Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Hi Makers, 

With the holidays right around the corner, I know all of us are prepping or have already begun sewing gifts for our family, friends, colleagues and teachers. I think that as a maker, we're always trying to create gifts that are so personalized to the person we're giving it to, so if you haven't started sewing your gifts yet, don't worry! We just released TWO NEW FUSIONS that cater to two different themes that can turn into so many great gifts! 

If you're new to AGF, our "Fusion Collections" are bite-size collections featuring best-selling prints from our internationally-known designers such as Pat Bravo, Maureen Cracknell, April Rhodes, Bonnie Christine, Katarina Roccella and Sharon Holland. With these two collections, you’ll find two different themes that provide you with countless sewing ideas and are no doubt, two collections that are a must-have for your fabric stash. Now, let’s take a closer look on how you can sew with these fabrics!

RAINFOREST FUSION

With botanical designs high on the trend radar for “jungalow inspired”  interiors and fashion, our “Rainforest Fusion” is perfect for creating a “tropical paradise” in your sewing room! Filled with vibrant, lush prints, this collection highlights tropical florals, palm fronds as well as tribal patterns that also act as great blenders. Grounded in bright and warm colors, this collection can be widely used in quilts, outdoor home decor, resort-inspired garments, as well as in accessories and wall art. I would love to make curtains and TONS of throw pillows with this collection! 

 Download Our FREE "Vertical Garden" Quilt Pattern:

TRINKETS FUSION

Channeling “vintage meets modern” and recalling old memories of sifting through a grandmother’s treasure chest,  our “Trinkets Fusion” offers countless ideas for sewing with nostalgic prints that are inspired by pressed flowers, vintage knitting, and hand pressed wallpaper. Deeply rooted in warm hues of rust and gold, this festive collection is a great option for your holiday, sewing projects! From various florals that range in scale to textured designs that make unique blenders, these fabrics can be sewn into romantic, bohemian quilts, throw pillows, rugs, tapestries and special occasion garments! I would love to have a dress made out of "Trinkets" fabrics for Thanksgiving - preferably one that's loose, so I can eat all those delicious Thanksgiving side dishes like mashed potatoes, stuffing and creamed spinach! :)

 Download Our FREE "Free Spirit" Quilt Pattern:

For more sewing projects we've put together using these two collections, head to our "Rainforest and Trinkets Fabric Lookbook!"

In case you're OBSESSED with both of these collections and need them NOW, enter our giveaway for a chance to win BOTH! 

 To enter, please fill the form below. Giveaway ends Friday, October, 12th, 2018. Good luck!  

Our winner is Jo Isaac! Please check your email! Thanks to everyone else who participated!

*Once you have entered the giveaway it's Winner will be announced on Monday, 10/15! :)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 Makers! 

Besides being all about fabric, are you also an "art lover?!" I'm definitely one! From an early age, my parents introduced me to many art museums near and far around the world where I had the incredible opportunity to see so many types of art. It was during this time I was introduced to the "Rococo Period." This art movement consisted of highly ornate and a extravagant style of architecture, art and music that flourished in Europe in the 18th century. I fell in-love with all of it! 

As I grew older and went to art school, I took an art history class and re-discovered my love for this time period and wrote many essays and created several, fashion projects around the motif. One of my favorite films "Marie Antoinette" directed by Sofia Coppola also captures the absolutely gorgeous art movement. (Watch it if you haven't! Amazing cinematography and costume design) Fast forward to present day, I'm super excited to announce our latest fabric collection, Decadence is inspired by the Rococo era! :)

Inspired by the Rococo art movement, our AGF designer Katarina Roccella’s created her latest fabric line, “Decadence.” These twenty prints feature gorgeous peacocks, opulent florals, stylish geometrics, and romantic, painterly textures that embody that light-hearted, Rococo spirit. Grounded in pink and teal, Decadence offers an inviting color palette utilizing charcoal and ivory backgrounds with metallic specks, making these twenty prints provide countless ideas for sewing projects. With the upcoming holidays in mind, Decadence is a great go-to collection to create luxurious quilts, stylish garments and home decor for you and your loved ones!

 For more elegant-inspired projects that include quilt, garment and home decor patterns, head over to our "Decadence" lookbook! 

Here's our mesmerizing "Tartaneuse Quilt" for you to enjoy, just click the below link for the FREE pattern:

Download Quilt Pattern

I've also included these blenders for you (in case you need some ideas) that can easily coordinate with the lux-inspired prints of "Decadence."

Enter a chance to win a "20-piece Decadence fabric bundle" by signing up to our giveaway:

 ---  DECADENCE COLLECTION GIVEAWAY ---

 To enter, please fill the form below. Giveaway ends Friday, September, 21st, 2018 - 

Our winner is Christina Grant! Congratulations and please check your email! Thanks to everyone who participated!

*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!

If someone were to ask you what is truly important in life, I think we would all have similar answers: family, friends, health and enjoying the moment. In the day to day rush of life though, amid the ever-present piles of laundry and unopened bills, this truth can become forgotten for a little while. And then sometimes something comes along that shakes us out of our complacency and crystallizes the truth anew. Last week for us it was Hurricane Irma. We chose to evacuate to family in NC, but most of my family and friends decided to hunker down and weather the storm. At home, people worked together to help each other board up and prepared to spend the storm together. Meanwhile we made the best of our situation by sightseeing along the way. Even in the anxiety and uncertainty that preceded the storm, there was beauty and inspiration all around.

We stopped for a late lunch in Columbia, SC and took a stroll around the downtown area to find to our delight that it had been “yarn-bombed.” It seems the industrious crocheters and knitters of Columbia have adopted a stretch of the downtown and nothing is safe from their needles. Trees, benches, traffic signs and parking meters are all decorated in multicolored custom knit outfits. That afternoon in the beautiful sun and light breeze, surrounded by the product of such industrious creativity it was truly possible to believe that everything was going to be alright. When we sew and quilt, we put a little of ourselves into each piece. “Made with Love” is not just a cute label, but the truth, and that day I could feel the joy and love that each person had put into their street art.

Quilting in particular brings people together and has a long, rich history. At a tea shop in NC I asked about a pile of quilts on a table and was soon talking with the reserved owner about how his grandmother and her friends used to hand quilt together by stretching out the quilts on wooden beams. She made all dozen grandchildren their own quilts this way. I couldn’t help but wonder how many quilts in Florida were being lovingly packed away in plastic bins as their owners hoped for the best.

Safe with family, we watched Irma move onto Florida via CNN while praying for the family and friends still in the storm. It took a couple days to confirm that everyone was OK because of power and cell phone connectivity issues, but thankfully everyone, including my AGF family, was fine. Meanwhile, I enjoyed spending quality time with family that I hadn’t seen in years and doing my favorite travel activity- checking out the local quilt fabric shops.

As we move forward, we are blessed to have the understanding of what is truly important freshly stamped in our minds. I’ll bring this new inspiration to my sewing by taking my time with a project, and enjoying each step, by sewing clothes and projects for the ones I love, and stepping away from the laundry for a bit to sew some things for myself. The world is an amazing place, from the natural beauty of my aunt’s sun-dappled porch with the flowering myrtle trees to the howling ferocity of an implacable storm. There is inspiration all around. I’ll continue in my humble way to try to add some beauty to the world one little project at a time. I invite you to do the same.  :)

Until next time,

Christine

You may have first heard of Katarina Roccella in our Nördika release post. She's responsible for this collection's amazing video. Katarina has just returned from a refreshing family trip to Skopelos, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. This island can only be described as visual paradise, and it's easy to see how much her latest projects were inspired by it.

We've caught up with Katarina to talk about her experience and latest use of two gorgeous fabrics from our Voile collection. Keep reading to hear about her trip, project inspirations and even recommendations of use for Voile.

So far, what sewing projects have you created using Voile?

I made the summer caftan with a matching shabby flower and the summer tiered twirl dress for my daughter.

The whole collection is really stunning and it was tough choosing only a few prints to sew with. But since I knew I would be taking my creations with me to Greece, I chose the blue prints (I'm obsessed with photographing my creations and imagining the best locations to showcase the designs and prints). The traditional Greek combination of blue & white was perfect for the prints I chose.

What uses or projects do you recommend are best suited for this fabric collection? 

Voile's fabrics are excellent for garment sewing, specifically for summer projects. I would use them for accessories (bandanas, scarves, headbands and different crafty flowers: think small and big pompoms for weddings and other embellishing crafts) and clothing (especially tunics, blouses, skirts and dresses), but would like to try them for quilts too. I saw some amazing quilts on the web made with Voile fabrics.

_{(see more photographs of the Skopelos islands here)}

Do you have anything else planned to make with Voile?

While being on the beaches in Greece, I regretted not having made one of those large Gypsy-type headbands for my girls. I'd also love to make some more garment pieces and patchwork cushions, too. And definitely a small quilt.

Can you recommend needles and thread combinations (or even techniques) to use with the fabric?

Sewing with Voile is really easy especially if you have right type of needles and thread. Regarding needles, I'd recommend size 9 sharp needle or any other small size needle appropriate for lighter weight fabrics. For the thread, use some fine thread--it shouldn’t be heavier than 50 weight thread, and I read some great reviews about Aurifil Mako 50wt quilting cotton for use with Voile fabrics.

Voile fabrics have a characteristic beauty that is sheer and crisp, not unlike the scenery around Skopelos. Between them, the prints and texture of the fabric also have a balance of weighlessness and a drape that layers beautifully.

Katarina has posted the Summer Kaftan Dress tutorial on her blog, and is currently finishing up the Tiered Dress tutorial. You can stay up-to-date on her tutorials by following her on Twitter. You can also check out our Free Sewing Projects page for this, as well as many other sewing projects.

We're grateful for her continued engagement with our fabrics and our aestethic point of view! I had a fun time looking through her beautiful stream of photos on her flickr, and was especially intrigued by her linoleum cuts and prints so I've chosen a couple as the closing statement to what I hope was a visually uplifting post.


_{(All photos courtesy of Katarina)}

Sew on,

Lorena

My recent trip to London got me super excited thinking about different blog posts to share with you... I didn't have time to put this together until now (my apologies to all UK friends that were waiting for this recap), and today is a great opportunity to tell you everything about it.

What a beautiful city London is... All my childhood dreams (I always wanted to be here) came through when I visited their streets, museums and I have to confess... many shops :) It is impossible not to be enchanted with the whole tradition that emerges in each of their products, from furniture to clothing and home decor. Oh... it seems that home decor stores are not of this world ... they take us back to an era of elegance and unique beauty! I walked, and walked and walked until my legs collapsed :)

Seven days only left us thinking the best way to organize the places we wanted to go and how to make the best of it. Since this trip was inspirational for my new lines, Walter was ready to go with my plan to help me see and photograph the most I could!

The first day we went to Notting Hill, filled with flea markets, trendy art galleries, Portobello Road and so many boutiques! We just wandered the streets to be surprised a lot! I would love to bring back a little bit of everything I saw there...

This amazing turquoise color left me wanting to use it throughout my home...

So very vintage...

Traditional British china was everywhere! I wanted to buy every piece, but then I thought it was too risky to bring them back :( So I took many pictures just in case because I was so inspired with these wonderful floral designs. And oh... the birds!

There was a thrift jewelry shop where the vintage pieces didn't seem ever to end. Walls and walls were filled with exquisite necklaces, rings... I couldn't stop thinking who would have used these pieces in the past.

This lovely boutique got me window shopping for a long time, I couldn't get enough with all the shabby chick style. They make every window looks like a inspiration board! How about this style if you plan to update your sewing room?

Couldn't do anything other than to stay like I was bewitched looking and looking..

Pure beauty everywhere <3

I LOVE the mustard bag and everything around it, lol!
The famous Zara Home, where I could see amazing textiles put together to tell a mesmerizing story of flowers and color!

Are you inspired as I was? I hope you can use these images to motivate you on your next sewing project or help you get ideas to decorate a corner of your home!

I took so many pictures that I could not possibly share them all here, but I think there are many that deserve a second post, as my visit to Liberty of London (they are to dye for!) and the classes I gave at a quilt shop which you will fall in love with: Quilters Haven!

So see you soon, Pat

Hello hello!

I'm glad you enjoyed our pics from Market, it was soo much work but oh so rewarding in the end!

So you know how they say "a picture is worth a thousand words"? Well that might be true, but because nothing tells the story like a VIDEO, the video-editing genius and graphic design extraordinaire Kat (part of our awesome AGF team lol) made this cool video about our experience at Market.

As you'll be able to tell, it was insanely rolling-on-the-floor-laughing fun and we had the best time ever, I honestly can't complain.

So if you never attended Market you'll be able to see a little bit of what really goes on in there (plus you'll get to see the AGF team making a fool out of ourselves in public lol) 

I still laugh everytime I watch it ha! What do you think, is this what you would expect to see at Market? What do you imagine it's like? Do share!

Happy long weekend everyone!

Love,

Pat. 

ps. Can't watch it on YouTube? Watch it on Vimeo or Facebook!