A proper introduction (which is kinda long, but I'm giving something away at the end so I would read it if I were you)

Now that bits and pieces of my newest fabric collection have spilled here and there around the internet, I thought I should formally introduce you to Garden Party! Juliana and I just finished up some new photos for the line as shown above and I am so happy with the glowi-ness of it all. I waited as long as I could in the day to have a glowing evening sunlight and came close to not having enough time for the shoot. We went to the Cheekwood Gardens here in Nashville and both ooohed and awwwed the whole time we walked around taking pics.



My thoughts for Garden Party were first and foremost inspired by the palette of beautiful things I collected as I was preparing to host a huge engagement party for an old friend last year. I was gathering flowers, cakes, linens, cocktails mixes, wines, working in the garden, and thinking ahead to what it would be like to have such an eclectic group of people in my home all to celebrate the happy couple on a sweltering hot August evening. I thought about all the elements that pull a party together, from the bouquets on the tables to the tiles on the dancefloor and the sometimes quirky, sometimes romantic combinations of different personalities meeting up for the first time. I was inspired by the optimism of the 50's and the clever swank of the 40's.



The colorways were inspired by thoughts of a sunny morning of preparations slowly growing into an afternoon of fierce anticipation and finally a night of low-lit celebration. My memories of the evening are mesmerizing...... the way the fading light intensified the gardens around our gathering and how the energy of the guests maintained through the last glass of wine. I wanted the line to be colorful, but not without mood, so I set in some deep saturated tones.



Above is the Morning Palette. I've been wanting to use this little piece of free html that attaches to a flickr set for a while. Perfect excuse and nice to not have to load all the big pic files into this post.



Above is the Afternoon Palette. You'll notice that each slide has the title and fabric style number listed below. Keep going to the right (numbered pages below icons) to see more icons in the slideshow.



And the Evening Palette. Each of the images represents about 12 x 18" of fabric. This collection is the regular lovely and versatile quilting cotton weight and 45" wide. There are a total of 44 fabrics (whew) in the whole collection. Lots and lots of possibilities!



And this is the "Garden Wall" quilt that will be available here very soon. And speaking of available, most stores will be receiving their Garden Party shipments in the next few weeks. We'll have it up in the AMShop, just as soon as I'm all rested and back from vacation. (In fact some lucky ducks have already gotten a few surprise scraps in their scrap bags!)

You know. I'll be in such a good mood by the time I get back from the beach (as opposed to all the bad moods I'm typically steaming through) that I just might feel like sending a cordial invitation, in the form of a fabric stack, for a Garden Party in your sewing studio. Perhaps to a few of you. It is a party! Anyone? Join me? Pick your favorite fabric from the collection and leave the name of it in a comment. Take your time, I'll be busy sunning my lazy bones between chasing sandy-reared children up and down the coast of South Carolina. Be back in about ten days.

I'll miss you and have fun looking, hope you love it! It is for you, after all.

xoxo, Anna