Have you ever gone snorkeling, and encountered a Sea Turtle? These gentle creatures glide silently through the water, nibbling algae and occasionally bobbing to the surface for a breath of air. We feature this peaceful scene as our exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern, at a time when we could all use a soothing image.
To make this 69″ x 63″ quilt design, you will start with the central 35″ x 44″ scenic turtle panel. (Which is absolutely gorgeous.) We’ve added a Turtle Stripe and 2 coordinates to create the border. This is a quick and easy quilt design that will delight anyone who loves and protects these endangered creatures.
Turtles have been part of legends and spirituality around the world, and are associated with indigenous creation stories. In the cosmological myths of many cultures a Great Turtle carries the weight of the world upon its back. 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 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.
I imagine many of you are feeling the same way that I am feeling now. The weight of all the world is very intense. Climate change, millions of refugees all around the world, endangered species, and now Ukraine, are all weighing heavily on our hearts and souls. Because we are working to help those in need, and speaking out to fight eco-system collapse, I have to keep going. But tonight as I drove home I wept in the car. This week we topped $1.9 million raised for non-profits in the last 23 years, but it is bittersweet. There is so much more to do. We thank you for supporting our family-owned business, which allows us to help those in need, and protect the Earth.
Today was also the 1 year anniversary of the mass shooting at the King Soopers grocery store here in Boulder. Some days it feels like too much, but just like you, I get up and keep going. I practice Daily Gratitude and meditation which helps me to stay centered in the moment. Quilting is certainly part of that grounding and centering. I make art and do something creative every day. It keeps me sane in these troubled times.
Today I had lunch with 2 of our humanitarian friends – the founder of Engineers Without Borders, and a retired administrator for Doctors Without Borders. One of them had just come back from a refugee camp on the border of Mexico, full of desperate Haitian refugee families. These 2 have decades of experience and stories to tell about those who have fled violence, natural disasters, and famine…in Asia, Africa and Central America. I have witnessed extreme poverty and shanty towns on 4 continents as well, so we have some pretty intense conversations. I have this kind of relationship also with Kathy Price at Mission of Love, who is shipping food, medical supplies and your donated quilts to Ukrainian refugees now.
However we are part of an international network of people who don’t look away. I have been blessed to meet many of these people who spend their life in humble service, and they continue to energize and inspire me. They give me hope for the future. They are always looking for ways to help others. One of them recently had surgery and he is already out there volunteering to help those who lost their homes in the fires. And I know that many of you are part of that network as well. When you stand up to donate money, time, and quilts to those who have lost everything, you are part of that Global Network of Love.
Tonight Sophie and I finally got to see Hamilton in Denver. How many years have we been trying to get tickets? I don’t know. I’ve lost track. We did see the live recording of the original cast when it came out from Disney in 2020. But we always wanted to see the live show. We’ve watched the film several times with subtitles so we actually can follow what is happening in the rapid-fire historic rap. (That’s how I learned to understand Shakespeare by the way – I watched several Shakespeare films with subtitles until I learned to comprehend the Shakespearean language.) Anyway, if you’ve seen the live show or the film, you know that it is quite intense and emotional. The message that we only have so much time in this life, to make a difference, to help others, to positively affect the future….was not lost on us.
Sophie Quinn (now a sophomore Music Ed major at CU Boulder) was at the String Teachers conference in Atlanta Georgia last week, and she was bubbling over with excitement being there – kind of like when we all meet up at the quilt festival. A few years ago she was complaining that there were so many ‘Sophies’ in her classes, so I suggested that she could go by the Americanized version of her Chinese middle name, so you might see her on social media as Quinn Rubin these days. But she says that our family, and our quilter friends can still call her Sophie. She was named after my great-grandmother who immigrated from Sweden in the 1800s. But the poetic name she was given in the orphanage as an infant, means “Musical Heart” so her new nickname has deep meaning as well. It is good to have options!
Praying for Peace, Luana and Paul
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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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