Introducing Gloaming by Shelley Cavanna

Gloaming...the word just sounds magical, doesn't it? 

Gloaming is Shelley Cavanna's first fabric collection for Contempo and you'll find out where the name came from in our interview with her. The 20-print collection is packed with a range of teals, purples and limes. Deliciously soothing and appealing, all at once!

Where did the name for your collection come from?

Gloaming is one of my favorite words. I’m such a book nerd too. I read a ton. It’s a beautiful old English word that describes the word where twilight falls—evening setting in and colors deepening. Right now, my life is massively chaotic and hilarious. I have two boys at home—ages 4 and 6. For me, Gloaming is that quiet moment at the end of the day. It’s right around bedtime, where I can sneak out to the backyard with a cup of tea or glass of wine.

Tell us about the color palette.

I took some of my favorite colors—blue-green which I love, and deep purple. The palette gives the idea of colors fading into deeper shadows. The main idea is my garden at twilight, so I ended up adding green as well to balance the colors. I also tried to pick colors that I feel like I have a hard time finding in quilt shops. I asked myself, “if I was going to sit down and make my perfect quilt, what colors and what values would go with it?”

How does being a quilter help you design fabrics?

I actually designed a couple of the quilts before I finished picking the prints and what colors I wanted them to be. Every print in the collection was meant for a specific part of a project. Maybe that’s working backwards for textile design, but I designed the quilts first and then chose scale and value for the fabrics based on where I wanted to use them in the quilt.

Can you talk about some of your favorite prints?
One of my favorites is the magnolia print. It’s this cute little flower—we call them tulip trees, but I think they’re technically magnolia trees. My son and I technically made this print together. We were doodling on a super rainy night with crayons and markers, and this flower kept coming up over and over as I drew.

I really do like the large-scale floral print as well. My brain really likes symmetry and balance, and I find repeating patterns pleasing to the eye. You can cut this fabric up and make interesting pieces—almost like multiple different prints. But you can also use it in big chunks. It’s just a good mix of colors and texture.

Then there's the Filament Twilight print. They nailed this color so perfectly. This is my favorite color in the whole world.

What is your favorite part of fabric design?

It’s really amazing to have this idea of a quilt in my head or on paper and there’s this thrill that goes through you when you find the perfect print. This is the thrill of making the perfect print to go into the project. It takes quilt designing to a whole other level.

In all honesty, growing up I never thought of myself as an artist, so it’s been fun to discover this whole other side of myself that I never knew was in there. My kids are artsy too and it’s fun to have this space where we can create together.

It’s been really fun to see other people take the fabric and make it into something beautiful. This is the best job ever!

Click here to see the entire Gloaming collection.

Click here to visit Shelley's website, Cora's Quilts. Take a peek at her Gloaming quilt designs--we'll be sharing them here on Friday!

A little bit of trivia from Shelley on the name of her blog, Cora’s Quilts:

I’ve loved the name ever since I discovered “The Last of the Mohicans” – both the book and the movie – in high school.  It was one of my top two baby girl names, even though my hubby wasn’t so crazy about it.  Since we had two boys, we never had to have that argument … and since Cora doesn’t exist in person, she exists in thread, instead!

We'll be featuring Gloaming all week on the blog! Stop by each day for inspiration and a chance to win a bundle of Gloaming prints. 

Follow the schedule below:
Monday: Introducing Gloaming - interview with Shelley Cavanna
Tuesday: Gloaming Hop - Cara Cansler @Sew_Colorado and Becky Jorgensen of Patchwork Posse; @patchwork_posse
Wednesday: Gloaming Hop - Karen Foster of CapitolaQuilter; @capitolaquilter and Kate Colleran of Seams Like a Dream; @seamslikeadreamquilts
Thursday: Gloaming Hop - Julie Cefalu of The Crafty Quilter; @thecraftyquilter and Rene Stout @QuiltingNona
Friday: Shelley's Virtual Trunk Show