Yukata Fabric Collection by Debbie Maddy for Moda
March 1, 2022
Alli Koch is no stranger to creativity. As a muralist, podcast host, business coach, author, and—most recently—fabric designer for Moda Fabrics, Alli’s creativity knows no bounds.
Alli K joined the design team at Moda back in 2020, and since has created numerous collections in her signature black and white, floral-inspired aesthetic. Heavily inspired by bold, imperfect botanicals, she creates one to two collections per year with a new ‘Create’ collection on the way. Her love of art and florals initially led her to painting murals for over four years, and then to designing a homewares collection of pillows, blankets, towels, and more—which was when Moda reached out with a request to design a fabric collection for quilters, featuring her artwork.
Excited to share her passion for florals with a new audience and to work with different mediums, she was easily able to switch gears from drawing large-scale murals to designing for textiles, applying her daily iPad drawing process.
While Alli is not an experienced quilter, she has enrolled in quilting classes and says it’s now on her bucket list to complete a quilt of her own. As she learns the intricacies of quilting, she says she has come to appreciate the significant time and energy that goes into the creation of each quilting project. Her admiration for quilters continues to grow as she learns the craft.
For Alli K, banners are often the highlight of any collection—so much so that she has banners from her past collections displayed as wall hangings in her home. With Create, her newest collection, she’s going a step further with the banners. She intends to frame various sections to create a cool, mixed-media gallery wall.
We love this idea!
About Create Fabric Collection
While every design in Alli K’s new collection is about creating, she says the collection as a whole is about celebrating that “creative people tend to have their hands in a lot of different types of art.” For her, she says, “striving to always be blooming, to always be dreaming, and to always be creating” are the foundations for these fabric designs.
But the act of creation isn’t always tidy or perfect—and the Create collection draws upon Alli’s appreciation for the beautiful imperfection of flowers. About drawing flowers, she says “I can just draw with little to no pressure on making them perfect!” and that “in anything that I do, painting, drawing, etc, I always tell myself if it was perfect, it wouldn’t look handmade.”
And hands, in fact, were an inspiration for Create. In a previous art collection, Alli notes that she “upgraded” emoji hand icons by adding florals to each—and that because people loved the designs, hands with florals became a common motif in her work. You’ll find hands in Create, as well, with designs capturing hands holding sewing tools mixed in with some of Alli’s favourite florals.
You may just find, as well, some hidden meaning in the combinations of flowers featured in the collection. “I love the meaning behind flowers and combining florals together based on their meanings,” she says, noting that doing so “is kind of like giving each art piece a secret code.”
We can’t wait to see more of this fresh, upcoming collection and to witness how you crack the code in creating your own gorgeous quilting pieces. And if you’re an Alli K. collector, keep your eyes peeled for a holiday-inspired collection later this year. Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to find out when it lands in stores.
‘Create’ by Alli K. from Moda Fabrics is arriving in Canadian stores in Spring 2022. We always encourage you to touch, feel, and experience the fabric you’ll use for your next creative project at your local quilt store.
