Hello from Kyoto!

Posted on March 1, 2025 by Luana

Today is the 3rd and last day of the Kyoto Quilt Festival, where I have been showing 12 of my art quilts, and sharing the stories of each of these artworks. Many thanks to friends and customers and industry connections who have come from all over Japan to see me here.

Friday night I attended the party for festival staff and artists. There were quilters from not only Japan, but also Taiwan and Korea. The evening was a mix of languages being spoken – English, Japanese, Mandarin and Korean. Somehow we all communicated … if nothing else … in the common language of quilters. There was a hilarious competition of the Asian version of ‘Rock Paper Scissors’ – competing for a vintage silver spoon from Korea. There was much giggling, shrieking, and general silliness. I still say, if quilters ruled the world, we could solve all the problems and live in peace.

I gave my power point talk “International Quilt Trends” on Friday, and gave 2 artist gallery talks on Saturday. I also did some sewing demos which I have not done in a long time, but I had so much fun sharing tips on quilting and free-motion stitching. It was gratifying to have the younger women tell me later, that they were deeply moved by my messages about the environment, human rights, and empowerment of women. That makes the whole trip worthwhile.

Many thanks to Reiko-san for inviting me to participate, and for the several interpreters who helped me. That song I learned in Girl Scouts comes to mind:
Make new friends, and keep the old…
One is silver and the other gold!

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 25 – Mar 5 – Kyoto Quilt Festival – Luana’s Solo Gallery
March 9 – Public Open Studio – 1-5 pm @ eQuilter
(March 8 – group studio visits by appointment)
Apr 3-6 – SAQA Conference – St Pete, Florida
April 23-26 – Washington DC
April 27- May 3 – Alegre Retreat

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok 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.

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Free Quilt Pattern – Klimt Gilded Plume

Posted on February 27, 2025 by Luana

Capture the opulence of Gustav Klimt’s artwork, with tonight’s exclusive Free Quilt Pattern featuring a Klimt-inspired peacock in richly saturated hues of Cobalt and Sapphire. Klimt’s highly decorative style was compared to the Art Nouveau design movement, and his use of gold leaf in his paintings relates to his father who was a gold engraver.

To make this 48″ x 66″ quilt design, you will start with the central 24″ x 44″ panel, embellished with gold metallic. Construct the pieced border with blue and gold mosaic prints, set on point in a field of golden shapes. The pieced border is layered between inner and outer frames of a two Espresso Brown prints with a dusting of gold.

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

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this exquisite quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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Free Quilt Pattern – Jaguar in the Jungle

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Luana

Tonight’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern features a Jaguar portrait set in the richness of the rain forest, as a companion to our previous White Tiger portrait quilt.

Use the Coupon Code: DOGGIE on the checkout page to receive $10 off your purchase of $50 or more, through 2/25/25 only!
(This gift coupon cannot be combined with other Promotions or Gift Certificates.)

To make this 57″ x 66″ quilt design, you’ll start with our 34″ x 44″ digital panel, then piece the borders with two coordinating green Hoffman Hand Dyes plus a white tone-on-tone fabric. The gold Hoffman Hand Dye binding accents the Jaguar’s eyes.

Bring this majestic Jaguar into your home by making this dynamic wildlife quilt!

…from the ‘Wild Animals’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this exquisite quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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QuiltCon is Awesome!

Posted on February 22, 2025 by Luana

Congratulations to all the winners at QuiltCon this weekend! We congratulate Audrey Esarey for winning the eQuilter Machine Quilting Award for her beautiful quilt ‘Raspberry Roulette’.

Special congratulations to Veruschka Zarate for her Best of Show award, for her quilt “Dignity”. We have always considered her a special talent, and we are happy to carry her patterns, including her award-winning Joan of Arc design.

If you have attended my power point lectures, you have probably seen an image of Veruschka’s large quilt which depicts the Dignity statue made by Dale Lamphere. I have included the image of her quilt top since she posted it on social media….a couple years ago?

This 50 foot high sculpture in South Dakota depicts a Lakota woman holding a star quilt. The star quilt held by the woman has more than 100 blue diamond shapes that move in the wind. You can read more about this on Wikipedia.

Early Monday morning I fly to Osaka, arriving Tuesday night in Kyoto. Thursday is the setup day. I am showing 12 of my art quilts. If you are coming to the event at the Mikyako Messe Conference Center, I will be in my artist gallery Fri Feb 28 to Sun March 2. Please make a note of my speaking times:

Friday 2 pm – 20 minute talk on the Artist Panel
Saturday – Artist Talk in my gallery at 10 am and 11 am.

I am planning for an Open Studio here at eQuilter on Sunday March 9, from 1-5 pm, before I send quilts back to their museum and exhibit venues March 10. If you are local, I hope you can come to see all 12 quilts before they are disbursed again. More info on that in upcoming emails.

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 25 – Mar 5 – Kyoto Quilt Festival – Luana’s Solo Gallery
March 9 – Public Open Studio – 1-5 pm @ eQuilter
(March 8 – group studio visits by appointment)
Apr 3-6 – SAQA Conference – St Pete, Florida
April 23-26 – Washington DC
April 27- May 3 – Alegre Retreat

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok 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.

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Free Quilt Pattern – Pastoral Pup

Posted on February 20, 2025 by Luana

Tonight’s Free eQuilter Pattern features our exclusive Renaissance Doggie panel, a magnificent pastoral floral fantasy scene with a dramatic cloudy sky.

Use the Coupon Code: DOGGIE on the checkout page to receive $10 off your purchase of $50 or more, through 2/25/25 only!
(This gift coupon cannot be combined with other Promotions or Gift Certificates.)

To make this 65″ x 53″ quilt design, start with our Renaissance Doggie panel, border with our natural hardwood print, then piece the blocks and borders with three Hoffman hand dyes.

…from the ‘Fabulous Pets’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this exquisite quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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Here Kitty Kitty…..

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Luana

This week I am very busy getting ready for my solo gallery at the Kyoto Quilt Festival. I leave Monday, and the festival is Feb 29 to March 2 at the Miyako Messe Convention Center. I will be speaking for about 20 minutes on a panel on Friday at 2 pm. On Saturday I will give 2 gallery talks with a translator, at 10 am and 11 am. I know several of you are coming to the show and I look forward to seeing you again!

We are sponsoring the Machine Quilting Award at QuiltCon this week. I had to make a last minute decision not to go this year, because it is right before I leave for Japan. Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach, when I think about how much travel I can cram into a month. For those of you going to QuiltCon, enjoy the show and be sure to check out the Machine Quilting winner which will be hanging near the Best of Show.

Right now I am finishing a quilt about the history of American Wilderness Conservation, for a Semi-Quincentennial exhibit next year. That will be coming to Japan with me, along with another new quilt with a Mt Fuji theme, that is a tribute to Itchiku Kubota. I hope you are also having a productive start to 2025. I am keeping my sanity by staying busy in the studio.

Sharing our passion for fabric…..
Luana and Paul

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 25 – Mar 5 – Solo Gallery @ Kyoto Quilt Festival Feb 28 – Mar 2
Apr 3-6 – SAQA Conference – St Pete, Florida
April 23-25 – Washington DC
April 27- May 3 – Alegre Retreat

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.

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Free Quilt Pattern – Kitty Warriors

Posted on February 16, 2025 by Luana

Tonight’s Free eQuilter Pattern features our exclusive Kitty Warrior panel, depicting gallant and brave heroic kitty warriors garbed in knight’s armor.

Use the Coupon Code: PUPPY on the checkout page to receive $14 off your purchase of $100 or more, along with Free Shipping, through 2/18/25 only!
(This gift coupon cannot be combined with other Promotions or Gift Certificates.)

To make this 52″ x 62″ exclusive Quilt Design, start with the 32″ x 44″ central panel, then piece the corner castle blocks and borders with three coordinating earth-tone Hoffman Hand Dyes plus a Moda Grunge tonal fabric.

…from the ‘Wizards & Fantasy’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this exquisite quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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Countdown to QuiltCon & Kyoto

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Luana

We hope you all had a lovely Valentines Day with lots of hearts and flowers.

QuiltCon is this week in Phoenix Arizona. eQuilter is the sponsor for the Machine Quilting Award, and I can’t wait to see who wins this year!

It is now 1 week until I leave for my solo gallery and lecture at the Kyoto Quilt Festival. I am still planning for an Open Studio on Sunday March 9, from 1-5 pm, before I send quilts back to their museum and exhibit venues March 10.

I gave a talk on Art & Activism last month for the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild in BC Canada.
You can view a recording of that lecture now on our YouTube page.
Sign up to follow my artist blog here.

We are still collecting comfort quilts for those who lost their homes during Hurricane Helene in NC. You can either drop donations off *in person* at our office, or ship directly to this NEW address for distribution:

Shannon Townsend
57 Eden Glen Rd
Black Mountain, NC 28711

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 20-23 – QuiltCon – eQuilter is a Sponsor!
Feb 25 – Mar 5 – Kyoto Quilt Festival – Luana’s Solo Gallery
March 9 – Public Open Studio – 1-5 pm.
(March 8 – group studio visits by appointment)
Apr 3-6 – SAQA Conference – St Pete, Florida
April 27- May 3 – Alegre Retreat

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok 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.

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Free Quilt Pattern – Playful Golden Pup

Posted on February 13, 2025 by Luana

Tonight’s Free eQuilter Pattern features our exclusive playful golden retriever puppy, set in the garden foliage.

To make this 57″ x 66″ quilt design, you’ll start with our 34″ x 44″ digital panel, then piece the borders with two coordinating green Hoffman Hand Dyes plus a white tone-on-tone fabric. The Blackberry Jam Hoffman Hand Dye binding accents the panel’s flowers.

…from the ‘Fabulous Pets’ collection by the Rubin Design Studio, designed exclusively for eQuilter.

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Sharing your passion for fabric and color,
Luana and Paul Rubin

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Thousands of Tiny Pieces

Posted on February 12, 2025 by Luana

This week I’d like to share the work of a quilt artist whom I admire.

Niraja Lorenz recently had several works in the Lincoln Center gallery in Fort Collins Colorado. I’ve appreciated her work for awhile, so jumped at the chance to go see several of her pieces in this gallery 1 hour north of here. It is very difficult to choose which one to share, so enjoy this one, and I will share more work from this gallery on my photo pages.

From the artist statement:

“Inspired by both science and spirituality, Niraja’s art flows through her, teaching her about uncertainty. Chaos Theory has influenced her to see the world as fluid and unfolding, unpredictable yet not random.

She works primarily with solid-colored commercial and hand-dyed cotton. Using subtle variations of color and value, she pieces together thousands of bits of fabric, many less than an inch square and lines 1/4″ wide.

From a distance her creations can be interpreted in many ways: a magnification of microscopic particles, the vastness of space, a cross-section through the Earth, an aerial view of a cosmopolitan area, or all of these in one piece. Up close, her quilts reveal unexpected intricacies as ever more subtle layers of astonishing details are discovered.

After years of creating original pieces, she studied with Nancy Crow in 2007. Her work quickly evolved as she discovered that she had a unique visual voice.”

And yes, all those tiny stripes and snips are pieced solids. So for Niraja, and all of you who love to sew and cut up, and sew and cut up and sew some more….we keep our solid categories stocked!

Sharing our passion for fabric…..
Luana and Paul

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 25 – Mar 5 – Solo Gallery @ Kyoto Quilt Festival Feb 28 – Mar 2
Apr 3-6 – SAQA Conference – St Pete, Florida
April 23-25 – Washington DC
April 27- May 3 – Alegre Retreat

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.

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