eQuilter Blog

As we move through the traditions and gatherings of the holiday season…often a twinkling melody, the scent of baking gingerbread, a small jingly ornament rescued from the corner of a dusty box….will bring back a memory that startles us with its clarity. Particularly if you have lost a loved one in the last year, those cherished memories are full of sentiment …wrapping us in warm comfort like an antique quilt.

For our holiday preparations, we may be unfolding cherished quilts made by those who taught us the beloved art and craft that we now share. At the same time, we are making and gifting special quilts that may be treasured and shared after we have gone. The older I become, the more I am aware of the family stories that are held in our quilts. Many of you chronicle your family history, the times that we live in, by making quilts documenting those themes and events.

During these times when we look forward and backward at the same time, we glimpse the thread of Time that connects the generations of our family. The Christmas cookies that you made with your grandmother, perhaps now you make with your grandchildren. We smile in the beauty of these moments, knowing that the younger people in our lives may have a similar realization in the future.

This week I had a memory pop up from the depths of childhood. I remember being chosen to play the angel in our local church’s Nativity play. I remember my mother curling my hair into ringlets. I remember having to stand a certain way so the wings would not fall off. I think my costume was the same white sheet with a hole for my head, that had been used at Halloween for a ghost costume. And I remember the cast party with an assortment of cookies that I had never seen before!

As you prepare for the holiday season, I do hope you will have some quiet time with needle and thread. Grasp the thread that runs through our lives, our families, and the times we live in. We are all woven into the rich tapestry of history as the clock ticks, and every day is a gift.

Sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here. Most recent article – Pro Tips for BERNINA Q 20

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Feb 2 – SAQA Europe/Middle East – Zoom Lecture
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception


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

See Luana’s Artist Blog, 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.

Here is another great art quilt from the Taiwan Quilt Festival. This dynamic piece won Best of Show!

Artist: Cai Meiying
“Boy Facing the Wind – My Boy of Yingfeng”
100 cm x 100 cm (40″ x 40″)

Artist Statement: (Google Translation)
The air was filled with the smells of rain, sweat, and tears. The pursuit of a goal is like chasing a football on the field. Along the way, you encounter various obstacles and setbacks…but you are willing to get up again after failure. That requires strong will and confidence. I saw that strength on your face. Because we believe, we persevere. Because we dream, life is wonderful. Watching you intently on the field, radiating confidence, I also rediscovered my own courage.

My comments:
The artist has managed to capture the sense of movement, with the figures in focus and the background abstracted with an out-of-focus texture. Amazing how she has captured the intensity of the boys’ faces with relatively simple shapes.

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website and blog!
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Dec 10 – Canadian Quilt Association – Zoom Lecture – Intl Quilt Trends
Feb 2 – SAQA Europe/Middle East – Zoom Lecture
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception

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.

I hope all of you have plans to join your quilt guild or your local quilting klatch for holiday merriment, stitching and b**ching, or whatever makes you laugh. It has been a heckuva year and we all need to have some clinking glasses and quilty gift exchanges to get through the end of the December. Our local Meals on Wheels sells frozen take-and-bake pies as a fundraiser, so I went and got a couple pies for our family Christmas celebrations. All my quilt projects are finished for the year, so it is time to hit the quilt parties. Yay!

This week the organizers of the Houston Quilt Festival had a big announcement: The dates for next year’s festival have been moved forward and will now be November 12-15. But also they announced that Quilt Market (the trade show for quilt shops) has been permanently cancelled. I have been going to Quilt Market since March 1999 so I’ve had waves of nostalgia the last few days, thinking of all the wonderful talented people in the industry who I have come to know and love. It is the end of an era.

However this week also brought us an abundance of magazine publications, and I am most excited by Quilting Arts Magazine because my artist group “Soul Stories” (premiered in Houston) is featured with a fabulous 12-page gallery, starting on page 32. Congratulations to our group of artists, on such a strong start to our project the last couple months. If you pick up the magazine, be sure to check out this article.

A couple days ago we had our first big snow of the season (7″ total) and our first super-chill nights. (Down to 9 degrees Fahrenheit) The luminous full moon shining on the snowy trees and hills, reminds me of that Christmas Eve poem:

“The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
gave the luster of midday to objects below…”

It was a harbinger of the Pantone Color of the Year for 2026, which is “Cloud Dancer”…an ivory color representing clarity and serenity…a calming influence in a frenetic society. Think of it as a blank canvas. I like the whisper soft palette of pastels that coordinate with this floating, illuminating hue. You don’t have to like it or not like it. It is a color trend forecast for 2026 and it is also the color worn by Suffragettes. You may recall that I spent an evening with Lee Eiseman in September, and had a 6-hour conversation over dinner. As the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, she is the color maven who makes the final choice and announcement of the COTY.

We’ve hung a fresh pine wreath in the office and at home, greeting us with that woodsy green fragrance, and now I am in the holiday spirit. Today I am taking my “Celtic Christmas” quilt (made for the now-defunct “Irish Quilt Magazine”) to a Denver Christmas quilt guild party, where we are going to hang up all our quilts and celebrate our quilty friendships and count our blessings.

We all wish you many seasonal joys as you prepare for whatever holiday you celebrate.

Sharing your love for fabric,
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here. Most recent article – Pro Tips for BERNINA Q 20

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Dec 10 – Canadian Quilt Association – Zoom Lecture – Intl Quilt Trends
Feb 2 – SAQA Europe/Middle East – Zoom Lecture
Feb 18-21 – QuiltCon – Raleigh NC
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception


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

See Luana’s Artist Blog, 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.