Now seems to be a good time to escape from reality and go for some
meditative Forest Bathing. This Free Quilt Pattern is the next best thing
to going for a walk in Nature. We invite you to open this door and walk out
into a dreamy sunrise landscape…and the stillness of a misty mountain
morning.
You’ll be amazed at how the combination
of a landscape panel, coordinates and hand-dyes creates this inviting and
expansive scenic view. When we look at this quilt, we can almost hear a distant
mountain stream, morning dew dripping from pine needles, and daybreak bird
calls from across the valley.
This 56″ x 62″ quilt design
makes a lovely Lap/Nap quilt, or a peaceful wall hanging for a room where you
like to relax.
What a difference a
week makes. Last week we were reminding you to set your clocks ahead for
Daylight Savings. This week we cannot escape the news about the virus.
Our workshop with Susan
Carlson is on hold, and we are discussing various options including webinar
with “social distancing” in our classroom, or postponement. Several
suppliers have let us know they will not be at Market in May. Many quilt
festivals and other events have been cancelled in the next few months.
We’ve been discussing health protocols with our staff, and teams are
disinfecting common-touch areas twice a day to keep our staff and visitors
safe. We are practicing ‘social distancing’ and washing hands many times a day
so we can continue to process your orders. We will just take this a week at a
time.
Starting this week we will offer curbside pickup for local orders. If you live
locally and wish to save on shipping but not get out of your car to pick up an
order, just let us know when you will arrive and we will bring your package out
to your car for a *quick* hand-off to protect staff and customer.
We know that many of you are staying home to keep safe and healthy from the
virus, and if you are looking on the bright side, it is a fantastic opportunity
to organize your stash, and get lots of sewing done. We are a resilient group
of creative folks, so I know we will channel all that energy in to new projects
that will manifest as an explosion of new quilts and textile art by this Fall.
Quilting is one of the most therapeutic activities I can think of, when the
world outside is crazy.
On my neighborhood Next Door app/site, several folks have offered to help out
however they can – for seniors and those with immune-issues who can’t go out
for food or meds. Local teenagers home because of closed schools, are offering
to help babysit small kids also out of school, for working parents who can’t
take off work. Now is the time to check in on elderly neighbors who live alone,
and continue to call them each day as this shutdown passes through our
communities.
All of the schools and universities are closed here, so we hope that will blunt
the force of the spreading virus. My mom is in a nursing home and they’ve
clamped down on visiting, so I am going to keep working, call her every day,
and pray she can stay safe. Several of the organizations you see on our charity
page, are gearing up to help those affected around the world.
Luana’s Travel Calendar:
May 14-15 – Quilt Market (May 17 – Sophie’s Graduation!)
June 17-21 – Quilt Canada – Edmonton (Lecture 6/19)
June 26 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE – Exhibit Opening & Lecture
July 29 – Aug 2 – “Love
Your Mother” in Birmingham UK (Lecture 8/1)
Oct 16-17 – Visions Art Museum – San Diego (Lecture 10/16)
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Are you home quilting during a quarantine-induced Stay-cation? Here’s the perfect Free Quilt Pattern for an extended hibernation while the world outside is in viral chaos. These adorable sleepy bears are just coming out of their long winter nap, hanging out on a tree branch, or sniffing delicate Spring wildflowers.
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.
You will gasp out loud when you see Ira’s artwork in person on this central digital-printed 36″ x 44″ panel…the detail and colors will remind you of the Impressionist Master paintings that we love to visit in the world’s great museums.
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 we are celebrating our 21 year anniversary at eQuilter! In case you are not familiar with the story of our family business, we started the business in the basement of our home, with a little black and white ad in the back of Quilters Newsletter Magazine. I had this idea that I could have a little part time business that I could run out of the basement, and stay home with the kids. However, we had identified a niche of products that was not being provided to the hungry quilters around the world…and the rest is history!
eQuilter is not just an online retailer for quilt fabrics and supplies…we are also a sponsor of quilt exhibits and contests around the world. We support the amazing quilters who create the stunning works of art that are seen at large and small events around the US and the world. Our goal is to inspire and support quilters at every level of their creative development, and to provide those innovative fiber art products that may not be available in a local quilt shop. We advocate for the independent quilt shops in our industry, because if we don’t have those local mom-and-pop quilt shops on Main Street, we don’t have an industry!
All of our kids have worked at our family business, and all of them have traveled to quilt shows with me. Many of you have met our youngest Sophie, when she travels with me to Houston or other quilt festivals. Sophie is graduating from high school in 2 months, and has been accepted into the Music Education program here at CU Boulder. She will come to the opening of my curated exhibit “For the Love of Gaia” at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln Nebraska on June 26, and she’ll be my gallery helper when we take “Love Your Mother” quilt challenge to the Birmingham UK Festival of Quilts end July. If you come to one of our workshops this summer, she’ll be the classroom attendant.
With your help, our charity program has raised $1.65 million for a variety of non-profits. We give our humble thanks to all of you who have supported this effort, with a special thanks to the quilters who have made and donated comfort quilts for our disaster relief and humanitarian projects with Mission of Love and Engineers Without Borders.
A special thanks to all of our eQuilter staff who keep our warehouse humming, who answer the phones, who wrap your packages and tie them up with a bow. This year we seem to have many new employees with purple, teal and green hair to go with our colorful fabrics!
The world seems to be especially crazy now, but you can count on us to continue to be a reliable source for your creative needs, and we thank you for supporting our dream to be a force for good in the world.
sharing your Passion for Fabric… Luana and Paul
*The beautiful quilt above “I Live On Earth” was photographed by Luana at the Tokyo Quilt Festival in January. The artist’s name is printed in Kanji in the top left corner. For more photos visit her photo page.
eQuilter Classroom: March 28 – Violet Protest & Finish Quilt Tops April 13-15 2020 – Susan Carlson – SOLD OUT June 1-5 2020 – Paula Nadelstern – Kaleidoscopes & Quilts – Registration OPEN July 20-23 Betty Busby – Transfer Dyeing August 6-9 – Cindy Lohbeck Returns 2021 – Jacqueline de Jonge
Luana’s Travel Calendar: May 14-15 – Quilt Market (May 17 – Sophie’s Graduation!) June 19 – Quilt Canada – “Intl Quilt Trends” presentation June 26 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE – Opening Reception & Lecture “For the Love of Gaia” July 29 – Aug 2 – “Love Your Mother” Gallery in Birmingham UK (Lecture 8/1) Sept 26 – Quilters Take Manhattan Oct 16-17 – Visions Art Museum – San Diego (Lecture 10/16)
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.
I hate to tell you
this, but tonight is the start of Daylight Savings Time. Be sure to
“Spring Ahead” and turn your clock ahead one hour tonight when you go
to bed, unless you live in Arizona, Hawaii, or the rest of the world.
We are having a grand time in the classroom this weekend with MJ Kinman, where
students are making her beautiful new Elizabeth
Diamond quilt. To celebrate her workshop, we are launching a new line
of MJ’s Gemstone products: We are producing her Birthstone Fat Quarter Packets
in Hoffman 1895 Hand-Dyes and the results are going to be luscious! Our
first packet is the Diamond, and we’ll be adding a few each week until
we have all 12 Birthstone FQ packets available in Hand-Dyes, to make one giant
gorgeous quilt!
As you may have noticed, the world seems to gone crazy over the coronavirus.
Things like toilet paper and hand sanitizer are sold out, shelves at
supermarkets are empty, and now people are stocking up on things like beans and
rice. I am concerned for my mom who is in a nursing home, but we all have to
take this one week at a time. I have also noticed the quilters seem to be
stocking up on fabric as if they expect to be quarantined! My advice: don’t
forget to stock up on thread
and sewing
machine needles.
Sophie just received her official acceptance letter from CU Boulder: she will
be a Music Education major at our local university here in Boulder, which means
she can come home on weekends to do her laundry. Her two brothers went to CU,
and I also went there long ago, so she’ll be carrying on a family tradition.
Students come from all over the US and from around the world to attend our
beautiful university, and pay crazy out-of-state tuition…so we feel very
lucky to have CU right here in our home town.
eQuilter
Classroom:
March 28 – Charity Sewing Day – Violet Protest Blocks & Finish Quilt Tops
April 13-15 2020 – Susan
Carlson – Sold Out
June 1-5 2020 – Paula
Nadelstern – Kaleidoscopes & Quilts – Registration OPEN
July 20-23 Betty Busby – Transfer Dyeing
August 6-9 – Cindy Lohbeck Returns
Luana’s Travel Calendar:
May 14-15 – Quilt Market (May 17 – Sophie’s Graduation!)
June 17-21 – Quilt Canada – Edmonton (Lecture 6/19)
June 26 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE – Exhibit Opening & Lecture
July 29 – Aug 2 – “Love
Your Mother” in Birmingham UK (Lecture 8/1)
Oct 16-17 – Visions Art Museum – San Diego (Lecture 10/16)
This generous 58″ x 72″ quilt design combines her Horse panel and Horse allover, with a swirly golden stripe and lots of luscious coordinates. You’ll be carried away by this fabulous group of equine fabric designs!
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 is another quilt from QuiltCon, with a
weaving technique and colors that remind me of Guatemalan yarn-dyed fabrics.
The quiltmaker Kyona Nason explains in her artist statement for
“Afterglow” that she is exploring Lorie Cranor’s interweaving
techniques, merging two panels to create an entirely new pattern. (I’ve added a
strip of succulent prints on either side, which we have in stock now.)
I’ve been thinking about Guatemalan textiles since I heard from Kathy Price,
that her next project includes supporting the opening of a textile school to
keep traditional weaving alive among the indigenous Mayan young people.
Here is a letter she received this week. Perhaps you might want to volunteer on
the next Mission of Love trip to Guatemala?
************************
Distinguished Kathleen Price
Director General Mission of Love
We send a cordial greeting wishing you all kinds of blessings and success in
your daily work for the benefit of our dear Tecpán Guatemala.
We are a group of women weavers of textile art with waist cloth, we are Mayan
kaqchiqueles (traditional weavers) fighting to protect, save our textiles that
for us is an ancestral inheritance that we have inherited from generation to
generation.
Since we are proud to maintain our guipiles (embroidered blouses) that carry
history & knowledge, we see that girls & young women no longer cut
their own clothes and we are losing our native costumes.
So we started a school of fabrics and we want to continue transmitting
knowledge inherited from our grandparents.
Our dream is to have a school, shop and a museum linked together to help rural
women and sell their products.
Therefore, we kindly request your help for this project.
Sincerely yours
Rukú´x Kem Iximche
María Florencia Rodríguez.
************************
You might enjoy the photos I took on a trip to Guatemala several years ago,
when we gifted comfort
quilts to children receiving cleft lip/palate surgeries in a hospital
equipped by Mission of Love. This is part of where our 2% donation goes when
you make a purchase at eQuilter. Feel free to donate directly to Mission of
Love, to support their relief efforts in the US and Central America. (or the
textile school!)
Sadly, my trip to India this month for the Wilderness conference has been
postponed due to the coronavirus.
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
eQuilter Classroom:
March 6-8 – MJ
Kinman – “Unicorn Rainbow” & “Elizabeth
Diamond” Gemstone
Workshop
April 13-15 2020 – Susan Carlson –
SOLD OUT
June 1-5 2020 – Paula
Nadelstern – Kaleidoscopes & Quilts
July 20-23 Betty Busby – Transfer Dyeing
August 6-9 – Cindy Lohbeck Returns
2021 – Jacqueline de Jonge
Luana’s Travel Calendar:
June 19 – Quilt Canada – “Intl Quilt Trends” presentation
June 26 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE – Opening Reception & Lecture
“For the Love of Gaia”
July 29 – Aug 2 – “Love Your Mother” Gallery in Birmingham UK
(Lecture 8/1)
Oct 16-17 – Visions Art Museum – San Diego (Lecture 10/16)
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.
