This week’s exclusive Free Quilt Pattern features 4 enigmatic animal portraits set in a chilly wintertime backdrop. A beautiful Snow Leopard, Red Fox, Snowy Owl and Wolf are all featured in detailed vignettes.
To make this 65″ x 65″ quilt design, you will start with two panels (each have 2 large portrait blocks), then piece together and make the pieced border with 2 Hoffman Hand-Dyes and 2 Stonehenge textures, in soft neutral colors of Stone and Wood.
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).
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.
eQuilter – 45% OFF Animal and Birds Fabric Clearance
I am writing to you from Washington DC tonight, after spending a few days in Herndon Virginia for the Sacred Threads exhibit. Sophie Quinn is with me so I am letting her interests guide our museum time here. Monday we spent at the African American Museum, avoiding the sweltering heat, humidity and a monsoon squall later in the day. Today we spent at the National Art Gallery and the American Indian Museum. I have lots of photos from Sacred Threads and Wash DC that I’ll be sharing in the next couple weeks.
My brother is a Washington DC architect and his firm has worked on several high profile projects. They were involved in some of the display fabrication at the NMAAHC, which makes it even more interesting to visit. It is the hot ticket in DC now. (The hot ticket used to be the Holocaust Museum.) You need to subscribe to their newsletter and/or be a member, to grab the timed tickets that are released a month in advance. It is a very somber journey, as you travel back in time to the 3rd basement level, to the beginning of the story of slavery from West Africa.
As we ran out of time at the NMAAHC, we found ourselves alone in a gallery of contemporary art, and to my delight and surprise I found a large art quilt by Bisa Butler which was recently acquired by the museum. It is a colorful portrait of Harriet Tubman, based on the carte-de-visite photograph portrait of Tubman by Benjamin F. Powelson, made with imported West African printed cotton, silk and velvet. I was thrilled to finally see one of Bisa’s works in person!
My other priority while here is to visit with our non-profit partners and curator friends. Today I met with a staffer from the Ocean Conservancy (one of our 7 main charities) and we discovered a serendipitous connection. She mentioned she has a relative who is a quilter. Well that is not uncommon. But as we chatted I discovered it is the talented wildlife artist Sophie Standing, who is moving from Kenya to the UK soon. A further connection? Susan de Vanny – Australian artist who made the Gorilla portrait in my “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit – just finished a fiber art portrait of Sophie Standing’s two young sons. Sometimes it is just crazy how small our quilting world is, when we start comparing notes!
Tomorrow I am meeting with Leda Huta, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. Then we fly home!
Sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
** The photo collage above includes a detail photo of Bisa Butler’s quilt in the Smithsonian, and similar African-design prints carried by eQuilter.
Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar: August 4 – Long Beach Quilt Festival – Awards “Celebration of Color” Aug 17-20 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK – Quilt Trends Lecture & SAQA Forced to Flee (Register for Luana’s trend lecture – Friday 10 am.) Sept 21-24 – SAQA Conference – San Diego CA October 2022 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
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Your Free Quilt Pattern – Sun and Sea – Free Shipping
The extraordinary artwork of David Galchutt comes alive in today’s Free eQuilter Pattern. An elegant Sun peaks into the ocean, watching sea creatures swim beneath the surface.
The main ‘Sun and Sea’ panel is surrounded by Sun face frames and coordinating Celestial Chevron Stripes. Rich tonal prism and petal flowers in yellow and teal complete the borders.
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).
Your Free Quilt Pattern – Sun and 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.
The central Leaf Mandala panel provides the rainbow-colored foundation, while the coordinating Luminescent Flora prints are pieced to provide dramatic accents. The delicate, whisper purple hand dye and amethyst purple tonal complete the background and outer borders.
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).
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.
It has been a busy week, and we are full of lots of happy hugs from friends in the quilting community here at Sacred Threads in Herndon Virginia. There is quite an overlap with SAQA artists here too, so we are enjoying the buzz of being around fellow creative quilters. I had a wonderful surprise when I arrived at the Sacred Threads venue. The first quilt I spied through the entrance was my own quilt – “Stardust Mothers” – which will be traveling to England on Monday for the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK. I am so honored to have my work placed at the entrance to the show. I have photographed the show which ends this weekend, and will share those images with you in the next couple weeks.
On Sunday, Sophie Quinn and I will travel from the Dulles area to Washington DC. Sophie has added an Arts Practices minor to her Music Education major, so we need to go visit some museums while we are there. We are also meeting with some of our non-profit partners, including Ocean Conservancy and Endangered Species Coalition. I was working on some longterm curating projects before the pandemic hit, with some non-profit partners. I am trying to keep those connections fresh so perhaps we can fire up those projects again.
Lisa Ellis, the director of Sacred Threads, is stepping down, and the whole project is going to be looking for a new home and new team. Personally I hope that a quilt museum will take on Sacred Threads and keep the bi-annual exhibit going into the future. If any of you have ideas about a new home and new team to run this project, please contact Lisa or contact me and I will put you in touch. Lisa, Barb and the Sacred Threads team have done an absolutely awesome job running this project in Herndon VA, and I send them my deepest gratitude. eQuilter came on as a sponsor for this show when the founder Vicki Pignatelli was still in charge. I hope that we can see the show transition to a new team and venue, and continue into a strong future.
It used to be that the Holocaust Museum was the hottest (free) timed ticket in DC. Now it is the African American Museum. I am a charter member, so I am able to get tickets, and that’s where Sophie and I will spend Monday…when the heat index is supposed to be 103 degrees! However if you are not a member, you have to get tickets, as they are released one month in advance. They are free timed entry tickets, but they go FAST.
We are also seeing a Shakespeare play at the National Building Museum, put on by the Folger Shakespeare Library. My two Washington-themed quilts will be in the Washington DC exhibit at Houston Quilt Festival this Fall. My two quilts are: the Folger Reading Room, and the White House. I got a sneak peak at the single preview copy of the exhibit’s companion book today. The book will be out later this year and of course we will carry this title at eQuilter.com as soon as it is available. It is a beautiful exhibit and I can’t wait to see the other DC quilts in person this October!
Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar: July 19 – Quilting Arts TV July 22-26 – Sacred Threads Weekend, Dulles/Wash DC August 4 – Long Beach Quilt Festival – Awards “Celebration of Color” Aug 17-20 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK – Quilt Trends Lecture & SAQA Forced to Flee Sept 21-24 – SAQA Conference – San Diego CA October 2022 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
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Your Free Quilt Pattern – Halloween Nevermore – Free Shipping
While you are staying indoors, sheltering from the summer heat….you can prepare for cooler weather and Halloween…which is now about 3 months away. This exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern features creepy Victorian motifs like Ravens, drippy candles on a candelabra, plus elegant tassels and strings of pearls, and embellished pumpkins.
To make this generous-sized 62″ x 80″ quilt design, you will start with the central 24″ x 44″ panel, featuring a curious Raven peering into a dark mirror. You will piece 5 coordinates from this “Candelabra” collection, plus a Kona Solid Black, to make the layered striped border.
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).
Your Free Quilt Pattern – Halloween Nevermore – 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.
Today I had the honor and pleasure of spending the day at the Quilting Arts TV Studio. We filmed 2 segments that will air later this year. One of the topics that I covered was quilts from the recent Quilt Canada event in Vancouver BC. I am featuring another one of my favorite quilts from Canada, in today’s Creative Nudge e-newsletter.
In the center of the collage image above, you will see the large and amazing detailed quilt by Sue Sherman, called “Dear Humans….”
Her artist statement says: “The animals are sending a message to humans, offering their opinion about the state of things. Humans fill the sky with empty talk about addressing habitat loss and climate change, but don’t really do anything to help.”
In Sue’s animal-themed quilt, the African animals are literally turning their backs on us, due to our lack of action on climate change and conservation issues. Today’s news is about the record-setting heat wave and how it is affecting humans, but of course it is affecting all living things in the scorching heat. It is not always reported that there are massive die-offs of fish, birds, plants and insects during these severe heat events. Take note: Does your news source cover this part of the story?
Thursday Sophie and I are flying to Dulles Airport, to spend the next few days at the Sacred Threads event in Herndon Virginia. I am excited to see my latest quilt “Stardust Mothers” hanging in the show.
Many thanks to Susan Brubaker Knapp and the Quilting Arts TV team for a great day in the studio!
Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar: July 21-27 – Sacred Threads Weekend, Dulles/Wash DC August 4 – Long Beach Quilt Festival – Awards “Celebration of Color” Aug 17-20 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK – Quilt Trends Lecture & SAQA Forced to Flee (Register for Luana’s trend lecture – Friday 10 am.) Sept 21-24 – SAQA Conference – San Diego CA October 2022 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
Behind the Giant Elephant Steam engine is a crew and passenger list of other whimsical creatures, including steampunk ostrich, giraffe, horse and bear. There are so many layers of detail and creativity, you’ll be captivated by the imagination of the artist!
To make this 65″ x 65″ exclusive quilt design, you will start with the central 24″ x 44″ Elephant Engine panel. A second 24″ x 44″ block panel is cut vertically to make the side panel sections, joined with Solid Black. Then make the engineered border with the coordinating stripe and clock gear blender from the collection.
PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping when you order the fabrics for this wonderful 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.
This clever October calendar quilt project is a “Countdown to Halloween” for your kids and Cosplayers who just can’t wait to put on their costumes for this popular fantasy dress-up holiday. You will notice that the first week of the calendar is celebrating Harvest/Fall themes, then moves into spooky Halloween motifs as the days unfold.
To make this 57″ x 65″ eQuilter Exclusive quilt design, you will start with the big 36″ x 44″ panel. Fussy cut the Glow-on-the-Dark Pumpkins for the corner blocks, then finish with the coordinating stripe, and Kona Solid Black, for the borders. Order now to get this quick and easy project finished by October 1st!
PLUS – you’ll receive Free USA / 50% off INTL shipping when you order the fabrics for this wonderful quilt pattern (orders $100 and over, no coupon needed).
We’re in our mid-Summer heatwave and there’s nothing to do about it but make iced tea, stay in the shade, and maybe take a siesta in the hottest part of the afternoon so one can stay up late and play or quilt when it cools off. Many years ago when I visited the South of Spain this time of year, and it reached 100 degrees each day, the streets would empty out around noon. All the shops and restaurants closed down for Siesta Time. At night families would come out and have dinner at 10 pm, and then the kids would be in the plaza playing soccer and running around at midnight when it was cool.
I just returned from 2 days at the Art Makers conference in Denver. I wanted to make some art and learn some skills that I’d never done before, that I can hopefully translate to textile art. I took a linocut printing class, and a gel pad printing class. It was so much fun to just play and do something completely different! The ladies who come to these art workshops are very similar to the ladies who come to quilt workshops. It was fun to make a mess and play with paint, with no deadline and no pressure.
This week I am going to the new Quilting Arts TV studio to film a couple segments, which will air in the Fall on PBS. I will let you know when they are out and on the schedule.
On Thursday Sophie Quinn and I are flying to Dulles Airport and attending the Sacred Threads weekend event. I’ll be photographing the show, and speaking at the Saturday night dinner. I have a quilt in the show so I’ll try to stand near my piece so I can share the story of my quilt, called “Stardust Mothers”. (This quilt is also going to the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK.) Then Sunday we go to Washington DC and I’ll be meeting with our non-profit partners, visiting a couple museums, and squeezing in a Shakespeare play.
After a couple weekends filling up the creative fuel tank, I am percolating on ideas for my next quilt projects. A change of scenery, some time looking at others’ art, making playful art with no pressure, is a perfect way to spend those Dog Days of Summer. Before you know it the kids will be back in school and the leaves will be turning!
Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar: July 19 – Quilting Arts TV July 22-26 – Sacred Threads Weekend, Dulles/Wash DC August 4 – Long Beach Quilt Festival – Awards “Celebration of Color” Aug 17-20 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK – Quilt Trends Lecture & SAQA Forced to Flee Sept 21-24 – SAQA Conference – San Diego CA October 2022 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
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