Totally tropical

 I'm so pleased with this collection I designed for Makower UK recently. It's call Tropica and includes jungle animals as well as florals, butterflies and decorative prints in a juicy colour palette.

I started by creating the main print which is called 'Wildlife'. After deciding on the colour palette of pinks, purples, greens and blues, I then collated a host of images to create a crowded scenic design. Giraffes, zebras and leopards hide amongst fantastical foliage. This scenic is on a deep blue background.

I took elements from the main print to create this crowded foliage design. This version uses shades of pink and purple on a burgundy background.

I decided to use the butterflies from the main print as a cute pink tossed butterfly design. In the background is a dotty detail that adds texture to the ground.

Pretty mini floral.

This is the main wildlife print on a deep purple background.

A decorative botanical sarasa design on a pretty turquoise background.

The mini foliage design looks great on this navy background which brings out the vibrant colours of turquoise and pink in the foliage.

Butterflies on a green background.

This mosaic design is a great colour carrier and includes shades of blue, turquoise, green and pink.

Fabric Friday

This Friday I'd like to mention some fabrics I designed many years ago! The reason I'd like to mention them is that they were the starting point to the naming of my business - Cheeky Leopard.

It was about 18 years ago, I was living in New York and working for a textile company called Fabric Traditions. Back then, we created all our designs through hand painting and this particular group was based on safari animals. With each group of designs, we created a collection that included about 5 to 8 designs that compliment each other. The main print generally tends to be an allover design and is the one that guides the rest of the designs. Each image was hand drawn in pen and ink and then the colours were painted in using goache paint.

The design above was the main design in the group and shows a variety of safari animals on a black background. I was hoping to include a leopard in this design, but a cheetah got in instead!

The bamboo design made a pretty allover and was something that was quite versatile.

The fact that it doesn't have such a strong safari theme makes it a more usable fabric.

The fabric above is a stripe design and this is where you will find the cheeky leopard that is the namesake for my business! You will see him to the right of the image, cheekily looking over his shoulder.

The banana leaves above make a nice set design.

This chequerboard design incorporates many images from the group, including a leopard print and a zebra print. Many quilters like to use this type of format to create a cheater quilt if you have little time. It means that the fabric already appears to be sewn together in squares so that you can then just use running stitch over the top to quilt it.

I liked the idea of bringing in a green colouring so applied it to an allover leaf design.

Seeing these designs has made me want to go back to hand painting. There is something so therapeutic about using a paint and brush. I will have to find a nice project to start with. Maybe painting some of my bags would be a start?!