Tonight’s Free Quilt Pattern features a graceful peacock and cascading feathers, illustrated with Melanie Samra’s distinctive alcohol ink painting technique.
To make this 59″ x 64″ distinctive quilt, you will start with the atmospheric 24″ x 44″ panel. We’ve combined four of the collection’s blender prints, in shades of Seafoam Green, Nautical Blue and Azure, to make the pieced border for this dynamic eQuilter exclusive quilt design.
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.
Today we received this delightful letter from longtime customer Jean, and I just had to share with you:
“I am a senior citizen (I’m now 100) and live alone so like to keep myself busy so my brain will keep properly going. Serious sewing is my way of doing it as you have to use that brain when you assemble a jacket or two! I like your variety, your color sense and the quality of the fabric. With my 2.25 yards plus some knits for my jackets’ sleeves and collars I manage to keep going….so again, thank you, thank you! And, have a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year!”
Wow, I think Jean has discovered the secret to a long happy life!
Today Kaufman announced their 2024 Kona Color of the Year. It is a soothing cool pastel green named “Julep”. It reminds me of Daiquiri Ice. Remember that Baskin Robbins flavor? It has been around since 1962. Yummy. If you’d like to be notified as soon as the Kona Color of the Year arrives in our warehouse, give us a call (or email) and we’ll put you on The List. We order yardage and precuts way in advance, sight unseen, because we know you are going to want it the minute it is available. In the meantime you can review the Kaufman Kona Solids in stock now.
On Thursday Pantone will announce their 2024 Color of the Year. One thing to remember about these colors – they are trending colors that will be in stores in early 2024. The products are literally ‘on the water’ – i.e. being shipped from factories to warehouse and then retail shops in the next month or so. They are not necessarily predictions of color trends far in the future, but snapshots of emerging color trends for the coming season and coming year. However we do expect these colors to be HOT throughout 2024 and undoubtedly we’ll be seeing lots of eye candy coming out on social media to celebrate and illustrate how to use/sew and live with these hues.
Both Kaufman and Pantone chose these colors awhile ago, and for months have been developing products with these hues. In the case of Pantone, they work with fashion designers and other color trend experts to choose the color in advance, and then work with more brand names to develop more product lines that will hit the stores in 2024. You will see branded product lines immediately following, in cosmetics, home dec, etc. It is fun to see what all the designers have been up to the last 6 months!
For future color forecasting, the colors are already bubbling up in the studios of artists and ateliers of designers around the world. In the coming year, as we see these new color combinations in galleries, art festivals, on fashion runways and in street fashion, we recognize them as something new and fresh, and….a color trend is born.
These days, because every color has been done, the freshness comes with how colors are combined. Even in our industry, every few years we start to see these innovative color combinations bubbling up in quilt festival exhibits, textile art galleries, and then a brave textile designer will put it in a new collection, and if the time is right it will catch our eye and a new color story is launched!
Travel/Quilt Dates: Dec 8-9 – Boston Mass Feb 21-24, 2024 – QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC – eQuilter is a GOLD Sponsor. March 6 – Canadian Quilters Association – Zoom Lecture “Intl Quilt Trends”
This remarkable panel which overlooks Utah’s Monument Valley is framed by two rows from renowned artist Daniel Ramirez’s ‘Pride Dancers Stripe’, and is finished with a mitered Native American blanket print.
This 63″ x 72″ quilt will bring the majesty of Sky and Earth to any room where it hangs … or make this quilt for someone with connections to Native Tribes or a love of the colorful beauty of the Southwest.
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.
Quilters throw the best parties, in my opinion, and today I finally got in the holiday spirit after spending time with the Wa Shonaji Quilt Guild in Denver. Those ladies know how to have a good time! They put on a fabulous luncheon, we played a gift-sharing game, sang all 12 verses of The 12 Days of Christmas (hilarious) and there was a delightful display of holiday-themed quilts. When the new guild officers were sworn in for 2024, there was much giggling when they swore an oath to uphold guild tenets including setting a good example by being good “finishers”. Haha we all know what that means.
Tonight I am driving back to Denver, dodging traffic for the Parade of Lights, to see Sophie Quinn perform in the opera Hansel and Gretel, with the MSU orchestra. This semester she is principal 2nd violin. We are so proud of her. Her part time job is in Patron Services for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. If you go to a concert at Boettcher Hall you just might see her at the ticket counter.
This is the time of year to give (and receive!) eQuilter Gift Certificates. If you order now, we will drop them in the mail Monday, or you can have instant gratification with an emailed Gift Certificate. Don’t forget about our other specialty Gift items like Artisan Chocolates, Tea Towels, and the ever-popular Laurel Burch Socks….all in the Christmas Gift page.
In case you missed my e-newsletter on Wednesday, we have a special price on all Aurifil products through the end of the year. We will not be restocking until after Jan 1st, so if there is a group of colors you need for a 2024 project, NOW is the time to snap it up!
sharing your love for fabric, Luana and Paul
Travel/Quilt Dates: Dec 8-9 – Boston MA Feb 21-24, 2024 – QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC – eQuilter is a GOLD Sponsor.
Tonight’s Free eQuilter pattern features a gorgeous garden poppy collection filled with elegant dragonflies and forest textures.
Start with the main 24″ x 44″ panel, piecing sets of three blocks above and below, with a deep aqua sashing. Then miter and surround the panel with a coordinating poppy stripe, and finish with a rich red texture for the outer border.
This 52″ x 70″ quilt makes a wonderful addition to your living room, or a gift to someone who spends a lot of time in their flower garden.
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.
After I left the fashion industry and found my way to the quilting world in 1990, I spent a few years taking quilt classes to learn some of the more advanced techniques. First I had to learn how to use a Rotary Cutter. Who knew? I had a giant heavy pair of Gingher Shears that could cut silk chiffon with a whisper, but there were quilting terms and toys I had to learn all about. Fat Quarters, needle-turn applique, quarter inch seams, binding, batting, basting, bearding, etc.
When I was ready to buy fabric, I was very disappointed by what was in the stores at that time. There was a lot of beige and dark colors. I was looking for Jewel tones! Pastels! Floral hues! Well, you know the rest is history. I had to start my own business to find those contemporary brilliant fabrics, back in 1999. Back in the Dark Ages.
These days quilters are not afraid of color, and they have become more sophisticated in their color choices. We put together stories based on a variety of color palettes: Midcentury Modern & Retro Midtones Ice Cream Pastels Mineral Earthtones Metallics like Rose Gold, and Pearlescent Shimmer Deeply Saturated Midnight Palettes Natural Plant Hues & Delicate Floral Tints Analogous and Tertiary Color Groups
This makes me so happy to have witnessed the unfolding of Color Courage in the Quilting Tribe. We can thank Kaffe Fassett for blasting open the barn door years ago, and let me tell you, the horses are out of the barn!
Today I am sharing one of my favorite quilts from the Houston Quilt Festival a few weeks ago. Aren’t those colors absolutely luscious? I just want to eat them with a spoon.
This beautiful quilt is by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry, and it is a great example of the use of a full spectrum of colors. The colors of the birds form a color wheel with warm colors on the right side and cool colors on the left. She calls this piece “Confabulation”.
One trend that I’ve been watching over the last 10 years is a growing Color Courage for quilters working with more thread colors. The extreme cutting edge of this trend would be a whole-cloth quilt with multiple bright threads forming a mandala on a black background.
Every time I start a new project I add a few new key colors to add to my palette of thread colors, which is part of the excitement of the stitching phase. I have been using Aurifil 50 weight in both my Bernina 790, and Q20, to make my recent larger pieces. I have gotten pretty fast at switching out the colors as I move through the different sections of the quilt. Practice makes perfect!
Long ago when I started taking quilt classes, there were little old lady teachers who insisted that we use ‘neutral’ threads like midtone Gray or Beige…for the whole quilt project. These days, I often will use a midtone gray in the bobbin, but the top of my quilt is a wild Carnival of Color! So I invite you to take advantage of a special pricing on all our Aurifil threads through the end of the year. We will not be restocking until after the New Year, so if you see some colors that make your heart sing…snap them up now!
Well, it finally happened. I am turning 65 this weekend and am officially a senior citizen at last. I don’t feel like a ‘old person’ but I am sure a twenty-something person would think differently, ha. I signed up for Medicare and AARP, and how appropriate that it happens on Small Business Saturday.
As you may know, I worked in the garment industry after I got my design degree, and experienced much of the trauma that Corporate America has to offer. During those years I became a freelance designer, eventually traveling back and forth from New York to Asia (on Pan Am Business Class – those were the days!) and racking up miles and #metoo stories until I finally left the fashion industry in disgust.
I found my way to the quilting world in 1990, and we opened our business in March 1999. That’s 33 years that I’ve been hanging with the Quilting Tribe, and I’ve never looked back! I’ve been some version of self-employed since 1982, and I married a man who also came from an entrepreneurial family business background, which is why being business partners with my spouse has been such a success, and a blessing. In the process Paul has become a Quilt Maven which has deepened our marriage in ways I could not have imagined. He’s a Keeper, for sure!
On this Small Business Saturday, I am grateful that all 3 of our kids have been able to work in the family business. Currently Sam, our middle child, is handling our social media and writing descriptions. Mason and Sophie both worked for us during the pandemic, but now they are off in other jobs. Our office manager Dijana has been with us for 17 years, and we have a mix of old and new employees throughout the company. Most are mothers or grandmothers.
As I start another trip around the Sun, I am so grateful for the opportunities and friendships this industry has offered to me, to us, and in particular it has been a place to explore and expand my creative expression. Now that my caretaking role has been lifted, I am planning to return to my art studio and design work in 2024….which is very exciting.
sharing your love for fabric, Luana and Paul
Travel/Quilt Dates: Feb 21-24, 2024 – QuiltCon in Raleigh, NC – eQuilter is a GOLD Sponsor.
Tonight’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern features a snow covered scene with an illuminated chapel and horse drawn carriages. This peaceful, celebratory scene is surrounded by bountiful pine trees and a shining full moon.
To make this 68″ x 56″ wall hanging, begin with the Silent Night panel, and piece the borders & spiritual corner blocks with wintry blue tonals and a golden hand dye.
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 decades, I’ve had a mad love affair with Wisteria. It doesn’t really grow here in Colorado, but when I lived in New York there was a building on my block with an ancient wisteria that had patiently crawled up the painted brick facade to the 5th floor. Every Spring it would put on a dazzling perfumed show. Crowds would gather….we would ooh and aah…and when they cut it down we gathered again, and wept. It was 125 years old.
During my travels around the world I’ve encountered wisteria tunnels, drapes and arbors in Asia and Europe, and I always try to take time to sit under these wise elders, breath in their intoxicating fragrance, and wonder at all they have seen. At a temple in Japan, a garden in China, a castle wall in Italy, and recently at the public botanic gardens in Nantes France, when I was at the Pour l’Amour du Fils quilt festival in April…in these places I have sat under the graceful dripping clusters of pea-like flowers, and hummed “Amazing Grace”.
Wisteria symbolize resilience and longevity, and this plant can live for centuries. Sheltering under an ancient wisteria in a rainstorm is an absolutely magical experience, with the clusters of blossoms dancing and dripping in the wind.
As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday this week, I am going through my old family scrapbooks, and remembering my grandmother’s Oregon flower gardens, and how she hummed quietly in the kitchen…I find myself humming “Amazing Grace” again, as my grandmother and mother sang to me, and as I sang to all of my children at bedtime when they were small.
As we prepare for this time of grace and gratitude, I feel so blessed to be safe and healthy, and also that we have a business that generates funds to help those who live in war zones, in extreme poverty, natural disaster zones, or other unfathomable disruptions. At our Thanksgiving tables, let us all think about how we can help those in need. If not money, then the gift of time, the nurturing support of listening and caring….random acts of kindness and senseless beauty.
Through our charity program, we continue to send funds to those most in need, and for that we thank you for supporting our family business. Together we CAN make a difference.
We wish you peace at your holiday table this week.
To make this 53″ x 63″ quilt design, you will start with the opulent 34″ x 44″ central portrait panel. We’ve set it in a frame of coordinating African Kente-inspired geometric, and a rich Mahogany Hoffman hand dye.
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.
