To make this 49″ x 62″ quilt design, you will start with a 28″ x 44″ digital printed scenic panel. Then cut and piece 3 Dreamscape coordinates and 2 Rubin Studio Fresco blenders to finish the layered borders. This atmospheric quilt invites you to follow the path, sit on the porch under the big tree, and listen the sounds of Nature.
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.
Most of us are feeling pretty optimistic now, as Summertime has arrived, we are getting vaccinated, public venues are opening up, we are seeing old friends and beloved family IN PERSON after such a long time!
Many of us are tentatively planning travel for the summer….camping under the stars, relaxing at the beach, or hiking in the forest are things that we long to experience again. Many National Parks have put new limitations on them because we are loving them to death, so here in Colorado you have to get a reserved entry time to visit our Rocky Mountain National Park for instance.
Lots of our customers make plans to bring handwork along when they are traveling. This could be the summer when you start to play around with handwork like Kantha stitching, Sashiko embroidery, or Hawaiian Applique. We have all the threads, needles and special thimbles stocked for the summer, to go in your traveling handwork basket!
Or it might be a roadtrip you have planned, and your camera will be your most creative tool in the backpack or around your neck. Those photos can be the inspiration for next Winter’s projects! Maybe there will be a good book in that backpack too…
Perhaps after you’ve traveled and come home, you’ll want to commemorate your travels with National Parks fabric panels, or blocks with the states you have visited. We are well stocked with these now, and we’ll try to keep this category well stocked throughout the travel season.
We know from pre-pandemic travel seasons that you also like to buy fabrics to remember your visits to the coastline, the mountains, the islands, and activities such as snorkeling and horseback riding. Our goal is to carry fabric for all those activities, because we know you love to cut up and sew those fabrics after you create such precious memories.
The best part about these memories is sharing them with the people we love. It will indeed be A Summer of Love.
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt Calendar: (fingers crossed!)
June 13 – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt National/Dairy Barn
July 29 – Aug 1 – Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK “For the Love of Gaia” quilt gallery
Aug 7 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” for Birmingham Festival of Quilts
To make this generous-sized 86″ x 86″ quilt, you will combine two ‘Glass Flower’ medallion prints with ‘Chromatic Garden’ coordinates and ‘Reflecting Leaves’ tonals, then finish with an amethyst ‘Floating Flowers’ outside border. The swirling colors remind us of millefiori patterns and the marbleized colors found in the blown glass of Murano. (an island off Venice, where the ancient glass-blowing industry still exists.) Enjoy!
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 many of us in the US, the long Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of Summer.
Memorial Day takes on a whole new meaning this year, for those who have lost loved ones in the pandemic year. We remember those who are long gone, and those who were recently lost. It is a reminder that life goes by faster every year, and every day is a gift with those whom we love.
So many of our elders were defined by the conflicts of their time, and we remember those lost in wars, and those who served and lived to tell the tale. Paul’s dad was a WWII vet. Both his parents now rest at the Punchbowl Memorial Cemetery in Honolulu. We thank whoever put a flag on their grave this weekend.
Here in Boulder, and in many other communities, we also remember those recently lost in mass shootings. Last week’s shooting in San Jose prompted the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles to ask us all to help those impacted by donating to Working Partnerships USA ‘VTA Solidarity Fund‘. But I keep asking, when will we say enough is enough? The trauma to the Boulder community continues to unfold, as it does in every other community affected by these mass shootings. Our hearts go out to the San Jose community.
Last night was the Awards Ceremony for Quilt National at the Dairy Barn in Athens Ohio. Congratulations to the 84 artists whose work was accepted into this prestigious and very competitive show. There were 747 entries from 388 artists in 6 continents! Special congratulations to Canadian artist Kit Vincent who won Best of Show with her quilt “Fracas”.
In 2 weeks I will be giving an online lecture “International Quilt Trends” for the Dairy Barn, as a fundraiser. I hope many of you can join us, and please do donate some amount for your ticket.
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt Calendar: (fingers crossed!)
June 13 – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt National/Dairy Barn July 29 – Aug 1 – Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK “For the Love of Gaia” quilt gallery Aug 7 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” for Birmingham Festival of Quilts Sept 27 – Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters Guild – Lecture. Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” quilt exhibit Sat, March 19 – “International Quilt Trends” power point lecture – NEQM
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.
Tonight we are having a celestial event – a Lunar Eclipse. Some of you may be staying up late, or getting up early, to catch a glimpse.
For the last 30 years, since I moved back to Colorado, I’ve had a nightly ritual of going out to look at the sky just before I go to bed. It is a nightly meditation to remember my tiny place in the Universe, to gaze in awe and wonder at this infinite mystery, and to listen for sounds of Nature in the quiet of midnight.
When we look up at the sky at night, especially if we are away from light pollution, there are all kinds of amazing things we might see. Not just planets and constellations, but if you are in a really dark place on the Earth’s surface, you might be blown away by the power of the dazzling Milky Way. You might see a meteor shower or falling space junk. You might see the International Space Station whizzing across the sky, or if you are in the right place and time, you might see the Aurora Borealis. If you look at the sky every night, for years and years, you will see all of these things. It keeps me coming out every night.
Of course some of you are not experiencing the silence of the night now. You are experiencing the cacophony of cicadas! Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (or live in another country) you know that Brood X is emerging after 17 years underground, and potentially number in the billions. They emerge in 15 states (but not here in Colorado) and their mating call is over 100 decibels.
As a confirmed Night Owl, I know that I get my best work done and I am most productive, late at night when the family is asleep. Then I make my cup of Sleepytime Tea (from Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory next door), go out to look at the stars (and smell whatever tea they are making tonight) and go to bed. I love our fabrics with glow-in-the-dark stars, the solar system, the Northern Lights, and other celestial bodies. Maybe some day a quilt you make with these fabrics, will inspire a young person to become an astronomer or astronaut?
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt Calendar: (fingers crossed!)
June 13 – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt National/Dairy Barn
July 29 – Aug 1 – Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK “For the Love of Gaia” quilt gallery
Aug 7 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” for Birmingham Festival of Quilts
To make this 41″ x 56″ quilt design, you will start with the 24″ x 44″ scenic wildlife panel, then piece 6 Green and Lavender coordinates (including flowers and feathers) to make the mosaic-like border.
This image captures a peaceful moment of beauty and wonder, and you’ll enjoy bringing these soothing colors into your living space.
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 weekend Sophie and I are putting in hours at the warehouse, trying to catch up on a few things before another week starts. I have a project and a deadline, and she likes to come in and tidy up the warehouse before things get busy again on Monday. She has finished her freshman year at CU Boulder (as a Music Ed major) and is working at the family business over the summer.
I asked Paul to start our Memorial Day Sale this weekend, because I know many of you are chomping at the bit to hit the road once summer starts. I am not going anywhere because my mom is not doing well, and I want to be around to support her. Being isolated in a nursing home over the last 14 months has not been kind to her. I am fighting every week to spend more time with her, but they are still tightly controlling visitation. The rules are being dictated by an out-of-state corporate office, even though here in Boulder and Colorado things are opening up. It is very frustrating. My mom is such a sweet gentle person and it hurts my heart that I can’t see her more. I know many of you have had similar struggles with elders in nursing homes.
Thanks to those of you who have dropped off donated comfort quilts this weekend. We are continuing to collect quilts for those who experienced trauma and loss at the King Soopers shooting.
It’s graduation week here in Boulder, and we are appreciating all the Seniors here and around the country, who had to go through an entire final year online, distanced, and missing out on proms and other traditional grad activities. You are living through historic times, and you’ll have stories to tell about this crazy year, for the rest of your lives. We are sending a big hug and hearty congratulations to those of you who managed to get through the school year and graduate, despite the pandemic.
The creativity of our industry’s artists and designers is truly what has got me through the last year. Every week we receive 250-300 new products and many of them just take my breath away. I hope that you also enjoy looking at these baskets of eye candy each week!
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt Calendar: (fingers crossed!)
June 13 – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt National/Dairy Barn July 29 – Aug 1 – Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK “For the Love of Gaia” quilt gallery Aug 7 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” for Birmingham Festival of Quilts Sept 27 – Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters Guild – Lecture. Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” quilt exhibit Sat, March 19 – “International Quilt Trends” power point lecture – NEQM
Share Post:
Posted inAnimals, Quilts|Comments Off on Another Page in the Pandemic Diary
To make this 49″ x 62″ quilt design, you will start with the fabulous pointillist scenic panel, featuring a shimmering Hummingbird sipping the nectar of Morning Glories, and a pulsing Sun-filled sky in the background. Add a blue stone texture and the coordinating Bubble Stripe for the 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.
Here in the US we are somewhat hesitantly venturing out into a new world…a new normal…taking off our masks and for many of us, nervously putting them back on again.
I have spent the last few days thinking about the beginning of the pandemic when the army of sewing volunteers rose to the challenge to sew millions of facemasks, when there was a PPE shortage. I also remember the day when my brother in Washington DC said to me, “I learned a new term today – Social Distancing”. Remember the first time we heard the phrase “Mask up”? I am not being nostalgic about the traumatic and jolting start of the pandemic. I am just reviewing and writing down these things because in 50 years will our grandkids have forgotten what happened? Or will they still retain the hard-won wisdom that the human race has obtained in the last 14 months?
Many of us have found solace in Nature, and as our forests grow lush and Spring-green, our streams overflow with the melting snowpack, and the first few bees are venturing out to our gardens…spending a warm sunshine-filled day outdoors has us heaving a collective sigh.
Here in Colorado since we are such an athletic outdoorsy bunch, the mountain trails have been over-crowded through the whole pandemic, but there are still ways to have a private moment with Mother Nature. Camping, hiking at dawn, and backwoods wilderness trekking, are a popular secret among those who long to commune with Gaia. Meditating with only the sound of the birds, the water and the wind, is deeply healing to the soul.
As quilters, we collect the fabrics that remind us of these soulful moments…the dewdrops in the grass, the magical encounters with wildlife, the scent of a pine forest…and we put these memories into quilts to remind us of these things when it is time to come back indoors. And maybe we put a Flannel backing on that quilt so we can snuggle by a fire when the snow is flying.
We stitch the wisdom of the forest and the whispers of the wind into our quilts when we are sewing on vacation, and those stitches will speak their own kind of poetry long after we’ve gifted those quilts to our beloved family and friends.
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt Calendar: (fingers crossed!)
June 13 – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt National/Dairy Barn
July 29 – Aug 1 – Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK “For the Love of Gaia” quilt gallery
Aug 7 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” for Birmingham Festival of Quilts
