So this month is finally when my new fabric collection, Driftless starts shipping to stores! Be sure to ask your local quilt shop if they’ve ordered it! It’s a collection of my hand drawn designs overprinted on Essex, Essex Yarn Dye, and Essex Homespun!

I’m so excited to show you what I made using the collection. I’ve been busy photographing each project and then sending it back on it’s way to make a little tour (so maybe you’ll get to see some in person if you visit your local quilt shop!). All the samples were made at the very beginning of summer and I kind of love the reason to sew things and having an excuse to finish them quickly!

I figured I’d share a little about the collection today and show off a few pictures of the fabrics themselves! The inspiration for Driftless came from a spillway on the Mississippi just a few miles south down the river from where I live. I grew up along the Mississippi and it always feels right to honor that. I spent many summers on the beaches of the river and have lots of memories involving the plants! I used to love rattling the old water lily casings (I’m sure there’s a proper term for it, I just don’t know it!). There’s something mysterious about the plants that grow along the water’s edge. When it was time to sit down and design the collection it happened to be the perfect time of year, the end of summer (2018!), and we met up as a family with my mom and dad for a little hike along the water. I snapped a ton of photos and even found the water lily pod! It’s one of the main florals of the collection.

Upper Mississippi River

Other inspiration for the designs came from algea, loons, the clouds and their reflections on the water, grasses along the edge, butterfly weed, and water lilies floating along the water’s surface. The designs felt like they took on a life of their own and I feel like it was just was I was looking for.

The name of the collection, Driftless, felt appropriate because where I live is part of what is known as the Driftless area. It’s a very special place in southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois where the glaciers of the last ice age did NOT affect the landscape. In fact, the glaciers missed the area entirely, leaving steep, forested bluffs, deep river valleys, spring-fed waterfalls and cold-water trout streams. Some of the kinds of qualities you might not know about when you’re growing up here, it’s a unique area!

Driftless Kona Coordinates Bundle

I’ll be sharing my projects using Driftless over the next few posts. For now you can find Driftless starting to arrive at your local quilt shop. It comes in yardage and fat quarter bundles. I’ve also coordinated a fat quarter bundle of Kona coordinates! I’m just about to start a project using those!

I hope you can envision using Driftless in your next project! Thank you for coming along on the journey.