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Alchemy of Fabric - August 2017 Selection: Holiday Spirit

August Alchemy: Holiday Spirit

When we think of the holidays coming up the color that first comes to mind is red. It is classic! We have chosen a wide range of reds from the traditional random dot to the red deer print, which I love. This print is from The Tula Pink collection “Holiday Homies”. We were fortunate enough to be the first store to receive the collection right before quilt show. And we made runners from the two colorways.

Kayley and I were really taken with the bark prints. The red birch bark print can be for the holidays, or NOT. It is from the Merrily collection from Moda. I could see it used in farm girl style quilts as well. The red and black bark prints with the little tree insert once in a while is just magical and from Tula. This print has a definite feeling of a stripe with an organic bark twist. What are the holidays without a neutral? Grey is a good balancer, and very popular at the moment.

When it comes to green, mint is so fresh and we are seeing it everywhere. It appears light and airy. Review the two Holiday Homies, table runners to see how we used some of the prints. This pattern is “Cranberry Chutney” from Madison Cottage Patterns. It is one of our very favorites and so easy to do. Make one for a gift to a friend.

Jean

 

Companion Prints:
(in order, from front of the stack to the back)

Cotton and Steel - Garland 5075-1 Illuminate Ivory
Moda - Jingle Birds 33253 13 Aqua Bluebird
Moda - Eat Drink, Be Ugly 17928 14 Snow Pond
Moda - Spring-A-Ling 21716 24 Dots Mint Chip
Lewis and Irene - Countryside Winter C16.3 Midnight Blue
Moda - Merrily 48215 12 Berry Weave
Dear Stella - Blue Moon Folkstone 796
Free Spirit - Holiday Homies PWTP106.OPINE Bambi Life
Cotton and Steel - Garland 5068-01 Merry Memory
Moda - Merrily 48212 13 Holly Leaves

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New! Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition of Intuitive Color & Design by Jean Wells

What’s new?
I am sure you are wondering about this when you see “2^nd edition” on the cover.
As most of you know, I do a lot of teaching, and my active role in design is ongoing as I create multiple quilts every year. As I work I think about instances that come up and how I can share these in the classroom. That is how the update happened, and 2/3 of the content and photos are all new. My ultimate desire is to help you engage in this magical creative process that I love.

 

Speaking of which, images play a big roll in color and design for me. I am not looking to create the imagery realistically, just how I see it--I am looking for clues in how I might use color, texture, and line in future quilts. I take lots of photos and keep track of them on my IPad. I print them out from time to time, and paste them in my journal using rubber cement. (I like this method because I can peel the photo up if I need to.)

This afternoon, clouds arrived in our 94 degree summer day and I realized that the light was perfect for taking some photos. My garden and yard is truly in bloom and just feels magical to me. I will comment on the different images, and maybe it will inspire you to look around you and find something interesting that sparks your imagination.

 

A triple sunflower appeared today in the garden. I like the radiating idea of the petals, maybe I should do another New York Beauty style quilt, but design my own block?

 

Purple and leaf green is a favorite color combination, but the bit of orange is just magical, too.

 

 Lamb’s Ear is so fascinating when it blooms with the tiny clusters of flowers and simple shaped leaves. Of course, the colors are so soothing as well with the dusty sage green and just a bit of purple. The simplicity of the leaf shape could easily translate into a quilting design.

 

 

This year I wanted my patio pots to have interesting textural plants as well as flowers and I settled on blues and oranges. I constantly look for textured fabrics that could make an appearance in my work. I especially like silks and linen, and sometimes a commercial printed fabric or a hand printed texture will work. Send me photos of your work in progress or finished. I love to see what people are creating!

Jean

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Designer Delight

“Designer Month” it is for July!  To celebrate all the wonderful fabric designers that come and teach workshops for us at the 43rd annual Quilter’s Affair in conjunction with the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. The theme for the show this year is “Storytellers" which is fitting for designers. Each of them create a story when they put together a line of fabric. Tula Pink weaves quilt a tale with each of her collections and Tabby Road is no different. Kaffe Fasset and Brandon Mabley design under the Kaffe Collective label for Westminister and Kaffe is a master at throwing in one dull color in a print that makes the others sing. Valori Wells “Jasmine” collection is made of of rich two shade prints and was a great accent for the collection.

We picked a beautiful geometric from the Amy Butler collection entitled Mighty Corners. And we always like to pull in a neutral of some kind so Carolyn Freidlander’s diagonal grid is perfect. We liked the grey tone and felt it played well with the prints. Carrie Bloomstron, a designer for Windham painted a beautiful triangle pattern. The painterly look fit in perfectly.

 

Kayley has been very busy sewing up a sample to showcase this group. She chose the “Rosalie” hexagon quilt pattern from The Stitchin’ Post. It is a really slick quilt to make the way we wrote the instructions and is perfect for a scrap like quilt. I am sure you have fabric in your stash that will play nicely with our July Alchemy Group.

Recommended 10

 

We really focused on the periwinkle colors in this group with the bright green playing a close second. Another purple and neutral seemed appropriate too. This collection just feels like summer and so playful to me. Enjoy!

~Jean

Our intention for creating the "Alchemy of Fabric" club is to provide the spark... the catalyst... the inspiration... for a project that your color palette is built upon. We have a monthly tutorial of insights on each fabric chosen. We have also included 10 other recommended fabrics to expand from the core fabrics and further guide your choices.

We are excited to share this educational opportunity as a study in color and fabric as well as build your artist palette of fabrics. As you practice designing your project from many different designers and collections our hope is to facilitate greater confidence and empowerment in your creative pursuits..

At the Stitchin' Post were are committed to creativity and inspiration and we are now embarking on a journey opening to new options together as the "Alchemy of Fabric" unfolds each month. Please share with us what the spark has ignited in you using the hashtag "#AlchemyofFabric" on your preferred social media platform, so others can be inspired by your work! You can also search #AlchemyofFabric to see what others have done, and to gain your own inspiration.

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Color Vocabulary

The second edition of Intuitive Color and Design is out!  I have signed copies available exclusively at the Stitchin' Post.

There are so many ways to talk about color and what I have learned through the years that is most important is the relationships that colors have to each other in the composition. Simplifying that to a vocabulary list of descriptions have been very successful for me in the classroom.

 

Rather than naming a color if you think of it for the role it is playing then you will intuitive know if it is working or not. My vocabulary lis consists of :  Temperature (warm or cool), Intensity (dull or bright),

value (light or dark), Volume (weight - lighter or heavier).

 

In this little sample of strata (see strata assignment on p. 52) I played with the cooler lighter orange and balanced it with the bright intense orange. I made sure the brighter orange appeared in smaller amounts so it would not dominate the composition. As I look at this not the darker purple near the center is feeling a bit large but as I add more strips I can remedy the amount of darker purple in the whole piece. It really is about relationships and we certainly can feel if a piece is working or not.

 

Trust yourself!

I love to add bits of texture. From these scraps you can see how the textured fabric add another dimension to the piece. The grey section has bits of cotton as well as linens. The Essex linens from Robert Kaufman are part cotton and the hand is soft and plays so well with cottons.

Spirited Hues is the last quilt I made for the new book. I had collected the fabric for it for some time and it sat on my cutting table until I finished all of the writing for the book. My reward to myself was to get to sit down and design and sew the quilt. 

Happy Designing!

~Jean

 

Row by Row is Back

Many people who are following us, whether online or in the shop, know that this is the time of year when we are really gearing up for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, but we are also working hard to make up Row by Row kits! Row by Row begins on June 21^st, 2017 and kits will be available through September 5^th.

Last year, we made 1,832 kits for Row by Row throughout the course of the summer. This year, Edie has folded and packaged 954 Row by Row kits already and she assured me that by the end of the day today, she will have over 1,000! Isn’t she adorable surrounded by all this fabric for the kits?

June and Cheryle designed our row this year, June designed last year's row as well.  If you are interested in last year’s pattern, we do have those available on our website and in the store. We also have the Fabric Plates again this year.

New this year is the Row by Row Junior which we are participating in! This is designed for kids between the ages of 6 and 14 and the time frame is the same as regular Row by Row, however the child must be present when picking up the pattern (but a kit can be purchased by anyone). We chose the “High Tops” pattern for our Junior Row.

The first five kids who bring in a project using our Junior Row will get a ribbon. But the adult who brings in a completed quilt (quilted, bound, labeled) with 8 rows from 8 different shops will win a fabric prize! But the rules say you must go into the store to pick up the pattern and/or to purchase the kit. Luckily for those who cannot make it to the store, we can take orders that can be shipped out after November 1^st, 2017.

We want to see your row!  Share it with us using #SewMuchInspiration when you share on social media.

If you are interested in purchasing our older rows, please call the store.  Here they are in reverse chronological order:

Fancy the Studio Cat - Gets Gussied Up

Hi, Mittens here, One of the Studio Cats in the Wild, I want to introduce you to one of my good
friends, fellow Studio Cat, Fancy, made by Paige.

             
Fancy has a Very Big Weekend planned soon and she wanted some fashion advice......So I booked her a fitting with my Personal Seamstress, Jill.  After a fitting and design consultation....

 

Jill got to work, on a skirt basically like mine,

The skirt fabric is 9" (1/4 yd) x 36" wide,  (I cut a 9" square of fabric to make Fancy's Bandana).
Turn under 1/4" along the top edge and bottom edge of width fabric, press.
Then turn under the bottom hem another inch and press again.

 

 
Jill used the tulle on the roll, she cut 3 lengths, 1 yard each.  Layer the 3 yards of tulle on top of each other and sew together along the 36" edge.

Fold over again, and attach to the bottom of the skirt edge.

 
    
Sew a guide to follow for the placement of the Ric-Rack trim,
position trim, and sew over the guide line.

Trying on the for length, Fancy wanted her skirt SHORT, so Jill turned down the top edge another
inch and that made Fancy smile.

Fold over the 2 side edges of the skirt and stitch.

 

To gather the waist of Fancy's skirt, Jill used old fashioned string. Cut to the length of the waist edge,
tie knot in both ends so the string does not unravel.

                                           

Set your Stitch to Zig Zag, as wide as it will go.(Jill used 5) - Stitch length Jill set at 2 on her Bernina. Pin the string at the beginning to start.

 

Zig Zag over the string carefully (you do not want to catch the sting with your needle and thread).
Follow the thread all the way to the end of the skirt.
Don't forget to backstitch at both the beginning and the end of the Zig Zag.

 

                         

 Pull the string to gather up your skirt, pull from both ends to get it as tight as possible.

Position your skirt on your kitty, tie the string off with a square knot, then tie into a bow.
Trim the ends, and re-knot, to keep the string from unraveling.

Fancy is very happy with her look, what do you think?

Stay tuned for Fancy's adventures in the week to come!

 ______________________________________________________________________________________

 To make your own Studio Cat, purchase here

You can see our Studio Cat Adventures on our Facebook Page

Share your Kitty's Adventures by using #studiocatsinthewild

 

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Alchemy of Fabric

The Alchemy of Fabric Club- April 2017 Edition:

 

Floral Fusion

This is the perfect month to look at fabric with “new eyes”. It is spring and the image of flowers brings with it the association with ease in the weather, a new season, color infusing our world, delight and sweet moments. Flowers bring a happy feeling to most everyone. The fabrics curated for this month and the projects have a focus on collage elements and literally a floral fusion that births a “new mix”. A new fabric is created from the fussy cut floral & leaf elements brought together in harmony from many fabrics. This is a planned cut process to create your own mix of alchemy.

 

The first fabric is Tula Pink’s “The Hare” from her Slow & Steady collection. If you look closely there are limitless possibilities to create various sizes of leaves from. The dots so carefully planned when isolated in one fussy cut shape give a jeweled effect. This fabric has a beautiful balance of line and color.

The second fabric is another Tula Pink design called “Eek” from her Tabby Road collection. The ornate shaped leaves throughout give a variety of color of aqua, yellow green and thistle purple. The ornate shapes can be kept intact with all the intricate curves or simplified in your collage. Remember with leaves to vary how much is seen to give your collage more interest. Use a variety of full leaf shape to partial shape peaking out from around and underneath the flowers.

The third fabric is by Free Spirit. This collection is called “Natural World”. This fabric has a variety of succulents throughout. The succulent shape blooms out from the center reminiscent of a rose. This fabric design has many colors of succulents so you can pick the color desired as well as decide on the size. You can use the bud like center or full blossom! Some leaves are rounded and some are more gently curved. Just like the leaves utilize partial succulent shape or full floral shape.

The fourth fabric is designed by Amy Butler from the Free Spirit collection Splendor. This fabric has large showcase florals meant to take a center stage in your collage. When fussy cut for collage they make a statement so in creating your mix position them to shine! If used in a quilt this fabric has fabulous lines and graphic elements too.

 

Flowering Field with Three Sisters Mountains

 

The fifth fabric is by Valori Wells from her “In the Bloom” collection. It has a whispy feeling to the fabric and will give a softened effect when used in a collage. It can be in your collage like using baby’s breath in a bouquet of flowers.

The sixth fabric is a Kaffe Fassett design called “Bekah”.He is a master of large florals. All the flowers in this fabric have a painterly look and the colors of flowers vary from lavender, to magenta, to purple to red. With the loose brush stroke shapes and lines along with the vibrant color these flowers will definitely be another “leading lady” in your collage.

The seventh, and final, fabric is a Philip Jacob Classic called “Brassica”, a cabbage rose design. Like Kaffe Fasset he designs for Rowan fabric and has a different feeling to his florals. His florals when you study closely always have intricate lines and details throughout. The vibrant colors gently vary from shape to shape by comparison to the way Kaffe uses color. With that said wherever they are placed they will still demand a center stage and are another “leading lady floral” in your quilt story.

The ten supplemental fabrics for this month were selected with more traditional piecing rather than collage in mind.  They are all meant to let the florals pop and be the focus rather than being florals themselves.  Additionally, these fabrics could be used in a collage to create visual interest, become a base to build upon, and break up the flowers in surprising ways.  If you look at a photo of a field of flowers, you might be amazed at how much of what you see is not actually flowers.  

 

Happy Creating!

 

Our intention for creating the "Alchemy of Fabric" club is to provide the spark... the catalyst... the inspiration... for a project that your color palette is built upon. We have a monthly tutorial of insights on each fabric chosen. We have also included 10 other recommended fabrics to expand from the core fabrics and further guide your choices.

 We are excited to share this educational opportunity as a study in color and fabric as well as build your artist palette of fabrics. As you practice designing your project from many different designers and collections our hope is to facilitate greater confidence and empowerment in your creative pursuits..

 At the Stitchin' Post were are committed to creativity and inspiration and we are now embarking on a journey opening to new options together as the "Alchemy of Fabric" unfolds each month. Please share with us what the spark has ignited in you using the hashtag "#AlchemyofFabric" on your preferred social media platform, so others can be inspired by your work! You can also search #AlchemyofFabric to see what others have done, and to gain your own inspiration.

Introducing the Alchemy of Fabric Club!

We invite you to join us in creating a “Fabric Story” each month, with the characters of the fabrics we have curated for you. The stash you are building is the artist's palette you will draw from for a creative project. Look at fabric in a new way and build confidence in your choices.

The Alchemy of Fabric Club - February 2017 Edition:
Magenta Magic

   Printed fabrics have a character. When you see the fabric, it brings to mind an association with a time period, an era, a trend of the times, a place, an experience, etc. Fabric can be just like music, and it has the ability to transport you to another time or place at a glance. It is reminiscent by nature, bringing back memories that are triggered by association. All this is at play in influencing our fabric choices and preferences.

Each month we will be presenting a new “Color Story” in the Alchemy of Fabric Club along with ideas and information for you to build your own color vocabulary.

Magenta Magic is the February launch for the Alchemy of Fabric Club. We have curated seven choices as the core group, with “magenta” as the dominant focus and grey playing a supporting role.

These fabrics just might be the launch for a planned scrap quilt pattern, such as "Himalayan Pink," from Madison Cottage, which Trish Erickson created from these colors.

What is wonderful about creating quilts from a wide range of fabrics in a planned color story, is you have an opportunity to change up the scale and texture of the prints to add interest, but the color plan will hold the design together.

Having worked with quilters for forty-two years in the store and the classroom, I know that they fall for a color story or a style of fabric first, and this sets the creative process in motion. They are “makers,” and it feeds their soul to create beautiful things.

Variety is the spice of life, and that really rings true in scrap quilts. Our Magenta Magic group represents just that, with two larger scale prints that are so magical--because when cut them up, no two pieces are exactly alike. The artist hand drawn "Cotton and Steel" gray check pattern has a texture, but reads as a solid. The smaller low contrast gray is used to balance and ground the vibrancy of the magenta fabrics. You see subtle geometry and value changes in the remaining pinks that balance out the starter pack of choices. The magenta tones are considered the “spark.”

February 2017 FABRIC PACK:

• *Cotton and Steel- Basics- xoxo-Lilac / 5001-10
  *Mystic- Valori Wells-Coastal Fog- AVW-15858-316
  *Cotton and Steel- Alexia Abegg-Print Shop- GRID-GREY-4037-01
  *ROWAN-Kaffe Fassett- Ferns-Cherry-PWGP147-Cherr
  *AG-Art Gallery- Joi de Vivre-Stitched Diamant Verve-JOI89122-designed by barij
  *RK-Robert Kaufman-In the Bloom-Pomegranate-AVW-15251-281
  *Free Spirit-Anna Maria Horner-Fibs and Fables-Labyrinth-Petunia

We have also curated 10 other choices from a variety of collections and designers that can expand from the original seven in the core group. From this base of colors & patterns surprises will be catalyzed in your creative project. 

10 Suggested Fabrics to use with February Alchemy of Fabric Club

• AGF- Squared Elements- SE-616 Carbon # 105789
  * Rowan- Philip Jacobs- PWPJ051.REDXX/Pattern: Brassica- Color-RED
  * Kaufman-Mystic-AVW-15860-281 Pomegranate
  * Rowan-Philip Jacobs- PWPJO82.PINKX/ Tree Fungi- Pink
  * Cotton & Steel- Sarah Watts-2030-Cat Lady
  * Robert Kaufman- Mystic-AVW-15856-316- Coastal Fog
  * Robert Kaufman-In the Bloom- AVW-15256-281- Pomegranate
  * Cotton & Steel- Rashida Coleman Hale-1930- Macrame
  * Robert Kaufman-MARKS-AVW-16352-293 –Smoke
  * Free Spirit - True Colors by Heather Bailey - PWTC038.Water

While this is a mail-order fabric club, we want this to feel like a classroom when it comes to inspiration. Please share your work using the hashtag "#AlchemyofFabric" on your preferred social media platform, so others can be inspired by your work. You can also search #AlchemyofFabric to see what others have done, and to gain your own inspiration.

You can always see what we are doing here:

Facebook.com/The-Stitchin-Post-115644758478546

Instagram.com/stitchinpost

Google.com/+Stitchinpost

-- Jean & Kayley

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Wish Quilt

Wow!  Annette did a fabulous job on her Wish quilt!  She used Valori's new fabric line, Jasmine, and featured the limited edition Jasmine panel. 

 

 

There was even enough fabric leftover after fussy cutting to piece together strips for the binding. 

 

 

I offered to sew the binding for her and noticed that Annette took the shape of the camel from the panel to use for the quilting in the background.  You never know where inspiration will come from!

 

 

Don't forget that we are doing a giveaway of the Jasmine Panel on our Facebook page!

 

The Wish pattern is free on both our website.

 

Happy Sewing,

 

Jean

Jasmine Panel Giveaway!

A new creation has been birthed from Val's ornately carved blocks.  After the Jasmine collection was complete, the blocks still had more to say... more story to tell.  Following her inspiration, Val prepared the background of the fabric for printing using her carved dots.  They began the multi-layering process.  With the stunning and intricately carved camels as the focal point, Val printed those first.  They were the catalyst for an evolution of pure creative freedom of color and shape, created from her carved blocks, that organically blossomed into the unique and totally original fabric art panel. 

 

 

Now, signed and numbered in a limited edition of 100 we are giving away one on our Facebook page!  The rules are simple, just like us on Facebook and like the photo of Val and her panel on our page.  We will select a winner Monday, February 6th. 

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