eQuilter Blog

Creative Nudge – Rainbow Ombres

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Luana

During these polarized times when so many people want to define reality in terms of Black and White, we as artists and makers can choose to see the world in shades of colors….and the popularity of Ombre effects suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.

One of the things I have enjoyed the most about being in the Color Marketing Group, is the philosophical discussions about how color and design trends evolve.

The ongoing popularity of Ombre colors in all aspects of design (Textiles, Fashion, Home Dec, HAIR and Makeup!) is telling us something. It is the opposite of stark blocks of Yin and Yang colors. Instead it invites us to explore and contemplate all the shades of color from one end of the spectrum, to the other.

Printed Ombre fabrics and Hand-Dyed Ombres have been slowly but steadily growing in popularity in our industry. Modern quilters are starting to play with the three-dimensional effects of Ombre colors…moving from Cool to Warm and from Light to Dark.

Now with the explosion of Digital Printed fabrics on the market, we are starting to see this new technology used to produce a new kind of Ombre printed design. It is very exciting to watch this trend grow and expand as designers explore the creative options of this new printing technology.

As a photographer, when I think of Ombre images, I think of Sky and Water. In my most recent travels in 2017, I’ve taken Ombre photos in Venice, because the sky is always filled with misty colors, and the reflective water is everywhere.

I hope you will enjoy this collage, combining a twilight photo of the Grand Canal in Venice, with several of our beautiful Ombre fabrics.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul

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

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Travel Calendar:
May 18 – 24 – Saint Louis (Quilt Market) & NYC
June 12-15 – Quilt Canada Festival in Toronto
June 19-21 – Cleveland – Fresh Quilting
July 14-16 – Sacred Threads & Not Fade Away
July 30 – Intl Quilt Trends lecture at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
Aug 12 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
Sept 16 – Quilters Take Manhattan
Oct 1-11 New Zealand Quilt Festival – Wellington & Christchurch
Dec 29 2017 – Jan 5 2018 – Tanzania Africa Wildlife Migration Tour – Limited Spaces
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California

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Free Pattern – Ocean Oasis

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Luana

This beautiful Free Quilt Pattern is sparkling with the gorgeous illustrations by one of our favorite artists – Dan Morris.

Start with a panel of 8 marine life blocks – then piece them with the coordinates of this stunning aquatic collection. Shimmering diamonds and triangles in the colors of Water and Sand, make a jewel-box setting for these underwater scenes.

Make this 60″ x 73″ quilt as a coverlet for a bed, or hang in a room to give the illusion of a saltwater aquarium on the wall. It makes a great gift for those who love the ambiance of coastal living!

… from the ‘Ocean Oasis’ 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.

EQ7 is the leading quilt design software, which is available here at eQuilter.

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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Hola from San Antonio

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Luana

I hope you are enjoying this very pleasant time of year. (Except for those of you dealing with the crazy storms and flooding!) I am writing to you from San Antonio in Texas, where I am attending a couple performances of the opera ‘Barber of Seville’. A friend of the family has a lead part, and I have a lovely invite to a reception tonight (including tour of costumes and props) and the cast party tomorrow. San Antonio has such a rich culture of color and art…and music… so I am also just wandering around soaking up the post-Cinco-de-Mayo ambiance and enjoying the Riverwalk. Flying home Monday to get ready for Quilt Market!

Here is a recent report from one of our Charity Program recipients:

Kathy Price, director of Mission of Love writes –
“Thirteen Air Force Pallets of educational, medical and humanitarian aid are staged in Charleston for arrival into Guatemala City any day soon. The Denton office is just waiting for a plane to fly our aid.”

“This past week I have obtained two fire trucks, one ambulance, 15,000 pounds of corn, furnishings for seven classrooms, 4 newborn incubators, 6 heating units for newborns in which will save infant lives for the indigenous Mayan communities.”

Thank you Kathy and MOL volunteers, for making our contributions stretch to help so many in need!

Reminder: the deadline for dropping off quilts to be hand-carried to earthquake victims in Nepal is this Weds May 10. The CU chapter of Engineers Without Borders is leaving May 15 on a 3 month working trip, and they are going to carry those quilts in their backpacks when they hike up to the remote villages that were destroyed by the earthquakes. Amazing young people!

With Mothers Day on the horizon, I’d like to remind you that our eQuilter Gift Certificates are always a great gift for the avid quilter. We can send a lovely color gift card through the mail, or send via email for a last-minute gift.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana

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Free Pattern – Cosmic Space

Posted on May 5, 2017 by Luana

Perhaps today you’ve been dreaming of Star Wars and interplanetary travel.
It is May the 4th, after all.

This week’s exclusive Free Quilt Pattern is for the Space Geek and Astronomy Nerd in the family, celebrating the beauty and the science of our Solar System.

Make this fantastic 57″ x 73″ quilt by starting with the central panel, then cut up a 2nd panel featuring Planet blocks. Piece together with coordinates depicting comets, constellations and nebula, for your dramatic Space-themed quilt.

Intense jeweltones on a black background, with a Red Nebula for sashing, make this eye-popping project perfect for a twin bed or a wallhanging.

… from the ‘Cosmic Space’ collection by Heidi Pridemore for Blank Textiles.

(May the 4th is a day celebrated by Star Wars fans, as in “May the Fourth be with you.”)

EQ7 is the leading quilt design software, which is available here at eQuilter.

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 – Dogs & Cats & Kids

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Luana

We love animals, and I bet you can see that expressed in our website and the fabrics we carry. We love wild animals and domestic animals, but especially our Cats and Dogs. Personally, our family has 2 rescue kitties and 2 golden retrievers, and our kids adore our pets too.

I know many of you have the same love for your furry buddies…they hang out on your sewing table, they give puppy-dog eyes at the dinner table, they lie quietly in our laps and they race around like maniacs. And then we love them even more!

Many quilt exhibits include in the entry rules “No animal hair” because so many of us have our pets in the studio. What would we do without our Studio Cats who love to “help” by curling up on the best quilt? What would we do without our dogs, snuffling and slobbering in our scrap pile, and reminding us to get up from the sewing machine every once in awhile… to stretch and take them outside?

When you put little kids together with cute pets, especially kittens and puppies, the result is smiles all around. So I thought I’d share some of my favorite photos of Sam and Sophie when they were little, with a couple beloved pets who are now gone. The pink poodle was not ours … we met this doggie on a trip to Florida. Now ladies are dying their hair pink, instead of their poodles…ha!

If you are donating a quilt for Nepal earthquake victims, they must arrive by May 10, because the CU chapter of Engineers Without Borders is leaving May 15.

Don’t forget – last minute Mothers Day Gift Certificates!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana

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Travel Calendar:
May 6-7 – San Antonio, Texas
May 18 – 24 – Saint Louis (Quilt Market) & NYC
June 13-14 – Quilt Canada Festival in Toronto
June 19-21 – Cleveland – Fresh Quilting
July 14-16 – Sacred Threads & Not Fade Away
July 30 – Intl Quilt Trends lecture at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
Aug 12 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
Sept 16 – Quilters Take Manhattan
Oct 1-11 New Zealand Quilt Festival – Wellington & Christchurch
Dec 29 2017 – Jan 5 2018 – Tanzania Africa Wildlife Migration Tour – Limited Spaces
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California

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Free Pattern – Bella-rina

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Luana

This delightful Free Quilt Pattern features a central panel of 3 Little Ballerinas…and the first time we saw these cutie-pies, there was a simultaneous “Awwww….how adorable” in the room.

For all those little girls who take ballet lessons, this 74″ x 82″ bed-sized quilt will bring dreams of tutus, tiaras and ballet slippers.

Coordinates include Music Notes, Piano Keys, and a clever stripe used as a border – depicting Barre Class. Pink, Turquoise and Black make this an eye-catching color combination that is sure to thrill your little ballerina.

… from the ‘Bella-Rina’ collection by Swizzle Stick Studio for Studio E Fabrics.

EQ7 is the leading quilt design software, which is available here at eQuilter.

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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Having Too Much Fun!

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Luana

We’ve had great fun with special visitors this week, with some Modern Quilters and a bus full of Nebraska quilters dropping by!

It is always interesting to hear what different quilters have to say when they walk through our warehouse and classroom.

The Modern Quilters of course were delighted to see that we had over 300 colors of Kaufman Kona Solids in stock (plus multiple Kona Fat Quarter packets, Color Cards, Kona Charms and Strip Rolls.)

They were also tickled to see that we had so many Linen prints and Linen solids, including natural, cross-dyed and lame yarn-dyed Essex Linen. We do realize that our site is so big that sometimes it is hard to know all the products that we carry.

Yes we do carry many products for Modern Quilters, which is why we are sponsors for QuiltCon and the new MQG TV show on PBS – Fresh Quilting!

You can see my 2 segments from Fresh Quilting on our Video Page. (Cuban Colors, and Quilts for Charity.)

Friday we had a giant bus of fun-loving quilters from Nebraska, who were taking a fabric tour across Colorado. We had a blast with these ladies, and if you have a large group who would like to come visit us, just let us know!

We had coffee, tea and cookies…then a tour of our fabric warehouse, offices and my studio. After that I gave a trunk show of quilts and Bernina Fashion Show garments.

The best part was our giant fabric garage sale, and the ladies brought bags, stuffed them with our premium scraps, and paid for them by the pound. If you want to come for a class or tour, and your group is big enough, we’ll open up our Fabric Scrap Sale for you too! Call Dana in Customer Service and we’ll get you on the calendar!

eQuilter is a sponsor for the SAQA annual conference at the Intl Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln Nebraska over this weekend. Sorry I can’t be there! We are also sponsoring a SAQA event in Boulder this August – the NEXT exhibit and symposium – hope to see many of you SAQA folks here in August. (Come visit us while you are here!)

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana

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Free Pattern – Call of the Wild

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Luana

Celebrate your love of the North Woods Wilderness and Mountain Wildlife, with
this week’s Exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern.

This atmospheric digitally printed collection has two 27″ x 44″ large portrait panels of a Red Fox and a Black Bear, blended with misty landscape backgrounds…a beautiful symbolic image of how the wildlife and the environment exist as One.

Add a Hoffman Hand-Dye and Stonehenge textures to make this 57″ x 70″ quilt – great for a lap quilt or a wallhanging. Use a Flannel backing to make it extra cozy – perfect to drape over a chair next to a window or fireplace in your mountain cabin.

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

EQ7 is the leading quilt design software, which is available here at eQuilter.

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 – Down on The Farm

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Luana

One of the things that a lot of kids miss out on these days, is being exposed to farm life, and how food is produced. When our kids were little, I made sure they went to summer camps on farms, got to ride horses, feed chickens, and I think they even got to milk goats.

My mom lived on a farm as a little girl. She rode her horse bareback to school, drank goat milk, and her parents were trailblazers as vegetarians, and organic gardeners. She went to school in a one-room schoolhouse for many years, and as a girl I loved to hear her stories from the countryside of Oregon.

I was horse-crazy as a girl, and I had a horse for awhile as a teenager. We always had a garden, and for awhile we lived in a house with a huge fruit orchard. I had friends who lived on farms, and I loved to go see the baby animals in the Springtime. So all of those things add up to a lot of memories, that bring an appreciation for the fabrics I pick out for our Farm, Animal and Farmer’s Market categories.

Many of us learned to quilt and sew from our grandmothers, and perhaps you have an antique quilt that was stitched on a farmhouse kitchen table, with those sweet Thirties prints that are enjoying a revival right now. What fun we have these days, using fabrics to tell a story of that country life that our grandmothers knew!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana

* The collage above is a photo of Sophie at a horseback riding lesson when she was little, plus several of our farm/animal fabrics in stock now, including digital panel prints.

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Travel Calendar:
May 18 – 24 – Saint Louis & NYC
June 13-14 – Quilt Canada Festival in Toronto
June 19-21 – Cleveland – Fresh Quilting
July 30 – Intl Quilt Trends lecture at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
Aug 12 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
Sept 16 – Quilters Take Manhattan
Oct – New Zealand Quilt Festival
Dec 29 2017 – Jan 5 2018 – Tanzania Africa
Wildlife Migration Tour – Limited Spaces
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California

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