Victoria and her muse (the late) Molasses BooDillIntroducing Victoria Gertenbach, Independent Fabric Designer and Quiltist
Hi! My name is Victoria Gertenbach and I am a quilt and textile artist with a background in graphic design. I have just recently entered into the wonderful world of fabric design!
As an artist and designer, I enjoy an array of different components such as; modern and retro, bold and colorful, simple and clean. These are the elements that inspire me and that I hope will inspire you as well!
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Recently, I decided to try my hand at fabric design. As a quilt artist, and a former graphics art major, (back in the dark ages before computers) I have always had a natural curiosity about fabric design, but no clue as to how I could make this curiosity a reality. But then, a few months ago, I started hearing a lot of buzz about companies such as Spoonflower, that enabled an easy, and relatively affordable way to have your own designs printed onto fabric, and with good results.
I was intrigued and decided to give it a go! Another appealing aspect for me was that as much as I adore quilting and working with fabric, I often find that I need other creative outlets apart from just sewing. (Otherwise I start to experience burnout). Fabric designing seemed like a perfect way to remain involved with textiles, without actually having to sew! (Lets face it, part of the addiction as to why we like to sew is because we LOVE fabric!)
Being a newbie, and not really sure what I was doing, I decided to start things off simply. Using the computer and working with what I had on hand, (which is Photoshop Elements) I started designing by exploring the infinite possibilities of using simple shapes and fonts, (if you look at the stems/leaves of my flowers, they are actually altered parts of cursive letter fonts).
By subtracting and adding various elements along with playing with proportion, color and placement, I was able to easily create a variety of designs. When I had created patterns that pleased me I just uploaded them into my Spoonflower library and began playing with various layouts, (basic repeat, half-drop, half brick, and mirror repeat) as well as the design size, (initial designs are uploaded at 8" x 8" at 150 dpi but can later be changed to make them smaller.)
After playing with many, many designs I narrowed my selection to a favorite handful, which is what I currently have for sale. Looking forward, I want to keep it simple and just continue exploring and playing. For me, this is all about having fun. Currently, I have some retro barkcloth inspired designs in the works, and I want to explore more designs based on hand drawn line work. I strongly encourage anyone else who is curious about fabric design and Spoonflower to give it a go! Victoria
Victoria's Fabric in Action
Click images to go to Victoria's blogThanks so much, Victoria, for sharing. I enjoyed catching a glimpse into an artist's life and the beginning of BooDillys!
Best Wishes for many more collections to come ~rosie~
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