May Fabric Focus

Over the past few weeks we have focused on some adorable animal prints, but we feel it is time for a change so today we are showcasing the ‘A New Leaf’ collection from Mitzi Powers for Benartex. It has a beautiful watercolour style with some strong prints to make it stand out from the crowd.

A New Leaf is a particularly big range with six fabrics in total. The cream backed fabric stands out in the collection with its watercolour floral print in oranges. It works beautifully with the two darker fabrics in the range; a multi-coloured pebble pattern on a navy blue background and a batik style floral print on a sea blue background. Finally the collection is tied together with three bold fabrics with repeating patterns. Two with retro swirls, one red and one green, and a light green fabric with a circular floral pattern.

Overall, an eye catching collection that will create some stunning projects. Because you have seven different fabrics to work with, a sampler quilt would be a great project. They’s be perfect for Bev Mayo’s Crazy Circles workshop in November too!

As always, patchwork projects aren’t limited to quilts. We think the ‘A New Leaf’ collection would look great as a bag. Our Spiced bag pattern has recently been made up in the ‘A New Leaf’ fabrics, but you could also try our Henrietta Hobo Bag pattern if you wanted a more unique style.

 

April Fabric Focus

Welcome back to our monthly Featured Fabrics! Last month we showed you the adorable Timeless Treasures Mini Safari collection, this month we are sticking with the nature theme with a bold explosion of floral prints. The Paradise collection from In the Beginning Fabrics takes you through a jungle of bright colours with a retro feel.

We have three fabrics in this collection; a herringbone tile in grey, a sharp explosion in burnt orange, and swirling green vines on black. They are stunning to look at, but what will you do with them? As always the possibilities are endless; with so much going on in the range you will make quick work of colour matching them to other fabrics in your stash, from there your next project won’t be far away.

You could make Henrietta’s Hobo Bag. It requires 3 different fabrics so the whole Paradise collection can be showcased in your new bag. Imagine this bag in those lovely cheerful fabrics!!

 

February Fabric Focus

It may be cold outside but Spring will soon be on its way and the Daisy Garden collection is perfect for any project at this time of year. It’s bold floral print compliments the soft blues, yellows and greens, giving the fabrics a country cottage theme. The daisies sit alongside butterflies but have subtle hints of geometric patterns both in the panel and the rest of the fabrics.

There is so much you can do with a collection like this; at the moment Jon is working on a table runner using the panel. Sticking with the dining theme, you could cut out the individual squares and rectangles for place mats and coasters, perfect for dressing up the garden table for outdoor lunches in the warmer months.

If you are fairly new to patchwork and quilting, panels are a great place to start; cutting out individual pieces of the panel allows you to try out your new skills on a small and simple projects. Want to try something a bit bigger? You could keep the panel in one piece and turn it into a small quilt by adding borders. But if you are feeling really ambitious you could cut out and rearrange the individual pieces of the panel to make a much larger quilt or a table runner just like Jon!

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