Free Pattern – Magical Dragon

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Luana

Long ago and far away….a mystical lady posed with her friendly Dragon
for this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern!

Forest creatures peer from a snow-covered forest, with a shimmering Winter landscape and a castle high on a mountain peak in the background. The Dragon mistress is part of this digital-printed fantasy landscape, illustrated by Liz Dillon who obviously has a very creative imagination!

Start with the main panel, add the castle scenic print, with Hoffman Hand-Dyes to add a saturated counterpoint to the finishing of the borders.

This 50″ x 57″ quilt would make a stunning large wallhanging that will add enchantment to any room, or use it as a nap or lap quilt to bring magical dreams to anyone lucky enough to sleep under this spellbinding scene.

… from the ‘Artworks’ collection by Liz Dillon 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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For Wild Hearts

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Luana

This time of year I feel like I should be up in Churchill with the Polar Bears. My next trip there is a year away, (please join me!) but I find myself going through photos from previous trips, and thinking about the stories that unfolded on the snow and ice.

In 3 weeks I will be leaving on this year’s wildlife photo safari, to Tanzania Africa. It just so happens that today I was visiting the offices of The Wild Foundation (wild.org), and we discussed the plight of endangered species around the world, and what we are all doing to help. I am so humbled by people like wild.org’s president Vance Martin, who has spent his whole life fighting for Nature. He is flying to Africa this weekend on an elephant emergency.

Because of our charity program, I have met some truly incredible and inspirational people over the last several years, who dedicate their lives to helping children in need, indigenous peoples, threatened eco-systems, and communities in heartbreaking situations. Every time I sit down with another one who shares their passion for their cause, I am so grateful that our company is a vehicle for helping those on the ground, to do their work. So I must thank you again, for supporting our partnerships with these amazing organizations.

Next month we will reach another great milestone – $1.5 million raised for charity. It is still hard to comprehend…what we have accomplished with your help. Don’t ever think that there’s nothing anyone can do to help save the world, save the children, save the environment, or wherever your heartstrings are tugging. YOU are capable of incredible things, and when we join hands and hearts, yes we can make a change.

We have put up a project page for the Hurricane and Earthquake Comfort Quilt projects.
Please click through here for all the details, and we will update in the future as needed.

Our last Sewing Day of the year is this Sat Dec 9, from 9 am to 4 pm. Many thanks to Blakeman Sewing for providing BERNINA machines! Please RSVP to Dana in Customer Service if you are coming, so we can be sure to have enough machines!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

(*the photos above are from my last Polar Bear tour to Churchill in Canada.)

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

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Event & Travel Calendar:
Dec 9 – Charity Sewing Day at eQuilter
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 – Call of the Wild Bison

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Luana

They say the Spirit of the Bison still roams the high plains, and this week’s Free Quilt Pattern gives us a composite image of the Buffalo Spirit being one with the land.

The central panel has a dreamlike collage with the details that can only be found in a digital-printed fabric…with the figure of the Bison superimposed on a wintery mountain landscape in the background.

We’ve combined Northcott Stonehenge textures with Hoffman Hand-Dyes for the pieced border (top and bottom) for this 49″ x 61″ quilt. This makes an atmospheric wall-hanging for a Western-themed room, or consider backing with snuggly Flannel for a cozy fireside lap quilt.

The Buffalo also happens to be the mascot for CU Boulder, if you have a CU student or alumni in the family!

… from the ‘Call of the Wild’ collection by Hoffman Fabrics.

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 December!

Posted on December 2, 2017 by Luana

We’ve received some really special and very personal testimonials in the last week or two, and I just wanted to give a special thank you to those of you who have taken the time to send us those very kind messages. We love you too!

Tonight we have a Sneak Preview of my clip from an upcoming Quilting Arts TV episode, talking about “The Golden Hour” ….the SAQA fundraiser group by Andover, and also the big trend of Digital Printing in our textile industry. It is great to be back on the show with Susan Brubaker Knapp. You can see all the previous visits to Quilting Arts TV on this page if you scroll down. If you go down far enough you’ll see Pokey!

Did you know our daughter Sophie had a few appearances on QA TV? You can see them on this page. She is so grown up now (a sophomore in high school) so she doesn’t have time to travel to TV studios anymore – ha. However we are planning for her to come to Quilt Market in Houston next Fall. She will finally be old enough to attend the trade show. Look out Houston!

We had a very special visitor on Friday – Leda Huta who is the executive director for the Endangered Species Coalition in Washington DC. We gave her a tour…she and her daughter had fun with all of our wild animal fabrics…and we talked about the importance of keeping the Endangered Species Act in place.

The ESA was signed into law 12-28-73, and has saved more than 200 animals from extinction. An impressive 99% of the plant, animal and insect species that have been protected under the ESA are with us today despite their brushes with extinction, including American icons like the bald eagle, the California condor, and the Florida manatee.

However hunting, destructive fishing practices, waterway pollution, habitat loss and widespread use of pesticides continues to ravage threatened species’ populations. Leda and I talked about working together in the future, toward our shared goal of protecting these endangered species.

Hurricane and Earthquake Comfort Quilt projects.

Next Charity Sewing Day: Sat Dec 9, from 9 am to 4 pm. Thanks to Blakeman Sewing for providing beautiful BERNINA machines! Please RSVP to Dana in Customer Service if you are coming, so we can be sure to have enough machines!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Event & Travel Calendar:
Dec 26 2017 – Jan 8 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 – Hummingbird Glory

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Luana

We are just nuts about the gorgeous color story in this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern! This is a hot seller so if you agree, snap it up before it is gone.

We’ve set blocks with gorgeous illustrated hummingbirds, among the jeweltones of Morning Glory blossoms. The analogous color story in the sashing and borders just *glows* because of the ombre shading.

Wherever you hang this 57″ x 63″ quilt, you’ll inspire oohs and aaahs from your visitors. The intriguing salt texture in the watercolor background, behind the hovering Hummingbirds, makes this a fresh and painterly interpretation of these delicate hummers.

… from the ‘Nature Studies’ collection by Nancy Duell for Robert Kaufman Fabrics and from the ‘Dream Ombre’ 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 – A Wild Life

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Luana

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

Tonight I am celebrating the US National Parks and the other wilderness and parkland areas of our beautiful planet. Today was “Giving Tuesday” and on behalf of eQuilter, I just finished making several donations to environmental groups that are trying to save the National Parks, the Arctic Wilderness, the Oceans and Rivers, and the wildlife that lives in those places. Many thanks to all of you who have supported our charity program, which allows us to give these yearend donations.

The SAQA “Textile Posters” exhibit in Houston had 2 quilts (center left of this collage) that also celebrated the great outdoors…more specifically, the red rock formations of our Southwest.

On the left is “Shiprock” by Cat Larrea. (with the big billowing clouds)
This dramatic geologic formation in New Mexico has historic and spiritual significance to the local Navajo community.

In the middle is “Reach for the Sky” by Vicki Conley – celebrating Zion National Park, but also honoring John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt whose wisdom and persistence led to the preservation of these areas.

On the top, bottom, and right side, I’ve added some of our current fabrics that also celebrate the National Parks and wilderness areas. Now more than ever these lands need our support, and we see that more artist activists who are adding their voice through their artwork.

We have put up a project page for the Hurricane and Earthquake Comfort Quilt projects.
Please click through here for all the details, and we will update in the future as needed.

Our next Sewing Day will be Saturday Dec 9, from 9 am to 4 pm. Many thanks to Blakeman Sewing for providing beautiful BERNINA machines for this day! Please RSVP to Dana in Customer Service if you are coming, so we can be sure to have enough machines!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana

********

Event & Travel Calendar:
Dec 9 – Charity Sewing Day at eQuilter
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 – The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Luana

This Lord of the Rings/Hobbit collection will soon be collector items, so if you’ve been trying to decide what to do with these digital-printed movie poster panels, now is the time to snap them up!

Your Tolkien fan will love either (or both!) of these 57″ x 64″ quilts, and you will love that they are very quick and simple projects for fast gift-giving.

Start with the central panel – incredibly detailed with high quality digital printing. Finish up the simple pieced borders and then if you have time, add special effects like metallic threads.

We can hear Howard Shore’s iconic theme music playing when we look at these stunning panels – don’t wait until they are discontinued and gone forever!

Available in these two spectacular versions:

The Lord of the Rings Quilt
and
The Hobbit Quilt

… from ‘The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings’ collection by Camelot Fabrics and Warner Bros.

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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eQuilter’s Classroom in 2018

Posted on November 27, 2017 by Luana

Today is my 59th birthday but I’ve caught a flu bug so we’ll have to celebrate in a couple days. Many thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes! We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at home celebrating Mason’s birthday, and there’s plenty of leftover pumpkin pie in the frig! We hope you had a wonderful holiday as well.

I’m excited about the launch of our 2018 eQuilter Workshop schedule, and we are busy putting together teachers, contracts, and details. If you’ve wanted an excuse to visit Boulder, watch the newsletter for these announcements. We have a beautiful new-ish Hampton Inn one block away, and we are bringing in National and International teachers to teach a variety of workshops. I’ve received so many requests for a space to rent for local events, and also for national teachers to come to our area. You are going to be excited too!

We have put up a project page for the Hurricane and Earthquake Comfort Quilt projects.
Please click through here for all the details, and we will update in the future as needed.

Our next Sewing Day will be Saturday Dec 9, from 9 am to 4 pm. Many thanks to Blakeman Sewing for providing beautiful BERNINA machines for this day! We will have Christmas cookies, coffee and tea, and of course lots of fabric to make your own comfort quilt for someone in need.

This will be our last Sewing Day of this year, so please RSVP to Dana in Customer Service if you are coming, so we can be sure to have enough machines!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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Free Pattern – Hatters Tea Party

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Luana

Happy Thanksgiving from eQuilter! What is the opposite of a table laden with holiday goodies?
A table with dainty teacups, a shapely teapot, and maybe some tiny cucumber sandwiches.

This week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern takes us to J. Wecker Frisch’s Tea Party with antique Hats, Teabags, and lots of vintage Teatime details.

This 56″ x 66″ quilt pattern starts with a panel full of illustrated blocks, then sets them in a 3-D windowpane effect with Hoffman Hand-Dyes. Add the border using the coordinating stripe, for a charming story about having Tea and Hats.

… from the ‘Hatters Tea Party’ collection by J. Wecker Frisch 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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Creative Nudge – An Autumn Garden

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Luana

As you may know, I lived in Hong Kong for 3 years, and continued to travel to Asia (including China) for many years while working in the garment industry in New York. Eventually my love of Chinese art and culture led us to adopt a baby girl from China – our daughter Sophie who is now 15!

During those years, I immersed myself in the language, the music, the colors and the textile arts of China. In those days I was working with all different kinds of silks, and I was fascinated by the deep rich history of textile arts in the Middle Kingdom.

While visiting Portland Oregon for the Color Marketing Group symposium, I had an extra day to meet with family in Chinatown. We had a very authentic Chinese meal, and then went to the Lan Su Chinese Gardens which were awash in the colors of Autumn. Red maple leaves reflected in the Koi pond, and a their annual “Mumvember” Chrysanthemum colors were scattered like jewels among the pagodas and teahouse. The compound was also hosting a Floral Designer Showcase, which made the whole experience even more exciting.

When I travel, I have a short list of places to visit, which includes museums, galleries, and botanic gardens. This summer when I attended Sacred Threads, I also spent a day at the Lotus Blossom Festival in Washington DC. These opportunities for design and color inspiration are often right under our noses when we are taking business or family trips…it is worth taking a few hours to slip away with a camera!

If you or your quilt guild have been making quilts for hurricane and earthquake victims, you can either drop them off in person at eQuilter, or ship them directly to Mission of Love (MOL) at:

Kathy Price
Mission of Love
2054 Hemlock Ct.
Youngstown, Ohio 44515

We are also collecting a few more quilts to go to Nepal earthquake survivors with Engineers Without Borders – deadline for drop-off at eQuilter is Dec 10.

Our next Charity Sewing Day in the eQuilter classroom will be Sat Dec 9, from 9 am to 4 pm. We will have BERNINA machines for you to work on, but PLEASE RSVP at [email protected] or 303-527-0856 if you plan to join us, so we can plan for the right amount of machines. (Thank you Blakeman Sewing!)

We will provide the Christmas cookies, coffee, and the FABRIC to make the quilts! Come and join our wonderful group of quilters, and we’ll celebrate the season and our love of sewing.

All of us at eQuilter wish you a warm holiday with family and friends, as we share our gratitude for the things we value most in life…that’s LOVE, right?

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana

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Event Calendar:
Dec 29 2017 – Jan 5 2018 – Tanzania Africa Wildlife Migration Tour
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California
Mar 1 – May 15 – Registration for ‘Love Your Mother‘ Quilt Challenge
Apr 14-15 – Lisa Walton @ eQuilter.com
May 11 – eQuilter Chromazone – Color Marketing Group
Nov 14-20, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour – Join me in Churchill

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