Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic and her new collections - Spotted and Modern Backgrounds More Paper.

Before Spring Market, we asked Brigitte to share her thoughts about these two new collections...

When I talked to leading people from the Moda team and asked, what they would like me to create next, the answer was “We need more Paper”.  You might remember Modern Background Paper, it was a low-volume collection released in 2015.  It was so popular that it became a Basic and an extra-wide backing fabric.  

It's true for me and many quilters I know – you can never have enough textured background prints. So it was pretty clear what to work on - Modern Backgrounds More Paper.  This collection debuted at Spring Market in Portland earlier this year, and it features an assortment of textured fabrics, ranging in the same hues as those I used in the original Paper - white, eggshell, fog, zen grey and graphite.

The textures in More Paper go from large scale prints like the aircraft and paper cloth technical drawings -

... to lettered midscale prints.

More Paper also includes several small scale prints with dots, arrows and pluses.

While I like creating quilts with the low-volume prints, I also like adding some color to it.  But not a busy print that might distract from the interesting textures - something more like a solid or a subtle blender-type print.  That would be perfect!  When I can work with pre-cuts to have a wide range of colors without breaking the bank... that's even better. 

When I'm sewing and making quilts, having a Layer Cake of bright colors is great, especially when there are at least 30 different hues.  When I couldn't find just the right think for me - Layer Cake or Fat Eighth bundle - I decided to make one.  That's how Spotted came about.

Spotted is a collection of calm blenders that read nearly like a solid. The texture is inspired by prints of the 1950s, when you can see little dots and freckles from the screen-printing process.

The collection comes in a rainbow of bright shades, including some neutrals - there are 33 different colors in the palette.  They're perfect for modern quilters - and for every quilter.

The great benefit to me is that I now have all these precuts for my quilt designs - Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls, Charm Packs, Fat Eighths and Fat Quarters.

So when I had all my “paint boxes” ready, I began drawing new quilt designs.

The Block of the Month Quilt pattern has a history - every year I do a Block of the Month for my German customers.  The patterns are in my native German.  When I sketched out this quilt and shared it on Instagram, I had so many requests for an English version of the pattern that I quickly added that to my list.  

While Moda will be offering this as a kit, the pattern is also sold individually.

I like that the blocks can be put into a large quilt or used individually as framed wall art or pillows.  

But wait – there are also new patterns using the collections.  

Sky is fresh and light, and it uses just 2 Charm Packs of Spotted and white yardage.  That's it and you're done.

Delight has an elegant look that can be made in any color scheme - but the yellow-orange-pink with neutrals was especially appealing for me.  I used the BlocLoc Half-Rectangle Large ruler to get perfect half-rectangle-triangles.

And Baby Balls is so playful – perfect as well for boys and girls. It uses one Layer Cake and yardage of background fabric – easy to kit too! I made it with raw edge appliqué and to avoid to much stiffness with the fusible web, I used Misty-Fuse.

There is a fourth pattern - it's perfect for my grandchildren.  

This is XOXO.  It is a fairly simple quilt with a single piece of background fabric quilted to look like lined paper.  I machine-quilted lettering on some of the lines and finished it with the large fusible-appliqué message.  

As you're reading this, I will be sharing my Fall Market 2018 collection... so more quilts and patterns are in the making.  Something about a Day In Paris.

Warmly,

Brigitte from Zen Chic