Inside Patch

I have had to have yet another move about in the shop - brought about after looking at my pile of forward orders and the realisation that it won't be very long before the Christmas fabric will need a place to live!
I am really pleased with how the shop is looking right now - we brought a painted dresser down from the studio space upstairs and made a (very organised for now) office/work area in its place.
The counter has been moved about a metre further into the shop which has given us tons more space. Enough space that we could do an aerobics work out if we wanted too (we won't).
Now all I need to do is sit and wait for the new fabric!
This was my first post using my phone, all great and very easy - apart from all the pictures being at the bottom - will need to work out how to insert them between paragraphs and perhaps I might blog more!

Art Gallery Fabrics

On Friday I hopped on a train to Colchester to attend an event organised by Hantex, promoting Art Gallery Fabrics. Hantex are the UK distributor for AGF and organised the day in order for shop owners, bloggers and the craft industry press could view all the ranges, existing and upcoming, of Art Gallerys fabrics and also to meet Pat and Walter Bravo, creative and marketing directors of the company.
Pat Bravo is as passionate about her company and her designs in real life as she is in her bio on her website. When Pat talks about her collections, the inspiration behind them, it is obvious that her heart and soul has gone into the designs.

 

Colour and vibrancy is very important to Pat, there are no beige and brown dreary civil war prints in AGF's collections! She spoke candidly about the need to encourage a new, younger community of quilters and crafters, which is something I feel strongly about too. But I'll save that rant for another post!

I have been aware of AGF for some time, but if I'm honest I wasn't sure I needed another range of fabrics in the shop, space is becoming an issue at Patch, not to mention the financial outlay required to keep introducing new collections! 

Fridays jaunt to Colchester showed me that Art Gallery Fabrics do set themselves apart from many other fabric companies. The quality is amazing, the cottons are not only perfect for quilting and craft projects but the high thread count make them ideal for dressmaking too.

The companys website is also a cut above the others. There are lots of tutorials and free projects available, each collection has a free quilt project. Each fabric collection also has a mood board, to help inspire. These are not just illustrations but photographs of real projects.

A huge bonus of the day was that I was able catch up with Katy again, and meet 2 lovely bloggers Rachel and Florence. Both of them have lovely blogs (I have followed Florence's sewing adventures for several years, it almost felt like meeting a celeb!!!!) The www (especially blogland and twitter) has an amazing community for likeminded quilty and crafty people and it never ceases to amaze me that you can meet 'in real life' and feel like you have known each other for ever!

I would like to thank Jackie, Paul and Josh from Hantex, who worked really hard to give Pat and Walter the perfect platform to share their companies philosophy with us. They are equally as passionate about AGF as its owners. The displays that were set up for fabric collections were beautifully arranged and very inspiring.

The dresses were stunning. But for me it was all about the quilts, some in very simple designs allowing the fabrics to speak for themselves.... (my kind of quilting!!) proving that you don't need overly complicated designs to make something amazing and even an absolute beginner can produce a beautiful quilt.

Predictably, I ordered some fabric......3 collections.

Indie by Pat Bravo shipping in August

Rock 'n' Romance (also Pat Bravo) shipping September

 

Bari J Splendor 1920 shipping in November