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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Oh I definitely love civil war and the 30’s. But i love whimsical holiday, reds, whites……………………..
Contemporary. Thanks for the giveaway!
Right now I love the 30’s fabrics….course it might have something to do with the fact that I am doing a block a day with 30’s fabrics. ;) I think they are so colorful and cheery…thay can make my mood happy any day, and they remind me of a time gone by that I wasn’t fortunate enough to be around for! Thanks for the chance to win.
What a fantastic article Pat! Eh, Michele?!
I love, love, love the 30’s prints.
Thanks for the chance to win such a great prize!
I love them all. I really am more of a traditional quilter, but I love the modern prints and color combinations like citron and gray. I am currently making an orange and white quilt in a traditional pattern. It will have an orange and turquoise fabric on the back.
My favorite fabric style is really two, I love batiks and oriental fabrics they just seem to go together. They make me feel very creative.
I love traditional fabrics, but always throw in some contemporary fabrics. Colors and patterns that Fig Tree comes out with has lately drawn me but batiks as well.
I like modern fabrics. I’m currently making a quilt with Sophie by Moda and I love it!
Modern is my favorite followed closely by Batiks. The absolute only one I really cannot stand is anything Civil War-they just do nothing at all for me. That being said, I am working on a huge log cabin quilt done with browns, reddish browns, blacks, muddy greens & ecrus right now. It is from a retreat I went to last year. I would have picked none of these fabrics for myself, but when it is finished & quilted it is going to be gorgeous and it is going on my bed.
I’m LOVE batiks!! Thanks for the give-away!
I enjoy sewing with anything batik. They are so easy to work with and I love the intricacy of the designs.
I have to say I am eclectic as I love many of the fabrics and it depends on my mood. I have quilts of all different colors and patterns, so have to say I do not fit into one box.
Oh its tricky – but I am predominantly drawn to the modern/contemporary prints – especially brights and love the modern more abstract quilts – I will make one one day soon!. I do have a hankering for some of the 1930’s reproduction prints though……
I really like civil war fabrics, 30’s, dots, wild prints and everything else. I’m a fabriholic – I can’t help it. Maybe I should go to a FA meeting
Contemporary Style is me. In fact, I’m just about to order some fabrics from the Summer House collection by Lily Ashbury from Fat Quarter Shop.
Traditional always catches my eye. Yet every once in a while I mst have a large floral and something happy. Still, I think that might enter into the traditional category.
I guess I’m an old fashion quilter. I like calico very much. My stash is mostly made up of what ever others didn’t want anymore, so it is very much a mix. What I would like more of are batiks.
Batiks! Batiks! Batiks!
But then there is always 1930’s, novelty, solids….:o)
Thanks for the giveaway!
i always like the solids. i always think if i have the solids i can always miss and match with other styles
I love solids and tend to incorporate them with all the different style fabrics. They make the traditional fabrics look less fussy, and they provide a calm counterpoint for the more exuberant modern fabrics.
I lean toward traditional but every so often a big floral print or a 30s fabric catches my eye. And while I haven’t worked with batiks too much yet some of them really take my breath away.
Contemporary is what I usually gravitate towards yet also like some of the others too: solids, Asian, batiks and traditional Civil War. Good Fortune would be a nice bundle from the FQS! Thanks for the informative post on fabric styles.
I love batiks! I also love working with smaller scale fabric designs. (I have never purchased anything with a large scale). I do like bright color a lot!
I love all sorts of fabric styles – civil war, shabby chic, pretty, whimsical!
I love Civil War reproduction fabrics and anything French General.
Mary
I love the new modern type fabrics but lean more to using civil war and 1930 repo fabrics. Lately I have been collecting solids and batiks.
This is a very informative article, it explained some question I had about the different labels people call things. It also showed great examples of the beautiful fabric to buy.
Thanks for the giveaway Lisa http://www.intheboondocks.blogspot.com
I like shabby chic, classic contemporary, batiks, florals. I like most all fabric.
I love what I call romantic florals – anything french inspired and soft pastels…. but those contemporary asians make my day as well!
I love Modern and Contemporary fabrics. When I first started quilting 10 years ago it was mostly calicos and reproductions that were out there but now the breadth of the selection is amazing! I love cruising Fat Quarter Shops website and getting lost for hours. Thanks for the giveaway!
Contemporary is probably what I like the best but I don’t make quilts only for me. So I like to do a variety of things. Granted only been quilting 3 months so only have 20 or so quilts made (yes that many for just starting) Most smaller lap or baby quilts. But I like things in almost all styles and I am not afraid to mix and mingle styles.
I love the modern fabrics with bold color combinations and eye-catching patterns.
I’ve made a lot of quilts with Civil War repros, bu am now edging toward more contemporary designs. Kathie L in Allentown
I love all fabric and slowing becoming a fabric hoarder..lol
But lately, I have been leaning towards the batiks. Thanks for the giveaway Pat and Kim.
Contemporary fabrics are my very favorites! thanx for the info!
This was an interesting read! I’ve heard talk about different styles of fabric but didn’t know much about them (Ie “repro” prints were a mystery to me – I get it now!)
I’m definitely a not-traditional contemporary fabric kind of girl. Thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks for a great article on fabric! I guess I like the modern style, but being brought up in Sweden, the Ikea aesthetics is something that has grown on me! But I also like denyse Schmidt, a bit oldfashioned, but with a modern feeling! Thanks for the giveaway!!!!
I love love love bright modern ‘happy’ fabrics. I love everything by Heather Bailey, Amy Butler etc. But I like to use them in really traditional ways. I love traditional blocks done in modern funky fabrics! :)
Thanks for this series, it makes me happy to see such passion for our industry!
Hugs Paula
I am a traditional pattern lover with all of its variations, but gravitate to small calico type prints which seem to work best for me, when faced with large scale patterns I tend not to grasp just how I want to cut into it, so end up reverting to the smaller prints.
Civil War repo’s are my ultimate favorite seconded by french toille prints which is about the largest type of print I can deal with. Love the article posted today and being a woman I am always susceptible to changing my mind when something wonderful catches my eye so modern whimsical can always capture me too. LOL
I’m finding it very hard to choose these days. I must be going thru transition – do other people do that?? The Americana feel of the Minnick & Simpson fabrics, I love, as the Civil Wars and they all fit in with the antiques that I love. However, I lately I’ve been drawn to the more modern feels of Cosmo Cricket. I’m even feeling the draw of batiks, where I didn’t use to – they feel beachy yet can be used in the country and forrest feel. Maybe call me fickle, or just a lover of all fabrics – there is something for whatever we choose to create.
I love antique florals with a few spots and stripes as well
What a loaded question: I really like modern & contemporary fabrics, and am lately adding some solids to the mix. Always looking for guy-proven fabrics, be it novelty fabrics, or patriotic (non-flower) fabrics.
Thanks so much for this generous giveaway!
I typically use very traditional prints. However I also love 30’s prints and am getting started on building a small stash of Civil War prints. I think it’s safe to say that I like almost any type. If it’s fabric, I can think of something to do with it.
I know I answered this earlier –
Anything that isn’t traditional – that’s for me!
I guess mostly I’m non-tradiional…I really love so many of the fabrics! It’s hard to pick just one!!
Contemporary! Fresh Modern clean fabrics! Love the post!
I love 100% cotton! I really love the Peace, Love, and Rock & Roll themed fabric above! Thanks for the nice giveaway!
My fabric style Eclectic! It’s rare that I find a fabric that I do not like. :)
I think I lean more toward the traditional in fabric. It fits my taste and preference though I am learning to like the modern style in fabric.
I have to say I find the Civil War fabrics beautiful. The muted color palette and richly patterned designs have an endless appeal to me.
I have a bit of everything in my stash, from repros to batiks to contemporary. I love variety, in my quilts.