eQuilter Blog

What a thrill it has been over the last 9 days, to follow the launch, slingshot around the dark side of the Moon, and splashdown of Artemis II. Paul and I were musing about experiencing Moon missions today, and over 50 years ago. When we were kids, the whole world stopped when humans went to the Moon. Do kids feel the same way today? I still feel very emotional about this amazing feat of Humankind, and especially about the words of wisdom the astronauts share with us as they look back at the small blue marble, the Earth spaceship we are traveling on through the vastness of black space.

Ever since I was a kid, I have gone out almost every night to look at the stars. After I met the NASA chapter of Engineers Without Borders, and they showed me how to track the International Space Station across the sky, I have even more reason to go out and take in the celestial heavens at night. (There’s an app for that!)

Some of my most memorable trips have been when I was in a dark sky location, and saw the Milky Way strung across the sky. The two times I remember the most was on the Australian coast on a trip with Pam Holland, and the time I got up at 2 am at Bear Camp in Alaska. When you are in a far Northern latitude around midsummer, there is only a short window of time to look at the dark sky. (In midsummer, the days are long and the nights are short.) On that 2nd occasion I was in Lake Clark National Park which is a very remote wild place. There is something about being in the middle of nowhere with the forest, the bears, and the stars….that one never forgets.

In fact I have just finished a big bear quilt inspired by my own face-to-face encounter with a huge mama bear in the forest, on that trip to Lake Clark Bear Camp. I have wondered…what do the bears think when they look up at the Milky Way?

Sharing your passion for fabrics….
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
June 4-5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston



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.

Today I am reaching back to the Taiwan Quilt Festival in November 2025, to share this sublime quilt:

Dancing Ripples, Serene Lotus
Artist: Lian Xia Oci

“Inspired by the lotus and the dancer, this work captures their shared grace and vitality. The dancer spins with rhythm as lotuses sway gently by the lake – sometimes lively, sometimes serene. Their movements mirror each other, blending human elegance with natural beauty.

Through this interplay, the piece expresses harmony, balance, and the poetic existence between humanity and nature.”

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

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

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
June 5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston

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.

Late today I am going to say goodbye to an old dear friend who is in hospice, and in her final days. She was one year younger than my mom, and was a close friend to both of us. When I started eQuilter she took over my client list from my previous business. She was more like the older sister that I never had. She and her daughter have had the great privilege of spending the last few years living together in a small house, in the same neighborhood where I grew up. So going to visit her is also a trip to my own past.

There are a few rare people in our lives who have the ability to always see the glass full, always see the bright side of a situation, who always have hope, and always value the lessons learned when life is challenging. My mom was like that, and our friend Jackie is another one of those wise souls. Those of us who have had more than one of these bright lights in our lives, are privileged to have spent time with them. I hope to pick up her lantern and go forward to illuminate dark spaces, as she has. I hope you have also had these kinds of precious friendships that fill your heart during the challenging chapters of life.

So many of the friendships I’ve made in the quilting community over the years, are also filled with this kind of nurturing warmth. When I found the quilting community, and was embraced, I knew I had found my home. We are blessed to have found our tribe, where we hold a safe space for each other, even when the storm rages outside. Even when I am alone, working in my studio on the next piece of quilt art, I feel the embrace of our community. I hope you feel it too.

Sharing your passion for fabrics….
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
June 4-5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston



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.

This one’s for all of you diehard Midweek Creative Nudge email readers. Sometimes when I am chatting with quilter friends, I say ‘hey did you see my newsletter last Wednesday’ and they say…..’huh?’

But I know that many more of you DO read my Wednesday morning missives, so here is a little gift….a preview of what will be introduced in the Saturday new product e-newsletter.

We just got a giant shipment of the entire Tim Holtz Palette collections, and I am sure part of it will sell out fast. So jump on it NOW to pick out your favorites!

As a kid, I think I had April Fools Day trauma. So I am not going to freak you out with a prank, but I will tell you something very true:

For many years I had an annual VIP tour of NASA in Houston, because of our close relationship with the NASA chapter of Engineers Without Borders. On the 2015 tour, my guide was astronaut-in-training Victor Glover. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he is set to PILOT the historic Artemis II mission to the moon. He will become the first black person to fly to the moon.

The mission is set to last 10 days as the crew flies by the moon. It will be the first US lunar flyby with a crew onboard, since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.

Godspeed, Victor…and the Artemis II crew. We’ll be watching.

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

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

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
June 5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston

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.

Hey fellow Shakespeare fans!
Paul has developed 2 new Shakespeare-themed fabrics that are a must-have collectible for Bard buffs.

Our brand new Steampunk Shakespeare and Shakespeare Pages are just the thing (besides the play) for your next literary sewing project. If you attend outdoor Shakespeare festivals in the summer (like we have here in Boulder) then perhaps a cushion for the outdoor seating, or a quilted picnic blanket for seating on the lawn, would make a great project to start now. (Check out our large selection of book/literature prints as coordinates.) I just wish I had these designs years ago when I was hosting the Boulder Writers’ Club.

When I met Paul in 1994, I found out right away that he was a serious Star Trek and Shakespeare fan. (You may know that many Star Trek actors started out as Shakespeare thespians.) But I found it hard to follow the language in Shakespeare plays and movies. We came up with a brilliant way for me to overcome that barrier – we started watching classic Shakespeare films with the subtitles on. After a few years I was able to go to a Shakespeare festival and actually understand what they were saying.

Eventually this led to my quilt in the Washington DC project, depicting the inside of the Folger Shakespeare Library, which sits right behind the Supreme Court.

For many years, when I attended the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK, I would go to Stratford Upon Avon to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, to see an authentic but creatively diverse version of the repertoire. Often the stage actors are people we’ve seen in British films or BBC series. The RSC play I remember the most was when I was in the front row for The Tempest, and they had a tank full of water at the front of the stage. The play started with an actor bursting out of the water (from the shipwreck) and splashing on my feet. I love sitting in the front row!

You can see some of my photos from the English countryside and UK museums on these pages.

Sharing your passion for fabrics….
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
June 4-5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston



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.