Friday, 20 July 2012

Feeling texty

Just a couple of years ago I struggled to find text prints on and would snap up any that I discovered quick as they were such hot property.  Since then, availability has improved so much and they are much more widely used.  Amy Friend is running a Texty challenge- Texting Whilst Sewing contest.  The aim is to use text fabric imaginatively in a 12" quilt block.  I am lucky enough to be judging the top ten entries with Ayumi!   There is a lot of potential with such an open brief for creative ideas and there is ample time - entries need to be in by the end of August.
Text fabrics are an essential part of my stash and I find they fulfill a range of functions.  They are great blenders, providing background interest and texture, as seen in this graffiti print by Keiko Goke for Yuwa.  White/cream fabrics with a mono print are so useful- they lighten a mix of fabrics and provide a bit of space whilst the dynamic scribbles create direction and a bit of life!
 This print by Yoshiko Jinzenji develops abstract lines adding pops of colour, illustration and text.  I bought this a while ago and as soon as it arrived I realised how great it would be for clothing.  It is a very fine cotton- you can see the print of the layer underneath- and the print is random so needs no matching up.
 Effective number prints can be a bit harder to find and designing a print with a twist is more of a challenge for the fabric designers.  This is a Sukuko Kosekit fabric, 'What's the Time'  The curves were exactly what I needed when i planned the grocery scales block for Ayumi's Vintage grocery store theme Ringo Pie.  The background is a lovely pinky shade of cream too, a nice variation on neutral colours.
Other text prints lend themselves to fussy cutting.   This is another Suzuko Koseki print.  You can find a coral colourway available here.  There are instant images and text so you can almost code your work with messages!  I sometimes feel like my mini quilts tell a story with fussy cut words and pictures.
This Kei fabric is also ideal for fussy cutting, love those cute retro telephones- the cord making the word is genius!

You can find a good variety of text prints at Eternal Maker- look under Numbers and Letters Fabrics and also under Japanese Imports.  I hope some of you feel inspired by Amy's competition to have a go and submit a block- I look forward to seeing what you come up with- and check the prizes out, that might be enough to push you over the edge to enter!
sib blog

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for writing this post Kerry! I can't wait to see more entries--some are showing up in the Flickr group already!

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  2. Oh, wow. I have a big stack of text fabric. But I simply MUST have that telephone fabric!

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  3. Oooh can we extend the school holidays to about 10 weeks so I can cram in some more sewing!

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  4. Judge, huh? *makes mental note to both suck up and come round and raid your fabric stash...*

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  5. Rolling thru your inspiring blog...I am loving the Amish Cross block! I have googled it with no success of finding the pattern...any chance you could help me out?

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    1. Hi Julie, it was sent as part of the Amities Stash club, sorry I couldn't find a free pattern for it online

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  6. Oooh how exciting. I have to restrain myself or I'd use text in every thing I do. In fact I almost always do sneak a bit in somewhere. I too buy every bit of text fabric I come across!

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  7. You know how we definitely share the love for text prints, so I know what you mean by the availability of them being improving! It's so nice to see a wide range of varieties of texty prints lately! Oh how I love the SK numbers fabric!!

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