eQuilter Blog

I know that all of you around the world join us in expressing our profound sadness for what is happening in Japan. If you are following the news, you know that the initial earthquake and tsunami are just the beginning of the story. The aftershocks are continuing even as I write this, and we don't even know the extent of the damage, or the total loss of life. Like Haiti, they will be rebuilding and recovering in the hard hit areas, for a decade or more.

We are all asking the question – what can we do to help? I know you are all thinking the same thing, so let me share a perspective on what we can do to help now.

First of all, I am sure it is obvious that what the survivors need now is not quilts, but disaster aid. We all need to donate as much money as we can, to trusted relief agencies who will make sure the money goes *immediately* and *DIRECTLY* to those in need.

Relief efforts are going to be long term, and at times like this fraudulent disaster relief donation websites spring up, so make sure you give money through trusted organizations.

Here are some links for you to investigate this weekend:

Organizations providing relief resources in Japan
Doctors Without Borders
SOS Children's Villages
Oxfam Japan
International Medical Corps
CNN: Japan earthquake: How you can help

As for the requests to donate quilts for survivors, we don't want to start up a project like this until we can guarantee that we have a shipper, and even more importantly, a trusted source on the other side who can guarantee that the quilts will be handed directly to those in need. I cannot possibly stress too much the importance of this point! I am working with Kathy Price at Mission of Love to see what we can do together, but it is too early for me to make a commitment until we have a guaranteed distributor on the other end. Kathy and I have both seen supplies piled up and moldering in warehouses, not being distributed to those in need, and that situation is practically criminal!

For disaster relief on the other side of the world, such as New Zealand and Japan, the best thing to do initially is to donate funds for relief such as food, shelter, medical supplies, water, etc. It is so expensive to ship quilts there, so it is best to put that money towards relief funds for now.

Mission of Love worked with us on Haiti relief, and they literally were the first to land and deliver disaster supplies in Haiti after their earthquake. In areas like Haiti where they are still desperately trying to survive post-earthquake, in New Zealand as they pick up the pieces from their recent earthquake, in Australia where they are still recovering from their floods and fires, and even for those who have not recovered from Katrina in the US, we know there are always plenty of places for us to give, and help. That is not even mentioning what is going on in Northern Africa right now.

Thanks to all those compassionate hearts who have been moved to ask – "How can I help?" – Lets move carefully and make sure that our efforts truly go to those in need. I'll keep you posted as I learn more, and thank to those of you who have generously offered to donate quilts.

Japan needs our help! Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced, thousands are missing, and the aftershocks keep coming. Here are 10 different, legal, nonprofits who have committed to sending aid to Japan. Please do what you can – even if it's just posting it to your blog or FB wall – everything helps.

http://media.causes.com/ribbon/1032753

Japan Tsunami aid and relief: How you can help –

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/tsunami-aid-and-relief-how-you-can-help/?hpt=T1

The world is already mobilizing to help victims of Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami on Japan.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies accepts donations via text message.

http://www.ifrc.org/en/

Text "redcross" to 90999, and you can make a $10 donation to the organization. It will show up on your next mobile phone bill.

One of the questions I get often from quilters, when I am visiting shows around the country, is about how to use large scale prints in traditional patchwork quilts.

For a fresh contemporary look, the answer is…just cut it up and put it in a block!

However many quilters have gone through introductory classes where they were taught to only use small and medium scale designs, when cutting up small pieces to go into a pieced block.

Here is one section of a quilt from the Tokyo Quilt Festival, which illustrates the creative use of large scale colorful prints in a patchwork quilt. In this case Kimie Yanagisawa has used many different designs and colors of Kaffe Fassett floral prints, in this beautifully colored quilt design that she calls "Start Again".

This is representative of a much larger trend in design – where segments and fragments of images are cut up and then put back together in a collage, which mimics web pages where fragments of many images are grabbed randomly and arranged into a larger overall image that represents all the options on that website. This is going on in web design, graphic design, home dec, fashion, and quilt design too!

So all of those old rules of patchwork design are being tossed in the air like so many fabric scraps over Eleanor Burns' shoulder…and when we see these randomly cut geometric shapes with a portion of the original floral design for instance…it has a unique and sometimes whimsical look… elevating the quilt design above all those old (*yawn*) rules invented decades ago by the Quilt Police.

This is where the *ART* comes into patchwork quilting. We choose our block design, our colors, we cut up our fabrics in unexpected ways, we play around with our block layout to create secondary shapes that we didn't anticipate when we started the process (unless we laid it out in EQ7 first!)- and Voila! – we've created something fresh and inviting, with a nod to the past, but a definite warping of creaky old rules that just don't apply to modern design.

Analogous-colored fabric designs work really well for this type of color experimentation. This means instead of using solid, tonal, or multi-color fabrics, we choose fabrics that have 3 or 4 colors clustered together on the color wheel.

Examples:
Blue, Turquoise, Jade, and Pear Green

http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?catid=253

Violet, Plum, Magenta, and Orchid Pink

http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?catid=130

Red, Coral, Tangerine and Mango

http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?catid=254

In Kimie's colorful quilt, notice how she has used large scale analogous florals as a focal point in each block. She has grouped similar analogous colors together in larger groups of several blocks, and contrasted them with Cream ground florals to give a light and bright contrast of Floral Colors and Cream.

Go to my photo page where I have uploaded several other closeup shots of this colorful quilt, illustrating several ways that one can play with analogous color in a patchwork quilt.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/

For those of you who love to shop our Annual Birthday Sale, I've added some more bolt ends to the sale categories.

http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?catid=40

We still have 800 products in 10 categories, from 30% to 70% off, plus a Screamin' Closeout Deal on 3-lb Scrap Packets.

Be sure to throw them in your shopping cart and check out quickly for best selection!

Gosh it is scary how fast 12 years flies by. For my 40th birthday I convinced Paul to finish the basement so I could have a nice big studio. I had taken about 20 quilting classes, and was toying with the idea of getting a longarm machine. In the meantime Paul was managing a local business and I had 2 and 9 year old boys running around the house.

After leaving my career as an import fashion designer – moving from New York City to Boulder – and starting a family – I was anxious to start a new business that involved fabric, color and design. Right after I turned 40 when the basement was finished, I got this hairbrained idea about Paul designing a website for us, and then I would sell fabric out of our basement as a part-time job while I stayed home with the kids.

Well as you know, the rest is history. We went to the bank with a 32 page business plan, got a 2nd mortgage, and opened up our online shop on March 10, 1999. Within 60 days we had exceeded our 3 year business plan. I remember about a month after we opened, I was downstairs at 1 am, cutting and wrapping packages. Paul came down, watched me silently for awhile, then said "I think it is ok to hire employees now."

By October we had moved into a 4500 sq ft warehouse, a year and a half later we moved into another 11,000 sq ft warehouse, and a year and a half later we expanded to 15,000 sq ft including my new studio on the 2nd floor over the eQuilter warehouse. We felt like we had a tiger by the tail, and all we could do was just hang on and see how far this ride would take us.

Today we have customers all over the world, and an amazing staff of 38 people who answer your questions in Customer Service up front, order the hottest collections through the Buying Department, pull and cut your orders in the warehouse, and ship out thousands of packages every month. We are all very proud of our position in the industry, and we know that we maintain that position by working hard to keep you happy, year-round.

Most importantly, we are a family business, and we believe in sharing our success by giving back to those in need. Together with your support, we have raised and donated $864,000 so far, and it is very exciting to see that big goal of $1 million dollars coming into focus for 2012.

We know that you put love into every stitch when you use our fabrics to make quilts, sew garments, and craft gifts for your loved ones. As you know, we put a little eQuilter love in every package that goes out, so when you open your package, you know there is a team of 40 people on this end (including Paul and myself) who truly appreciate the opportunity to serve you, and share our mutual love of beautiful fabrics.

Thanks for coming along on the ride with us!

One of my Facebook friends Heike posted this on Sunday from her friend in Christchurch, New Zealand:

"Our house is beyond repair – it is on a lean and has many cracks in every room. We have to walk uphill to get to the kitchen. On Tuesday we had a river running through the lounge and now have removed all the wet carpet and put most of the furniture back. We need to try and keep things as 'normal' as possible. We still have no power, water or sewerage and have been told it will be 1- 2 months before we get power. We are very lucky as we are all alive and well."

If you feel compelled to help the earthquake victims of New Zealand, I'd like to share several links with you, sent in by customers and friends.

How to donate to Christchurch quake appeals
donate-christchurch-quake-appeals-4038581

Donations and Information for Christchurch Earthquake Appeal
donations-and-information-christchurch-earthquake-appeal

Want to help those in Christchurch? Here's how to donate

http://www.3news.co.nz/Christchurch-earthquake-The-basics-you-need-to-know/tabid/423/articleID/199425/Default.aspx

Red Cross New Zealand

http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate

Canterbury Earthquake Appeal

http://canterburyearthquake.org.nz/about-this-website/

Salvation Army – Earthquake Appeal

http://salvationarmy.org.nz/giving-back/donate-online/disaster-appeals/canterbury-earthquake-appeal/

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I would say that those affected by the earthquake need money to rebuild their lives and repair their homes, but here is an additional way to send your healing thoughts to those affected:

Hello from New Zealand!
We are asking for Hearts for the thousands of Christchurch earthquake victims. Not the usual hearts, but "Hanging Hearts". Two pieces of fabric, heartshaped, sewn together, lightly stuffed, and with a hanging loop of ribbon. These can be any size, any fabric, any style! I have made some by sandwiching batting and fabric and cutting around the outside with pinking shears.
We will be arranging a venue where they can all be hung and people can come and take whichever one they like. If you would like to take part could you please send yours hearts to:

Dorothy Smith
PO Box 357
Stratford 4352, New Zealand

Evie Harris
523 Main North Road
Bay View, Napier 4104, New Zealand

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In addition, a portion of eQuilter sales from our New Zealand Import collection will be donated to the New Zealand Red Cross for earthquake victims. (In addition to our usual 2% of sales donated to charity.)

I belong to many online quilt lists, because I like to keep my finger on the pulse of the quilting world. One of the lists (dedicated to fiber art and quilt art) has regularly, over the years, trotted out that old debate of " What is Art" and "Is quilting a craft or an art?".

Predictably, every time those old warhorses are led out of the barn, we all heave a collective sigh while the newbies flog a repeatedly-resurrected-dead-horse.

However, if you study the work of the great art masters over the centuries, you will find that they took the development of their craft very seriously. Great painters and sculptors spend years and decades developing their craft, so that they can eventually create great art. The two go hand in hand – they are not mutually exclusive.

On the other hand, I have seen modestly presented works of textile art, sold in artsy tourist shops around the world, that have such exquisitely rendered works of embroidery, applique & beadwork, that it transcends much of what we like to call Fiber Art. It is the mastery of textile CRAFT, and an individual expression of textile ART at the same time. If you frame it and hang it on the wall, it becomes Art!

I've seen quilters so anxious to be an artist, that they don't take time to learn their craft. In this age when everyone wants to do everything fast, and we all want immediate gratification, there is something to be said for learning your craft first, so you can later express your creative ideas effortlessly. It is like a musician studying their scales and etudes, so they can play Beethoven later, or even learn to compose music or improvise in a jazz style.

In this world that has become so polarized, perhaps we can choose to participate in a creative expression that embraces, respects and admires ART and CRAFT in the same breath. We can learn traditional techniques and then break the rules to make our own unique version of a traditional artform. We can create beautiful works of art, BECAUSE we have studied and practiced the craftsmanship that we admire in textile museum exhibits.

And…as in the art world…it is ok for us to be inspired by the Art and Craft that has come before us…without being accused of copying. All great artists have been inspired by someone who has gone before them, then growing into their own unique expression of that original inspiration.

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Our thoughts and prayers are with the community of Christchurch in New Zealand. This week we'll send a portion of sales from our New Zealand Import collection to help earthquake victims.

http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate

My neighbor's daughter is doing a semester abroad in Christchurch now, and we were relieved to hear that she is safe. We'll pass on some other NZ disaster-relief organizations in our Tuesday Creative Nudge newsletter.

As you may have guessed by now, I have a treasure trove of images from the Tokyo Quilt Festival, and I am enjoying picking out images to match my Creative Nudge topic of the week!

This feisty 167 x 161 cm quilt full of Dinosaurs and Elephants, was the 3rd place winner in the Junior category, by Kaito and Reon Iizuka. (I was just tickled to see one of my Southwest fabric designs in the 2nd place Junior winner!)

Elephants made with Dots and Plaids tooting flowers out of their trunks? A dinosaur with a 3-D ruffled spinal ridge, with a gold lame face and a big smile? Hey why not? Her blue egg just hatched!

As we all know, we are born creative, but growing up often squeezes all the juice out of us. Kids are just oozing wild No-Rules Creativity that explodes out in messy and brilliant expressions of playfulness …but as we get older that joyful explosion is often met with "tsk tsk…"

I would really love to see more quilt exhibits with a Junior category, like the one in Tokyo. The kids section is just as big, and just as beloved as the other parts of the show! These kids are not just copying patchwork quilts – they are making one-of-a-kind WORKS OF ART.

Today I visited with an administrator at a local middle school, and we tossed around a few ideas about starting a sewing club at the school, or at a local center for low-income and minority families. As we read in the news every day about schools budgets being cut, you and I know that is going to include art classes and other creative activities.

Home Economics and sewing classes are long gone from the vast majority of school systems, so it is up to all of us to find ways to pass on our knowledge and love of sewing and quilting to the next generation. Whether it is stepping up to offer classes at your local fabric or quilt shop, mentoring your neighbors' kids, volunteering some time with a 4-H club or Girl Scout sewing badge meeting, donating an older basic machine still in good working condition, or just giving fabric to excited youngsters, it is really up to all of us to bring kids and young adults into our Wonderful World of Color and Fabrics!

So I would like to CHALLENGE my readers to make a commitment to sharing their passion for sewing with some young people this year! Come on! You know you want to!

Please post your ideas here for all of us to share!

If you are already working on a project like this, we'd really LOVE to hear your experience on what works, and what doesn't.