Australia Aboriginal designs: Let the fabric do the talking!

A multi-color package of M&S Textiles Australia charm squares, a background fabric, and an uneven wide stripe for the border... that's all it takes. This is the Dominique quilt, a pattern from Villa Rosa Designs.

Dominique. 44" x 57.5"
pattern from Villa Rosa Designs, fabric from M&S Textiles Australia.

With these energizing, brightly colored Australian aboriginal fabric prints, a simple quilt pattern is all that is needed for this quilt. The fabric does all the talking. 

An easy charm square quilt on a rocking arm chair.

Be mindful of fabric value—light, medium and dark—to provide contrast between the charm squares and the background fabric so you can see the block outlines. 

The charm square's pinked edge allows for trimming

Note that the M&S Textiles charm squares are pinked (zigzag cut on the edges) to minimize fraying. Some quilters find a pinked edge more challenging when piecing—not knowing where to line up the presser foot with the pinked fabric edge. 

The charm squares from M&S Textiles have a pinked edge that extends beyond the 5" measurement so it can be trimmed off before piecing. Therefore, if you prefer to run a straight cut edge under your presser foot (I did), just trim off the pinked edge before beginning your patchwork.

Dominique, a charm square quilt. 
Finished size: 44' x 57.5"

My friend, Cheryl, from 3 Hens and a Chick Quilt Shop, did the machine quilting on this quilt for me. She chose a medium scale, swirly, all-over quilting design that complements these fun fabric prints. I opted for a contrasting binding, that was hand stitched—by me. 

The Villa Rosa Dominique pattern is designed for charm squares.

This was a fun and fast make! 

Contact your local quilt shop for M&S Textiles Australia fabrics and precuts, and Villa Rosa patterns.

Fall Quilt Market Recap, part 2: Quilting

As one would expect, Quilt Market booths were draped with colorful, striking quilts—examples and inspiration for creating with fabric manufacturers' upcoming fabric collections.

Painted Ladies quilt (center) featuring Street Art batiks from Banyan Batiks.

A repetition of simple shapes and basic block patterns provided a framework for the array of colors and fabrics to a dance in rhythm in these quilts—with each quilt featuring a different fabric collection.

I attended two schoolhouse presentations by Banyan Batiks. Designer, Tiffany Hayes [Needle in a Hayes Stack], talked about her upcoming Sazerac batik line for Banyan Batiks. The collection was inspired by the era of the Speakeasy and is portrayed in sultry, rich earthy colors with spicy citrus-toned accents.

Tiffany Hayes talking about her Sazerac batik collection [Banyan Batiks].

Banyan Batik quilt at the schoolhouse session at Quilt Market.

Karen Gibbs from Banyan Batiks talked about the batiking process and passed around an example of the hand-crafted tjap [pronounced "chop"] that is used to stamp and create the designs and motifs on the fabric.

A tjap used in making batik fabrics.

Technique Reboot!
Classic patchwork techniques and quilt blocks are just as fun and popular now as they ever were! Diamond Textiles featured its textured cotton embossed collection with this one-block Carpenters Star quilt. The cotton embossed fabrics are created with a resist process—much like the process for making batiks.

One block Carpenters Star quilt with Cotton Embossed [Diamond Textiles].

The Superior Threads booth featured Leesa Chandler's Melba fabric line using the classic Stack N Whack (kaleidoscope) technique. The Melba collection [from Australia-based fabric company, The Textile Pantry] also has a teal/silver colorway that is just as striking in the Stack N Whack quilt.

The Melba fabric collection [The Textile Pantry] is stunning in the stack n whack quilt.

Northcott Fabrics is pushing the traditional attic windows technique to new levels with its upcoming collection, The View from Here. What's the view you'd like to see out your window?

The View from Here from Northcott Fabrics.

The View from Here fabric collection

The Log Cabin goes Uptown
M&S Textiles Australia brought a contemporary twist to the traditional log cabin quilt. A mix of colorful aboriginal prints paired with a light fabric offers areas in this on-point log cabin setting for fun machine quilting. In the classic log cabin patchwork style, it's all about the placement of the lights and darks!

Log Cabin quilt in the M&S Textiles booth at Houston Quilt Market.

The big block Durango pattern [Villa Rosa Designs] offers easy piecing for this log cabin quilt. It's a great pattern to show off a variety of large scale fabrics like these aboriginal prints.

Durango [Villa Rosa Designs] quilt in the M&S Textiles booth, Houston Quilt Market.

Whether you're a cat or dog lover, this clowder of "calico" cats is a cute way to show off the Australian aboriginal fabric designs. The Cat City pattern [Villa Rosa Designs] is a fat quarter friendly pattern. 

Cat City quilt [Villa Rosa Designs] using Australian aboriginal prints
from M&S Textiles Australia.

Another log cabin quilt—this time with the barn raising setting—features the Primitive Collection from Batik Textiles.

Log cabin quilt in the Primitive Collection from Batik Textiles.

We never tire of these classic blocks! They stand the test of time because they are so versatile.

Primitive batiks at Houston Quilt Market.

New Techniques

MJ Kinman's booth showcased her stunning gemstone quilts. MJ has trained a team of Gem Affiliates from across the USA and Canada in her unique piecing technique. 

MJ Kinman's Gemstone booth at Quilt Market.

Northcott Fabrics is bringing her gemstone designs to the quilting community with fabric panels and jewel-toned coordinates in its Jewel Box collection. Now quilters can achieve gemstone designs in multiple ways.

MJ Kinman's booth at Houston Quilt Market

Ask your local quilt shop [YLQS] about these fabrics and any classes they will offer to help and inspire you in your quiltmaking endeavors. YLQS is your source for what's coming in the quilting world.

Aboriginal designs: a vibrant, decorative, Color Party

If you love color, pattern and prints, you'll love the Australian Indigenous fabrics from M&S Textiles!

Australian Aboriginal or Indigenous cotton fabrics from M&S Textiles Australia.

M&S Textiles Australia was founded in Melbourne, Australia in the early 1990s and is the largest fabric manufacturer of Australian Aboriginal or Indigenous designs. Aboriginal art is one of the oldest and longest continuing artistic expressions in the world and the fabrics made with these designs are soft and supple and beautiful to work with.

A Riot of Color

I'm not at all shy about using color and print in my garments or quilts, however, seeing a display of the designs this company has to offer can be a bit overwhelming to the timid eye. 

Aboriginal design fabrics from M&S Textiles Australia.

Think about pairing these larger scale, organic designs with a blender or other "supporting fabric" to provide a bit of breathing room. Don't worry, these prints play well with lots of blender friends available at YLQS [your local quilt shop]!

In my patchwork blocks (below), I've paired M&S Textiles with Pure Elements (the patchwork on the left) and a coordinate by April Rhodes from Boho Fusion from Art Gallery Fabrics (right).

Using pre-cut strips from M&S Textiles with Art Gallery Fabrics.
Block pattern from Duet by Villa Rosa Designs.

These blocks are made with one of M&S Textiles' Dreamtime pre-cut strip sets (red colorway). In the photo below, the strips nestle with a warm pumpkin-colored yarn-dyed cotton from Diamond Textiles. See how everyone plays together?

M&S Textile Dreamtime pre-cut strips with a yarn-dyed woven from Diamond Textiles.

Or how about this duet? Remember the Principles of Design and accompany a selection of Aboriginal prints with Squared Elements from Art Gallery for a contrast in scale. How fun!

M&S Textiles Dreamtime pre-cut strips
with Squared Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics.

Join the Party!

For the fabric lovers, quilters and makers that embrace color and print with open arms, you will be running to join this party! For those that are more shy, I invite you to try a package of pre-cuts or some fat quarters and a simple pattern for an introduction to these colorful fabrics. 

The M&S Textiles website has a selection of free patterns that showcase its fabrics. I can also recommend the postcard patterns from Villa Rosa Designs (which I've used for these blocks). The Villa Rosa patterns are simple, easy to follow and the projects are quick to make (a small investment of time). I've even used the same pieced strip set to make blocks from both the Duet and Mardi Gras patterns. Check out this pattern line—most every quilt shop carries a variety of these little postcard gems. 

Postcard patterns from Villa Rosa Designs and a quilt block from Mardi Gras.

So, whaddaya think? Are you up for a party with bold color and dynamic, Aboriginal prints? Consider this your open invitation!

Australian Aboriginal designs from M&S Textiles Australia.

I have a Blog Stalker

Recently, I was at a local shop in Chattanooga and a quilter came up to me and said, "you know I stalk you on your blog." Whoo hoo! Somebody out there reads me. 

So, in the vein of Jimmy Kimmel who frequently mentions he's run out of time on the show for Matt Damon, here's a shout-out to my blog stalker: I know you aren't afraid of color, so what do you think of these fabrics?