Brandon Malby - Stitchin' Heaven Designer Spotlight

Some work for years and years to develop their creative edge. Dabbling in the arts, searching for something they may have a natural inclination to. Others are born with a passion and gift for creating and curating masterpieces and they will continually hone their natural artistic abilities throughout the course of their lifetime. Brandon Mably falls into the latter category we mentioned.

From a young age, Brandon was captivated by color and design, showing great promise not just in one art format but in several. Brandon’s career spans multiple decades and is still flourishing to this day, but let’s start from the beginning.

Originally exploring his creativity through a culinary outlet, after a chance meeting with the world famous fabric designer, Kaffe Fassett, Brandon, with the guidance and skilled teaching of Fassett himself re-directed his focus to knitting, which he took up easily. There was nothing, it would seem, that Mably couldn’t do, or wasn’t willing to try. With the new skill of knitting under his belt, Kaffe continued to train his apprentice in other arts, including needlepoint, hook rag rugs, and grout mosaics.

That meeting with Fassett though, chance as it may have been, launched Brandon into the world of fabric, textile, knitwear, tapestry, patchwork, mosaic, and mixed-media artwork. Over a decade later, Mably is still thriving and growing in his career, now with the prestigious title of Studio Manager of Kaffe Fassett Studio, in London, England.

Additionally, outside of his work for Kaffe Fassett Studios, Brandon's fabric is spotlighted and a hot-seller by Free Spirit Fabrics.

Brandon and Kaffe continue to work side-by-side to create and design revolutionary, brilliant fabrics that lead the fabric industry in modern colors while gracefully incorporating various indegineous styles.

Mably doesn’t just rely upon research to curate the prints he chooses for fabrics. He is an extensive traveler who loves to experience the cultures whose art he chooses to draw inspiration from. Total submersion into the lifestyle of foreign and indegeneous peoples allows him to transmit more than just bright prints onto fabric, everything has meaning and tells a vibrant story.

Let’s not just talk about the modes Brandon uses in fabric design, check it out for yourself and be prepared to be totally dazzled!

These fabrics are a gorgeous example of Brandon’s mosaic prints. Although every print has an identical mosaic, each color palette has its own story to tell through its creative name. The fun names accompanying each print are great ways to draw inspiration for your own projects utilizing these fabrics.

For a glimpse at some fabrics that represent more regional inspiration, the Bali Brocade fabrics. These prints spotlight the exotic botany of the exciting Indonesian island. From Mably’s Spring 2019 collection, these show-stopping prints just don’t go out of style.

A final spotlight worth touching on, is a small selection of prints from his Spring 2017 Collection. These fabrics represent movement and life. At first glance you may just see a line of dancers, or a jumbled, flock of birds, but a closer look at each print reveals there to be so much more. The smallest detail is not lost on Mably as he strives to create each character or creature with their own individual style and personality.

Feeling inspired yet? We definitely are, there is just simply so many possibilities to be explored with Brandon’s fabrics. Mably and Fassett’s chance meeting, may have been one of the most transformative things to happen to the fabric and textile community, we are on the edge of our seats to discover what is coming from them next!

We hope you learned something today about someone so important to not only the quilting community but the creative arts community as well.

Stay tuned next week for another Designer Spotlight! Here’s a hint… This designer first found her love for sewing at a young age in her native country of Argentina! Hmmmm, come back next week to learn more!