Free Pattern – Angels and Fairies

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Luana

AngelsAndFairies

Your exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern this week is the visual definition of “Sweet”, with delicate baby blossom fairies, and little flower angels.

Fairies dance and flutter among the flower garden, while cherubs with floral garlands are featured in vignettes from a lovely printed panel.

Panel blocks are set into a pieced center quilt, using pearlized shimmer, and Hoffman Hand-Dyes, all in pale ice cream colors!

This 55″ x 68″ quilt makes a lovely crib or playtime quilt, or a very sweet wallhanging for a nursery.

…from the ‘Angels & Fairies’ collection by Ami! Morehead for Elizabeth’s Studio.

You may order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our over 20,000 fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

This pattern was designed in EQ7, 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 – Sugar and Spice in Trinidad

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Luana

TrinidadCollage_700

This week I wanted to bring you some more Eye Candy from Cuba!…specifically from Trinidad, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I was so delighted with my daytrip to Trinidad on my recent group visit to Cuba, that I want to go back and spend some more time there on our next (and last) Cuban Arts tour in September.

As part of the UNESCO preservation of this historic town, the colors of paint are closely controlled in order to maintain the integrity of the original colors. Founded in the 16th century, it was the center of the Cuban sugar industry from the late 18th, to late 19th centuries. The colors certainly are sweet! Mint Green, Sky Blue, Banana Yellow, Cinnamon Red and Sugar Pink are part of this authentic color palette.

In both of my trips to Cuba, I was always on the lookout for ceramic painted tiles, and decorative floor tiles. If you watch for them, they are everywhere! Many of these remind me of quilt patterns, and some could inspire applique blocks. Between the colors and the tiles, there is plenty of inspiration for avid quilters!

Here I have made a collage with a Blue and Yellow color story, featuring the Hat Family in the middle. While in Trinidad, I wandered away from the center of town, and found this family sitting in their living room which opened onto the street, with a big table stacked with handcrafted hats.

They got so excited when I came in to look at their hats! I had 3 generations of the family fussing over me, and we tried on about 20 hats. The mama was the hatmaker and also the tastemaker. She would cock her head and waggle her finger, and make clucking noises as I tried on one hat after another.

Finally we found a hat that was approved by everyone, including Grandma. I was ready to pay extra because finding my perfect hat had become such a production, but instead they all gave me hugs and Mama cut the price, and would not take a penny more.

These are the kinds of encounters which I treasure in my travels. I plan to go back to visit the hat family in September. Our group will be staying in bed-and-breakfast historic homes there for 2 nights, so we’ll all have delightful encounters with the locals. That’s just the best!

If you are thinking about joining us, the time for registration is coming to a close, because we have to book the hotels in advance. Give our Cuba travel company a call today to save your place!

I have donated a quilt to benefit The Carter Center, and it is being auctioned off this week! President Jimmy Carter has autographed the back of this quilt, which was inspired by the wonderful work being done by this organization. If you are interested in bidding on this piece visit this page (item #2) and bid before the deadline at 2 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 24.

I was just tickled to receive the printed catalog for the silent auction this week, because my quilt was on the cover! What an honor!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
~Luana

2016 Travel Calendar:
July 20-29 – Seville & Granada
Aug 6 – Intl Quilt Study Center/Museum – Lincoln Nebraska
Aug 12-14 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Sept 18-25 – CUBA Arts Tour #2 – Havana, Trinidad & Varadaro – Now Booking – Space Limited!
Nov 11-13 – Color Marketing Group – Albuquerque
Nov 15-20 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour

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Free Pattern – Through the Ages

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Luana

ThroughTheAges

Escape to another time and place with this week’s Free Quilt Pattern, featuring a fantastic panel with a medieval knight in armor, a castle fortress and a graceful stone bridge.

Add in the other coordinates from this historic fantasy collection, and you instantly create an ambiance beloved by fans of Game of Thrones, The Da Vinci Code, King Arthur and Camelot, Lord of the Rings, etc!

…from the ‘Through the Ages’ collection by Exclusively Quilters.

You may order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our over 20,000 fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

This pattern was designed in EQ7, 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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Happy Summer Solstice & Strawberry Moon!

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Luana

Today is the Summer Solstice, the official first day of summer, but the fire season has started already in the Western States. So far Boulder is ok – just a smoky haze from other states. Today also happens to be a Full Moon – very rare to have both on the same day! Native American tribes called the June moon the “Strawberry Moon”.

Our first ever eQuilter Garage Sale continues this week.

Come and see our new 1800 sq ft class/event space. (We have cookies!)

Thanks to the three local quilt groups who came by this last week, to help us make a dent in our giant collection of wonderful scraps!

We still have room in the schedule for private previews, before we open to the public. If your group would like see our new space for future possible events….and snap up some super bargains…contact Dana in Customer Service to arrange a time to visit in the next week or two!

Call or email this week and schedule a time to come by! Local guilds with larger groups will be given a whole day if the group is big enough, so contact us early to reserve your shopping time slot!

Our Garage Sale is CASH & CARRY, All Sales Final.
Prices are about 1/4 of retail, with volume discounts.

email – [email protected]
Local Calls – 303-527-0856
US Toll Free – 877-322-7423

3 lb Scrap Packs (appx 10 yds of mixed scraps!)
5 lb bags of strips.
The more you buy, the more you save.

In case you missed this in my Weds newsletter, the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild has started making quilts for survivors, families of victims, and first responders of the Pulse tragedy.

The Dalai Lama is coming to Boulder this week, and I am going to hear him speak. This will be the first time I have seen him in person, and it will be a large packed venue. We are supposed to arrive 90 minutes early to go through security. I look forward to hearing his message of Peace.

We are booking travelers on the second Cuban Arts Trip for September this year. I want to lead one more tour before the hordes of tourists descend. (when US airlines are allowed to fly to Cuba starting late Fall.)

We are going to have a very special experience, meeting artists, musicians, dancers and poets, staying in Havana’s most famous historic hotel, with 2 nights in bed-and-breakfasts in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Trinidad, and one day/night at the Varadero beach resort. Reserve your spot now!

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Free Pattern – Fallscapes

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Luana

Fallscapes

Just as the heat of summer starts to hit here in the US, this week’s
exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern takes you fast-forward to the cooler days of Autumn,
and the vivid colors of the changing seasons.

Super-sharp digital images are printed as panels, with the crispness of a chilly Fall morning. These scenic panels are set in an interlocking design of pieced Leaf Blocks, and Hoffman Hand-Dye borders.

Wander along a forest path, through a mountain meadow, to a splashing waterfall…and capture the beauty of the season in this 41″ x 45″ wallhanging quilt.

…from the ‘Fallscapes’ collection by Red Rooster Studio for Red Rooster Fabrics.

You may order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our over 20,000 fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

This pattern was designed in EQ7, 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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Rainbows and Unicorns

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Luana

RainbowsUnicorns

My heart is broken for the families who lost loved ones in Orlando, and I am pretty sure most of you feel this weighing heavily this week. We need more than “thoughts and prayers” to respond to this tragedy.

Every week I write to our 120K subscribers and I try to share a piece of my heart, because I know you are also part of the tribe of sewing and quilting folks, and because I know you want to also share a piece of your heart when you make something.

So I am just praying for healing, wishing that we can somehow all move toward peace together, and asking how I can open my heart to respond to these events with Love. Some will respond with fear and hate, but only Love will guide us toward healing.

There is already an effort started by the Modern Quilt Guild of Orlando to make comfort quilts for the survivors and victims’ families. As with the Sandy Hook event, we know that what they need is time and love, not things, but heart blocks with messages of caring, stitched into quilts to cover and comfort and hold safe…may be a way to show the families that we are with them in spirit.

Tomorrow I will be at the Design Center in Denver, helping to facilitate a Chromazone workshop for the Color Marketing Group. We’ll be working on forecasting a color palette for 2018. If you are a design professional and wish to be a part of CMG, see if there is a Chromazone workshop happening near you! (In order to access the color forecast, you must be a member!)

Of course, the trend insights I gain from CMG are applied to our buying at eQuilter, so you know you can always find the hot new colors in stock on our website, with over 1000 new products per month.

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
~Luana

2016 Travel Calendar:
July 20-29 – Seville & Granada
Aug 6 – Intl Quilt Study Center/Museum – Lincoln Nebraska
Aug 12-14 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Sept 18-25 – CUBA Arts Tour #2 – Havana, Trinidad & Varadaro – Now Booking – Space Limited!
Nov 11-13 – Color Marketing Group – Albuquerque
Nov 15-20 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour

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Free Pattern – Butterfly Waltz

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Luana

ButterflyWaltz

We just can’t *wait* to unroll these gorgeous bolts of rainbow-colored fabrics,
for this week’s 48″ x 66″ Free Quilt Pattern!

It is simply constructed, with a marbleized river of brilliant hues flowing throughout the border, and a beautiful Butterfly panel as the main central focus. Tonal Hoffman Hand-Dyes are used to set off the multi-color cotton prints.

Butterflies are a timeless symbol of transformation and rebirth….. perhaps you know someone who would be inspired by this vibrant celebration of freedom and joy?

…from the ‘Butterfly Waltz’ collection by Chong-A Hwang for Timeless Treasures.

You may order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our over 20,000 fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

This pattern was designed in EQ7, 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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If You Live in Colorado….

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Luana

Our 1800 sq ft classroom/event space is now open, and our first event will be essentially a Garage SALE to move out all of our giant accumulation of scraps which is now filling up the shelves and tables in the room.

Groups are invited to make appointments to come for a private preview of the sale, before we have our public garage sale.

The bigger the group, the more time will be allotted to shop. It is cash and carry. I need to move out this huge accumulation of scraps so I can start having PARTIES and CLASSES and CREATIVE RETREATS here as soon as possible.

Then all you quilters and makers from out of state and out of the country can come, and we’ll have more scraps for you too! My whole personal stash is from eQuilter’s Scrap Box. We have the best scraps!

Call or email Customer Service this week (starting Monday) and schedule a time to come by! Local guilds with larger groups will be given a whole day if the group is big enough, so contact us early to reserve your shopping time slot!

email – [email protected]
Local Calls – 303-527-0856
US Toll Free – 877-322-7423

We will be selling over 1000 of our 3 lb Scrap Packs (appx 10 yds of mixed scraps!), and several hundred 5 lb bags of strips. The more you buy, the more you save. Help us clear out our warehouse and finance our new Event Space!

If your group is big enough we will also be happy to schedule a tour of eQuilter. This must be during lunch break or late Friday afternoon when the warehouse staff are not busy filling orders.

PLEASE NOTE:
The entrance to the classroom is from the parking lot in the BACK of our warehouse, so you MUST make an appointment so we can arrange for staff to meet you in the space while you shop.

Voice of America – National Parks Video

To commemorate this year’s 100th anniversary of the U.S. National Park Service, 148 fiber artists have created quilts honoring many of the breathtaking public lands.

Members of Quilters Unlimited in northern Virginia recently displayed their contributions, with subjects ranging from Yosemite National Park’s giant sequoias to the Grand Canyon’s nearly 2-kilometers-deep gorge to the Everglades National Park’s wetlands.

Here is another video on the National Parks exhibit with Donna DeSoto, the organizer of the event, and author of the companion book.

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Free Pattern – Viola Beauty

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Luana

ViolaBeauty

Enter a luscious garden of sweet Violas and Pansies in this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern!

Detailed blossoms are set on point, alternating with spinning Pinwheel/Windmill pieced blocks. This 68″ x 68″ square quilt design has a Pansy stripe cleverly engineered into a beautiful border, giving it a designer spin.

Bring your Summer garden indoors, blossoming through Winter, with this lovely floral trellis quilt!

…from the ‘Viola’ collection by Chong-A Hwang for Timeless Treasures.

You may order the pattern as configured, or customize it to your liking with any of our over 20,000 fabrics. Just place your desired fabrics in your Wish List, and these fabrics will appear in the Fabric Selector below the pattern.

This pattern was designed in EQ7, 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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The Color of Joy

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Luana

StaceyOMalley_700

What is the Color of Joy?

That is obviously a very subjective choice, but I imagine that a color immediately sprang to mind as you read that question. Make a note of that color – our first intuitive response is often the best!

If you’ve studied the Psychology of Color, you know that much research has been done about how different colors affect us in different ways… not just emotional but also physiological effects.

I like to choose colors intuitively, and honestly that can change from day to day. Those color choices range from what scarf I wear or what eyeshadow I choose, to what colors I use in my design work.

When I am choosing colors for a quilt, I have a plan, but I find that I make my best choices when I audition lots of different colors and I go with what looks and feels right on a gut level. If I think about it too much I can psych myself out and then I just have to let it go and walk away for awhile. Have you had that experience too?

This quilt-and-fabric collage is inspired by the colorful scrappy quilt “Accumulative Effect” by Canadian quilter Stacey O’Malley, photographed at QuiltCon earlier this year. (This is a detail of the center section.)

These colors… just make me smile! Stacey says in her artist statement that she made it from all the leftover accumulated scraps from her first 25 quilts. (Wow!)

Those fabrics she used in her last 25 quilts are likely discontinued and long gone, but the overall effect is very fresh and joyful. I’ve pulled out some current fabrics to put in a collage border, that also make me smile and inspire me to go play with colors in my stash.

These are the colors I am seeing in my flower and vegetable garden right now, as Nature unfurls her Summer Sail here in Colorado. We have not yet been hit with the extreme heat of summer, and our foothills are a lush green, with distant snowy peaks and our sunny blue skies. Thank you Stacey for inspiring us with your brilliant scrappy quilt!

sharing your Passion for Fabric…
~Luana

2016 Calendar:
July 20-29 – Seville & Granada
Aug 6 – Intl Quilt Study Center/Museum – Lincoln Nebraska
Aug 12-14 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Sept 18-25 – CUBA Arts Tour #2 – Havana, Trinidad & Varadaro – Now Booking – Space Limited!
Nov 11-13 – Color Marketing Group – Albuquerque
Nov 15-20 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour

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