Hi everyone, it’s your host Pat Sloan here today talking about fabric styles.
When I made my ‘first first quilt’ I did not have many fabric options. Calicos, Calicos, Calicos, and solids. By the time I made my official first quilt the variety of fabrics had greatly increased, let’s do a big cheer for THAT!
Quilters now have so much variety of fabric it is wonderful, but it could be a tad confusing. When you hear someone describe a ‘style’ of fabric what do they really mean?
The other day I did a very scientific study of quilt styles when my friends showed up for sewing night. I asked the first three who arrived their thoughts on quilt Styles (well we DID have a very thorough discussion on it…. Wink!)
These are my thoughts on style, and I’m sure I’ve missed one or you will have your own take on it.. that is what our comment section is for!
Fat Quarter Shop has been super generous and allowed me to share photos from their store.. and.. hold on.. you are NOT going to believe this.. Fat Quarter Shop is sponsoring this post with a FQ bundle give-away. Which FQ bundle? Well the winner can pick the Moda bundle they want.. be still my heart!! exciting eh? See the end for how to enter.
My first observation about style is that color matters. Take the paisley above. This is a very traditional if not leaning towards civil war type print. This is a Jo Morton paisley that she is famous for.
This is NOT traditional by anyone’s terms. BUT it does have a paisley in it. Interesting eh? (I say eh to fit in with Michele.. she is Canadian ya know). And scale. Look how much larger this paisley is.. and more playful. This is what I’d call a contemporary fabric, from Heather Bailey
So let’s look at some BROAD categories (remember the comment section down there!)
Traditional
In this group you will tend to find lots of warm toasty colors, some call them muddy fabric (wink!). There are really a lot of styles within the traditional category.
Civil war prints are loved by many. They are reproductions of fabrics from the civil war era and use the same colors and patterns. The photo above is classic from Judie Rothermel.
People who love and use civil war fabrics are often recreating quilts from that time period. Historian Barbara Brackman has a blog about civil war quilts… check it out to learn more!
Calicos are generally small prints… a bit harder to find in this day and age as we tend to want more from our fabric! But Calico’s are fantastic blenders.. as is shown by this piece in Prairie Paisley II from Minnick/Simpson.
I feel like a country style fabric is cozy. It does not need to be ‘brown’ but it should be warm, toasty and full of the feeling of a farm house or your grandma’s kitchen. This line from The Quilt Patch feels country to me.
Americana and patriotic, whether in a traditional design or a contemporary, is classic! This line from My Mind’s Eye is bright and fun and waves the stars and stripes proudly! Great for solider quilts and decorating for 4th of July!
The 1930s prints are like civil war, they are reproductions of a time period of fabrics. They tend to be pastels with some reds and blacks. Lots of small prints. This is a new favorite of mine from my friend Darlene Zimmerman. And this line is called Adventures with Alice… I LOVE Alice in Wonderland!
Not Traditional
There are so many fabrics that fall into what I call “Contemporary” fabrics. This line called Candid Paparazzi from Red Rooster fits the contemporary class for me. Clean shapes, clear colors, and big bold sweeps of shapes.
Fresh Cuts from Heather Bailey is a classic Contemporary fabric. So much so this is a repeat of the line loved by many! (me included!)
I asked my good friend, and 3 time winner of the Modern Quilt Guild challenge, what she thought a current modern style fabric is. Heather Jones of olive & ollie said:
John Adams, QuiltDad, is not only a modern style quilt maker, but one of the editors of the online quilt magazine FatQuarterly. I asked John what he considered some of the current Modern style fabrics on the market. John said …
- Echo by Lotta Jansdotter
- Curious Nature by David Butler
- Anything by Pat Bravo
- Hello Luscious by Basic Grey
- Lark by Amy Butler
- Grunge solids
- Hello Pilgrim by Lizzy House
- Anything by Kaffe or Brandon Mably
- Tilly by Daisy Janie
I also think that Miscellany and Cut Out & Keep by Cloud 9 Fabrics are great examples, too. – Thank you John!
Wow oh wow are Batik fabrics POP-U-Lar!! Serious.. do you have a piece in your collection? How many… wink! Many companies produce batiks. I feel the draw of a batik is the often subtle color changes and the tone on tone ‘feel’ with more pizzazz! This is a selection from Hoffman. Fat Quarter Shop has a whole category for batiks on their left side bar.. go cruise!
Asian Style Traditional or Modern? This classic piece of Asian style fabric is from Kona Bay. They really do a wonderful job with this style. From a focus piece like this one to blenders and overall florals. Visit their web site for loads of inspiration!
Good Fortune by Kate Spain is a contemporary take on Asian fabric and I love it.. I even used it in a quilt for my latest book!
Other
“Other” is a lovely category. A place to slot solids, Novelty prints and seasonal.. which are a form of novelty but I think they deserve their own category!
Bella Solids by Moda are so darn popular you can even get a color card!
Also Michael Miller solids.
and Robert Kaufman solids.. oh yeah!
Going Coastal by Emily Herrick is a perfect example of a novelty print. Who uses bottle caps with seaside images.. umm…err… I do!
Or Peace Love and Rock and Roll man.. yep… any fabric with funky fun images is good to be called a novelty
one more!! Space fabric from Andover.. gotta love it!
Seasonal for me are those Christmas, Halloween, St. Patrick’s day, Easter or any other fabric that is very focused on the season. I tend to make quilts using them that stay within that theme. And these tend to lean heavy towards a novelty print feel. Like this Halloween print from Teresa Kogut.
And the Fat Quarter shop loves Christmas fabrics ALMOST as much as I do.. wink! They love it so much they put them ALL in one place for us Christmas crazy collectors! I’m loving this Basic Grey line.. all for that snowman!
Kathy Miller of Michael Miller fabrics does a fantastic job on the company blog with fabric inspiration boards. I am currently obsessed with Gray and Yellow combinations, so I really loved this board she did called Citron Gray.
Cruise the fabric company blogs and web sites for great fabric selections.. here are just a few of the many fabric companies out there today:
- Moda Fabrics
- Robert Kaufman
- FreeSpirit
- TimeLess Treasure
- Riley Blake
- Andover
- P&B Textiles
and I could go ON and ON and ON! Love a company? Put their name in Google and see what you find!
A few weeks ago I interviewed 4 fabric designers on January 30th including Kathy Miller of Michael Miller fabrics. And I interviewed Kimberley Jolly of the Fabulous Fat Quarter shop too!
Give-Away
Enter to win a Moda fat quarter bundle of your choice from the Fat Quarter Shop! Tell me below in the comments What is YOUR favorite Fabric Style?
One winner will be randomly selected next Wednesday, March 21, 2012.
Winner announced: Congratulations to #573 Renate. Check your email for a message.
Pat Sloan is owner and founder of the quilting design and publishing company Pat Sloan & Co. She has published over 25 books, more than 100 patterns, nearly 10 fabric lines, and has had her work featured in all the major Quilt magazines. In January 2010, Pat started hosting her weekly Internet Radio show called Creative Talk Radio.
Find Pat here:
Web Site | Blog | Radio Show | Facebook | Twitter
Quilt Forum | Pinterest | Newsletter
I’m a modern contemporary kinda gal. I love Kate Spain (am currently making a Good Fortune quilt for me too!), I love a good geometric-based print – circles, dots, stripes. And modern florals are also good!! I must admit to being a huge Moda fan. I know they cover a LOT of styles, and some are not to my taste, but generally love it.
I love batiks and novelty prints, especially seasonal and/or metallics. I also love anything to do with nature, which could fall under several categories.
I love traditionals, like the 30’s reproductions, and a lot of the contemporaries. I follow my color preferences. And then, there’s Kaffe Fassett, who might be in a category all his own;)
I love making scrappy quilts with fabrics in the same colour family. I am enjoying the modern fabrics in their clear bright colours. I prefer to not make the same pattern twice. All my quilts have green in them for my name, even a blue and white seashore quilt has a little triangle of green seaweed.
I lean toward the mixtures of Black, white, reds.. As in the Candid Paparazzi line. But I also would purchase the shasta line as well. I am not big on the pastels unless I am making something for someone else. It is funny because there are times I would lean toward the white citron or ocean line. It really would depend greatly on what room I was making something for. My bathrooms tend to go in the softer tones of greys and pastels, while my bedroom and living room would be in the more contrasting colors of browns, blacks, creams and a bright color like red, yellow or green added for a splash of color. When I make my quilts, I strongly consider who or what it will be used. I try to stick to that and it hasn’t done me wrong yet.
I love traditional tone-on-tone fabrics.
I would have to go with being a ‘modern’ fabric style. But I really do love it all – I’m a true fabric junky. My favorite is to put the unexpected together and make something truly unique!
I am really drawn to bright, bold colours. But at the same time I am doing a quilt with reproduction 1930’s fabric!! Apparently, I have multiple personalities! Thanks for a fabulous giveaway, eh!
I can tell you more what I don’t lean to, Civil war, calicos, retro but just about everything else I enjoy and will use. It really depends on my mood and the time of year. That was a very interesting analysis. I appreciated it. Thanks.
I love so many styles I love everything but my favorite would be modern right now I love lots of text, words, dots. You name it I love it. Thanks for the chance to win.
My first go to, because of how much I love them, is batiks, but I also love contemporary styles too. The Candid Paparazzi is one line I would love to buy a bunch of for a couple of different projects!
Love your listing of fabrics, they are so colorful, soothing, bright, sassy…just beautiful :)
I love the 30″s reproductions and also contemporary and civil war era. Actually I love it all!!!
I love the combination of different shades of blue with white. I am also a big fan of bright green and yellow. As I am very much a beginner to quilting I guess I stick to traditional patterns. The stars and Stripes and Going Coastal fabrics really appeal to me.
I love bright and vivid colors! But then it is hard from me to walk away from blacks & whites!
I think for the most part I’m a traditional girl. I do love alot of the modern prints, batiks as well as novelty. Just so many great fabrics and love seeing it all and finding new fabric that I like.
Thank you and FQS for an awesome giveaway and a chance to win. FQS is so wonderful and Thank You for sponsoring and supporting the online quilting community.
usairdoll(at)gmail(dot)com
I love it all and I think my style changes depending on the project. A child’s quilt…novelty prints and bright colors, holiday quilts……holiday fabrics…….of course I adore working with batiks it is the magic blending fabric! I hope I never have to pick just one style to work with. I love that we quilt in a time when the variety is endless! thanks for the great article and the chance to win some super beautiful new fabrics too.
Happy Sewing
These days I work in both traditional (muddy) colors and the brights. I am really torn as to which I like better.
For my own decorating purposes it would be the traditional colors but for fun I love the bright modern fabrics.
what a great giveaway!
Batiks are definitely my favorite style. I also love contemporary and modern styles but Batiks are the best! I may not always work with them, but I love them.
If I had to narrow it down to one it would be batik – there is such a variety within that category. They can be bold or subtle, bright or subdued, highly patterned or simple and such lovely colours !!
I am all over the place with fabric styles. I like traditional, brights, modern, 30’s, batiks. I kind of go into idea overload at fabric sites and stores. My stash is huge and growing. I love to make scrappy quilts.
I love bold/bright colors. I think bold colors paired with black to set them off are very attractive. Candid Paparazzi looks like fun!
I suppose my favorite fabric styles are civil war repro and 1930’s repro…oh, and also batik. Wow It is really hard to choose just one.
Sharyn
i LIKE THE PRINTS FROM THE CIVIL WAR PERIOD MADE INTO TRADITIONAL QUILTS
I love them ALL!! lol Seriously though, my favorites are civil war type colors and batiks. As many others have said, it really depends on the quilt and the recipient. Lately I’ve been really drawn to scrappy quilts with crisp white backgrounds ala crazymomquilts, Amanda Jean. Also LOVE yellow and gray or brown/aqua quilts. Like I said, I love them all!!
favorite fabric style is civil war fabrics. And they are very hard to find up here in Canada, so I need to make trips down south to get them!!! But they are worth it!!
Thanks to you & Fat Quarter Shop!!! Would LOVE to win!!
My fave go-to’s have to be Shabby Chic, and Bright Sunshinery, Happy colors & prints!! Loooove ’em! :)
I love bright colored batiks and Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Thanks for the giveaway.
I really love 1800s repros, but I have all sorts of fabric in the stash. I’ve recently bought some Reunion from the Fat Quarter Shop.
Thanks for the chance to win! I love, love love Batiks!!!!
I have never thought about what I like as contempory or modern until you lovely lesson. I love the classics I guess like flowers. I will say I buy any fabric from Fig Tree Quilts and I have almost every Amy Butler fabric she designs. It’s just recently I have branched out to other designers. THANK YOU
i think I must like non-traditional the best…all the Civil War fabrics just seem so dark and old and not light and airy. I guess the colorful modern fabrics are more my style.
Anything bright and cheerful for spring. I think Good Fortune by Kate Spring would be perfect!
I am a traditional tone on tone girl..bu tI really like Candid Papparziz
I know I spelled that wrong…lol
I prefere batiks and then bright, clean colours, usually with a smaller print and / or solids to complement. Thanks for the opportunity
The style of fabric depend on what I am making but then I like to mix styles also. I was on a shop hop today and got civil war fabrics strips from the shops and will be mixing other style for the border. I like the candid paparazzi fabric line.
I love the 30’s reproductions the most right now.
Much of what I buy falls into the “Contemporary” fabrics category. I especially liked the high contrast of “Candid Paparazzi” from Red Rooster.
I love bold, bright, and modern! I prefer big prints over little ones.
I like classic contemporary fabrics….great blog article, very interesting! Thank you for the chance to win
I love the colors in your quilt above. I guess different shades of blues are my favorite, although I do like the Shasta line. Thank you for this opportunity.
Seasonal, especially Christmas, is my favorite fabric style. What I really love, beyond the novelty prints found in Christmas fabric, are the wonderful selections of red, green, and blues in a line. These fabrics often can work so well in quilts made for other than holiday themes. Thank you Pat. I am enjoying learning some new tips and ideas through this series.
I love looking at all fabric styles, except maybe stuff from the 80s(!!), but I usually buy prints that are bright colors, which usually means contemporary, but not “modern.” I just don’t particularly love muddy colors, no matter the style.
I like the traditional styles. I love the civil war fabrics and the 1930s colors and designs. I also like the novelty fabrics. I love fabric. Thanks for the opportunity to win more fabric.
My style leans heavily toward the contemporary, in addition to Batiks. I also enjoy 1930s reproductions; but absolutely do not care for seasonal fabrics.
I love batiks! I also like modern prints in either bright colours or fresh pastels.
You can lump me generally in the contemporary category. Once there I split up into the sub-categories of seasonal, batiks & novelties.
I’m really liking the current modern style of fabric these days. Thanks for the chance to win.
I love soft romantic style. :)
Hi Pat, thanks for putting that review together, must’ve taken a bit of time! Was great to see the variety of styles – I would have to say I am a patchwork myself of styles as I don’t seem to have a favourite…I love traditional fabrics (mainly country) but also get a big thrill out of using contemporary, especially using brights!
Hi! Great give-away. Currently I have thing for 1930’s fabrics and florals and pastels. Longing for spring and summer, I guess. :-)