Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Hey there makers!

I hope everyone is doing very good after the Memorial Day long weekend! As you all know we came back from Spring Quilt Market 2016 last week. I have to say I had a blast with all of my coworkers. Besides having fun and getting to network with nice people,I had the opportunity to see different types of sewing machines which made me very curious about the history of it.  It’s crazy how this industry has changed over the years!  I remember when my grandmother used  a Singer sewing machine with a wooden base and everything was done manually. Today, most of the sewing machines have touch screens, can be connected to the computer and create all kinds of custom stitches. I love that the sewing and quilting industry have become very modern and it inspires makers to be more creative with their projects. While reading about the history of the sewing machine I was so impressed that I decided to share what I learned with all of you, so I made this infographic to make that long story, short and fun!

If you know more interesting facts about the history of the sewing machine, feel free to share them with us!

I Hope you enjoyed this and learned something new!

Lots of love,

Caro

Hello Everybody!

My name is Carolina! The girls at the AGF Studio call me "Caro" so you can all refer to me as Caro too! I'm part of the social media team and from now on I'm going to be contributing to this awesome blog! I think this is going to be fun and a really good experience for me because I will be able to share my ideas with all of you.

I want you all to get to know me a little better so I'm going to tell you some facts about me.

I LOVE food, so watch out if you offer me food because I will eat it all! 

I'm always listening to music since the time I wake up, until I go to bed at night. I think it keeps me happy and awake all the time.

I find traveling the best way to learn about life and I love it too. Every holiday I try to travel somewhere different because I believe that you need to do what makes you happy in order to live a happy and healthy life. 

I've been playing the piano since I was 6 years old. I think this is one of the many things I will always be thankful to my parents for because if it wasn't for them, I would have quit when I was a "rebel" teenager. 

Last one but not least, I find sewing the most interesting thing ever!

I really hope you enjoyed getting to know me! See you in the next post!

XoXo,

Caro

Hello beautiful makers!

We hope everyone is great! Here at the AGF HQ we are full of energy and super inspired because we just came back from Quilt Market! It was a great trip, but now it’s time to start releasing all the beautiful collections we’ve been teasing you about.

To start the week right, we’re releasing our first fabric collection of the 2016 spring/summer season. Are you ready? We are excited to present to you our new limited edition collection, Boardwalk Delight by Dana Willard from Made Everyday!

This collection consists of ten fun prints that are bright, geometric, and filled with the essence of a day at the beach with an ice cream cone in hand. My favorite print is “Sprinkles” because it reminds me of when my mom use to take me to the ice cream shop as a kid and I would always ask for colorful sprinkles no matter what flavor I chose.

Boardwalk Delight is sure to add a modern twist and all kinds of flavors to your sewing. Plus, it’s great for any type of spring/ summer projects. Check out the lookbook to get inspired with tons of quilts, garments, and home décor ideas.

Not sure what project to choose? Well, the free quilt pattern is a great place to start!

Add some extra pizzazz to your projects with these coordinating Art Gallery Fabrics Elements. We’re sure they’ll brighten up your day!

Now to the best part….enter our giveaway for a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of Boardwalk Delight Fabrics!

*****GIVEAWAY CLOSED*****

CONGRATULATIONS Becky, you've won the fat quarter bundle of Boardwalk Delight fabrics! Check your email.

To Enter:

Browse through the Boardwalk Delight look book and leave a comment below, telling us what you would make with this fun fabric collection.

Giveaway ends May 31st at 3pm EST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be announced on this post.

Happy Sewing!

Stephanie

Hello fabulous fabric lovers!

Can you believe International Spring Quilt Market 2016 is only 4 DAYS AWAY?! The excitement is driving us crazy! Soon we’ll be boarding the plane and heading to Salt Lake City, UT to show off our new Spring/Summer 2016 fabric collections. YAY!

For those of you who are wondering what Quilt Market is all about, here’s the scoop. Quilt Market is a trade show where all of your local quilt shops, fabrics stores, and online retailers have the chance to view and purchase fabrics, threads, and notions for their shops. This trade show happens twice a year, during the fall in Houston, TX and in the Spring (usually in a different city).  Since this event is reserved for industry professionals (pattern makers, textile companies, publications, etc.) and shop owners, the show is not open to the public.

It would be so cool if you could come with us! You could help us set up our booth, chat with the designers, and indulge in all kinds of sewing and quilting goodness…but unfortunately we can’t bring you with us. Don’t worry! You can still be part of the fun and you can be at quilt market virtually! (Don’t you love technology?)

The AGF family will be Live from Quilt Market via Facebook Live! What’s this? Well, Facebook has a new feature where you can shoot live video for all of your friends and followers to see. For the whole Quilt Market event we’ll be streaming something different every day. But wait…there’s something even more exciting about all of the live streams. Each day of Quilt Market (except Sample Spree) we’ll be hosting a GIVEAWAY! Two winners will be chosen and will have a chance to win a curated bundle of various AGF prints. How cool is that?

Here’s the schedule:

Thursday | May 19^th: We’ll be streaming Sample Spree, an exclusive event that happens the day before Quilt Market begins. At Sample Spree, the show attendants have two hours to purchase as many small bundles of fabrics their arms can hold. It’s utter madness!

Friday | May 20^th: This is the first day of Quilt Market and we’ll be streaming a tour of the AGF booth. We’ll give you a closer look at all the new collections and you’ll get to see all the projects we’ve been teasing you about. To enter this giveaway, simply re-post/share our "Watch Us Live" invite that will be shared on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #AGFlive.

Saturday | May 21^st: You’ll get a chance to meet all of the AGF designers that are presenting their collections! We’ll be having mini interviews with them about their new collections and inspirations. If you would like ask them something, feel free to send in your questions. To enter this day's giveaway, re-post/share our "Meet Our Designers" invite that will be posted on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #MeetAGFDesigners.

Sunday | May 22^nd: Since we recently rebranded our designers’ thread boxes, we paired up with Aurifil Threads to show you an exclusive tour of their booth. To enter this day's giveaway, re-post/share our "Live From the Aurifil Booth" invite that will be posted on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #AurifilforAGF.

To fully enter these giveaways, when re-posting the image you must include #ArtgalleryFabrics, #QuiltMarket, the designated hashtag according to the day, and you must follow us on the social media account where you decide to re-post. You may re-post more than once for multiple entries and feel free to tag any of your friends!

Stay tuned to our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for all the Quilt Market Fun!

Let the streaming begin!

Xoxo,

Stephanie

Many of you know that April and May are busier-than-usual months at AGF because it's show (International Spring Quilt Market) time! That's why the time between episodes of this series has been a bit long, but today I'm back with updates (insert spark emojis). To start I want to say that Steph has been an awesome student, focused and serious about learning the art of sewing.

I made up my own curriculum so before we began anything, I gave her a piece of grid paper and told her to design her mini quilt. The only rule was that she could only use squares and rectangles (for her own good at this initial stage), and to use the lines on the paper as stops for each shape. To me that would make the deciphering of the construction a bit easier to explain/understand. So we took a couple of days to define our inspiration and fabric choices. While Steph drew, I designed my mini on the computer. I plan on teaching her that way of doing it in the future, but I feel that grid paper and in general designing analogically at first, would be better in the long run to really understand basics. Sometimes I still prefer that over digital. I know she was inspired by a piece of art, but she will talk more about that on her post. My mini was inspired by one of my favourite themes: Vintage circus (think of the colours, shapes, and performance art, not about the sad animal cruelty that went on in some of these). So these are our very rough drafts in black and white:

They're both very modern, and we will both use prints mixed with solids. So after we revealed our designs to each other, it was math time! I asked her if she liked geometry, and if she had ever played Tetris (my best approach was to tell her to think of a quilt top as a puzzle, and how you have to build it up). We went over some books about the history of quilting, and traditional blocks. 

hint: our outfits reveal a bit of the colouring that will go into our quilts. Steph is the one on the right wearing denim (wink).

Then it was cutting time! First I went over the actual tools and main tips: rotary cutting, cleaning the edges, making sure the ruler is aligned and that you put enough pressure so it will stay in place. How to extend the life of your blade and not ruining both the blade and ruler by using the tools correctly, making sure the blade is parallel to the ruler and not hitting it at an angle. Then I explained to her one of the key things of quilting: The *accurate* 1/4" seam allowance, which is different from garment making (she's also interested in that).

So we calculated all the pieces she needed and added the seam allowances. Her design was a bit tricky to decipher, but she will write about the experience from her point of view. Since my design is all made with HST, I also went over those since they're fun and super versatile. Jeni Baker's book The Half-Square Triangle was very helpful + pretty to look at.

Of course we've laughed a lot. The whole process has made it clear to both of us the amount of knowledge that is needed for the awesome craft of quilt making. While I was teaching I kept on remembering other tips and things I learned from my mentors and from my personal experiences, and it extended our class time a lot. So many things to know about this subject. I can't wait to keep sharing the process with all of you, and of course the final product.

Lauv

circus poster designed by vecteezy

To all our fabric lovers,

We have two words that have been circling our minds for the past few weeks. Can you guess what they are? Let me give you a hint, the first word starts with a Q…yup, that’s right…QUILT MARKET! Yards of fabrics keep unrolling, sewing machines are nonstop, and brainstorming sessions are at an all-time high! That’s Quilt Market prep in a nutshell.

Besides sharing all the fabric frenzy fun we’re having, we wanted to tell you that Quilt Market is all about you! It’s a time where shops get to buy all of your favorite Art Gallery Fabrics collections to have them ready for all of your amazing sewing projects. We know that sometimes your local quilt or fabric shop may not carry the fabric collections you want, so the best way to have them is to ask for them.

What AGF Collections do you want to see at your LQS?

During our spring 2016 Fabric Collection Reveals, we prepared these pretty graphics for you to let your LQS know which new Art Gallery Fabrics collections you are in love with! Quilt Market is a few days away and this is the best time remind them. Simply download the images through the link provided and share them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or anywhere you’d like! Remember to tag us with #ArtGalleryFabrics and the hashtag shown on the graphics! Stay tuned for more Quilt Market news!

AGF Fabric Collection Graphics Download

‘Til next time,

Stephanie