eQuilter Blog

Today I am writing to you before I get on the plane, having spent 3 days at QuiltCon, and as usual, I am tracking how ‘Modern Quilting’ is changing and growing. I will feature a quilt and write about the show in the Weds morning e-newsletter.

One thing I can say is that there is more overlap with what I consider contemporary or art quilts.

The quilt I wanted to buy did not win an award and was not for sale.

Unfortunately I was given wrong information about the quilt exhibit location(s) so I completely missed seeing and photographing the community quilts, so I hope those of you who did photograph those quilts, will share them online. As we arrived we were told all the quilts were on the lower floor. The community (guild challenge) quilts were evidently on another floor and we did not see signs. So sorry about that. But I will report on the quilts in the main exhibit. I was not the only one who was looking for the community quilts, and did not see them. It was a topic of discussion in my 3 meetings yesterday. If you are at the show Sunday, I hope you see those quilts!

As usual, there were many quilts with a message about current events. I am especially interested in activist quilts, and fiber art with a message. Those quilts often had a crowd clustered around them, with many taking photos and sparking discussion. QuiltCon is known for including these types of quilts, and it is my favorite thing about this show.

Love and hugs from all of us at eQuilter.com!

Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France
July 29 – Aug 2 – Birmingham UK – Festival of Quilts


Visit eQuilter’s Instagram and Pinterest 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.

A few days ago I learned that a dear friend and longtime mentor of mine, has died. My blog today is an appreciation for Connie Amaden-Crawford, who I met in 1980 as a fashion design student at FIDM in Los Angeles. She was my draping and patternmaking teacher. She was tough and exacting and the other students were afraid of her. But…I was her straight A student, and I learned decades later that she was responsible for my full scholarship which was a blessing to me. Honestly, I don’t know where I would be without Connie mentoring me as a young woman. She was a gift bestowed on me by the Universe, and when I asked how I could possibly repay her, she was just tell me….to pass it on.

Her love for teaching extended through the rest of her professional life. I am sure many of you took classes with her. Her specialty was helping women to make patterns and garments that were custom-fit to their bodies, no matter what size or shape. And…she had a Bernina machine which was her pride and joy. She wouldn’t let me touch it though…ha. I finally got my own Bernina 25 years later.

She wrote the textbooks on draping and patternmaking that were used by the fashion design schools. She was a licensed designer for McCall’s Pattern Company for the Butterick Label. She wrote articles for countless sewing magazines, and was a guest speaker on HGTV and the ABC series “Home”.

I wish for every ambitious creative young person to have such a mentor. And for those of you further along in your sewing and quilting careers, I urge you to look for opportunities to mentor those special young people who cross your path.

Our teacher-student relationship extended to a long friendship across the miles and decades, and we had a deep appreciation for each other as creative professional women. Her generosity made all the difference when I was trying to figure out who I would be in the world.

Thank you Connie. I will never forget you.

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

* The 2004 photo above is of Connie and myself, when she came to see my garment in the Bernina Fashion Show in Houston.

Subscribe to my artist website and blog!
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France

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.

Since last year I’ve been urging our American customers to make quilts to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States. There are many possible themes for these quilts, which will pass into history and be studied and appreciated 50 and 100+ years from now. (Don’t forget to put a label on your quilts!)

This quarter millennium celebration (250 years) is known as the Semi-Quincentennial. (Half of 500 …get it?) Our state of Colorado was founded in 1876 on the nation’s 100th year, so we are known as the Centennial State. In 1976, the year I graduated from high school, Colorado celebrated its own 100 year birthday, and the USA celebrated its 200 year birthday. (Oops, that means my 50th high school reunion is coming up!)

In 1986 when I was living in New York City, I participated in the centenary celebrations for the Statue of Liberty. It was a big deal….The display included 22,000 aerial fireworks, launched from 30 barges. The largest flotilla of tall ships to assemble in modern history, traveled down the Hudson River. President Reagan and French President Mitterand gave speeches, and John Williams conducted the premier of the Liberty Orchestra playing his composition Liberty Fanfare. It was a four-day party!

Ted Koppel of ABC News Nightline presented the Medal of Liberty to outstanding naturalized Americans, and Chief Justice Warren Burger swore in immigrants to the United States in a naturalization ceremony on Ellis Island.

As I watch American athletes come together peacefully, to compete with other athletes from around the world this week, I cannot help but have hope for humanity, and for our future. The monks on the Walk for Peace arrived in Washington DC, having deeply touched the hearts of so many people along their trek across our nation.

I have made 3 quilts for the Semi-Quin year. Two will be at the Virginia Quilt Museum, and one will be at the New England Quilt Museum, as celebrations unfold around the Fourth of July. My quilt “250 Years of American Wilderness” is the only contemporary quilt in the latter exhibit, curated by Sandra Sider. She also wrote the companion book (featured below) and my quilt is the final piece in this gorgeous commemorative book. (Commemorative American Quilts: Stitching Our Heritage from 1876 to Today) I am so honored to have pieces in these exhibits.

If you have not made your own Semi-Quin quilt to document this landmark year, and to document what is happening now in American life, I urge you to make such a piece. It will become a treasured piece of history for your descendants. And perhaps some day scholars will study your work in a museum or at a history conference. I’ve been to AQSG seminars where serious study is applied to quilts that are 50, 100 and 200+ years old. It is a selfless act to make one of these historic documenting quilts, and it is our way of reaching into the future and touching those who can only wonder how we lived in 2026.

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website and blog!
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France

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.

The QuiltCon Magazine is in stock now, and there is lots of fresh eye candy in this issue. Snap it up now for a preview of the show opening next week in Raleigh NC. If you see me there, be sure to say hello!

This last week here in Boulder Colorado, it was sunny and in the 60s, and people were walking around in shorts and sandals…in February! It is supposed to be snowing, but we are in a severe drought. Meanwhile Florida’s temps fell below freezing, and thousands of iguana lizards were stunned by the cold, and dropped out of the trees. You just can’t make this stuff up. Sorry Florida. You got our Colorado Winter weather!

I hope you were able to catch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies last night. I am very sentimental about the Olympics, and particularly the Opening Ceremonies, because it is a time when the whole world comes together peacefully. This year’s Winter Olympics in Northern Italy are dedicated to the theme of PEACE, which could not be more appropriate.

Did you notice that several of the more jazzy team uniforms had designs and details that we see in the quilting world? The Canadian team had a massive quilted Red Maple Leaf on the front of their vests! (Which can also be folded to make a pillow.) And the Czech Republic outfits looked like an improv geometric modern quilt. Colombia had jackets with a printed triangle patchwork design. Finland had puffer coats with a beautiful ombre printed design.

Sophie Quinn (our daughter) and I are both huge fans of Andrea Bocelli and LangLang, so it was great to see them performing in the musical conclusion of the opening ceremonies. We have seen them both in concert which is something you never forget. I will also do a little ‘Mom brag’ here, because she was just promoted to a manager position in Patron Services at the Colorado Symphony in Denver. She is in her last semester on campus, plus she is observing/helping in local public school music programs. Next year she will do her student teaching and graduate with a degree in Music Education.

I will also remind you that Valentines Day is in a week. eQuilter Gift Certificates are great to give or receive. You can drop a hint by sharing this link.

Sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France
July 29 – Aug 2 – Birmingham UK – Festival of Quilts


Visit eQuilter’s Instagram and Pinterest 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.