Free Pattern – Mountain View

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Luana

Step through a doorway to a pristine mountain landscape in this week’s Free Quilt Pattern, featuring a digital panel with an alpine meadow, a stream, a pine forest, and misty distant mountain silhouettes.

Coordinated prints are set on point in the border, picking up the colors of the Sunset Sky, the Green Forest, and the Turquoise Waters. Finish the pieced border with Alabaster and Thistle Purple Hoffman Hand-Dyes.

This 51″ x 69″ quilt makes beautiful lap quilt (perhaps backed with snuggly Flannel?) or a dreamy wall-hanging that takes you away to an idyllic landscape.

… from the ‘Mountain View’ collection by Ro Gregg for Fabri-Quilt.

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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Fun in Our Classroom!

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Luana

We are just wrapping up our first day of Lisa Walton’s workshop here at eQuilter, and Sophie is here learning how to make a fused quilt. Dana is here (our customer service manager) and she brought the most awesome brownies! The rows of pink crab apple trees are just starting to bud out, so maybe by next week they will start to bloom under our Colorado sunny blue skies. Life is good!

One of the fun parts of this class was to see what other students have made in previous classes with Lisa. When artists get together and are given permission to experiment and play with fabric, it is amazing the depth and breadth of unique interpretations that come into focus by the end of the event.

For 16 years I belonged to a weekly figure painting group. We hired a different live model every week, we would set up our easels around the model, and proceed to put on canvas or paper… our own perspective. The best part was looking at everyone’s work at the end of 3 hours. It is the same in a creative workshop where everyone has the freedom to choose the colors, fabrics, and design for their project. The inventive variety is just dazzling.

Everyone is an artist as a child, but often the passage of time strips away our creative confidence…and we have to start over as adults. My goal is to bring in classes and teachers who reconnect us to that innocent playful joy of creating. I really believe that it is a healing experience to strip away the barriers and play in that very pure place in our hearts. Playing with Color is one of the ways to connect with that subconscious or intuitive part of ourselves. For myself, I love working with Purple, then adding in analogous and complimentary hues. Playing with Purple is like meditation for me. Do you have a personal color that heals and energizes?

The Registration Page for the Love Your Mother Contest and Exhibit is LIVE, but you have until the May 15 deadline to make a quilt and try for the top prize of a newly introduced model BERNINA 570 QE machine. The juried exhibit will premier in Houston!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free Pattern – Native American Universe

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Luana

You will feel the magic of Mother Earth under a beautiful starry sky, in this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern, featuring our exclusive Digital panel and a geometric pieced border.

A Native American scout sits astride his Mustang, looking out across Monument Valley, under a sparkling endless sky full of galaxies and celestial colors…in this stunning quilt that is sure to bring a sense of awe and wonder.

This 60″ x 50″ quilt will bring the majesty of Sky and Earth to any room where it hangs… or make this Lap/Snuggle Quilt for someone with connections to Native Tribes or a love of the colorful beauty of the Southwest.

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

And don’t miss our popular ‘Moonlit Painted Pony‘ and ‘Tiger Eyes‘ 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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The Color Mafia Comes to Boulder CO

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Luana

A good friend of mine, Futurist and Safety Lead Engineer for NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office, Dr John Bacon, has three words for this unusual tribe of color professionals when referring to Color Marketing Group members – “The Color Mafia”. This international association of color design professionals gathers for annual Conferences and forecasting events in North and South America, Europe, and Asia … to come up with a palette of colors that forecasts trends for 2 to 5 years into the future. Designers, product developers, and trend forecasters travel from around the world, from industries as varied as Automotive, Cosmetics, Graphic Design, Paint, and Personal Electronics, to collaborate and discuss trends that will affect us all in the years to come.

“Anyone who has attended these ChromaZone Workshops knows that the special sauce is in the process…the intense conversations, the stories shared, and the products being developed, that come out during this collaborative one-day process.”

 

Before the annual Regional Conferences, members of this color tribe gather at regional ChromaZone® workshops where individual color predictions are compared, discussed, and distilled down into trend palettes. On May 11th, local designers and color professionals will have a chance to join with international color mavens in Boulder CO, to experience this process of color collaboration across industry borderlines. Anyone who has attended these ChromaZone Workshops knows that the special sauce is in the process…the intense conversations, the stories shared, and the products being developed, that come” out during this collaborative one-day process.

“Having worked in the garment and textile design industries since 1980 Color Marketing Group® workshops give me a huge advantage over our competitors.”

One of the most famous members of CMG is Lee Eiseman, the executive director at Pantone Color Institute, and the person you’ve seen quoted annually as she announces the Color of the Year.   Ms Eiseman was one of the first mentors that I met when I joined CMG. Over the years, I have become a CMG Chairholder and facilitator, while enjoying the friendship and mentorship of Eiseman and other design industry leaders. Now eQuilter.com, the company I co-founded, is hosting a ChromaZone® Color Forecasting Workshop, including a tour of our warehouse full of 16,000 fabrics, which is not open to the public.  eQuilter is based in Gunbarrel, with a 15,000 sq ft space full of almost limitless color and design inspiration.

Having worked in the garment and textile design industries since 1980 Color Marketing Group® workshops give me a huge advantage over our competitors, and it’s a unique opportunity to experience the ground floor color forecasting process exclusive to Color Marketing Group®.

For more information and registration visit CMG’s website, or contact eQuilter.com at 303-527-0856.

by CMG Member, Luana Rubin, EQuilter

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Creative Nudge – A Lamb is Born

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Luana

Saturday night I returned home from San Antonio, after marinating in the creative juices of the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) conference. On Sunday Sophie had a very important date with a local hand weaver who raises her own sheep for wool. We had an invitation to come visit Cathy’s newborn lambs.

When we first arrived, we went into the paddock with some of the sheep, and the very charming llama who guards them from coyotes. This llama had the longest eyelashes and the sweetest fuzzy lips…what a personality! Then we noticed one of the sheep was on the ground in labor. Could it be? Would we witness one of the sheep giving birth?

Just a few minutes later Sophie got to witness a lamb being born right there in front of us. What incredible timing! I happened to have my Nikon so I took several photos. We just could not believe our luck. When I take tour groups out to photograph the polar bears and we get those amazing shots, they call it Bear Karma or Camera Karma. Well this was such a blessing to witness a live birth up close….when I had my camera.

Then we went into the old barn to visit the newborn lambs and then some older lambs and their mothers. The barn cat perched on a stack of hay bales, and the border collie insisted that Sophie play fetch over and over with a slobbery wet stick. The farm looks out onto a beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains, and Cathy told us about the homestead history of the property.

These are the kinds of experiences that take us out of our everyday routine, and fuel our creative fires. I am grateful that Cathy invited us to visit her special wooly world, and grateful that mama sheep dropped her lamb when she did. Creative blessings are everywhere, when we keep our heart and eyes open.

International quilt celebrity & new SAQA President Lisa Walton will be here in THREE DAYS. We still have some space in the class so SIGN UP NOW! Sophie and I will be there all weekend also.

On Friday April 27 I will be attending the opening reception for the Modern Quilt and SAQA exhibits at the Dairy Barn in Athens Ohio. eQuilter is a sponsor of this exhibit, which will be up through June 17.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

* The collage above features photos from the farm, plus llama and sheep fabrics now in stock.

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

********
eQuilter Classroom & Event Calendar:
April 14-15 – Lisa Walton workshop @ eQuilter Classroom – REGISTER NOW!
May 5 – eQuilter Charity Sewing Day! (Please RSVP)
May 10 – Deadline for dropping off Nepal Quilts
May 11 – eQuilter Chromazone – Color Marketing Group @ eQuilter
March 1 – May 15 – Registration for ‘Love Your Mother‘ Quilt Challenge

Luana’s Travel Calendar:
April 26 – Quilting Arts TV
April 27 – Dairy Barn Opening Reception
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
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour

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Free Pattern – Call of the Wolves

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Luana

This week we are featuring the iconic Wolf in our Free Quilt Pattern – a symbol of wild freedom in the West – with this Digital printed portrait of a pair of Wolves.

This 50″ x 56″ quilt design starts with the central detailed portrait panel, then adds a pieced border with stone textures and tree bark, in neutrals and earthtones. You’ll hear the far-off howl of distant wolves when you hang this powerful image on the wall.

Perhaps this has a special meaning for your significant other…wolves mate for life and are fiercely loyal to their mate. The symbol of the Wolf Pack as a deeply bonded family, is represented by this beautiful wildlife portrait.

… from the ‘Artworks’ collection by Collin Bogle for Quilting Treasures.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Moonlit Painted Pony‘ and ‘Tiger Eyes‘ 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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SAQA Tribal Gathering

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Luana

I have just returned from the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) conference in San Antonio Texas, and it was a great opportunity to chat with many of the quilt world’s most talented people in a small venue. It is great to go to Houston and other big shows to meet up with quilters and business associates, but there’s nothing like a relaxed smaller event to have more meaningful and intimate discussions with those from my quilting tribe.

Speaking of which, after the initial seduction of online classes, it seems that many are realizing the value of attending a quilting tribal gathering in person. For those who coordinate regional meetings and events, online meetings are a fantastic planning tool, but for sharing the techniques, creative passion, and camaraderie of our chosen art…there is nothing like gathering together in person. The tactile aspect of our art and craft includes not only touching and working with our fabrics…but also lots of hugs (and laughter) when we come together.

Last night I heard another life story about survival and the healing power of art, and it made me think about how many people I know who were drawn into quilting because it felt like they had found their tribe, when they discovered our little quilting world. I do think it is important that we always stay supportive and respectful of others’ work, in this time of stressful polarization. Quilting should always be a safe haven where we can come together to just be ourselves, and find creative acceptance. As people misbehave on social media, it is important to draw a line if we see some of that bullying behavior bleeding into the quilting world. It happens. But we can stand up for safe nurturing spaces…online and in person…and remind others that we are here to share in our creative passions.

International quilt celebrity & new SAQA President Lisa Walton will be here in ONE WEEK. We still have some space in the class so SIGN UP NOW! Sophie and I will be there all weekend also. Can’t wait!

The Registration Page for the Love Your Mother Contest and Exhibit is LIVE, but you have until the May 15 deadline to make a quilt and try for the top prize of a newly introduced model BERNINA 570 QE machine. The juried exhibit will premier in Houston!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free Pattern – Snow Queens

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Luana

You will be transported to a dreamy fantasy world with this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern, featuring our own digital printed fabrics with Ice Fairies and Snow Queens.

Enter a magical Winter Wonderland full of deliciously frosty shivers and sparkling beauty, with this 57″ x 67″ quilt. You’ll dream of snowy forests and shimmering icicles when you take a nap under this fantasy quilt, or hang it on a wall and create your own crystalline ambiance.

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

And don’t miss our popular ‘Moonlit Painted Pony‘ and ‘Tiger Eyes‘ 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 Walk in the Garden

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Luana

Last week Sophie and I were in New York City for her Spring Break. We go to the Metropolitan Art Museum every time we are there, and now it is Sophie who insists that we add it to our itinerary. Funny…when I lived there it was a struggle to get to the museum due to my busy worklife, but now it is on the shortlist when spending a few days there.

Usually I go in May to see the Costume exhibit, but this year we saw the Met’s Parks and Gardens special exhibit, with the work of many famous Impressionist painters. We found ourselves seeking out paintings of flowers the rest of the day, and admiring the huge Forsythia arrangements in the main lobby. (See the center of the image above.)

These days many of us find ourselves Nature-Deprived, which is why things like Forest Bathing (long slow walks and meditating in the forest) have become so popular. Humans are realizing that we need to spend time with the beauty of the wild places to stay healthy… physically and mentally. Whether we go to the beach or the mountains, or cultivate prize blossoms in our own backyard, having that connection to the Earth is a basic Human need.

When we come inside to sew, often we choose to work with Floral fabrics as an extension of our Love of Nature. These days the exquisitely detailed Digital-Printed fabrics delight us with their huge variety of colors and large repeats. Sometimes when I see these new fabrics for the first time, I literally gasp out loud!

This week was our 15 year anniversary of Sophie’s Gotcha Day – the day she was first placed in my arms in China when she was 8 months old. Many of you followed our adoption story, so I appreciate that so many of you have watched our kids grow up along with our business.

This week on Thursday and Friday I will be in San Antonio at the SAQA Conference. Hope to see many of you there!

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:
April 14-15 – Lisa Walton workshop @ eQuilter Classroom – REGISTER NOW!
May 5 – eQuilter Charity Sewing Day! (Please RSVP)
May 10 – Deadline for dropping off Nepal Quilts
May 11 – eQuilter Chromazone – Color Marketing Group @ eQuilter
March 1 – May 15 – Registration for ‘Love Your Mother‘ Quilt Challenge

Luana’s Travel Calendar:
April 5-7 – SAQA Conference San Antonio TX
April 26 – Quilting Arts TV
April 27 – Dairy Barn Opening Reception
May 18-20 – Quilt Market – Portland OR
June 27 – July 11 – Sweden
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour

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Free Pattern – Dream Sunroom

Posted on April 3, 2018 by Luana

As the Sunlight returns to the Northern Hemisphere and Spring’s warmth coaxes buds and blooms from our gardens, this week’s Free Quilt Pattern celebrates the colors and fragrances of the season.

Your starting point is a gorgeous painterly floral panel by artist Chong-A Hwang, pieced into a windowpane and set in the collection’s sun-drenched coordinates. The thick brushstrokes are so juicy, you can almost slurp them with a spoon…Yummy!

This fun 49″ x 61″ quilt makes a happy lap quilt, or a brilliant wall hanging that will fill any room with sunshine and smiles.

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

And don’t miss our popular ‘Tiger Eyes‘ 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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