Irresistible Iris

Ann Lauer's newest collection, Irresistible Iris, is bold, bright, and beautiful! While irises take center stage, the coordinates themselves are equally eye-catching. We interviewed Ann to learn more about her iris line, so keep reading! 

What inspired you to create a line based on irises?

I think irises are an old-fashioned flower for a modern age. I’ve had lots of people email me, saying ‘that was my mother’s or my grandmother’s favorite flower.’ I think irises can be used in traditional or modern quilts.

We were able to take a beautiful flower and add artistic license—I think it’s very realistic looking, but it’s not exactly like the iris in your garden would be—we added a bit more color, a bit more variation—that’s the beauty of art.

One of the great things about Benartex’s printing is how well the details show. The printing brought out all the tiny details in the iris throat. It’s just exquisite.

Let’s talk about the colors.

While I love purple, I didn’t want the line to be all purple irises. Of course in today’s world, they’ve got huge numbers of variations. We have the purple, yellow, pinks, and blues in the main flower. Then the medium flower print we brought out more red and yellow.

Tell us about the background in the main prints.

On the background this time we’ve used something really different—a lacy medallion look. It can be traditional or modern. It’s very subtle, but it adds a real nice texture.

And that design translates over to the coordinates?

Yes. We took the lacy medallion that’s the background and added color, depth and value. I think it’s just fabulous—a really pretty all over print. It works like a solid but better—it’s a great tonal background for any pattern as well as a backing fabric.

I’m particularly excited about the coordinates in this collection. I think they’re unusual, and they add great texture and depth. The swirling beads are a great example. They bridge the colors in the collection and make me think of Mardi Gras beads. Plus each bead has texture.

The Vari Recs print actually comes from the stripe. In the stripe, there’s a skinny section of variegated striped lines. We took chunks of that in rectangular segments and colors it three ways.

And then the kaleidoscope. You can fussy cut a whole bunch of different kaleidoscope looks from it, and you can even use it as the focal print if you want to make a quilt using this collection without irises. If you cut it up, like for a bargello, it has great movement. And of course it’s beautiful as a quilt back.

What’s your favorite print?

Probably the stripe. I really love how magnificent the iris is  in the main print, but in the stripe you get it all—the iris, the medallions, the cool stripe on each side, the composition. It’s wonderful to use as a border!

There’s a coordinating embroidery collection from OESD as well, right?

Yes! I was very excited that OESD chose to digitize it. The color, depth and detail of the embroidery is just amazing. They did a really nice job. The embroidery isn’t just an iris—they also digitized medallions. I’ve designed two patterns that combine the fabric with the embroidery designs.

Ann designed "Abundantly Iris" which is available as a free quilt pattern on our website. 

Click here to download the pattern. 

Here's a peek at some additional patterns Ann has designed using her Irresistible Iris collection. You can find them on her website. 

Walk About

Spring Fling

Pinwheel Party

Stardom

Click here to see the entire Irresistible Iris collection.

Click here to see the Irresistible Iris embroidery collection from OESD.

Click here to visit Ann's website and see her Irresistible Iris patterns and kits.