eQuilter Blog

Recently I took a short trip to England, and while I was there I was delighted to visit the home and studio of artist/author Cas Holmes in Maidstone. We recorded an intimate tour of her studio, and interview about her work, which I hope you will enjoy. I am featuring a detail of her hand-stitched piece “Derek’s Garden”, plus her book currently in stock. We just love her books because they have a yummy cloth cover with lots if visual inspiration inside.

As I am sure you are aware, embroidery has made a huge comeback. My grandmother was an embroidery artist so I have several treasured pieces of her work. I collected Sashiko-stitched pieces during the years I traveled to the Tokyo Quilt Festival. The Slow Stitch movement was amplified during the pandemic, and now there are many online groups producing and sharing a wide range of embroidered/hand-stitched works, from traditional to sassy. The Modern Quilt movement has its own version of Big Stitch treatments, and many makers are enthusiastically pursuing folk art and ethnic embroidery traditions. All of this can be included in our quilts, our garments, and our fiber art.

Over the past several years we have been expanding our selection of threads for those who love to embellish with big stitching. I am also featuring here, the perle #8 in several color collections from Wonderfil. Whether you like to embellish with Sashiko Thread, Perle 8, Hand-Dyed Japanese Embroidery Floss or imported Metallic threads…you’ll have fun considering the options in this category.

You can’t do hand-stitching without those big stitch needles, and there are a smorgasbord of thimbles available these days for the serious stitcher. As you know, the Japanese quilters are famous for their hand-stitching and hand applique, so many of these specialty thimbles are imported from Japan.

Summertime is a great time to put together a hand-stitching kit to take along on a road trip. Personally I like putting my embroidery stash in a vintage metal lunchbox, like I had as a kid. I was inspired to do this when I sat next to historian Barbara Brackman at a quilty luncheon, and she whipped out her hand applique project. We had a nice chatty whispered gossip session while she fished needle and threads out of her vintage lunchbox.

If you don’t have a 1960s metal lunchbox, the next best thing for a travel kit, is Yazzi Craft Organizers, which are often trimmed and embellished by their owners to reflect their own personal crafty interests. Personally I am just crazy about our Hand-Dyed Rainbow Rickracks, and our colorful Button collections, to decorate bags, garments and artsy wall hangings.

In closing I would like to express my sorrow at the sudden loss of Ellen Brown, the director at Timeless Treasures Fabrics in New York. She has been a true friend and supporter of eQuilter for 25 years, and we send our deepest condolences to her family and staff.

Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

Follow Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for quilt & travel images, review our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Subscribe to Luana’s Artist Website blog for more creative inspiration.

Travel/Quilt Dates:
June 19-22 – Quilt Canada, Edmonton
June 27-28 – Intl Quilt Museum, Lincoln NE
July 29 – Aug 5 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 27-31 – Speaker at World Wilderness Congress, Rapid City SD
December 5-13 – Textile & Costume Tour – Italy. Alpine Xmas Market Extension Dec 13-15.

The kids are out of school, we just blew past Memorial Day, and the summer stretches before us like a spool of thread unrolling across our sewing room floor. It seems like so much time right now, but we know it will just be a few months before the chill of Fall urges us to wrap up in a warm quilt again. This time of year it is hard to decide between gardening and sewing. So gather your summer fabrics to capture the essence of the flowers, the beach, the forest and mountains…and perhaps the simple pleasure of morning coffee on the porch, listening to the birds singing as the sun rises.

We are still thinking about Ukraine, and still lean towards Blue and Yellow fabrics. I read today that migration patterns of greater spotted eagles have changed since the war started: flying longer distances and making fewer rest stops. These extremely rare dark brown raptors are a vulnerable species with a declining population. We pray for peace for the sake of all living things…for the human babies and the wild babies.

When our kids were little, I sang to them every night when I tucked them in. I sang the same 2 songs every night, but once they got out of school, I added “Summertime” by George Gershwin to the lineup. First was “You Are My Sunshine”, then “Amazing Grace”. Adding “Summertime” was a seasonal treat. Sometimes now, I sing myself to sleep with those beloved lyrics. *sniff*

Sophie Quinn is working full time this summer, for the Colorado Symphony in Patron Services. So if you call for CSO tickets at the DCPA, you just might get her on the phone. She talked me into getting season tickets for the next season, and it is a pleasure to see her enjoying this deep exposure to a professional orchestra. She has also been elected president of the MSU student chapter of the Natl Association of Music Educators. Cool!

Are you still dreaming of joining my Textile & Costume Italy Tour? We have to make our hotel reservation commitments soon. I ask you to make your deposit to hold your place, by June 1st please. It is easy to set up a payment plan when you register online. We may still have room after that, but no guarantee of the price or availability.

You can see more of my photos from my research trips in Italy on this photo page. Photos with costumes at Carnival time are on this page. I’ve seen the guest list so far – we have a lovely group of textile nerds coming together for this unique experience.

Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

Follow Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for quilt & travel images, review our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Subscribe to Luana’s Artist Website blog for more creative inspiration.

Travel/Quilt Dates:
June 19-22 – Quilt Canada, Edmonton
June 27-28 – Intl Quilt Museum, Lincoln NE
July 29 – Aug 5 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 27-31 – Speaker at World Wilderness Congress, Rapid City SD
December 5-13 – Textile & Costume Tour – Italy. Alpine Xmas Market Extension Dec 13-15.