Reflect and Predict 2012

Edit: The open call is now up! I love reading everyone's reflections and predictions. I hope you'll share yours too.

Sew, Mama, Sew! has kicked off their annual Reflections and Predictions series. Though they haven’t put out a general call, I wanted to get in early before my own thoughts were too heavily influenced by what I read from others. I took it on my own initiative to pull out their questions and offer my own take on things.

I thought it might be fun to look at what I predicted at this time last year and see how I did. I know quite a few of you read my post, because as I’ve met readers in person they frequently ask “Did you ever get your green?” I don’t think I did. It’s a really tough one to answer because fabric lines seem to coming out faster than ever. They fly off the virtual shelves of online shops before I get a chance to admire them. And due to the sheer cost and space of inventory, local shops aren’t able to carry every range. I don’t think I got my green, but then again I might have just missed it as I was a bit distanced from new releases this year.

I thought we’d see more moose, and I did in home interior shops in Tokyo last month. Though, it hasn’t seemed to grab hold in crafting circles. I predicted a dip in the use of honeycomb and the scurry to buy it. I do think that’s true. Honeycomb won’t ever flap away, but it did lose its buzz in 2011. As for the rest, I thought “Fabric will drip with emotion. There will be numbers and letters and squares on point.”  Not a bad prediction?

Sew,Mama,Sew!: Looking back at the 2011 sewing scene, what trends stand out in your mind?
The first thing that comes to mind for me in 2011 is The Farmer’s Wife Quilt Along. It seemed that I couldn’t visit flickr, twitter or my blog reader without running into at least a few blocks from it. I’m not sure if that’s because it was a wide spread success or if it’s just the circles I run in. I didn’t join in, though I briefly flirted with the idea.  Blocks from verykerryberry really struck a chord. She made great use of reproduction influenced fabrics and really made each block work in terms of colour and contrast.

Image from Kerry of VeryBerryKerry on Flickr

   

What I liked about the Farmer's Wife trend is that despite using the same patterns, every one's creative personality stood out in their blocks. They were the same, but they were all special and unique. And I  quietly smiled each time I saw letters and numbers and squares on point...

For my own minor contribution to trends this year, I whipped up a really quick pattern for a quilt bee which took on a life of its own. (Not the bee though, the bee fizzled before we even got started =) I still get a lot of mail about the x and + tutorial inspired by a Japanese quilt. There's a flickr group, a block swap commencing in January and a couple of other things happening. I consider my contribution only slight as it's a traditional block that's been around for yonks. Truly Setsuko Inagawa deserves the credit for her inspiring quilt.

Raw edge applique which had been  prevalent in 2010 waned and was enthusiastically replaced by foundation paper piecing. Bees and swaps popped up left and right featuring intricate, impressive and quirky paper pieced blocks.

Along with the good comes the bad. I feel the book tour was the worst trend of 2011. Each time I came across one, it felt like I was seeing a festering blister. Don't get me wrong, I feel that book and product reviews have their place on blogs and I enjoy reading genuine reviews. Sadly the book tours felt, in many cases, staged and superficial. In some cases it was obvious that the blog poster had not read or used the book they were touting. By the end of a book tour, a photo of nearly every single page and project has ended up on the web. Why buy the cow when you can have the milk for free?

Another worrying trend was inconsistency in fabric base cloth. 2011 was undoubtedly a difficult time for fabric manufacturers. Cotton prices spiked for numerous reasons. Cotton growing and textile manufacturing regions were impacted by floods, tsunamis and power shortages which resulted in product inconsistency and thinner base cloths than we'd been accustomed to. Because I regularly weigh fabric for shipping, I noted a dip in weight by some manufacturers. Quiet chatter among friends brought out issues like scratchy cottons, dye not holding and burrs in cloth. Yet many manufacturer emerged unscathed. Hats off to those who managed to deliver quality cotton with only minimal price increases despite the rising costs of production.

Sew,Mama,Sew!: What were some of your favorite things?
Jan kicked off 2011 by posting this gorgeous little coaster for the Suzuko Koseki project. If New Year's Day was anything to go by, we were in for some treats in 2011.

Image via flickr from Jan of Be*mused

This year, I discovered Dan Rouse. His layered patchwork is a creative and distinct. I love the way he sees the union of colour and pattern.

Image via  flickr from Dan of Piece and Press

Sew,Mama,Sew!: What did you make that you’re most proud of?
I think I'm more proud of what I didn't make, which is a mess. I finally got my sewing space under control in 2011. It feels good. I worked on a mix of projects this year, but the one I like the most was, perhaps, the simplest. It came from heart and spoke to me during the London Riots. We use it every day on our sofa.

Sew,Mama,Sew!: What sewn projects have you seen this year that you absolutely love? Do you have a favorite sewing book or pattern from the past year to recommend?
I highlighted some of my favourite projects above already, so I'll focus on books and patterns. New to me, but not from this year, is Bella Bella Foundation Papers which I'm currently using to make a giant pickle dish of geese. I don't buy many books but realized these foundation papers that go along with an older book were perfect for modern sewing. I simply had to look beyond the batik, pine green and gold.

I've also recently picked up a 2011 Japanese craft book called something like Patchwork 163 - My Favourite Patterns. Because it's new, it should be easier to find that the "sought after" Japanese craft books. It's probably not a beginners book though. It's good for someone who has experience drafting up their patterns from geometric diagrams. For me, it's an eye-candy book.

 

Sew,Mama,Sew!: Are there any trends you’re over and done with?

I am certain as soon as I answer this question, I'll incriminate myself and make something from the trends that I'm stepping on. For me, I'm a bit over the candy-coated syrupy fabrics a la Flower Sugar. I'll be honest, it hasn't been the happiest time of my life. I tried new things and they didn't work out. The economy left us in a general glum which Australia had managed to escape in the last go around.  I, personally, am over sappy, romanticism on fabric. I think I'd like to put child-like forest animals in that same bucket (unless it's a moose! I'd still like more moose!). In my own sewing, I've been straying away from white and light coloured backgrounds. I've noticed more designers are doing this as well.

Sew,Mama,Sew!: What are your thoughts about social media? How is it going for you? What do you love or hate?
Social media is an interesting topic and I'll confess I'm a bit overwhelmed in the craftsphere. As a result, this answer is a haphazard train of thought reply.  For a long time, I tried to keep my social media spheres distinct. Facebook for friends and family. Flickr for craft. This year, everything merged and I'm not sure that I'm better for it. For me, Flickr forums are still the heart of my crafty discussion. I can pop in and out, ask questions, see photos and interact with like-minded folks on fairly specific topics. I pop onto Twitter periodically but often feel like I'm sitting at the wrong table in junior high. The guys and girls have their cliques and inside jokes, and I feel left out. I'm sure everyone feels this way at times.

Don't get me wrong, no one is intentionally excluding me. I know that. It just feels hard to find my feet. Twitter feeds tend to spread across all aspects of user's lives. I think I'd prefer it if we had an all crafty channel as I'm not big on recipes and can't contribute much when it comes to child rearing conversations. I had hoped Google+ circles were the answer to this content management problem, but they didn't take off in the way that I hoped and users had a hard time understanding how best to use and organize their circles.

One group that I like is Talkin' Tuesdays. #talknt is a weekly quilter's twitter chat. .Because we have directed conversation through themed questions, I feel like it feels my need for online real-time social interaction with other creatives on relevant topics.I guess that would be the best word to describe my current struggle with social media - relevance. With limited time and a busy life (OK, who am I kidding?), I want my social media to be relevant.

For better or worse, we've come to understand advertising is embedded in our social media. As both content developers and readers, we need to understand how this impacts us.  As a marketing graduate student, I should love the opportunities that social media provides for embedded content and brand development. For me though; it's been one of those cases where the more you learn, the more scared you become. Data is power and everything we say or do in a public space defines how we're marketed to in the future. How we use and interact with social media is still evolving, and I'm hopeful that in 2012 it will fulfill us in ways we didn't expect.

Sew,Mama,Sew!: What was your favorite fabric collection or print?
Early in the year, I was anxiously awaiting Annie's farm stand. Beyond excited describes how I felt. I bought some. Used it in one project which sat neglected and then wondered why I go so excited. By then the buzz had hit everyone and it because too prevalent for my taste. Luckily one of my swap partners had marked my project as a favourite. The Farm Stand was not wasted and, as requested, a sweet and romantic pillow emerged. (Though I don't see myself doing romantic in 2012!)

Unsurprisingly, I picked up a lot of great fabrics in Japan this year. Some of these are older prints though. I think rather than a specific print or collection, I found myself driven by palette. This year, it was dark teal, magenta, mushroom grey, lime and even hints of purple and berry.

Sew,Mama,Sew!: What do you predict for 2012?
I think we'll see dark teal, magenta, mushroom grey, lime and even hints of purple and berry. Just kidding!

Pantone has announced Tangerine Tango is our colour of the year. In my opinion, they should have called it spicy tomato red. It's definitely more red and vibrant, than tangerine. Tangerine Tango feels like a slight misnomer, just as Honeysuckle did in 2010. I've already seen a lot of people interpreting this as any shade of orange, and I do think we'll see a lot of those oranges in our patchwork - particularly dark orange, deep teal and charcoal. This isn't a new combination, but a deeper richer combination as we move away from light and flippant fabrics. 2011 was a really "heavy" year, both economically and due to natural disasters. I think we'll see that heaviness reflected in our colour choices for 2012.

Geometrics have always been popular and I expect to see growing ranges of basics from manufacturers. Rather than stockpiling prints, we'll take to hoarding more versatile fabrics. Crossweaves and textural solids will continue to grow in popularity. We'll take our themes from the strangest of places: boats, boots and bowling to name a few.  Though Paris and New York are always popular, we'll see places like Sydney and Sao Paolo celebrated on fabric.

Modern quilters will branch into two groups. One will move towards larger, less intricate home decor using monochromatic prints in bold scale like Lotta Jansdotter's Echo. The other group will move to handwork and slow quilting. As a blogger, there is a pressure to continually come up with new projects to show off regularly. This doesn't meld well with intricate handwork. "This week, I'll show you that I've pieced just one  seam!"  I hope, though I am likely wrong, that we see this slow craft emerge in blogs and flickr. It might mean that someone only posts a photo every six weeks, but OH MY when they do, it will knock our socks off.

Sew,Mama,Sew!: Can you tell us anything about what to expect from you in 2012? Any projects or life-changing goals you can share?
If only I could predict where my own life was headed. There's no shame in saying it, but I'm a little bit lost. And lost is an okay place to be. I learned to screen print in 2011, but nothing ever came of it. The screen and dyes are waiting patiently on their shelf.  I know many people are writing craft books. I'm not. Though, I'd love to be involved in developing an interactive mobile application. I think is the direction that modern craft is heading.  Think EQ, your favourite craft magazine, books, interviews and measurement guides all rolled into your phone or tablet. Maybe it's time to dust off my programming skills?

I'd also like to be a professional fabric colourist. Lofty goal, but why not? Years ago, I was friends with a woman whose job was choosing colour for Disney comic books. She selected CMYK colors for Donald's beak and Mickey's boat. I learned quite a bit about colour from Kate, and I only just realized it this year.  When it comes to craft, my own strengths are colour and building on inspiration from someone else. Why not have lofty goals? If you're a fabric manufacturer looking for someone to help colour your modern or reproduction lines. I'm here, waiting for your email.

I may be waiting well into 2013.

Where do you think we're headed next year? I'm always excited to hear what others think!
** Thanks for Sew, Mama, Sew for this annual series.