Free Pattern – Reindeer Sparkle

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Luana

Reindeer_Sparkle

The first time we saw this Reindeer Panel at Quilt Market, we knew it would be a SMASH HIT!

We had such a hard time choosing between the rich jeweltone colors, that we decided to offer ALL 3 in this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern. Click through here to see them:

Cranberry Red

Pine Green

Arctic Blue

(with sparkling Gold or Silver Metallic.)

The main panel’s leaping Reindeer is filled with tiny crystalline snowflakes, with more dancing flakes above and below on the selvedge border. The densely layered background has a beautiful texture of tonal jeweltone snowflakes, creating an eye-popping illusion of depth. The border stripe gives this Holiday/Winter wallhanging a cool Nordic feel.

…from the ‘Stonehenge Reindeer Prance‘ collection by Deborah Edwards for Northcott Fabrics.

You may order the pattern as configured, (click through here to see the specifics!) 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 – Telling a Story

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Luana

nudge

Sunday night I returned home from my weekend at the Not Fade Away conference, and my visit to the Sacred Threads exhibit.

The two events go together so well, because Not Fade Away encourages quilters to tell their stories and SAVE their stories for those who will view and treasure the quilt in the future….and the quilts in Sacred Threads all have a spiritual or emotional tale to tell.

This quilt “Determination” by Christina Blais is about the story of Rosa Parks, and it commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The message was already powerful, but after I saw Christina’s 3 minute “Go Tell It” documentary about her piece, I could never look at that quilt in the same way again. If you go to see the Sacred Threads exhibit, you will see this quilt, and many other powerful pieces.

During the conference there was a fascinating panel of quilt curators, quilt historians, and quilt genealogists. A curator talked about how they decide to bring a vintage quilt into their collection: they ask if the quilt has *provenance*. That means, does it have a history, a STORY to tell. Otherwise it could just be an old quilt from a flea market. It is the story that gives the quilt its value.

How do we give our quilt a story? We make a label. We sign our name. Maybe our signature is embroidered on the front along with the date and the event that the quilt celebrates. We take photos of the quilt…with its maker…with its recipient. We write a letter or a poem or an artist statement to travel with the quilt on its journey. And even before all those steps, we choose fabrics that will tell the story.

In about 2 weeks I am leaving for the UK for the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham. Please come to see my power point presentation on “International Quilt Trends” on Saturday, then stay for the panel right afterward, on the same topic. ( I am the moderator) I’ll be showing over 200 quilt images from around the world, including the Sacred Threads exhibit. Hope to see many of you there!

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Free Pattern – Sea Turtles

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Luana

Turtle1

This bold quilt is full of texture and Aboriginal-inspired patterns, with the main print so colorful and ingenious, it is hard to believe this quilt only uses 3 fabrics!

Sea turtles swim through a sea of circles, symbols and dots, set off by a Sandscape blender and a Black dotted coordinate….brilliantly set as an octagon in diagonal rectangles.

…from the ‘Sea Turtles‘ collection by Fabri-Quilt.

Check out our Australian, Sealife and Color Palette collections for more design ideas. Enjoy!

You may order the pattern as configured, (click through here to see the specifics!) 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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Every Quilt Has a Story

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Luana

I am writing to you from the Washington DC area, at the Not Fade Away conference put on by Quilt Alliance. (In Herndon VA, near Dulles Airport)

Before I leave for a full Saturday of conference panels and workshops, I wanted to tell you about our textile bus tour Friday. You may want to take note if you are coming to this area soon!

The DAR Museum has a beautiful exhibit of quilts called Eye on Elegance: Early Quilts of Maryland and Virginia. It runs through Sept 5, 2015. You may recall that last year we filmed three videos at the DAR Museum with curator Alden O’Brien, including a preview of this show in the basement archives. Go to our video page and scroll down to the DAR videos for a behind-the-scenes tour of this beautiful museum!

Our next stop on the bus tour was the fantastic new location of the Textile Museum at George Washington University. Wow, what a beautiful and impressive modern building to house the collections. We saw the “Unraveling Identity” exhibit, which examines textiles from across cultures, exploring individual, cultural, political, and social identity throughout the ages.

We also popped in on the SAQA exhibit “Radical Elements” at the National Academy of Sciences, which was fun because my best friend from childhood has been on the Stem Cell Advisory Committee there for about 20 years…but I’ve never been in the building.

At the end of the day we arrived at the Sacred Threads exhibit, and I had a nice long photo session with this amazing and inspirational collection of spiritual quilts. We continue to be a very proud sponsor of Sacred Threads, and I am just delighted at how the show, and the concept, have grown since Vikki Pignatelli got the idea for a show about Healing, Love, Brotherhood, Grief, and Joy. Lisa Ellis and her crew of loyal volunteers have put on a gorgeous show … again!

We also visited the opening of the quilt installations at the Inova Fall Oaks Hospital (treating cancer patients) on Thursday night, and it was wonderful to see all of the beautiful pieces hung in the private treatment and consultation spaces within the building.

The theme of the Not Fade Away conference is about saving the stories that go with each quilt, because that is what makes the quilt come alive. Each of these quilt exhibits had pieces that had history, memories, passion, anguish, and/or educational information. If only each quilt could speak out loud to us about these stories!

Approach each quilt as if you are meeting its maker, pause and breathe in the essence of the story, and let its message unfold in the quiet space of your heart.

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Free Pattern – Sound of the Woods

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Luana

Capture

This week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern has a very modern design, with glimpses of tree silhouettes in geometric blocks that mimic stained glass.

The color palette of Earth and Sky gives this soothing meditative quality, evoking a walk in the woods at dawn, or late in the day during the Golden Hour.

…from the ‘Sound of the Woods‘ collection by Kathrine Lovell for Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

To help with this quilt construction, we’ve prepared a special ‘eQuilter Quick Tips’ video titled, ‘Sound of the Woods Layout Fundamentals‘ featuring Dana Chapman, our Customer Service manager.

And you’ll receive free USA / 50% off International shipping when you order the fabrics for this gorgeous quilt pattern! (orders $100 and over).

You may order the pattern as configured, (click through here to see the specifics!) 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 – Face of Pluto

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Luana

Untitled-1

The celebrity of the moment is… Pluto!

All eyes are on the enigmatic photo of the small icy dwarf planet which was beamed back to Earth by the New Horizons probe after a 3 billion mile journey to the outer reaches of our Solar System.

Gazing upon the face of the newly rediscovered Pluto has captured us all the last couple days…and how many future astronauts are created during an exciting moment in astronomy history like this?!?

How many more Sci-Fi authors, rocket scientists and physics majors will spring from the enthusiasm of the moment?

We have so much fun collecting Astronomy, Geek and Superhero fabrics for our Sci-Fi, NASA and Comic Con friends!

Do you have one in your family?

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Free Pattern – Fall Reflections

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Luana

Fall_Reflections

This free quilt pattern brings back memories of Autumn days spent by the water, with brilliant foliage reflecting on a lake, blue skies and blue waters, distant silhouetted peaks, chilly nights and ….those last few beautiful sunny days of the Fall season.

Take a walk along the pier, breathe in the crisp mountain air, and gather some fiery Fall colors with this lovely vignette wallhanging.

…from the ‘Fall Reflections‘ collection by Exclusively Quilters.

You may order the pattern as configured, (click through here to see the specifics!) 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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Design Trend Update

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Luana

One of the big trends in design is the influence of art and culture from Mexico. This is part of the reason why I just had to go down to the quilt festival in Mexico City earlier this year…to see the arts and crafts and COLORS that are the original seeds of this colorful movement.

You’ll notice that 4 of the top 5 categories in this week’s newsletter are inspired by Hispanic/Mexican culture… with themes from Day of the Dead, Frida Kahlo, etc.

Another big trend is Wildlife and Nature themes, and you’ll find Deer, Moose, Chipmunks and Polar Bears featured in categories above. Similarly, Botanical prints and Birds echo this important design trend, which expresses our desire to be closer to the beauty of Nature as our lives become faster-paced and we spend more time indoors on our computers and other devices.

Comic Con is this weekend in San Diego, and if you are there, or if you wish you were there, remember that we are Geeks and Nerds too, and therefore will stock all the Superheroes and SciFi motifs that our suppliers will ship to us!

Next weekend Sophie and I will be at the Not Fade Away / Sacred Threads conference, and we hope to see many of you there! Please do come and say hello when you see us…we’ll be at all the events including the Bus Tour on Friday. Can’t wait!

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Free Pattern – Autumn Retreat

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Luana

Autumn_Retreat

This week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern looks forward to the cooler days of the Autumn season, with a peaceful view of a colorful landscape.

Gold and persimmon-colored leaves and a blue sky are reflected in gently rippling waters… and a pathway beckons under the arching branches. Imagine leaves crunching under your feet as you walk along the path on a brisk Fall day!

…from the ‘Autumn Landscape‘ collection by Timeless Treasures.

To help with this quilt construction, we’ve prepared a special ‘eQuilter Quick Tips’ video titled, ‘Simplified Diagonal Corner Seams‘ featuring Dana Chapman, our Customer Service manager.

You may order the pattern as configured, (click through here to see the specifics!) 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 – Grapes and Iris

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Luana

Iris

One of the great joys of travel for a creative person, is to visit art museums and see works by the masters.

One of the most beloved artists is Van Gogh, who often chose a still life for a subject. His Iris flowers in the sun-drenched colors of the Arles countryside, are some of his most famous works.

In the last few months I was able to visit some Van Gogh Iris paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and last month I visited several art museums in Vienna, Austria…including the Kunst Historisches Museum.

In the Kunst Historisches I was delighted to be allowed to take no-flash photos, and here is a closeup of a still life painting by Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller. The grapes are so juicy that you want to reach out to pick one! Waldmuller’s style is obviously quite different from Van Gogh, but they both had a deep appreciation for the power of complementary colors in their still life paintings.

Van Gogh’s Iris painting was influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, with strong outlines, sharp angles, and flat saturated colors.

A few years ago I visited Arles in Provence France, and peeked in at the Saint-Remy asylum where he painted his Irises. It was a bittersweet moment to stand in the courtyard and see the late afternoon sun fall at a sharp angle in the corner of the garden, just as Van Gogh would have seen that bright golden light and those dark purple shadows.

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