Creative Nudge – Houston Quilt Festival

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Luana

I am sending you a quick newsletter from Quilt Festival in Houston, after an exciting evening at the Awards Ceremony.

Sherry Reynolds won the top prize tonight with her amazing pieced quilt “Eternal Beauty”.

eQuilter sponsored the new Animal Kingdom category. Sophie and I were pleased to give the 1st prize to Esther Tronchoni Simo from Spain, for her quilt “Jewel Beetle”.

Here is an animal-themed quilt that I love from the exhibit, by Natalie Mosher. It is called “Two Socks” and is made with Aboriginal prints from Australia. (Image above is set in a collage with some of our current Australian fabrics.)

Congratulations to all the winners, and to all the quilters whose work was juried into this year’s exhibit here in Houston!

If you are coming to the show, be sure to check out eQuilter’s exhibit “Love Your Mother” which features quilts made from our digital panel of Mother Earth. It is on Main Street (the main aisle through the exhibit area) about halfway down on the back side. You’ll see our rainbow logo on this exhibit, and the Animal Kingdom category.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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eQuilter Classroom & Event Calendar:
Dec 2 – Victoria Findlay Wolfe CQC workshop @ eQuilter
Dec 8 – Holiday Sewing Day (9 am -4 pm) & Open House (1-5 pm) – RSVP
July 11-14, 2019 – Cindy Lohbeck – Shibori, Ice-Dyeing and Ombre Dyeing Workshops.

Luana’s Travel Calendar:
Nov 8 – Love Your Mother Awards @ Teachers Luncheon
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour – Winnipeg & Churchill, Canada
Dec 23 – Jan 4 – China – Sophie’s Heritage Trip
Jan 24-29 – Tokyo Quilt Festival

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Free Pattern – Color Intensity

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Luana

You’ll be swept away by a whirling vortex of rainbow hues, in this week’s Free Quilt Pattern, featuring Kaufman’s ‘Intensity’ panel and Ombre ‘Effervescence’ border!

Bring a whole new level of energy and smiles to any room where
this 44″ x 64″ Wall Hanging is displayed, with a range of fresh chromatic colors, offset by solid Kona Black to make those hues really ‘POP’.

Unleash this Creativity Cyclone in your workspace and watch those ideas start to percolate. Imagine Dorothy’s Tornado on steroids and a lot of fairy dust … and get ready for the WOW factor.

… from the ‘Color Intensity’ collection by Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

And don’t miss the wonderful ‘Paisley Cats‘ and ‘Grizzly Bear Family‘ 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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Quilt Market Preview – Part 1

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Luana

I am writing to you from the first day of Quilt Market in Houston, and here is a sneak peek of some of the collections we are loving:

Raven Moon by Lynnea Washburn
Fresh Hues Ombre – in 18 Colors
Eerie Alley by Caleb Grey
Pumpkin Patch – White pumpkins
Autumn Barn – Barn with quilt block
Lakeside Lodge – Outdoor landscape with Golden Retrievers
Fresh Catch & Sea Serenade by Dan Morris
Lake Caribou by Lynnea Washburn
Nuno – Linen Sashiko panels and printed Faux Shibori
Boro – Asian Yarn-Dyes, Sashiko cloth, and Patchwork
Morris Garden by the V & A Museum
Bee Joyful by Deb Strain
Legend by Whistler Studios – Pacific Northwest symbols and crests
Winter Lights by Susan Rooney
Alaska National Parks by Jon Van Zyle
Safari & Terrarium by Jason Yenter – Digital Printed
Fireside Pups by Bob Giordano – Cute Christmas Dogs and Cats
Cosmic Universe by Kim Peers-Moore
Stonehenge Solstice – 10th anniversary special edition
Facets by MJ Kinman
Mothers and Daughters by Barbara Lavallee – Alaskan heritage
April Showers &Bicycles by Heatherlee Chan
Raven’s Claw by Andrea Tachiera
Cardinal Woods by Deborah Edwards

Tuesday night Sophie and I will be at the award ceremony, and Thursday we’ll be at the Teachers Luncheon. Hope to see many of you there – please do come and say hello!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free Pattern – Kitty Glitter

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Luana

Attention all Crazy Cat Ladies! … this may be the most adorable Free Quilt Pattern you’ve ever seen!

Kittens are cute, but fuzzy kittens with bows and flowers are even cuter, and this quilt pattern has the ability to make even the toughest Dog-Lover say “Awwww …”

This 55″ x 55″ quilt has a sweet Pink, Aqua and Lavender color story with lots of clever little details, like a Cat-Collar-Stripe that is engineered into a border. There are so many thoughtful details in this quilt design, you’ll have just as much fun making the quilt, as you’ll have giving it away to the special Cat-Lover in your life. Or maybe…you just might keep it for yourself … or your herd of Kitties.

… from the ‘Kitty Glitter’ collection by Studio E Fabrics.

And don’t miss the wonderful ‘Paisley Cats‘ and ‘Grizzly Bear Family‘ 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 – A Story About Paula Nadelstern

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Luana

One of the most creative and prolific designers in our industry is Paula Nadelstern. This week we’ve received her latest collection – “More is More” – and it is another delicious ladle of Paula’s kaleidoscope fantasies.

Somewhere back in the early 90s, after I had left the garment industry in New York, and was searching for another way to work with design and color, I discovered Quilting, and then I found my way to a CQC lecture given by Paula. I knew I was searching for a more creative form of quilting besides traditional patchwork, and when I went to Paula’s lecture the bells started to ring.

As Paula described making her quilts on her kitchen table of her New York apartment, I realized I had discovered a kindred soul. It took me many years to meet Paula and develop a friendship, but we were indeed kindred souls. I am so grateful to have found this industry full of kind, creative people who are generous with their talent and inspiration. Paula is one of those people.

Over the years we have bought every single collection that Paula put out, and we have sold thousands of yards of her inspired collections. Paula has been traveling and teaching her techniques for so many years, so she has legions of fans around the world. Several years ago we crossed paths in Winnipeg, when she was teaching there, and I was leading a tour to photograph the polar bears. (stopping in Winnipeg before taking a charter plane up to Churchill.) She had an absolute travel nightmare with multiple delayed flights, but was there the next morning with very little sleep, sharing herself generously with her enthusiastic students. I hung out in her class for half a day, and saw firsthand how her creative passions fed the energy in the room.

Years before, we did a couple video interviews with Paula during her solo exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum in NYC. You can see these 2 interviews from 2009 here – Part 1 and Part 2. eQuilter was a sponsor of her exhibit at the museum, which was a real thrill for us.

I hope you enjoy Paula’s latest collection!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

********
eQuilter Classroom & Event Calendar:
Dec 2 – Victoria Findlay Wolfe CQC workshop @ eQuilter
Dec 8 – Holiday Sewing Day (9 am -4 pm) & Open House (1-5 pm) – RSVP
July 11-14, 2019 – Cindy Lohbeck – Shibori, Ice-Dyeing and Ombre Dyeing Workshops.

Luana’s Travel Calendar:
Nov 2-8 – Houston Quilt Market/Festival
(Nov 8 – Love Your Mother Awards @ Teachers Luncheon)
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour – Winnipeg & Churchill, Canada
Dec 23 – Jan 4 – China – Sophie’s Heritage Trip
Jan 24-29 – Tokyo Quilt Festival

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Free Pattern – Holiday Flourish Glimmering

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Luana

We love the traditions of Christmastime – the Red Poinsettias, the fragrant Pine boughs, and the gleaming ornaments. This week’s Free Quilt Pattern combines these beloved motifs with lavish Gold Metallic accents, and swirling marbelized blenders, for a stunning Holiday quilt!

This 54″ x 62″ quilt uses decorative blocks in a panel, which you will cut up and piece into the larger quilt design. The engineered border uses a jewel-like stripe with garlands of Holly and more Poinsettias. Bring the celebration home with this gorgeous quilt that is sure to start a new holiday tradition in your house.

… from the ‘Holiday Flourish’ collection by Peggy Toole for Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

And don’t miss the wonderful ‘Paisley Cats‘ and ‘Grizzly Bear Family‘ quilt patterns.

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Open House and Holiday Sewing Day

Posted on October 28, 2018 by Luana

Click Here to read in your Browser
329 NEW Products this week!

We are having a Holiday Open House and Charity Sewing Day on Sat Dec 8, for our customers, suppliers and eQuilter staff. Please RSVP if you plan to join us for sewing (9-4) or the Open House (1-5).

We will be conducting tours of our new facility in the afternoon during the Open House. You can check out our fantastic new Classroom, and find out more about our new Personal Shopper service.

For our Holiday Sewing Day, you can come pick out beautiful fabrics from our Classroom Scrap Stash to sew a quilt top for a last minute gift ($20 if you keep the quilt top), or make a quilt top and donate to our Comfort Quilt Project. You can score more surprise fabric packs for scrappy quilts on our Warehouse Scrap page.

What happens when we have a fabric panel with a small flaw? It is donated to our charity program, or is put into our Nearly Perfect Panel Scrap Pack. More quilters are discovering the magic of making a quick quilt by starting with a panel and adding borders. This is one of our customers’ favorite secret products because when you order this scrap pack, you will get a surprise assortment of panels at a fraction of the price, with very small flaws, that are just fantastic for quick gift quilts and charity quilt projects.

Today in our classroom we are using these panels to make Comfort Quilts to be donated for disaster relief. There is lots of fun picking out the fabrics, sharing our show-and-tell, interspersed with coffee and cookies. We hope you can join our group some time! Photos are on our Facebook page.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

********

eQuilter Classroom & Event Calendar:
Dec 2 – Victoria Findlay Wolfe CQC workshop @ eQuilter
Dec 8 – Holiday Sewing Day (9 am -4 pm) & Open House (1-5 pm) – RSVP
July 11-14, 2019 – Cindy Lohbeck – Shibori, Ice-Dyeing and Ombre Dyeing Workshops.

Luana’s Travel Calendar:
Nov 2-8 – Houston Quilt Market/Festival
(Nov 8 – Love Your Mother Awards @ Teachers Luncheon)
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour
Dec 23 – Jan 4 – China on Sophie’s Heritage Trip
Jan 24-29 – Tokyo Quilt Festival

See my Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

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Free Pattern – Owl Majesty

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Luana

This exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern is a big hit, so grab it before it sells out!

You will start with a central digital panel featuring a detailed closeup of a beautiful Snowy Owl and Full Moon, then add a border of Owl Portraits. Finally, add this amazing Header and Footer with a pieced inset that mimics that wingspan of a bird in flight – this finishing touch is just pure genius!

Your 61″ x 67″ quilt design combines our exclusive digital-printed Owls, with Hoffman Hand-Dyes. Great gift for Harry Potter fans and Bird-Watchers. Check out our many Harry Potter prints and Owl fabrics for a special backing.

… from the ‘Majestic Wildlife’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

And don’t miss the wonderful ‘Paisley Cats‘ and ‘Grizzly Bear Family‘ 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 – Can You Feel It Coming?

Posted on October 24, 2018 by Luana

We are gearing up for Quilt Market and Quilt Festival, and Sophie is going to spend a whole week with me in Houston! Meanwhile we’ve had a few sneak peeks of collections that will be introduced at Market this year, and it feels like there is another big change coming to our industry in the next year. So many of our old industry friends are retiring, and so many young people who joined the industry 5 years ago are now rising through the ranks. It is an exciting time to anticipate what new waves of innovation and creativity will burst onto the quilt and textile scene!

Last year we had the pleasure of popping up to the top floor of the convention center to see the Houston Grand Opera, who had been displaced by Hurricane Harvey. This year we are going to go see the opera back on their home turf, which will be a great way to kick off our week in Houston. I’ve been going to Houston for so many years, and it is a treat to appreciate other textiles (in the fabulous costumes) after a busy day of buying fabrics on the show floor. Why did it take a hurricane for me to find the opera after all these years?

We have some exciting announcements coming up about teachers and workshops in our new classroom for 2019.

July 11-14, 2019 we are thrilled to announce four one-day classes with Cindy Lohbeck, who I met at the Quilting Arts TV studio. She is coming to teach Shibori dyeing techniques, Ice-Dyeing, and Ombre Dyeing and when you see the photos of her work you are going to flip! So if this sounds like fun, please block out those days next year and watch for registration to open. You can take any single day class, or all four if you wish. Cindy is so creative and enthusiastic, and when I look at photos of her students’ work, it is clear she is very generous with her dyeing techniques.

We have more announcements coming up so stay tuned…we’ll be putting that new 10 foot stainless steel sink to good use in the studio/classroom! We just got the electrical drops put in this week (retractable electric cords that drop from the ceiling for our sewing classes) so we are ready to host a room full of busy sewing machines for our first Charity Sewing Day this Saturday!

Thank you for sharing our e-newsletters with your friends. All of these are posted on our blog, in case you want to review previous newsletters. We appreciate your support of our fabric service and charity programs!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
*****

* The collage above features digital printed large-scale forest fabrics currently in stock.

*****
eQuilter Classroom & Travel Calendar:
Oct 27 – Charity Sewing Day – eQuilter Classroom – Waiting List Only
Nov 2-8 – Houston Quilt Market/Festival
(Nov 8 – Love Your Mother Awards @ Teachers Luncheon)
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour
Dec 2 – Victoria Findlay Wolfe CQC workshop @ eQuilter
Dec 8 – Holiday Sewing Day & Open House – RSVP
Dec 23 – Jan 4 – China Trip

2019:
July 11-14 – Cindy Lohbeck Shibori & Ice-Dyeing Workshops

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Free Pattern – Feathered Peacock

Posted on October 23, 2018 by Luana

Escape to an age of elegance and polished refinement, with this week’s Free Quilt Pattern. Graceful Peacocks pose on branches full of flowers, with a soft palette of cool tones.

This 40″ x 56″ wall-hanging is full of glistening silver metallic accents, giving this a soft shimmering quality. A bold Cobalt Blue border adds balance to this opulent garden scene.

… from the ‘Feathered Peacock’ collection by Chong-A Hwang for Timeless Treasures.

And don’t miss the wonderful ‘Paisley Cats‘ and ‘Grizzly Bear Family‘ 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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