Als mich Judith zum

Frühlingserwachen Bloghop 

einlud, hab ich gerne zugesagt. Hab ich doch immer sehr viel Spaß mit meinen Quiltfreundinnen von den Modern Cologne Quilters.

Ein bisschen hin- und herüberlegt hab ich schon, was mir denn zum Frühlingserwachen so einfällt, und dann fiel es mir wie Schuppen aus den Haaren: Mensch, was könnte mehr frisch und zart sein, als die bunten Low Volumes, die da grade frühlingsfrisch in meinem Regal stehen: Modern Backgrounds Colorbox!

When I got the invitation from Judith to be part of her Spring blog hop I happily said YES, OF COURSE (you know I love my quilt buddies from the Modern Cologne Quilters)!
I was pondering what to talk about as my Spring subject, when it hit me: what could be more representing Spring than a fresh and light colorful low volume collection? Freshly from my shelves: Modern Backgrounds Colorbox!

Mein Projekt, eine kleine 60 cm x 60 cm große Tischdecke, braucht 3 Ingredienzien und ist im Nu gemacht:
1 Charmpack COLORBOX
1 Charmpack weißer Uni (oder einfach 70 cm weiße Meterware, aufgeteilt in 36 Quadrate 5" x 5")
1 Cupcake Mix Recipe No 1 (das ist ein Produkt entwickelt von Carrie Nelson für Moda, ein Block von Papieren, genau abgestimmt auf Charmpacks, mit denen das exakte Nähen schnell und einfach gelingt).

My project, a 24" x 24" small table topper, needs just 3 ingredients and is made in the blink of an eye:
1 Charmpack COLORBOX
1 Charmpack white solid (or 3/4 yard of a white solid, cut in thirty-six 5" x5" squares)
1 Cupcake Mix Recipe No 1 (a product developed by Carrie Nelson for Moda, perfect for the use of Charmsquares making sewing accurately quick and fun).

Im Grunde näht man jeweils 1 Druckstoff und einen einfarbigen Stoff nach den Anweisungen auf dem Papierblock und schneidet sie dann in große und kleine Dreiecksblöcke, die man beliebig zusammensetzen kann. Das hat mir irre Spaß gemacht und hat auch nur einen Nachmittag gedauert, präzise Ergebnisse sind garantiert.

What you basically do is to piece a print and a solid with the foundation paper, cut them in smaller and larger half-square-triangles and set them together in a layout you like. It's tons of fun, took me only one afternoon and precise results are guaranteed.

Schaut auch mal bei all den anderen Blogs vorbei, bei denen der Frühling so grade erwacht. Judith hat jede der Mitbloggerinnen mit einer kleinen, liebevollen Beschreibung auf ihrem Beitrag vorgestellt. Mit dabei in diesem Bloghop sind:

hop over and check out what the other sewing buddies are doing:

Colorbox - a modern low volume fabric collection for your best quilts

I’m so happy to show you my new fabrics! I was inspired by graphic natural structures and fresh bright colors and that’s what I have created:

Do you remember the low volume series PAPER and INK? 

MODERBACKGROUND COLORBOX 

is completing the palette with subtle color textures on fog, eggshell and white. That means: the collection covers the complete color wheel – you will always find a matching fabric and you can combine them with more than only solids. My favorite combinations are also including tone-in-tone blenders, marbles and Moda Grunge. I’m curious to see your favorite combinations!

And the best now:

MODERNBACKGROUND COLORBOX contains over 20 different fabrics. You can choose between nine different prints on every cloth.  So you are able to get that mood, which fits to your main fabric style best!

However you have styled your interior – you are able to get a suitable fabric.

Do you live cozy and love to create traditional quilts? 

The lovely fabrics with their warm colors in eggshell will compliment your color scheme very well. And their graphic patterns will make the quilt interesting and your home gets a breath of fresh air!

The fabrics with muted colors on linen cloth 

are pairing well with a calm atmosphere. Their fine lined elements will breath life into your room without being too dominant in the overall look of your home.

The bright splashes on pure white 

are the perfect coordinates for everything fresh, modern and cheerful.

I put a short slideshow together 

to show you some inspiration how to use the low volumes with all kind of styles.

 BTW: If you want to see these fabrics in your local shop, let your shop owner know (you could forward this article)

Modern Background Luster fabric collection by Zen Chic has hit stores!

Just in time to sew any festive little projects for Christmas LUSTER has arrived in stores. The glamorous sister of Modern Backgrounds PAPER and INK reminds us that life should have lots of sparkling moments.

Although we think of golden accents in connection of decorating for holiday, there are much more times in life when we want to add some glimmer and glamour.

Think for example of a wedding!

And imagine the wonderful quilt you can give the young couple sewn with the whites, eggshells and fogs of Modern Background LUSTER

The motto of this fabric line is: 

Life should not only be lived it should be celebrated!

So let's celebrate together!

Go to your local quilt shop and ask for LUSTER or simple shop online for the new fancy modern glamour!

And to give you some ideas, what to do with the fabrics, even if there is no wedding on your schedule or holidays are already over…

here are some of my new patterns.

London Night using 1 Jelly Roll

Play and Hint of Luster using 1 Charmpack each

Right now I'm offering a discount for multiple pattern purchases, so if you want to benefit from it (ends Sunday 23rd, 12pm) read more on my newsletter archive and take advantage!

I had a lot of fun creating this line, and I hope, you will like it too!

HEY DOT fabric collection is coming to stores these days

Great news, dear quilting friend! The brand new collection HEY DOT of Zen Chic will arrive in stores very soon. They are scheduled for the August delivery.

The cotton fabrics for your patchwork and quilt projects are all in the wonderful high quality fibers we know from Moda.

HEY DOT is, as the name suggests, a collection playing with a variety of dots. Dots with my own twist on it: There are the well-known polka dots, but mine have some handwritten notes on it (one says “can’t live without fabric”, and this is true). Other polka dots are just from a sketched texture.

And there is a fun multicolor print with dots looking like candies.

One of the designs has dots with letters in it or signs and the letters form words.

Some of the dots are so tiny, that the design makes for a great blender, which you can use with all kinds of other fabrics.

Another print shows dots so close together, that the dots themselves disappear and you rather perceive the space between, which seem to be little stars.

The collection plays with all kinds of dots and you know: Every fun quilt needs some dots inside, doesn’t it?

For the colorways I decided to go with primary colors. The dots are young and fun, so the colors should be too. I used the same green, grey and white as in the previous collection FLOW, so that you can combine the both. The aqua and orange are also very close to the former collection, while I added yellow, red, fuchsia and pale pink to widen the color range.



The white color way makes for perfect low volumes.



The fiery red is yummy, combines wonderfully with the fuchsia and pale pink and the red-and-white polka dots are classy.

sunny yellow



calm aqua



fresh green



And of course there are new patterns for this collection, I will introduce all of them in my next post.



HEY DOT is a collection for happy quilts, for a young family, for girls or kids, for bag projects and for a cheerful home dec. Wouldn’t it be fun to jump into a bed with such a yummy dress!

They are also great for garments

So have an eye on your favorite shop’s news. They will announce the arrival these days. Or even better: send your preorders in to make sure you will get them as soon as they arrive!

Moda Bella Solids Designer Select

Did you know, that Moda is coming up with a new product: a fat quarter bundle of 12 assorted solids in the very popular high fiber quality Moda is known for.

What is the special thing about those 12 colors in one bundle?

A DESIGNER (hear me say that magic word) has curated the color scheme. And, you know, it is always good to relay on a person experienced with and educated in color! You might ask “which designer” and the answer is: a whole couple of, maybe your favorite one.

Seven Moda designers started to curate their special bundle, a bundle that reflects those 12 colors, which coordinate best with their style.

You are a fan of Fig Tree? Welcome to a bundle of vanilla cream, strawberry red and olive green plus more of her well-known colors.

Bonnie and Camille are your heroes? Good news – you can now have the Bella Solids in fresh aqua, tomato red, pink, pistachio green, white and more in one bundle. 

You will also find bundles of Sweetwater, V&Co., Me & My Sister, Kate Spain and Zen Chic (yes, that’s me).

Some of the above designers keep their color scheme very consistent through all their collections, other change their colors from collection to collection and their style is consistent in their graphics for example.

I am one of the second group, changing my color scheme frequently. So when to decide which colors are typically Zen Chic I went with some, you will find very often in my ideas, like Zen Grey, Graphite, bleached white, orange, apple green. But I also thought of what is currently in stores (FOR YOU and FLOW, HEY DOT will come) and what would blend in well with hot trends. So I added pink, aquas, and a light salmon, deep burgundy.

(Ok, I have to be honest: I could create four or five more different assortments, just for the fun of it, and still find reasons, why those are typically Zen Chic, haha). Tataa, here is the Zen Chic Bella Designer Select.

Zen Chic Bella Designer Select

And there are more good news: Some of the designers who curated their bundle developed a pattern to feature it. And the cool thing is: you can use each bundle with each designer’s pattern, since all are based of 12 Fat Quarters of a different color.

Now here comes my pattern. It’s a free download

You can download your free pattern here

The settings are very versatile, and this it how it looks,

Or will it look like this? You choose J 

You have a lot of setting options with this pattern.

I hope you enjoy this gorgeous new product as much as I do!