If you follow me on Instagram, then you have probably seen a few dozen photos showcasing this awesome fabric line in the past six months. I had the pleasure of working with Samarra and Lecien Fabrics to create a few samples for their Fall 2016 look book and Quilt Market booth. I was also given extra yardage, and decided to make a dress and some other little odds and ends. What better time to share all these goodies than a blog hop, right?

The Projects:

The first piece I whipped up was a 60″ version of my Spinning Icosahedron Quilt. Samarra really wanted to see her fabrics mixed with this pattern, and after a lot of convincing, I agreed. I’m glad I did too, because I am absolutely in love with this quilt. The colors were easy to mix and match, and they stand out beautifully against the white background (which is Lecien’s solid white cotton btw).

In normal Jessee fashion, I had to go that next step with my design. So of course I also made an actual 3D Icosahedron that matches the flattened quilt version. I even made a video of the 3D piece spinning in front of the quilt, but due to my lack of video editing skills, I have no idea how to share it!! There is a lower quality version on Instagram that will give you an idea of what im talking about.

I used a few techniques to assemble this piece, but I will not be showing a tutorial due to the finished piece (not the technique) being very similar to a project on Sew Mama Sew. I will post a tutorial at some point this year showing the technique with a different shape. Keep an eye out!

Of course I didn’t stop with just those two projects! I also made the calculator quilt from Samarra’s book Sew Adorkable: 15 DIY Projects to Keep You Out of Trouble (you may remember me making this quilt from her book last year) It is a quick sew with huge impact! It’s also a huge quilt in size and perfect for a kids bed, which is where this one now lives.

The photo above only shows the quilt top, since I never got a good shot of it all quilted up. You can kind of see the wood grain and wavy design I did in the photos further down. The size did make it a little difficult to photograph once quilted. I also used plush batting, so it is HEAVY!

For my final project today, I wanted to show that Geogram is also great for non quilting related things. I decided to go neutral and make a Geranium Dress with the dark grey fabric and just a little pop of color.

Since the prints are non directional for the most part, it was easy to get as much out of the yardage as possible. That is always a plus when making kids clothes that you know they’ll grow out of in a year.

I still have enough fabric leftover to make myself something nice! I’m thinking maybe a bag? A family of pouches? Some awesome pillows? I don’t know yet, but I’ll try and share it here when I do.

Quilt Market Booth:

I wanted to also take this time to show off what the booth looked like at Quilt Market this past fall. I was unable to attend, but Samarra and few others sent me some awesome photos of the quilts hanging up and the 3D piece hanging out with her other creations (I’ve heard that those animal portraits may be hand sewing patterns soon! How neat are they?)

Blog Hop Schedule:

Thank you for stopping by and checking out all the projects I made using the Geogram Fabric! I am just one of many stops along this blog tour, and I think you should go and check out everyone else’s posts too. There is a load of inspiration going on here…

Random Photos:

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!!

To start I have to share everyone’s favorite, the first line from Cotton & Steel. They have a great story and are all very talented, so you should read up on them more to see what i’m talking about.

Every single design from them is brilliant, and it all coordinates perfectly. So there loads of mixing and matching. It’s all very playful and vibrant and a few designs incorporate metallic colors which I’m loving right now.

Though, I won’t lie, I’m most excited about their basics line. The dashes, cross hatches, lines and more are totally on my “must buy” list. I always prefer the basics, but they aren’t usually this perfect. I’ve already sketched out a quilt that would showcase these all perfectly.

Next on my list of absolutely perfect was everything in Carolyn Friedlander’s booth. I was in love with her last line Architextures, and I’m even more in love with her newest line Botanics. I also had the pleasure of meeting her and chatting a bit. She’s even sweeter in person than she is online!

I left her booth with a few mini charm packs that showcased her line, plus some of Robert Kaufmans basics. I’ve already cut into them all and can’t wait to share the piece I’m making, it’s just taking me a bit to finish.

I also was a fan of everything else Robert Kaufman put their name on! Their Kona Cottons are a staples in all my projects, plus I picked up a bunch of polka dotted fabrics which will probably be used a lot soon. Check out that diamond fabric garland in the Blueprint Basics booth! I so badly want to recreate it.

The last of my ultimate favorites was the awesome American Made Fabrics solids. They were gorgeous and person and I’m always a sucker for pretty solids. Plus look at those ottomans!!! I know a very cute little girl who would love one of those.

Ok, so that’s a wrap on the Quilt Market photos. I still have more to say about some of the things I brought home with me, but I promise this is the last photos from the actual event.

Like I said yesterday, I was inspired so much by just walking around this event. Then add all the conversations I had and I am set. It really made me 100%, fully realize, how much I love sewing, quilting and everything involved. It’s how Art School Dropout started actually, I was hand painting SEWN bags! I came home realizing that I want to be a part of this industry MORE, and I have sat here all week trying to figure out how to balance all my goals with all the stuff I’m already doing. I haven’t figured it out yet, and I’m not sure when I will, but I do know change is coming and it makes me really happy!

I figured it would be awesome just to see some online friends in person along with seeing all the new fabrics coming out. Little did I know just how much was there. Every type of tool of the trade was featured, from sewing machines to interfacing to thread and more! It was very inspiring and totally awesome. I left with so many ideas swirling around in my head, and a little anxiety trying to think of how I would make the time to try them all out. I’ll talk about all that at another time…

I didn’t bring my nice camera, but luckily there was a lot of natural light in the convention center. I took SO MANY photos, and decided I’d share a few (or a bunch, all depends on what you think a few is. haha) of my favorite fabrics coming out soon.

I’ll warn you now, theres so many, they take up two posts!!

One of the first booths I saw walking around was the Irome Collection by Kokka. I absolutely love the large scalloped pattern!

Actually, most of the stuff Kokka had was awesome! Check out that calendar/numbers print and ALL the Hello Kitty Prints! I wish I had looked at the proper names for the collections. I was just a bit overwhelmed! I so badly want to recreate that gray bag, so if you know what line this is, please tell me!!!

Alexander Henry Fabrics is putting out more of their “the Ghastlies” line. It’s just as awesome as the last ones!

Tula Pink has a new EPP hexagon kit coming out. I love the look of the warped hexies and I love how the box comes with everything you need. Also, as always her quilting is gorgeous.

I have some pieces from the Riley Blake Geekly Chic line, and love them. The pieces from the new Geekly Chic 2 line are just as cool. I’m already picturing a dress out of the camera fabrics.

I love the jewel tones featured in Katarina Roccella’s line Indelible for Art Gallery fabrics.

Dear Stella‘s entire booth was super cute! Plus I’ve already had an eye on their Wee Gallery line ever since I discovered Nicole of Modern Handcraft (who made the adorable little dress up piece above). I had the pleasure of meeting her at the event! It’s awesome to meet someone with similar style who just happens to be super nice too.

I also had the pleasure of meeting and briefly speaking to Thomas Knauer the author of Modern Quilt Perspectives. He was super energetic, nice and spoke freely when I asked him questions (rare these days). I absolutely loved the way he made his sign and I wish i could have taken all of his quilts home with me!

I also had the pleasure of meeting a few other friends and such while wandering around. Plus I was able to talk to a handful of industry experts and ask loads of questions and trade some business cards. It all makes me wish I could just play with fabric all day, every day!

Like I said before, I have more photos to share tomorrow. More specifically my four favorites. So if it doesn’t bore you, you should come back and check it out!

If you’ve been reading my blog or following me for a bit, you know I am a huge fan of fabric! I love sewing with it, designing it, and just plain touching it! (not in a creepy way, I promise) So of course I’ve always wanted to GO to Quilt Market. It’s not open to the public and you need to have credentials to go, so of course I haven’t had the chance YET. So the idea of something I made going instead was the next best thing.

I used this cut file from the Silhouette Design Store and cut it all using my Portrait and Silhouette’s sewable interfacing (that they provided). If I had tried to cut out those letters by hand it would have taken me FOREVER! With my Portrait it only took about an hour. Most of that time was spent ungrouping the letters and figuring out the best way to utilize my supplies.

I could have just used a solid piece of fabric for the background, but can you imagine trying to line up letters on solid fabric? Let alone patterned fabric? I chose to do 4″ squares in an assortment of, low volume, gray fabrics. They add a bit of whimsy to the quilt AND gave me a built in grid to work with. I also set up the cut file in Silhouette Studio on a grid that mimicked the quilt and printed it out as a guide. I doubt I would have been able to line everything up without it.

To attach all the letters to the background I pinned the quilt top to my ironing board, while using my clear grid ruler to square everything up. This process made it so I could only do one line at a time, which is another reason I’m glad I had the guide! I knew that If I followed it, every line would match up with the one below it. It did!

I used a dry iron and made sure to give attention to each letter so they were secure and could deal with lots of manhandling (aka: quilting). After each letter was ironed on and cooled down, I went right ahead and started stitching a straight line 1/8″ inside each letter. I felt like the top stitching gave it a neat look AND secured the letters in case I missed a spot ironing. This was probably the longest process, but it was worth every second.

As for quilting the whole thing, I went super basic! I used the background squares as a guide one last time and just stitched across them like a chain link fence. I kept the binding neutral again, using a gray polka dotted fabric, because I wanted to words to stand out as much as possible. It was their show, not the rest of the quilt! It was just the back up singer. Oh and the back is a nice black essex dyed linen, super simple.

I am so happy with the outcome of this quilt! I feel crazy for finishing it as quickly as I did, but it was worth all the hard work. I really wish I had taken more progress shots though. I feel like this would have made a nice step by step tutorial. Should I make another, smaller one, to show the process? Would anyone be interested in that?

Disclaimer: First off, I only used the phrase “handler” because it’s funny to me. Also, I THINK this would be considered a sponsored post. I’m not sure. Silhouette provided the supplies but in the end the quilt is theirs, forever. So maybe it’s a gray area? Though even if they hadn’t provided the supplies, this style quilt was still on my to-do list. Ugh, the rules of the internet are weird…