eQuilter Blog

I am going to get a little bit personal in this email. Today is the 30th wedding anniversary for Paul and I. In case you don’t know, Paul and I are not only parents to 3 talented wonderful young adults, but we are also business partners in eQuilter. We married in May 1995, outdoors at Chautauqua Park with the Boulder Flatirons as a backdrop.

When you hit a round number it is worth sitting back for a moment and thinking about all that has happened, and what is to come. Paul and I met in 1994, and within 2 weeks we knew we were going to get married and have a family. We were looking really hard for each other, and when we finally met, that was it. We bonded over our mutual love of Star Trek, Monty Python, and the 4 cats we had between our 2 households. (Today we have 2 dogs, and 3 rescue cats.)

In the late 90s Paul was managing an audio company, learning code and starting to design websites. In fact he constructed the Boulder Philharmonic website and maintained it for a few years back then, which nobody at the Phil remembers after all these years.

I left the fashion industry and New York City, moving back to Colorado in 1990. I was always thinking about what I could do next – involving art, color, design, and fabric. A year later I was looking at magazines in my local supermarket, when I stumbled across the quilt magazines. I immediately recognized that this was what I had been looking for!

When I met Paul a couple years later, I had been visiting quilt shops all over the country. (As one does….) I came to the conclusion that none of them had what I wanted. (big bold bright contemporary and ethic prints) One day in 1998, as I watched him designing websites for other businesses, I had an idea…..

And the rest is history.

We are still having fun running this crazy business together, and we hope that our joy comes through in the art, color and design that we share with you!

Thanks for sharing our journey with us.

Sharing our passion for fabric…..
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist website.
www.luanarubin.com – New Blog Post about the Kyoto Quilt Festival!

Travel/Lecture Dates:
May 23-26 – Quilt National – Dairy Barn – Athens OH
June 18-20 – Quilt Canada – Toronto Ontario

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

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

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Many of you share another great passion with me, besides quilting –

World Travel!

I’ve been watching Paul develop a new collection that I like to call “Great Kitties of the World”, and tonight we are introducing…..drum roll…..ROME!

It was just a few months ago that I led a Textile and Costume Tour in Italy. The colors, textures, and graceful designs that we experienced there, have filled up my Creative Juice Tank and it is still flowing out in unexpected ways in the art studio. So I am greatly enamored with this trio of wide-eyed fluffy Italian kitties, and the skyline of Bella Roma in the background. I have many fond memories of visiting the Italian Quilt Guild in Rome several years ago. Hugs and kisses to my quilter friends in Rome – you know who you are!

Saturday I drove back from Southwest Colorado, after spending a week working on a new Bear-themed art quilt, at the Alegre Retreat in Gateway. It was a wonderful week of camaraderie with old and new friends.

Tuesday evening I attended a fundraiser event for the Colorado Bear Coalition at the Governor’s Mansion in Denver. We donated a bundle of bear-themed fabrics for the silent auction. I finally met one of my conservation heroes – Dr Marc Bekoff – who collaborates with Jane Goodall on the Roots and Shoots program. You may have read that Kathy Price from our longtime non-profit partner Mission of Love is also involved with Jane and Roots/Shoots in Pine Ridge South Dakota.

If you are new to our e-newsletters, I want to make sure you know about my photo pages. With over 16K photos and over 20 million views, there is lots of creative inspiration waiting for you there!

Sharing our passion for fabric…..
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist website.
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
May 23-26 – Quilt National – Dairy Barn – Athens OH
June 18-20 – Quilt Canada – Toronto Ontario

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

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

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Today I am driving back from Southwest Colorado, after a week of glorious art-making at the Alegre Retreat. Friday night we had clear skies – excellent for viewing stars and the Milky Way. At dusk a huge owl silently swooped past me as I walked back from dinner. I sat on the patio outside my hotel room, savoring the silence and the pure mountain air. The retreat is held at the Gateway Resort, surrounded by red rock palisades … visually stunning and inspirational. Many thanks to Katie Pasquini Masopust and the team, for another wonderful week with like-minded fiber artists.

During the week, I started a bear-themed piece, based on an experience I had a couple years ago in Alaska at Bear Camp. I had a face to face experience with a mama bear, with extended eye contact. That is something I will never forget! When I finish this piece I will make a video and tell the story.

With Mothers Day, Graduations, Weddings and Summer Vacation on the horizon, I am sure you are enjoying the bright colors of Spring flowers and Summer landscapes in your quilt-making. If you have road-trips planned, be sure to pack along some handwork to keep you busy. Bring a good quality camera along to take lots of photos, capturing colors and motifs, for your next chapter of creativity.

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Follow my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
April 23-26 – Washington DC – Private Event
April 27- May 3 – Alegre Retreat – Gateway Colorado
May 23-26 – Quilt National – Dairy Barn, Athens OH
June 18-20 – Quilt Canada – Toronto Ontario

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

See Luana’s Artist Blog, Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

This last week has certainly been a whirlwind. Last Thursday and Friday I was attending special events at the Renwick Museum in Washington DC, celebrating Dr Carolyn Mazloomi and her collection of African American history quilts. Many of the quilt artists attended the events, including friends I made when I traveled with this group to South Africa in 2014. It was so lovely to see these historic quilts and their makers honored in our nation’s capital.

This week I am in Southwest Colorado attending the Alegre Retreat in beautiful Gateway. The venue is in a stunning red rock canyon and the light is changing on the palisades and red rock towers throughout the day. It is an inspirational place to make art, and I am finishing another quilt top in the Independent Study room. I will share my 2 new pieces with you when I return to Boulder.

All of my art quilts are made from eQuilter leftover batiks and hand-dyes, after all of you place orders and use up the whole bolt….and whatever is left goes into our scrap packets but sometimes I grab a piece or two at the end of the week, that will fit into my next project.

Lately I have been painting the background, and then using GentleFuse for my very detailed applique collage process. This product is now available 12″ wide by the yard, for those of you using digital cutting machines like the Silhouette Cameo or Cricut.

Sometimes we need to get out of our usual context to have creative breakthroughs. This is why it is so effective to travel to a quilt event to take a workshop. I hope you can have an experience like this in the next few months, to open up your next chapter of creating sewing!

Sharing our passion for fabric…..
Luana and Paul
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
May 23-26 – Quilt National – Dairy Barn – Athens OH
June 18-20 – Quilt Canada – Toronto Ontario

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

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

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.