lori mason | Night Quilter

Last month I had a revelation during some early evening vacation hand-stitching: wine and fabric go splendidly together. My first serendipitous pairing of wine and fabric has resulted in a habit of maybe choosing wine based upon its fabric-pair-ability, and in seeing various types of wine and fabric mates all over the place.

While my first wine and fabric duo were quite specific, pairing the specific wine with a single fabric line, this match is a bit more general: Sauvignon Blanc pairs wonderfully with low volume & mostly-white fabrics. This is good news for all of us! The next time you’re working on a project involving low volume prints, you know a Sauvignon Blanc will be just the varietal for you (especially on these hot summer nights)!

Bonterra has been producing wine from 100% organic grapes since 1993, and they passionately believe that organic grapes make better wine. Since I already opt for as much organic food as I can, and after trying their Sauvignon Blanc, I can’t disagree.

What is wine? Some might say it’s a fine beverage meant for a glass. We won’t argue with that. But we at Bonterra believe that a wine should also be a perfect expression of the grape from which it’s made and the land on which those grapes are grown. (from Bonterra’s website)

Yes! I would add that wine should also be paired with a fabric that is a perfect expression of the varietal or flavor. I have decided to step up to that task. I grabbed a stack of some of my favorite low volume, mostly white fabrics, and a bottle of Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc and headed to Crescent Beach in Owls Head, Maine for a photo shoot. Crescent Beach has gorgeous fine white sand that sparkles in the sunlight, a rarity in Maine where rocky coasts are the norm. The stones that meet high tide are smooth, round, and often white, so I knew this was the perfect location for the blanc-low volume shoot.

The perfect pair:

Fabric
Any low volume or primarily white fabrics.
My stash grab includes:

Collection/Designer/Manufacturer

Botanics/Carolyn Friedlander/Robert Kaufman Fabrics
Some unknown sketchy cloud print
April in Paris-French Themed, Script Noir//Timeless Treasures
Koyoto Garden/Lori Mason/Andover Fabrics
Comma/Zen Chic/Moda Fabrics
Sylvia/Lotta Jansdotter/Winham Fabrics
Eclectic Elements/Jim Holtz/Coats

Wine
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Producer: Bonterra
Vintage: 2013

Description of wine from the label: Intense aromas of grapefruit, citrus, kiwi and fresh cut grass greet the nose. As you drink, the crisp acidity gives the wine a fresh vibrant feel with flavors of grapefruit, lime zest and grass that closes with favors of melon and a nice tart finish.

A perfect pair, indeed.

April is nearing its end, which means I’ve been shop hopping every chance I get. On Saturday, I went on a whirlwind 10 hour trip up the coast of Maine from Freeport to Nobleboro, visiting six shops before calling it a day. I will be introducing you to all of the shops I’ve visited in the next few weeks, but will spread them out a bit.

With all of this shop hopping going on the past few weeks, I’ve been really itching to start a new project. More specifically, a new quilt. I’ve been quite drawn to low volume, black and white, and grey tone fabrics lately, and have developed a fairly decent stash of them, at least for a beginner like me. I have decided it’s time to pull them out and get them into a quilt. During my epic shop hop along the Maine coast on Saturday, I bought the fabric needed to supplement my stash and I got started cutting last night. I’m so excited about this quilt!

This quilt will contain fabric from many of my all-time favorite designers, and seeing all of these gems together makes me very, very happy. Little glimpses of Carolyn Friedlander’s Botanics & Architextures, Lotta Jansdotter’s Sylvia, Denyse Schmidt’s Chicopee, Anna Maria Horner’s True Colors, Sarah Jane’s Wee Wander, Laurie Wisbrun’s Perfectly Perched, Lori Mason’s Koyoto Garden, Brigitte Heitland’s Zen Chic, Violet Craft’s Madrona Road, Beth Studley’s Henna, and more. I need some Alison Glass and Tula Pink in there… who am I missing? In my eyes, it’s the all-stars of the modern fabric design world all in one.