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

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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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Free Pattern – Big Trucks

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Luana

Big_Trucks

Everybody knows somebody who loves BIG TRUCKS!

In today’s Free Twin-Size Quilt Pattern….
Dump Trucks, Cement Mixers, Forklifts, Cranes, Excavators, Pickup Trucks and Crew Vans are hard at work, in bold graphics and bright colors.

This quilt becomes a playmat when your little one uses the border as a roadway for more trucks.

…from the ‘Job Site’ collection by Nancy Vasilchik for 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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Nuggets of Detail

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Luana

This week I attended a fundraiser for our local Colorado Music Festival, and found myself 2 seats away from this weekend’s guest artist Olga Kern, Van Cliburn Gold Medal winner. The topic of world travel came up, and I was able to add a few nuggets of detail to conversations about South Africa, Moscow, and New Zealand. The host finally asked “Who are you?…and…. I want your job!”

Indeed I am very lucky that my work includes traveling overseas to quilt festivals, and that my photography allows me to share the quilts I see around the world, with other quilters on the opposite side of the globe….including so many of YOU, and your own gorgeous quilts! (Made with fabrics from eQuilter, of course…*smile*)

Our own piano was moved from the house to my eQuilter studio yesterday, because our floors are being ripped out and refinished later this week. Hilarity shall ensue, no doubt. In the middle of the madness, Sophie and I are going to the Not Fade Away / Sacred Threads event in 2 weeks.

eQuilter is a sponsor for *both* of these events, so I can’t wait to meet up with all the passionate talented quilters attending this conference and exhibit!

A few weeks later I’ll give a power point lecture, and then moderate a panel on quilt trends, at the Birmingham UK Festival of Quilts. I know I will see many of you there, and also at the quilters’ outing to see Othello at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford that Saturday night.

And Olga Kern? After a short private performance of several powerful Russian pieces, over dinner she shared that after practicing for 8 hours a day, sometimes she has pain in her neck, shoulders and arms…not unlike many intensely dedicated quilters who I know. Perfection can take a temporary toll on the body, but oh the Beauty that comes from that suffering! We get an ice pack, or a heat pack, and return to the keyboard or the sewing machine!

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Free Pattern – Dinosaur Adventure

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Luana

Dinosaur_Adventure

As we head into this holiday weekend, we’d like to do a little time travel, back to the time of the Dinosaurs!

This week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Pattern features realistic Dinosaurs
that will excite “Jurassic” fans.

…from the ‘Dinosaurs’ collection by Michael Searle and ‘Dinosaur Babies’ by George McCartney for Timeless Treasures.

To help with this quilt construction, we’ve prepared a special ‘eQuilter Quick Tips’ video titled, ‘Taming the Template‘ 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 – Bohemian Mashup

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Luana

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Two weeks ago when I was in Vienna, I went to Budapest for a day. During some free time, I walked through the central market building and took photos of all the great arts and crafts.

One of the things I love to photograph when traveling is rows and rows of souvenirs. Fortunately in Hungary one popular type of souvenir is DOLLS. These were so pretty I just had to share…because they were dressed up in embroidered dresses that reminded me of some of my favorite florals at eQuilter.

There is a textile design trend that mixes up a big batch of influences: Bohemian, Gypsy, Eastern European, Russian, Indian, Paisley, Scandinavian and even Turkish. They overlap in so many ways that often it is difficult to tease out individual influences.

You may recall that a few years ago I traveled to Russia, and during my time in Moscow I was offered a private tour through the Textile History Museum at the Textile Design University. As we traveled through each room of the museum, I tried to absorb the hundreds and ultimately thousands of design influences that were collected there from across Russia and the parts of the former Soviet Union. I was allowed to take photos of most rooms, but only if I promised not to share the photos.

So I can share the memory of that experience, and I can tell you that it sparked a deeper interest in these Bohemian-Russian-Eastern European textile designs that are so distinctive. By the way Bohemian is not a retro design trend from the Seventies. It refers to Bohemia!…which is now the Czech Republic. (roughly speaking)

My next design curiosity and inspiration I think will be Polish ceramics. I’ve seen some here in Boulder, then saw some more in Santa Fe in March (!), and had my nose pressed up against a window in Hungary, admiring the detailed painted florals on plates, cups and cream pitchers.

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