwoods. This week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern features our digital-printed Wolf panel, with a pack running through fresh powder snow under the Northern Lights.
To make this 61″ x 70″ quilt design, you will create layers of ombre borders around the central scenic panel, using the gradient luminosity of the ombre prints to create a three-dimensional effect.
The Alpha Wolf leads the way for his or her family in this wildlife portrait, and perhaps represents an Alpha Mama or Papa in your life who would appreciate the story that is told in this 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.
In the coming week we have 2 anniversaries to observe:
* 1 year since the start of the pandemic here in Colorado.
* 22 years since Paul and I started our business in the basement of our home.
You may be aware that big bold African prints have been a hot trend in couture fashion in Europe. We see that trend growing in the US now. We are trying to get out ahead of this trend by stocking more specialty fabrics and products imported from Africa or inspired by Africa. Shipping has been delayed for most of our suppliers due to the ports being jammed up during the pandemic. When we get a big shipment it is cause for celebration!
Right now Langa Lapu is completing another special custom order for us in South Africa. I posted a photo (on the eQuilter Facebook page and our other social media) of the ladies working on the rainbow panels for us – these are exclusive to eQuilter and they have been selling out fast!
We have a new line of imported African prints coming in the next couple weeks, and we just got word that one of our favorite artists is teaming up with a manufacturer again to produce her gorgeous African tribal collections.
There are lots of other exciting trends bubbling up now, as a result of so many artists staying home during the pandemic, and creating fabulous new art for our industry. We are tracking these trends and will have all of these online as fast as possible so YOU can enjoy these delightful new colors and ideas as well!
Festival Update: eQuilter is a major sponsor for many quilt festivals around the world, including Houston and Canada. We are sponsoring a $5000 Mastery cash prize this fall in Houston, and we are a Platinum sponsor for the Canadian Quilt Association’s online event in June. We were a Gold sponsor of QuiltCon recently, which I know many of you attended…and enjoyed!
This is our commitment to support quilt artists and the quilting industry, and I sincerely hope to see many of you in Houston the end of October. I am planning to be at the Tuesday night awards ceremony to hand a $5K check to another quilt artist with dazzling talent. Who knows…it just might be YOU.
And to think….22 years ago when I started out with 300 bolts in my basement…I thought this was going to be a part-time business so I could stay home with my kids. Watch for my Anniversary e-newsletter on Wednesday.
with hope for the future, Luana and Paul
Mon March 8 – Color Trend Interview with Martha Sielman for SAQA goes LIVE
Sat March 13, 2 pm – “International Quilt Trends” Zoom lecture – Rocky Mountain Creative Quilters
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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.
This week I’d like to introduce you to a remarkable organization called the Common Threads Project. It is an international group that exists to help those who have suffered the trauma of sexual and gender-based violence, so they can heal through the power of stitch. It began as a Swiss NGO, then moved to New York as a US-based non-profit.
Groups of women who have experienced this trauma, go through a 6-month treatment process, taking that which is unspeakable and putting it into a story cloth, in the safety of a therapeutic sewing circle. Their current exhibit includes work from healing stitch groups in Ecuador, Nepal, and Congo…often serving refugees who suffered in Colombia, Bhutan, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In one of my past decades, I counseled women who suffered sexual and physical abuse, and ran a support group for these women. I heard stories of trauma that are difficult to comprehend as a human being. This is why I am always looking for an element of healing in the recipients of our eQuilter charity program. I know it is those who are most hidden, who often need the most help. Some of you know what I mean, I am sure.
In my travels to 49 countries, over the last 45 years, I have visited slums in 4 continents. I have walked into single-room dirt-floor ‘homes’ with no running water or electricity. I have visited with mothers who have no access to healthcare for their families. I mean, zero access. I have met children who sleep on a slab of cardboard at night. In the years that I visited 400 factories in 12 countries, I rejected production facilities that you might call sweat shops. Where possible, I advocated for workers who had no voice, and whose place of employment was also polluting their community water source with toxins that made their families sick.
Arriving in Sri Lanka the week the civil war started, I met women making $1 a day (in the 80s) who came to me with tears in their eyes, palms pressed together in “Namaste”, to thank me for bringing business to their factory so they had a way to work and feed their children. I’ve held the hands of a Navajo grandmother who tearfully asked me to share the story of the abducted young women and children from their reservations. I know people who rescue children who have been sex trafficked. These stories are in the news, but you really have to look for them, and you may think they can’t possibly be true. They are.
Some of the narratives that are stitched into the Common Threads story cloth pieces are difficult to look at. They look like folk art at first glance, but the stories that are shared are profound and emotional. This story cloth above however, tells the story of community support of the healing process.
The artist statement: “The other women are my sisters. With them, I cried and I laughed. I learned to value many things; above all, to value myself. The sincerity of each filled me and motivated me. It is important that somebody hears you.”
I invite you to visit the Common Threads Project and perhaps see how you too can support the work of this therapeutic project. eQuilter has committed to an annual grant for Common Threads, and we thank you for your support of our business and our charity program, which has raised over $1.75 million for a variety of non-profits.
Together, we CAN make a difference.
with gratitude for our stitching tribe… Luana and Paul
* the Story Cloth above is framed by prints currently in stock at eQuilter.com
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To make this 57″ x 74″ patchwork quilt design, you will start with the detailed animal prints, and build up the blocks with Northcott Stonehenge tonal textures. We’ve added a Hoffman Hand-Dye and a Kaufman Kona Solid Black to make these images really ‘pop’.
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 we approach the one year mark of the start of this pandemic and shutdown, we are also starting to make real progress towards a ‘new normal’ for the coming months. Yesterday it was announced that next week here in Colorado, those ages 60 and over will be eligible for the vaccine, which means that Paul and I might get our 1st shot just in time for eQuilter’s 22nd anniversary on March 10th. Our employees have been wearing masks and social distancing almost a year now, to keep each other safe and to keep our business running. Our buying department has worked long hours to restock our shelves, and our customer service department has fielded calls and emails to keep you sewing through the worst of it all. We are almost there.
Last weekend I was so energized by QuiltCon. It was so amazing to see the joy, the creativity, the LIFE that was expressed in the quilt exhibit. There were plenty of emotions and opinions expressed…directly and indirectly…about how the last year has affected us all. A few of the artists were VERY prolific with several quilts accepted into the virtual exhibit. Many artists pushed the boundaries of the Modern Quilt definition….which happens every year at QuiltCon! As creative quilters branch out using more diverse techniques in their Modern Quilts, we may see the edges between Modern Quilts and Contemporary/Art Quilts blurred even more. I think that is fine. What matters is following and exploring the creative path that unfolds when you are in the process of making a new quilt. I am so excited by the expansion that is taking place in the Modern Quilt movement.
A couple days ago I went to photograph the Quilt Nihon show at our Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, Colorado. When I opened the door and peeked into the gallery filled with those gorgeous Japanese quilts, it just took my breath away. The first time you walk into an in-person quilt exhibit, when this is over, I bet you’ll have the same visceral reaction.
Seeing quilts over the internet is definitely far better than nothing at all, but the art and craft that we share is so tactile, and when we are standing in front of a wall of quilts, we can FEEL them. Even though we won’t touch them, it is still a kinesthetic experience. It is hard for me to explain….it is like looking a picture of a herd of sheep…vs. being in a field full of sheep. You know what I mean?
To make this 46″ x 57″ quilt design, you will start with a 24″ x 44″ central scenic panel. Then piece the border in shades of Blue, White and Gray with wildlife and stone texture prints, and Hoffman Hand-Dyes. Perhaps this will capture a memory of a hike through a winter forest, and the magic of Nature in the pristine aftermath of a snowfall.
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.
For those of you who joined me at QuiltCon over the weekend….wasn’t that glorious? We have to appreciate that it was happening during the crazy ice storm, and that QuiltCon staff in some cases had to evacuate to other locations to keep everything going. Kudos to you MQG organizers!
Special congratulations to the winners, and to all of you who participated in this online event that gave so many of us much joy and inspiration! (That’s why eQuilter is a Gold sponsor!)
The quilt featured above is actually from last year’s QuiltCon. (February 2020….remember back then?) That was the last trip I took before everything shut down. I flew down to Austin Texas to photograph the show and hang out with the Quilt Tribe.
This is just one more quilt that I wanted to bring to your attention from last year because the quiltmaker Robin Long was ahead of her time. How did she know that ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ was going to be a smash hit in October 2020 in the midst of the pandemic?!?
Wikipedia: “It has also received a positive response from the chess community, and data suggests that it has increased public interest in the game.”
Girls and Women all over the world took up chess during the lockdown, inspired by the character Beth Harmon. If you haven’t seen this stylish period drama yet, check it out!
We just happen to have a new Chess-themed digital fabric this week, plus a smashing Red Paisley print, so I put a red border around Robin’s quilt in this fabric collage just for fun. Her Chess Mandala is a mesmerizing tribute to the Game of Kings…and Queens.
with hope for the future… Luana and Paul
p.s. This blog is from our weekly eQuilter.com e-newsletters. If want to see more like this in your Inbox, sign up on our home page!
There is something very gracious and soothing about this lovely floral still life by Canadian designer Deb Edwards. It is from the Covent Garden collection, but it also reminds us of the 17th Century Dutch Floral Paintings that still stop us in our tracks in the great art museums of the world. These luscious flower arrangements capture the blossoms in their fullest state of sumptuous blowsy ripeness, symbolizing prosperity and abundance.
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.
Many thanks to all of you who have supported our eQuilter charity program. This week we have donated $1000 so far to Texas disaster relief and food bank organizations in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. Our hearts go out to our friends in Texas and other Southern states who are suffering due to the ice storm.
At the same time, we have QuiltCon running this weekend. From the reports I’ve heard from attendees, it has been powerfully inspiring for those of us missing in-person events. If you have not checked it out yet, I urge you to register and have a look around…especially to view the quilts!
Here is link to the Winning Quilts, but of course there are many more quilts to view online. eQuilter is a Gold sponsor for this event, including the cash prizes for 2 categories you will see listed on this page. Congratulations to all the winners, and indeed we send our congrats and our gratitude to everyone who submitted a quilt to this virtual event.
I happen to know that at least one of the QuiltCon management team is now a climate refugee because of the storm. She had to evacuate to her mother’s house so she could have power to help run this virtual event. I am also aware of Quilt Inc staff (who run the Houston show) who have had frozen burst pipes and flooding. As power comes on and our quilter friends in Texas come back online, I am seeing so many reports of our friends going a week without power and heat, dealing with frozen pipes, no food or running water, etc. It is all over the news, and folks, they are not exaggerating.
If you have friends in these states hit by the ice storm, be sure to check in with them. Paul and I both have family in Texas, and we are grateful that they are ok and had minimal damage. We hope all of our friends down there are making it through this event in safety and health.
with hope for the future, Luana and Paul
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