Glorious Patchwork: More Than 25 Glorious Quilt Designs

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Not only is Kaffe exuberant in his tactile use of color he is also extremely passionate and erudite when he talks about color in his creative world. His language was liberally sprinkled with terms that are usually used in other contexts. Adjectives like “delicious”, “voluptuous”, “fresh”, “juicy”, and “passionate” were liberally sprinkled in his vocabulary and rolled off his tongue easily. Where we might just say shades of red, to him it was “flaming red”, or “pungent blue”, or “mustard green”. His descriptive language about color was as inspiring as the products he designs. Making a Kaffe Fassett Quilt

The glorious array of designs featured in Kaffe Fassett’s Quilts in Italy are all made using classic as well as new fabrics from the Kaffe Fassett Fabric Collection – subtle or bold, simple or complex, all of the designs come together with emblematic Kaffe Fassett flair. Choose from the delicious ice-cream colors and traditional piecing of Kaffe’s own Lacy Log Cabin, the bold and contrasting colors and forms of Scaffold, the almost dizzying complexity of Chiaroscuro, with its four-in-one style piecing, and many more eye-catching designs. Past meets present in this dazzling collection of new quilts from design genius Kaffe Fassett. Drawing inspiration from the textile treasures of the Victoria&Albert Museum, London’s world-famous decorative art museum, Kaffe has created 23 gorgeous new patchwork designs. Each is a sympathetic interpretation of an antique source, using updated colour schemes and contemporary sewing techniques. All the designs are easily accessible to today’s quilters.

Anyone who loves colour needs no introduction to Kaffe Fassett or to his rich and vibrant fabric collection. In this book he creates a terrific range of small projects for your home, for yourself or to give as gifts, from his specially chosen fabrics. The projects are ideal for anyone who wants a touch of the Kaffe magic with a fraction of the time and effort involved in creating the large-scale patchwork quilts for which he is perhaps best known.

From 2009, Kaffe has been a Patron of Fine Cell Work’s ‘A Gift of Quilts’, charity project working with prisoners to create needlepoint and patchwork items sold internationally.In 2015 Kaffe became a Patron of the Shetland Peerie Makkers, set up with Brough Lodge Trust, to teach hand-knitting to Shetland youngsters, to nurture Shetland’s wonderful culture of hand-knitting for future generations. You could say I’ve known Kaffe for about 30 years – though he does not know me. In the mid 1980’s when I was deep into knitting, he came out with his landmark knitting design book. He had made his mark as a designer in the knitting and fashion world when his very first ever knitting project was featured in the Vogue Knitting magazine. My collection of Kaffe Fassett books and fabrics Kaffe Fassett, one of the world’s foremost decorative artists, brings his dazzling colour sensibilities to the art of quilting. In his contemporary take on these amazing quilts – the 15 chosen span three centuries of quilt making and are featured in his introduction – he breathes fresh life into their eye-catching patterns and geometry, from hexagons to log-cabins and from complex medallions to simple strippies. He has invited five of his team of designers to make their own versions of five of them, creating yet further layers of interest.

In this special edition in Kaffe’s Patchwork and Quilting series, Kaffe has taken inspiration for the 20 new quilts in this book from some particularly glorious quilts of the past. Kaffe has taken 15 quilts that caught his eye from the Quilter’s Guild Collection and worked his magic using his current range of fabrics to give them a wholly new dimension, bringing together his passion for textile making with, as he says ‘the ingenious discoveries of past quilt-makers’. His Autobiography ‘Dreaming in Color’ was published in September 2012 and has proved to be extremely popular and sold worldwide. In 2013, Kaffe was awarded the Turner Medal. This is awarded by the Colour Group (Great Britain) to a distinguished artist or art historian, honouring Britain’s greatest colourists. Kaffe’s current passion and idea of heaven is creating cloth for patchwork, yet he continues to lecture and tutor knitting workshops. His excitement for all his chosen crafts shines through and his company is exhilarating and exciting for knitters and non knitters alike. Kaffe says “being the dinosaur of patchwork and knitting guarantees that people will come and listen to me”. Kaffe turned his hand to printed fabric design when working with Liza Prior Lucy in USA on new patchwork designs, publishing his book Glorious Patchwork in 1997. Since then, Kaffe has produced many hardcover books on patchwork, as well as working on over fifteen Patchwork & Quilting books annually for Rowan Yarn/Westminster Fibers.The patchworks fall into three categories. First come Utility Quilts, employing large, simple patch shapes cut from charming prints. Traditional pieces follow, encompassing popular heritage quilt formats reborn here in fresh, modern colourways. Finally come the irresistible Showpiece Quilts, incorporating appliqué to create breathtaking showstoppers. Kaffe has also been interviewed countless times on national television and radio programmes such as ‘Richard and Judy’ for ‘This Morning’; ‘The Bazaar’ TV series; ‘Chelsea Flower Show Live’; ‘Collectors Lot’; ‘The Homes Show’ and ‘Through the Keyhole’, and for Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’ and ‘Desert Island Discs’ with Sue Lawley. At the Dubai Quilt Show I finally had a chance to see and meet him in person. Most everyone at his opening lecture and in fact at the quilt show itself, was there to see him specifically. Yet despite this popularity he accepted the adulation with grace and humility, patiently signing quilt books and posing for cell phone photos with the attendees.

Talking to many of the other classmates it was clear the majority were attending this quilt show just so that they could take this workshop with Kaffe. Attendees were here from many different European countries, as well as other areas of the Middle East. One of my table mates had only just started learning to quilt 10 days before this trip because she was such a huge fan of Kaffe’s work. A comprehensive list of where to donate quilts: Be a Quilt Volunteer – Where to Donate Quilts to Charity In 2013, the solo exhibition ‘Kaffe Fassett – A Life in Colour’ at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, featured over 100 works including knitwear and throws, patchwork quilts and a tactile installation for visitors to touch so that they could get a better understanding of the structure behind his work. In 2014, ‘Kaffe Fassett: 50 Years in Colour’ Exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery was extremely popular, and later toured to Norway in 2015. Kaffe’s Color Lecture was a brief prologue to the all-day class that was in store for us the next day. We would each be working on designing the Green Diamonds pattern from Kaffe’s Quilts in Ireland book. Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mabley stand in front of Kaffe’s Green Diamonds quilt

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At the end, we all rolled up our designs inside the felt design wall without ruining the layout. Now all that was left was to sew it all together and then quilt it. This would forever be a tangible reminder of the day we spent with the design genius for whom “color was like breathing”. If the quilting world has a crown prince, it has to be Kaffe Fassett. Known for his exuberant use of color, Kaffee has built a design empire that extends to fabric, knitting, needlepoint, mosaics and patchwork. Whether it’s a sweater, a needlepoint pillow or quilting fabric, his uniquely colorful style is instantly recognizable. He has published many books, including over 20 beautifully photographed quilt pattern volumes which make it easy to produce one of his trademark designs. But making a Kaffe Fassett quilt in a class taught by the master of “Glorious Color” brings you up close and personal to his creative genius.