Melanie Testa: Meadowlark

After a wonderful holiday weekend, what could be better than getting some beautiful fabric in the mail? 

Meadowlark

by Melanie Testa

Windham Fabrics and artist/sewist/designer Melanie Testa hit the jackpot with this amazing combination of fabric designs.  Melly is known for her unique surface designing abilities, and combined with her love of color and cloth, she has created this absolutely beautiful collection of fabrics that combine her own unique stamping and surface designs with color co-coordinating prints and blending solids.

My fabulous packet of 10" squares arrived this week, and I could not wait to open it up and lovingly lay each beautiful piece down...all over everything. I could not believe how beautifully they co-ordinated with each and every room in my house..and my rooms are all different and in different colorways!

Somehow this collection just brought out whatever tone needed to be brought out and every single piece just melded into one gorgeous display of color, print, blender, or even as a whole. It didn't seem to matter what style of furniture, or decorating accents I had used in each room.

I had way too much fun taking each piece's photo on my vintage quilts which grace my loft wicker daybed in my sewing studio!  Here are just a few, I'm trying so hard not to 'get carried away' by showing ALL of my photos  ;-)

I loved that whether my decor was traditional, vintage, more modern, or my personal favorite 'eclectic', Melly's fabric fit right in.

Check it out at the Windham Fabrics site...they are even more gorgeous when you see them in larger viewing size than what I managed here with my own photos! And because I love to play, I actually lay each piece down against my vintage daybed decor and took photos of each square just to prove how wonderfully they all seamlessly fit right in.

Gorgeous fun! Now, that I have played with them and have them all out of the colorway order that they arrived in, I can't decide which ones I love the most...guess I'll just have to use every single one of them ;-) 

Oh, it's just so nice getting something so lovely, and so much fun in the mail!  Thank you, Windham Fabrics, the amazing and talented Melanie Testa, and the oh so lovely Vivien Zepf who introduced me to these beautiful fabrics during Melly's blog hop!

So much fun..."After a wonderful holiday weekend, what could be better than getting some beautiful fabric in the mail?"...Why, thinking of wonderful and creative ways to use it, of course!!!

But first, I need to take a bit of a lie down on my daybed and just wallow in lovely fun for a while....ahhhhhhh ....

.

"Meadowlark" by Melanie Testa

Store Locator for this fabric line

And to show my appreciation for this wonderful packet of fabrics and to learn more about Melly's new line of fabrics and see some of the amazing things that others have created from them, check out the links from the following textile artists/sewists/quilters

Vivien Zepf
Chrissie D
Sue Bleiweiss
Leslie Tucker Jenison   
Jamie Fingal
Lyric Kinard
Jen Eskridge
Jacqui Holmes Calhoun
Stephanie Forsyth
Victoria Findlay Wolfe
Teri Lucas
Scott Hansen
Helen Eckard

Meadowlark

by Melanie Testa

 

And what's in a name? And why "Meadowlark" you ask?
Melly is an ardent birder, or lover of birds. 

 Melanie Testa - Martha Stewart Living   What inspires you?

Birds. I am passionate about birds. The main print, the bird print in the Meadowlark by Windham Fabrics line features 6 of the Audubon's list of Common Birds in Decline. These birds have declined in population by 72% in the last forty years, in some cases. If we act now, by learning the needs of and accommodating those needs, these birds can flourish-but they need our help. As an artist and a lover of birds, I decided to create my own awareness campaign to help these birds in whatever way I can.

Western Meadowlark 

Sturnella neglecta  

ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: ICTERIDAE

"The buoyant, flutelike melody of the Western Meadowlark ringing out across a field can brighten anyone’s day. Meadowlarks are often more easily heard than seen, unless you spot a male singing from a fence post. This colorful member of the blackbird family flashes a vibrant yellow breast crossed by a distinctive, black, V-shaped band. Look and listen for these stout ground feeders in grasslands, meadows, pastures, and along marsh edges throughout the West and Midwest, where flocks strut and feed on seeds and insects. "

Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska. Sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting, with small format art quilts, prayer flags, and comfort quilts for a variety of charitable programs. And best of all, sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join her and make and donate quilts to charitable causes.   Help us change the world, one little quilt, art quilt, and prayer flag at a time!