Polar Dreams

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Luana
Tonight I’ve been home from my polar bear trip for 24 hours, and I am still reviewing my photos and memories from this experience. During our days out on the polar rover, we saw a Snowy Owl, Arctic Hares, White Ptarmigans, Arctic Foxes, Silver Foxes, Muskrats, Ravens, Blue Heron, Caribou and Wolves. We went dog-sledding in the boreal forest, and oh yeah, and we saw several polar bears too! I won’t say we saw lots of bears. This was my 6th trip to Churchill over the last 9 years, and essentially I feel like I am documenting the demise of the polar bears.

Our guides kept expressing surprise and concern at the migrating birds who “shouldn’t still be here” – i.e. normally this time of year these migrating birds would be long gone. Locals were surprised they were still seeing caribou this time of year, for the same reason. However a big snowstorm hit up there the morning after we left, so hopefully that will hasten the winter season onto the tundra…so the ice will freeze and the bears can get out on the bay to feed.

I was worried that my group wouldn’t see many bears, but we did end up having some wonderful close up encounters with bears. Some bears are skittish, some are goofy, some just want to be left alone, some are really sleepy, and some seem to enjoy hanging out near our vehicle and putting on a show. That was the case with this female bear (above), whom we named “Lunch Bear” because she stayed next to us for a couple hours while we had lunch. She rolled around in the willows and grasses, doing yoga stretches and then sitting up and gazing at us, and we watched her in silent delight.

I’ll be sharing photos from my trip on my photo pages here. Give me a few days to review and edit the images before I upload later this week, but you can check out photos from previous trips here now.

Share Photos of Your Quilt Projects:
Did you see our e-newsletter about our Facebook Giveaway?
Deadline is October 31 – see details posted here on our blog.

Sharing your love of fabric,
Luana and Paul

Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar:
Nov 3-4 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE
Dec 1-2 – Clinton Presidential Library
Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – Atlanta

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

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter pages for Color and Design ideas.
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Free Quilt Pattern – Tea for Two

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Luana
This week’s exclusive eQuilter pattern features the most amazing Tea collection ever! Photo-realistic teapots, teacups and plates are depicted in pastel hues in an elegant tea cabinet.

The central 28″ x 44″ panel is framed by pieced Rose Garden coordinates and a whisper purple hand dye, while a retro-pink polka-dot finishes the outer border.

This extraordinary 55″ x 71″ tea themed quilt is the perfect gift for your tea loving friends and family!

…from the ‘Tea For Two’ collection by Northcott Fabrics.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this rather eccentric quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

Don’t miss the ‘Christmas Tree Kitty‘ and ‘Kitty Tea by the Sea‘ quilt patterns!
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Free Quilt Pattern – Christmas Tree Kitty

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Luana
Today’s eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern features adorable kitty and mouse friends decorating their Christmas Tree, awaiting Santa to fill their stockings!

To make this 54″ x 60″ quilt design, you will start with the central 36″ x 44″ scenic panel which will delight you with all the charming Christmas details. Add our exclusive snowflake & star prints in red, green and blue along with our frosty snow background, for this adorable and festive quilt, just in time for the Holidays!

…from the ‘Cherished Animals’ collection by Bridget Voth for David Textiles.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this rather eccentric quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

Don’t miss the ‘Color Play‘ and ‘Kitty Tea by the Sea‘ 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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Out on the Tundra

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Luana
Save big on Our Designer & Holiday Fabric Closeout sales!
Over 505 products at 45% off!

Sunday is the last day of Our Floral & Animal Fabric Sales.
Don’t miss these savings at 45% off.

Hello from Churchill, the Polar Bear Capital of the World!
I am writing this Friday night after an evening out on the tundra, because Saturday we will be out in the Polar Rover looking for bears all day long. Thursday we had a whole day out on the tundra, and we saw not only polar bears, but also an arctic fox, arctic hare, blue heron, red-breasted merganser, a huge flock of white Ptarmigan (we listened to them clucking like wild chickens), and our driver saw 2 wolves in the mist after dropping us off. We had one beautiful female polar bear who hung out near us for a long time, stretching and sniffing, rolling with her big paws in the air, and generally being a ham. We met an indigenous artist this morning who showed us her beautiful paintings, and talked about her dad surviving 8 years in a residential school, removed from his family and culture. Many of us were crying by the end of the talk. We have a wonderful group of quilter friends (eQuilter customers) on the trip and many of them have followed the history of our business and our family for many years, so it is kind of like traveling with a group of aunties and sisters.

I have made the difficult decision not to go to Houston this year. I am still needing to keep my staff and family and elderly mother safe. On this remote Churchill trip everyone was vaxed and tested before being allowed on the trip, and we have stayed with our small pod of travelers in our group. I can’t have that same sense of safety if I travel to Texas. I did get my Bivalent booster a couple weeks before this current trip, so I am counting on that to keep me safe in Churchill with limited exposure. I apologize to those of you who I hoped to see in Houston, but I hope you understand. Because the award ceremony is not happening again, there is no absolute need for me to be there. We are sponsoring not only the $5000 Contemporary Artistry Mastery award, but also the “Celebration of Color” competition, “Deeds Not Words” celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment (Women’s Right to Vote), and “Inspired by Washington DC.” (I have 2 quilts in this last exhibit – the White House – and the Folger Shakespeare Library.) If you go and see these exhibits, please do send us an email (or photos!) and let us know what you think.

Throughout the last few years of pandemic chaos we have kept our commitment to sponsor a variety of important quilt exhibits, and we hope you have been able to enjoy some of these special exhibits. Your support of our family business allows us to continue supporting these quilt festival events, so we thank you!

Sharing your love of fabric,
Luana

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter 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.

October 17-24 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
Nov 3-4 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE
Dec 1-2 – Clinton Presidential Library – Artist Reception
Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – Atlanta
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Free Quilt Pattern – Alternative Age

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Luana
Enter the fantastical world of Steampunk in this week’s Free exclusive Quilt Pattern, with a collection of airship passengers, gears and other found objects. Also featured are bronze hued animals including an Octopus, Seahorse, Spider, Bee and Butterfly.

To make this 53″ x 61″ quilt design, you will start with the 36″ x 44″ main scenic panel, then cut up an allover airship print plus two gear/cog coordinates to make this whimsical quilt.

…from the ‘Alternative Age’ collection by Urban Essence Designs for Blank Textiles. .

Don’t miss the ‘Color Play‘ and ‘Steampunk Undersea‘ quilt patterns!

Your Free Quilt Pattern – Alternative Age
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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Show us your Fall Fancies – Win a $50 Gift Certificate

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Luana
As we dive into Autumn and edge closer to Winter, we would like to engage our eQuilter.com customers, and bring our community together online. We have such a tightly-knit community, scattered around the world but as close as the click of a mouse.

ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY:
We’d like to invite you to submit an image of an Autumn-themed quilt or craft project using something you purchased from eQuilter recently. We hope these images posted together will help you to connect with other quilters, and inspire some new creative project ideas!

We look forward to seeing your spectacular Fall, Harvest, Halloween and Thanksgiving-themed quilts and other crafts on our Facebook page in the days leading up to Halloween. We are awarding a randomly chosen winner with a $50 gift certificate on November 1st, as we head into holiday season. We love sharing projects, patterns, craft ideas, and trends with our customers so thank you for participating in this festive community event!

We know that October is a favorite month for crafting, so we are setting the theme as “Autumn Celebrations”. Of course, Halloween falls right in the middle of autumn, so aside from classic themes such as turning leaves, pumpkin patches, and Thanksgiving, we will also be accepting your spooky Halloween submissions as well!

To enter:
1. Take a clear photo of an Autumn-themed craft project created using at least one eQuilter.com fabric.
2. Go to eQuilter.com’s Facebook Page and post your photo
as a reply to the pinned Giveaway Post at the top of the page.
3. Tag at least one friend in your post you think might like your artwork.

Deadline is October 31st at midnight! The randomly selected winner of a $50 eQuilter.com gift certificate will be announced on November 1st.

Maximum 3 submissions per person, must be 18 to win.


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

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter pages for Color and Design ideas.
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A Fertile Empty Space

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Luana
Tonight I am writing to you from Winnipeg in Manitoba Canada. Tomorrow morning our group flies up in a charter plane to Churchill, the Polar Bear Capital of the World. This is my 6th and probably final trip to Churchill. I am so honored that a group of quilters chose to join me on this adventure. I hope that we will have Good Bear Karma and see lots of bears, but at the same time we all know that the habitat for these majestic animals is shrinking, and the time to see them and care about their survival is NOW.

Wednesday October 19 is:
1. National New Friends Day
2. Day of Unity (part of National Bullying Prevention Month)
3. Evaluate Your Life Day

I plan to celebrate all 3 of these on this trip.

1. We always make new friends when traveling or touring with a group. It is Human Nature.

2. On a trip like this where we are all focused on the BEARS, there is an umbrella of easy cheerful camaraderie that overcomes any polarizing topics that could possibly come up. (This is my one week escape from election season.)

3. My experience of being out on the vast flat tundra, with only the sound of the wind, is a very peaceful silence like a blank sheet of paper or a blank canvas. These are the times of meditation when I evaluate my life and think about what comes next.

We’ll be out on the tundra scanning for bears all day Thursday and Friday. It will be raining and snowing. Saturday night we go out on a Nighttime Tundra Drive. It will be cloudy and pitch black because the waning crescent moon doesn’t rise until about 4 am. One year we had a bear emerge from the darkness and cross the road right in front of us. It is adventures like this that take you completely out of your life and bring you totally into the moment. And that my friends, is the empty but incredibly fertile moment where some of the greatest ideas are born. Creativity is nurtured by visual stimulation, social interaction, and exposure to new ideas through all 5 senses…but also silence and empty spaces. It is time for all of us to start remembering the joys and inspirations that we had to let go of during the pandemic, and find ways to plant new seeds in those fertile empty spaces.

Sharing your love of fabric,
Luana and Paul

Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar:
October 17-24 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
Nov 3-4 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE
Dec 1-2 – Clinton Presidential Library
Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – Atlanta

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

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter pages for Color and Design ideas.
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Free Quilt Pattern – Kitty Tea by the Sea

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Luana
Isn’t this just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?!?

We just adore this Seaside Teatime Kitty quilt design – so we’ve created this exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern combining fabrics from 5 companies – including our recent runaway best-seller “Tea for Two” collection from Northcott.

To make this 60″ x 54″ quilt design, you will start with the central 36″ x 44″ scenic panel which will delight you with all the digital-printed charming details. Add the Teacup & Saucer prints, a hand-dye and 2 more blenders, for this enchanting quilt for the tea-sippin’ Crazy Cat Lady/Laddie in your life. Meow!

…from the ‘Cherished Animals’ collection by Bridget Voth for David Textiles.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this rather eccentric quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

Don’t miss the ‘Butterflies of Australia‘ and ‘Polar Frost‘ quilt patterns!

Your Free Quilt Pattern – Kitty Tea by the Sea – Free Shipping
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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Polar Bear Love

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Luana
Save big on our Floral Fabric and Animal Closeout sales!
Over 440 products at 45% off!

Sunday is the last day of Our Batiks & Blender & Tonal Sales.
Don’t miss these savings at 40% off.

New Gustav Klimt includes Expectation, The Knight & Coordinates.

Why Do I Love Polar Bears So Much?
You know that old saying, Time Flies When You Are Having Fun….? Well you add the time-warping effect of the pandemic years and all the other madness going on in the world…and suddenly after so many months of waiting and planning, I am on the cusp of my 6th Polar Bear trip to Churchill. About every other trip I have taken a group of quilters up with me, and this year we are going to have a Polar Rover full of quilters and crafters! Wow I am so excited!

I’ve had a quilter friend up in remote Churchill all these years, and usually I bring her things like replacement rotary blades and sewing machine needles. She got married and got a new job and is off at a conference, so I will miss seeing her this time.

Why do I keep going back to Churchill? It is hard to explain. Yes I finally realized that I have a thing for bears. (Last Fall I went to photograph the Grizzly/Brown Bears in Katmai National Park) But there is something about being out on the tundra that is so remote and wild, so raw yet so silent, that fills my soul with an energy I can’t describe. When we spot a polar bear in the distance, in the midst of that frozen expanse, and I get out my camera, my love for the wild things on our planet comes bursting out of my chest like a Snowy Owl. Sadly, I have been documenting the decline of the polar bears since 2013, which is why I am going ‘peak season’ this time. I hope that my group will also catch polar bear fever and become part of the growing voices calling for action to save this habitat and its inhabitants.

There are no longer direct flights to Winnipeg from Denver, so on Monday I have to fly through Toronto to get to Winnipeg. It will be a long day. I am meeting at least one local quilter there on Tuesday for lunch. On Weds morning our group flies up to Churchill on a charter plane.

My Polar Bear quilt is still traveling with the Endangered Species exhibit. It was inspired by a photo I took on my first visit to Churchill. It was made with fabrics from the eQuilter Scrap Hamper, which means you guys get first crack at the fabrics and then I make art from the leftovers.

Sharing your love of fabric,
Luana

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterestor Twitter 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.

October 17-24 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
Nov 3-4 – Intl Quilt Museum – Lincoln NE
Dec 1-2 – Clinton Presidential Library – Artist Reception
Feb 22-25 – QuiltCon – Atlanta

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Free Quilt Pattern – Fox in the Forest

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Luana
On a beautiful Autumn morning, a bushy-tailed fox eyes a busy squirrel perched on a rustic stone wall, with the fiery colors of Fall in the forest backdrop.

To make this 62″ x 70″ quilt design, you will start with the central 36″ x 44″ scenic panel, digital-printed and full of artistic details. We’ve added stone textures and a sherpa digital blender to create the pieced corners and coordinating borders.

Our little fox is so adorable, and seems to have a smile on his furry face. This charming quilt design will bring a smile to someone with its delightful woodland theme.

…from the ‘Cherished Animals’ collection by Bridget Voth for David Textiles.

PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping
when you order the fabrics for this rather eccentric quilt pattern
(orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).

Don’t miss the ‘Butterflies of Australia‘ and ‘Spirits Of The Wind‘ quilt patterns!

Your Free Quilt Pattern – Fox in the Forest – Free Shipping
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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