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:
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I love the newer, more contemporary, brightly colored prints!
What a great breakdown of all the different fabric styles! Thank you for your hard work, and illustrating it so well with such beautiful examples! I’m a BATIK girl!
I love contemporary prints, especially graphic style and dots.
My style is scrappy romantic. Little pieces of flowers and vines go a long way. Thanks for the chance to win the giveaway — and for hosting so many other giveaways!
The Adventures with Alice collection is divinely phenomenal!!
I love contemporary fabrics – bold and colourful – there are just so many fabulous fabrics on the market – thanks for the chance to win :)
I love Robert Kaufman solids.
Thank you for the fabric styles update. I really enjoy non traditional fabrics like Kaffe Fassett, Sweetwater, Basic Grey.
I like everything! But it I had to choose, probably soft pastel romantics, aka, the shabby look. I love large pastel roses on a pale background.
I would say the fabrics that I love the most are the bright contemporary fabrics. But I do love the 1930’s prints and always love to work with a fun novelty fabric.
I think my style depends on my mood, whether it is quilts or clothes! I love color, yet I also like the classic black, read and white combination in a quilt. I love calicos and 1930s reproductions, and batiks, what I call shabby romantic prints. You know the creams, pinks etc with little pink roses and more.
I used to stick solely to traditional and muted colors and prints, im thrilled to say Ive branched out with the help of countless bloggers and facebook groups…seeing SO many wonderful patterns and colors I never would have ventured towards really inspired me!! That being said, Ive become infatuated with 30’s and feedsack prints after being given a few scraps from a friend who had some wonderful vintage fabric from her grandmother….
If I had to pick one style, I would say bright and cheerful.
I would say contemporary, but that being said I love pretty much all fabrics….brights, 30’s, civil war, primitive, batiks, shabby romantic florals, and solids….Free Spirit solids are wonderful. The quilting market is full of so many beautiful fabrics….thanks for the chance to win…hope your day includes some sewing, makes for a happy day!!!
I think I lean toward the modern fabrics, with happy colors, but not too bright. I also love the seasonal – nothing better than Christmas and Halloween fabrics!
I love the 30’s. also like civil war. Thanks, Lyn
I love the contemporary fabrics and especially different patterns and ideas in which to use them in more traditional styled quilts! Your fabric groupings are devine!
I like bright colours and I love all fabrics, I walk into a fabric store and drool. It is so hard not to buy somethimes.
The only fabric style I do not like is the asian influence. Other than that I’m drawn to a style depending upon the mood I’m in mostly. Like now, before Spring I’m drawn to fresh white and clean colors of florals and geometrics. I’m working with Ruby right now and loving the feel of the colors.
My style ? the 1930s. I love that fabric.
I use different fabric, i change with the project, but I ever use fabric with so much color and a little vibran, I love turquesa, blue, pink, yellow … But in this moment I was looking solid color, i like try to do the summer series block. Now, I prefert the solid color fabric.
I like Asian style prints the best. There is something about their colors that just draws me to them! Thanks for the giveaway!
I definitely lean more towards Contemporary, with a focus on florals. Great post!!
usually bold bright pastels (is there such a color??) catch my eye. always 1930’s repros have my love. the young modern fabric designers do such a marvelous creative job, love them. novelty prints (but never seasonal)l draw me in, okay it’s like a kid in a toy shop. but i’m old. :>)
Thanks for the wonderful article. I have to say I just love all fabric. But I am really loving the new brighter colors that are coming out now. There are so many to chose from it is hard to chose one style. Love them all!!
I love the green in “Seasonal Gatherings” I can almost smell the pine trees in East Texas when I gaze at it. I just like primative fabric I guess.
I am of the old school. I like the older prints because they are not so busy but I like the more modern because of their bright colors.
While I tend to quilt with traditional fabrics or batiks, I love the modern colours – like the Olive and Ollie fabrics.
This is a hard question. I love many contemporary fabric lines, but also e.g. French General fabric, which have a more traditional feel. And then the solids are also wonderful… and some “wordy” fabrics, too.
I have to pick a favorite? I love everything but I have a soft spot for batiks.
I hate to play favorites but the broad category of contemporary is my favorite for now. Some of the contemporaries I like best do reflect a modern take on traditional themes.
I like contemporary, paired with solids.
I love 1930’s repros
I’d have to say I like the traditional fabrics best.
Novelty prints are so cute and goes well with anything fun!
thanks for the awesome giveaway!
I prefer traditional, seasonal, patriotic and tone-on-tone.
FRESH!! Love the fresh bold colors!
Hi Pat, I enjoyed your article and my fabric preferences tend to be modern and bright or, serene and sophisticated….depends on my fabric mood. Thanks for the chance to win more yummy fabric!
May favorite, at least right now, is the non traditional. A little bit of whimsey and a big bold statement. Loving it.
I must admit, they seem to change almost daily, with the exception of 1930’s that would have to be my fav style.
Hugs
Hi Pat, great job on this post, really made me think. I think I would have to put myself in the Not Traditional and Other category. I love the bold, modern and geometric patterns as well as the bright & pastels of solids. My favorite designs at present are from Me & My Sister; Amelia and Twirl.
I love, love, LOVE batiks.
I love ALL the fabric collections but to pick a favorite it would have to be the traditional fabrics.
I love the traditional of Reproductions and Batiks are currently my favorite to plan applique quilts. Orientals still attract me. I have a quilt with batiks another with reproductions, and a plain amish style quilt and an oriental one all on the go at the moment it’s so hard to choose a single style.
I love contemporary fabrics in bright colors with interesting texture and pattern. Thank you for the descriptions.
I have many loves but keep going back to the old memory inspiring 1930’s prints.
Hi Pat,
My favorite style is traditional. I also enjoy non-traditional and whimsical prints.
A Big Thank you tothe Fat Quarter Shop for the Giveaway. Did I tell you my favorite fabric line is MODA? I can always find something wonderful by Moda.
I would love to win the fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop. I am a regular customer and love the two BOM’s I am in there.
I can’t name just one! I like contemporary styles but often not the colors (will you guys PLEASE stop using so much PINK!), I keep buying batiks and Asian-styles, and I am drawn to novelties.
And florals, you didn’t mention florals. I love flowers, the bigger the better!
Thank you for the chance to win. I love all the traditional fabric lines.
they are all great but ocean wave batiks and of course peace love and rock and roll caught my eye. Thank-you for the give away chance. good luck to all