fabricmatcher.com

Week 4 Winner - using fabric pattern to define a concept

Last Weeks Winner
We had a beautiful email from last weeks winner! Roberta from up in North Queensland Australia. Now I had to look on the map to find where she lived and here it is....

A note from Roberta "What a wonderful surprise,winning the quilt kit,I just love quilting and I love colour,I nursed and lost my husband 3 years ago-after a battle for 5years Quilting helped me through all the tramur,our home was filled wth colourfil quilts,now I have 5 beautiful coloured  fostered grand kids,this has expanded my quilt making they have one each and two hertrage quilts ,they are aborignal,will enclose a photo of the quilts I have designed + an Australian quilt of Australian animals for the youngst baby Bob named for my husband Robert"

And here  is an example of one of her own quilts in very Aboriginal inspired colors and fabric.

Ok - I know you want to know who won this week....
Our judge was meant to be Terry from www.quiltsbydesign.com but he has taken ill and will be a guest judge when he gets better...so I have chosen the winner this week. Once again there have been new additions with some fabulous creative use of fabric and color. Just look at these two - in katyopolis's stash, I found Pink Apple, a fresh interpretation from a classic Piece O Cake design and in Bluquilts stash , a colorful Lotus Dreaming using a Strawberry Fields pattern with Urban Chicks and Kaffe Fassett.

But this weeks winner, is a simple interpretation of the classic simple design for KISS. It is called "Windmills in the Rain". Not only did I like the clever use of color but more importantly how the fabric patterns were used to re-define the concept. (The original KISS was Keep it Simple Stupid since you don't need fancy patchwork to create your own idea.) This has changed the idea all together. Which is what I want fabricmatcher to do - insoire you all to challenge color and design with fabrics. Congratulations Isabelle for "Windmills in the rain" I will be in contact to sort out your prize. Keep the entries rolling in!And don't forget to get all your friends to enter... Damian :)

Week 3 is still full of surprises..

Our winner last week was so suprised by the win but we weren't! She did a great design job. Here are a few comments from Alison on her design:

"I've been drawn to the Uptown line of fabric from Erin Michael and Moda since it came out. I especially love the paint-by-numbers design with the birds.  So I started with that fabric in the full circles on the quilt to sort of frame/highlight it and started pulling the rest of the fabrics from the colors in that pattern. In recent weeks I have been setting up a studio in my home and picked a wall color similar to the background color in the quilt. I think that weeks of being immersed in paint chips of that color range spilled over into my quilt design! As a new quilter, this pattern will definitely be a challenge for me! Thanks again!  I'm so excited!" Allison

Well the kit has been ordered Allison. Look out for it in the post.

A Quick Design Tip: There have been some runnouts on fabric at Hancocks in the past week so it is good for everyone to check their designs. All you need to do is "add your project to your shopping cart" and it will show you which fabrics are out of stock. You can then update your fabrics in your project.

And on to this week's winner - thanks again to Gina and Stephanie (from www.quiltersbuzz.com and Threaded Pear Studio - some of their patterns are on the website) for their judging.

"Gina Halladay, from QuiltersBuzz.com,  judging from Dallas Texas, home of Moda Fabrics. 
I am here with my Threaded Pear Studio design partner, Stephanie Goudzwaard attending a retreat sponsored my Moda.Stephanie has agreed to help me with the judging.
First, off we must say that we am most impressed with designs and with the names you gave our quilts.  Sometimes coming up with a name for a pattern is the hardest part.We viewed each and every quilt and we have a blast clicking on each on to see what was going to pop up.Of course, we were most interested in seeing how some of you used our own designs from our studio--so, we will admit we looked at those first!
Our top three overall quilt designs are: We really like "All Tan All the Time" and the use of our Madeline pattern by prkrgrmr's stash.  The tan collection of fabrics was outstanding.



Prkrgrmr's design displayed a great use of contrast even with a neutral collection.Katyopolis' "Black and White Strawberry Fields" was stunning and had wonderful green accents.



But, our most favorite and the winning selection goes to Roberta 45's Spinning Flowers.  Roberta 45 had great placement of color among the black and white selection of fabric.

 

The quilt had a feeling of motion and excitement. It is a striking quilt and would love to see it in person...So, Roberta congrats winning a kit...send us a picture when you get it made. Tata for now.
Gina and Stephanie."

Congrats Roberta45!  I will be in contact shortly to sort out your prize!  Keep the designs rolling in!
Damian:)

Fab Mag 2

Latest Fabric Just In - Kona Cotton

We have just uploaded over 100 Kona Cotton solid colors which was missing from  our range. So all those who have requested solids can now find them under Kona Cotton or Solid Color. Kona Cotton is a premium all cotton quilt broadcloth from Robert Kaufman. Kona has a high thread count giving it a wonderfully meaty hand-a joy to work with. This high quality cloth is also excellent for fine apparel and for home decorating. And at a great price. Fabrics from only $1.99 per 1/2 yard.

Inspirational Blogger - Hop Skip Jump

Hop Skip Jump is the personal weblog of Fiona. I live in Adelaide, Australia with my husband, Matt and little girl Audrey. When I'm not being a full-time Mum, I'm a part-time graphic designer and other-time crafter. I aspire to getting that work/life balance, er, balanced and to (hopefully some time soon) get a good nights sleep.
Things I like: Sewing toy animals, English breakfast tea, scented candles, fabric, fabric, fabric, craft supplies stores, baking, crockery from the 1950s, other weblogs, ginger flowers, ginger tea, the smell of eycalyptus trees after rain, buttons, ric rac, ebay, reading, freshly cut flowers, history, home decorating magazines, and of course chocolate.

Look out for....www.colourlovers.com

Here is a great website that is the best resource for color palette inspiration. You are able to view thousands of combinations plus some great articles on color from around the world. AND you can even show your own recommendations.

Look out for some exciting developments between fabricmatcher and colourlovers in the coming weeks.

Happy designing!  Damian :)

And it keeps getting better..

First of all a quick update from last weeks winner. It is nice to find out why they designed the quilt the way they did as inspiration for others so we ask the winner each week to give us a quick insight into their design philosophy..

"I have always loved sewing and became involved with a prayer quilt ministry two years ago.  Since then, I've been able to experiment with many different colors, fabrics and quilt patterns.  I love batiks, because you can never put together a bad quilt using them.  A batik quilt always looks beautiful. I can't wait to try out the Tokyo Rose pattern.  It will definitely be a challenge." Glenda

And the winner for week 2 has been judged by the editor of Down Under Quilts, Erica Spinks (thank you erica)

"This was a fun task, yet difficult to choose the quilt of the week. "Sunflowers in the Fall" by gb combines the rich colours of leaves with sparks of lilac to create a classic beauty where the fabrics make the design come alive.

"Folk Madeline" by Brynneknits features beautiful soft, warm shades with a gentle blue accent fabric. This is a very appealing colourway.

This week's winner, though, is "Moda" by Alocicero. The design shows a lovely use of complementary colours to create a visually interesting design. The combination of fabrics adds to the intriguing feeling of peering through window panes.
Well done everyone! Erica

Thanks Erica. Once again some great designs. I will be in contact to sort out the delivery of the prize.

Don't forget you can win every week so keep those entries coming in. Damian :)

 

And the winner for week 1 is.....

Well, this is the first week of the competition and I have to say that there have been some great designs...BUT also what has been most pleasing is that eveyone seems to have used the project tools to great effect with little problem..There have been some small issues like you must ensure you tick the "Make projects public" under Stash profile in your membership area but otherwise GREAT WORK.

This promotion will grow week by week as yo uadd more desings. Remember, that if you don't win this week, there is always the chance you will win next week since each week will have a different judge who has different design appeal.

This week our judge was Sarah Fielke, one of the owners from Material Obsession, and a supplier of patterns to the site. Here is her result:

" Hi everyone...There were some great quilts, good going guys. I particularly liked farbstoff-bridge’s Strippy, a version of Skewiff;

 

alocicero's blue and green Gypsy Squares

 

and prkrgrmr's Stars, a brown take on Fluffy Stars.

 

Thanks to everyone for having a go and showing us all what you can do with fabricmatcher. However there can only be one winner and the winner is……. gb’s version of Tokyo Rose, Tokyo Batiks!

I loved the balance of this quilt, she obviously worked hard to get the right mix of darks and lights, and green and orange tones to make the pattern work. It’s a good tip to make sure you take note of your contrasts when you lay your fabrics out for projects, make sure you move fabrics you like around as you would on a design wall, and make use of the easy auditioning you can get with fabricmatcher to change the look of your design. Have fun making your Tokyo Batiks gb!"  Sarah Fielke

Great work gb!!  I will be in touch by email to sort out your prize.

Remember, that you can keep your stash up there as long as you like because any quilts in the public stash can win - no matter how long they have been up there for. Just remember that fabrics may not be available and we will delete those that aren't each week so check your patterns before Friday...

Happy designing!

Damian :)

Fab Mag 1

LATEST FABRIC JUST IN

Direct from Windham Fabrics, Jackie Shapiro has developed her bold and graphic, pop culture style designing fabrics for apparel fashion houses such as Fiorucci, Itokin, and Tommy Hilfiger. With Modern Grace, Jackie designed a collection of fabrics for the Quilting marketplace. Enjoy Jackie's modern art with influences from Pucci, Meri Mekko, and more. Printed by Windham fabrics on a premium 44" cotton. Fabrics from only $4.25 per 1/2yard.

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN YOUR OWN QUILT DESIGN

 

Here is a promotion you will not find anywhere in the world! Your chance to WIN your own designed quilt kit. One winner every week! All you need to do is choose a pattern, add in your chosen fabrics, save into your stash and make the stash public. Each Friday, a "celebrity" judge will choose the winning design from the public stash and if it is yours, you will win the full kit - the pattern and the fabric for the top, AND it will be shipped to you where ever you are in the world for FREE. See all detail on the site. This will be alot of fun!

INSPIRATIONAL BLOGGER - www.craftymcgee.typepad.com

My name is Rose, and I live in Seattle, Washington. I spent many years in various art schools, mostly studying graphic design and printmaking. Now I make maps for a living.
I come from a very creative family. I was taught to sew, do needlework, knit, crochet, etc, etc. from a very young age. Over the years, my interest in and ability to do these things has ebbed and flowed, but were never completely lost.
I love great design. I think alot about creating beautifully designed things, and always hope to make more.