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| English paper pieced hexagons with aboriginal fabrics from M&S Textiles Australia. |
A Trunk Show of WIPs
What’s fun about presenting to a group of "quilty" kindred spirits is that they “get it” if you show a WIP (work in progress). I passed around a handful of English paper pieced hexagon blocks (above), two in-progress kantha embroidery pieces ...
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| Kantha hand emboirdery on yarn-dyed textured woven from Diamond Textiles. |
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| Charm square quilt top combining Australian aboriginal designs from M&S Textiles and batiks from Majestic Batiks. |
Q and A
After the presentation, the Q&A part of the evening covered discussion about:
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| Ikat sample. |
- The differences between yarn-dyed and printed fabrics,
- Ikat fabrics [from Diamond Textiles],
- Keeping a print design on grain,
- Using the “right side” or the “other right side” of a yarn-dyed fabric,
- Sewing patterns for my jackets,
- Digital fabric printing,
- Machine trapunto.
More info about my projects that illustrate these topics can be found in these blog posts:
- Australian aboriginal fabrics and EPP
- Kantha stitching
- Primitive Stars jacket with ikat: Part 1, and Part 2
- White jacket: mixing vintage and yarn-dyed fabrics
- Decorative stitching on yarn-dyed wovens
- Travels with Ben Taphouse from Lewis and Irene
I did have two completed quilts that featured fabrics from Lewis and Irene, a UK fabric company that just established its USA division in October 2017. This little quilt has machine trapunto and mixes fabrics from Lewis and Irene, Art Gallery, and the border is an aboriginal print from M&S Textiles.
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| Machine trapunto "Enchanted" quilt featuring Lewis and Irene fabrics. |
Fabric Samples and Feedback
Attendees were kind enough to provide feedback on their favorite fabrics from the samples that were on display. Favorites included:
- From Diamond Textiles: Woven Elements, Primitive Rustic, and Primitive Stars were the top vote-getters followed by Embossed Cottons, Kalamkari, Nikko Earth, Picket Fence. The wildly popular ikat fabrics got write-in votes!
- From M&S Textiles Australia: all the prints were well received with specific requests for Spiritual Woman, Kingfisher, Wild Bush Flower, Spirit Place, Rebirth Butterfly Spirits and Dancing Flowers.
- From Lewis and Irene: Bumbleberries, Geometrix, Lindos, and Celtic Reflections were top favorites followed closely by Water Meadow, Fairy Lights (glow-in-the-dark), and City Nights.
Thank you!
Thanks again to Susan Yell, the guild's current President for the invitation, the two lovely volunteers that modeled my jackets, the quilt angels that held up the quilts and tops, the leadership team members that swooped in to help set up and then pack up my sample bags at the end of the evening, and to everyone who came out to spend the evening talking about quilting fabrics with me. Your excitement and overwhelmingly positive reception to the yarn-dyed textured wovens and hand printed kalamkari fabrics from Diamond Textiles, the bold colorful aboriginal designs from M&S Textiles Australia, and the contemporary “sophisticated cute” fabric collections from Lewis and Irene is contagious! I am pumped with a renewed interest in creating more quilts, garments and other projects with these fabrics and I hope you are, too.
Cast your Votes
Please tell your local quilt shops [YLQS] that you are interested in these fabrics! You are the fabric influencers for the quilt shops and independent sewing centers that you support.
