Free Pattern – Bison Country

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Luana

The Spirit of the Bison still roams the high plains, and this week’s Free Quilt Pattern gives us a breathtaking view of the Buffalo Spirit.

The central panel captures a pair of bison with the details that can only be found in a digital-printed fabric, with a majestic mountain landscape in the background. Portrait frames surround the panel, while the mitered bison stripe for the outer border frames the quilt.

And we’ve combined coordinating Northcott Stonehenge textures for the borders for this 59″ x 65″ design. Bison Country makes a bold and beautiful wall-hanging for a Western-themed room, or a cozy fireside lap quilt.

… from the ‘Naturescapes’ collection by Al Agnew for Northcott Fabrics.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Tiger Eyes‘ and ‘Night Owl Nature‘ 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

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Luana

Hello from Portland Oregon!

We are here for Spring Quilt Market, while they are having heavy rain and flash flooding back home in Boulder. The weather is sunny and mild here in Portland – go figure!

We are excited about these collections, which will be shipping in the months to come. Be sure to watch our newsletter as they arrive for Summer and Fall this year:

Alphonse Mucha – Art Nouveau panel in peach and pastels
Northern Heritage by Jody Bergsma – Alaskan sled dogs
Patriots – Washington Crossing the Delaware panel
Stargazers – Digital solar system panel with glitter
Penny’s Dollhouse 2 by Darlene Zimmerman
Angelica by Chong-a Hwang – Yellow roses, navy blue & periwinkle flowers
Tonga Colorwheel – A wide range of colors in swirling batik dots
Road Trippin’ – Illustrated city, taxis, and buses
Wonder by Carrie Bloomston – Digital collection
Passport – Maps, passports & passport stamps
Popcorn & Peanuts – Licensed Peanuts characters at the movies
Lost World by Dan Morris – Dinosaurs, fossils and foot prints
Timberland Trail by Dan Morris – Moose, Bear, Deer, Wolves
Sugar Rush – Candy jars, bright lollipops, candy & sprinkles
Wild Side by House of Turnowsky – African animals & geometrics
Faith by Dan Morris- Colorful and metallic religious panel
Peter Pan by Sarah Jane – Peter & Wendy flying, Tinkerbelle
Lotus blooms & cherry blossoms
Alfresco – Illustrated travel collection
Metropolis – Grayscale Canada panel
Gradients – Digital ombres and creative multicolored abstracts
10th Anniversary Heritage Collection for a Cause by Howard Marcus
Neko IV- Japanese cats with metallic
Hana Zukushi – Japanese floral with metallic
Artisan Spirit Shimmer Dragonfly – With metallic
Artisan Spirit Imagine – Digital panels with Unicorns, Butterflies, Moose Shimmer Koi Pond by Karen Sikie – Metallic Koi and Dragonflies
Stonehenge Kids Undersea 3D by Linda Ludovico – With 3D glasses
Canadian Classics – Flag, maple leaves, Mounties
Big Bang – Science, chemistry and physics in primary colors
Road Trip by Alison Glass

I’ll be talking about Trends in next week’s Midweek Creative Nudge newsletter on Wednesday.

Thanks to all of you who submitted an entry to the Love Your Mother Challenge. The entries will now go through the jury process and then registrants will be notified of the results.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free Pattern – Sunshine Fairy Flyer

Posted on May 18, 2018 by Luana

Enter a magical garden where fairies fly free in this week’s Exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern.

The delicately detailed central panel captures a magnificent garden fairy surveying her floral realm. Hoffman Hand Dyes and a gorgeous white tonal print create the borders and lovely winged corner treatment.

This is a quick and easy project and makes a great gift for someone who loves Fairies!
The 60″ x 50″ size makes a beautiful wall-hanging or a dreamy lap quilt.

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

And don’t miss our popular ‘Jungle Giraffes‘ and ‘Moonlit Painted Pony‘ 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 – Royal Wedding

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Luana

I assume by now you know that Prince Harry is marrying Meghan Markle this Saturday. I’ll be in Portland Oregon at Quilt Market, but maybe I’ll set my alarm to see what she is wearing. It is a great excuse for a party, and a good distraction from all the other news this week. The ceremony is at 7 am Eastern Time, but coverage starts at 4 pm ET. Hey, that’s 1 am Pacific Time!

For those of us who remember Princess Diana, this week’s Royal Wedding is bittersweet. I still remember her wedding at Westminster Abbey, and the day we lost her. There was an excellent exhibit about Diana that came to the Museum of Natural Science in Houston, which I saw while at Quilt Market many years ago. It included her wedding dress, and the stacks and stacks of condolence books signed by her ardent fans. I went through several tissues that day.

Do little girls still grow up dreaming of fairytale castles, and marrying a prince? I suppose so, to some degree, but the fantasy seems like a relic of an earlier age. Still, this wedding shrugs off so many unspoken rules that have been tightly bound up until now. I can’t wait to see what this American bride will accomplish in her new role.

One of my oldest friends lives in London, and she shared a flat with Diana’s older sister for a couple years. Young teenage Diana would come to visit with their mother, not knowing the fate that was around the corner. She was my daughter’s age….a student and a babysitter. Now she has passed into history, and her boys are writing their own stories.

I visited Windsor in 2010, including the St George’s Chapel where this week’s wedding will be held. It has been the site of many royal weddings since it was established in the 14th Century, and is the final resting place for an astonishing number of royal family members…including Henry VIII and Jane Seymour…and several earlier kings.

Before the Birmingham Festival of Quilts, I am stopping in London to see my old friend. I am sure the commemorative royal wedding china will still be for sale at the gift shops. I’ll have to snag a Harry and Meghan collectible teacup.

Thank you for those of you who submitted entries to the Love Your Mother challenge! The blind jury process will begin this week, leading eventually to the winner of the BERNINA sewing machine, and the exhibit in Houston!

The collage above features photos of the St George Chapel in Windsor, Royal China in the Tower of London Gift Shop, and fabrics currently in stock.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

Enjoy artist interviews, tutorials, and quilt festival tours, on our eQuilter Video Page.

********
eQuilter Classroom & Event Calendar:
July 16 – 20 – Lea McComas Workshops @ eQuilter
July 23 – eQuilter Charity Sewing Day! (Please RSVP)
Coming soon – workshops with Betty Busby (Sept) and MJ Kinman (Oct) @ eQuilter!

Luana’s Travel Calendar:
May 18-20 – Quilt Market – Portland OR
May 29 – 31 – Quilt Canada – Vancouver BC
June 1 – Opening Reception for Hollis Chatelain – RMQM – Golden CO
June 27 – July 11 – Sweden
Aug 9-11 – Birmingham UK – Festival of Quilts
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour

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Free Pattern – Reverie Garden

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Luana

Blue and Yellow is a classic color combination, but this week’s Free Quilt Pattern gives it a new twist! Imagine this Blue and Yellow Flower Garden at Midnight lit by a Full Moon’s shimmering light.

These glowing colors (including Green Mums and White Daisies) emerge from the darkness with a dramatic contrast between the illuminated colors and the darkness of night.

This 60″ x 64″ quilt is built around a central panel with a matching coordinate stripe used for the engineered border. We add in a solid black Kaufman Kona Cotton and a Hoffman Hand-Dye for this easy-to-make quilt design. You can whip this out in a weekend!…but you’ll be enjoying this quilt for years to come because it is made with the highest quality fabrics.

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

And don’t miss our popular ‘Jungle Giraffes‘ and ‘Moonlit Painted Pony‘ 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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Happy Mothers Day!

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Luana

To all of our mothers and grandmothers out there, we wish you a wonderful day with your family. We celebrated Mothers Day a little early with one of our staff who is expecting in the next couple weeks: we had a baby shower for Veronica Thursday where she received a lavender and gray baby quilt with blocks made by almost everyone on our staff. We are looking forward to having a new baby in the eQuilter family!

Every year my mom, Sophie and I go to the Mothers Day Tea at the historic Victorian mansion in Longmont – the Hover Home. The docents dress up in fancy hats and period costumes, and we drink from antique teacups (Pinkies extended) and munch on scones and cucumber sandwiches. It is wonderful to have our Mothers Day tradition with 3 generations of women in our family.

This week Leilani from the CU Chapter of Engineers Without Borders, came to pick up the latest batch of quilts for their bi-annual trip to Nepal. You may have seen the photos from their last trip – where the quilts were distributed to mothers who had given birth in the previous six months. Our next Charity Sewing Day is June 23, and I have to say we have a pretty wonderful group of ladies who show up every month and work hard to make these quilts.

Friday we hosted a regional Chromazone workshop for the Color Marketing Group, which was a fantastic experience. In September I will go to DC for the National Steering Committee, so I am getting more involved with the organization’s process of finalizing color palettes. I just love being a part of this Color Tribe – seeing the inside process of color trend forecasting – not to mention the fascinating people who are members of this group!

Sunday Paul and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary in addition to Mothers Day. Those years sure go by fast when you are busy running a business together!

I am anxiously watching that final rush of entries coming in for the Love Your Mother Challenge! The deadline is May 15 and then we will jury for the contest and exhibit. Good luck to you all.

We are excited to be hosting workshops with Lea McComas, Betty Busby and MJ Kinman in the next few months. Lea’s 2 portrait workshops are open for registration now, and we look forward to seeing many of you. If you search for “McComas” on our site now, the products on her supply list will pop up, including her exclusive thread sets. Don’t forget we have a discount at the Hampton Inn next door…when you make your plans to join us.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
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Free Pattern – Mother’s Day Fairies

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Luana

Happy Mothers Day from eQuilter!

This weekend we are celebrating our wonderful mothers and grandmothers, and this exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern expresses that special love between a child and mother…in this case, a Fairy mother and child.

A delightful central panel depicts Forest Fairies in the Wild Strawberry patch, with a sweet gift from the heart. The digital-printed panel is bordered by Hoffman Hand-Dyes, and a bright Strawberry print for the Heart applique.

You can make this 53″ x 61″ quilt customized by free-motion-stitching heart or flower shapes in the border, using just the right color of solid or variegated thread. If your machine has decorative stitching, you can put a fancy stitch around the edge of the heart applique.

… from the ‘Elves and Fairies’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Jungle Giraffes‘ and ‘Moonlit Painted Pony‘ 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 – Down On the Farm…Up at The Dairy Barn

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Luana

Last month I went to the opening reception of the Modern Quilts/SAQA double exhibit which is at the Dairy Barn Arts Center. (through June 17!)

It was a very interesting experience because I saw most of these same quilts at QuiltCon in February, but hung in a much larger space. (The Pasadena Convention Center) However now it is hanging in a huge old barn that has been converted into a gallery. It was a completely different experience – seeing them in such an intimate space. If you are going to be in the Athens area in the next month, I urge you to go check out this show!

On the drive down to Athens from the Cleveland area, I saw many of the Quilt Barns with big painted quilt designs on the side of big vintage barns. You can get a map and drive around on back roads to see the Quilt Barns. It was much more fun than the license plate game we played as kids, on long road-trips!

My mom grew up on a farm in Oregon. They raised goats for milk. She rode her horse bareback to school. I remember her telling me the stories of her pastoral youth. Those days seem so long ago…and I’ve been doing some digging into the family tree and found deep roots in West Texas. However Sophie was named after my great-great-grandma who came from Sweden. Sophie has a new violin teacher who has invited her to go on a music workshop tour of Sweden this summer, and I am going as a group chaperone. Sophie is turning 16 just two days before the trip, and it will be the first time she’s used her passport. She will be the youngest musician on the trip. We will spend a lot of time north of Stockholm in the countryside, just after the Summer Solstice. I hope to connect with Swedish Quilters while I am there!

Thank you for those of you who are submitting entries to the Love Your Mother challenge! The deadline is May 15 and we are watching the entries come in…the first prize of a BERNINA machine is fantastic but also the juried exhibit will premier in Houston!

The collage above features a photo of the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens Ohio, along with several Barn and Farm theme fabrics in stock now.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana

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eQuilter Classroom & Event Calendar:
May 10 – Deadline for dropping off Nepal Quilts
May 11 – eQuilter Chromazone – Color Marketing Group @ eQuilter
May 15 – Registration for ‘Love Your Mother‘ Quilt Challenge
July 16 – 20 – Lea McComas Workshops @ eQuilter
July 23 – eQuilter Charity Sewing Day! (Please RSVP)
Coming soon – workshops with Betty Busby (Sept) and MJ Kinman (Oct) @ eQuilter!

Luana’s Travel Calendar:
May 18-20 – Quilt Market – Portland OR
May 29 – 31 – Quilt Canada – Vancouver BC
June 1 – Opening Reception for Hollis Chatelain – RMQM – Golden CO
June 27 – July 11 – Sweden
Aug 9-11 – Birmingham UK – Festival of Quilts
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour

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Free Pattern – Under the Sea

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Luana

Escape to a tropical underwater fantasy in this week’s Free Quilt Pattern, featuring Dolphins, Sea Turtles, Coral Reef Fish…with an island waterfall and brilliant sunset in the distance.

This 62″ x 74″ quilt will transport you to Hawaii, the Caribbean, or perhaps Bali… with a snorkeler’s view of the marine life, in a crystal clear bay with jeweltone waters.

We’ve combined 2 panels (with 3 scenes) and set them in a pieced Faux-Twist border with a Fish coordinate, a Stonehenge texture, and 2 Hoffman Hand-Dyes. Remember that you can play around with your own design and your own hand-dye coordinate colors, by putting other options in your Wish List and then clicking/dragging them onto the Quilt Pattern.

The brilliant colors and digital printed fine details will bring that tropical vibe into any room where you hang this beauty. Your snorkeling or diving buddies will be especially impressed!

… from the ‘Artworks’ collection by Quilting Treasures.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Jungle Giraffes‘ and ‘Moonlit Painted Pony‘ quilt patterns.

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Quilters Just Wanna Have Fun

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Luana

Well another Kentucky Derby has come and gone. My goodness, between May the Fourth (Star Wars), the Derby and Cinco de Mayo, we have a lot of excuses to party this weekend hmm? Today we had another Charity Sewing Day, focusing on finishing quilts before the CU students from Engineers Without Borders leave for Nepal with another batch of donated quilts for earthquake survivors. So we had our own quilting party which included cake, strawberries and a very large can of whipped cream. Our next quilting day will also be on Sophie’s 16th birthday, so maybe you’d like to come help celebrate our Sweet 16 Girl. (Shhh! Don’t tell her!)

We are thinking of all our friends in Hawaii this weekend too…we no longer have family living on the Big Island but a close friend just happened to leave the day before the earthquake and eruption. With volcanoes erupting in Bali and Alaska now, maybe Mother Earth is telling us something? We have a fabric for that! We hope the Bali eruption will not disrupt our Batik suppliers, but last time it did, so we are stocking up on current Batiks for all you Batikaholics.

I am just tickled to see those entries coming in for the Love Your Mother Challenge! The deadline is May 15 and then we will jury for the contest and exhibit. Good luck to you all.

Do you get my Midweek Creative Nudge on Wednesday mornings? Do you get our 2 Free Pattern Newsletters each week? If not you might want to review your subscription options with eQuilter. If you have questions please email or call our Customer Service department. You can review past Creative Nudge and Free Pattern emails on our blog…they are AWESOME!

We are excited to be hosting workshops with Lea McComas, Betty Busby and MJ Kinman in the next few months. Lea’s 2 portrait workshops are open for registration now, and we look forward (Her book is in stock now also.) to seeing many of you. Remember we have a discount with the Hampton Inn close by, and the link is on the bottom of the class registration page.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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eQuilter Classroom & Event Calendar:
May 10 – Deadline for dropping off Nepal Quilts
May 11 – eQuilter Chromazone – Color Marketing Group @ eQuilter
May 15 – Registration DEADLINE for ‘Love Your Mother‘ Quilt Challenge
June 23 – eQuilter Charity Sewing Day & Sophie’s Sweet 16 Party! (Please RSVP)
July 16 – 20 – Lea McComas Workshops @ eQuilter
Coming soon – workshops with Betty Busby and MJ Kinman @ eQuilter!

Luana’s Travel Calendar:
May 18-20 – Quilt Market – Portland OR
May 29 – 31 – Quilt Canada – Vancouver BC
June 1 – Opening Reception for Hollis Chatelain – RMQM – Golden CO
June 27 – July 11 – Sweden
Aug 5-12 – London & Birmingham UK Festival of Quilts
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour

*****
Check out our 170 videos from international quilt festivals, PBS TV, artist and curator interviews on our eQuilter Video Page. Subscribe and catch the latest videos on our eQuilter YouTube Channel.

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

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