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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Hi!
Thanks for the great info on different fabric styles, some fabric lines I wouldn’t have organized them the way you did, so good to know!
I think I am more of a traditional/classic kinda gal! My clothes are too! I’m not really a modern kinda gal either!
I melt for pinks, blues and mauves. Flowers are so pretty. My favorite designers are Fig Tree Quilts, French General and the new Sentimental Studios Summer Breeze II is real pretty too!
Take care, Leslie
I love fabrics of all kinds, but you would find a majority of my stash is of the traditional type.
I am very contemporary. I love bright fun fabrics. Neon colors and batiks are my favorites.
My style is mostly comtemporary. But I love the old stand bys that goe with everything.
I love a lot of them but I would have to say that “Shasta” is my favorite!
I found your article very interesting as well as educational. I have made quilts for myself. I have found that in the end you will somehow need blenders or solids. I am going to choose the Bella Solids by Moda. That would so make me happy.
Sandi T.
sandit1@sbcglobal.net
I seem to be moving towards contemporary! Thanks for a wonderful giveaway!
No doubt about it, I love Civil War fabrics. Can’t get enough of them. This is a fabulous giveaway, thanks so much.
I guess after reading your information about fabric styles I lean mostly toward traditional.
I would say I’m a contemporary girl since I love, love, love batiks and Good Fortune makes my heart sing!=) Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Definitely NOT traditional! I love the contemporary fabrics although not necessarily the art fabrics. Batiks are my all-time favorite fabrics, you can’t have enough!
thanks
Recently my favorite style is contemporary..
I love ’30’s prints. I fell in love with them when my great grandmother gave me a beautiful quilt when I was 6 years old. It was made of real 30’s fabric.
Thanks for the wonderful information. I tend to sew traditional, but love almost everything else!
I really like the newer, bolder prints more than the traditional prints. Lately, I am really loving tone on tone red prints:) Thanks for the chance to win:)
My favorites: modern geometrics, modern flowers, ferns, and leaves, dots, natural dyed solids.
Thanks for the great post!
Joanna
I love 30 s prints
I am a sucker for Moda’s romantic florals. All those soft flower prints with old roses and leaves. And then of course I have to have the coordinating prints that go with them. I also love tone on tone prints, especially in neutrals like cream and ivory. Can’t ever have enough of those!
I love the sewing themed fabrics. A close second is 30s prints. But, then I like almost any kind of fabrics in the colors of yellow, red, and green. Of course, these don’t limit me to just buying those. I have tons of fabric. I keep saying I’m not going to buy any more, but then something catches my eye.
Thanks, Pat, for the fabric info. I’m looking forward to your workshop on the 27th in Rock Hill, SC. Joan P.
hiii,
thanks for hosting a fab giveaway!
I just love all fabric but would have to say that I tend to gravitate towards red white and blue fabrics. x
I’d say my style is mostly country cozy mixed with a touch of contemporary. Thanks for the chance to win!
I love them alll & choosing will be hard tho I always lean to pink & roses.
Happy St. Patrick’s day ~
TTFN ~
Marydon
Batiks just inspire me -love them all but Hoffmans are to dye ( die) for !
I love ALL fabrics, but I’d have to say the ’30’s and kids prints i love the most.
love country, homey fabrics
ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com
I’m a l-o-n-g time quilter, when it was “calico, calico, calico,” as you said, but I’ve gone over the hill to modern. Love, love, love it! Thanks for this great giveaway and the chance to win.
Hi, I look for older styles of fabric, I learned about quilting from my grandmother in the late 50’s and early 50’s so that is the kind of fabric I just seem to go to when I am shop. As far as I know all of her quilts and fabric are gone, she sold her quilts at Wolworth in Covington, KY. I don’t know how to track them down because she only signed a few. That is my styl thanks for the giveaway and a chance to win.
Hello, I am a fabric addict and love all styles of fabric but it really depends on the project. Currently I have totally fallen in love with the new Robert Kaufman solids line….this is one time I have found the fabric before I found my project. I cannot wait to use them in a quilt!!
My favorite fabric style is 1930s repros.
I lean more toward the contemporary fabrics, with batiks right up there at the top. That said, I do find myself drawn to the 30s reproductions as well.
I’m in love with Civil War fabrics. But I still enjoy using modern fabrics too.
Such a beautiful selection as always. The Bella Solids are delicious. I like the Ocean Waves they are so soothing and calming with colors that make you want to wrap yourself in them.
Thanks and an Irish Blessing upon ya.
I have been broadening my thoughts on which fabrics should be used for quilting and I have really got a thing now for batiks! I just can’t get enough of them!
holy fabric fun, batman! What is my favorite?…most definitely anything that is reminiscent of 30’s through 60’s feedsack materials. I love Denyse Schmidt fabrics for this reason. Others that have the ‘look’ that I am after are Holly Holderman designs of Lakehouse Drygoods, and Rosalie Quinlan designs of Lecien. I have such a hard time deciding on the perfect pattern to use before making the first, heart-wrenching, cut. :)
What a great article! I tend to go for blacks, reds, and whites with almost any print..almost every single time. But I’ve purchased some florals, polka dots, stripes, and other designs in pinks, blues, browns, and greens lately. Just tryin’ to change it up a little :)
I love them all, but lately I have been into the 30’s fabrics. Who knows what next week will bring.
Oooohhh! I LOVVVVVE all the modern styles of quilts and the new fun, bright colors and shapes. but I’m also drawn to prairie prints – my love of Laura Ingalls Wilder as a young girl :-) But I would consider myself more modern or “other” …..maybe bringing in some of the more traditional prints in a new style…..or maybe that’s just trying to use up the prints I bought before I reallly knew what I liked :-)
I was always drawn to the country style fabrics but I will have to say that after this year of quilting I love the contemporary fabrics.
Wow! What an interesting article! For fabric, I tend to be drawn to contemporary prints. It is a bit surprising to me sometimes what I like! I love all of the reds, greys and blues right now. Some of the colors almost seem a bit vintage to me. Thanks for the great giveaway :)
I love the modern look. My favorite fabric is batiks but I also love the bright fabrics.
I love 30’s reproductions.
My heart is leaning toward any fabrics from Kate Spain…at least this week of my life. It must be the heartbeat of spring!
Thanks for the great post! My style is mostly comtemporary
I just love all things Amy Butler, although Kaffe Fassett does get my attention too!
My favorite fabric style depends on my mood. Sometimes I like civil war fabrics and other times it maybe contemporary. It also depends who I’m making a quilt for what type of fabric I pick.
Batiks are my favorites.
contemporary all the way!!!! but I do like retro stuff too. : )
I would have said I like muted colours and traditional designs but I am finding more and more that I am working with brighter modern fabrics.
Am in love with Batiks, blenders, marbles. So not sure which style this would be.
I love contemporary fabrics a lot right now. I think it’s the “unconventional” color combinations that do it for me. On the other hand, I’ve had a long love affair with 1930’s prints and quilts!