Do you remember your childhood home? The place you grew up and found yourself? Filled with cherished memories? Sweetwater is celebrating their childhood home with their newest collection for Moda Fabrics, Road 15. The Sweetwater ladies are here to chat about Road 15, so keep reading for a closer look.
Q:
Where did you find your original inspiration for Road 15?
A:
Our inspiration came from the address our family had for more than 50 years, on Road 15. My parents recently moved into a new house but we wanted to pay tribute to the place we will always call home.
Q:
What was your “aha” moment in designing this collection?
A:
We had planned to include our blog readers' addresses into one of the designs, but we were going to call the collection "Fifth and Main". Then one of us had the idea to make it a little more personal and call it Road 15. Perfect. We all fell in love with the name.
Q:
What would be your collection's theme song?
A:
The first song I thought of is "Country Road" from John Denver. However, the lyrics have "West Virginia" instead of "Colorado", so maybe we will go with "The House That Built Me" from Miranda Lambert. That song has made me cry before, and now I avoid listening to it because I get so emotional.
Q:
You included real addresses in the collection. Tell us about that idea and how you incorporated the addresses into your design?
A:
We try to design collections that relate to people. Everyone has an address or a childhood address, so we wanted to make it personal to the quilters out there that follow our blog, Instagram or Twitter. We received thousands of responses and we hope that all of them made it into the design! People have fun trying to find their address in the fabric, and we are frequently asked if a certain address made it. The answer is always "I don't know"- we don't have a master list or anything of the addresses, so you will have to search!
Q:
Tell us about your backgrounds. How did you enter into the world of fabric and quilt design?
A:
My mom has always been a quilter. She started the company "Farmyard Creations" when my sister and I were young. I have a degree in Business and my sister in Animal Science. Neither one of those really screams "fabric designer". However, after a few years out of college, we decided to start a scrapbook company called "Sweetwater". We designed paper and scrapbook accessories for about 8 years. In 2008, we got the incredible opportunity to design fabric for Moda. We then switched from paper to fabric. It worked great because my mom has years of experience in pattern design. So her original company, "Farmyard Creations" merged with the paper company "Sweetwater" and now we have a fabric and pattern design company.
Q:
What is the collaboration process like when designing a new collection?
A:
To be honest, it can be a fight sometimes! Not a nasty fight, but we definitely have our own opinions. The two basic things we must decide on are the theme and the colors. Sometimes it's easy and the idea just comes to us, and sometimes it's more challenging. For example, in our next collection (after Road 15), we changed our theme about a week before the collection was due, and then all of our colors were changed the night before we had to send it in. Road 15 was much easier. We all agreed pretty early on and the colors never changed throughout the design process, which is very rare.
Q:
What is your favorite print in the collection?
A:
That is a tough one- like choosing your favorite child! But if I had to pick one, I would go with the house print, Main Street in black. It reminds me of a chalkboard.
Q:
What projects do you hope to see made with Road 15?
A:
We always hope people use our fabric to create something meaningful. And if someone finds their address in the design, we hope that whatever they make will be something that is passed down for generations.
We are just head-over-heels for this warm, nostalgic collection. Did you submit an address for Road 15? Our very own Debbie Taylor did! Let us know if we should look out for your address too!
Labels: Designer Tidbits, Moda Fabric, Quilt Kits, Quilt Patterns
