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Demetria Zahoudanis, Vice President of Marketing for
RJR Fabrics, gives us insight into how a fabric collection comes together.
When
Robert Callaham sat down with McCall's Quilting magazine editor
Beth Hayes in the fall of 2002 to launch the next appliqué quilt
series, he aspired to work with a grouping of fabrics that would enable
him to achieve the depth in design needed for his appliqué, as
well as featuring a new palette of colors that would dazzle and surprise
the magazine readers. As Beth listened to Robert, she thought immediately
of a favorite painting displayed prominently in her home. It showcased
elaborate bouquets of flowers colored in splashes of dusty blues, warm
peaches, raspberry reds, grass greens, yellow golds, and vanilla creams.
Robert shares, "“I was immediately drawn to the beautiful flowers
and the warmth and clarity of the colors in the painting. As I searched
for a fabric line from RJR that would resemble the color feeling of the
portrait, I hit a dead end. No current line in the RJR range had enough
variety of prints in the scales and color feeling I was looking for."
After meeting with RJR CEO Richard Cohan, and Director of Product Development
Cari Simonsen, RJR decided to launch a line of fabrics to support Robert's
appliqué quilt series for McCall's.
With Robert's careful communication to Cari Simonsen of
the kinds of fabrics he needed, to enable him to realize his vision for
the project, Robert's Floral Garden collection took shape. The first step
in developing the line was selecting from a collection of colored yarns
that matched the shading in the painting. The yarns were used to represent
the color feeling of the collection. Next, came the development of the
prints. In order for the collection to be effective, it had to combine
the key elements Robert needed in designing his project—a floral,
a border stripe, woven plaids for geometry, textured tonals and light
prints for backgrounds and accents. After six months of product development,
the collection was finalized.
Featuring a total of 31 prints and 10 plaids, Robert's
Floral Garden centers on a multicolor large-scale floral bouquet made
up of beautiful clusters of roses, lilacs and freesia openly spaced on
a background with tossed sprigs. Coordinating with the lead floral is
a breathtaking floral border design, comprised of a wide floral band outlined
by a decorative narrow floral medallion. The remaining prints contained
in the line are tonal in nature, to accent the more demanding lead floral
and border designs. To complement and extend the line are two yarn-dyed
plaids offered in five colorations pulled from the shades of the flowers
in the lead floral.
Says Richard Cohan, "This is the first time a fabric
company and leading quilting magazine have collaborated on a fabric line
and quilt project of this magnitude. We are honored to have been a part
of this unique team, and would like to personally extend our gratitude
to Beth Hayes for allowing us to play such an important role in the development
of this appliqué quilt series."
We hope McCall's Quilting readers will be inspired
by Robert's Floral Garden quilt
and fabric collection. Your continued support helps to make future collaborations
such as this possible.
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