Autumn in the Air: Thankful

It may be May, but Autumn is in the Air! Our newest fall collections are hitting quilt shops right now, and we're introducing them here on the blog and sharing some autumn quilt inspiration all week long. 

Today we're featuring Amanda Murphy's Thankful collection. We asked Amanda to talk to us about her newest fabric line.

What prompted you to do a fall collection?

I think almost every fall themed collection out there that I see is traditional. I thought there was room for a collection that was not traditional—something more modern.

Tell us about your palette.

I wanted it to have a home dec feel—like a Pottery Barn look, that would feel more modern. I knew I wanted some prints to have a brown background, and I chose some brighter colors, like the teals and greens I’ve used before, to pop off the brown.

We love the panel!

The panel features a couple of the prints that didn’t make it into the collection on their own. It can be used for quick home décor projects—a wall hanging, or even pillows.

Can you tell us about a few of the prints?

I love the medallion print for borders. You’ll also see a few of these medallions blow up larger on the panel.

Autumnwind is obviously influenced by quilting. The other tonal in the collection, the diamonds, are very structured, so I wanted this to be more organic. You can loosely follow the lines to quilt over it.

What is your favorite print?

Definitely the brown feature print with the big cream pumpkins!

Amanda's Thankful patterns:

Plenty
(Various-sized project ideas included)

The appliques here can be used for a table runner, a bed runner, or even a pillow. It comes with SVG files for digital fabric cutters.

Click here to purchase the pattern.

Autumn Leaves
59-1/2" x 84-1/2"

This is a very traditionally pieced leaf quilt with a more modern feel.

Click here to purchase the pattern.

Click here to see the entire Thankful collection.
Click here to visit Amanda's website.

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A little more inspiration: Sandra from Mmm! Quilts created her Autumn Winds quilt using pre-cut strips from the Thankful collection. 

Sandra says, "Although it is a bit hard to think of autumn when it is early spring here in the northern hemisphere, when I saw Amanda Murphy had a new fall line out, I was smitten! Her fresh modern colours for this season inspired me to remake my first published pattern for this hop." 

We'll be sharing fall-inspired fun all week long!Visit Sandra's blog to see how she created this quilt using pre-cuts and enter for a chance to win a FQ bundle of Thankful prints.

Autumn in the Air Blog Hop Schedule

Monday: Lisa @ Love to Color My World using Harvest Berry by Cheryl Haynes
Tuesday: Debby @ Debby Kratovil Quilts using Harvest Gold
Wednesday: Sandra @ Mmm! Quilts using Thankful by Amanda Murphy
Thursday: Alison @ Little Bunny Quilts using Faboolous Fun

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Introducing Christa Watson's Abstract Garden

Christa Watson's newest collection, Abstract Garden, is here--just in time to whet your appetite for spring planting! Christa wanted to design a modern floral collection and came up with these brightly colored geometric prints that have an abstract garden feel (hence the name!). 

Keep reading to learn more about the prints. 

What inspired your new Abstract Garden collection?

My first couple lines were very geometric—no flowers, no leaves. I had this idea that I wanted to do a modern floral collection. As I explored the concept, it just wasn’t coming together, so I backed up and started to play with the elements I’d come up with. These prints are really geometric, but they still have the feel of a garden—it’s just very abstract!

Not only can I not draw flowers, but I don’t garden well either. I live in Las Vegas where we have two seasons—hot and not as hot. Gardening here requires a lot of effort, and a lot of water. I’ll garden on fabric instead. It doesn’t need water!

Blooming Roses

This is the print closest to actual florals, and it’s my favorite. It totally looks like a rose if you look at it in the right way. Swirls are one of my favorite quilting designs.

Picket Fences

This is another print that I’m in love with. I actually designed this for Modern Marks, but it didn’t fit. I tried again with Fandangle, and it didn’t work. But it works here! I’ve learned that you always hold onto what you have—you never know where it can work in. This reminds me of picket fences, but more modern and fun.

Trellis

This is also loosely based on a machine quilting design—wavy plaid quilting. It’s a little more abstract, but it started with that wavy plaid design. It also looks like a lattice or trellis.

Seeds

These are basically polka dots, but not. They’re splotchy, elongated and irregular—like seeds.

Tracks

If you look closely, these are a nod to Modern Marks because they look almost like the quirky triangles from Modern Marks.

Raised Beds

I’ve learned that the main print always comes at the end for me. It’s basically a mishmash of all the other designs in one print. This evokes plots of land with interesting little designs from the coordinating prints. In my mind, it pulls it all together—the shapes, colors and textures.

Tell us about the color palette. 

The hardest thing is always narrowing down the colors. I’m enjoying the rainbow right now and bright colors. Adding purple into this collection was important to me. I look at all my collections as going together—I didn’t have much yellow in previous collections, and I had a lot of green, so what I needed was more purple, blue, and then light green. I print out all the designs in all the colors and then sit on my living room floor with those paper swatches. I pick and choose and play until it feels like I have the right balance. 

Stop by each day this week for our blog hop featuring Abstract Garden inspiration! 

Click here to see the Abstract Garden collection. 
Click here to visit Christa's website.

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