We were fantastically honoured to receive a visit from one of our favourite designers - in person! Krista Hennebury of PoppyPrint, no less, squeezed a whole afternoon into her tight UK tour schedule to join us here at Oakshott.
Krista, whose home is Vancouver, Canada, is an acclaimed exponent of the Modern Quilt Movement. She teaches far and wide across Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Europe and on this trip was taking in quilt groups from Edinburgh to London. Amongst other specialisms, Krista shares her Improv Under the Influence piecing technique, made famous by her award-winning Chess on the Steps Quilt... which just happens to feature Oakshott cottons.
These fabrics give the quilt a luminescence that flat cottons just can't replicate, says Krista.
Even with the benefit of modern communications, there's simply nothing to beat meeting face-to-face. Michael demonstrated the intricacies of specifying warp and weft combinations to develop new fabric collections (below) while Krista offered her designer perspective on colour and fabric selection. Time evaporated as thoughts and ideas were exchanged and plans emerged for future projects. Watch this space!
All too soon, it was time to go and Krista's (camera-shy) 'minder', Pennie Haslehurst of Tuppence Ha'penny Quilts (@tuppencehapennyquilts) whisked her off on the next leg of the tour.
See Krista's designs using Oakshott cottons.
Discover more from Krista at poppyprintcreates.blogspot.co.uk or follow her @poppyprint.
Thank you for your reply. What a job Michael has! I’d often wondered how the fabric got its secondary colour (or its luminescence).
This is a great question, Isabel! I’m sorry to tell you that we weren’t giving you a sneak preview of a new range. It’s actually an illustration of new product development in action – Michael (Oakshott) had specified a number of warp and weft threads, asking the weavers to combine them for us in a test sample. The image shows the result, known as a ‘blanket’, in which each individual square represents one of the many possible warp and weft combinations.
As you can see, Michael was presented with literally hundreds of options. The challenge then lies in selecting just a few shades – perhaps 12 or 16 – which complement one another and will work together in a project. Eventually, these will become a new fabric collection. This is the process in a nutshell, though in reality of course it may take a number of iterations.
Thank you for asking the question – you’ve reminded us that this story may interest others too. So I’ll be gathering more images and posting a piece on the site shortly.
I’m loving the fabric in the second photo of you and Krista. Is it a new line, possibly?
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