Soothing sweet lavender and mauve boughs of blossoms are the focus of this week’s exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern, with luscious purple layered blooms that are opulent and comforting at the same time. The dense floral details remind us of an English garden in the Twilight Hour…with shades of Plum, Amethyst, Periwinkle and Lilac.
To make this 62″ x 70″ quilt design, you will start with the huge garland with solid purple borders that runs along each selvedge, to create the central panel. You will finish with 3 colors of the lovely marble texture print, and the Garland Border Stripe. This exquisitely detailed collection is such a pleasure to work with…you might have a hard time cutting it up but you’ll love the final results!
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 first few leaves have started to turn here in Boulder, and the Aspen Gold are shimmering in the High Country west of here. The last couple days I’ve been enjoying the online event “Quilters Take a Moment”, which used to be “Quilters Take Manhattan” before the pandemic. Bisa Butler, Carolyn Mazloomi and Meg Cox were some of the luminaries at this event…very inspiring!
It seems that nothing is for certain as Covid continues to dominate our plans. Thursday it was announced that Quilt Market in Houston has been cancelled, although Quilt Festival is still set to happen the following week in Houston. Watch that space.
This week I am taking my first flight since Feb 2020: I am going on a wilderness photo trip in Katmai Alaska, to photograph the big bears catching salmon in the rivers. Everyone on the trip is vaccinated and will be tested before and during the trip, which is the only reason why I am still going. I’ll be stopping in Anchorage to visit with SAQA members at the start of the trip, and visiting Anchorage quilt guild artists (also all vaccinated) on the way out. So I hope to share photos of Bears and Alaskan quilts when I get back!
Every summer we start placing orders for snuggly Flannels, because we know that you will feel a sudden urge to invest in Flannels about this time of year. We have managed to get several gorgeous flannels in stock this week, so if you are getting the flannel-craving now don’t worry….we’ve got you covered. I have a real passion for the Mammoth Yarn-Dyed Flannel Plaids, but I am also drooling over the new Shetland flecked-tweedy flannels this week as well. If you like to pet bodacious textiles on cold winter evenings…I am personally recommending these two groups of products! *grin*
I also want to point out that we’ve started carrying Yazzii Project bags, after a long delightful Zoom meeting with the owner Yasmita in Australia. Her solid fabric bags are used by many teachers to display applique and embellishment class projects, and they are great for workshops, accessories (like sewing feet) and ID pouches. Thanks to Lisa Walton for the introduction!
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt/Travel Calendar:
Sept 21-29 – Alaska – Anchorage & Katmai Nov 13 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Visions Art Museum Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit Sat, April 9 – “International Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM
To make this 50″ x 70″ quilt design, you will start with a 24″ x 44″ digital printed panel with a gorgeous forest walkway. The image from the panel is extended out into the pieced border with triangles of sky or leaves, alternating with a darker stone texture. This landscape quilt design invites you to enter the scene and take a leisurely stroll among the shimmering leaves, on a path that curves out of sight into the woodland.
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.
One of the good things about getting older is that you realize sometimes its ok to break the rules. Today I drove an hour to have lunch with a friend. When we met in the parking lot we discovered that the restaurant was closed for repairs! So we milled around for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do, and we decided to go in anyway, sit on the cafe patio in the shade and have a long chat. We proceeded to have one of the deepest conversations ever. No food or patrons or staff to distract us!
The reign of Quilt Police has been over for awhile. The thrill of breaking rules has been replaced by the freedom to be creatively experimental. Quilters don’t wait for someone to teach them a block or technique. They make up their own original blocks and new techniques, and then share on social media! Hooray! I am seeing a whole new crop of pattern designers who are just designing their own quilts because nobody told them they couldn’t do it….so they just go and figure out how to do it themselves. Hooray!
To me that is what this Pink Poinsettia represents. It is taking something old, remaking it, and making something that makes one HAPPY. I sure don’t mind if you prefer Red Poinsettias, but I like the sweetness of the Pink Poinsettia. It makes me think of homemade mittens, peppermint sticks in hot cocoa, pink ballet tutus, and spending the whole day in the kitchen baking and decorating holiday cookies. It makes me think of the little winter birds twittering in the snow-laden trees after a winter storm, fluttering their wings and sending showers of white powder from the heavy branches.
Do something spontaneously creative this week, by combining something old and something new…or maybe by mixing up something familiar and something that is a little bit scary and maybe a little sassy too. Go ahead. Squirt that pink icing on your Sasquatch-shaped sugar cookie. Then take a big bite!
This luscious Dream Big Poinsettia panel by designer Jeannie Sumrall-Ajero comes with a Sugar-Pink Poinsettia, a classic Ruby-Red Poinsettia, or a Snow-White Poinsettia. I’ve added some winter bird scenes just for fun. Because….fabric should make you happy and quilting should be FUN.
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt/Travel Calendar:
Sept 21-29 – Alaska (Anchorage & Katmai) Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival Nov 13 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Visions Art Museum Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit Sat, April 9 – “International Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM
When you go to a party, are you the person who always talks to the resident cat? You don’t have to be a Crazy Cat Lady to appreciate Dan’s masterpiece cat collection:
One can always tell a true Cat Lover because they get really excited about beautiful Cat artwork. This week we bring you an exclusive eQuilter Free Quilt Pattern featuring some of the most exquisite feline illustrations we’ve ever seen on fabric…and that is saying something!
To make this 63″ x 63″ quilt design, we’ve combined a 36″ x 44″ Block Panel, a Kitty Stripe, and 7 coordinates to create this irresistable Ode-to-Kitty-Cuteness. Whether you’re a fan of Tabbies, Siamese, Gingers, shorthair or longhair, or just plain ole’ loveable domestic rescue kitties…there is something here for everyone. Meow!
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 we are remembering those lost, and the shocking events of 9-11-2001 in New York City. For those of us who lived through that day, it is one of those memories that is still crystal clear. We all remember where we were, what we were doing, when we heard and saw the news. There are many in our industry who were directly affected by the destruction and trauma of that day. Having previously lived in lower Manhattan when I worked in the garment industry, I had many friends affected. But because of old and new contacts, we were able to collect 3500 donated comfort quilts that were personally distributed to those who suffered a loss that day. For many of you, it was the first time you had donated a quilt to a stranger. I drew comfort from the fact that I had trusted partners on the ground there, who would make sure those precious quilts were personally placed in the hands of someone who needed comfort.
I remember the day that JFK was shot also. I was 5 years old. My mother came into the hallway weeping. I asked her what had happened and she said ‘they shot the president’. I didn’t see the news that day. My whole memory was around witnessing her grief. It was the same way for those who experienced the attack on Pearl Harbor. These generational traumas and memories end up being woven into the fabric of our collective lifetimes, and we can only wonder what our country, our lives, our history would be like if these things had not happened. But they did happen. And we will never forget.
My 32 yr old son remembers that day. My 24 yr old son does not, despite the fact that he sat on my lap all day while I watched the news. I hugged him so tight as I watched the day’s events unfold on TV. Then I went into our warehouse (our smaller first warehouse) and we stood in a circle with our employees, holding hands and weeping, and praying.
Then we got on the phone and called all of our suppliers, to order any patriotic fabrics in stock, because I knew our customers were going to be looking for these fabrics after this event. In the months following there was such a feeling of unity and solidarity among all of us in the US, as we all grieved the loss.
We made patriotic quilts, comfort quilts, memorial quilts, and story quilts so we would never forget. We all stood together.
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt/Travel Calendar:
Sept 21-29 – Alaska Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival Nov 13 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Visions Art Museum Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit Sat, April 9 – “International Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM
These Scandinavian Gnome characters have become a phenomenon, selling out again and again, and now available in this Ice Blue & Natural color combination for your next snuggly quilt project.
To make this 55″ x 60″ quilt design, you will start with the central panel featuring 2 adorable Gnome figures and the Hexagon Snowflakes. Then fussy cut and piece the diamond blocks on-point, and add the engineered stripe and other coordinates to make the border.
Add a mug of Cocoa and you’re ready for the Winter season!
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 storytellers….we who stitch and mend, piece and embroider, weep and laugh over our work, alone and with friends…often telling stories in our work that someone else has to point out when we are done. We read stories to our children when they are little. We tell our mothers’ and grandmothers’ stories, and as we age we tell our own stories that have accumulated over the years. The stories that perhaps bored us when were were younger, now have meaning, and capture our imagination.
I’ve just finished reading the 4-volume saga of Swedish emigrants, by Vilhelm Moberg. They have helped me to understand more about what my Swedish ancestors went through to come to this country, and indeed what stories all immigrants have who leave everything to come to a new country. It is humbling.
This weekend late at night I stumbled across the last half of Slumdog Millionaire (which I adore) and had to stop what I was doing to watch what was left. Tonight on Turner, they were playing the 1968 Best Picture winner “Oliver” – the musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel. Which I also adore. (Saw it in the West End in London in 2010.)
It strikes me as very serendipitous that both of these were playing, and that I managed to catch the last half of both, when they have such similar plots. (Orphans on the street fall into the hands of bandits, who lead them to a life of crime, and the young hero finds love and redemption.) We love these stories because they lead us into the darkness of despair, and eventually lead us out in the light of hope. Then we carry that light and hope out into the challenges of our daily lives, and they give us strength to carry on.
Our quilting and sewing also gives us the strength to carry on. As we stitch and piece, we are mending and healing, and as they say….when Life gives you scraps, make a Quilt!
…sharing your love of fabric, Luana and Paul
Quilt/Travel Calendar:
Sept 21-29 – Alaska (Anchorage & Katmai) Oct 23-30 – Houston Quilt Market & Festival Nov 13 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Visions Art Museum Dec 4 – Zoom lecture “Intl Quilt Trends” – Quilt Canada Jan 12 – Apr 9, 2022 – New England Quilt Museum (NEQM) “For the Love of Gaia” exhibit Sat, April 9 – “International Quilt Trends” lecture – NEQM
Share Post:
Posted inBooks, Quilts|Comments Off on Storytelling for Challenging Times
To make this 63″ x 63″ quilt design, you will start with the main 24″ x 44″ colorful panel, then cut up the Celtic Dragon Block Panel and set in Kona Solid Black to set off those intense rainbow colors. Finish with a border of dragon coordinates and you’ve got a real conversation piece for the Dragon-Lover in your life!
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.
Some of the most elegant and luscious textile designs come from Asia, and this week we are sharing an exclusive Free Quilt Pattern for the exquisite floral group ‘Majestic’ because we just received a restock shipment for this wildly popular collection.
To make this 56″ x 65″ quilt design, you will start with the stunning 24″ x 44″ panel which features lavish gold metallic details. The image depicts a garden of Peonies and Chrysanthemums in the foreground, and in the far distance you can see a Shogun Castle outlined in Gold.
You will finish the quilt with Solid Kona Black and an Engineered Border made with the Floral/Gold Stripe. Here’s a tip about how to tell the difference between digital and screen-printed fabrics: if it has gold metallic, it must be screen-printed!
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.
