Irome 4 seasons pillows : you & mie for kokka

Hi! I’m Cherie from you & mie and I’m very excited to be here sharing two throw pillows I made with the new Irome collection from Kokka. First of all, I want to say that I do not consider myself a quilter. And yet, something about seeing all the colors and prints together inspired me to try some simple piecing projects that turned out to be really fun!

I love that the 4 colorways of the Irome collection represent the 4 seasons: fall, winter, spring and summer. I immediately had a vision of a “4 Seasons” pillow and could not get it out of my head.

Unfortunately, I mistook the “summer” colorway for spring and ended up mixing the two up on both of my pillows! So while the design is supposed to move through a year of seasons in order, it instead goes from fall to winter, then skips to summer and then spring and back to fall. While my pillow may not match the assigned seasonal colorways, I do like the balance of colors this way.

While I was working on my first pillow cover, I had a vision of a slightly different “4 Seasons” pillow. Like I said, I’m not actually a quilter, but all the simple piecing was a bit addicting and I’m the kind of person that, once I get an idea in my head, I have to do it or it’ll drive me crazy. So, 4 Seasons Pillow #2 was born.

I love both the bold and subtle colors in the collection. Between the four colorways, the fabrics range from fresh and fun to soft and sweet and everything in between. You can really take these fabrics in any direction and while they work so well together in countless combinations, each fabric can also stand well on its own.

Thank you, Kokka, for letting me share my Irome projects with your readers today! I had a great time playing with these fabrics and already have plenty of other ideas for them!

This post was written by Cherie Lockwood for the Irome collection series, coordinated by Frances Arikawa for Kokka.
Irome is a quilting cotton collection that will be officially released at Quilt Market in Pittsburgh on May 16th 2014. If you would like to be able to purchase prints from the Irome collection locally, please be sure to let your favourite fabric store know. If you are a store owner planning to visit Quilt Market do come and say hi at booth no. 2045, 2145.

【EVENT】International Quilt Market　Pittsburgh 2014

May 16-18, 2014
International Quilt Market Pittsburgh 2014

Place：David Lawrence Convention Center Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA
We introduce echino and Ellen Baker’s brand-new fabrics ‘Framework’ and more.
In addition, we also introduce our first quilt collection ‘Irome’.
Please visit us at booth no.2045 2145.
*Trade show only. Not open to the general public.
You will find more detail at http://www.quilts.com/

Joielinne2

the more you use it, the softer it gets.

The Joielinne series of fabric is here again. With a variety of materials, this is a fabric that can be enjoyed by everyone in the family. Today we are featuring a yarn-dyed chambray double gauze fabric. Gauze is perfect for garments as it becomes softer and softer as you use it. With same base colors, these four different designs can be enjoyed by combining and pairing pieces together.

random dot　P27000-700 Chambray double gauze

The hand-drawn style random polka dots in various sizes cover this fabric. The gradation of pale color tones creates a beautiful look. Hair accessories like a scrunchy will look cute in this fabric.

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Irome Quilt : Red Pepper Quilts for Kokka

Hello, my name is Rita Hodge. I am a quilter and blogger with a fascination for all things fabric ~ especially quilting cottons. You can see all of my work here: Red Pepper Quilts.

When I was asked to preview the Irome collection for Kokka Fabric I jumped at the chance. The colors are delightful, and several of the designs are wonderfully delicate. I love that the collection consists of fabrics for all of the seasons, and I was immediately drawn to the soft and gentle color palette, mixed with some highlights of bolder/brighter color.

The quilt design is simple (large scale Half Rectangle Triangles) which allows the fabric and the colors to feature. I have quilted the quilt with an all over 1 inch grid of intersecting lines, which adds interest and compliments both the design and the fabrics.

Irome for Kokka Fabric – Scrappy Binding

I have made the binding for the quilt from some of the scrappy left over fabric pieces. Scrappy binding is a favorite and I love to see all of the different patterns and colors playing alongside one another so very nicely.

With thanks to Kokka Fabric for providing all of the fabrics for me to work with, and for inviting me to share my quilt here today. I have enjoyed working with the Irome range and look forward to it’s release as well as seeing many more of the projects that will be made with this collection.

Thank you!
Rita

Red Pepper Quilts
Red Pepper Quilts Online Store on Etsy

This post was written by Rita Hodge for the Irome collection series, coordinated by Frances Arikawa for Kokka.
Irome is a quilting cotton collection that will be officially released at Quilt Market in Pittsburgh on May 16th 2014. If you would like to be able to purchase prints from the Irome collection locally, please be sure to let your favourite fabric store know. If you are a store owner planning to visit Quilt Market do come and say hi at booth no. 2045 2145.

Inspiration file 46
An eye-catching backpack with echino fabric

Etsuko Furuya’s “echino” fabric collection has fascinated you with its evocative patterns and dramatic color combinations including purple, orange, blue and vibrant tints. This is the 10th year since echino came on the textile scene, and the long-selling fabric line is still amongst the most popular fabrics produced by Kokka.
The echino fabrics, which are available at any fabric stores, are surprisingly used for handcraft projects and then posted on Flickr by a lot of sewing lovers.

The backpack in the above picture was made by Kayo Shimizu who is a big fan of echino prints. As she used to be a fashion pattern maker, Shimizu is an expert at sewing. She sewed this backpack at the request of her friend. Shimizu says, “I was fond of this fabric’s remarkable coloration. Red hydrangea-like flower with a beige background was very likable. Blue color was laid on just next to the red flower. The contrast of those colors was just striking for me.”

Animals are seen throughout in the “echino forest”. Such a playful fabric allows you to be creative on how to arrange animal patterns. In fact, Shimizu showed an okapi at the front pocket which is the most imposing part of the backpack.

She continues, “A front pocket was one of my friend’s demands for the bag. I thought that a design with animal looking up would be perfect for the front pocket. That is the reason I used this fabric. I shaped the pocket to make the okapi appear more effectively. I could place the pattern of leopard on the back, too.”

Shimizu, who had never made a backpack before, designed this one by comparing and investigating various kinds of backpack. She looks back at the production process, “Since I didn’t want to make a cheap-looking bag, I sandwiched a heavyweight fabric in between outer fabric and lining fabric for stabilization and perfect finish. The padded back and bottom were sewn on the machine. For the shoulder straps, I looked for a filling material. While many backpacks’ strap pads are made with lightweight fillers, I used a cushion with the thickness of 2.3 centimeters. As you guessed, I had a lot of trouble to sew such a super thick stuff on a machine. Through trial and error, I found that one of my machine’s features, “basting stitch”, would help me. By basting, it could be thinner so it was enough to be sewn by lockstitch. Of course I didn’t forget removing the basting thread after then.”

What gives the backpack snap is the pink zipper. But she expresses discontent, “I can hardly find brightly-colored zippers in regular fabric stores. I wish I could buy colorful zippers at directly-managed shops of Kokka.” Quite so. It must not be easy at all to find suitable supplies for echino fabric with bright and saturated contemporary colors. Wouldn’t it be nice if more handicraft supplies including zippers and buttons could be available at Kokka?

Anyway, the backpack with the eye-catching print is perfect for the coming season.