Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

A while ago, I decided to take the whole entire day to organize fabrics from all my collections by color -trust me, it does need a whole day... or more!

After a while, I had a tall pile full of blues, turquoises and aquas, and I kept staring at it and was like "hmmm... let me make something out of this... with stripes!"

A couple of days later, voila! There it was. That quilt that makes you daydream about getting away and lying down on the beach all day... (I love to dream of beautiful places when designing quilts).

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you SANDY TOES...

You may have run across this ad on the latest issue of Quilt magazine or Quilt Almanac... I was impressed to see the amount of e-mails Walter and I got on it, people are loving it!

Charlie and Lindsay from Hawthorne Threads are also showing their Sandy Toes-love by selling the complete quilt kit at their shop.

It is really super easy to make, in two days you'll have your top completed for sure; the instructions are straightforward and have many diagrams throughout its 8 pages...

You can show your love too by leaving me a comment on how you feel about this quilt!

If you can't wait to get your hands on it, go to Hawthorne Threads, they sell it exclusively!

I'll be back with more fabric goodness soon...

Love,

Pat.

Hi girls! Happy Valentine's Day by the way! Hope you got fresh, beautiful roses and lots and lots of chocolates (my personal favorite part of V-Day!)

A while ago I had this idea of making one quilt block in different fabric collections, to explore all the possibilities that you can do using that same block... Sometimes we can get stuck on only one look and we forget that just maybe, if we use different fabrics on that same block we can get totally different styles.

I made what is known as a "bear paw" (which many of you will recognize), and gave it three different looks according to the fabric: romantic, modern, and bohemian. There's something for everyone!

I know I haven't formally introduced you to my new fabric collections (I will, I promise!), so take these pictures as a little sneak peek ;)

The bear paw is one of the easiest blocks to make, because it only involves half-square triangles and plain squares. The secret here is to make the blocks as big as you can to cover more surface and finish your quilt faster! And if you use sashing, you'll be done in a snap, trust me.

Here's the romantic look, featuring the "Coquette" collection:

Choose light colored fabrics: florals in light pink, ivory and cherry, to get this super girly look. Try to keep the contrast low so the overall look is soft and delicate.

I also made these little dream boards to help you get inspired!

Now, for a modern take, I used my "Pure Elements" line:

Solids are perfect for this style since they create a really high impact. Make sure to use high contrasting fabrics, in bold, bright colors.

And finally, I used my "Bohemian Soul" collection to make the bohemian look:

Bohemian is all about mixing and matching different prints; think Kenzo-inspired flowers, paisleys and lace textures. Green, deep purple and brown are key colors to achieve this look.

How do we like these?

Look how the same block can look completely different (it doesn't even seem like the same block, right?)

Think outside the box: it can be more than just a quilt. You can use that block as the center of a pillow, or if you rotate blocks you can make a nice table runner.

You may think "why did she choose such a traditional block?" I know there are far more exciting blocks than a bear paw, but I chose it to prove my point: if you choose fabrics carefully, you can make something super modern and cool. A traditional block doesn't mean "boring" if you pick your fabrics right!

Let me know what you think... What other looks can you think of?

Love,

Pat

First of all, a big, huge THANK YOU for your lovely comments and your response to the Canston Village Giveaway!

A couple of weeks ago I sent a newsletter about a new free project I designed... but since I've been getting many more subscriptions, I think it's only fair to share with all of you here on my blog, right?

I believe that the fact that we have to do the cooking, the cleaning and the gardening doesen't mean that we can't look and feel great while doing it...

That's why ladies, I bring you the Spice-It-Up Apron!

What do you think? I made it with Paradise fabrics, I love the colors! And of course, the flower detail and the ruffles complete the look...

And the best part? It's absolutely FREE! Download the pattern here and let's get cookin!

More free projects coming soon...

Love,

Pat.