Kaffe Fassett Studio - Winter Newsletter - February 2010

Hello, Hello,

It is hard to believe that 2009 has come and gone. Valentine's Day is out of the way and Chinese New Year is upon us. Snowdrops are the only flower in the bleak winter garden and whilst new buds are teasing their way through, bird songs are breaking through the cold air and finally days are getting longer, hurray! It has been a cold and bleak winter here in London so we are grateful for the change.

Kaffe had a productive visit with his family in late December and over the New Year. Some of you may have caught up with him for the workshops and lectures he held in Monterey and Santa Barbara, California, which I hear, went very well indeed. I trotted off to a place I've always wanted to visit, in the seductive Emerald Island of the Indian Ocean - Sri Lanka. I found myself soaking up every bit of the journey, taking in as much as possible from the colourful food markets, foliage on the trees and the tea plantations to absorbing the hustle and bustle of the everyday street life. For New Year I had the luxury of experiencing the underwater world of the magnificent Maldives. Such a treat to behold for anyone who has the chance to go there. Returning to grey London was a bit of a shock as you can imagine so beginning new projects to get the creative juices flowing was just the tonic.

Westminster Fibers had sent samples of some of our designs printed on Laminated Fabric so I had a few rain coats made up in different styles to show off the fabrics and also to put them in shops to encourage others to make them for themselves and to inspire further ideas for using Laminated fabrics as more than just tablecloths, food for thought for all of you. Here is a picture of a few of the samples modelled by some of the Westminster ladies at the office in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Some of the designs from The Kaffe Fassett Collective Fabrics are now available in upholstery weight fabric, corduroy, rayon and fleece and are used on a range of products from umbrellas, bowls, shopping bags and eye glasses. Kaffe has just sent off 4 fabulous new designs for glasses, so keep your eyes out for those (excuse the pun!)

March 2nd sees the launch of Kaffe and Liza Lucy's latest patchwork book titled 'Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts' published by Stewart Tabori Chang (STC books) in New York (buy now from Amazon US / UK ). This inspirational book focuses on taking shapes from our everyday surroundings, like circles, triangles, squares etc and using them in quilt structures. Barnes & Noble have done a very nice clip on the book which you might enjoy. This Spring Liza, Kaffe and myself will be driving from New Hope PA to New York, Pittsburg, St Louis, Paducah, Knoxville, Charlotte and North Carolina giving workshops, lectures and book signings. So look for the red van piled high with quilts as we burn rubber driving across the States.

Please check calendar events on our websites: Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably for more information on our whereabouts.

Because of the extensive tour in the USA we sadly will not be at the Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis along with our other fellow designers for Westminster. In the meantime I wanted to share with you this joyous fabric collage Kaffe put together to advertise the Kaffe Collective fabric range. On our behalf Westminster will be launching our latest collection of fabrics, Five jolly new designs in six glorious colour ways each from Kaffe, Philip Jacobs and myself. (I must say that I am wriggling in my seat to see what people do with them)

In the meantime Kaffe is also working on a range of rugs for Peking Handicraft Inc . Six rugs are available now to buy (including Bekah shown). On the knit side the latest Peruvian Connection catalogue has three new beautiful hand knit designs from Kaffe. Also Vogue Knitting proudly featured one of my latest designs in their last magazine (top of page). The pattern is available on their website. Ehrman needlepoint will be coming out with their long awaited new needlepoint catalogue featuring new designs like my 'Cockfight' panel (top of page) and Kaffe's Blue and White Flower Basket (below).

We send you all good wishes and much creative energy. I hope that all this information gives you food for thought. Join me on Facebook where I post random mentions now and again.

Onwards and upwards we go.

Sent with all good wishes
Brandon Mably
Studio Manager

	For more information on any of the above or information on new designs, etc. please visit Kaffe or Brandon's sites.  All best wishes Brandon Mably Studio Manager Kaffe Fassett Studio
Kaffe Fassett