Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Welcome back, fabric lovers! 

Get ready to dive into the magical, aquatic world of Maureen Cracknell's latest collection "Enchanted Voyage"! She was inspired by one of her favorites books, Voyage of the Basset, a fantastical journey of a family that sets sail on a magical voyage of discovery that was written and illustrated by one of her favorite fantasy authors, James C. Christensen.

This collection really tells a story, and it all starts with a ship that sets sail on an adventure! Discovering majestic whales, gentle seahorses, secret, bottled messages, all whilst sailing under the stars.

As a kid, I was always obsessed with the ocean. Something about it was always so interesting, knowing that we are surrounded by large bodies of water and knowing so little about it. From the hand-drawn whales to the school of fish designs on her fabrics, this collection brings out the kid in me again.  I can't wait to sew with these fabrics and I also can't wait to see what others make with this collection! 

*16 cotton prints

*3 prints available in knit

*1 print available in Rayon

View all the projects that makers, AGF studio, and Maureen herself made in the Lookbook!

Download Free Quilt Pattern 

Enter a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of this collection by signing up to our giveaway:

 To enter our giveaway, just click here and enter your info! 

Giveaway ends Tuesday, October, 29th, 2019 Good luck! 

CONGRATS, LAURA MANNING! 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 confirmation and approve it. By entering our giveaway, you'll be automatically signed up for our newsletters. Don't worry, we don't spam!

Hi, Makers! 

Who else is excited that Fall is here?! My favorite part of the season is Pumpkin Spice everything, I am one of those people that stock up for the whole year! But other than food, one thing I especially love during this time is the warm colors and decorations I see during this time of year. My mom recently bought her first home, and it was nothing less than fun to decorate for the season! Gathering pumpkins, sewing some table-mats, and hanging our reef on the door. 

It's also that time of year that we gather together as a family, sit down a large dining table, and share stories all night. Sewing has changed the way I decorate things, and I am sure other makers out there really look forward to creating things for their loved ones. It's true what they say, every stitch that goes into our projects, holds sentiments of love and appreciation. So today, I really wanted to share with you some of my top 5  favorite table-runner free patterns you can make this year! Create new memories with some fall-themed fabrics and at your next gathering, make that dinner table centerpiece an unforgettable one! 

1. Using Nuncia fabrics, create this Time For Mate table-runner. 

2. Using Decadence fabrics, create this Moulins table-runner. 

3. Using Autumn Vibes fabrics, create this Blossom Spell table-runner. 

4. Using Everlasting fabrics, create this Pedal Beat table-runner. 

5. Using Merry & Bright fabrics, create this Seasonal Runner table-runner. 

I hope these projects inspired you to get in the holiday spirit and satisfy that sewing craving! If you also love the Fall season, and the fun sewing projects that come along with it, let me know in the comments below what you're currently working on. 

Before I sign off, I'd love to share with you a very big giveaway hosted on our Facebook page! Inspired by all these fall projects, we are giving away over 8 YARDS of fabric!! So you can have the chance to make any of these projects too. We are picking a winner on Monday @4PM so hurry and enter!

Good luck and until next time,

Happy Sewing! 

-Jannelle

Hi Makers!

Who else loves Halloween?! All of us at AGF definitely do...just because we love having any reason or excuse to dress up or do a specific theme!

Picking out a costume is one of the best parts about Halloween..okay, second to eating bags of candy and chocolate, of course! Since we love to create things with our hands, we all know that making a handmade costume is much more fun and makes it, extra special too. That’s why we decided to create these DIY Halloween costumes for you that are easy to sew, especially when it’s a last-minute idea! Featuring our rayon and knit substrates, we were inspired by classic and iconic Halloween costumes that everyone loves. Since you still have some time before October 31st arrives, we hope these looks inspire you to create something, extra spooky!

WICKED WITCH

 

 

Fabric Used:

 

Rayon in "Caviar" (Dress)

Knits in "Striped Alike Caviar" (Striped Socks)

For the "Wicked Witch" dress pattern, click here. 

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FORTUNE TELLER 

 

 

Fabric Used:

 

Rayon in "Lumina Twilight" (Kaftan) by Jessica Swift 

Knit in "Sahara Sun" (Headband)

For the "Fortune Teller" kaftan pattern, click here. 

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BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

 

Fabric Used: 

Rayon in "White Linen" (Dress)

Knits in "White Linen" (Arm Bands)

For the "Bride of Frankenstein" dress pattern, click here. 

If you decide to make a costume using our fabrics, feel free to share your make with us - just tag us using the hashtag #artgalleryfabrics

Hope you all have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 🎃

"My inspiration comes directly from my life, mostly, and my experiences throughout. When creating collections for fabric, paintings, illustrations, and everything, I draw on my life, memories, feelings, and messages that I’d like to share with myself and with the wider world. I’m also deeply inspired by the natural world and could draw and paint animals forever and never get tired of it!" - Jessica Swift. 

It's always so inspiring to learn where our designers gather their inspiration for a fabric collection. After the unexpected passing of her husband last year, our designer Jessica Swift received an overwhelming amount of love that inspired her to create fabrics that celebrated life compassion, family, and community. In Swahili, "KUSHUKURU" means gratitude which became the heart of this collection.

Kushukuru offers several substrates from quilting cotton (featured above) to also two rayon prints, and two knit prints....so there's plenty of options to choose for all kinds of projects...especially for kiddies! 

We always strive to show you how you can not only use a fabric collection to its fullest potential but love to offer new tips and tricks when it comes to sewing. In this Kushukuru Fabric Lookbook, you’ll discover tons of sewing projects that we put together along with Jessica herself and some talented makers. Hope you enjoy every page! 

Here's the free quilt pattern - "Ryan" for you to download for your next sewing project! 

Download Quilt Pattern

- KUSHUKURU GIVEAWAY -

Enter a chance to win this fabulous, fabric bundle by signing up to our giveaway:

To enter our giveaway, all you need to do is click here to fill out your info. 

Giveaway ends Monday, October, 14th, 2019. Open internationally. Good luck! 

CONGRATS ANNA MISTRY! 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!

Hi, quilty friends! I am really stoked to show what I have in store for you today. As you know my sewing wizard “Meli” has been creating #AGFQuiltBlock videos for years now, and we all know she did a fantastic job. Now, she has passed the “quilt block torch” to me..and what better way than have someone who just started off sewing, show you all some beginner-friendly blocks! Today, I will be making the “New Hampshire Granite” block! I think this block is for a confident beginner, but the outcome looks a lot harder than it is. Hang in there though, I will walk you step-by-step on how I made this block using Jessica Swift’s latest collection, “Kushukuru.” 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

Fabric A “Rainbow Jaguar” - (1) 4 ½ square

Fabric B “Lively Kumbukumbu” - (4) 4 ½ x 2 ½ rectangle & (4) 2 ½ square 

Fabric C “Spirit Honora” - (4) 4 ½ square

Fabric D “Flame Amazulu” - (12) 2 ½ square 

Fabric E “Mauvelous” -  (4) 4 ½ x 2 ½ rectangle 

Before we begin, one of the most common mistakes I was doing when I was sewing up the quilt blocks were cutting up the fabric prints in the wrong direction. For anyone starting out, keep note the direction your cutting, to avoid prints facing different directions. With this in mind, let's start with easy pieces first, grab your rectangles from fabric B and E, place them right sides together and sew at ¼ inch on one side. 

On the next step, we are going to start this corner triangle frenzy! Begin with drawing diagonal lines from corner to corner on every 2 ½ squares from fabric B and D.

When finished, grab your 4 ½ square of fabric C and start placing Fabric D 2 ½ square on the corner. Pin together and sew on the line you drew. Trim at ¼ inch to reveal your corner square triangle. You are going to repeat this on all 4 squares of fabric C. Once you get to using fabric B on the corner, be mindful that on each square of fabric C, fabric B will be placed on a different corner of each square. For example, if you are making the top right corner block, fabric B will be placed on the bottom left corner of that block, if you are working on the bottom left corner block, fabric B will be placed on the top right of the block, and so on. Please refer to the pictures below if you need more understanding. 

For this last step, once you finished your corner blocks, place the fabric in rows so you can see what direction each print is facing. Make sure your fabric B and E squares are facing the correct way, the ones on top are horizontal and the ones on the sides are vertical. Fabric B is facing fabric A in the center. Once you have everything in place, you can start with sewing row by row, matching seams. When your rows are finished, you can start sewing your block together. 

Before you know it, you’re finished! I had a lot of fun sewing this collection because there are so many fussy cutting opportunities. I can see a lot of paper piecing fans having a blast with Kushukuru, and make some vibrant projects. 

For this part of the tutorial, I really wanted to show you what I am wearing today! Featuring one of the rayon prints from Kushukuru called “Everlasting Imprint.” This print is one of my favorites yet, it's fun black brushstrokes create a really fun texture. Bonus for being rayon, it’s so lightweight and the hand is just perfection. 

You can easily dress it up or down! Today I decided to pair it with a blaze for a chic look but then you can change it up and go out to a casual dinner by switching it up with a denim jacket. Get creative, add some pop of color and make this look your own. You can make this top yourself, by downloading the pattern here.   

Thank you all for joining me today, I’m happy to carry the #agfquiltblockcollection legacy. I hope you found this tutorial helpful and stay tuned in the future for my very first video premiere! If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below.

Until next time, happy sewing! 

Jannelle

Happy last day of September!

Since it was "National Sewing Month," we decided to launch a sewing challenge using our Pure Solids fabrics. All that was required for this challenge was to create something whether it be a quilt, wall hanging, table runner, etc..as long as it involved our Pure Solids, that's all that mattered! The main idea was just to have fun and get creative. 

After seeing some amazing projects submitted by makers, we felt one really stood out...so without further ado, here's our WINNER for our #AGFPureSolids challenge - Lacey Poirier!

While scrolling on Instagram, we came across her scrumptious berry-inspired project she made using the colors "Apricot Crepe, Dark Citron, Ruby, and Caviar." We loved it so much and how she even took the time to style real strawberries in the photo, we just had to make Lacey our winner! We also did fun, little Q + A with her as well. 

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Congratulations on winning our #AGFPureSolids challenge, Lacey! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into sewing?

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the #AGFPureSolids challenge! First and foremost, I am a mom to one beautiful little girl who inspires much of my fabric selection and sewing style! I’m also a full-time nurse in a critical access hospital in rural Montana, which allows me to serve others – a genuine dream come true.

Six years ago at 25, I was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disorder. I realized that a major “trigger” for a flare-up, for me personally, was any excessive sun exposure. My mother, a nurse herself, realized before I did that to stay physically healthy and emotionally well, I needed to find hobbies and interests that could be done indoors. Being a sewist herself, she bought me my first “real” sewing machine, my beloved Bernina. The rest is history! I fell in love with discovering quilt patterns, putting together fabric choices and colors, and watching projects come to life. I watched video tutorials, explored internet sites, and then found Instagram – which has provided a wealth of inspiration.

Tell us about your Pure Solids project and why you decided to make it? Which Pure Solids did you use for it?

This Pure Solids project was a true challenge! I had just finished up doing an amazing quilt project utilizing Alexandra Bordallo’s (@alextilalila) debut Art Gallery fabric line called ‘Dew and Moss’ – a gnome quilt based on the pattern ‘Norm and Nanette’ by Elizabeth Hartman. The Pure Solids scraps that I had left from that project included: Apricot Crepe, Dark Citron, Ruby, and Caviar. I specifically decided not to order any additional colors to see what I could come up with. As I was scrolling through Instagram for inspiration, I came across Wendy’s account (@the.weekendquilter) which spotlighted a new, free pattern she created titled ‘Nature’s Window Quilt’. The wheels started turning, and out came this cute table topper utilizing two of her blocks – creating an ‘abstract’ strawberry appearance.

Describe your design style in three words.

Whimsical,  vibrant, and cheerful.

What's your favorite thing to sew?

My favorite thing to sew is quilts, hands down...but more specifically, I truly enjoy doing quilt-a-longs and/or sew-a-longs with oodles of talented individuals on Instagram curate! I find that having weekly deadlines (and of course, fabulous prize opportunities) keep me on the path to finishing projects, rather than collecting more UFOs. My last quilt-a-long finish was in coordination with Elizabeth Chappell (@quilters_candy), who happens to be an Art Gallery Fabric Sewcialite and superb pattern designer.

Do you often gravitate towards certain colors for your sewing projects? 

I don’t feel I gravitate towards certain colors, per se. I do allow my daughter to be a big part of the fabric showcasing process. As a child, she has such a great imagination. I try to play on that as much as I can. She loves watching the quilting process too!

Name 5 things that inspire you. 

My daughter, home décor magazines, Pinterest walls, Instagram designers, and stumbled-upon fabrics and/or upcoming featured collections. I have some Maureen Cracknell's (@maureencracknell) ‘Enchanted Voyage’ fabric ideas rolling through my head as I type this!

What's next on your sewing to-do list?

As I mentioned, I do love a good quilt-a-long, so I have several of those going on at the moment! Being able to flip between projects keeps me from feeling “quilt-fatigued."

Best sewing advice you've ever received?

The best sewing advice I’ve ever received is to enjoy the process. This coordinates with the prior answer, as well. If you start to drift from feeling joy on one project, set it aside and work on something else. Inevitably, I always reach back for it with a fresh perspective. I try to avoid the feeling of “just get it done," as that’s when I begin making mistakes and feel underwhelmed with the finished project.

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A big thank you to Lacey and to everyone else who participated in this challenge! All of us at AGF always love learning about our makers and are always so inspired to see what they create with our fabrics. :) 

Keep creating.