Flowers, Fruit & Pollinators

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Luana

Wednesday night I am flying to Birmingham England, for the Festival of Quilts. They are celebrating their 20th anniversary and I am excited to photograph the quilt exhibit this year. This has been the biggest show for Europe for many years, and I always look forward to seeing quilts from not only all over the UK (Ireland, Scotland, Wales & England) but also quilts from all over the continent. My favorites are the quilts that show some of the culture of their home country. From Finland and Netherlands, to Spain and Italy, it is a smorgasbord of color trends, fascinating techniques, and creative brilliance.

The last 2 weeks I’ve been madly working on 2 big projects – a writing project (which I’ll tell you about later this year) and a quilt that will premier at an art exhibit about endangered pollinators, opening August 14 at the Boulder Museum. (“Little Creatures”)

As you may know I’ve been developing a collaboration with the Endangered Species Coalition in Washington DC, and I was invited to make a piece for this project. I chose the Uncompahgre Fritillary – an endangered Colorado butterfly that lives in a small range in our mountains. They have also asked me to speak on “Art & Activism” Sept 14 at CU Boulder. More details to come.

It is one of the biggest quilts I’ve made so far – at 40″ x 60″ it has been a challenge to get it done before this trip! Some of the products I’ve used to get this quilt finished on my Bernina Q20:
Martelli Quilting Hoops, Sewers Aid, Silicone Spray, SoftFuse, Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite, Titanium Non-Stick Needles, Goddess Pressing Sheets, 72″ Wide Wool Felt, Karen Kay Buckley Scissors, and a Lightbox! And lots of beautiful colors of Aurifil Threads. The quilt is made from leftover scraps of eQuilter batiks and hand-dyes. After you guys buy all the yardage, I go ‘dumpster diving’ in our scrap hamper, and pull out batiks for my project. You can find a wide range of batiks and hand-dyes on our site of course, and you get first pick! All of these products – fabric, notions, fusibles, batting, thread – are available at eQuilter.

Contact Customer Service for more information.
These products are all Luana-tested and Luana-approved. *wink*
I will share a photo of the quilt when I get back.

Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul

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

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

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Travel/Quilt Calendar:
August 2-7 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska (via Homer)
Sept 14 – “Art & Activism” lecture at CU Boulder
Sept 28-30 – AQSG Seminar – Louisville, KY
Oct 27 – Nov 3 – Quilt Market/Festival – Houston TX

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Free Quilt Pattern – Steampunk Stitchery

Posted on July 30, 2023 by Luana

Are you one of the quilters who were surprised when this collection blew out in January and we couldn’t get any more? We’ve been patiently waiting for a reprint and it is finally here!

We aim to end the Summer season with a SMILE, and this whimsical Steampunk sewing-themed quilt is a great way to add a visual giggle to your sewing space or a classroom.

To make this 61″ x 61″ Free Quilt Pattern, you will start with the central 24″ x 44″ Birdcage Panel. Silly Steampunk Birds are perched with buttons, threads and other colorful notions. You will use a 2nd block panel to add the two side sections. Then add the coordinating stripe, blenders and Kona Solid Black to finish the border.

Add beads and buttons for more fun BLING. Pick out a few of these bright colors to add to your Thread Stash. Did you know that quilting with contrasting colors is a big trend now?

These sassy birds will give you a goofy grin wherever you hang them, and it is also a great quilt for a kid’s room, or your local sewing group. Have fun!

…from the ‘Steampunk Stitchery’ collection by Desiree’s Designs for Quilting Treasures.

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).

Don’t miss the ‘Precious Labrador Pups‘ and ‘Cosmic Butterfly‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Luana and Paul Rubin

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Attention Crazy Geniuses

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Luana

I’ve been sewing all week which is making me very happy. It is too hot to be out and about so I’d rather stay indoors at my machine until the temperatures drop. I am getting “Back to School” emails in my Inbox, and Sophie Quinn moved into her student apartment in Denver this week, so there’s an end in sight for this crazy summer weather. I bet many of you are thinking about the winter holidays, and planning some gift sewing. Longtime eQuilter customers know that when the temps drop, we stock our artisan chocolates again. (October)

Also in October, the Colorado issue of Quiltfolk magazine will be out, and my profile article will be in that issue. Yay! In the meantime we have started to carry this publication, with the current South California issue, and their new book of ‘Dogs’ which is just adorable.

Also this week I am delighted with the “Artist’s Desk” and “Mystic Library” collections, featuring artist supplies and vintage books – 2 of my favorite collectibles, besides fabric! *wink* To me, these kinds of novelty fabrics make the best gift quilts, garments, and home dec projects like curtains. We have many customers who use these types of prints to make camp shirts for the sassy dresser in their life. I think the Artist prints would make perfect ‘cafe curtains’ for a studio. As our Sewing/Maker Universe continues to expand, we love seeing the crazy/genius creations you all dream up with these unique and very collectible fabric designs! Send us photos of your completed projects!

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

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

See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Travel/Quilt Calendar:
Aug 3-7 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 18-24 – Bear Camp – Homer Alaska
Sept 28-30 – AQSG Seminar – Louisville, KY

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Free Quilt Pattern – William Morris Cats

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Luana

We have noticed there is a distinctive crossover when it comes to serious Cat lovers, and William Morris aficionados…so you can imagine our excitement when we first saw this collection of beautifully illustrated kitties set in lush Morris botanical backgrounds!

To make this fabulous feline 63″ x 63″ quilt design, you will start with 2 of the 24″ x 44″ Cat Block Panels. Then use the William Morris coordinating prints, and the matching Cat Stripe, to make the Cat-tastic border!

As you probably know, we have a wide variety of Cat fabrics, and also we are currently well-stocked in William Morris prints as well, so have fun checking out all these luscious Cat and Morris designs currently in the eQuilter warehouse!

…from the ‘Sophisti-Cats’ collection by Lesley Ann Ivory for Blank Textiles.

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).

Don’t miss the ‘Precious Labrador Pups‘ and ‘Cosmic Butterfly‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Luana and Paul Rubin

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Tea & Cakes in the Garden

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Luana

A couple months ago I used one of my latent fabric superpowers, and helped to save this beautiful collection from an untimely demise. I had ordered the whole luscious collection – hyperventilating with excitement – many months ago. Then we got the announcement that it had been cancelled due to lack of interest. What?!? So I begged and pleaded and cajoled, increased our order, and they decided to do one printing. I hope you love it as much as I do. It just makes me smile.

I mean, vintage teacups, lilacs, and delightful little canaries at a garden party. What’s not to love? Sigh….and evidently you won’t find this elsewhere because others turned it down. For those of you who are mutual fans of Victoria magazine, going to High Tea with girlfriends, twittering songbirds, and the smell of lilacs….this one’s for you. And me.

The 2 charming young ladies and the photo of fancy floral teacakes, are from a 19th century country manor house I visited in Finland, on my opera tour. Our long bus trip back to Helsinki, after spending a week by the lake and in the forest, was softened by our tea party at this delightful country estate. It was clearly a labor of love by the owners and staff. You can see photos of this estate, and other delights from Finland, on my photo pages. (I have now uploaded 225 photos which I hope will bring you some joy and creative inspiration.)

This week we are writing checks to our list of non-profits, that will take us over $2 million total donated to charity. This has only happened because of YOUR support of our family-owned business. We are so grateful that you share our desire to give back to those in need. Together we have made a huge difference in thousands of lives over the last 24 years. We thank you for being a part of this journey. We thank you for helping us to achieve this amazing milestone!

Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul

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

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

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Travel/Quilt Calendar:
August 2-7 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska (via Homer)
Sept 28-30 – AQSG Seminar – Louisville, KY

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Free Quilt Pattern – Cosmic Butterfly

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Luana

Today’s Exclusive Free eQuilter pattern features the ethereal light of Butterfly wings in a night sky illuminated by the stars. We have restocked this popular collection in jeweltones of Sapphire and Amethyst, due to many customer requests.

To make this 51″ x 68″ quilt design, you will start with the 24″ x 44″ Luminescent Butterfly panel, then add borders from the purple nebula starfield print, allover Night Sky Butterfly, coordinating Midnight stripes and dramatic solid black.

Butterflies represent rebirth, freedom, transformation, comfort and hope. This healing quilt carries a special meaning for whoever might receive this as a thoughtful gift.

…from the ‘Cosmic Butterfly’ collection by Timeless Treasures.

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).

Don’t miss the ‘Precious Labrador Pups‘ and ‘Klimt’s Bejeweled Kitty‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Luana and Paul Rubin

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What a Glorious Feeling

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Luana

Our weather patterns continue to be disrupted this summer, with the jet stream wobbling and making us wonder who got our Colorado summer weather….and whose weather did we get here in exchange? For those of you dealing with sweltering heat, an excess of bugs, or crazy flooding rains, it is a good summer to stay indoors and quilt! As Monty Python sang….”Always look on the bright side of life!” Quilting and art are my answer to all the stresses of life these days.

Our daughter Sophie Quinn is moving to Denver Monday, to finish her music education degree at MSU Denver/Auraria. I am crazy-busy finishing a quilt before I fly to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK. Last night I attended the artist opening reception for the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum (we are a sponsor) and it was great to hang out with a bunch of avid quilters (and their fans) for an evening. You can see photos on my personal Facebook page.

This coming week when we write the monthly checks to our list of non-profits, we will officially have topped the $2 million mark for our charity program. I will write about it in the Wednesday email. It is kind of surreal and also just amazing that, with your support, we have reached this incredible milestone! Together!

In the meantime I’m humming a new version of that Gene Kelly song…..my version is “I’m quilting in the rain, just quilting in the rain, what a glorious feeling…I’m sewing again!” ….and my background accompaniment is the drumming of raindrops on the roof.

sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

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

See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Travel/Quilt Calendar:
Aug 3-7 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 18-24 – Bear Camp – Homer Alaska
Sept 28-30 – AQSG Seminar – Louisville, KY

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Free Quilt Pattern – Klimt’s Bejeweled Kitty

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Luana

Have you noticed there are less fabrics with metallic accents these days? That is because the industry is switching over to the fabulously detailed digital-printing technology…but there is still room for screen printing because if you want rich metallic accents you have to use the screen-printing method. This gorgeously opulent Klimt collection is a delicious example of that technique. You gotta have GOLD in a Klimt fabric collection, *especially* on a Klimt Kitty!

This exclusive Free Pattern features one of our alltime most popular panels, which was created by one of our favorite designers…long before AI was creating artistic mashups.

To make this dazzling 48″ x 66″ Cat-themed quilt design, you will start with the 24″ x 44″ panel. You will set it off with Kona Solid Black and a gold-speckled blender, then create the pieced border with cats and Klimt geometrics set on point, in Klimt gold metallic spirals. Finish with another shimmering blender for the final border. This quilt is an awesome conversation piece for the serious Cat-Lover! Meow!

…from the ‘Cleo’ collection by Chong-A Hwang for Timeless Treasures.

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).

Don’t miss the ‘Precious Labrador Pups‘ and ‘Vintage Scrapbook‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Luana and Paul Rubin

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Once Upon a Cat

Posted on July 19, 2023 by Luana

We love cats, and we know you do too.
Many of you have found your way to my Facebook page – “Luana’s Fabriholic Kitty Club” – for people who have been unfriended for posting too many cat memes.

At our house, there is a lot of fur. We have 2 dogs, and 3 rescue cats, all of whom we adore. Here is a photo of our Tuxedo cat “Dante” who is a huge long cat and has a ‘cool dude’ personality. We also have an older snowshoe female and a younger male white/calico who is still in teenager mode. He steals things from my studio, brings them upstairs to play, then leaves them for the dog to chew on. Partners in crime!

It just occurred to me that we have a lot of fantastic CAT prints in stock right now. We keep restocking the Klimt cats, plus we have Japanese cats, Black Halloween cats, and my current favorite is the Lucky Neko Cat Cookies. My theory is….you can never have enough cat fabric.

How many of you have kitty helpers in your sewing space? Cats have an innate attraction to quilts, including unfinished quilts and piles of quilt blocks. The only problem is….they leave evidence in the form of CAT HAIR. But they are so adorable, we just laugh, and get out the Lint Roller. Make sure you get all that cat hair off your quilts before you ship them to the next quilt show!

Sharing your love of fabric…
Luana and Paul

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

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

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Travel/Quilt Calendar:
August 2-7 – Festival of Quilts, Birmingham UK
August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska (via Homer)
Sept 28-30 – AQSG Seminar – Louisville, KY

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Free Quilt Pattern – Precious Labrador Pups

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Luana

If you lean in close, you just might get some puppy kisses from today’s Free Quilt Pattern. They might be imaginary pup smooches but this digital panel is so detailed and realistic, these cutie-pies are about to jump out of the box and onto your lap!

To make this 68″ x 60″ cuddly canine quilt design, you will fussy cut diamonds from an allover dog print, and ‘good dog’ treats design, to set in a solid black background. This creates the inner border which sets off the adorable 36″ x 44″ puppy panel. Finish with a Hoffman Hand-Dye outer border, for a sweet doggy quilt in warm earthtones.

…from the ‘Precious Puppies’ collection by David Textiles.

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).

Don’t miss the ‘Furry and Bright‘ and ‘Dream Catcher Owl‘ quilt patterns!

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.

Click Here for a Video Tutorial of the Free Pattern Designer.
Download Instructions for the pattern at the bottom of the pattern designer page.

Luana and Paul Rubin

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