Creative Nudge – Crazy Mandalas

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Luana

One of the reasons I love taking my camera to quilt shows, is so I can share with you some of the mind-blowing talent that is out there making quilts every day. This is why I love introducing non-quilting artist friends to our world of quilting…when they go to a quilt show for the first time they are speechless!

One of the design trends we’ve been seeing with continued growth, is Mandalas. You could say that this has become popular because of the Zentangle and Coloring Book fads, but it goes deeper than that. There are all kinds of influences that bring an art/design trend like this to the forefront. This would include the popularity of Yoga and Meditation, as tools to cope with the stress of our busy world.

The quilt image at the center of this fabric collage, is a detail of a quilt by Teri Cherne, which I photographed at the Road to California show over the weekend. The level of mastery in the stitching is set off by the sweeping overall movement of the Mandala design, and the whimsy of the applique circles. “When My Spirit is Set Free” uses metallic threads, hand couching, bobbin work and trapunto to tell the story.

This is just part of the quilt, but you can go to my photo pages to see the overall quilt design.

I am flying to Tokyo today, to photograph the Quilt Festival. I’ll be hand-carrying the show books back home again, as I have in past years.

Registration is now open for the Color Marketing Group’s Chromazone which we are hosting in May – for designers, art directors and artists to experience a color forecasting collaboration with color peers.

Check out the dates below – and I hope you’ll join us for one of our events in the near future!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

* The image above features a photo of Teri Cherne’s quilt “When My Spirit Is Set Free” photographed at Road to California, plus a collage of eQuilter mandala and modern fabrics in stock now.

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Event & Travel Calendar:
Jan 24-28 – Tokyo Quilt Festival
Feb 10 – eQuilter Charity Sewing Day (Please RSVP!)
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California
Feb 26 – Marty Ornish CQC workshop @ eQuilter Classroom
Mar 1 – May 15 – Registration for ‘Love Your Mother‘ Quilt Challenge
April 5-7 – SAQA Conference San Antonio TX
April 14-15 – Lisa Walton workshop @ eQuilter Classroom
May 11 – eQuilter Chromazone – Color Marketing Group
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour – Register NOW!

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Free Pattern – Out of This World

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Luana

Is there a budding Astronomer, lovable Rocket Scientist, or avid Space Nerd in your life?
Do you dream of being the first Quilter to colonize Mars?

This week’s Free Quilt Pattern takes you to the center of the Solar System, to a tour of the planetary orbits, and out to the Constellations… in a 62″ x 80″ quilt design that is sure to bring dreams of adventure and exploration.

Start with the central Solar System panel, add Glow-In-The-Dark coordinates and colorful Planets, and finish with a border made from an engineered stripe.

… from the ‘Stonehenge: Out of this World’ collection by Linda Ludovico for Northcott Fabrics.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Nouveau Muses‘ and ‘I Like Your Cattitude‘ 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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Hello from California

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Luana

Today I am writing to you from Ontario California, at the Road to California quilt show. This morning I had a meeting with Carolyn Reese who has been running the show since 1996, and her grandson Matt who has purchased the business and is now running the next generation of the family business. Carolyn shared many stories about how the show got started, and how it has grown over the years. We are excited to be a new sponsor of this busy show.

I have been taking photos of the quilt exhibits, enjoying seeing beautiful quilts again that were in Houston, Birmingham or Tokyo in the last year. But also there are many new quilts I have never seen at any other shows, that are absolutely stunning!

You may notice when you go to quilt show or any art exhibit that the pieces can look totally different at different times, because of the lighting. Some are in spaces with some natural light, so there can be areas of bright light or shadow that move across the exhibit depending on the time of day. You may take a photo of a quilt in the morning, and return later to find that the afternoon lighting makes a photo better or worse. This is why I always return to my favorite quilts twice in the same day, to see which photo with which lighting will show the quilt to its best. Every time I see the same quilt in a new venue, it is like seeing it for the first time.

It is fun to visit the HerStory exhibit here, (along the back wall of the Ballroom) and see how it looks in a different setting with different lighting. Some of you may be at the quilt show in Florida this weekend, and you may see my 2 astronaut portraits in the Fly Me To The Moon exhibit there.

Now is the time to sign up for Lisa Walton’s “Fantastic Fusion” class to guarantee your space! You can now sign up on the eQuilter site, and you can even put some fabric in the shopping cart with Lisa! *smile* Contact us if you are coming from out of state, so we can point you towards the hotel which is one block away from our building.

There is still time to make a quilt for our Love Your Mother quilt challenge and contest, with a BERNINA machine as First Prize, and a juried exhibit in Houston this Fall! We hope you will join the Challenge!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free Pattern – Llama Laughter

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Luana

Hello Llama Lovers! This one’s for you!

Due to popular demand (and tons of Llama fabrics sold over the years!) we have developed this exclusive Llama Free Quilt Pattern that is sure to bring a smile and maybe a giggle to the Lucky Llama Lover who receives this quilt.

This 59″ x 81″ quilt starts with a digital printed panel with Llama Portrait Blocks, then add Hoffman Hand-Dyes and a Grassy print…and you have a Llama Portrait Quilt with these enigmatic ruminants Out Standing in Their Field.

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

And don’t miss our popular ‘Nouveau Muses‘ and ‘I Like Your Cattitude‘ 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 – King of the Serengeti

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Luana

One of the great joys of photographing wild animals, is when you have that face-to-face moment in the wilderness – when your eyes meet with that noble wild creature. Up until now, my most profoundly intimate wild animal moments had been with Polar Bears, on my Polar Bear Tour.

However my recent trip to Tanzania yielded many more of these moments, including this one with the King of the Serengeti…the Lion. This fellow was taking a nap under a tree on the side of the road, and couldn’t be bothered when we drove up. I trained my camera on him until he looked up and I got this shot.

When I buy animal fabrics, often the most exciting designs feature the animal up close and personal, often looking right at you. We buy these fabrics and put them into quilts, wall-hangings, and other projects, so the presence of the animal will be with us in our daily lives. We identify with certain animals, because subconsciously we are drawn to the power or the special quality of that species. Some call this their Medicine Animal.

When you read this on Weds, I will be on my way to spend time with some other lions…and tigers and bears… at the Wild Animal Sanctuary here in Colorado. This is a place where animals rescued from captivity, come to live out the rest of their lives in some semblance of their natural wild nature. I am meeting with the director to talk about an art exhibit as a fundraiser. When it comes together, I will let you know!

Registration for Lisa Walton’s Fantastic Fusion workshop is now open with Early Bird Pricing. I will be around during the workshop, so I hope you can come hang out with Lisa and I in April! This will kick off the eQuilter Creative Retreat program and we’ll have lots of surprises and goodies for you lucky participants. Sign up now!

Now that I am back from the Tanzania trip, we are also taking deposits for the November Polar Bear trip. This ALWAYS fills up so don’t delay if you want to save your seat on the Big White Tundra Rover!

The deposit is due by February 1, 2018 to guarantee your spot – BOOK YOUR SEAT EARLY because spaces are limited and the trip will SELL OUT! (Payment plans available – call Aly at NatHab – see details at link.)

Registration for the Love Your Mother quilt challenge and contest (with a BERNINA as 1st prize!) will open March 1 through May 15. We will be using the online registration site Art Call so you can upload your entry easily…details coming soon!

Sophie and I will be at Road to California this Saturday, and we hope to see many of you there!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

* The image above features a lion photo in the center by Luana, plus a collage of eQuilter wildlife fabrics in stock now.

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Free Pattern – Pacific Northwest Panels

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Luana

Your exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern takes us on a journey to the Pacific Northwest, and the graphic artwork of the indigenous peoples who live on the land, in the forest, and on the water.

This 62″ x 62″ quilt design uses hand-painted batik panels, combined with Hoffman Hand-Dyes and a Geometric Border Stripe.

The batik panels feature Hummingbird, Thunderbird, Wolf, Bear, Whale, Salmon, and more…with the bold distinctive artwork of the Native artists who live up North.

… featuring our eQuilter exclusive Pacific Northwest Hand-Painted Batik Panels.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Nouveau Muses‘ and ‘Farm Selfies‘ 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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William Morris and Quilting Arts TV

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Luana

If you know me, you know I am just a nut for William Morris and his beautiful designs. Any time one of our vendors offers us a Morris collection, I pounce on it immediately! So I was honored to be asked to come onto Quilting Arts TV to talk about the work of this amazing creative force.

This happens to coincide with the release of the new William Morris collection from Free Spirit, so I am happy to offer both the Kelmscott Collection and the QA TV interview this weekend!

Today we hosted another Charity Sewing Day, and many of our regular quilters had taken home quilts to finish… and they brought them back today. If you are interested in joining us, our next Sewing Day will be Saturday Feb 10th.

Our classroom is buzzing with activity, and there are a lot of happy faces and busy hands here as I write this newsletter. My dream of bringing national and international teachers here, is about to launch, with Marty Ornish and Lisa Walton coming to teach in the next few months.

eQuilter is a new sponsor of the Road to California show, and next Saturday Sophie and I will spend one day walking the show. I hope to see many of you there!

You may have seen the links above, for the African fabrics and Tanzanian scarves that I cherry-picked at a market in Arusha, and hand-carried back to the US. They will sell out fast so have a look now if you are interested.

There is still time to make a quilt for our Love Your Mother quilt challenge and contest, with a BERNINA machine as First Prize, and a juried exhibit in Houston this Fall! We hope you will join the Challenge!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free Pattern – Water Garden

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Luana

Enter the dreamy world of Impressionist Water Gardens, in this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern, featuring a central landscape panel with a pointillist interpretation of Monet’s personal Lily Ponds at Giverny in France.

This generous 66″ x 78″ quilt will make a large Lap Quilt (a double snuggler!) or a Twin Coverlet quilt, or hang it on the wall to bring the gentle elegance of Nature to an indoor space.

… from the ‘Artisan Spirit Water Garden’ collection by Ira Kennedy for Northcott Fabrics.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Nouveau Muses‘ and ‘I Like Your Cattitude‘ 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 – Zebra Crossing

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Luana

Nature inspires us with color, pattern, and design…and Zebras are a great example of this creative inspiration.

On the endless plains of the Serengeti, Zebras are migrating by the hundreds of thousands…and their distinctive Black and White stripes never fail to catch the eye of the passing safari photographer. The only animal more numerous is the Wildebeest (Gnu) but we never got tired of looking at, and photographing the Zebras. The Swahili word for Zebra means “striped donkey”.

The Zebras know that they are #2 on the predators’ list of favorite foods, so they travel in herds mixed with other herbivores like the Wildebeest, Giraffes, Gazelles and Impalas. Occasionally we were lucky enough to see a few giant Elands hanging out with the Zebras. There were LOTS of zebra babies during our visit…did you know that zebra foals are born with brown and white stripes?

(The collage above features one of my many photos from the trip in the center, with current fabrics in the border.)

Our Charity Sewing Day this Saturday is FULL! Please note that we are hosting Marty Ornish’s CQC workshop next month, and registration for Lisa Walton’s workshop is now open with Early Bird Pricing.

Now that I am back from the Tanzania trip, we are also taking deposits for the November Polar Bear trip. This always fills up so don’t delay if you want to save your seat on the Big White Tundra Rover!

The deposit is due by February 1, 2018 to guarantee your spot – book early because spaces are limited and the trip will SELL OUT!

Registration for the Love Your Mother quilt challenge and contest (with a BERNINA as 1st prize!) will open March 1 through May 15. We will be using the online registration site Art Call so you can upload your entry easily…details coming soon!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Event & Travel Calendar:
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California
Feb 26 – Marty Ornish CQC workshop @ eQuilter Classroom
Mar 1 – May 15 – Registration for ‘Love Your Mother‘ Quilt Challenge
April 5-7 – SAQA Conference San Antonio TX
April 14-15 – Lisa Walton workshop @ eQuilter Classroom
May 11 – eQuilter Chromazone – Color Marketing Group
Nov 14-20, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour – Join me in Churchill!

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Free Pattern – I Like Your Cattitude

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Luana

CAT LOVERS … you know who you are – this week’s Free Quilt Pattern was designed for us, and it is a reminder that we find cats to love wherever we go. If you are the person who always stops to pet the kitty at the coffee shop, this one’s for YOU.

Purebreds & Mixed, Kittens and Senior Cats, Fluffy or Sleek, they all have loving purrs and wagging tails … and we love them all!

Start with a whimsical central panel with a happy gathering of cats, add the Hoffman Hand-Dye borders and allover cats, then finish with the clever kitty stripe mitered borders, featuring paw-prints and hearts, and you have a quick 48″ x 60″ quilt that is sure to bring a smile…and a meow!

… from the ‘Cattitude’ collection by Ginger Oliphant for Studio E Fabrics.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Nouveau Muses‘ and ‘Mustang Sunset‘ 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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