Mystical shimmering colors emanate from this forest scene, in today’s exclusive Free Quilt Pattern. We are featuring the artwork of Tara Turner, a self-taught artist who lives in the Similkameen Valley in British Columbia, Canada.
Her artworks are inspired by the colors of changing seasons and the magical energy flow of the forest. She spends her free time roaming the mountains and along the banks of the Similkameen River, where she creates artworks inspired by the colors and textures of fallen leaves, driftwood, wildflowers, and river stones.
To make this 43″ x 50″ quilt design, you will start with the beautiful 24″ x 44″ central panel depicting a dreamlike Forest Sunset. Then piece stars for the corner blocks, and inset coordinated blenders with a Hoffman Hand-Dye for the dramatic borders.
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.
A couple weeks ago we visited the holiday light show at the Denver Botanic Gardens. The trees and shrubs were wrapped in spirals of twinkling lights, and we marveled at the thousands of hours it must have taken to clothe the gardens in shimmering rainbows. As we wondered how long it took to create this fantasy winter wonderland (which was reflecting off the new-fallen snow) it reminded me of the one question that everyone asks when they view an intricate amazing quilt. You know the question! “How long did it take you to make that quilt?”
The answer is not weeks or months. It is years, and decades. How long did it take me to perfect that applique stitch? How long did it take me to be brave enough to use orange and purple together in one piece of textile art? How many hours and weeks and years have I practiced freemotion quilting? How long did it take for me to find the right sewing machine? How long did it take to acquire the palette of colors in my fabric stash and thread collection, to put this quilt design together?
It all starts with fabric, in my personal opinion. If you have the right fabrics, you can go to work with your stash and take an idea from concept to reality pretty quickly, by auditioning fabrics and laying them out side by side. All you have to do is give yourself permission to trust your eyes. When you land on the right combination, you know know it, right?
We have another big snowstorm arriving overnight. Our gardens lie sleeping beneath a blanket of snow, and we dream of summer blossoms as we play with our fabrics on a winter’s day.
Snow Days are the best days to stay indoors and sew!
Sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
* The collage above has a photo from the Denver Botanic Gardens, plus several fabrics in stock now at eQuilter.com
Travel/Quilt Calendar: Feb 15 – Virtual lecture for Victoria BC Quilt Guild Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – GOLD SPONSOR – Atlanta April 18-26 – Pour l’Amour du Fil – Nantes, France June 8-10 – Quilt Canada – Halifax, Nova Scotia August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska – Sign up Now to travel with Luana!
For those of you who share our love and concern for the oceans of our beautiful planet, we offer this dynamic “Whale Song” Free Quilt Pattern, and we remind you to choose the Ocean Conservancy as your recipient of the 2% donation when you check out.
We are featuring the gorgeous artwork of Jody Bergsma, one the most talented wildlife artists in our industry. Her expressive painting celebrates wild and free Orcas (also known as Killer Whales) as they leap through the waves and frothing bubbles of the ocean currents.
To make this exclusive 55″ x 71″ quilt design, you will start with the central 28″ x 44″ quilt panel. Then use 3 alcohol-ink coordinating blenders and 2 Hoffman Hand-Dyes to piece the border, mimicking ocean waves. The rich jewel-tones and powerful drama in Jody’s artwork make this a real conversation piece!
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.
We are thinking, if you could capture the essence of Pure Love and Joy in an image, this would be it! No words are needed with the gorgeous painting of a lush rose, exuding rainbows of light and color. We also feel like this image has a spiritual quality, with the glowing golden light perhaps representing a guardian angel, or…a creative muse?
To make this 55″ x 63″ quilt design, you will start with the central floral 36″ x 44″ digital-printed panel. Then you will cut and piece the tossed rose corner inset, and the Hoffman Hand-Dye border inset, with Kona Solid Black.
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 house is full of stories – objets d’art, books, textiles, and tchotchkes that I have collected traveling the world over 40+ years, in 40+ countries. Every time I travel I come home with one special item to remind me of the voyage. Generally there is a textile item like a tea towel, a piece of antique lace or vintage embroidery, a souvenir handkerchief, a tattered kimono fragment, or maybe a hand-embellished scarf from a local artisan. Over the years my collection has flourished and spread, just like my quilting fabric stash. When I am unsettled, I go to ‘organize’ my stash, or re-arrange my travel collection, to clear my head. As I remember the stories, I smile, or maybe shed a tear. The gifts I have received from Russian and Ukrainian quilters are the ones that are bringing tears these days.
However these gifts and travel mementos are also a great inspiration as I ponder my next few projects. The Babushka scarves from Russia, the Dala horses from Sweden, the postcards of Ukrainian wedding headdresses, the Celtic scarf from Ireland…they are a treasure trove of creative inspiration. You may or may not have started to travel again, but I bet you have a stash of what I call ‘wanderlust residue’ that you can spread out on the kitchen table and see what calls to you. Keep in mind these travel collections can be digital images in your camera or on your phone! When I travel I also make a point of capturing an image of anything that catches my eye – whether it be art, color or design – and I keep files of images for future reference. This is how quilters, embroiderers, textile designers, illustrators and other artistic folks keep their imagination filled with motifs and internal creative conversations.
This is why I do not suffer from Creative Block. I always have more ideas than there are hours in the day, or weeks in a year! Looking at photos and visiting my own tiny museum collection of travel collectibles is a never-ending resource of inspiration. Go dig around in your own wanderlust residue this weekend and see what happens!
Travel/Quilt Calendar: Feb 15 – Virtual lecture for Victoria BC Quilt Guild Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – GOLD SPONSOR – Atlanta April 18-26 – Pour l’Amour du Fil – Nantes, France June 8-10 – Quilt Canada – Halifax, Nova Scotia August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska – Sign up Now!
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Today we bring you this peaceful scene, featuring the underwater world of the Sea Turtle. These gentle creatures glide silently through the water, nibbling algae and occasionally bobbing to the surface for a breath of air.
Turtles have been part of legends and spirituality around the world, and are associated with indigenous creation stories. In several religions, mythology and folklore, turtles symbolize wisdom, long life, and resolute tranquillity.
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.
I didn’t know that I needed a vacation when I made plans, but after the stressful week we just had, Sophie and I are on a trip and we are totally fried. A few days ago her beloved violin professor succumbed to cancer, which we’ve known was coming since Christmas. This is part of what triggered a decision for her to leave CU Boulder, giving us about 48 hours to make the decision for her to transfer to MSU Denver, to finish her music education degree. In the midst of the madness of prepping for an audition, registering for a new school, withdrawing from the CU program…our beloved doggy had to have eyelid surgery on short notice. Somehow we managed to work everything out, and get on the plane yesterday. (She starts at the new school next Tuesday.)
For many years we traveled to Hawaii with the kids to visit Paul’s parents, and other relatives. Now they are gone, but we miss the Aloha culture of the islands. It is the place we go when we need to rest and heal. We love the mix of cultures, and Sophie feels very at home here. We also source our authentic Hawaiian/Island fabrics from Oahu. We have many longtime customers here. We visited one of them today, after taking a beautiful drive up the mountain and through the rainforest. When I entered her work space, it was like visiting the history of eQuilter’s Asian fabrics. She has been a customer since at least 2004, and has kept every receipt of every purchase in a big thick binder. She seems to have collected every Japanese print over the last 18 years!
This quilter makes handmade quilts from our beautiful Geisha panels and Asian prints, and sells them in her daughter’s gift shop here. People ask her where she gets her Asian fabrics, but she says it is one of her trade secrets. She is painfully aware that it has become much more difficult to source Japanese prints (she used to have to order from Japan) so she is especially grateful that we have continued to find and stock these beautiful fabrics. Every time we get a new Asian panel, she stocks up and buys several, because she knows once they sell out, that’s it. It is gone. I was delighted to see all her different quilts and unique contemporary Noren panels made with eQuilter fabrics. We chatted over Japanese green tea, and by the time we finished our long chat we found we had so many interests in common. But isn’t that the way it goes when you meet new quilters and spend time together?
Today I encouraged Sophie to pick out a Hawaiian shirt, and she picked out a beautiful print with Pink Hibiscus and Pineapples on a black background…a Hawaiian print that we have carried in the past. She has such good taste! I wonder where she gets it from…?
Sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Travel/Quilt Calendar: Feb 15 – Virtual lecture for Victoria BC Quilt Guild Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – GOLD SPONSOR – Atlanta April 18-26 – Pour l’Amour du Fil – Nantes, France June 8-10 – Quilt Canada – Halifax, Nova Scotia August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska – Sign up Now to travel with Luana!
Shelly Comiskey’s ever popular Gnomes are looking forward to spring, dressed with bunny ears and collecting Easter Eggs! Celebrate with them in this week’s colorful Free Quilt Pattern.
To make this 55″ x 61″ quilt design, you will use 5 fabrics from this collection and a bright aqua hand dye. Start with the 24″ x 44″ central panel, then piece two allover gnome prints, make a border with the Gnome stripe, and bind with the coordinating plaid print.
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.
Vintage Valentines have a charming innocence, and a delightful simplicity that captures our heart and reminds us of our grandparents’ time. This exclusive Free Quilt Pattern is inspired by 1930s hand screen-printed valentine cards that were exchanged by shy sweethearts. Lacy embellished letters and antique postmarks add to the retro ambiance of this Thirties-inspired collection.
To make this 57″ x 65″ quilt design, you will start with the central “Stamp” block panel, then add Pennant panels for the top and bottom sections. Finish the border with Red and White Mini-Hearts and Kona Solid Black, and a Black and White striped binding.
Whether this is a Valentine gift, an Anniversary or Wedding quilt, the message of LOVE comes by Special Delivery with this quilt design!
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.
In the 30+ years that I have been quilting (since I left the garment industry) I have seen a lot of trends come and go. Some are mega-trends, some are fads, but Blenders always remain. These tonal or analogous prints can range from bland backgrounds, to vibrant fusions, but they serve a very important purpose: to give a place for the eye to rest.
Before we started our business in 1999, I could not find any big bold cotton prints in quilt shops or fabric stores. Everything I saw on the retail level was small scale, mostly in shades of beige. Tea-dying was all the rage. Quilters would soak their bright fabrics in tea to turn them beige or light brown. Colors were dark, earthy, de-saturated. I would visit quilt shops and find only one or two colorful contemporary fabrics that tickled my fancy. But after visiting 40 quilt shops and fabric stores I began to see that these fabrics existed but nobody was carrying them in depth. Hence the idea for eQuilter was born!
Over time quilters have learned to love big bold bright prints, but there was a time when quilters would complain about large florals. “What am I supposed to do with this?” Slowly but surely, courageous quilters began to cut up those sassy designs, and the whole idea of quilt-making began to evolve.
Now just about every quilter knows what to do these blazing colors and dazzling fabrics. When digital prints began to explode onto the scene, with no limitations on color or size, we began to see a renaissance of creativity that was so exciting for a whole new generation of makers.
But one thing still remains: When we pick out those flashy multicolor uber-audacious fabrics, we still need a place for the eye to rest. Now we reach for contemporary blenders that our grandmothers never dreamt of…and these fabrics inspire us to prolific innovation that turns our sewing machines into pedal-powered rocket ships!
As we start the new year, we turn again to the visionary artists who feed our beloved quilt industry, and wait to see what gifts they will bestow upon us in the coming months. Every week we open new boxes of our carefully curated collections – a feast for the eyes – and we smile as we anticipate your delight.
Travel/Quilt Calendar: Feb 15 – Virtual lecture for Victoria BC Quilt Guild Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – GOLD SPONSOR – Atlanta April 18-26 – Pour l’Amour du Fil – Nantes, France June 8-10 – Quilt Canada – Halifax, Nova Scotia August 18-24 – Bear Camp in Alaska – Sign up Now!
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