Creative Nudge – Quilts for Nepal

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Luana

NepalCollage_700

MANY THANKS to those of you who donated quilts for the earthquake victims in Nepal. Thanks to you, we were able to send 230 pounds of quilts to those who lost their homes in the devastation.

The 3rd batch was recently delivered by the CU Boulder chapter of Engineers Without Borders. I am so excited that we go some photos of the quilts being presented to the village women. Here is a note from Noah, who is spending the summer helping in Nepal. (eQuilter has donated to the travel expenses for the group, to help deliver the quilts to Nepal.)

*****************

Namaste Luana,

This is Noah from Engineers Without Borders at CU.

Thank you again for your generosity for the beautiful quilts! They were graciously accepted by the villagers in Kalingchowk. As a little bit of background information, we gave out the quilts in Kalingchowk, in the Dolakha district of Nepal. Kalingchowk was the epicenter of the earthquake that struck Nepal on May 12th, 2015. A total of 100% of the buildings in the village were destroyed that day. Now, all of the villagers are living in temporary tin shelters that are outfitted with solar panels for clean energy use.

NCDC (Namsaling Community Development Center), our NGO partner, has helped to make this possible and continues to work in the village on women’s issues, health and sanitation, income generation, spring source protection, and more.

It took us a 4 hour jeep ride as well as a 1 hour hike to make it up to the village from the nearest town, and we had a glimpse of the sunset on the Himalayas bordering China in the evenings.

We stayed in the village for two days and nights and despite the unending hardship the people have faced, they were incredibly generous and welcoming, and greeted us with a dance and lots of food.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and that they help to continue the success of your wonderful work. Feel free to keep in contact with me about arranging for more quilts to be delivered during our winter trip in December. Our team greatly appreciates your support and looks forward to keeping connected in the future.

Thank you so much,
Noah

***********************

If you’d like to donate a quilt for EWB’s December trip back to Nepal, plan to send it to us to arrive the first week of December, and we’ll make sure it is hand-delivered to someone in need in the mountains of Nepal.

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
Oct 7 – Dairy Barn – Athens Ohio – Intl Quilt Trends Lecture
Nov 11-13 – Color Marketing Group – Albuquerque
Nov 15-20 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour

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Free Pattern – Klimt Intrigue

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Luana

Intrigue

Klimt-inspired fabrics have been some of our most popular products over the years,
and this week’s Free Quilt Pattern features a lush abstract panel using a swirl of design elements from Gustav Klimt’s most famous paintings.

Look closely at “The Kiss” and “Portrait of Adele” (as seen in the film “Woman in Gold”) to see some of these iconic design elements that will forever say “Klimt” to art lovers.

All of the coordinates in this design, are shimmering with gold accents or gold spatter, giving this an opulent look that rivals the gold-leaf laden paintings of the Viennese painter.

…from the ‘Intrigue’ 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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Warehouse Garage Sale July 9!

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Luana

What an amazing week this has been! We were so honored to have the Dalai Lama visit Boulder Colorado. I took the 3 kids to the morning lecture, and it was a lifetime experience to see him in person, but the sound system was terrible and we had a hard time understanding about 30% of what he was saying. I went home and watched the afternoon session on streaming video, and heard every word. So now I am thinking I should just watch some videos of him speaking. All of us were mesmerized by his lecture about living a compassionate life, and being agents of change for peace and justice, for those less fortunate.

Sophie turned 14 on Friday, and Sunday is her “Finding Day”. She was found on the steps of a public building when she was 2 days old. Today we went to a reunion for kids adopted from China, and it was so fun to be around all the other Chinese adopted girls (and a few boys). Our adoption agency was CCAI and they have expanded beyond China, bringing kids to the US for adoption from Haiti and Eastern Europe. They have brought almost 12K babies and kids to their loving forever homes, since they started their mission. It is great to reconnect with these amazing people! Here is my Adoption Diary in China from April 2003.

For our friends in the UK, gosh you have gone through an emotional roller-coaster this week! I am still planning to come to the Birmingham Festival of Quilts in August (we are sponsoring the VIP lounge, and I am going to be the guide on a bus to the Royal Shakespeare Theater Saturday night!)…so I hope to see many of my friends there on Saturday night or Sunday at the show.

The reservations for the Polar Bear Tour (November) and the Cuban Arts Tour (September) are snapping shut, so if you were thinking of joining us, now is the time to make a phone call and sneak in before the reservation window closes!

Our eQuilter Public GARAGE SALE is going to be on Saturday July 9th, in our new classroom space. If you have a group that wants to make an appointment to preview the sale, we can arrange for you to visit before that date, if you call Dana in Customer Service. We’ve had 3 groups visit and they’ve enjoyed some *awesome* deals, but there is plenty more! Hours and details for the Garage Sale will be forthcoming – watch our newsletters!

I am sad to hear that Bill Cunningham has left us, for the big bicycle ride in the sky…. His fashion photos on the streets of New York City were legendary, all from the vantage point of his bicycle. I will truly miss his observations of fashion wildlife on the streets of the city.

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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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