Santa’s on vacation at the Beach, in this week’s Free Quilt Pattern! And why not? The jolly old elf certainly earns a tropical vacay after delivering all those packages to children around the world, and this quilt design does double-duty by bringing in the beach vibe and the holiday personality.
This 56″ x 76″ quilt features Santa chillin’ on the main central panel, then combines the collection coordinates including Sandy Snowmen, Innertube Penguins, and colorful Flip-Flops.
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.
We have an immediate
opening for a Customer Service position! If you live in Colorado and might be a
good fit, check
out the details here.
I have spent the last few days at Quilt Canada in Ottawa, and yesterday I gave
my power point lecture “International Quilt Trends” to a full house.
It is such a joy to share photos from quilt shows around the world, and talk
about the cross-pollination that is going on between quilters on different
continents. I’ll be adding photos of Canadian quilts to the next iteration of
this power point lecture.
Now that I’ve been coming to this show for several years, I have developed a
nice group of Canadian quilter friends, and it is wonderful to see how their
work is progressing. I’ll be featuring one of these special quilts in my
Midweek Creative Nudge in a few days. As always, there were quilts celebrating
wildlife, Canadian wilderness, and indigenous (First Nation) people in Canada.
There was a lot of talk about climate change when groups of people got
together. With the permafrost melting up North here, the Canadians are very
close the changes that are occurring, including a rise in the water levels of
the Great Lakes.
Our next big event in the
eQuilter classroom is just around the corner. Cindy
Lohbeck is teaching four one-day classes July 11-14 …2 are sold out but
we have just a few seats left in the 2 shibori classes. The class fee is $50 to
register, and there is a materials fee payable to the teacher. I met Cindy when
we were both guests on Quilting Arts TV, and I was just blow away by her work.
Sophie and I are going to be students in her classes too, so snap up those last
few seats and come join us next month. It’s going to be a party in our
classroom!
I am sending an invitation out to all of Cindy’s students, for an event the
evening of the 10th before the classes start. If you are signed up, watch for
this email in the coming week.
Today I am flying home, and tomorrow I drop off Sophie at music camp for a
week. My next trip is to the Sacred Threads event in July, and Sophie will be
coming with me because she likes to hang out with all my quilter
friends…because you guys are just the best.
Can you believe the Summer Solstice is coming up next week? I hope you are
enjoying the long days and cool twilight hours of these Midsummer weeks.
We have many beautiful Wolf themed fabrics, but none are as captivating and heartwarming as this feature panel with mother and her pups. Delicate coordinating wood grain and slate prints are pieced into borders, echoing a peaceful mountain landscape.
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.
Hello from Ottawa in Canada! This morning I got up at 4 am so I could catch a couple flights, across the US and then up to Ottawa. As I flew from NYC up into Canada, I was struck by the lush deep green of the forests and fields below, and the beautiful rivers and lakes. I wish I had more time to explore this area, but I am going to be busy at the show while I am up here. One of the reasons I love Quilt Canada is because of the beautiful wildlife, forest and coastal themed quilts. They are obviously inspired by the Canadian wilderness here.
I got in just in time to attend the awards ceremony. Kathy Wylie won the Best of Show, with her intricate appliqued quilt ‘For Such a Time as This’, which some of you may have seen in Houston last Fall. The event opens tomorrow morning, so tonight was just a taste of what is to come this weekend. The conference center is located in traditional Algonquin lands, which was mentioned in the opening remarks. That recognition of the First Nation people really meant a lot to me. Other Quilt Canada events have been held in Mohawk and Huron traditional lands, I was told.
Tonight I had a comment which really made me smile. A longtime quilter said she’s never found another source for COLOR, like eQuilter. As you may know that is one of our specialties. This is why I am a member of the Color Marketing Group, so we can stay on top of the mega-color trends that drive the fashion, home dec, and design industries. You don’t have to ask what the color trends are; if you watch our new products, it will be evident.
I was told that there was a tornado nearby this week, and that may be why the internet is down at my hotel and at the conference center. Tonight I am having to use my phone as a hot spot, to send out this email and image. Everyone here is talking about the strange weather. I met a couple from Vancouver BC who said their snow pack is 75% of normal. I think we got all their snow in Colorado. We are at 300% of a normal snow pack this year.
Since I don’t have access to the internet tonight, I am sharing a detail shot of a fun quilt I saw in Tokyo in January. It is ‘The Chocolate Factory’ by Osami Gonohe, and I thought you’d enjoy these adorable little chefs in their big hats, with lots of cute details. We know that quilters love Chocolate, Cats, Wine and Coffee. Tonight I met someone person for the first time, who is a member of my Facebook page ‘Luana’s Fabriholic Kitty Club‘, which is where quilters go whose friends and family are mad at them for posting too many Cat memes. If you are in danger of becoming a Crazy Cat Lady, come join my Fabriholic Kitty Club!
sharing your Passion for Fabric… Luana and Paul
****************
Luana’s Travel Calendar:
June 11-15 – Quilt Canada Ottawa – (lecture Fri 6/14)
July 18-22 – Sacred Threads & Not Fade Away (VA & DC)
July 30 – Aug 6 – Birmingham UK – Festival of Quilts
eQuilter Classroom:
July 11-14, 2019 – Cindy
Lohbeck – Shibori, Ice-Dyeing and Ombre Dyeing – Almost FULL
Sept 13-15 – Cas Holmes – FRCQ Workshop
Oct 8-10 – Jacqueline
de Jonge – Enchanting Stars & Dream Flight
April 13-15 2020 – Susan Carlson
June 1-5 2020 – Paula
Nadelstern
Do you know who loves decorated Christmas Trees as much as kitties? Why, Puppies, of course!
These adorable little pooches are posing for Christmas Eve photos, bringing the spirit of the holidays with a special canine twist. Our Free Quilt Pattern features several different dog breeds, wearing Santa hats and being a little mischievous (as pups can be…) under the Christmas Tree.
This generous 67″ x 73″ quilt dials up the “Cuteness Factor” with fluffy little doggies who are being curious, playful, slightly naughty, and sleepy. We are just crazy about this collection, and especially the panel, with so many charming details. I bet you know somebody who will squeal with delight when they open up this quilt gift on Christmas Morning!
No puppies were given as gifts for Christmas in the making of this quilt pattern!
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.
We have an immediate
opening for a Customer Service position! If you live in Colorado and might be a
good fit, check
out the details here.
This weekend I am prepping for my trip to Quilt Canada in Ottawa. I’ll be at
the award ceremony Tuesday night, and I am giving my power point lecture
“International Quilt Trends” on Friday. I hope to see many of our
Canadian friends and customers this week!
I
just love photographing the unique Canadian-themed quilts at this show.
(Arctic wildlife, First Nation indigenous themes, etc.) The quilts about
wilderness and wildlife tend to be exceptionally beautiful. We have sponsored
the Modern Quilt category for many years, and I really appreciate seeing the
development of Modern Quilts and Art Quilts with that special Canadian twist!
Sophie is home from her trip to Europe, where her high school orchestra was
touring and performing. They spent most of their time in Northern Italy and
Croatia, and she actually visited several places I’ve never been! Her favorite
city was Cremona, where the Stradivarius violins were created over 300 years
ago. As a music performance major (before design school) I was a fan of
Jacqueline du Pre. I just realized that YoYo Ma plays the same Strad cello that
she played. I’ve been listening to that same instrument over many decades,
played by 2 brilliant musicians.
Paul and I are just finishing up our work here at the office today, and a
minivan full of 3 French quilters and 3 husbands just showed up, so we gave
them the Saturday tour! So much fun to share our family business with the
visitors who stop by. One husband had a hat from Utah, and we found the fabric
on the shelf that matched
his hat. They were also excited to recognize Antelope
Canyon on one of our new exclusive digital prints. It is so fun to
share our love of fabric, art and color with visitors from other
countries…even if we don’t speak the same language…we share the language of
Quilting.
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
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You will enjoy this flute-playing story teller from Southwest Native American cultures, representing the joyful spirit of Music. The earliest known petroglyph of Kokopelli dates to about 1000 AD!
The rich Southwest colors of Terra Cotta, Turquoise, Cactus Green are also found in the pottery and Navajo rug patterns of this 56″ x 75″ quilt design. The geometric stripe is used to make the clever border. The last time we had this panel in stock it blew out, so we want to make sure you have another chance to dance with Kokopelli now that he is back in stock.
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.
O.M.G. I am so crazy about this group of fabrics, I just had to make a quilt design concept and share with you tonight. Lately I have felt like the market has been so oversaturated with plain flat childlike artwork, but this is the antidote. It reminds me of those richly indulgent Dutch Still Life Florals, that are fairly dripping with saturated color…set on a black background which makes them actually glow. Do you agree?
This is why I am so nuts about this tsunami of digital-printed brilliance that is coming out of the industry now. This is what really gets my gears turning and my brain crackling. And guess what? They look even better in person!
I appreciate that I can share my special kind of crazy with you (Yes I am a fabriholic and I am powerless…) but I love sharing with you and making you smile. We are in this together.
Now I can share some big news…I’ve been hinting at this for awhile…we have two huge names coming to teach in the eQuilter Classroom in 2020! Susan Carlson and Paula Nadelstern are going to be coming in the Spring, to share their special kind of creative genius with us. I am pretty sure you have heard of these 2 incredibly talented artists, but just in case, here are some interviews we have done with Susan and with Paula…over the years.
We only have a few spots left in Cindy’s classes. If you signed up for one of her classes, you will be receiving a special party invitation from us soon. Watch your email!
Jacqueline’s class registration will open up this weekend (watch for the Saturday night newsletter) but the class is already half full with an anxious wait list. Check out the class dates below, and pencil in on your calendar if you might want to join us.
Starting in August Sophie will start her senior year of high school, so I am going to be traveling less so I can spend more time with her. This means I have more time to host teachers and students in our classroom. (which is also my studio) I hope you can come to one of these creative retreats, and we can share that special kind of fabriholic craziness together!
sharing your Passion for Fabric… Luana and Paul
**************** Luana’s Travel Calendar: June 11-15 – Quilt Canada Ottawa – (lecture Fri 6/14) July 18-22 – Sacred Threads & Not Fade Away (VA & DC) July 30 – Aug 6 – Birmingham UK – Festival of Quilts
eQuilter Classroom: July 11-14, 2019 – Cindy Lohbeck – Shibori, Ice-Dyeing and Ombre Dyeing – Almost FULL Sept 13-15 – Cas Holmes – FRCQ Workshop Oct 8-10 – Jacqueline de Jonge – Enchanting Stars & Dream Flight April 13-15 2020 – Susan Carlson June 1-5 2020 – Paula Nadelstern
The Tree of Life is an important symbol in many philosophies and mythologies. It illustrates the connection between heaven and earth. It is also the only landscape created by the artist during his ‘Golden Period’. The painting was originally a study for a mosaic commission.
With its branches reaching for the sky, the tree roots pushing into the earth beneath, the painting illustrates the connection between heaven and earth. It is also considered an expression of masculine and feminine existing as one.
This 60″ x 70″ quilt uses a central gilded panel, plus 9 coordinates from the Klimt collections. This iconic painting is now at the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria. With this golden quilt, you can bring this iconic symbology into your own home…or give this as an opulent gift to an art history buff.
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 our Charity
Sewing Group gathered to make comfort quilts for those in need. At the same
time Kathy Price and Mission
of Love is on the Native American reservation in Pine Ridge SD,
distributing a previous batch of quilts to the Lakota Girls School …quilts
that were made in our eQuilter classroom, and in the homes of our sewing group.
This morning I received an email from Kathy that she had given a group of
quilts to a family who had just lost a baby due to a breach birth and Caesarean
gone wrong. It is a heartbreaking loss and our sewing group was glad to know
that their loving stitches could give some comfort to this family. Paul and I
suffered a loss like this 23 years ago, and that was the inspiration for our
eQuilter Charity Program, which has now raised over $1.6 million
for a variety of organizations, with a focus on children, the environment, and
breast cancer research. We thank you
for supporting our business, so together we can help others.
Our next deadline for donated quilts will be in late August. Kathy will be
going back to Pine Ridge Sept 1, so you can drop them off to eQuilter by Aug 15
if you are in our area, or you can ship them directly to Mission of Love to arrive
by late August.
Yesterday I went to hear Jeananne Wright’s presentation on Oregon Trail Quilts,
at the historic Hover Mansion in Longmont Colorado. Jeananne has collected 800
vintage/historic quilts, and gives lectures on a variety of quilt history
topics. I posted photos from the presentation on my Facebook page. After she
spoke, I gave a brief talk about my quilt “Rocky Mountain Poison”
which has come home after traveling in the “Water
is Life” exhibit. (Which started at the United Nations in Geneva.)
I’ve had 3 weekends in a row hanging out with quilters – I feel so blessed.
Sophie’s high school orchestra is touring and performing in Europe for 2 weeks.
Today we watched a Facebook Live feed of the orchestra performing in a historic
theater in Feltre Italy. Normally Sophie would be at our Charity Sewing group,
but today the ladies watched the live performance on my laptop, and we marveled
that modern technology allowed us to watch this performance live!
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
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