OUTBACK WIFE (2017) an introduction

Hello and welcome!

Finally the time has come to introduce the new Outback Wife fabrics…the first collection saw me diving head-first into the deep end of the fabric design pool. Armed with no experience whatsoever, just a love of high quality vintage textiles and a yearning to create fabrics of the same high quality, with an authentic vintage voice so beautiful they would take your breath away.

Now, one would think I would be smart (having jumped in the deep end), and perhaps stay where I was and learn to tread water comfortably. But no, I haven’t. To create this year’s fabrics, I have paddled out to even deeper waters…

It has taken five different mills to create both Outback Wife and the Gertrude Made Essentials collection that compliments it.

Together they contain goodness-knows-how-many shades of colour (I counted them at one point and it was sitting somewhere around 400). Some of these fabrics literally have a quilting-cotton-collection worth of colour shades in them.

Some of the fabrics have been more than a 2-year journey to bring to life.

The complexity of the collection has been a real challenge.  A challenge for me, and a challenge for Ella Blue Fabrics. There have been times when I’m sure Ella Blue wondered why on earth they agreed to let me run wild on this collection. The logistics alone of coordinating and communicating with so many mills…I’m pretty sure my lovely boss at Ella Blue is ready for a vacation.

These fabrics have truly been a labour of love.

While the fabric design process has been riddled with challenges and hurdles to overcome, it’s not what makes these fabrics so special. The heart of the Outback Wife collection is the stories woven into each fabric. It gives them meaning.

Once again, I’ll be introducing and sharing the stories of my Outback Wife ladies along with the first glimpses of the designs that are an ode to their strength, courage, resilience and passion in the lead up to International Day for Rural Women which is next Sunday (October 15).

Due to the aforementioned “challenges and hurdles” these sneak peaks will literally be the very first time the designs are shown. Usually by now fabric stores have all had sneak peaks so they can place orders…not this year. International Quilt Market in Houston will be the first full showing of the collection in it’s entirety; each of the designs in all of their exquisite colourways.

To be sure you don’t miss a single step of the outback journey I’m about to take you on, please do sign up to this here little blog so you get a notification when each design with it’s story is posted.

(Don’t worry, by signing up you won’t get a million updates clogging your email…I’m such an unmotivated blogger that I’ve only made two blog posts since I shared the stories from the first collection!)

So, let’s do this, yeah? I hope you’re ready to embrace, celebrate and fall in love with my new Outback Wife collection.

Cathi xxxx