In March, Kevin Kosbab, of Feed Dog Designs came to speak with AQG about color theory and curating your stash for pattern and color. He laughingly confessed that his preference was for rich, saturated color which we had noticed made his quilts fun, motion-filled and eye catching. He also gave a trunk show of his quilts which are built on “a framework of rules that you break here and there.”
He mentioned that he gathers his fabrics with a general idea in mind (like the word and script novelty fabrics used in his “Paper Shredder” quilt) then he accepts those fabrics based on whether they will integrate with what the overall quilt is doing (such as how the cream color and white color behind the word fabrics integrated to give the impression of falling paper). Other examples are how he used fruit patterns in fabric to give the busy impression of a fruit market in his “Fruit Market,” or the startling effect of having eyes staring back at you in a keyhole patterned quilt, or using hand-drawn china fussy cut from different fabrics as an accent in “China Cupboard.”
Lastly Kevin gave this advice: “When in doubt, Do It Yourself,” mentioning a few times when he has dyed fabric to get a different effect or used fabric markers to change a pattern that did not work in his quilt. Thank you Kevin Kosbab for sharing your clever ideas and color know how.
