Art Gallery Fabrics - The Creative Blog

Spring Quit Market 2012- COLOR FOR YOUR EYES!

Hi everybody!

OMG!! We are beyond belief with your warm reception to the coolest sewing group in town : the FAT QUARTER GANG! Thank you SO MUCH for all your comments and your sense of humor :)

We assure you it's going to be a really fun event that'll take an entire year of awesome quilting and sewing projects! We are so proud of this "brotherhood" of loving bloggers <3

Now that we came back from Kansas City, let us show you a bit our backstage at the show. Exhibiting at Quilt Market is not an easy thing... It takes the love of a group of people that work really hard to show stores the new fabric lines and patterns for that season. 

This time was really funny... here are the crates arriving and Walter inspecting...

Sample Spree was the craziest ever!! We've been mobbed by the crowd... lol! Here is Angie getting ready for the 2 hours wild experience :)

Alex was emptying boxes and more boxes of bundles.

Walter looks really happy, doesn't he?

Fabiana was more than ready to start selling!

Kathy wanted to arrange fabrics by color on the tables...

Anais (for those of you that don't know her, she is our Social Media Coordinator) came to Market for the first time and was blown away by the whole thing... She loved it!

Laura came with us for the first time (she is Fashion Designer and Pattern Writer) and she was thrilled!

Pure Elements showing here - Color Blocking theme? 

Rhapsodia bundles - yummy!! 

For Art Gallery Fabrics booth this time we wanted to display color and more color, so we came with the idea of a giant quilt on the walls showing many of our fabrics (quilts? yes please!). Some benches with coordinated pillows and quilts finish the scene... 

Quilts Inc. liked the display at our booth so much that they gave us the Merchandising Award. What an honor... We're jumping and screaming a lot!!

We are well known for being funny and we love for you to have fun as well, so watch this video with the highlights of the show :)

 

In all, a very happy Quilt Market! It was really good to see well known friends again, meet new ones and have fun talking about what we all love: FABRICS & QUILTS!!

Because this is a very long post, we will start showing you new lines from our designers in separated posts, so be ready to be blown away with great design and beautiful colors soon.. 

XOXO, the AGF team

We came back from Spring Quilt Market as winners...

Hello!!

So, Spring Quilt Market is over and although we had a lot of fun it is so nice to be home. We met some really great people and had a chance to mingle with some super cool bloggers and even more super cool people.

We are working on a video and photo's and all sorts of cool stuff right now... So a full re-cap in in the works.. I promise.

But for now I share with you our most prized pic and leave you so we can complete our uber fun projects and your re-caps.

Now back to video editing and picture re-touching (market was a tiring one and some pics show our wear & tear)... Stay tuned for our next post :)

Love ya guys,

AGF team!

Pat Bravo New Collections Fall 2012 Sneak Peek (part two)

Hi there,

Firstly, I want to thank you all your comments of my previous post! I read them all and it really feels good you are thrilled with my upcoming collection "INDIE". I was also reading the comments on Facebook. Thank you for that! <3

How was your weekend? Were you sewing a lot? Did you enjoy time with your family? I had a blast Saturday night having dinner and then going to the movies to watch one of my all-time favs: The Three Stooges! My sister Andrea, Walter and me couldn't stop laughing during the whole time :-D It was hilarious!!

As I told you, 2012 is going to be full of surprises! Collections, patterns, new clubs and other things I have under wraps because the beans cannot be spilled yet :(

About my new collections, I can't wait until I make a full reveal at Market, but because many of you asked me to show a sneak peek (and I LOVE to share! lol), as promised here it is.

I'm super excited to share with you bits of my second upcoming collection for Kansas City Quilt Market... ROCK'N ROMANCE

It's always a thrilling sensation to present you new fabrics, but I think this time is double that feeling because I'm introducing black as part of my new color stories! and I LOVE how it came out!

Having myself a heart full of love for disco music, it was SO cool to design for my little rocker side (that I sure have it too!). Do you also have that young rocker side? If so, you can start thinking in projects for you, or if have daughters or granddaughters :) 

Celebrating the fame of gray, I've also included many variations of this color which I LOVE!

This collection (as well as INDIE) will be shipping in the fall, but I promise that as soon as I come back from Market, I'll be sharing with you all the prints!

Hope you love it as much as I do :) 

 

Love,

Pat 

Pat Bravo New Collections Fall 2012 Sneak Peek (part one)

Happy afternoon everyone!

How are you doing lately? It's been a while since I wrote you... I hope everything is going well with you: much happiness and much sewing!! 

Here at my studio same thing: LOTS of sample sewing for Quilt Market, designing the booths, ideas about how to format School House to make it fun and engaging --YES, we are coming to School House!!! I'll have 2 sessions and soon I can tell you everything about it :-D

And there is the excitement to present my new collections, as well as AGF In-House and of course Bari J.!! I face it: every time Quilt Market is around the corner, for each day less to Market, the excitement and adrenaline in my body is inversely proportional... it goes up! I'm so happy that I can't wait to meet you all and show you what's new :)

Because I can't stay still, I'd love to show you here a sneak peek of what's coming. Let's start with INDIE!

This line is a cultural fusion of designs from around the world, with exotic florals and geometric global inspired prints. I've been wanting to create a collection like this for many years, and now I feel I was ready to deliver :)

Get in the INDIE mood with this sneak peek!

Stay tuned for my next post, where I'll preview my second collection for this upcoming season. 

*hint hint* Are you ready for a little romance, this girly girl is ROCKIN!!

 

Love,

Pat

 

The AGF experience at Quilt Market.

Hello hello!

I'm glad you enjoyed our pics from Market, it was soo much work but oh so rewarding in the end!

So you know how they say "a picture is worth a thousand words"? Well that might be true, but because nothing tells the story like a VIDEO, the video-editing genius and graphic design extraordinaire Kat (part of our awesome AGF team lol) made this cool video about our experience at Market.

As you'll be able to tell, it was insanely rolling-on-the-floor-laughing fun and we had the best time ever, I honestly can't complain.

So if you never attended Market you'll be able to see a little bit of what really goes on in there (plus you'll get to see the AGF team making a fool out of ourselves in public lol) 

I still laugh everytime I watch it ha! What do you think, is this what you would expect to see at Market? What do you imagine it's like? Do share!

Happy long weekend everyone!

Love,

Pat. 

 

ps. Can't watch it on YouTube? Watch it on Vimeo or Facebook! 

Fall Market Recap.

Hey! 

This is Fab again. Last post I told you I would come back with the recap on what went down at Market in Houston... so here it goes!

This is our Hyperreal Garden wall; there's actually a fun fact about the mannequin's flower head lol. Basically, it was a total accident. We had some leftover flowers so I just went ahead and jammed them in there as a joke and then Pat goes like "I LOVE THAT!", so they stayed! They actually look pretty awesome IMHO. 

Some Hyperreal pillows... no pattern yet :$

And this is the Bespoken wall... I particularly ADORE the pattern on the wall. It should be wallpaper right? 

This was quite a show-stopper; the "blender wall", made out of strips of Pure Elements and Oval Elements, people even asked if they were painted on the wall, haha!

Aaaand the Modernology showroom which I'm madly in love with! Seriously, the last day of Market when we had to take it all out I almost cried. I might have shed a tear.

Between you and I, the sight of that bed from accross the aisle was KILLING us. 

NOTE TO SELF: Cover books with fabric as soon as I move out. The girls and I were dying when we saw how they turned out!

This dress almost makes me wanna have a daughter like, now. Almost. 

And that's Pat receiving the award for 2nd Best Double Booth! For the 2nd time in a row! Woohoo! It's cool to get the recognition for all the effort you make... and it's even cooler to hang the red award ribbon on the wall lol.

Joking around with the guys on our favorite couch... hey! After all, what is work without a little play?

Well I would show you some of the new stuff we presented but let's just keep the intrigue a little longer... it's more fun ;)

Hope you enjoyed the scoop and I'll be back soon... but before that you'll get to see some changes around here and get to meet my co-workers (and awesome friends) Angie and Kat. So yeah... stay tuned!

xo,

Fab. 

The AGF Team Talks: Meet FAB.

Hey there! This is Fab. I've been working for the past year or so as the merchandising director for Art Gallery Fabrics. Some of you are prolly like "merchandising director sounds really fancy and cool and all but... what is it exactly??" hahaha. And that's okay, I must confess sometimes I don't even know what it is since there's SO much that has to do with it.

But let's not bore you with annoying details about my job (hey, I only get one chance to make a first impression and I don't wanna be the "annoying rambling one", though I do tend to ramble a lot and there you go, I'm rambling already). 

Long story short, I'm in charge of the whole image thing. You know, styling, photoshoots, visual displays, showroom designs, you name it. Basically whatever makes our fabrics look good, hahaha, though it's not a huge challenge since they're already gorgeous ;) 

Sometimes even a lil' woodwork is necessary... (don't try it at home kids!)

Sometimes workin' under the Miami sun... (tougher than you think!) 

Sometimes even a little modeling! Hey, gotta do what you gotta do! 

Thing is, we just came back from Market a coupla days ago and it was awesome! It's actually my 4th show (my 2nd Houston!) and I figure I am now in a position to elaborate and share my insights and opinions about it. Cause when I first started I had NO CLUE what I was getting into, counting on the fact that I'm a fashion merchandising graduate and only thought of a quilt as a "thingie to cover yourself in the winter with" hahaha. 

But now, after 4 shows, I really have discovered this whole amazing sort of underground world that is the quilting and sewing industry. And I LOVE it and it's not scary anymore (well... sample spree may still give me the chills lol) and I'm getting the hang of it...

Plus I do believe there is a strong connection between my fashion background and the quilting industry; the way you mix colors, the way you make a print "work" with another, has to do a lot with fashion too. 

So stay tuned cause I'm gonna be spilling all the Market scoop with pictures and videos and cool stuff! Real soon!

Nice meeting you all, we'll talk soon ;)

xo,

Fab. 

It's showtime! (+ GIVEAWAY ALERT!)

Hey!

I'm incredibly excited about Quilt Market this weekend. Of course I'm sort of hyperventilating right now and can't even put food in my stomach but I'll be alright, haha! I'll be alright once I'm there and the booths and my showroom are all set up with no major complications... fingers crossed on that one, haha. 

But oh well it's time for Fall Market again and I can't wait to show everything I've been up to and everything Art Gallery Fabrics has to show! Wish I could leave you with a little sneak peek. Maybe I will... check back later ;)

Alright so for those who'll be there, come stop by booths #2345,2347 and 2244 and say hi!

I also have my showroom at booths #2344 and 2346 and I wanna see you all there!

And for those of you who unfortunately aren't coming, I'll post all the scoop when I get back so you won't miss out on anything...

Even though I'm not sure if I should reveal my newest collection (the one I'm presenting in Houston), I WILL give you a little somethin' somethin'! This is the ad we did for the Guide... what do you think?

Hope you like it! And look forward to seeing you and hugging you and get my picture taken with you hahah! See you there!

Love,

Pat. 

OH! and before I go, I must ask: do you like the fabrics in the quilt? Hope you do cause you can actually WIN SOME! Just go to the True Up blog, where the lovely Kim is hosting a giveaway with my Modernology collection... hurry up! and good luck!

 

 

 

Spring Market 2011 Recap (plus a video!)

Hey all! Thank you for your comments on my showroom award, we really did work hard on it so it's cool to get the recognition.

Here at my studio we're still recovering from Salt Lake City Quilt Market...the pile of to-do stuff seems to grow bigger and bigger... but that's good news, right?

Anyways, my lovely girls Angie and Kathy took a zillion pictures from our booth, my showroom, and even in the middle of the sample spree madness! Check them out!

Yeah. We took a LOT of fabric!

After Sample Spree, it was SHOWTIME:

This was the Boho Dress wall... the DVD was playing and we had the dresses surrounded by these beautiful flowers made with all my blenders. Some ladies were asking about the flowers and how to make them, so I'm making a tutorial about them soon :)

And this is the Bazaar Style wall...

 

There was also the Coquette wall...

And just in case you were intrigued to see my award-winning showroom (lol), here it is:

 As some of you might be able to tell... it's featuring the Bohemian Soul collection!

The Capri Bag PDF pattern with the new fabrics
 

Putting this whole thing together was a whole lotta work, but hey, there was also time for a little play:

My lovely girls Kathy and Fab playing rockstars... it was funny until they made me do it!

Lovely Angie...

I love this paparazzi moment! LOL  

I also had the opportunity to meet and gossip with some awesome ladies:

Daria Muirhead from Boutique Cafe. She is the sweetest reporter!

She fell in love with the new Idea Books we were showing to customers!!

Daria and Megan. Thank you so much for the interview girls!

Say hello to Kate from BeeBolt! 

And the twins we all know and love, Kim and Kris! Actually, Kris is opening her very own quilt shop... isn't that cool? And the name is even cooler: My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe :)

And this is my awesome dream-team which I couldn't have done this without! 

I'll give you un update soon on what we presented at the show... I don't wanna have you spending the whole day reading this post ;)

If you wanna see the live action, check out the video! (click on the + sign on the lower right side of the video to see it full screen)

 

Enjoy your weekend, talk to you soon!

Love,

Pat.

Home... sweet home!

Hi all!! I finally came back from Quilt Market. Oh... home, sweet home!! 

But I didn't come home alone; besides Walter, Alex and the girls, something very beautiful and that made me very proud accompanied me. 

I have tons of things to share with you... Stay tuned!

 

Love, 

Pat