Free Pattern – Let’s Build Construction

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Luana

This bright and bold Free Quilt Pattern is just perfect for that little Truck-Lover in your family…I bet you know just the kid who would go crazy over these fun Construction Vehicles.

Make this 65″ x 80″ quilt as a Twin or Youth bed cover, or for the most fantastic playmat!

Start with the Big Blocks in the main collection Panel, then mix in these fun novelty coordinates, and finish it off with an engineered stripe for the border. We know this will bring a big smile and lots of rumbling truck noises from the lucky kid who receives this construction-themed quilt.

… from the ‘Let’s Build’ collection by Nidhi Wadhwa of Blue Fish Designs for Henry Glass & Co.

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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Gratitude and Dreaming

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Luana

Our eQuilter Elves have been working hard this last week, getting out packages to customers around the world. We had our Ugly Sweater Day and Secret Santa exchange, ate cookies and celebrated the season. If you have a package on the way, there might be a little elf pixie dust in there!

The end of the year seems so far away in the Spring and Summer, and then it creeps up on us like a Sledgehammer. The good thing about getting older is, I know the busy stress of the holidays will pass just as quickly as it arrived, and then there will be a big long chunk of time that I can spend in my studio making quilts.

Every day I try to take some quiet time to unplug from a busy lifestyle, and create an empty space where creativity, inspiration and healing can enter. You can call it Meditation, you can call it Studio Time, you can call it a Bubble Bath…but making that peaceful empty space of time every day makes us happier, nicer human beings. So I wish you some “me” time over the next few days, perhaps to dream of your next big creative project.

My holiday season has been busier than usual because I am leaving on a photo safari Dec 26. I’ll be off the grid for at least a week, on this 2-week trip. It will take me 32 hours to get to Tanzania. (including a 10 hour layover in Frankfurt, where I have a hotel ‘day room’ to grab a few hours of sleep.) I depart Tuesday, and arrive Thursday!

If you have ordered the Africa version of our Love Your Mother panel (hopefully because you are making a quilt for our challenge and contest, and maybe for the Houston exhibit!) you can track my trip in East Africa.

The CU students flying to Nepal today (Engineers Without Borders) have 15 donated quilts which will be hand-carried up a mountain footpath to those who have lost their homes to the earthquake, who are still living in temporary shelters. Imagine how wonderful for them to receive these donated quilts from our customers! Many thanks to all of you who have contributed to our Comfort Quilt projects this year, after so many natural disasters. That is the true Christmas Spirit…to give selflessly to those in need. We are so grateful for your generosity.

Hurricane and Earthquake Comfort Quilt projects:
Next eQuilter Charity Sewing Day: Sat Jan 13, from 9 am to 4 pm.

We wish you a warm holiday with loving friends and family, and the time to dream.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free Pattern – Nouveau Muses

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Luana

This week’s eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern is based on one of our exclusive digital printed panels, inspired by the artwork of Czech artist Alphonse Mucha.

Three graceful ladies are depicted in this Art Nouveau styled artwork, along with stylized flowers and embellished botanics. The figure panels are set between ornamental-stripes above and below. Hoffman hand-dyes are used to tie it all together.

This 45″ x 45″ quilt project makes a stunning wall-hanging, and is sure to be admired by your friends and fellow quilters! Bring an extra layer of elegance by outlining figures and flowers with free-motion stitching and shimmering metallic threads.

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

And don’t miss our popular ‘Mermaid Dreams‘ 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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Creative Nudge – The Longest Night

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Luana

Thursday Dec 21 (at 9:28 am MST) is the Winter Solstice…the longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Many symbols and rituals of Christmas are associated with traditions of the Celtic peoples who celebrated the solstice as the rebirth of the Sun and the Light after the long dark night of the Winter Solstice.

The quilt featured in the center of this collage is “Celtic Fox” by Kathy McNeil, and it was a favorite piece at the Houston Quilt Festival this year. Kathy wrote “the Celtic Fox symbolizes a need to think quickly, to employ cleverness and wisdom.”

Foxes have been a favorite theme… a popular trend…over the last couple years. Some consider the Fox their Medicine Animal, and are drawn to this animal because of the Celtic or Native American wisdom associated with the clever Fox.

Dec 22 is an important date in our family. This year on Dec 22, it will be 22 years since we lost our baby daughter Hanna, who was the inspiration for our eQuilter charity program. It is also the date my grandma died many years earlier…she was a ceramic painter, embroiderer, garment sewer, singer and pianist.

Next month we will reach another milestone – $1.5 million raised for charities and non-profit organizations. The pain of losing Hanna has now transcended to the joy of helping others over the last 19 years. My grandmothers, their traditions, and their creative arts, are surely expressing themselves through our business and my own creative work.

On the longest night of the year, I invite you to meditate on the circle of love, life and creativity, that inspires us on this journey.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

********

Event & Travel Calendar:
Dec 29 2017 – Jan 5 2018 – Tanzania Africa Wildlife Migration Tour
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 – Faithful Friends

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Luana

Is there anything sweeter than your beloved dog looking up at you with those big brown eyes? We find so much joy and comfort from our canine buddies, and this week’s Free Quilt Pattern will bring a smile to the Dog-Lover in your life.

This 44″ x 64″ quilt has lots of different dog breeds in the main panel and the allover border, plus colorful paw prints and colors. So cute!

This size would be great for a lap quilt, crib quilt, playmat or perhaps the perfect gift for your veterinarian to hang on his or her office wall.

… from the ‘Faithful Friends’ collection by Danielle Murray for Blank Textiles.

And don’t miss our popular ‘Call of the Wild Bison‘ and ‘Wilderness Wolves‘ 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 Year is Unwinding Fast

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Luana

The quilting industry lost one of its icons earlier this week. Judy Murrah lost her battle with cancer on Monday, and especially for those of us who knew her as the head of Education in Houston, it is a sad loss. We send our condolences to Judy’s co-workers, family and friends.

The Power of Purple continues to expand, as news of the Pantone Color of the Year spreads throughout the creative tribes and design communities. UltraViolet is the right color at the right time, and we’ve noticed lots of people wearing purple proudly in the last week!

Everywhere I go, I hear people wondering how we got to the end of 2017 so fast! Yes Christmas is in a week, and I know many of you are spending this weekend prepping for holiday festivities. If you are still thinking about gifts for your fellow quilting and sewing buddies, remember that an eQuilter Gift Certificate can be emailed any time between now and Christmas morning!

I am trying to get caught up on posting photos before I leave on my photo safari Dec 26, and I’ve posted some more quilt images from Houston on my photo page.

Hurricane and Earthquake Comfort Quilt projects:
Next eQuilter Charity Sewing Day: Sat Jan 13, from 9 am to 4 pm.
Call to reserve your BERNINA machine!

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Free Pattern – Forest Unicorns

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Luana

Deep in an enchanted forest, a pair of unicorns prance and gallop, in this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern, with our own exclusive Digital Printed Unicorn Panel!

We’ve combined Northcott Naturescapes’ Autumn Forest and Stone Textures to make a lovely contrapuntal color play of warm Fall hues with earthy neutral textures.

This 61″ x 51″ Quilt will cover someone with a special kind of magic as a lap quilt or youth-sized coverlet, or invite these gorgeous mythical beasts into your home as a stunning wall-hanging.

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

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 – Hot Cocoa Weather

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Luana

As the year winds down and we are making plans for the holiday season, many of us are hoping for snowy weather to get us in the holiday mood. This year in Colorado we haven’t had much snow yet, in fact today we had smoke from the fires in California. We might get a dusting in a couple days, but what we really need is a nice big dump so we can bake cookies, drink hot cocoa, and send the kids outside to make a snowman….so we can quilt!

We are closing out a bunch of Christmas and Winter fabrics this week, so I thought I’d feature some of those fabrics along with Enid Weichselbaum’s fabulous quilt “Happy Alps” from the Houston Quilt Festival. Enid was inspired by the Alpen-themed travel posters of the 50s and 60s, with their bold colors, simple shapes, and stylized landscapes. This quilt just made me smile, and I can feel that icy wind biting my cheeks when I look at Enid’s winter scenic quilt.

We can see that the Season of Giving is in full swing at eQuilter, because the stacks of donated quilts for Nepal, and Hurricane communities, are really piling up. Soon we’ll be shipping out quilts to Mission of Love, and CU students will pick up quilts to hand-carry to a Nepalese mountaintop. We’ll continue to make, collect and distribute comfort quilts for disaster relief into the New Year. Many thanks to those of you who have generously donated your time to make a quilt for someone in need. That is the true spirit of the holidays.

I have a dear friend whose father was 13 when troops rescued him from a concentration camp at the end of WWII. Now he is nearing the end of his life story, but she has flown home to Israel, to spend Hanukkah with him this week. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa this time of year…we wish you the time to hear those precious stories from the elders in your family…and time to tell your own precious stories to the children drinking hot cocoa around the holiday table.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

********

Event & Travel Calendar:
Dec 29 2017 – Jan 5 2018 – Tanzania Africa Wildlife Migration Tour
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 – Home Sweet Home

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Luana

You’ll be doing the Cakewalk back in time…
to Grandma’s Kitchen, with this week’s Free Quilt Pattern!

This charming 55″ x 55″ quilt features Aprons, Cherry Pie, Rolling Pins, an old-fashioned enamel stove, Cupcakes, a slice of Chocolate Cake, Wooden Spoons, and other delightful details that will take you right back to that moment licking the spoon sitting on a high stool at Nana’s kitchen counter.

We love that Retro color palette, and the saucy borders featuring vintage aprons and an endless selection of cake and coffee pots. Just yummy!

… from the ‘Home Sweet Home’ collection by Dan Morris for Quilting Treasures.

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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Exciting News!

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Luana

We got some fantastic news this week – our “Love Your Mother” quilt challenge has been accepted as a juried exhibit for the International Quilt Festival in Houston for November 2018. I am so excited!

Our top prize for the challenge is a gorgeous new BERNINA 570 QE machine which was just introduced in Houston last month. We are also negotiating for other venues…stayed tuned for more exciting news…and we hope you will send us an entry in the Spring!

More exciting new:
The “HerStory” book has just arrived in our warehouse. This exhibit about women who have changed history/herstory, garnered a lot of press in Houston this year, and the exhibit will be at the Road to California show next. You’ll see my Rosalynn Carter portrait in the lower left hand corner of the cover, and inside the book. Congratulations to the talented artists who contributed to this project, and to the project organizer (and book author) Susanne Miller Jones.

Have you heard?
The 2018 Color of the Year was just announced, and I think it is my fav one ever. The color is UltraViolet, and you’ll see interviews about the color with Lee Eiseman from Pantone, in the LA Times, NY Times, Time Magazine, etc. As a matter of fact I just had lunch with Lee last month at the Color Marketing Group symposium in Portland Oregon. We are putting together a group of UltraViolet products for those of you who are also excited about the Annual Color.

This is a color that we ALWAYS keep in stock, but we are hoping that our suppliers will come up with MORE Purple and Violet and Amethyst fabrics in the very near future. Violet is the color of Hope, Creativity, and Spirituality….which is why we struggle to keep it in stock.

I’ve decided to carry Renaissance Ribbons again, and we’ve kicked off our ribbon program with 35 designer jacquard ribbons that are fantastic trims for garments, pillows, handbags, and yes quilts.

Hurricane and Earthquake Comfort Quilt projects.

Next Charity Sewing Day: Sat Jan 13, from 9 am to 4 pm.

Many thanks to the 20 quilters who came out to sew today, and thanks to Blakeman Sewing for providing those beautiful BERNINA machines for our classroom!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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