Introducing By Hand from Amy Friend

We're thrilled to be sharing Amy Friend's new collection for Contempo, By Hand, with you this week! These cool prints have a hand-painted look with modern flair, and come in Amy's version of a rainbow spectrum. Keep reading to learn more about the inspiration behind Amy's fabrics. 

Where did the idea for your By Hand collection come from?

I’ve noticed that there’s a growing interest among modern quilters in processes that involve hand sewing and hand work in general—things like block printing, hand quilting, needle turn, English paper piecing. Those things all show the hand of the artist—the irregularities that come in doing something by hand. I really love that. That’s always been something that draws me to art.

Tell us about using watercolors to create your prints.

With watercolor, you can change the depth of color depending on how much paint and water is on your brush. I chose brushes of various widths depending on the motifs I was trying to create.

How did you come up with your color palette?

I wanted to create my own version of a spectrum. Rainbow spectrums are so popular. This is my kind of spectrum—my favorite shades of each color. I thought it would be fun to have a spectrum that’s not quite the “normal” Crayola colors. I tried to make a light and a dark version of each color.

Can you tell us about some of the motifs you used?

Almonds: I wanted something more circular but not dots, so I tried a pointed oval. It’s similar to a polka dot, but different.

Mosaic: My initial idea was a basketweave texture. As I kept painting, it got further from my original inspiration and more like little squares. I like how some ended up darker and some lighter, and also how the direction of the brushstrokes changes.

Stripe Fade: Every since my Crazy Eights quilt in my first book, Intentional Piecing, I’ve been trying to play with stripes more. They’re so powerful. This stripe fade is fairly short lines of stripes with little spaces for added interest. I let the paint run off the brush at the ends so they’re different levels of darkness.

Pluses: You see so many plus designs in modern quilting, and it came to mind right away as a simple modern motif. I like the added dimension from watercolor—darker and lighter plus signs.

Beads: These are based on the kids’ beads that pop together. I changed the direction of them compared to an actual string of beads. There’s a nice background shape in this design as well.

Toothpicks: I wanted something pretty simple that would read as more of a solid. I chose a darker background with a slightly darker line on top of it. It’s a texture that reads as a solid, and helps all the prints work together.

Scales: I used a 1/4" flat brush for these so the arches would stay the same size. 

Do you have any favorites?

It depends on what I’m working on. I was surprised by how much I liked the Mosaic Sun print. It’s so cheerful and has so much dimension. I’ve also had a lot of fun with the stripes. But I keep going to the Almonds in Dark Orchid. It matches my favorite lilac perfectly, and I love the depth of it. 

How would you describe the By Hand collection? 

By Hand is made up of simple minimalist motifs in a modern style that are made with watercolor, showing the hand of the artist.

We'll be featuring Amy's By Hand collection all week long on social media! Be sure to stop back each day to see these fantastic fabrics featured in various projects, as well as have a chance to win a By Hand bundle for your next quilt. 

By Hand Hop Schedule

Monday:

Introducing By Hand

Tuesday: 

Laura - Slice of Pi Quilts; @sliceofpiquilts

Kari - Craft Happy; IG - @quiltsforthemaking

Wednesday: 

Sheri - Whole Circle Studio; IG - @wholecirclestudio

Erin - Why Not Sew; IG - @whynotsewquilts

Thursday: 

Rachel - Rachel Rossi: IG - @designsbyrr

Fat Quarterly Sneak Peek

Friday: 

Amy Friend's Virtual Trunk Show

Click here to see the entire By Hand collection.

Click here to visit Amy's website.