Free eQuilter Pattern – Full Heart

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Luana

Everyone knows that Quilters have the biggest hearts, and here’s
our eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern so you can share your big heart with someone special.

With Mothers Day just around the corner, we are thinking this would be a great gift for a New Mother, a Grandmother, or someone who is just extra sweet and lovable!

This 60″ x 65″ quilt is a quick and easy project, using a Panel plus 3 coordinates: a painterly Rainbow Stripe, a solid Kona Black, and a Hearts print. The colorful panel is just bursting with Joy and Love, saying more can words could ever express.

… featuring the ‘Full Heart’ collection by Chong-A Hwang for Timeless Treasures.

Don’t miss the popular ‘Morningmoon Unicorns‘ and ‘Northern Lights Shimmer‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

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Creative Nudge – Mi Casa et Tu Casa

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Luana

Having just returned from the Mexico City Quilt Festival, I am enjoying the colors and culture of Mexico and Latino culture. The folk arts and crafts, the music, and food are such a deep rich well of creative inspiration. From Mariachis to Margaritas, and from Tacos to Tequila, a Mexican restaurant with a Mariachi show is a good place to start!

I have always appreciated the folk arts and textile arts of Mexico and Guatemala, and then there are design influences like Day of the Dead and Frida Kahlo. Lately other influences are creeping in, like Succulents and Cacti. The richness of these cultures are also expressed in the Colors of Cuba, which has a parallel but unique Spanish/Latino flavor.

As the quilt movement in Mexico progresses, it is fun to see how the local culture is expressed in their quilts. In the center of this collage is a detail from Sonia Flores Ruiz award-winning quilt, “Casa De Las Comadres”. Notice the Mexican yarn-dyed stripes, the 3-D braided hair, the paper-cut banners that read “Mi Casa” and “Tu Casa”. (The border collage is related fabrics we have in stock now.)

On my last day there, we had an embroidery class from an indigenous textile artist who rode 8 hours on a bus to come teach us her native folk art. She told us how traditionally they would raise the sheep, spin the wool yarn, and dye the yarn with natural plant and bug (cochineal red) colors. However the specialized sheep which their people have raised in the mountains for centuries, are dying off because of climate change. Now she has to take a bus that is 3 hours one way, to buy the wool to spin and dye the yarn.

I brought down 17 quilts made by our Charity Sewing Group, to donate to mothers and children at the Migrant House in Monterrey. This is a charitable organization that helps families escaping poverty and violence in Central America. Many thanks to the quilters who contributed time and quilts to this effort!

Tomorrow I am flying to Nashville for QuiltCon. Yes this schedule is crazy, but these 2 events are one week apart!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free eQuilter Pattern – Mountain Wilderness

Posted on February 19, 2019 by Luana

Enjoy a pristine Mountain Landscape in this week’s Free Quilt Pattern. Northcott’s scenic wilderness panel captures this glorious mountain landscape with soaring eagles and geese, and majestic mountains.

The focus panels are elegantly surrounded by Northcott’s famous Stonehenge textured coordinates, pieced in delicate diamonds with rustic hues.

You can use this 57″ x 70″ quilt as a Double-Snuggle Large Lap quilt, a small Bed Quilt, or a fantastic large wall-hanging! This would make a great gift for your family ski buffs and cabin friends!

… featuring the ‘Stonehenge Mountain Wilderness’ collection by Linda Ludovico for Northcott Fabrics.

Don’t miss the popular ‘Morningmoon Unicorns‘ and ‘Northern Lights Shimmer‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

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Quilters de Mexico Festival

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Luana

Today was the last day of the quilt festival in Mexico City, where I’ve been chaperoning the Love Your Mother exhibit at the Quilters de Mexico event. It is so exciting to see our quilt challenge hanging in a new venue, and to see how quilters in another country react to the message of these quilts. I spoke to the Mexican quilters today, about how the challenge works, and a little bit about the jurying process. We have one Mexican quilter in ‘Love Your Mother’ and I look forward to seeing the quilt movement continue to develop here.

Lea McComas’ ‘Wall’ is also being displayed at this event, and due to the timing of US events, it has been the spark for much conversation. She still has bricks coming in from both sides of the issue, so if you want to express your feelings about this topic, you can still make a brick. Both sides of the Wall are welcome!

One of my Japanese friends is here. I just saw her at the Tokyo show a few weeks ago, and we’ll be meeting at the QuiltCon event next weekend. It is such a special feeling to see quilter friends from other countries when attending these events. Today I visited the Diego Rivera murals with a Canadian quilter who lives in Mexico, and a Dutch quilter who lives in the Caribbean. It is so fascinating compare our experiences of being quilters from different countries. For those who do not have a quilt shop locally, eQuilter is a lifeline!

I’ve uploaded photos of Love Your Mother in Mexico’ to my photo page, and will upload more from this event as the internet here allows. It is a little spotty. The world may be going crazy but quilting brings us together under the umbrella of love, creativity and generosity, and I am going to stay under this colorful umbrella.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free eQuilter Pattern – Morningmoon Unicorns

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Luana

Spring fairies and unicorns grace this week’s Exclusive Free Quilt Pattern. Jody Bergsma’s magical illustrations are delicately framed with lavender and sapphire borders, then joined with powder blue sashing and graceful corner stars.

We’ve combined Jody’s panels and coordinates with Northcott Stonehenge Gradations and Hoffman Hand Dyes to create a calming and enchanting color story.

This 57″ x 63″ Quilt will cover someone with a special kind of magic as a lap quilt or youth-sized coverlet. You can also invite these gorgeous mythical creatures into your home as a stunning wall-hanging.

… featuring the ‘Morningmoon Unicorns’ collection by Jody Bergsma for Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

Don’t miss the popular ‘Call of the Wild Bighorn‘ and ‘Moonlight Plume‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

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Creative Nudge – Valentine Love

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Luana

On Valentine’s Day, almost everyone wishes for someone to Love. Whether it is a sweetheart, a crush, or puppy love…the only thing better than receiving a Valentine, is giving one!

Sophie has been complaining for the last week about the PDAs (Public Displays of Affection) that clog the hallways of her high school on Valentine’s Day. What would we do without our kids to de-mystify all these abbreviations and acronyms? Silly me, I was still thinking a PDA was a Personal Digital Assistant. (Remember the Palm Pilots?)

As I travel the world to photograph quilt exhibits, it is obvious that more artists are becoming activists and putting their messages about peace, love, and the environment, in their quilts and textile art. Above is a central detail shot of a charming quilt from the Tokyo Quilt Festival, showing children from around the world sailing away together in a hot air balloon that looks like the Earth. Click through to my photo page to see the rest of the quilt.

The quilt detail is set in a frame of Heart and Valentine themed fabrics we have in stock now.

Thursday I am flying to Mexico City for the quilt festival, to host the Love Your Mother exhibit there. You may have seen that Quilts Inc also featured a Love Your Mother gallery on their website this week.

Consider this your Valentine, from me to you.
Wishing you Hearts and Flowers and Chocolate and LOVE on Valentine’s Day!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

****************

eQuilter Classroom & Travel Calendar:
Feb 14-16 – ‘Love Your Mother’ exhibit at Mexico Quilt Festival in Mexico City
Feb 20-23 – QuiltCon – Nashville TN
Feb 24 – Lynn Koolish for CQC – in eQuilter Classroom
Mar 28-30 – ‘Love Your Mother’ exhibit at Spring Quilt Festival in Chicago
Apr 1 – Quilting Arts TV, Cleveland
Apr 12-14 – Jean Wells for FRCQ workshop – in eQuilter Classroom
June 27-30 – Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli workshop – eQuilter Classroom
July 11-14, 2019 – Cindy Lohbeck – Shibori, Ice-Dyeing and Ombre Dyeing Workshops @ eQuilter – REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

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Free eQuilter Pattern – Moonlight Plume

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Luana

Create your own mysterious Moonlit Aviary in this week’s Free Quilt Pattern, with a shimmering Peacock panel as the central element.

This 40″ x 57″ quilt features deeply saturated tones of Sapphire, Turquoise and Amethyst…enriched with dashes and sprinkles of Gold Metallic. You will piece together 2 coordinates and a Blue-Violet Hoffman Hand-Dye for the simple border.

… featuring the ‘Moonlight Plume’ collection by Chong-A Hwang for Timeless Treasures.

Don’t miss the wonderful ‘Call of the Wild Bighorn‘ and ‘Northern Lights Shimmer‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

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We are Fragile and Strong

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Luana

Wednesday I spent the afternoon in the hospital with a friend, a brilliant woman who works to help others peacefully resolve conflicts….who was having a brain biopsy the next day. I was there to give her strength and love, to bolster the courage that is already there. Even for those who are brave and strong, we all need support when we face the challenges in life. Even if you don’t know what to say to someone facing a loss, trauma, or challenge…. it doesn’t matter. Just show up. It means so much. Don’t try to fix it with words. When we can’t be there in person, sometimes the best thing we can give is a comfort quilt stitched with love. Every stitch is a prayer, a hug, and silent words of love and support.

When we lost our baby daughter 23 years ago many of my friends disappeared from my life. It was so shocking, and they didn’t know what to say to me, so they just disappeared. So I try to be there for people facing these life challenges, in the way I wished others had been there for me. The ones who WERE there, turned out to be my true friends.

Just wanted to share those thoughts, after my afternoon among so many people who were suffering at the hospital. Show up, with Love. We are so fragile and so strong…. it is always a gift to show up and be present at these times…for us and for them.

Wishing you all loving supportive friends, who show up when you need them.

This week I am working on a couple art quilts, and getting ready to fly to Mexico City on Thursday. Our “Love Your Mother” challenge will be on exhibit there, and one of the artists is from Mexico so it will be extra special for her.

There are still spaces in Lynn Koolish’s fun paint/collage class for CQC on Feb 24 – come join us!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free eQuilter Pattern – Call of the Wild Bighorn

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Luana

The Bighorn Sheep is an iconic symbol of the Rocky Mountains, featured in our exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern. They are surefooted and nimble, and the rams are known for their hard-headed skulls and large spiraling horns that echo through the mountain valleys when they charge rival males.

To make this 56″ x 64″ quilt, start with a Hoffman Digital Printed panel, add Northcott Stonehenge textures and Hoffman Hand-Dyes, to set our Bighorn in a pieced border of soft textured Neutrals.

… featuring the ‘Call of the Wild’ collection by Hoffman Fabrics.

Don’t miss the wonderful ‘Wildlife Spirits‘ and ‘Cottage Grove‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

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Creative Nudge – Gung Hei Fat Choi!

Posted on February 6, 2019 by Luana

Happy Chinese New Year of the Pig! This is the 4716th Chinese year.

You may have looked at this image and wondered what the heck I was thinking, but there is a real theme here. In China and around Asia people have just started a 10 day celebration of the Lunar New Year. When I lived in Hong Kong we greeted each other with “Gung Hei Fat Choi!” for the New Year. The factories close down and everybody goes home to celebrate with their families.

Chinese astrology is different from Western astrology. Instead of the sign changing every month, the sign changes once per year. If you are born in the Year of the Dog (like me) then everybody else born that year is also a Dog. Then every 12 years it repeats the cycle. So you can have Pigs who are 12, 24, 36, and 48 years old. (etc.) Pigs are considered compassionate, diligent and generous.

At the Lunar New Year, Chinese families celebrate with firecrackers, Lion Dances, sweeping out their house, and eating Long Noodles. (for long life.) Young people who have gone to work in the city, crowd the trains to go home for multi-generational banquets. They also go to temples to light incense and say a prayer for the New Year. The color RED is considered lucky, and young people receive Red envelopes with money from the parents and elders.

While Sophie and I were in China over our January 1st New Year, we discovered that in the cities the young people have appropriated some of our holidays, like Christmas and Valentines Day! So feel free to celebrate Chinese New Year…it’s the biggest bash on the planet!

The photo above is of two ladies I spotted at the Forbidden City on our first full day in Beijing. I’ve added some of our fabrics to make a Chinese New Year collage. Gung Hei Fat Choi!

Sincerely,
Luana and Paul

****************

eQuilter Classroom & Travel Calendar:
Feb 14-16 – ‘Love Your Mother‘ exhibit at Mexico Quilt Festival in Mexico City
Feb 20-23 – QuiltCon – Nashville TN
Feb 24 – Lynn Koolish for CQC – in eQuilter Classroom
Mar 28-30 – ‘Love Your Mother‘ exhibit at Spring Quilt Festival in Chicago
Apr 1 – Quilting Arts TV, Cleveland
Apr 12-14 – Jean Wells for FRCQ workshop – in eQuilter Classroom
June 27-30 – Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli workshop – eQuilter Classroom
July 11-14, 2019 – Cindy Lohbeck – Shibori, Ice-Dyeing and Ombre Dyeing Workshops @ eQuilter – REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

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