Has March come in like a lion or a lamb in your community?
The symbol of the Lion and Lamb together, comes from both Christianity and Judaism, representing a prayer for Peace. With today’s world events, it is a symbolic image that deeply resonates with many of us.
To us, this iconic image represents a visual prayer for that much-needed Peace.
To make this 63″ x 65″ quilt design, you will start with the central 28″ x 44″ scenic panel. Then cut up the 24″ x 44″ block panel with verses and prayers from the Bible. Piece together with the gorgeous coordinates from this group, and you have a comforting keepsake lap/nap quilt that will become an heirloom for someone special.
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.
Happy National Quilt Day! We have a little giggle about this because around here, and we think for most of our customers, every day is Quilt Day. But if it has given you an excuse to have a quilt party or get back to a quilt project – celebrate the day!
The Spring Equinox arrives today and for all of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it is very welcome. Although we have a respite from Covid here now, we know it is surging in other places around the world, so can only hope with the warmer weather that we can all feel a little freer to step out and enjoy the sunshine and our friends again. I saw the tulip leaves pushing up through the dirt today. But of course, since this is Colorado, we’ll have a snowstorm on Monday.
Kathy Price from Mission of Love wrote to let me know yesterday, that the first donated quilts have arrived in their warehouse, and they took 2 truckloads of medical supplies to be shipped to Ukraine this week. If you would like more information about our project with Mission of Love, you can read the details on our eQuilter blog page. Mission of Love is a trusted partner of 22 years, and we are grateful to know that the money and quilts donated will go directly to Ukrainian refugees.
2 of our charities are helping Ukrainians now – Mission of Love and Doctors Without Borders. We are amping up our donations to support these and other non-profit relief organizations on the ground now. We share your intense emotions about this incomprehensible situation, and we are glad to see the quilting community, and the whole nation rising up to help those affected.
I am actually taking a quilt-related trip in the near future! I am traveling to the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell Massachusetts and will give my updated power point lecture on “International Quilt Trends” for the closing reception of my curated exhibit “For the Love of Gaia“. This will be at 1 pm on Saturday April 9. I hope to see some of you there!
I am actually making plans for some other quilt-related trips this summer, and the thought of hanging out with our quilty friends, and looking at actual quilts hanging in exhibits, is VERY EXCITING! I am being optimistic about the current worrisome variables out there in the world. Fingers crossed that our paths might cross this year…dates for the events we are sponsoring (that I hope/plan to attend) are below.
Quilt/Travel/Sponsor Calendar: Now through Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit Sat, April 9, 1 pm – “Intl Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM Closing Reception, Lowell MA June 15-18 – Quilt Canada, Vancouver BC July 22-26 – Sacred Threads Weekend, Dulles/Wash DC August 4 – Long Beach Quilt Festival Aug 17-20 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK October 2022 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
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To make this charming 60″ x 60″ quilt design, you will start with the 24″ x 44″ panel. Then cut up the coordinating block panel and piece with the matching gray Solid. Add coordinates and the Kitty Stripe to finish with an engineered border. This Lap/Nap quilt is sure to be your cat’s favorite new place to hang out!
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.
Do you have a color that tells a story in your life? Do you have a color that represents a powerful emotion, an event, or a decision? Maybe you haven’t thought about it until now, but often that color leaks out into your life, and your creative work, in ways that may surprise you.
When I was a teenager in the mid-Seventies, growing up in a small town, we were getting seriously mixed messages about the world we were entering. On the one hand there were women – older than us – who were fighting for Womens Rights. (The kind of rights that young women today have taken for granted…until recently.) We were being told that now women could grow up to do, or be, anything they dreamed of….
On the other hand there were still plenty of people in our lives who were still telling us to keep quiet, don’t stick out in a crowd, don’t talk back, do what is expected of you. It was very confusing.
My best friend came from a well educated family. Her parents were both professors from immigrant families. She got straight A’s, and she was an over-achiever and still managed to be a funny, creative person. The only thing expected of her was that she be the best at everything. Ha. She pretty much nailed it. We got split up and went to different high schools, but we always went to summer camp together. She got a PhD from Stanford and then her law degree from Berkeley, but she always retained her wild sense of style and color. And her favorite color was Purple.
I thought she was very brave to wear bright purple. Because if you wore a color like that, people would make fun of you. She didn’t care. I secretly loved Purple, but was afraid of being bullied. So to me, that color represented Courage and Freedom.
In 1985 the film “The Color Purple” came out. I had just moved from Hong Kong to New York City in late 1984 to work as an import designer. I remember very clearly going to Saks 5th Avenue (yes, that one!) and picking out a purple velvet silk cocktail dress, and then making payments on layaway until I could bring it home and wear it to a party. I remember that feeling so well. It felt like I had arrived. Where had I arrived? At home, with myself.
We are still best childhood friends. She is a medical ethics expert, a professor, and speaks up for women without a voice. And we both wear Purple. These days, the color means Creativity, Unity and Spirituality, to me.
My group exhibit “For the Love of Gaia” is still up at the New England Quilt Museum, and I will be there to give a lecture at 1 pm Sat April 9, for the closing reception. I hope those of you in the area can come to see the show in its final weeks, or come to the lecture on 4/9.
Praying for Peace, Luana and Paul
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We have just restocked the wildly popular “She Who Sews” collection, so we wanted to offer this Free Quilt Pattern before it runs out again! The illustrative style of designer J. Wecker Frisch is so distinctive, and this sewing-themed collection has her fans coming out of the woodwork to celebrate her artistry.
To make this 61″ x 74″ eQuilter exclusive quilt design, you will start with the large 54″ x 44″ Calendar Girl panel. Then use the yellow measuring tape print, the tossed spools, and 2 more blenders, to make the coordinating border.
This quilt is quick and easy because the central panel does not need to be cut up and pieced – it is kind of a ‘cheater panel’ to give you a fast start. You can add a Stitch-in-the-Faux-Ditch quilting to the black lines and – Shhh! – it will look like it is all pieced!
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.
Feel free to donate directly to Mission of Love to help purchase food and supplies that are being airlifted to Ukraine. We are sending extra funds to Mission of Love and other relief organizations on the ground helping refugees now.
We delivered the last batch of #MarshallFire donated comfort quilts to the Wildfire Recovery Center last week. There are so many quilts there, which is wonderful. So many quilters from around the area have donated their time and fabric to make quilts for those who lost a home. We thank all of you who contributed to this effort. It looks like they have plenty of quilts for whoever might come into the center these last few weeks that it is open. So now we will focus on collecting quilts for Ukraine.
Saturday I went to see the “Live at the Met” opera streaming in our local theater. They replayed a performance of the Ukraine National Anthem that was given last week at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. The Met is presenting a Concert for Ukraine on this Monday at 6 pm EDT. The concert will be streamed in the US on NPR, broadcast internationally via the European Broadcasting Union, and streamed live on the Met Opera website.
Today (Sunday) I am going to hear Sophie play in the orchestra pit in ‘Guys & Dolls’ at our local university auditorium. When I was in high school I was in the pit for Oklahoma and My Fair Lady, and for Don Giovanni in college. I think that is some of the most fun I’ve had in my entire life. (As much fun as a Quilt Festival!) I’ll be smiling for Sophie’s sake in the audience.
I always sit in the front row so I can see the costumes. That is the slippery slope that led me to this industry: admiring the costumes from the pit, getting the fashion design degree, starting in costumes then the garment industry, then the textile industry, and landed in the quilt industry. As my mother-in-law used to say….Life is what happens while you are busy making plans. It all started in the pit.
Quilt/Travel Calendar: Now through Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit Sat, April 9, 1 pm – “Intl Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM Closing Reception, Lowell MA June 15-18 – Quilt Canada, Vancouver BC July 21-15 – Sacred Threads Weekend, Dulles/Wash DC August 4 – Long Beach Quilt Festival October 2022 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
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To make this 64″ x 72″ small bed coverlet quilt, you will start with the central 36″ x 44″ group animal portrait panel. Then cut up a block panel, piece with a coordinate animal stripe and blenders to create the fun engineered border. Your future zoologist, veterinarian or wildlife biologist will have fun sleeping and playing with this engaging quilt design!
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.
Thank you for offering to help with our quilt drive for Ukraine:
If you wish to donate a quilt for these Ukrainian refugee families, you have 2 options:
Drop off in person, at the eQuilter warehouse in Boulder Colorado.
If you need to ship the quilts, send directly to Mission of Love and be sure to get a tracking number if you want a confirmation of receipt. MOL is an all-volunteer organization which means they do not have somebody to send package acknowledgements or thank you notes. We thank you for your understanding.
Ship to: Mission of Love 2054 Hemlock Ct, Youngstown, OH 44515
PLEASE NOTE: Do NOT try to call Mission of Love.
They are crazy busy trying to organize the shipments! If you have questions please call or email eQuilter.
SIZE: Imagine what size quilt you would want if you had no home and were living in close quarters as a refugee. We suggest a large lap quilt, a twin coverlet or full/double size quilt. We are not picky about exact specs or fancy quilting. We just ask that you at least do stitch-in-the-ditch quilting. (Not a ‘tied’ quilt blanket.) This way the quilt will last longer!
Feel free to put a label with your name and a message of encouragement on the back of the quilt. Send it off with a prayer that the recipient will feel your love and support, that is sewn into every stitch.
“YES YES YES – tomorrow morning I will be delivering 23,000 lbs of rice to go to New Jersey and then into Ukraine. Next week I will also be delivering medical and humanitarian aid to them. I will be in touch tomorrow after I deliver the rice.”
Mission of Love is a volunteer non-profit run by Kathy Price. You may recall that I traveled to Guatemala with MOL and a team of surgeons some years ago. Together with Mission of Love we have collected, shipped and distributed over 15,000 donated comfort quilts around the world, over the last 22 years. Through our eQuilter charity program, we have support MOL relief efforts after hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, fires and earthquakes. We have supported MOL building foster homes, hospices and clinics…for indigenous people, orphans, and those affected by natural disasters.
Mission of Love is the largest single user of the Denton Program, which uses military cargo planes to ship disaster relief, food and medical supplies around the world, without charge. I know these planes were all in use last week, ferrying supplies to Europe. (i.e. not available for Denton shipments) Last week Kathy sent a batch of Ohio quilts along with emergency relief supplies, in a container on a commercial airliner. This kind of shipping is very expensive so we are hoping to use the Denton Program for the larger shipments to Ukraine refugees. I don’t have all the details yet but I’ll share more information in the Saturday night e-newsletter.
So many of you have contributed for our quilt drives over the years: 3500 quilts for 9/11 2500 quilts for Japan after the tsunami 1500 quilts for NY after Hurricane Sandy …and you can see other quilt drives in this photo album.
In the meantime we are making additional donations to Doctors Without Borders, Mission of Love, and other non-profits bringing aid to the border countries. In today’s news it was said that now 2 million refugees have crossed the borders into neighboring countries. This is frankly incomprehensible to us. We can only try to understand what this means.
Thank you for sharing this link with friends who might want to help, or your local guild who are looking for a safe place to donate quilts for refugees in Ukraine.
Tomorrow, March 10, is eQuilter’s 23rd anniversary since we started our business in the basement of our house. It is also my mother’s 85th birthday. We are so blessed to have your support, so we can help others at a time like this. Next month we will reach a total of $1.9 million raised for charity over those 23 years, and we are not done yet.
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
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If you have ever witnessed a Southwest Sunset, with hot bright colors bedazzling clouds in a clear blue sky, and golden light streaming over a red-rock desert landscape….well, you know what this is all about.
This week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern captures that magical moment when the Sun is winking at us before it drops below the horizon. Then the twilight skies turn dark and the stars come out. It’s a breathtaking light show almost every night.
To make this 65″ x 80″ quilt design, you will start with the Sun Valley 28″ x 44″ panel, then create the beautiful border with the Sun Valley Stripe and collection coordinates. We love the eye-popping complementary colors that will ultimately make this a conversation piece on somebody’s bed.
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.
Another heartbreaking week has gone by with the news of bombed cities in Ukraine and the 1.2 million refugees in Poland and other countries. I spent this week researching non-profits already on the ground helping refugees, making phone calls and sending emails to our relief partners, and sending targeted donations to help children and families whose lives have been uprooted overnight. Your support of our business allows us to make these additional donations during this difficult time – our goal is for our service to be a force for good in the world – especially during an acute crisis such as this one. Thank you.
When you check out, if you want your 2% to go to the non-profits on our list who are helping Ukraine, choose Doctors Without Borders or Mission of Love. In addition to our list of 7 charities, we are sending donations to other organizations that are providing relief right now on the ground for the displaced. I have created a page with updated lists of other relief/non-profit organizations so you too can give directly to the cause that speaks most to your heart. Be sure to specify if you want it to be used only for Ukraine relief. So far we are also donating to SumOfUs, International Rescue Committee, Amnesty, KIND (Kids in Need of Defense), SOS Chidren, and IFAW. (Intl Fund for Animal Welfare)
We are also supporting a small group of European journalists (Change Weavers) who are traveling to the refugee entry points to tell the story of what is actually happening in Ukraine and with the escaping refugees….they are there to put the situation into a more human scale because it is so hard to comprehend the enormity of the situation. These are the filmmakers who produced “The Condor & The Eagle” which we hosted for our friends and customers last year. We pray for the safety of all affected.
Today I heard an interview on NPR’s “How I Built This” with Johann Hari, about his new book “Stolen Focus”. If you can find the podcast or the book, I suggest you check it out. I will say that those of us who sew and quilt, paint and make music, and express ourselves in other artist ways….we have found a way to fight the monster of techie distraction, but it can still find an insidious hold on us. After listening to this interview I decided to give special rings to the phone numbers of the important people in my life, and ignore the rest when I am in the Creative Zone. Now more than ever, we need to have extended periods of deep creative focus for our mental and emotional health. Do you know what I mean?
Quilt/Travel Calendar: Now through Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit Sat, April 9 – “International Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM Closing Reception August 4 – Long Beach Quilt Festival October 2022 – Luana’s Polar Bear Tour – Churchill Manitoba Canada
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