John Naisbitt said, "Trends, like horses, are easiest to ride in the direction that they're going." While we're all about taking the reins and starting new trends, surviving as a business owner sometimes means making hard decisions and bringing inventory to the shop that isn't always tailored to our own personal tastes. We've compiled a list of upcoming quilting trends that are starting to peek their noses over the horizon.
1. Modern Samplers
Katie Blakesley of Swim Bike Quilt, Faith Jones of Fresh Lemons Quilts and Lee Heinrich of Freshly Pieced designed this summer sampler quilt inspired by travel, and are hosting a QAL that runs through October 2018. In 2019, we expect to see more fresh patterns like this in traditional "sampler" form with exciting new colors and shapes!
2. Medallion Quilts
We love the movement and symmetry of a well-designed medallion quilt, and Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth, Sedef Imer of Down Grapevine Lane, Emma Jean Jansen, Keera Job Design Studio, Alyce Blyth of Blossom Heart Quilts, and Peta Peace of She Quilts A Lot have achieved just that with their collaborative "Girt by the Sea" quilt. And that coastal color palette is just yum. Needless to say, we're counting on seeing many more modern medallion quilts come 2019.
3. Bohemian Minimalism
"Bohemian minimalism" might sound like a contradiction, but if so, it's one with beautiful results! Suzy Quilts just barely released her "Bohemian Garden" quilt pattern (pictured below). It's pretty, delicate, simple, and exotic all at once. In 2019, we foresee tropical and boho themes that exercise restraint with use of color for a result that wows.
4. Wholecloth
The quilting industry has dabbled for a while with sultry florals and playful stripes, but in 2019, we expect to see more wholecloth that showcases a single fabric, and often, lets the quilting take center stage. We couldn't be happier about it. This beautiful wholecloth quilt created by Sew Much Ado with fabric donated by Riley Blake Designs for Project Linus (read more about Project Linus here) is just lovely.
5. Applique
Cross-stitch and embroidery have both been center-stage in 2017 and 2018, and we predict applique to be the star of the show come 2019. Madi Hastings' "All Good Things are Wild and Free" quilt is a simple 9 month BOM that was released in June, with laser-cut kits from Laser Cut Quilts soon to follow in July 2018.
6. Science Themes
We're seeing the early beginnings of it with Giucy Giuce's recent collection, Quantum, (pictured below), Libs' Elliott's coding-inspired quilt patterns, and Sylvia Schaefer's (Flying Parrot Quilts) recent electricity and chemistry quilt patterns. We're ecstatic to see what 2019 brings in this category!
7. Pre-Cut Fabrics
"Quilters don't want to lose that feeling of creative control, of making something beautiful with their own hands," Madi Hastings said. Pre-cut fabrics and laser-cuts keep creative control in the hands of makers by cutting down on tedious parts of the quilting process.
We have lots of exciting new projects, pre-cut fabrics, and time-saving notions in the works for 2019! Stay tuned, and thanks for reading! :)
Question for our readers:
What trends have you particularly loved in past years? What trends would you like to see in the future? Comment below!!
7 Hottest Quilting Trends for 2019