The MOST exciting thing we have to share with you
(besides over 300 new products!) is ….
(drum roll please)…
Paul’s new eQuilter Exclusive Pattern Designer!
Paul has been working on designing this new tool… or should I say addictive TOY…for months now. We predict this will be even more popular than his amazing Color Finder tool!
You can find this tool any time by clicking the PATTERN category on the home page, or the PATTERN button at the top right of any category or product store page.
Paul insisted on having a PILE of patterns to kick off this new tool, so we have to thank Kaufman, VIP/Cranston, Hoffman and Michael Miller for contributing pattern designs to our new pattern page.
Customize your pattern by dragging thumbnail images from the fabric selector below the pattern. Your Wish List items will also appear in the fabric selector. Click on ‘Add to Order’ and “Download Instructions” when your pattern is ready.
Ok, go throw some of this week’s new fabrics in your Wish List, and have fun designing YOUR OWN QUILT!
(My favorite part – you can email your design and custom fabrics to your quilty friends!)
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Crazy for Plaid
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It was very quickly brought to my attention by our Piece O’Cake fans Wednesday that the red applique quilt I photographed at the Long Beach Quilt Festival was actually designed by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins, in a book we carried 3 years ago! So we restocked the book and want to make sure credit goes where it is due…and if you wish to make this beautiful quilt we have the book and also a companion DVD in stock.
This weekend I am in Edinburgh Scotland, before going to London for 2 days, and then the Birmingham Quilt Festival on Thursday. (to give an award at 4 pm – hope to see some of you there?)
As you may already have guessed, this country is CRAZY FOR PLAID, and it seems that the whole city is swathed in bright Tartans for the Tattoo and the arts festival. My favorite so far was an elderly Japanese man in full dress kilt attire. It is kind of like Saint Patricks Day – everyone wants to be Scottish and wear a kilt during the festival here. There are some interesting and unique interpretations, but for the most part there are lots of handsome lads and bonnie lasses dashing all over town in their full kilt costume. Because it is a Military Tattoo, there are also many older gentlemen in their dress kilt attire, with their medals and military uniform kilts. Also, gotta love all the bright big Tartan plaids worn in the mens’ trousers!
I am featuring several Scottish and Tartan Plaid products this week, just to get you ready for the photos I will be posting soon! I was informed by my tour guide that the world “Quilt” originated from the patchwork-like pattern of the kilts. Who knew?
You Harry Potter fans probably know this already, but J.K. Rowling has a house in Edinburgh, and you can actually visit the little coffee shop where she wrote the first couple HP books. There is rampant speculation about all the graveyards, the private school, the bridge, etc. that inspired her writing here. It is a lot of fun to hear all of this recounted in a rip-snorting Scottish brogue!
The Scots also love to share the long list of famous and brilliant people who were born here or educated here – from Alexander Graham Bell and Robert Burns, to Sean Connery and Ian Fleming. We also visited the village Dunkeld where MacBeth’s castle supposedly stood, and where Beatrix Potter used to vacation. Robert Louis Stevenson was born here, and today I visited the Fife coastal village where the real Robinson Crusoe once lived. I also visited St Andrews today, where the rules of golf were invented, and where Prince William found his Kate.
I was incredibly lucky to have a clear evening last night when I went to the Tattoo, in fact I was lucky to get a ticket at all. It was such an incredible visual feast of fabrics, color, costume and PLAID that I was gasping with delight every few minutes! Long swathes of tartan draped around the bagpipers and thrown across their shoulder, trailing behind them as they marched to the beat….what a sight! I have added to my book collection on Clan Tartans and will be visiting a tartan weaving mill tomorrow. It is interesting to hear the Scot version of various stories such as Mary Queen of Scots, the Stone of Destiny, etc. They say they are hoping to become a sovereign nation again in 5 years or so, and there is an immense amount of national pride here in this gorgeous and friendly country. Can you tell I am having a great time? *smile*
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