I'm super excited to share with you our designer Jessica Swift's latest collection, LUGU!
If you're not familiar with her designs, she often features lots of playful, folkloric and whimsy designs mixed with strong storytelling. Her collections definitely evoke a sense of nostalgia and childhood wonder that make them perfect for kids or adults that are young at heart! I especially love this collection because of the cute, little owls in it with their big eyes! They're one of my favorite birds and I love that they also represent "wisdom." :)
This time around with LUGU, she decided to turn to Lithuanian folk art images and created a magical woodland theme. In her hand-drawn prints,she creates an enchanted forest that comes to life from dusk to dawn that’s filled with playful owls, fluttering moths, magical moons, and crown-wearing deer.
I love the options for blenders that come in this collection with the prints "Teskstil Emberglow, Konstelacija Maagia, Tekstiil Solarflame, and Konstelacija Valge."
For more about these fabrics and what you can sew with them, head over to our "Lugu Fabric Lookbook." Also, make sure to check out the interview I did with Jessica as well in the lookbook. It goes more into depth about her inspiration!
Here's our "Owl's Tale Quilt" for you to sew up, just click the below link for the FREE pattern:
Happy Spring! We are excited to share a great way to decorate your home this Spring Season by making Easter inspired mini’s. We could never just make one mini so we decided to create a trio of 8” x 10” minis, a vase mini to store dried flowers or your palms on Palm Sunday, a bunny silhouette and an Easter basket filled with colorful eggs! Make all three or choose your favorites! We made all three mini's with Bonnie Christine's collection for AGF called Gathered! This collection is a perfect match for all your spring sewing!
The full tutorial is located on the WeAll Sew Bernina Blog! Head over there to find all the step by step instructions.
Are you all decorated for Spring? I would love to hear what handmade makes you have made for the Spring season.
Hope you had a super productive week and enjoyed the first few days of spring, even though some of you are still in snow!
Now that Elizabeth Chappell is officially our newest AGF Sewcialite, she's kicking off her first collaboration with us by taking over our IG account, this weekend. This is a great chance to get to know her if you don't already, especially if you're stuck inside and snowed in! :)
Beginning tonight, she'll be posting from her home in Texas and will be sharing some of her favorite projects she’s made with our fabrics. She’ll also give you the inside scoop on her go-to quilting techniques, and where she often finds her inspiration before sitting down at her sewing machine.
Be sure to follow along this weekend...they’ll be a few surprises along the way too!
Who’s ready for some spring sewing?! I'm sure everyone is ready for a break from this (what seems to be) a very long winter! Although, many people up north of the United States are still getting snow..it makes me a little more grateful for the heat we have down here in Florida. If you don’t know already, my favorite color is green and for this spring I really wanted to stay away from typical pastel colors that are common for the season! I selected some of my favorite prints that represent a lushes spring garden, and some inspirational projects to go along with them.
This print is called “Gitan Paradis Foliage” from Indie Boheme fabric collection, and its bright floral print and style are perfect for any boho decor. Make lovely fabric napkins, to add on your dining table this spring.
The “Liten Ditsy Feild” print has one of my favorite shades of green, it reminds me of a soft jade color and it will match perfectly to a lot other pastel spring colors like yellow, blue, and light gray. The table runner on the right, I thought would have been great to pair all 4 of the fabrics featured in this blog and replace within each cross of the pattern to make delightful table piece.
Did you know AGF carries an all organic fabric collection? It’s called “Hello, Ollie” and the print above “Feathered Fellow Luck” is apart of it. Make the print shine with a simple sewing project like this pouch! This is a lovely collection to sew with for the spring because it’s filled with rich spring color, and it simply reminds me of an open field and the birds chirping from afar.
Is it really spring without a dress? Time to put down those winter coats and whip up a lovely dress with the print “In the Thicket Dawn!” Bunnies and florals? I can’t think of anything more in season than this!
I hope you enjoyed this fun group of fabrics and if you have made anything with these prints before, make sure to tag us on social media using the hashtag #artgalleryfabrics!
Don’t you love to wear soft and comfortable knits? Well, how about quilting with them? I know it sounds challenging, but this is why I asked Lena, our beautiful teacher, to show us the basic steps of quilting knits.
Here are the fabric prints featured: Furries Cool, Etchings Nectar, and Line Markings from the magical Pine Lullaby collection.
Preparation
Lena started by choosing her two favorite prints from the collection, and since the fabric is 58” to 60” wide, she just cut 52” in length from each one to make a 58” x 50” quilt.
Then she made a fabric sandwich placing cotton batting in the center, and securing it with many safety pins.
Quilting
She installed the walking foot before threading the machine; the walking foot is a very important tool for quilting especially for knits, because it helps feed the fabric on the top at the same time as the dog feet in the bottom, thus avoiding unwanted fabric gathering.
Something to Remember
Lena made sure to guide the fabric while feeding it through the machine, and keeping in mind not to pull it against or towards her.
Stabilize
Once the quilt was ready and trimmed, it was time to bind, so to ease the cutting and sewing process of the binding, the fabric was stabilized with fusible interfacing.
Smile and Be Proud
After choosing her favorite prints and quilting her own blanket, she is very happy with the results!
Now it's your turn, give it a try and let me know how it goes!
You may know her as the founder of Quilter's Candy Box where you would sign up for a subscription box of curated sewing goodies..and now she's officially part of our AGF Family! Please give a warm welcome to the wonderful, Elizabeth Chappell!
Currently living in Texas with her husband, daughter and two sons, we first noticed Elizabeth while scrolling on social media, and would stop in awe whenever she posted something beautiful using our fabrics. Often inspired by home decor, she finds a lot of her inspiration in rugs and tiles. In 2015, she fell in love with quilting while attending the Houston Quilt Market after seeing all the fabrics and projects, and since then has been sewing nonstop! We’re so honored to have her as part of our AGF family and can’t wait to share all the fun projects she’s got in store for you.
To get to know Elizabeth Chappell a little better, here's a fun little interview we did with her!
Congratulations on becoming an AGF Sewcialite! Can you tell us a little bit about your background, and how you eventually got to where you are today?
I really got introduced into the quilting world when I was a child. My mom was a quilter - and an amazing one at that! But my personal interest for quilting came much later in life. It wasn’t until 2015 that I went to the Houston Quilt Market and saw all the fabrics, projects, and felt the buzz and excitement that I caught the bug.
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit, so I saw this huge market and thought how fun it would be to be a part of it all. So a good friend and I started a monthly subscription box just for quilters. At the same time, she taught me how to quilt. The more I quilted, the more I fell in love with it. So it has all snowballed from there!
What was the very first thing you sewed?
The VERY first thing I sewed was as a child. I made a little purse. The very first QUILT I made was a pattern by Bonnie Cottonway. It’s called ‘Abundantly Blessed’. I still love that quilt!
What are some of your favorite projects to create? Favorite technique?
I am a quilter through and through. I would love to try making clothes one day, or a hand bag. But quilts are my comfort zone It’s familiar and safe.
What’s currently on your playlist?
Ha! I DO love my music! I did find a streaming station recently that plays all these songs from when I was in Jr High and High School. So oddly, that’s been what I’ve been listening to. 90’s Alternative.
If you had to describe your aesthetic in 3 words, they would be?
Clean, fresh, soft.
What are some of your favorite things to do in Houston, Texas!?
I actually don’t make it downtown often. I live about an hour north of Houston, and we try to avoid going downtown as much as possible (traffic here is no joke!). But I like to do a lot in my area - The Woodlands. It’s a beautiful place to live with a lot of outdoor trails, lakes, places to eat, concerts, plays. But when push comes to shove, I’m more of a homebody. I do love spending time in my house, quilting, watching a good show, or listening to a book on Audible.
Where do you often find your inspiration?
I find a lot of inspiration for my quilt patterns from home decor, actually. I look at rugs and tile patterns and think about how to make those into quilts. I also use EQ8 (a quilt writing computer program) and it’s fun to put quilt blocks in different arrangements and play around with ideas on that.
Do you have a certain ritual you have before you begin a project? (Light candles, organize everything on your desk, etc)
I DON’T have anything like this, but I may just start! The idea of candles sounds right up my ally..specifically the Volcano Capri Blue candle. If you haven’t smelled that candle, you are missing out!
What’s on your “sewing to-do list” for this year?!
I have two quilt patterns in mind that I just need to write already. I am SO excited about them! Then, I also really want to try making a dress, and Art Gallery has some amazing fabrics that would be perfect for a dress. So, it’s in the cards!
Jessica Swift's Collection: LUGU