I’m pretty sure I can attribute my love of denim to the Levi’s jacket that my father wore for as much of my childhood as I can remember, and that I still wear today. The fact that there are amazing new, modern denims being made now is a sewer’s dream come true!

Art Gallery Fabrics is definitely blazing this modern denim trail and I could not pass up the opportunity to contribute to their Denim 2.0 Blog Tour and show you some of the newest additions to their already amazing collection of denims.

When I saw the new Crosshatch Textured Denim, I knew I had to do a home decor project. I have been wanting to make Amy Butler’s Gumdrop Floor Pillows for YEARS, since long before I was sewing regularly, but now was finally the time.

ABOUT THE FABRICS

The crosshatch textured denim is 100% cotton and a heavier weight, 10 oz vs. the 4 to 4.5 oz of     the solid smooth denims that would be considered quilting or light apparel weight, making it perfect for this project. I would equate it to a soft, denim canvas. It comes in gray (Clouded Horizon), which I used here, dark blue (Rainy Night) and a medium blue (Babbling Brook) and in addition to decor projects, it could also be used for bags, upholstery, and even as a durable quilt back.

The crosshatch denim is definitely interesting enough to stand on its own (I would love to upholster an armchair!), but I wanted to have some fun and incorporate a print from Bari J’s newest line, Joie de Vivre, because, pretty flowers! I decided to do a little appliqué and add a three dimensional element using a fabric rose technique that is a favorite of mine for making brooches and hair clips.

The beautiful white, red, and pink denims I used to create the roses are part of another new addition to The Denim Studio, a collection of light weight yarn dyes in the most amazing colors. They are just a tad lighter than the solid smooth denims and have a little bit of a different feel, very soft and almost linen like, but 100% cotton.

I have an old tutorial that you can find here on how to create the fabric roses. For the multicolored ones, I simply pieced thin strips of different colors together before pressing in half and rolling into shape.

After fussy cutting the roses from the Joie de Vivre print, I secured them with a raw edge appliqué style stitch using my machine and then I hand stitched the three dimensional roses in place afterwards.

The lace butterflies are cut from a trim that I purchased on eBay for a different project. As so often happens, they were sitting on my cutting table while I was working on my pillow and it all just clicked. They are the perfect accent and I think I would feel that something was missing without them.

Because I loved the floral print so much, I decided to use it on two full panels of the pillow along with the gray denim, and I absolutely love it! I used a fusible featherweight interfacing on these before cutting them.

All of the fabrics I used on this project were a dream to work with. It came together flawlessly and has an amazing look and feel to it, I could not be any happier with how this came out.

The AGF denims are seriously my go-to for everything – quilts, bags, decor, garments. Since they debuted The Denim Studio collection, I have included them in about 95% of my projects. For someone who does not like to use solids (me, me, me!), denims are a perfect alternative. They are technically a “basic”, but there is nothing basic about them. They are classic and timeless and we all know they go with everything!

Denims are the new denim! Wait? Denims are the new black? For the quilting world, maybe I should say denims are the new white! Regardless, I encourage you to give them a try. I guarantee you’ll fall in love.

ABOUT THE PATTERN

Even though I consider myself a fairly well-versed, experienced sewist at this point, I’ll admit I was a tad intimidated by this pattern. It’s big, it’s three dimensional, it has an invisible zipper, BUT it was quick, easy, and immensely satisfying! If it wasn’t so awkward to ship, I would be making these for everyone on my holiday gift list. Think anyone would care if I sent it flat and told them they had to stuff it themselves?! Seriously, Im going to be overrun by these things.

The pattern includes two sizes, 18″, which is what I’ve shown here, and a larger 24″ version. That size is the width across the piece. The 18″ one measures about a foot high.

I am currently working on a 24″ one now using another of my favorite prints from Joie de Vivre and more of the new yarn dye denim in a gorgeous tealy blue. I will be blogging about the process, the embellishment technique I’ll be using, and a few tips and tricks about putting it all together, if anyone is interested in making one themselves. I’ll be sharing that next week, so stay tuned!

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THAT’S A WRAP!

I truly hope this project has inspired you to work with new materials or try new techniques, and that you take a moment to check out the other inspiring projects on the Art Gallery Fabrics Denim 2.0 Blog Tour. I have seen them all, and trust me when I say they are unique and amazing!

Here is the full lineup:

Monday- Christopher http://www.thetattooedquilter.com

Tuesday – Nicole, that’s me!

Wednesday – Sari http://www.sariditty.com/

Thursday – Jenn http://gingerpeachstudio.com/

Friday – Mathew https://misterdomestic.net/

You can also follow along on instagram with the hashtags #AGFdenimtour2point0 and #thedenimstudiobyAGF.

happy stitching!
~nicole