Designer Spotlight: Corey Yoder

This evening I want to share with you a little background information on a very popular designer in our shop... Corey Yoder. 

Corey is married and together they have two girls and live in Ohio. Though she has Amish family members in both her family and her husband's family she is not Amish. 

Even though she grew up around sewing and quilting she did not begin sewing until after she was married. 

She began buying fabric before she started sewing, when she did start sewing it was children's clothing. When her second daughter was born she moved her focus more into quilting. Her business name is Coriander Quilts and is a play on Corey and her quilts. 

Corey Yoder has been a fabric designer for Moda Fabrics since 2014 and has had 11 collections printed and 1 that is showing to shops right now and will ship early next year. Aside from fabrics she also designs patterns under Coriander Quilts as well. 

We have ordered many of her collections into our shop. Ash and Apricot is the latest collection in our shop, Holliberry a Christmas line was released early this summer.

 

Canning Day from this past spring and Sugar Creek from last fall are also still available on our shop floor. We also have a few pieces left of LuLu Lane, Flower Mill, and Sunnyside Up left in our storage room if you are looking for an older print to finish off a project. 

Spring Brook releases early next year and we have that collection on order as well. Her collections are all designed around the same soft color palette and though they vary quite a bit with each collection with different prints and a different focus color group all her collections do blend nicely together and work great for "scrap" quilts if you don't particularly like doing scrappy quilts or are scared to venture into that domain.

Corey is super active on Instagram with posts nearly everyday that give you glimpse into her family life, what she is working on, her new fabric collections and patterns and a Sunday Slowdown post every Sunday that makes you stop and think. Follow her @corianderquilts She is also on Facebook under the same name. 

Esther and I met her at Quilt Market a couple years back and she is so sweet, friendly and easy to chat with. 

Esther just finished up a Vintage Fall Quilt using blues, oranges, and greens from several different collections from Corey and we have kits available for it, you can also see how nicely the collections all play together. 

I made this Fresh as A Daisy Quilt (pattern by Pen and Paper) using just two sets of colors from Canning Day. 

This is Esther's Woodland Friends Quilt made with Apricot and Ash, fabric and pattern are both by Coriander Quilts

Have you sewn with fabrics from Corey?

You can shop all our Corey Yoder fabrics and Kits here. 

Kayla

Designer Spotlight: Deb Strain

Can you believe we are already in the last week of July? With the announcement of school returning to near normal again in September, all of a sudden it feels like summer is nearly over, thankfully we still have a month left and lots of fun family things planned for the month, before life goes back to some sort of a routine. 

While pondering what to write about for today's blog post I remembered that I had promised to do some more designer spotlights. I don't know about you but I like to learn about the people behind the fabric, what they like to do in their free time, where they get inspiration from and more. 

Over the next little while I am going to run through a few of our favorite Moda Designers. 

First up is Deb Strain. 

Deb grew up in Ohio and currently lives there with her husband. She has 3 children and they are scattered across the country with one living on the East Coast, one on the West Coast, and one close to home. Long distance phone call, travelling and helping with her two grandsons that live next door take up a lot of time. Her family is her true love!

Deb was an art teacher for 9 years. In 1994 she left teaching to spend more time with her family and to develop her own art.

In 1996 Deb joined the Moda Team and has since developed over 100 collections for Moda.

The inspiration for her fabric collections come from her memories growing up in Ohio, nature, times with family and friend or visiting antique shops. Although the colors and prints are different in all her collections, many of her collections seem to focus around the "beauty of simple, everyday life" (Deb Strain) 

We have had many of her collections in our shop, and her last few have flown out the door. 

Explore is a fun outdoors collection and is currently our weekly special. 

Llama love is a fabric line that I am just in love with, the adorable Llamas and the pink and aqua blue colors are just perfect.

Cultivate Kindness was released this past spring and flew out the door! We have some yardage left but the bolts are getting pretty skinny. 

Homegrown Holidays is her latest release, and is on our shelves now. Her Christmas collection from last year, Holiday Lodge, was so popular, and we are thinking this one will be too. 

To shop any of these collections come visit us in store, or click here. 

Esther and I met Deb last spring in Kansas City, and she is so sweet, and down to earth!

Have a great week, 

Kayla

Designer Spotlight: Mister Domestic and Katarina Rocella

Happy Thursday! Our family is settling into a new routine, that involves a lot less driving and a lot more time at home. As a family we are finding new things to be thankful for each day in spite of what is happening with Covid-19.
Some of our top ones are:
 a really large yard with a paved area for hockey and biking and warmer weather
technology that allows for easy student, teacher communication as well as the ability to work from home
smart kids that need little assistance in their schoolwork
Cincinatti Home Safari you tube videos
our reno we did over Christmas that involved making a designated computer area in the dining room
and I am especially thankful for how quilting provides me a quiet escape from the noise of 4 boys at home
Are you finding ways to stay positive in this weird time?
We are nearing the end of our Art Gallery Month, and I have had so much fun sharing a new collection on Social Media each day, who knew we had so many different ones in the shop?!?! To Be honest I knew we had a lot, but I didn't realize we had over 25 different collections on display, nevermind a couple that are in the vault because they are out of season.

I have a couple more designers to share with you today.
Matthew Bordeaux better known as Mister Domestic, he started out in Houston, Texas, and has since lived in various places across the USA and currently resides in the state of Washington. Mister Domestic got into sewing and quilting when he had his daughter and wanted to make her fun clothing. Aside from quilting he also features a lot of crochet fun on his blog which you can find here.  He is also very active on Social Media so be sure to follow him on Facebook and Instagram for some added humor and inspiration to your day.
He is not afraid to try out new things in the way he puts colors and patterns in his collections, and so far they always turn out great. Each one also has a special meaning it behind it, Aura was inspired by a vacation he took with his daughter, Catch and Release by the place he goes with his family to relax and enjoy nature, and Playroom started out in his daughter's playroom.
Playroom is the latest collection and you can check out the Lookbook here. It was designed specifically with children in mind and the prints and colors definitely portray that.




I also want to share with you Katarina Rocella. We carry a number of her collections too. Katarina grew up in Serbia and currently lives there with her husband and three kids. She grew up in a very artistic family, her father is a painter and her mother a ceramic pottery artist, so following in the artistic field came naturally.
She has a Masters degree from the Faculty of Applied Arts and is working on her PhD in applied arts and design. Katarina has explored many different creative outlets including graphic design, calligraphy, painting and sewing.
Her inspirations come from everything, but she loves taking photos from things that move her, whether in shape, texture and color and working from there. Earthen and Floralish are her latest collections. Earthen feels a lot more wintery with the cool colors and textures, while Floralish is inspired by a bright summer day. Check out the lookbooks below.
Earthen Lookbook
Floralish Lookbook 


I hope you have enjoyed meeting some of the different Fabric Designers that Art Gallery has working for them.
Kayla

Designer Spotlight: Pat Bravo and Bonnie Christine

Happy Thursday! My boys and I have spent the week hanging out at home. We cleaned and organized all the toy bins, brought the current ones to the basement play room and put other ones in storage so we can do a toy rotation later on. Hopefully this will keep down some of the clutter in the next few weeks here. The basement is also where my sewing area is, so while they play, I can get some sewing in, and I must say I have gotten a lot accomplished this week, a couple tops pieced, another couple quilted, and the binding on one is nearly finished. Are you staying in and doing any extra sewing?
Today I want to share with you a little more about two more Art Gallery Designers, Pat Bravo and Bonnie Christine.
Pat Bravo and her husband Walter are the founders of Art Gallery which was started back in 2004.
Pat grew up in Argentina and started sewing at the age of 9, went to sewing school at the age of 13 in Buenos Aries. When the time for college came upon her she attended law school for a short while, but after learning that was not for her she switched to painting classes. It was around then that she met Walter. In 1989 she moved to the USA, where the change in culture was quite a shock for her and very draining. Walter bought her a sewing machine, and in her words she "came back to life" she fell in love with quilting, and soon began to paint fabrics to create the designs and colors she was wanting. Other quilters loved her designs, and not too long after that Art Gallery Fabrics was founded. Her and Walter have such a passion for fabrics and their company, and it definitely shows in the colors, designs and quality of the fabrics they produce.

Quilt by Esther using Indie Folk

Pat Bravo has developed several collections and we have some of her most recent lines in the shop. The latest one is Nuncia which is named after mother. Click here to see the Nuncia Lookbook. 

Legendary

We also have some of Indie Boheme, Indie Folk and Legendary in stock as well. All of her collections are full of vibrant colors and I feel they have a very bold and dramatic feel to them, as well as a South American flair.

Indie Boheme

Bonnie Christine is another popular designer in our shop and we have her two latest collections in the shop. Her fabrics are quite a bit different than Pat Bravo's. They are soft and delicate, inspired mostly by her nature walks, tall trees, tiny leaves, botanical gardens, and days of sunshine. Her typical color palette includes leafy greens, soft peaches and warm yellow. She grew up in North Carolina hanging out in her moms quilt shop which inspired her to design her own fabrics. She and her husband spent a few years in California but have again returned to North Carolina.
5 things that are essential when Bonnie goes on the road are: her camera, a sketchbook. a vase for flowers, a inspiring book and her family.

Open Road

Bonnie's blog found here, is full of inspiration as well as courses on surface pattern design to create your own art work.

Open Road is the latest collection and was inspired by a long road trip in a vintage camper, and finding joy in whatever may be around the next bend. You can check the lookbook out here, which also contains an interview that will give you more information on Bonnie and her Open Road collection.

Gathered

Gathered is a collection inspired by finding joy in the simple things.



 That is it for this week, have a great weekend.
Kayla

Designer Spotlight: Maureen Cracknell and Alexandra Bordallo

Wow, I woke up this morning and was welcomed right back to winter when I opened my bedroom curtains, and looking at the weather forecast it looks like we will be here for a couple of days. The snow makes me want to hang out in my sewing room, but the laundry that 4 boys can accumulate in just a couple days needs to be tackled first. 

Today I want to share with you the story of a couple more Art Gallery Fabric Designers. 

First up is Maureen Cracknell. 

Maureen lives in Pennsylvania. She is a stay at home mom to 3 children, a blogger, a quilter and a lover of all things handmade. She began her blog about 10 years ago, here she shares her love of fabric, her projects and her fabric stashes. Maureen also shares several tutorials and quilt alongs on her blog as well as occassional giveaways. You can find her blog here.

Maureen as developed several fabric collections for Art Gallery. Enchanted Voyage is her most recent collection. You can see the look book here which will give you inspiration on what to make with these fun fabrics.  We have many of her earlier Fabric Collections in the shop as well, including Love Story which Carrie used to make this fun quilt












I also want to share about Alexandra Bordallo today. She is a new designer for Art Gallery and has developed two lines for the company, both of which we have in our shop.

She was born and raised in a town near Barcelona Spain, and currently lives there with her husband and little boy.
Alexandra started sewing at the age of 15 on her Grandmother's sewing machine. Her grandmother also taught her to crochewt and knit.
Alexandra has a passion for sewing and textile art, and started learning how to design and draw repeating patterns in 2014. Her designs all start in a sketchbook, which she than scans into Adobe Reader and starts the coloring process.
To learn more about Alexandra and where she gets her inspiration read this interview she did with Art Gallery last year. (interview link)
Dew and Moss is her first collection and Maara is the second.
You can find the Dew and Moss Look Book here


and the Maara Look Book here 

Sharon Holland - Art Gallery Fabrics Designer

Meet Sharon Holland, surface pattern designer for Art Gallery Fabrics! Her passion for fabric and
creating, as well as her numerous talents, has earned her many titles over the years and include
small-business owner, artist, photographer, quilt designer, and author. Look for her book
Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living for a beginner-friendly guide to patchwork. Find
easy-to-follow instructions, beautiful photos, fully illustrated step-by-step essential techniques and
information to stitch 12 different quilt projects from beginning to end.

Sharon came to Art Gallery Fabrics though an interesting path. She first got a taste for the industry
after designing four collections for Paintbrush Studio, after which her work began appearing in
numerous quilting magazines featuring both her quilts and fabric. This ultimately brought about a
career in the magazine industry working as an assistant editor, graphic designer, and photographer
for Sew It...Today! and Quilt-It...Today! But her heart was in the design process--especially textile
design--and she longed to pick up the threads of surface pattern design once more. After two and a
half years as an assistant editor, it was time to find her artist’s voice again. Sharon set to work
drawing and creating a group of prints–something she personally would like to sew with--and began
licensing her designs to Art Gallery Fabrics. In many ways it brings her life’s work full-circle--infusing
her design aesthetic and sewing background with the creative artistry behind Pat Bravo’s credo to
bring beautiful prints on quality fabric to life.

Sharon currently has eight collections with AGF. Her latest, called Spirited (released November 2019)
is a collection with an attitude as big and bold as the Midwest prairie. She was inspired by the last
blooms of summer and the majesty of nature to create a boho, free-flowing collection with wildflowers,
horses, vintage calicos, and tribal-inspired geometrics in warm, earthy colors. View the
Spirited Look Book for a glimpse into Sharon’s vision for this collection. 

     

To see more of Sharon’s work, look at her AGF Everlasting collection (May 2019) and the beautiful
Everlasting Look Book. Everlasting celebrates love, marriage, and family in an eternally classic
color story that brings together heart red, creamy ivory and of course…something blue.

Follow more of Sharon’s fabric designs, quilting and sewing projects, sew alongs, and tutorials on
her blog at www.sharonhollanddesigns.com where there’s always a fun project in the works, free
patterns, and creative inspiration.

For a daily dose of Sharon Holland, join the following on Instagram @sharonhollanddesigns
where art and textiles seamlessly mix in beautiful photos and friendly community. 

I hope you enjoyed this little feauture piece about Sharon. Next week Thursday I will do a feature post on another Art Gallery Designer. Next week Thursday is also our Art Gallery Feel The Difference Presentation, if you have not signed up please do so soon, this promises to be a fun and informative event, with a door prize, giveaways and a 20% discount off Art Gallery Fabrics during the event for all those that attend. You can sign up for either the 2pm or 7pm time slot here, both presentations will be the same, so choose the one that suits your schedule the best. 

Have a great weekend, Kayla.