Today is one of my favorite days at my job. It only happens a few times a year, but it is like unwrapping a Christmas present. It is the day we get to show you our latest fabric collection. And I realize you are just now getting into Feed Company, and Holly’s Tree Farm will arrive in just a few weeks. But it seems like there is always something on the horizon. This time, it’s called Varsity.
Here is just a little back story. There are two things that I am passionate about in life. Well, besides my family and Sweetwater. If you have followed our blog for any time at all, you probably know those two things. The first is 4-H, showing livestock, county fairs, state fairs, all that kind of stuff. That’s where “Feed Company” came from. And probably why it is our all time favorite fabric collection. The other is sports. It’s not that we are all that good at sports- though we have a couple of kids who are really good – it’s the fact we love watching sports. I love being a fan. I root for my favorite teams like there is no tomorrow. I’m pretty ridiculous and I go totally overboard. But I really wanted to combine the two. Sports and fabric.
That was the hard part. In our mind, sports and fabric really don’t combine all that well. So it became a challenge. A challenge to design a fabric collection with a sports theme, that wasn’t too “sporty”. That probably makes no sense at all, but what we really didn’t want was something over the top and cheesy. Like with footballs all over the fabric. Our goal was something that was more preppy. Something that was more college- inspired that our teenagers would like. Our vision was a combination of wanting to make a quilt an 18 year old would take to college with fabric that was classic- that could be used for all types of quilts.
So that’s where Varsity came from. We hope you like it. We also hope your 10 year old little league baseball player likes it. Or your husband or boyfriend who watches football every weekend. Or your grandson who is the biggest fan of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Or your daughter who just made the varsity volleyball team at her high school. Or someone just like me- a fan.
Colors for this collection were easy. We chose what we thought were the most popular colors for team sports. Then we started thinking of all the teams in the world that didn’t have those main colors. But, you know, we can’t put every color in one collection, but we tried to hit some really popular ones.
Red. Who doesn’t love red? Especially if you live in Ohio, Nebraska or Wisconsin (just to name a few). And if you are a Kansas City Chiefs or Chicago Bulls’ fan, you love red. In fact, I researched this fact: teams who wear red have a higher winning percentage than any other color. Hmm. The Denver Broncos don’t wear red. Maybe they should switch.
Navy. This is for all you Michigan fans. Or New York Yankee fans. Or fans of the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants or Kentucky. Heck, it’s even for my beloved Broncos. Because we didn’t put orange in Varsity (more on that later).
Yellow. Or some teams call it “gold”. Like the Wyoming Cowboys. Or the Colorado Buffalos. Or the Los Angeles Lakers. Or the Brush Beetdiggers. Yes, I said “beetdiggers”. That is the high school my sister’s husband went to and now her kids. That letter jacket under the fabric is my brother-in-law’s from, well, a long time ago.
Green. There are a lot of colleges and high schools that have green as their color. Of course, our alma mater, Colorado State University is green. But so are the Oregon Ducks, Seattle Seahawks and Boston Celtics.
Grey. Everything goes with grey. If your team’s color isn’t here, there is always grey! Just think about it- there is a huge amount of sports t-shirts and sweatshirts that are grey. It’s because it goes with everything!
Now about that orange. Why didn’t we put orange in our collection? I’m still asking myself that question. You can’t think about the Denver Broncos without orange, right? Not only that, my husband went to Oklahoma State. Big time orange. The fact is, we didn’t put orange or light blue or maroon or purple in the collection. We can’t use purple because my sister is insistent that purple is not a Sweetwater color. Like ever. Anyway, Moda would look at us like we were crazy if we tried to put every color in the collection. The good news is, we are working on some other products that you will be able to personalize your projects using Varsity. Here is s sneak peek at one of those projects. This is a block of our most personalized quilt ever- we think you are going to love this one. (You will be able to order a quilt kit later- we just started it!)
And while we love the collection separated into colors, it is fun to mix them all up.
This baseball stitching print is one of my favorites.
Just for fun, we put together a few combinations. If you have a little Seahawks fan that wants to decorate his room top to bottom in green and navy- wouldn’t a quilt out of these two look cute?
Or how about a fan who loves the New England Patriots.
And finally, a look at my favorite combo. I love red and white quilts, but mostly, I love this plaid.
So which one is your favorite? Let us know by leaving a comment below for a chance to win a pre-cut of Varsity!
Hope you liked the preview we will be back with the winner in a few days. Oh- and we can’t wait to show you the quilts from this collection!
One more thing- this collection is just now being shown to stores and will arrive in August. Just in time for fall sports. Yea!!!