I’m excited to share with you the newest collection from our own AGF Studio, called Flowerette! First of all, I must say I honestly adore the name of this collection. Flowerette sounds like a cute small delicate flower that you just want to pluck from the ground cause it captures your attention with its beauty. Its use of bright blues and reds gives it that nice pop of color in the prints, the same way having a vase of fresh-cut of flowers does to the atmosphere of your home.
Flowerette is a collection filled with summery hues that set the mood straight with grounding emerald greens, blue tints, and vibrant reds. Bring the garden into your home with delicate and cheerful florals that will inspire you to create a myriad of dashing projects.
*Available in 12 Cotton Prints
Flowerette comes in 12 cotton prints. Making it the perfect choice for sewing projects that can accent your home into feeling more unique and brighter with cheerful flowers. Which also means endless combinations for cheery quilts, table runners, and more. For more project inspiration that complements this collection make sure to check out our Flowerette Lookbook below!
Enter for a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the "Flowerette" collection by signing up to our giveaway:
To enter our giveaway, just click here and enter your info!
Giveaway ends Friday, August 7, 2020.
THE WINNER IS Nancy Page!! Please check your email to redeem your prize!
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!
One of my favorite things about my job is being able to step into the warehouse and grab a variety of different prints to create a new group that excites me to sew something together. I'm lucky enough to step into a warehouse of fabrics, but I’m sure everyone here has their fabric warehouse of their own (haha) and you may be struggling on how to use it up together.
Being able to work here at AGF, I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with such talented people and watch a collection from start to finish has taught me many things about how fabrics should be used together. Making a collection requires a specific color palette, a variety of scales, and blenders for the perfect balance when used in a sewing project! I've applied those skills when I walk into the warehouse, and today I'm excited to share with you the first part of my series, all about matching fabrics by color! So, the next time you go into your fabric stash you know exactly how to put them together to create something beautiful.
The easiest way to pair up fabrics by color is by simply understanding how the color wheel works.
Starting with Primary Colors (red, yellow, blue) is a great way to start a project if you plan on just using one color. Maybe you want to go for a monochromatic look, you can use either color but in different shades. You can also use them together, as long as they are the same hue to avoid them clashing.
Next, we have complementary colors, which are the colors on the opposite side of the color wheel. For example, red and green, blue and orange, and purple and yellow are complementary colors. This is helpful to know because these will provide the strongest contrast. Let’s say you really want to use your favorite print in your stash, and the main color is yellow, you would want to give that print the most attention by pairing it with purple prints.
Finally, we have Analogous colors, my personal favorite way to combine fabrics together. They are the colors next to each other on the color wheel! Like blue to purple or purple to red, these are the best to create quilts with color gradients. The next time you are choosing fabrics, think about which complementary colors you like, maybe you enjoy warm colors, so you choose all the fabrics that are red, yellow and orange for your next quilt!
BONUS: Here’s a helpful tip if you’re trying to create a bundle around the one print you enjoy most, look at the colors that may be a part of that print! If there is more than one color on the design, use that to guide you for the rest of the selection of your bundle. Check out the example below:
Here we have one of my favorite prints from AGF, it has these lovely floral designs but with a lot of other textures with different colors on it. From here, I will choose different fabrics that coordinate with these colors, and just to match the theme, they will be florals too.
Here's a quick video on sewing with color that "Meli" created! Check it out for more visual examples. She featured her "Triangles" Quilt Block and AGF Elements.
That is all I have for you today, I tried my best to simplify it with the color wheel and I hope this can help you the next time you choose fabrics on your next sewing project. Please stay tuned for the next couple of weeks on the second part of my series, where I’ll be talking about matching fabrics based on the scale! Of course, if you have any questions about anything I said above, please let me know in the comments below and I will be happy to help.
Another week of exciting releases and today I am delighted to announce one of my favorite AGF Studio collections yet, TROUVAILLE! Now I remember when we were back in the office, I was watching this collection being designed and it was love at first sight. I don’t know about you, but what grabs my attention first about a fabric collection is the colors! Although the prints were still being perfected, when I saw the color palette on the computer, I was swept off my feet! As soon as I heard this collection was sent to be printed, I was thrilled to see the final prints, and to no surprise they were gorgeous.
Meaning “a lucky find”, this collection has a windfall of eclectic and bold geometric lines enhanced by opulent florals that invite you to find more than one alluring trouvaille. With trendy florals and colors so rich they feel luxurious, you will especially love the assortment of prints in this collection.
*Available in 16 quilting cotton prints
Trouvaille can be used to sew just about anything, from bold quilts, chic home decor, and even stylish garments! Add a touch of elegance to your projects with two unexpected color palettes shaded in lavish pinks, lavender blues, and vivid teal.
*Available in 2 rayon prints
Not only is our quilting cotton 100% Poplin cotton, but our rayon is 100% natural (made from wood pulp), making it extremely lightweight and flowy which creates an ultra-smooth hand and delicate drape. This means that you can make the perfect summer nightdresses, blouses, and trousers!
If you are looking for inspiration on what to sew with this fabric collection, please take a look at our Trouvaille Lookbook! Where our production team and a couple of makers created some wonderful projects with links that will lead you to the pattern.
Enter for a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the "Trouvaille" collection by signing up to our giveaway:
To enter our giveaway, just click here and enter your info!
Giveaway ends Friday, July 24, 2020.
Winner will be emailed and announced right here on this blog. Good luck!
THE WINNER IS SARAH LUNA, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL TO REDEEM YOUR PRIZE!
*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!
Be prepared for some cuteness overload with our latest fabric collection, PACHA! In this collection, gentle creatures like llamas and porcupines etch their way through a black and white desert sprinkled in marigold yellow, sage green, and soft peaches. These gender-neutral prints were created with a desert theme in mind for little ones to enjoy.
Fans of cute animals and low volume fabrics will have lots of fun mixing and matching this collection. One of the prints that automatically caught my eye was the print "Born to Roam" featuring adorable llamas all over with hints of color. Seeing llamas traces back to my childhood when my relatives would bring llama figurines and stuffed animals from Peru for me. So seeing a really cute llama print in a fabric collection perfect for little ones is the cherry on top for me.
*Available in 14 Cotton Prints
*Including 2 Cotton Panels
With the addition of quilting cotton and even a few panels, your selection of sewing projects just got bigger! Available in 14 prints including two irresistibly cute panels! These are perfect for fussy cutting, the backing of baby quilts, and home decor projects like pillows and wall arts. Past the miles of sand and mountains, deep in the southwest, we enter the whimsical world of Pacha. Make sure to check out our lookbook below filled with tons of quilty projects that are perfect for a nursery or kids room!
Enter for a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of the "Pacha" collection by signing up to our giveaway:
To enter our giveaway, just click hereand enter your info!
Giveaway ends Friday, July 17, 2020
THE WINNER IS Darlene Slevin!! Please check your email to redeem your prize!
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!
Our new AGFmojis were made just for you and your quilty friends! Featuring various hand-drawn AGFmojis created by our creative team, specifically for quilters, sewists, and all makers!
There is no greater feeling to finally show you what we’ve been working on for so long… Sometimes it’s hard to express how we truly feel and so we’ve created these fun stickers for you to enjoy the next time you post on your Instagram Stories. Now you can fully show all your quilty emotions with our latest AGFmojis, from catchy phrases to sewing and quilting motifs, there are plenty of stickers to choose from! You can also easily access them by simply searching “AGFmojis, AGFmojis2, AGFmojis3” in the stickers’ search bar.
AGFmojis
Now you can fully show all your quilty emotions with our first release of AGFmojis, from catchy phrases to sewing and quilting motifs, there are plenty of stickers to choose from!
AGFmojis2
More stickers, more fun! These hand-drawn AGFmojis created by our creative team for all you in the sewing community. Now you can find not only more sewing notions and quilty stickers, but more catchy phrases, hand gestures, mood bubbles and sew many more!
AGFmojis3
This group of stickers is for the die-hard quilters because let’s be honest, that’s the only language we speak around here. Find more ways to fully express your quilty love with 40+ new additions all available by simply searching “AGFmojis3” in the stickers’ search bar.
View below for a step by step tutorial on how to use our AGFmojis, AGFmojis2, AGFmojis3.
Now that you've seen all of our AGFmojis that can fully express all your sewing and quilty emotions, let us know which ones are your favorite and make sure to share with us your favorite stickers by tagging us on your Instagram Stories!
Today I want to take you on my journey of making a quilted hat. Like most of my design stories, it started with scrolling over Pinterest and Instagram. For some reason, I was always drawn to the images of summery and beautiful hats with big brims. When the soft and feminine Rosewood collection came out, I decided to look for a bucket hat tutorial and jump into the adventure. I realized that I could just use my love for improv piecing and the Dresden technique to replace the small brim of the tutorial for a big and quilty one.
I drafted and tested the patterns for a medium hat crown, medium hat body, and Dresden which you can download here Download AGF Hat Tutorial Templates
If you would like to size up or down the crown and body, I suggest you go to the YouTube tutorial that I used: Sewing & Drafting a Bucket Hat.
I had in hand a bundle of fat quarters from the Rosewood collection, some scraps of Raw Gold (PE-485), and one yard of Infused Hydrangea denim (DEN-S-2004). For extra materials, I used fusible cotton batting and 3” stiff horsehair (a trim used to give volume to dresses and skirts and that you can find in any fabric store).
I started by cutting irregular strips of the fabrics I liked the most and then joined them randomly to have three improv-pieced bases. I placed my templates and cut them as follows: One (1) body, one (1) crown, and twelve (12) Dresden.
Hat Brim: I took my time to arrange the Dresden pieces before joining them. In the end, they looked randomly perfect and happy ;)
Once I had my hat brim ready, I traced it on the batting and the denim, and cut it. I also cut one (1) body and one (1) crown in denim for the lining.
I layered the improv brim with the batting brim. Then I joined the edges of the two resulting pieces to get two lampshade like pieces.
I took the improv-batting lampshade.
Turned it inside out.
Took the stiff horsehair and started attaching it from top to bottom and around using safety pins.
5. 6. Kept going until the whole hat was covered with horsehair.
7. I took the denim lampshade right side out and placed it on top of the improv-batting one.
8. Carefully I repined everything together with safety pins, and removed the ones on step 7, making sure the fabric was as flat as possible.
9. This is the most challenging step: I sewed around the brim every 1/4" while removing the safety pins.
I took the improv pieced body and the denim body. I joined their ends to make two loops and inserted the denim body inside the improv pieced body wrong sides together.
10. I cut a 2" bias strip of denim and used it as binding to clean the big opening of the brim.
Ideally, the brim would match perfectly with the bottom edge of the body. Since I quilted it, it ended up smaller, so I had to trim a little bit of the top edge of the brim until the body and the brim matched.
11. I took the crowns and layered them wrong sides together, and joined them to the top edge of the body.
12. I took leftover denim bias tape and finished the raw edge of the crown. Finally, I topstitched the bias tape to give the hat a more casual look.
I hope you enjoyed my adventure! It took me a while and a few mistakes to find the way, and in the end, it was worth it. I love my hat and I take it on my morning walks when I don't want the sun in my face. My favorite part? I don't get hot wearing it because it is made of 100% AGF quilting cotton.
I hope you jump into the hat-making adventure too and share your story with me.
Flowing through the fields of Flowerette!