Twenty-two days. That’s how much time there is between now – today – and Fall Quilt Market in Houston.
That means new fabric to fondle and ogle, catalogs to prepare, write-ups to write, quilts to make and patterns to write – basically, there’s plenty of “stuff” to do.
So I’m trying to catch up on a few things I’ve meant to share and keep forgetting about.
I’ve never been very good with schedules and plans. There are a dozen reasons for it and I think most of them boil down to being a bit impulsive, meaning it’s a one-size-fits-all explanation that actually fits.
So the plan for today was to finish up with the Favorite Finds but I pretty much did that last week. Since I didn’t really have a “plan B”, why don’t we have some fun with the new catalog – the Summer 2015 Moda Piece – Issue No. 14.
This catalog was finished just a few weeks ago and the Pre-Market catalog is nearing it’s deadline. As soon as it’s done, the Market catalog looms. Which means quilt designs and pattern notes and sewing and… I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to the Summer catalog.
This is one of the few catalogs that isn’t actually printed, it’s only available online. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t still chock-full of all sorts of really cool stuff – like the Moda Matchmaker. It will make matching Bella Solids so much easier…
This method is a bit drastic. And irreversible. (But I have earned the distinction of having the most “trashed” Bella color card in the office – and in just seven months.)
It’s a bigger, better, easier-to-use swatch-deck, swatch-card, color palette for Bella Solids. The one pictured is our mock-up, the real one will have all 2,083 colors of Bella Solid. (There aren’t really that many but I couldn’t exactly use my color card to count.) The best part is that it will come apart so that the swatches are loose. But because they’re numbered, it will be easy to put it all back together.
I think I’m going to need two. One to have sitting pretty on the shelf and one to take apart and actually use.
There are lots of beautiful new collections included in the catalog, these are showing to shops now and will be available late this Fall.
First Crush by Sweetwater. 30s Playtime 2015 by Chloe’s Closet. Old Cambridge Pike by Barbara Brackman. Basic Mixologie by Studio M. Dogwood Trail II by Sentimental Studios. Hyde Park by Blackbird Designs. Petite Prints Deux by French General.
That’s better. And don’t you love the new twill tape for the pre-cuts? It’s been in the works for quite some time but it’s taken this long for it to actually start showing up on the pre-cuts.
Timing. It’s been one of the oddest things to get used to here, everything we’re working on today won’t be shown for several months. And it won’t be in shops for several months after that. For example, back in January, I took pictures of the artwork sent in by Sandy Gervais. That artwork became Sweetness, a collection debuting in this catalog, a collection that won’t be in stores until November. (And when it’s ready to ship, we’ll share the process of how that artwork became fabric.
I’d show you the fabric for that but we haven’t received the pre-cuts yet. Some arrive early, others arrive… when they arrive. Try planning and scheduling around that – especially when samples are required.
We’ve had the Petite Prints Deux just long enough for Tammy to make this Petite Bateau quilt top for French General.
And for my buddy Judy to make this Catch-All Caddy with Basic Mixologie.
Other collections coming are:
I don’t know what we’re doing with this but I think we need to do something… these are the new colors of Grunge by Basic Grey. Did you know that these prints can also be used as a solid? I didn’t – not until Susan mentioned that she knows several ladies who do that. I think this stack just might have to follow me home so I can do a little experimenting.
And you wonder why I have problems following a plan? Or staying on a schedule?
Distractions. They’re related to that whole “impulsive” thing.
It’s okay. I’m used to it – and I really do understand.
Since I spend a good part of my work day surrounded by fabric and thinking about quilts, it stands to reason that you’d think I’m mostly playing. I have to confess that today was one of those days as I was trying out – it sounds better than “playing” – with a new diversion. (That sounds better than “toy.”)
At the top of the page, right under Cutting Table, do you see where it says Palette Builder? .
It’s a link to a really cool widget – a palette builder. What makes this one so great is that it’s color-coded to Moda Bella Solids – almost 300 of them! But I’m getting ahead of myself…
Color palettes are everywhere – if you’ve ever been on Pinterest, you’ve seen them by Design-Seeds, Color Palettes and others.
They’re pretty and they’re useful for decorating schemes – and maybe perhaps for finding or jump-starting a color scheme for a quilt.
But what if you want to make a quilt to go with a particular something – a Moda fabric, a piece of vintage or home dec fabric, your kid’s artwork or your grandmother’s hand-painted vase? That’s where Palette Builder by Play Crafts is genius – and so much fun. You wanted to be able to find the Bella Solids to go with your fabrics? Here’s a great starting point.
The first thing to do is take a picture of your fabric – or whatever it is that you’d like to “match”.
Any kind of camera will work – cellphone, tablet, 35mm or point-and-shoots. But – there’s a caveat. The better your picture – the more accurate the colors and lighting, the better your results will be. “Natural light” is best so long as there aren’t any shadows or glare. And pay attention to what kind of background your fabric has as it can affect the exposure of the camera, thereby altering the accuracy of the color in the image – a light or white background for the fabric or item is usually best. And no filters!
Upload your image – this is a picture of a fabric from the “coming soon” Aloha Girl collection by Fig Tree Quilts. And voila!
Look closely at the image of the fabric – you should see six small white circles. Each circle is focusing on a single color – it’s highlighting the color under that specific point on the fabric.
Now look what happens to the palette when I move those circles…
Move the little circles and the colors change – as do the “corresponding” Bella Solids.
What this means is that if you’re trying to “match” colors in your fabric, you’re going to have to use the Palette Builder and a Bella Solids color card to find the best Bella solids for your purpose.
This is how the Bella Solids in the two palettes actually look with the Aloha Girl fabric. (There are only five fabrics in the palette on the left because the Night Sky blue on the right is in both palettes.)
From the first palette, I like the Cobalt, Light Lime and Peach. The Flax and Kansas Red… not so much. In the second palette, I like the Geranium but it’s also a bit bright. The Chartreuse, Canary, Pink and Snow are all good but I’m not completely sold on the Night Sky – it would depend on my pattern and what I needed this color for. As for the Snow, it works but with very few exceptions, No. 60 Ivory always works best with Fig Tree fabrics.
Because the colors can vary based on the location of a dot – and the accuracy of the image – this really is a starting point. It’s a good one but it’s not perfect. So it’s a terrific tool to help build a color palette of complementary colors, and to help find good coordinating colors for Bella Solids.
Did I mention that the Palette Builder can also match your fabric to colors of Aurifil thread?
There are several things I think important to keep in mind as you start using Palette Builder:
It’s also fun to play with.
And…
For more information about Palette Builder, I recommend visiting the Play Crafts website. There are patterns, tutorials and other interesting, informative stuff. You can have fun playing.
Me? I’m off to take more pictures.
And work. Right.
Solids rock.
There isn’t much I can write about solids – Bella Solids – that you don’t already know. They’re a basic, a staple. Quilts made entirely with solids can be very traditional or very modern, or both. (See above.) When I started quilting, they were easily found in every color available… probably because there weren’t that many colors and if a shop didn’t have solids, they didn’t have that many bolts.
It’s much harder now that every fabric manufacturer has a line of solids and that there are so many more colors available. Did you know there are almost 300 colors of Bella Solids? The only thing harder than finding them all in one place is figuring out which color you want. Even with a color card, it’s sometimes hard to figure out which of those four shades of pink works best with the fabric you’re trying to match.
There is something coming soon that will help. A lot. And it won’t cost anything. It’s pretty cool and I think you’ll love it. As soon as that egg hatches, you’ll be the first to know.
While we wait, I do a couple of things that might help do some of the things you’ve asked about.
Keeping track of colors. I’ve been asked why the Bella Solids don’t have the color and SKU information printed on the selvage. That information is printed and solids aren’t printed, the color comes from the dyeing process. But there is an easy kind of fix to that – when I buy a piece of Bella Solid, the first thing I do when I get it home is write the color name and number on the selvage with a Sharpie pen. I don’t worry about where it is, if I wind up cutting off that piece, I can just write it again further down the selvage.
It’s not fancy of particularly nifty… but it works. When I’m marking the number, I put a piece of cardboard behind the fabric to make sure it doesn’t bleed through to another layer – the piece of cardboard from a charm pack works perfectly.
Color Cards. The color card you can buy is terrific – really. I love them and I update mine every two or three years. But matching a fabric next to that teeny tiny swatch is hard… so I’ve made my own “swatch set” modeled on the kind I’ve seen used by interior designers. When I buy a piece of Bella yardage, I cut a 5″ x 5″ square to put on my swatch ring. And when there is a batch of new Bella Solids, I get one of the charm packs. On a small card-stock tag, I note whatever information I want – stock number and color name – and I staple the fabric to the corner of the tag. The tags are put on a 3″-diameter binder rings from the office supply store – and I like the tags because the hole is reinforced. I used to hang the rings on a key rack but then I found an S-shaped carabiner that lets me hook the rings onto the basket drawers in my sewing room.
I’ve also done this kind of a swatch-ring for the Weave, Quattro and Dottie collections. It’s not as good as having the bolt right there but this has been the next-best-thing for me.
The other resource is the United Notions – Moda Fabrics website. A few years ago, Moda started including the colors of coordinating Bella Solids on the catalog pages of new collections. Depending on the collection, there might be anywhere from five to eight colors. I wish I could tell you that every collection going back to the very beginning has this information but only some do. Still, it’s a possible starting point.
To find that information, go to the United Notions website and look at the very bottom of the screen to Downloads. Click that. Enter the Collection or Designer name in the box that has “Keyword Search” and click the Green Scissors when the collection name appears below. That will open a PDF with images of the fabrics in the collection. (The PDF can be printed or saved to your computer – using your mouse or trackpad, move the arrow to the lower right corner or the screen for those icons to appear.)
Here is an example of a collection that includes the Bella Solids – Horizon by Kate Spain See Page 3.
Since not all the collections have this information, I also look through past collections by the same designer. Most of the time, I’ve been able to find a color that matched and in a few cases, I think it matched the new collection better than the “old one”. At the very least, it gives me a starting point.
If there isn’t a perfect “Bella Solid”, I also look at the “near solids”. Grunge. Weave. Rustic Weave. Crackle. And the various Marbles – Dots, Swirls and Stars. These are all printed fabrics that have a printed texture.
From left to right…
These work really well when you want to add a few more fabrics to a scrap quilt, or add a little more of certain colors from the prints. They’re also a little bit “softer” than an actual solid since the color isn’t “flat”. As much as I like using Bella Solids, I use these fabrics more as I use more print fabrics than anything else. It’s just personal preference.
For actual texture, there is the Crossweave collection. It’s an old-new collection, meaning that it was first introduced a few years ago and it’s back this month with new colors and some new textures. (It’s gorgeous… I’m already in love with these.) Pictures coming soon.
Even when the “new thing” is ready, everything I’ve mentioned is still going to work. I’ll still use the swatches on my ring to match my fabrics, and I’ll still need to know whether that 2-yard piece of “white” is Bella 98 or Bella 200. In the right light, I can tell them apart.
At least that’s what I tell myself.
I’ll keep the Sharpie handy.
Twice a year, Sew Mama Sew brings bloggers, designers and brands together for one giant collaborative giveaway event. What was once done in a day has become a full week of amazing giveaway opportunities, all conveniently linked up in one place. It’s a tremendous time for new product discoveries, fun connections with your favorite blogs, introductions to a wide range of brand new blogs AND it allows all of us to have a bit of fun with all of you! It’s an exciting time and we’re thrilled to be a part of it this year.
Aurifil, Pellon and Moda Fabrics have come together to create a one-of-a-kind, over-the-top, you-will-not-believe-your-eyes prize package for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! This bundle is a combination of the best of all three brands in one spot: a 1/2 yard bundle of 12 Bella Solid Fabrics in a range of colors , an exclusive Aurifil Bella Solids Collection of thread, and a bundle of seven crib-sized Legacy by Pellon® battings — Natural Cotton, White Cotton, 80/20 Natural Blend, Bamboo Blend, Soy Blend, Wool & Polyester. Excited yet?
The 12 Bella Solids that we chose came from one of the 12 Pack Quilts made by Holly Hickman in our Design and Marketing Department. Her inspiration for choosing the colors for this quilt were from paint chips. “I sort through paint chips and layout color combinations that I like and pin them to my bulletin board to use for future projects just like this one.” She also changed the background fabric from one color to the same colors she used in the melons. It gives the quilt a complete different look and we loved the way it turned out. The Moda 12 Pack Quilt Pattern is called Melons and is available at your local quilt shop.
GIVEAWAY ENTRY DETAILS…
This fabulous giveaway closes December 12, 2015 5pm PST. The winner will be chosen randomly and the winner will be announced on or around 14 Dec. This giveaway is open internationally!
Simply follow the Rafflecopter link below to enter-to-win! Don’t forget to head on over to Sew Mama Sew to check out all of the amazing giveaways featured on some other great blogs and make some new friends! Good luck and happy sewing!!