Stiletto by BasicGrey for Moda
December 16, 2019
Farm Charm by Gingiber for Moda
February 18, 2020
Designer, quilt store owner, teacher and all-round quilty person Lisa Bongean is back with another “gathering” of reproduction style prints— this time inspired by her collection of more than 700 antique quilts.
Looking at the beautiful quilts in this post, you’ll likely note that this new collection moves away, just slightly, from the distinctly American and primitive style prints that Primitive Gatherings is known for.
Lisa Bongean says she was influenced here by the decorating trend of mixing new and old together: the prints feel like they’re from the 1800s, but the patterns for this line feel slightly more contemporary, with a mix of tiny precision blocks and larger piecing .
Indigo Inspiration
Lisa generally designs three or four collections a year with 40 designs in each, and this one in particular has a timeless look about it. As she says, “Everyone loves blue and white.”
The blue and white colour combination is a strong pairing, with the contrast allowing the piecing designs to truly stand out. Perhaps because of this, the combination has become a growing trend recently: Houston Quilt Festival, for example, hosted a blue and white quilt exhibition this past fall. We at Trendtex also had a post a few months ago about the newest line for Zen Chic, also very indigo-influenced.
The idea for her particular blue and white look, she says, stemmed from “popular Indigo colored print and shirtings from the late 1800s with indigo motifs.” From that inspiration, she then developed a gradient of indigo blue shades, and chose to balance it with a soft cream instead of a stark white. She then looked again to the inspiration of antique quilts, searching for tiny scale prints that complemented one another.
Other fabrics that work well with this line, Lisa says, include Bella Solids, and any other reproduction lines like Betsy Chuchian or Jo Morton. “It is also fun to mix it with Janet Clare, Minick & Simpson as well as Debby Maddy [collections],” she adds.
The quilt patterns
Within this versatile collection, a full selection of precuts is available for quick and easy quilt tops. Or as Lisa says, truly “any traditional blue and white quilt pattern could be made using this timeless colour combination.”
Here, too, are some patterns designed with Indigo Gatherings specifically in mind, which are well worth a look.
The pattern above is called Oshkosh On The Water, named for the town of Oshkosh in Wisconsin, near where Lisa lives. It finishes up at 82” x 94” if you make it exactly like the pattern. If you like the look of smaller piecing, you will love this quilt, which has a similar look to a Storm At Sea quilt.
If star blocks are more your style, the Baeyer Star may be your quilt of choice. It features a square queen-sized design, which was recreated from an antique quilt from Lisa’s collection with the addition of a pieced border. And the name offers a fun fact for blue and white fans everywhere: a fellow named Adolf von Baeyer was a Nobel Prize-winning chemist who was a key figure in the creation of indigo dye.
Indicon, another beautiful pattern, is made from four different blocks. It uses all 40 of the fabrics in Indigo Gatherings for a more scrappy look with a more modern, squares-and-rectangles design.
There are other patterns, too. Deep Blue is a single block surrounded by lots of borders, and Blue Monday is an oversized block design made by patchworking the units that compose it.
No matter the pattern, your quilt will no doubt be gorgeous using Indigo Gatherings. We invite you to share your makes with us on Instagram, using the hashtag, #trendtexfabrics.
Indigo Gatherings and the patterns for this fabric line will be delivered to stores in January 2020. TrendTex is proud to supply Canadian stores with Primitive Gatherings products as well as products from other Moda designers. Touch, feel, and experience the fabric you’ll use for your next creative project at your local quilt store. Patterns are also available direct from Lisa at primitivegatherings.us
