Sew in Love {with Fabric}: Friday Eye Candy: Transformation

With a background in computer science, it’s no surprise that Sarah Vedeler’s first fabric collection, Transformation, has a solid base in mathematic concepts. However, Sarah’s more recent work history has an artistic bent, designing and digitizing embroidery designs. The influence of both these paths is evident in the Transformation prints, which has both the precise, proportioned feel of sacred geometry and the intricate, swirling details of her embroidery designs.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I used to be a software engineer, and I have a PhD in computer science. I’m originally from England. I have two children and became a single mom seven years ago. I needed to support myself, and I wanted to be able to stay home with my kids, but also do something for a living that would nourish me on a cellular level. I had made baby clothes for my daughters and decided to design. I fell in love with embroidering on applique and started teaching it at a couple local quilt shops. At Quilt Market in 2009, I met some people from Bernina. They were looking for ways to get quilters interested in embroidery. Then I started designing dies for Accu-Quilt as well. It all just went from there!

Tell us about your first fabric line, Transformation.

It’s based on the concept of sacred geometry—patterns and cycles in nature that repeat themselves and have certain mathematical constants. The fabrics include the infinity symbol and the flower of life, as well as many circle shapes (the circle is the cornerstone of sacred geometry).

How did you choose your color palette?

I went to the Sherwin Williams paint store and came home with a full range of their paint swatches. They must have thought I was crazy! I also grabbed the quarterly newsletter featuring color trends for professional painters, which was featuring bright, festive color schemes, inspired by the upcoming Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.

Tell us about some of your fabrics.

My favorite would have to be the turquoise and green flower of life. Then there’s also the orange and pink one. I love them all, but those two I am particularly in love with.

And the infinity fabrics—I usually use solid fabrics for applique, because the embroidery creates the design. But I started playing with fussy cutting this print. There are so many fun projects you can create with the circles and the diamonds!

I call the stripe “Aliens with Shades.” It’s a stripe, but when you look at it sideways, it looks like aliens—a football shape with two eyes inside.

How does this fabric line work with your embroidery patterns?

I am in love with what happens with the fabric when you fussy cut it. When I embroider, I usually use the fabric as a backdrop (and stitch designs on top). With these prints, fussy-cut fabric appliques don’t need anything more than a simple outline. So my embroidery comes with two options—a simple outline embroidery for using with the fabric, and then another version for using solid fabric and adding more stitching to it.

Sarah has designed two free quilt patterns using Transformation. One uses a jelly roll, and the other incorporates some of her embroidery work.

Jelly Roll Zig Zag Quilt