001 What is a Scatterflower?
My superhero (quilter) origin story…
I learned to sew when I was young and it has been an integral part of my life in many ways. I love patterns and textures. With fabrics this means I am drawn to prints! When I was in college, I worked for a fabric store that had a big quilting department. I absolutely loved cutting these bolts for customers and putting them away in their glorious rows of colors. The texture of cotton calico is slightly rough, and makes the dyes look vivid. The pieces stick together nicely when sewing them. I wanted to touch and use every print there, so I decided to try quilting. This way I could buy just a quarter yard of fabric from all the yearned for prints. My first quilt used a dark green fabric with medium sized pink roses and a “ditsy floral” with a tan background. I made simple four patch blocks to learn how to cut with the rotary cutter, ruler, and mat set I’d purchased. It was a hand pieced, hand tied table square, made with high-loft batting. Not at all the choices I’d make now, almost 30 years later.
In those years since, I’ve done all kinds of sewing and crafting - sewn clothes, curtains, and home furnishings, knitted hats, sweaters, gloves, and socks, woven scarves, shawls, and table runners, hand spun knitting yarns on multiple types of spinning wheels. A few years ago, I came back to quilting, partly to connect with my mother who quilts, partly to make a useful gift for my younger son, partly to design and sew again. I made my younger son an Irish chain quilt, featuring a Star Wars character fabric of Grogu from the Mandalorian series. It was a surprise, so I quilted only at night or on weekends when he was out of the house. This made it exciting and almost clandestine. Once it was complete and revealed at the present opening, I felt a swell of pride looking at it, and knew I wanted to do more.
Over the next years, I started building up my stash and joined the local (modern) quilt guild. There was SO MUCH I had to catch up on regarding new designers and fabrics since the late 90s! I dug out my remaining collection of supplies from back then and remembered what I really loved about those fabrics. The “ditsy floral” motif is a tiny flower shape tossed or scattered around the fabric repeat in all directions. It does not have a directional pattern, so it can be used easily in many blocks. I enjoyed combining the new modern designs with those scattered flower ditsy florals. The fabrics in my memory were harder to find than I expected. (Think civil war era prints and dyes.) So I went on a mission to find these types of prints among all the modern ones.
Where are the scatterflowers amongst the fields of modern fabrics?
So using the internet, I searched “modern quilts” and “ditsy floral fabrics” and after a while I began to find my place within all of this. Not all modern quilt designers work in solids! Once I saw the gorgeous scrappy quilts of Jen Kingwell, I knew I could embrace modern quilting. The Tilda Fabric line by Tone Finnanger is absolutely my favorite! Her quilt designs are very modern, but make excellent use of the prints, often muted and floral. I also connected to the elaborate and vibrant print-filled quilts of Anna Maria Parry. For fabrics, I love the little floral prints of Edyta Sitar/Laundry Basket Quilts, the modern prints of Brigitte Heitland/Zen Chic, basically everyone at Ruby Star Society, and a Cotton + Steel fabric here or there.
Scattering the flowers…
I have several goals for this endeavor. I started Scatterflower Quilts + Fabric as a creative outlet. My day job involves staring at a computer, so I need to balance that with tactile creation. I want to play, create, and share.
- Play with the line(s) between traditional and modern.
- Create a style that is cozy and familiar, yet sparks interest.
- Spread the joy of quilting, sewing, and handwork to others … through pattern designs, curated fabrics, and project kits. Maybe someday adding tutorials and classes. I love the process of creating and learning, and I want to share this joy with others.
Writing has also been a life-long joy, so I am excited to start this personal and creative blog. My goal is to post once or twice a month. Please sign up to receive alerts on new blog posts.