So we've talked some about what we (as in The Cotton Patch) have in store for 2022, but what about what what the quilting industry has in store for us as quilters and shops?
Let's start off with the Colors of the Year. Both Pantone and Robert Kaufman put out Colors of the Year every year that really set the tone for trends in clothing and quilting:
So if purple is your favorite color, you're in luck. We're about to see lots of purple coming through in 2022 lines. You know what else will still be hot? Gnomes. Gnomes are everywhere and you'll see them a lot especially in holiday prints - St. Patrick's Day to Halloween, to Christmas to Valentine's Day and plenty in between. And as a side note, these aren't your traditional Garden Gnome style gnomes we think of most of the time - they're more in the Scandinavian "Tomte" style.
Tonal small prints are back. Whimsy by P&B (in store now!) is a great example. Blenders are reflecting the trends too. More blender lines are incorporating popular textures (like marble) and metallics. Metallics are making their way into more than just Christmas prints. Metallic Studio by P&B (in store now!) is another great example, with more to come. Speaking of holiday prints - pink is making a major comeback in holiday prints. Looks for more vintage pink style in Christmas prints, and bright pops of pink for Halloween. Halloween prints this year will have a little more sweetness. Christmas will be either very modern, or very traditional with little middle ground.
Wovens are a thing now, but these aren't your grandma's wovens - bigger scale plaids, brighter colors, and a lot of variety. We'll do a post about this later too, but wovens are super versatile and you can use them in so many ways (and yes, combine them with other fabrics). We have a lot of these great wovens in store now. Modern is here to stay, and we're seeing it becomes more and more prevalent as it's more accepted by the "mainstream" quilting community than it was even a couple years ago. Look for more lines with approachable modern aesthetic.
Greyed down farmhouse has been all the rage the last few years, but it's finally on the way out of fabrics. Wide backs have totally exploded and companies had noted the demand. Greige good on those have vastly improved than in years past, and there is so much more variety. but something new for wide backs is we will be seeing more statement style pieces in widebacks. Looks for unique florals, very large prints, and more color range. Animal prints - meaning, prints with animals on them versus their fur patterns - are coming back big time. Domestic cats and dogs, wild big cats, and woodland creatures are going to be in a lot. Even Tula Pink's Tiny Beasts line (coming in May, we will have it!) features racoons and other forest-y animals.
We'll be seeing more sophisticated kid prints. The days of super saccharine baby prints are behind us at least for now, as is grey in kids lines. Look for more brights there too. Watercolor art in fabrics remains a major trend, especially for florals and seascape style prints. Colors are vibrant, but soft. Batiks have undergone some changes in 2022 lines too. We'll still have a prevalence of traditional batiks, but there is a real movement toward more printed artwork style and again modern aesthetic.
And finally, digital prints are here to stay. Most companies have starting putting out digital prints in some capacity, where others have gone nearly all digital. Digital is definitely the way of the future - it's cheaper for companies to produce, and the detail in the prints is sharp. It's a win-win there, and for those worried, they are colorfast. We'll do a post about washing fabrics and fabric shrinkage later.
What are you looking forward to seeing most this year? Leave us a note in the comments.
