Tilda Fabric's new collection, Jubilee, is released tomorrow and while every Tilda release is exciting, this one is a little bit special as it's a celebration of twenty five years of Tilda.
celebrating twenty five years of fabric loveliness (photos: Tilda Fabrics)
Founded by Norwegian designer Tone Finnanger in 1999, the Tilda name was initially associated with the gracefully proportioned dolls featured in Tone's inspirational craft books, published by David & Charles. Tone then worked with Scandinavian craft manufacturers Panduro Hobby to make all kinds of delicious sewing notions: ribbons and buttons, decoupage sheets and printed storage tins. And fabric. The early ranges were designed with small scale motifs, perfect for make tiny clothes for the dolls, but of course quilters loved them too.
Tilda Flowergarden, 2010
I first stepped into the magical world of Tilda back in 2009 when I discovered Tone's Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle in a local bookshop. I've long admired Scandi home decor - having wandered in a dream through the V&A's 1997 Carl Larsson exhibition - so I found the beautiful room sets and fresh, inspiring projects captivating.
Although I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to with them, I started collecting the fabrics used in the book, which could only be ordered from from Panduro's Swedish website (I don't speak Swedish, so thank heavens for Google translate). Heady times! Needless to say, I looked forward eagerly to each new title and when I started quilting, was delighted to find more and more quilt projects in each book.
my first Tilda book Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle...
A couple of years ago I made a project for Today's Quilter in which I finally used those precious vintage Tilda prints collected a decade earlier, mixed in with prints from newer ranges. And to celebrate all things Tilda I've released Everlasting as a stand-alone pattern. You can find PDFs here and pre-order paper patterns here.
my Everlasting quilt in vintage Tilda prints...
The Jubilee collection brings together some classic Tilda prints from past collections, reworked in a bright pretty colour palette, which I've used here to reimagine Everlasting. Just in case you don't have a dedicated Tilda fabric stash to draw on.
With a name like Jubilee, I couldn't resist using the collection to recolour the London Town Sampler. There are some lovely 'red, white & blue' prints to choose from, although I suspect Tone had the Norwegian flag in mind, not the Union Jack!
a celebratory Jubilee version of the London Town Sampler...
Tilda took fabric production 'in house' in 2017, expanding their fabric ranges, adding solid fabrics and introducing pre-cuts. If time allowed I'd love to remake Jolly Brollies in a Jubilee fabric roll or Afternoon Tea with a Jubilee charm pack.
scrummy Jubilee precuts...
And if anyone is thinking of making Nesting - the £5 February PDF pattern of the month - Jubilee would be the perfect replacement for the Circus collection I used in my original.
But I can't write a post about Tilda without mentioning my lovely Canadian friend Andrea. We 'met' on Instagram back in the day, when we were both doing other things - Andrea was a vet, I was a garden designer - sharing our love for home decor, quilting and fabric (of course) especially Tilda.
As I was starting CakeStand Quilts, Andrea opened the Willow Cottage Quilt Company to retail Tilda fabric in North America and it's been a total joy to watch it grow, quite literally with the opening of her amazing studio in 2021. We've been collaborating on block of the month programmes for the last five years, nearly always featuring Tilda. And yes, we're already planning next year's quilt. Guess what fabric we'll be using...
Nicola xx