I met Richele Christensen a few years back at Quilt Market in Houston, Texas. She was part of the Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi team who were in the booth next door. The thing about exhibiting at a Trade Show is, if you’re truly lucky, you become connected with the people in the booths neighboring yours… after all, you spend so much time together during those long days. I consider myself the luckiest to have wound up sharing a wall with this charismatic trio… all three of whom are such good people. Through that experience, Richele and I genuinely became friends.
I noticed that Richele had sewn up many of the samples in their booth. I was drawn to her hand stitchwork… so perfectly embellishing each of the different fabrics in the collection. Her talent caught my eye and I took note. When I began considering who could sew for me with my newest collection, Reverie, I immediately reached out to Richele.
My Reverie fabrics lend themselves perfectly to hand stitched embellishments and I knew that by handing the collection to Richele, that she would leave her artistic mark and surely surpass every expectation I had. Her knack for embellishment is so evident in the Sashiko styled stitch work she did for this gorgeous pillow. To my eye, she perfectly matches stitches to fabric, enhancing the patterns in the best way…from subtle to sophisticated. I particularly like how she used a natural thread color for the hand stitching… that brings a cohesiveness to the artistry that is very effective.
Want to sew up this beauty of a pillow? It’s a perfect beginner’s project. Richele shares her pattern for the Stitched Block Pillow featuring my Reverie fabrics over on her Blog! She gives clear and concise step by step directions. Her pillow was made from the pretty and warm Powder palette of fabrics but this would be gorgeous in the cooler Celadon palette too… And, so easy to make this one yours by incorporating your own unique style of fabric enhancing stitchwork… This inspires the artist in me!
Richele also created a fantastic Tote bag with my Reverie fabrics:
I really like the way she mixed the fabrics here. Here skillful sewing and all the chosen notions and hardware are spot on! After holding this Tote bag in hand, I am hooked and want one sewn up in tons of variations of my fabrics;)
The two fabrics she used on the Tote bag’s interior are arguably my favorites… simple, clean, sophisticated patterning that was inspired by a vintage Japanese Kimono.
I absolutely love the creative collaborative process! Even when a creative knows exactly what I am aiming for, I am always blown away when the projects arrive. To see the handwork and know how much care and love went into the process of choosing just the right fabrics…adding just the right embellishment… it’s such a pleasure. I love what I do and am so grateful for talent like Richele, who helps me bring my visions to life so beautifully.
Please follow Richele on Instagram… @caliartgirl
And do check out her beautiful Blog Californiaartgirl.blogspot.com for lots of creative sewing projects!
For anyone interested in making the Redwood Tote, the pattern is by Noodlehead and can be found, here.
Shell Rummel Reverie Quilting Cotton Fabrics can be found at a Quilt Shop near you! Can’t find it? Contact Free Spirit Fabrics to locate a retailer. Or, search “Shell Rummel Reverie Fabrics by Free Spirit Fabrics” online for a list of resellers.