Happy Monday!! We’re getting some lovely Spring weather today… and sunshine, lots of SUNSHINE! Here’s hoping you’re getting some in your part of the world as well;). We’re in our second week of Moda Mondays, a super fun series designed to showcase a stunning lineup of thread collections by our treasured Moda Designers. Check in here every Monday to learn more!
True Blue by Brigitte Heitland (Zen Chic) captures all the different hues that we love about jeans: from white over a pastel washed-out blue, powder blue, and classic indigo to darker tones like night blue and nearly black. Modern reminiscences of Dutch Delft tiles make for beautiful large floral prints. Combined with medium scale coordinates, partly geometric, partly organic and small-scale blenders Zen Chic’s brand new collection offers everything a quilter’s heart or a denim lover can long for.
Brigitte’s coordinating thread collection is timeless and versatile featuring 50wt threads in shades of blue with pops of gold and yellow.
THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
True Blue
12 Large Spools, 50wt (1422yds/spool), 100% Aurifil Cotton
2021 – 2800 – 2846 – 5008 – 1248 – 2783
2785 – 2930 – 5022 – 4655 – 4669 – 4665
THE INTERVIEW
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got started in the world of sewing and quilting?
Sewing was always a passion of mine, I learned it as a six year old child. But growing up in Germany, I didn’t learn about quilting before I got to be about 40 years old. By that time I stumbled upon a book of Kaffe Fassett and was fascinated. I had to give it a try and have been hooked ever since.
Do you remember the process of making your first quilt and how you felt once it was complete?
My first quilt was a simple windmill quilt with cotton fabrics I bought at the shop around the corner (no, they weren’t beautiful or fancy at all, not even quilt fabrics). I loved the process and working very accurately is always something I like to do. I was proud of my first little table runner, gave it to my mum, who still displays it on a little coffee table.
Who or what has been your greatest creative inspiration?
Interior design – it’s my huge love and will always be. All kinds of things I can find in a beautifully styled room (especially the Scandinavian ones): the color schemes, patterns of carpets, tapestry, porcelain, vases, modern art – strolling through modern styled interior design magazines is my personal heaven.
How did you first connect with Moda and what do you love most about working with them?
We found each other 2011 at international Quilt Market in Salt Lake City. This was the Market I debuted – I had no name, no blog, no book, nobody knew me. I have never been there before. I just believed in my dream, bought a flight ticket, booked a booth and showed up. Fate placed me and my booth next to Moda, they liked my style and offered to work with me.
I couldn’t believe it – for me it was like winning the lottery. Since then we released 13 collections, and more are on their way. It is just fantastic to work with a leading fabric manufacturer in this industry – it has opened so many doors for me: most important – I can share my passion and my talent with those people in the world who have the same interests. I can live my dream of designing and creating. I travel internationally for my business and see so many new parts of the world, I can teach and get to know so many talented people. Moda is like a family for me. Everybody including the leaders takes care for the people in the team – if someone gets seriously sick, there is so much loving support. The climate between the designers is not at all competitive, but rather very friendly and supportive. It is a wonderful company to work with, indeed!
What did you love most about putting your latest collection, True Blue, together for them? What inspired the collection?
The collection was inspired by denim-style. Denim is a timeless fashion, always trendy, but these days it is also a hot trend in quilting. Making quilts or bags with recycled jeans or with fabrics which match this style is just cool. True Blue is a companion to denim is quilting quality: It matches the complete color range from washed out jeans over regular blue jeans over dark blue to black. It gives you large scale floral prints to make skirts or bags or borders and backings for quilts; it gives you medium scale geometrics – hey a shirt of the circle print would look good on a man! And small scale blenders which fit well in any shop to blend in with other collections.
Do you have a favorite project made with the collection?
Oh yes, the wall quilt Globe is an absolute stunner. When I designed this quilt pattern I first hesitated to go for it: it needs paper piecing and Y-seams and I was not sure if people would be willing to take this effort. So I gave it a try with a smaller print run – and boom – it became the bestseller of this series and booklet patterns are meanwhile sold out (only PDFs available).
What is your favorite thing to make?
Piecing. Piecing patches together, may it be for a bag or a quilt, is still my favorite part of the sewing process. Or a garment like a dress or a skirt.
When did you first discover Aurifil threads and what do you love most about them?
It was pretty soon when I stepped into the industry, that Aurifil came to my attention. Actually it was even before I started my business that I read the raving comments on all kinds of blogs and get curious about that name I hadn’t heard of so far. People praised the beautiful colors and the fiber quality, said „this is my favorite thread“. So quite from the beginning on I bought that brand at my distributor and I have to say – they didn’t disappoint. I use them for piecing as well as for my long arm quilting business and the quality is superb: There is a certain shimmer which shows on the sewing surface, I like that. And of course the beautiful large color range.
Do you have a favorite color/weight and why?
My favorite color is light grey 50WT – not because this is fancy. Just because I can’t live without that versatile hue which matches every project and has the perfect weight for piecing.
How did you go about selecting threads for your latest Aurifil collection, True Blue?
When I select the thread color assortment matching one of my collections I try to step into the shoes of the quilter: She needs lights and darks and mediums – so I pick those according to my fabric colors. But she might also need an accent color to enhance the project with some seams (e.g. topstitching on bags or so). Therefore I added the accents mustard and ochre to the blues. And then I think of the quilting process – I added variegated threads for the quilt surface. Can you imagine a solid backing with the quilting motive in a multicolored thread – this is especially cool.
What top thread tip would you want to share with our readers?
It is more a practical tip – spoil yourself with a good thread spool organizer, maybe a box or a rack where you can display the spools well sorted.
It is not only eye candy – it is so much more fun, if you see, what you have and find it easily.
Where can we find you this year?
You will find me at Pour l’Amour du Fil in France (Nantes, April) and at International Quilt Market in St. Louis in May. And I will travel a lot throughout Europe to teach classes.
ZEN CHIC WISDOM
If you’re not already following Brigitte on Instagram, we recommend following her right away! In between posts about her own projects, her family, and projects that others have created with her fabrics, Brigitte shares Zen Chic Wisdom. We absolutely adore the messages that she shares! <3
THE GIVEAWAY
To enter-to-win 1 Large True Blue Thread Collection and one Layer Cake of True Blue by Brigitte Heitland for Moda, click here to head to the Rafflecopter entry page, or simply click on the image above. You do not have to complete all the options to be entered but the more options you choose, the more entries you have! Entries will be accepted from now through 11:59pm Eastern Time on Sunday, April 16! Winner will be randomly selected and announced here on Monday, April 17. Good luck!
UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Susan Green!!
ABOUT BRIGITTE
Website — Blog — Facebook — Instagram — Pinterest — YouTube — Twitter
Brigitte started sewing at the age of six, mostly clothes, and loved to have unique things to wear. When it was time to choose a profession, she knew it would be something creative. She decided upon Interior Design but was drawn to all of the students in the room next to her working with needles and thread and so she ended up as a student of Textile Design.
In her mid age, it happened that she stumbled upon a wonderful pictured quilting book and was hooked at once. She had to try it herself and became hopelessly addicted to patchwork. Of course, she needed fabrics, lots and lots of different fabrics to dive in. She started her own little online shop with quilting fabrics and eventually worked to create her own collection. It led to her roots in Interior Design: when developing a fabric or even a design for a quilt the entire impression of a room was considered. She sees the light, the furniture, the color concept, the style and her quilts become a natural element of this scene, fitting in harmoniously. Brigitte loves having clarity in a room, an environment of simplicity where you are surrounded by only the things you really need and love, where you can relax, find your inner peace and balance. Her quilts are take on this concept, reduced, pure, and clear.
ABOUT MODA
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