Hey everyone!  This past weekend I was lucky enough to head down to beautiful  Pasadena California and not only go to Quilt Con, but have an impromptu girls weekend with my mom, mother-in-law, sister, and daughter!  It was nice to have a little time with the girls while the boys at home enjoyed their own space.   Visiting my sister in Southern California is always pretty great, especially when she takes you to a screening of The Room down in Hollywood, but I digress.  That’s a story for another time and place. (“Oh Hi Mark!)

Anyhow, the purpose of our trip was simple!  Show me the quilts!  We had fun browsing through the display of modern quilts and there were 3 trends in particular that stood out to us.  So we’re going to outline some of our favorite trends we noticed and we hope you’ll agree that not only should these three things continue as trends, but even continue on in their own right as classics.  So here it goes.  Our first noticeable trend was (and this shouldn’t surprise you).

#1. Solid Colors and Gradients

The use of solid colored fabrics in quilts has been going on basically forever.  We couldn’t help but notice that solid colors were in power mode at this year’s Quilt Con.  And perhaps in the same vein, a use of gradients or color washes, like V & Co’s Ombre Confetti Dots or Cotton and Steel’s Pigments collection.  Gradients can also read as a solid, but add a little varied interest to your overall quilt.

The Here & Elsewhere Bee by Andrea Tsang Jackson

 

Not a quilt, but a cool example of using gradients. Jellyroll Rug by @knotandthread, and pattern by @romaquilts on Instagram.

 

Loon Lake Love by Krista Fleckenstein

#2. Strips and Stripes

I a big fan of this one.  Does anything really beat a classic stripe?  We noticed lots of stripes intermixed with bold blocks of color.  slicing and dicing, make for some really interesting shapes.  A lot of the designers with quilts on display kept the eyes rested by keeping the color and placement relatively simple.  And after all, a simple quilt will always stand the test of time.

 

 

Art Deco Sampler by Stacey O’Malley

We fangirled hard over this Art Deco Quilt!

Ribbon Quilt by Sarah Bond

 

#3.  TEXTURE, TEXTURE, TEXTURE!

This is my favorite trend yet.  From velveteen to hand-stitching sashiko style, I was pleasantly surprised to see a giant quilt made completely in VELVETEEN.  *Heart Eyes* All Day!  It inspired me to visualize velveteen pieced with regular quilting cottons for added dimension.  How cool would that be?  Also quilting with linen and other textured natural fibers is a good way to add interest and texture to your quilt.  Another cool form of texture we saw was the dense quilting used in reverse, giving the negative space a design presence of it’s own.  Have a look-see!

Velvet Velour Quilt

Velour used to add dimension!

Fireflies Quilt by Sarah Sharp

This paper pieced firefly is pretty much the bomb diggity.  I don’t think anyone says that anymore, but I think it applies well here.

Applique by Virginia Robinson

 

By Virginia Robinson

My sixties loving heart went in full burst mode over Virginia Robinson’s granny squares quilt!  Showing off lots of dense quilting to give the quilt lots of texture, and playing with fun color combinations, really stole my heart.

There were so many more awesome quilts on display at Quilt Con this year!  We hope you enjoyed us sharing some of our very favorites at the show.  And please let us know, how you will incorporate any of the three trends into your quilts this year?  Let us know in the comments!

Cheers!

Andrea

P.S. Unfortunately I missed getting the names of a couple of the quilts we took pictures of.  If  anybody has the info for the quilts shown above that are missing credits, please let me know!  Thank you so much friends!