We are madly in love with the equine artwork in this collection, featuring the wild energy of galloping (gorgeous) horses front and center. If you are a Horse Person, you will appreciate that not all horse artwork accurately depicts these beautiful creatures, but this dynamic painting is the outstanding exception! Brava to the artist Elise for giving us such a compelling and spirited artwork for our sewing and quilting pleasure.
To make this 66″ x 73″ quilt design, you will start with the 40″ x 44″ panel, then piece the top and bottom sections with 2 Hoffman Hand-Dyes, and a stone texture print. Finish the border with the coordinating horse stripe.
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.
Someone was recently asking me to speak to their group about Color Theory, confusing my background in Color Trend Forecasting. But actually what I am even more interested in sharing, is the concept of Color Intuition. You may be familiar with the concept of Color Psychology – the idea that each color has a psychological or emotional effect on us – and some also say that they have a physical effect on us too. (Look up Baker-Miller Pink, also known as Drunk Tank Pink.)
I encourage you to approach this concept from the other angle: the colors you are drawn to in your creative work, represent what you need in your life. Sometimes we are attracted to a particular palette of colors at a certain stage of our life, to soothe us, to bring focus, or to energize. Color can be healing, and inspirational.
If we live in a colorful landscape (with red rocks, or emerald green fields, or aqua water) that may well inspire us in our work as well. If we live in a gray landscape, we may feel comfortable with a subdued palette, or we may be drawn to an energetic palette of hot brights! Trending colors like Barbie Pink may push our buttons, as positive or negative.
The concept of Intuitive Color encourages you to trust your Inner Color Voice, and don’t second-guess yourself when you are drawn to color that you never would have used in the past. It is catching your attention for a reason! Sometimes the easiest way to embrace these color surprises is to start by using them as an accent color in your next few projects.
I encourage you to be courageous in 2024, and go on a Color Adventure. Try something that is out of your comfort zone perhaps? Or try something that keeps catching your eye, but you’ve been afraid to consider. It is calling to you for a reason.
sharing your love for fabric…and color, Luana and Paul
Travel/Quilt Dates: Jan 26 – SAQA NOCO eQuilter Tour Feb 21-24, 2024 – QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC – eQuilter is a GOLD Sponsor. March 6 – Canadian Quilters Association – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends”
To make this 66″ x 79″ quilt design, you will start with the central 36″ x 44″ large block panel. Cut and piece the secondary 36″ x 44″ small block panel to create the top and bottom horizontal sections. Then use the coordinating Dragon Stripe and Kona Solid Black to construct the border.
This is better than a Dragon picture book because you don’t have to turn any pages – the dragons are all right there!
Hang it on the wall or use as a fully-engaged lap quilt while watching favorite Dragon Films: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire How to Train Your Dragon Eragon Hobbit – Desolation of Smaug Dragonheart (our favorite – Sean Connery is the dragon voice) The Never-Ending Story Dungeons & Dragons
The colorful detailed digital artwork is AWESOME – even better in person.
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.
Marc Chagall Painting on the ceiling of Palais Garnier Opera House in Paris.
Do you remember the first time you saw Phantom of the Opera? Was it on Broadway, or a local/traveling production, or perhaps the movie? Have you had a chance to visit the Opera House in Paris that inspired the story? It is the Palais Garnier, and yes there really is a rooftop with winged statues, and a Box #5. When you visit the opera house, you are overwhelmed by the glittering Grand Foyer, the marble staircases, the opulent gilded ornaments, and embraced by the lush red velvet, but when you look up….
On the ceiling you see this monumental painting by Marc Chagall. I have toured this opera house twice – 10 and 20 years ago – and this photo popped up in my Facebook memories today. Chagall had assistants, but it is worth mentioning that he painted this at the age of 77, completing the project in 1964. Chagall’s surrealist painting celebrates Paris’ iconic architecture, with a timeline of notable composers throughout the centuries.
The first time I saw Phantom in Denver, I thought I was so lucky to get a seat in the center front! I must have been the only person who didn’t know that a chandelier would come flying over my head and crash onstage. (Relax folks – it’s all part of the show.) Did that really happen at the Palais Garnier? Yes! In 1896 the counterweight holding the chandelier detached and fell into the crowd. And is there really a lake under the opera house? Yes! But it was tamed and contained in a concrete water tank that is an emergency reservoir in case of fire.
And if you have not ever seen the Phantom of the Opera, sadly, the longest running show on Broadway, closed last Spring. But I urge you to watch the movie, and watch it with subtitles the first time! If you love costume films, this is a must see. There is a LOT of gorgeous fabric in this film!
To make this 64″ x 81″ exclusive quilt design, you will start with the gorgeous 24″ x 44″ central panel with Eagle and Flag, painted in the atmospheric alcohol ink technique. What really makes this project sing is the Red-White-Blue Ombre Waves that are used for the large inner border. Finish with smaller Star-Spangled stripes in the outer border, all layered with strips of a rich deep Indigo Hoffman Hand-Dye.
This quick-and-easy quilt goes together so fast, you’ll want to make more than one for your local Quilts of Valor organization.
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.
My Inbox is full of emails reviewing what happened in 2023. It is interesting to review some of those lists, but for many of us 2023 was a difficult year. I am always excited to start a New Year, but I am especially chuffed for 2024, because I am returning to my studio, and my art/design practice. I have given myself something to look forward to, so I can move forward. For those of you also mourning the loss of one or more loved ones, I invite you to join me by healing through creativity.
Recently I signed up again for Turner Classic Movies, and I’ve been slurping down the December festival movies of Cary Grant. Yesterday was Father Goose, Houseboat, and Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House. I used to spend time with Mom in her room, watching TCM old movies together. Now I watch them alone late at night, but I feel she is there with me.
Do you have a New Years Eve family tradition? For years Sophie Quinn and I have been going to downtown Denver for the Colorado Symphony’s “Night in Vienna” – an evening full of Strauss Waltzes and finishing with the traditional Radetzky March. That rousing piece sends us out into the last few hours of the year with smiles on our faces and a roaring fire in our hearts, ready to face whatever the New Year will bring. This year Sophie Quinn is working at Boettcher Hall for that concert (!) but she’ll come and slip into the aisle seat that I am saving for her, while the music plays.
We hope that you will also be filled with that creative fire from your New Year celebrations, we thank you for supporting our family business and our charity program in 2023. When you place an order, any order, 2% of your purchase goes to help those in need, save the planet, and bring comfort.
Wishing you many blessings in the New Year.
sharing your love for fabric, Luana and Paul
Travel/Quilt Dates: Jan 26 – SAQA NOCO eQuilter Tour Feb 21-24, 2024 – QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC – eQuilter is a GOLD Sponsor. March 6 – Canadian Quilters Association – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends”
This quick-and-easy Free Quilt Pattern is a riot of color, set off by borders of crisp Black and White Gingham Checks. Summer blossoms are exploding off the white background, giving the illusion of a lush 3-D garden in bright sunlight.
To make this 63″ x 63″ quilt design, start with the central square floral-and-bird panel, then add the coordinating stripe to create the engineered border. We’ve finished with a solid black frame and a solid white binding to set off the brilliant hues of the Roses, Iris, Lupines, Chrysanthemums, Columbine and Pansies.
We see this as a lap quilt, a wall hanging, or even a fabulous table-topper. This gorgeous painted garden is full of beautiful artistic details in the flowers and birds, that will make your heart sing!
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.
Over the next few days, for those of you placing orders over $100…besides Free Shipping, we will include the Year-End “Good News” Newsletter booklet from Mission of Love. (As quantities last.) We have partnered with Mission of Love and Kathy Price for 25 years, supporting this all-volunteer non-profit to help those in need in Pine Ridge Reservation SD, Guatemala, Mayan Mexico, and more. I have traveled to Guatemala with Kathy and group of surgeons for a Cleft-Lip/Palate surgery trip, as the official photographer in the hospital waiting room and the operating room. I joined her in a tornado-devastated town to distribute comfort quilts to those who had lost their homes, and some had lost their children. A few of you in the Ohio area have reached out to volunteer, and many of you have donated quilts and cash for MOL to distribute to those with almost nothing. I thank you for your generosity.
This MOL newsletter features my portrait of Kathy which was made for the “Better World” exhibit, curated by Susan Brubaker Knapp and Lyric Montgomery Kinard. The quilts traveled 2019-2022, starting in Houston and ending at the Visions Museum. I know many of you saw this uplifting exhibit in person, celebrating amazing heroes.
The statement for this exhibit read: “There are those among us who make personal sacrifices, who forgo comfort and safety while striving to make the world a better place. They are persistent and dogged in their determination to lift, to save, to shed light, to inspire. They are the helpers, the speakers, the ones who act. They soldier on in spite of persecution or personal risk. They seek to help one lone person or the entire planet. They represent the very best of humanity.”
This mission statement continues to inspire me – to support these courageous steadfast heroes when I meet them – to support their projects – and to aspire to similar accomplishments. I am returning to my studio to continue my art and design practice in 2024, and I have made a commitment that every piece I make will have the intention of inspiring others to think, to act, to speak out on behalf of those without a voice…from children and animals, to the Earth itself. Actually Mother Earth does have a voice, if we stop to listen. Perhaps as you contemplate your goals for 2024, you will take some time to listen to that gentle voice that is whispering to us in all of our quiet moments. “Peace”.
Thank you for supporting our family-owned business in 2023 – The year we topped $2 million raised for charity – with YOUR help.
Travel/Quilt Dates: Feb 21-24, 2024 – QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC – eQuilter is a GOLD Sponsor. March 6 – Canadian Quilters Association – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends”
