Introducing: Primavera by Patty Young

I am over the moon excited to introduce my newest quilting cotton fabric collection I've designed for Riley Blake Designs titled, Primavera.

It was late January 2016 and I had been mulling over what the theme of my next fabric line would be for what seemed like days. When it's freezing out (I live in the frigid Midwest), I usually design bright, warm, happy fabrics, so I knew I wanted to do that again, but hadn't quite settled on any concrete ideas yet.

The night of January 28th, I had a bout of insomnia, as usually happens when I have a deadline looming. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamt about grasshoppers. It was such a vivid dream! And confusing as well, because I probably hand't seen a grasshopper in months, or at least since my last trip to Florida, which had been a while ago.

When I woke up, I looked up the significance of grasshoppers in dreams. Wikipedia said: When grasshoppers appear in dreams, these have been interpreted as symbols of "Freedom, independence, spiritual enlightenment, inability to settle down or commit to decision".

That last bit resonated with me and made me chuckle, given my current state of mind. So, I said to myself, "That's it, I'm drawing a grasshopper today!" And that's how this little dude came about.

Believe it or not, this little dude sat on my computer screen for a few more days all by his lonesome because I didn't know how he would fit into a fabric line. Eventually, I created a funky damask and sort of camouflaged him in it. 

I loved it, but still didn't know if Riley Blake would, So, I started drawing some flowers and other complimentary prints to show Riley Blake, still not knowing if my friend, the grasshopper, had a place in the line. By then, my creative juices were flowing beautifully. I was drawing, picking color palettes, and drawing some more. When I finally showed Riley Blake my concept for the line, I did not include my Mad Hopper. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was afraid they would find him odd or scary and kill the whole thing. This was my initial pitch, which Riley Blake accepted immediately.

When I finally had the whole line drawn out, my Mad Hopper found his place and I submitted him along with the rest of the prints, still thinking in the back of my mind that there was a possibility he would not make it. But he did!!

I named the line "Primavera", which means "Spring" in Spanish, as a nod to my Latin heritage, my desire for warmer temperatures, and my friend, the Mad Hopper.

I hope you love it as much as I do! The Primavera fabric has started shipping already, so it will be available very soon (if not now) in most independent fabric stores and online fabric retailers. 

It is available already on Etsy and at Hawthorne Threads.

Here is some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing (see end of post for a coupon code for any of these patterns).

Courtney sewed a Julia skirt and a Penny top for her youngest daughter, Tandy. This was for a pattern cover re-print. She used the Main Print in Teal for the skirt main fabric and the Paisley in Pink for the underskirt. The flower appliqué on the Penny shirt (template included in the Julia pattern) is made with the Paisley print in Green and Pink.

Courtney also made this adorable Dakota top for her oldest daughter, Avery, using the Tile in Tangerine print from Primavera. Learn how she made and attached the tassels in this easy tutorial.

And lastly, I made this modified Vivian Shirt for my daughter, Sydney, using the Plaid and Paisley prints in the Teal colorway. Learn how to modify the Vivian dress into a shirt in this easy tutorial.

More is soon to come, but for now, enjoy these and any other MODKID pattern at 25% off for a limited time! Coupon code PRIMAVERA2017 gets you 25% off PDF Patterns on our Etsy store and anything off our web store, including books, paper patterns and ribbon samplers. Code expires at midnight EST on January 21st, 2017. Happy Shopping!