Cuts: Three Cool Collections
megan • July 15, 2011 • 7 Comments

Fabric. It’s what we live for. (Yes, you can admit it. This is the happy home of fiber addicts,  remember?) And here we have three cool collections just hitting the shelves of your favorite LQS or online merchant.

Cape Ann by Oliver + S, Liesl Gibson (Moda)

In Cape Ann by Oliver + S, Moda designer Liesl Gibson embarks upon her second year of designing fabrics with this adorable collection that blends vintage charm with today’s sensibilities and fresh colors. Liesl earned her design chops with Ralph Lauren, and her fabrics pair well with her popular line of clothing patterns for children. Again, it’s all about the retro and classic styling. Now, don’t tell us that summer is practically over, and there’s no need to sew summer clothes. There are plenty of hot, sweaty days ahead where you can hug the AC and enjoy whipping up some dresses and tops for your little ones. (And don’t you always seem to need a children’s gift quilt?)

Gallery Fiori by Karen Tusinski (P & B Textiles)

Gallery Fiori is designer Karen Tusinski’s first collection for P&B Textiles. And we think it oozes big bolt appeal! Just look at these sophisticated dots, lines and shapes…slightly reminiscent of Gustav Klimt, the famed Austrian painter who seduced us with his elegant, evocative brushstrokes and lush colors. Karen’s working in a similar vein of luxuriant color and shape and her gorgeous poppies makes us itch to create shawls and art gallery inspired dresses. We’ve given you snippets of two colorways–a warm one with burnt oranges and teals and at the other end of the color spectrum, a rich beige, blue and black trio.

Habitat by Jay McCarroll (FreeSpirit/Westminster Fibers)

Jay McCarroll of Project Runway fame is getting tons of attention these days with his new line from FreeSpirit, Habitat. These edgy, bold prints are definitely not fussy and matchy-matchy, as you’d find in many collections with lesser punch. Instead, each print is unique and stands strongly on its own, yet plays nicely with its sister cuts. There are three colorways in Habitat, and we picked the boldest teals and plums to share with you here. Plus, there’s a very soft pink and beige combo that feels much more girlie and a dark pink and olive collection that will give us something crisp to cling to, after weathering the summer’s heat. We can  envision some incredible, creative bedding from these highly energetic prints, but there’s also a life beyond patchwork here. Can’t you just see these stretched over canvas and hung on the wall as art? Move over, Marimekko!

AND IN RELATED NEWS….

Did you know Jay’s Habitat line will be used in a challenge by some chapters of the Modern Quilt Guild? It all started with the Philadelphia Modern Quilt Guild, who hosted Jay at a June guild meeting and officially inaugurated the challenge. Phillie guild peeps Julie Herman (Jaybird Quilts) and Candi Weinrick (Raccoon Creek Quilts) coordinated Jay’s visit, during which he gave guild members an entertaining look inside his career and the design process behind Habitat.

Philadelphia is Jay’s hometown and he’s big on charity efforts. So when he got an invitation to be a part of launching the challenge at the Phillie guild, he immediately thought of the recent Japanese earthquakes and resulting destruction. Guild members opted to design original 12” blocks, which will subsequently be worked into quilts that will be donated to the relief effort in Japan. And guess what? GenQ is going to feature the winning blocks in an upcoming post and offer the patterns from them to you! Our thanks to Julie and Candi for making this possible.

Almost 50 chapters of the Modern Quilt Guild are participating in the Habitat Challenge, and each participating chapter will outline its own rules for the challenge. And who knows? GenQ could also jump into the effort and challenge you all to see what you can do with Habitat. Makes us growl with pleasure, we tell you! Stay tuned for more.

7 Comments

  • Lois Grebowski • 13 years ago
    COMMENT #1

    Our guild id doing the Habitat challenge. They passsed out the fabric at Tuesday’s meeting. It is yummy! love it!

  • Kristy • 13 years ago
    COMMENT #2

    We have over 30 people participating in the HABITAT challenge from my STLMQG and the buzz was amazing, they are even going out and buying more of it online.

    Thanks for the MQG shoutout and fabric sneakpeek.

  • Lisa Sipes • 13 years ago
    COMMENT #3

    I have always loved Jay, but I only have just a bit of his fabric.
    A friend and I have been talking about starting our own chapter of MQG (like I need another hat to wear?!) and were wishing we could be a part of that challenge!

  • Angela N. • 13 years ago
    COMMENT #4

    The chapter im in is doing it also… we thought we were getting a particular color line, but got such a mish mash of colors that im really going to have to think WAY outside the box! lol. Look forward to see what Q is going to be up too…

  • alexe • 13 years ago
    COMMENT #5

    I’m having problems displaying this page in firefox. Is it just me?

    • jake • 13 years ago
      COMMENT #

      It has come up once last week and someone switched the browser they are using. And then it worked. Try that… And then let us know.

  • Jennifer House • 13 years ago
    COMMENT #6

    Super story it is surely. My mother has been looking for this information.

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