Designer Focus - Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool & Giveaway!

Our November Featured Designer is Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool.  Verna is known for her intricate applique quilts and has released two fabric collections this year.  Here is what Verna had to say:

Verna in a top created with one of the
voiles from the October Skies collection.

I was so excited when Shabby Fabrics asked me to do a guest post about my new fabric collection October Skies for FreeSpirit Fabric. This is now my 5th fabric collection and it is hard to believe all that has happened to me in the quilting and fabric world since I began.

I started out as a student who was intrigued by quilting and just wanted to learn how to make a quilt. I took my first class over 15 years ago and have literally been quilting every day since. I was hooked from the word go and found myself soon teaching classes and building a following of people who enjoyed my teaching style and color sense.

Not long after I began to dabble in pattern design. I started The Vintage Spool with my husband Miguel when I was expecting my second son Nico back in 2004. I had always wanted a creative career and the quilt world offered me the opportunity to be an entrepreneur and a stay at home mom to my two sons Milo and Nico at the same time.

Verna's beautiful studio!

We launched with 6 pattern designs and started moving my samples around to different shops across the country. It didn’t take long for word to spread and for me to realize that my heirloom patterns struck a cord with many and filled a special niche in the market place. By our second year in business we decided we were ready to go to the International Quilt Market in Houston and that was when things really got interesting.

My quilt pattern designs were suddenly being purchased by wholesale shops and distributors all over the world. That coupled with the internet boom and word began to spread very quickly. At that same market I met Donna Wilder, previous owner of FreeSpirit Fabrics who loved my look and asked if I could do a line of fabric for FreeSpirit. I was thrilled to join such an up and coming group of designers and still feel incredibly blessed to be in such great company.

 

The first line was challenging to do as fabric design was all so new to me. When Sweet Escape debuted it was wonderful to see what a great response it got and energized me to do more lines and learn even more about the fabric world. As I began to design October Skies I realized how much I’ve learned and how much I truly enjoy working with my own fabric designs.



Verna and Jennifer



Although I’m often recognized for my soft color palette I knew I wanted to explore an autumn color theme. I did what I always do when I design and began to make a list of all that I found beautiful about the season. Sometimes I clip things from magazines or find swatches of color from fabric or paint chips. The colors were derived from everything from acorns, butternut squash, pumpkins, and especially California’s autumn sunsets (that’s where the pink comes in).



I am so excited to have both fabrics and patterns hit the market. October Skies just made its formal debut at the International Quilt Market in Houston. It is always terrific when customers finally get to see your vision. I hope they will be inspired to make some wonderful things from the collection. Both fabrics and patterns can be purchased at www.shabbyfabrics.com.

Thank you so much for letting me share about my designs.

Verna

  

Thank YOU, Verna!  We love carrying your patterns and fabrics and are happy to feature you this month!

Take a look at all of Verna's products on our website here.  Verna's last collection, Tea Cakes, was just adorable, and we still have kits available for two of her patterns using the fabric: Princess Tea Party (left) and Sugar Kisses (below).

  

GIVEAWAY!!

We are happy to announce a giveaway!  Three lucky readers will each receive a copy of Autumn Sunset autographed by Verna!  To enter, leave a comment below telling us your favorite Vintage Spool item.  One entry per person, enter until November 30, 2011.

Autumn Sunset