News and Trends from International Quilt Market

In our search for new-and-blue collections, one of the first we came across was Cloud9 Fabrics’ Moody Blues (due out in February) from designer Geninne. This eclectic mix of nature-inspired prints—birds, butterflies, florals, and cacti—features richly hued shades of navy, indigo, cobalt, and turquoise (the latter of which practically jumps from the design).

Moody Blues by Could9 Fabrics

Camelot Fabrics’ Singin' the Blues collection by JACK!E offers up equally saturated hues of navy, royal, and topaz blue repeating geometric- and architectural-inspired designs like “Ogee,” “Hexagon,” “Chevron,” “Medallions,” “Herringbone,” “Jumbo Dots,” “Drops,” and “Lattice.”

Singin' the Blues by Camelot Fabrics

On the other end of the blue spectrum, Dear Stella’s Emerson collection skews more subdued in terms of both color and design. Its combination of understated indigo, navy, and “denim” are complemented by muted gray and white. The bulk of the collection—minus two large-scale florals—features small prints, dots, and stripes.

Emerson by Dear Stella

The Everything Blue II collection by Marsha McCloskey for Clothworks also offers a softer and less varied take on the blue color palette, making it a great fit for the Feathered Star quilts for which McCloskey is best known. The collection includes a variety of floral prints, stripes, and dots.

Everything Blue II by Clothworks

For a more graphic quilt, Exclusively Quilters Sing the Blues collection is comprised of vibrant royal, turquoise, and sky blues in two dense floral prints, as well as medallion and interlocking geometric patterns. The accompanying "Sing the Blues” quilt, designed by Lucy A. Fazely, features a Drunkard’s Path block design.

Sing the Blues by Exclusively Quilters

The Asian-inspired Oriental collection from Andover offers six floral designs—ranging from elegant birds and blooms to cherry blossoms to floral stripes, dots, and small flower prints—in a blue color palette reminiscent of traditional Delftware (the famous blue and white pottery made in the Netherlands since the 16th century).

Oriental by Andover

And lastly in our breakdown of blue collections is the upcoming (to be released in March) Union Blues by Barbara Brackman for Moda Fabrics. It’s a collection that, while true to its moniker, also incorporates shades of brown and cream into the mix. These 1800s’ reproduction fabrics include subtle, small-scale floral prints that are ideal for creating the traditional-style quilts for which author, historian, and designer Brackman is well known.

Union Blues by Moda Fabrics

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