Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

 Welcome back, my fabric friends! I just wanted to say thank you for everyone that commented on my “First Quilt” blog post, where I finally shared with all of you what I've been working on! It’s been a joy creating that quilt, and the positive feedback encouraged me to do something with a little more patchwork, but still beginner-friendly. This time I tried a lot of things differently from my first quilt, and I can’t wait to share with you all that I've learned. This quilt time around, I wanted to capture a very rustic vibe, with a lot of warm colors but small enough to not intimidate me, yet perfect for a wall hanging! I wanted to recreate #AGFQuiltBlockCollection’s most popular block on Youtube, the “Aztec Quilt block.” With a very simple technique including large Half Square Triangles and cutting them in half- two times. A really fun block to make for your first time, and a great starting point for making a quilt!

*Prints used: “Ojos Flame,” “Pano Stone,” from Arizona After and “Hula Dolphins Vog,” “Tiki Way Papaya” from Aura. Also “Tigerlily,” “Heart of the Ocean,” “Nocturnal,” and “Creme de la Creme” from our PURE Solids.

 As I started creating this block, I realized that sometimes working with prints can be a little difficult because it’s easy to mess up on the direction its facing. This was one of my biggest challenges, and although I didn’t get it right every single time, I know next time to always being careful how you place your pieces before sewing it up. The second mistake I kept doing on this block was the direction I was cutting, please make sure once you draw your horizontal line, to cut your pieces facing the right way! (Had to remake some blocks because of this, haha.)

I love how fabric placement can really transform the way a quilt looks! The way I placed the fabric made it look like an “X” and I thought that was super unique. You can always make this your own by inverting the colors or changing the color palette for a different mood.

Okay, I forgot to mention, me facing quilters everyday challenge- matching seams. I knew to work on this quilt top, I would struggle with this because there are a lot more seams to match than my first quilt. But after some trial and error, I’ve discovered I wasn't pinning enough. A tip I learned was to try and pin exactly where the seams would line up and when I start sewing, to take out the pins when it gets much closer to the needle, for minimal movement of the fabric. This tip made a world of a difference, forcing my seams to match and pinning more on the edges, eliminated room for error. 4 blocks later, and my quilt top was finally finished!

As I began layering my pieces (the backing I used was “Tomahawks Stripe Blush” from Arizona After), I made sure to use big safety pins instead of regular pinning needles to avoid pricking myself while quilting. This time I was more nervous quilting because I struggled so much with my first quilt, I didn’t want to recreate my mistakes. I told myself this time around that I would do straight lines again but not diagonal (to avoid bunching of fabric on the sewing machine) and to try a different type of stitch to create a different look. I used this terracotta shade of thread so it can stand out from the quilt top, both front, and back.

*Used Toasted Walnut PURE Solids for the binding.

On my first quilt, the binding turned out well because I decided to machine bind with 2 ½ inch stripes but I remember that I still had a lot of overlapping fabric. To try and avoid that mistake, I sewn my binding strip a little over ¼ inch, so when I would fold it over, I would machine bind it exactly on the line. Unfortunately, when I began to do that, I kept missing the flap and decided to hand bind for the time. This was time-consuming, but boy this was worth the effort! I loved the way it came out with an invisible stitch, made the binding super clean and I was able to avoid any leftover fabric from hanging. I’d love to know if any of you always hand bind your quilts and if you have any tips for me! This being my first time I felt like I was going really slow, but maybe there is a more efficient way to do this.

To turn this quilt into a wall hanging, I folded a 4-inch strip in half and tucked it underneath the binding, and made sure to clip everything together. You can bind this part with the sewing machine, as I did!

To fit my rustic vibe, I DIY some random wooden stick I found, stained it a darker brown and added some lovely cream-colored rope to hang! Before you know it, I was DONE. I can’t believe I have already created and finished my second quilt! Seriously, I now understand why people can’t stop doing this. The satisfaction of putting the pieces together, deciding which fabrics to use, and just completing a project is a very therapeutic thing.

Thanks for following along my quilting journey, and if you have any tips for me for my next quilt, please let me know in the comments below.

Till next time,

Jannelle

Channel some desert-inspired hues! 

We've added 6 NEW COLORS to our blender, Decostitch Elements. If you're not familiar with this line of fabrics, we launched them last year and because they had such a great response from the sewing community, we decided to add more options. 

These fabrics highlight stitching motifs and unexpected little details, acting as a solid while adding depth and texture to your sewing projects. If you also have a soft spot for romantic, bohemian color palettes, these are definitely up your alley. They also can be paired with various AGF collections like Open Road, Little Clementine, Gathered, Lugu, and much more! 

Featuring "Cafe Latte, Pecan Praline, Ballet, Red Desert, Borgogna, and Blue Minerale," these colors easily work together as quilting, decor, apparel, and accessories. These colors are definitely trending this year with interior design from bedrooms, living rooms to even nurseries!

Especially with the seasons soon changing, these colors add a special warmth and coziness to your home as the weather begins to cool down. 

We created this quilt block using these new colors to show you how they can be used together!

To view these colors as well as our other Decostitch options, click here. 

What would you sew with these fabrics? We would love to know! :)

For our designer Pat Bravo's Nuncia collection and fabric lookbook, we really wanted to put a big apparel focus on these fabrics! The main reason being that this collection has an eclectic, bohemian flair that can work so well with various garments. 

For inspiration, we created mood boards that were based around a free-spirited, romantic aesthetic with a 70's vibe as well as taking ideas from embellished textiles and accessories found in marketplaces across the globe. 

With all of this in mind guiding us for visual references, we also knew we wanted to create boho jackets, blouses, pants, and dresses which make perfect, transeasonal pieces...especially with fall right around the corner! Deciding to do something different and fun for a change, we had some of our own AGF ladies at home office pick their favorite print from this collection and pair it with a pattern of their choice. 

We hope you enjoy getting to know some of our team and what they decided to create for their own #handmadefashion. 

Noemely // Graphic Design "I have to say, the pattern was my first love in this beautiful creation. I knew that for this dress, rayon was a MUST and I am a sucker for long, flowy dresses. The “Paisleys Forever Turquoise” print in rayon caught my attention and immediately I knew that this intricate, floral paisley print would give this pattern the life it deserves. As you can see this dress is elegant enough for a romantic evening dinner but still comfortable enough to run errands on a Saturday."

Jessica // Production"I chose the “Paisleys Forever Boheme” print because I liked the teardrop-shaped design. I have always been a fan of the 70’s fashion and culture, and this print reminds me so much of that era. My personal style is very bohemian and I like pieces that flow organically and finding this print in rayon, I couldn’t resist making a set of pants and kimono."

Sarah // Textile Design

“The Always Do Good” print definitely stood out to me being a delicate, small-scale floral. This fun, ditsy floral set against black was the perfect complement to a wide flare. This print is so easy and effortless to pair with boots or heels, and a flowy top!"

Elisa // Production

"I chose the "Just More Red" print because when I saw it, the first thing that came to my mind is that it looked like velvet fabric and loved how it would look on a jacket. The color pops a lot on your skin, and it’s perfect for everyday wear. The patches that were added to the jacket are from the print NUC-11982 where we fussy cut some flower repeats, paisleys, and hand-stitched gypsy crochet shisha mirror applique gave that extra touch to the jacket. As a cotton, it’s easy and comfortable to use and to give more structure with a clean finish, we used DEN-OYD-6002 for the lining."

Marcela // Marketing

“I loved the simplicity and classic look of the “Goodness Thoughts” print and picked a pattern that complimented the voluminous sleeves of this blouse, and a touch of red never fails! Cotton was the best choice for this puff-sleeve effect.”

Jannelle // Marketing "The reason why I choose the ‘Pretty Eyes Twinkly’ print was that it reminded me of the inner, fierce attitude I have! From afar it’s a gorgeous, yellow print but up-close you’ll see those bold cheetah eyes. This oversized jacket was perfect for the cotton substrate because of the quilty stitching details. To match my sass, we brought “Phoebe” the wiener dog, to rock this look too!" 

To find out which prints and patterns we used for these garments, as well as other inspiration with Pat's collection, just browse through our "Nuncia Fabric Lookbook!"