Kaffe’s Color Lecture was a brief prologue to the all-day class that was in store for us the next day. We would each be working on designing the Green Diamonds pattern from Kaffe’s Quilts in Ireland book. Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mabley stand in front of Kaffe’s Green Diamonds quilt Being more concerned with colour and design, Kaffe Fassett then worked extensively in many different textile arts, rather than the fashion world, later in his career. Kaffe Fassett was born in San Francisco in 1937. Kaffe started as a fine artist, winning a scholarship to study at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts School when he was nineteen. He left after three months to paint in London, and he still continues to exhibit his paintings. After settling in England in 1964, his passion for colour led him to knitting and designing knitwear for Missoni and Bill Gibb amongst others, and his hand-knitted garments are now in museum collections all over the world. He later took up needlepoint and patchwork, creating both his own works and designs for others to make. Talking to many of the other classmates it was clear the majority were attending this quilt show just so that they could take this workshop with Kaffe. Attendees were here from many different European countries, as well as other areas of the Middle East. One of my table mates had only just started learning to quilt 10 days before this trip because she was such a huge fan of Kaffe’s work. A large part of Kaffe’s output is now an expanding range of fabric prints for the patchwork market along with the Indian stripes fabric and shot cotton fabric range distributed worldwide by Westminster Fibers, USA and Rowan, UK.

Kaffe turned his hand to printed fabric design when working with Liza Prior Lucy in USA on new patchwork designs, publishing his book Glorious Patchwork in 1997. Since then, Kaffe has produced many hardcover books on patchwork, as well as working on over fifteen Patchwork & Quilting books annually for Rowan Yarn/Westminster Fibers.

The Master of Glorious Color

His Autobiography ‘Dreaming in Color’ was published in September 2012 and has proved to be extremely popular and sold worldwide. For over 30 years, Kaffe Fassett has produced some of the worlds’ most successful knitting designs. Now, for the first time, ‘Kaffe Fassett’s Pattern Library’ brings together in one place a collection of over 190 of his most brilliant creations. Kaffe started his artistic career as a painter, first in the US and then in the UK where he moved in 1964. He eventually discovered that he had a greater passion for textile design which is where his successful career ultimately took him. Listening to his talk it was clear that his eye and his mind were wired to see color and pattern in ways that most of us do not. He showed us how he finds inspiration in the smallest things, like the color variations of lichen covered stones or the shade gradations in a geranium leaf.

From early 2000s, major exhibitions have included ‘The Textile Tradition, Then and Now’ (2001) and Quilt Bonanza (2003) both at The American Museum in Bath, plus shows at Stening Slott, in Sweden (2004) and Rohsska Museet, in Gothenburg (2004). He was christened Frank Havrah Fassett but as a teenager decided to change his name to the more artistic sounding Kaffe (rhymes with safe) after an Egyptian character in a children’s book. He freely admitted that he was fortunate to grow up in the 1950’s in an atypical (even for California) home and school environment that supported and encouraged his natural artistic creativity. Easy-to-follow, illustrated designs with close-ups and a detailed colour chart to enable you to copy the pattern Fast forward many years later when my interests moved from knitting to quilting. During those years, Kaffe’s design world also expanded to encompass needlepoint patterns, mosaics, fabric designs and quilt patterns. I found his first quilt design book, Glorious Patchwork, to be equally innovative and inspiring. And since I also love bright colors, I am always instinctively drawn to his fabric collections. Kaffe Fassett autographs his books at the Dubai Quilt Show A list of the best quilting classes and retreats: My Wish List of Unique Quilting Classes, Quilting Workshops, Quilting Retreats and Quilting Holidays to Inspire Your Next Creative Adventure

Ehrman

For the 1985 UK TV programme ‘Pebble Mill at One’, Kaffe launched a needlepoint project, inviting anyone across the country to needlepoint an image of their favourite thing, no bigger than six inches square. Over 2,600 entries were sent in, forming the ‘Pebble Mill at One’ Heritage Tapestry, which was displayed at Chatsworth House then Harewood House. In the same year, the British Crafts Council invited Kaffe to present a BBC daytime television series interviewing leading UK crafts people. Kaffe Fassett, one of the world’s foremost decorative artists, brings his dazzling colour sensibilities to the art of quilting.

Kaffe is a Patron of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles; a national membership organization formed in 1979 and made up of 7000 individual members mostly in the UK, to bring together quilters, promote the heritage of quilting and work to ensure a vibrant future for the craft. He is also a Patron of the UK Knitting & Crochet Guild and the Heritage Crafts Association. If the quilting world has a crown prince, it has to be Kaffe Fassett. Known for his exuberant use of color, Kaffee has built a design empire that extends to fabric, knitting, needlepoint, mosaics and patchwork. Whether it’s a sweater, a needlepoint pillow or quilting fabric, his uniquely colorful style is instantly recognizable. He has published many books, including over 20 beautifully photographed quilt pattern volumes which make it easy to produce one of his trademark designs. But making a Kaffe Fassett quilt in a class taught by the master of “Glorious Color” brings you up close and personal to his creative genius. He highlighted what he loved about each quilt using words that were also emphasized with large, expressive whole-body gestures. As he pointed out specific details about the color combinations that he admired in each example, phrases like “love the chanciness”, “otherworldly palette”, “sings out” and “absorbs heat” were combined with positive encouragements like “gorgeous”, “stunning”, “outrageous”, “lush” and “delicate”. You could see each student glow with joy as he praised their color innovations. Kaffe discusses one more of the class quiltsKaffe’s current passion and idea of heaven is creating cloth for patchwork, yet he continues to lecture and tutor knitting workshops. His excitement for all his chosen crafts shines through and his company is exhilarating and exciting for knitters and non knitters alike. Kaffe says “being the dinosaur of patchwork and knitting guarantees that people will come and listen to me”. Since then Kaffe has been involved in an ever expanding range of activities, charitable as well as artistic. In the 1990s he teamed up with Candace Bahouth to work on mosaics. In 1993 he designed costumes and sets for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of ‘As You Like It’. In 1998 he designed Hillier’s garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. He is constantly on the move teaching and lecturing around the world and in recent years a growing proportion of his time has been devoted to expanding his range of fabric prints for the patchwork market. He can never resist a new challenge and shows no sign of slowing down. The patchworks fall into three categories. First come Utility Quilts, employing large, simple patch shapes cut from charming prints. Traditional pieces follow, encompassing popular heritage quilt formats reborn here in fresh, modern colourways. Finally come the irresistible Showpiece Quilts, incorporating appliqué to create breathtaking showstoppers. His bold Graphic cushion, in just two blue and white fabrics, or his Brilliant Squares cushion in eight subtly different fabric squares, are ideal for those new to patchwork. His 3D Shadow Box cushion, playing with juxtapositions of dark, light and bright fabrics, and the subtle changes of pattern in his Marble Tile cushion, on the other hand, offer more of a challenge. In the midst of all these activities his needlework designing is a constant. He has been the most important and consistent contributor to our catalogues for 40 years, without a break. Kaffe is recognised as one of the world’s leading textile designers.