Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Hello Makers, Sewists, and Quilters!

My name is Sheri of Whole Circle Studio and I am a designer, independent quilt pattern publisher, professional quilter, and teacher. I’m super excited to share the evolution of my latest quilt block pattern—Typecast Fast and some fun projects that Art Gallery Fabrics and I collaborated on.

Typecast Fast is a foundation paper pieced (machine pieced) pattern that includes all 26 letters of the
English alphabet, all the numbers, punctuation, and special characters — a total of 50 block designs!

I made this quilt, incorporating all 50 blocks included in the pattern, with Art Gallery Fabrics Elements. I used a combination of blender prints from Prisma, Nature, Icon, and Decostitch for the letters and the scrappy binding and Pure Solids in White Linen for the quilt top background.

The pattern is a tribute to my love of typography. I have fond memories of my early undergraduate graphic design classes and tracing typefaces. While it certainly would have been quicker to use the computer, my professors knew that their students would gain a greater appreciation for type design by drawing characters by hand. Later, I had an opportunity to design my own typefaces in advanced Typography classes. At that time, I thought that quilts were blankets that you bought the store. I didn’t know it was something that people made. Given that I didn’t even know how to sew back then, I never would have imagined that years later I would be designing and making my own quilt blocks that incorporated typography. It’s amazing how connections are made and things can come full circle!

It was about three years ago that I started sketching and thinking about designing my own quilt block typeface. Typecast Fast was first released as an English Paper Piecing pattern (entitled Typecast) in early 2019. You can learn more about Typecast (and see what 26 quilters made with the letters) on my blog. Here are some mini quilts I made with Typecast, all using Art Gallery Fabrics:

Aloha and I Heart EPP mini quilts made with Aura by Mathew Boudreaux.
Quilt Star mini quilt made with Matchmade
Makers Gonna Make quilt made with Pure Solids

I love all types of piecing and I know others do too. Last year, I started to explore how the letters could be made with foundation paper piecing techniques. I also wanted to add letters, punctuation, and special characters. Out of that study, Typecast Fast was born!

The Typecast Fast foundation paper pieced pattern debuted in the Art Gallery Fabrics at the International Quilt Market booth in October. Together, we developed and designed two Makers’ Manifesto quilts—a public declaration that all creators, makers, sewists, quilters, and crafters can get behind!

Both Makers’ Manifesto quilts were made with Art Gallery Pure Solids. I pieced and quilted one of the quilts with a beautiful ombre of coral to magenta colors. Special thanks to Jenny Meeker for piecing the “We are a Community” quilt in the beautiful yellow and mustard palette.




But the fun didn’t stop there...

Check out these beautiful mini Makers’ Manifesto quilts recently pieced and quilted by Jenny Meeker using Typecast Fast and a variety of collections by Art Gallery Fabrics.

Now it’s your turn!
What will you make with Typecast Fast?

Get your copy of the pattern here and make any word or phrase you want. Mix and match Typecast Fast with your other favorite quilt blocks to customize your projects. The possibilities are endless!


This pattern is fabric stash friendly. Scraps, fat eighths and fat quarters work great for the letters, numbers, punctuation, and special characters. Use prints, solids and/or fussy-cut your favorite fabric. You’ll enjoy making these fully-tested, foundation paper pieced blocks.

We can’t wait to see what you’re going to make!

- Sheri

Hello Fabric Friends and Fellow Feline Lovers!

If you’re crazy about cats as you are with fabric then I have a special treat for you today. We have released our newest collection called “Oh Meow” by Jessica Swift! Now I would identify myself as a crazy cat lady. So when I saw some cute furry friends and the variety of fun and colorful prints that come in this collection, I got very excited for its release. I immediately thought of my own two cats and their funny unique personalities. They actually both made their modeling debuts on the AGF social media and the "Oh Meow" Lookbook! Check out the cute felines with some fun prints of "Oh Meow" below to satisfy your cat lover's heart. 

Inspired by Jessica’s own two cats, this collection celebrates all the things feline friends love the most. From yarn, string, and windows to peer out of, you’ll discover a purrfect world in these playful, bright prints.

*Available in 12 Cotton Prints

*Available in 1 Rayon Print

*Available in 1 Knit Print

Oh Meow! comes in twelve cotton prints, one rayon, and one knit print. Jessica mentioned "If this collection was a person, it would be a rambunctious, kitten-obsessed 6-year-old girl! , which I totally agree with. I can see some of these prints be used in apparel for young girls such as dresses. Our one rayon print is a blender polka dot print perfect for some flowy trousers just as the one made for the lookbook. If you love our cotton print in "Cat Nap", you'll definitely be a fan of our only knit print "Cat Nap Blu" which is a colorway. The creamy white color and blue-toned kitty faces add an extra touch of coziness to the texture of knits.  For more feline playfulness and inspiration on what to create with this collection and free patterns, view our latest lookbook below!

DOWNLOAD FREE QUILT PATTERN HERE

Enter a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the Oh Meow! collection by signing up to our giveaway:

 To enter our giveaway, just click here and enter your info!

Giveaway ends Wednesday, March, 25th, 2020 

Winner will be emailed and announced right here on this blog. Good luck! 

*Once you have entered the giveaway it's normal for your information to disappear. To confirm your entry check your email for a confirmation and approve it. By entering our giveaway, you'll be automatically signed up for our newsletters. Don't worry, we don't spam!

Hi, fabric friends! 

I’m excited to be bringing you a fresh new topic today: Log Cabins! I really wanted to talk about this today because not too long ago we asked you on social media, which quintessential block would you be?

We had an overwhelming amount of responses, and after counting your votes, Log Cabin was the winner! Now we really wanted to show the versatility of this classic quilt block and how you can make it unique to YOU. With this idea in mind, myself and a couple of girls at the studio were excited to take a challenge and create a log-cabin inspired project that was personalized to us!

I really wanted to think outside the box with this challenge and I wanted to make something modern! I’ve been inspired by a lot of quilty apparel lately, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to merge these ideas. We made a very cool patchwork design in the past for one of our lookbooks, we used the collection Craftbound and created a stunning piece on the back of the denim jacket. I wanted to do exactly that but in my own version! When I started designing, I was aiming for tonal colors, so I chose my favorite Color Master box in “Cloud & Sky”. To make this a more modern design, I did a variation of half-log cabins and began to sew away! 

This project was so easy to make, any quilter would be able to add some pizzazz to their wardrobe! Add your favorite block to the pocket of your jacket, shirt, and even pants. 

Thrilled to hear that she can design her own project with no limitations, Jessica who is part of the production team here at AGF, decided to create an eye-catching tote by just making one BIG log cabin design. She was inspired by the sunny rays of summer and picked some of her favorite yellow prints, to create a more traditional yet bright design. Being a big fan of Pat Bravo- she used some of the bold prints in Mayfair, Nuncia and Matchmade collections. 

I had no doubt that she would make a beautiful project, as she had made some amazing projects in the past lookbooks! When I saw her designing it on her computer I got instantly inspired to make more log-cabin totes. She always has a signature crafty look in her projects, and you can really see it in this tote with her hand-quilted touch! 

Being crazy about quilts, when her favorite block was chosen, Elisa who is also part of the production team began to design right away. By picking some of her favorite boho-styled prints, she created this wall-art with tons of fun twists and turns! Denim is a substrate she loves to quilt with, so it was the perfect match for the chosen prints. She approaches her designs a little bit differently, by choosing which fabrics she wants to highlight first,  and then working from there. She searched for some boho-style prints and collections with a rich color palette and ended up with a mixture of Craftbound, Legendary, and Spirited. 

Who would have thought Log Cabin quilt blocks can be transformed into boho decor! I’m completely in awe with how this turned out, from the choices of fabrics to the beautiful detail in the free-motion quilting. Can you believe she made this in 2 days? Talk about dedication! Elisa plans on hanging this in the office, so we can all see this beauty every day.

This was a super fun sewing challenge for us at the studio! It was quite nice to venture out to our creative side and make something unique. Although this experience originated from the classic log cabin quilt block, this took my expectations for what you can create with quilt blocks to a much higher level! 

I hope these projects excelled your expectations too and that they inspired you to make something out of your comfort zone.  As always, I’d love to know what your favorite project was and what you plan on making next in the comments below. 

Until next time,

-Jannelle