Last week I spent almost my entire week, and weekend wandering around the International Quilt Market! It’s an industry professional only trade show that is all about sewing. It’s where fabric, thread, batting, pattern, and other companies show off the newest and greatest products.

I go to help find jobs since I am technically freelance, but while I’m there I also do a lot of shopping. The night before the trade show flood opens they have this event called Sample Spree where you can buy bundles of fabric that isn’t out yet, so you can make a sample piece to help promote the fabric when it does come out. This is mainly meant for shop owners, but people like me use it when designing new patterns where there is time in between photographing the pattern and the actual pattern coming out. This way your pattern can be released the same time as the new fabric and it will be super relevant and make people want to replicate it. Does that make sense?

Well this event gets super crazy and there is a lot of running, pushing, shoving and more. It’s really hard to explain the craziness without seeing it in person. I went in with a list and only scored maybe 1/3rd of it.

Luckily for me a friend grabbed this bundle for me…

It’s the brand new line from Rifle Paper Co. named Les Fleurs and is part of a collaboration with Cotton + Steel fabrics.

It’s a little busier than I would normally go for, but I have a pattern being released soon that would look great in these fabrics.

The bundle I ended up with had numerous substrates in it (different types of fabrics) so I photographed them all separately for the most part, to show them off better.

The first substrate is 100% quilting cotton. I’d say half the bundle was quilting cotton actually. As you can see from the photos (which doesn’t do this stuff justice) the colors are super vibrant and rich. It’s like something out of a Wes Anderson movie.

Everything above this sentence is quilting cotton.

Next up is their Lawn fabric, which is slightly thinner than quilting cotton and can be used nicely for quilts and clothing. The blue flower print in the above photo is actually Rayon, I got confused while photographing them!

These are the other Rayon prints. The drape of this fabric is beautiful and so flowy. If I was more girly, I’d probably make some dresses out of it.

The rest of the bundle of their thick Linen/Cotton Canvas. I’m not 100% how I’m going to use these pieces, but I can say they really are gorgeous! Even though the designs are printed on an unbleached fabric, the colors are still really pretty. There is also a huge panel that is just illustrations of different city maps. I LOVE it.

This fabric isn’t quite out yet, but I bet you’ll start seeing sample pieces popping up everywhere soon enough. I myself have several projects planned out.

All the substrates of Les Fleurs are scheduled to be in shops July 2016! That’s only a month or so away, and a lot of shops already have pre-order listings set up!!

Lately I have been working with Michael Miller fabrics on a few quilts to show off some upcoming lines, nothing else that I can share other than the Equestrian Quilt Last week. I have also had the pleasure of working with one of their basics, Painter’s Canvas. It’s basically a solid with some texture and it goes great with my simpler quilt designs.

There are 27 colors with coordinating texture, and then 8 with gold texture. I have been working with all of the bright colors, and have included them in three quilts so far. All three are patterns that will be released within the next four months, so keep an eye out for them.

I loved playing with the lines and turning them in different directions to get different looks. It really brought all of my designs to life and made them way less flat. So if you’re feeling the same way about one of your designs, I totally suggest this line!

So I am now working on a second, much smaller project using all of these beauties…

These marbled designs are my absolute favorite and I plan on getting a few yards of each when they officially come out! I’m thinking dresses, kids skirts, quilt backing, quilt binding and so much more! It’s just too perfect!

The line officially comes out May 2016, so keep an out at your favorite shops local or online!

Here is just a small sampling of what I’ve been working on lately, and what I’ve been posting on InstaGram. I am itching to finish most of these projects and I can’t wait to share them with you all here!