Detail from "Rain Dance," an original quilt by Sherrie Spangler

Friday, June 23, 2017

Visiting Marcia Derse, fabric designer


Marcia Derse with some of her fab fabric.
Yesterday I took a ferry with nine other members of Gig Harbor Quilters to visit fabulous fabric designer Marcia Derse on Whidbey Island.

While we were there, look who else we ran into! Johnny Depp was helping to advertise an All You Can Eat Chocolate Event in Langley, near where Marcia has her shop. Okay, so it's a cardboard Johnny, but it looks pretty real.


Marcia's shop, which she shares with some other artists, is called Side Market. Here's the link:  http://www.marciaderse.com/side-market/


She showed us swatches of all the fabric she has designed. She designs it by dying and doing other surface design on fat quarters and then sends those pieces of fabric to her fabric company, Windham Fabrics, which has it printed in Japan. From one swatch she can have them print that design in any combination of colors from her palette.


I love the rich colors and loose, almost primitive patterning. Below is a different, more intricate style that she's designed for fall 2017 release.


Here is a wall hanging she made using colors from her palette.


Afterward, we had lunch at an outdoor cafe across the way and wandered through the little shops and gardens. The weather was perfect -- sunny and about 70.


Chess, anyone?


Then we drove a few miles into the heart of Langley and took in this amazing view of the Cascades and water.


After an iced mocha for me and gelato for the others, it was back onto the ferry for the ride home.



Have a colorful day

4 comments:

Robbie said...

What a cool day trip!!! Johnny looks REAL!!! He was one of my favs but I lost respect for his latest statement...lost several points in my eyes now. Glad you enjoyed your trip!!

Lynda said...

Wow! What a great day! I remember Marcia from a segment on Quilting Arts that I still have on my DVR! I loved her fabric and her approach to surface design. She was so inspiring. Thanks for sharing your fun excursion!

Judy Sall Fiber Art said...

What a great day that must have been! I will have to check her fabric line out... love what I can see from her swatches! Enjoy that beautiful weather!

The Idaho Beauty said...

I usually read that designers do watercolor renditions of designs to submit for translation onto fabric. It always seemed odd to me because that would mean you would have to be good at painting as well as quilting. But to submit actual fabric you have dyed and then used various surface design techniques on makes more sense to me. And I love what she is doing. I'll have to look for her fabrics, see if my nearby quilt shops carry any of it. How lucky you are to live so near to her.

As for Johnny - yeah, realistic enough for me!