Let’s See What’s In The Studio E April 2023 Release

The Studio E Fabrics April 2023 release consists of 15 groups that ship from November 2023-January 2024. Today, I want to give you a taste of what Studio E has to offer in this release. Don’t forget that a release is when our reps begin to sell the lines for the first time to their quilt shop customers. That compares to a rollout which is when said line begins shipping to quilt shops.

A Trip To The Farm by Tracy Hall: This 12-piece juvenile farm collection is sure to be a hit with that little farmer in your family. The hand-drawn designs are so simple and sweet that it will be easy for your child to relate and fall in love instantly. With so many adorable animals, it will be hard for your kiddo to pick a favorite. That’s for sure! I personally like the sheep and pigs. Check out the adorable 24″ panel below.

All Things Start Small by Beth Reed Designs: Here we have another juvenile animal line. This group has 11 designs. This time though, the line has jungle animals as compared to farm animals. This collection contains a fun and cheery rainbow-styled colorway that adds a nice twist. It’s hard not to fall in love with the adorable baby animals especially, but I really like the way the rainbows are interspersed and utilized as a colorway.

You can see what I mean by looking at the two designs below. One is a fun rainbow zebra skin. The other is a zebra animal design where the bodies of the zebras are filled with rainbow-colored flowers.

Coral Reef digital by Lori Anzalone: Lori Anzalone is back with another super colorful digital collection. Her art is so colorful that traditional printing isn’t even an option. This 11-design collection is an underwater line as you could probably guess from the name. From tropical fish to tropical islands, I am a big fan of it all. That deep sea fisherman and scuba diver in me can’t get enough. Look at how spectacular, realistic and colorful all the underwater creatures look. The panel below provides a good sampling of what you could expect from this group overall.

I couldn’t help but share this design too. I love how the sun is shining through the surface of the water. Nice touch by the designer.

Dream Horses digital by Nancy Smith: Sticking with the animal theme, as you can guess from the name, this next line is all about horses. This line has lots of colors falling on top of each other. For that reason, this one will be digitally printed too.

This 9-sku group is perfect for all the hippophiles (a person that loves horses) out there. I particularly like how the designer limited the colorways to shades of blue, purple and green. In addition, I really like how she uses script words in the bodies of some of the horses to create texture.

Let It Grow by Mel Matthews: In this 14-design juvenile collection, the focus is on gardening. Not only are all the individual vegetable and bug prints adorable, but the designer also does an egg-celent job with her play on words. You can see below in this block design. My favorite is, “Hello gourd-eous!”

Minu & Wildberry digital by Yu.Me Design & Development: Enter the fantasy world of Minu and her wildberry playground. This is the first line by Yu.Me Design. It contains 14 prints. I would have to chalk this up as more of a tweener line as it is too sophisticated for the little ones. I love the beauty of the wildflowers, berries and butterflies. Check out the 24″ panel below and you can see what I am talking about….and look at those mushrooms!

Oats & Ivy by Diane Eichler: This 13-piece meadow line is yet another line with animals. Amazingly, across the lines, the animals are all very different depending on the style of the designer. There should be an animal for everyone. The animals in this line are very innocent looking and sweet. I like the way the designer uses more muted peaches, beiges and blues. This one would be perfect for a kid’s nursery.

Paw-sitively Awesome by Sweet Cee Creative: This 9-sku dog line is perfect for all you cynophiles or dogophiles (a.k.a. dog lovers). That includes me of course. This one has all the usual suspects in dog lines like paw prints, leashes, dog houses, fire hydrants and so on. You can get a good idea of what designs the line contains by viewing the 24″ panel below. I also like how this line is done in black with shades of blue and gray. As I have mentioned many times before, it’s funny how designs always look striking on a black ground.

Pollen Nation by Sharla Fults: In this release, we have a bunch of lines with some very clever names. This is one. Pollen Nation, you get it? Pollenation? This group is by prolific designer Sharla Fults. It has 11 different prints. The main themes are bees, birds, butterflies and flowers. It is created in a cheerful primary color combination. I can totally imagine this 24″ panel in the center of a quilt. Don’t forget to check out the added bonus on the panel…..6 label prints per panel.

Portfolio of Landscapes by Elizabeth Isles: I am glad to say that Elizabeth Isles is back from a bit of a hiatus. I love what she has created here as it is a nice fresh offering for Studio E and something we have never done before. Landscape quilts are definitely popular these days and have been for a long time. This line is sure to stoke the fire for more of those landscape quilts. I can’t wait to see how people put these nature-themed designs together. Below is the collage for the entire group so you an see what it is all about. What an awesome offering!

Red, White & Starry Blue Too 108″: A while back, we had a single sku patriotic 108″ collection. It was called Red, White & Starry Blue 108″. It did so well that we came back with another group, but due to the popularity, we chose 4 designs in total this time around. These are great for patriotic holiday celebratory quilts or quilts of valor among the various other great ways patriotic backings can be used. Below is the collage so you can see them all. Which is your favorite?

By the way, this backing would be a great compliment to the Star Spangled Beach line discussed towards the end of this post.

Splendid Path by Chelsea DesignWorks & Karen Montgomery: For this line, I am just going to share the blurb that we are using for the website as it is spot on and I couldn’t say it better. Chelsea DesignWorks has teamed up with the talents and creativity of Karen Montgomery to create a beautiful new floral collection filled with gorgeous flowers, vines and leaves.

Patterns include a border stripe, a trellis, tossed florals, a tone-on-tone floral and ditsies in a variety of colors. Karen’s clever dots and holes cheater pattern (below) provides a multitude of possibilities for quarter circle projects such as Drunkard’s Path & Garden Path without the challenges of cutting and sewing curves. Make sure to check out the free project page to see the endless possibilities when those are posted closer to when the line ships in December. Below is the dots and holes panel. Can you imagine all the possibilities?

Squeeze The Day by Rebecca Canale: Here is another one where the line name is very witty. This 12-piece lemon line is a great group for your next kitchen project. Whether it is an apron, table runner, placemat or napkin, this line has a great selection of designs to mix and match. I particularly like the design below as I love the witty sayings.

Star-Spangled Beach by Sharon Lee: We just can’t get enough patriotic lines. Patriotic projects are just so popular. This beach-themed patriotic line is no different. With lots of shades of blue and various beach-type motifs, this line is another winner. When your next quilt with this line is complete, make sure to round it off with one of the Red, White & Starry Blue Too 108″ quilt backs.

The Chicken Club by Kathleen Hill: Last, but not least, another line with a clever name. Get it? Chicken club? Like the sandwich. As you guessed, this is a chicken-themed line by Kathleen Hill. She normally is more focused on horses, but I guess it was time for her to switch it up. This would probably serve as another good line to make projects for the kitchen.

I hope that was enough eye candy for you for one day. If you are a shop owner, please reach out to your sales rep or contact customer service to buy this collection. Or, you can always order online or contact me at scott@jaftex.com.

If you are a consumer, make sure to reach out to your favorite fabric reseller to ask them to buy your favorite lines for you. Don’t forget that these lines don’t start to ship until November of 2023 so you are going to have to be patient. I am sorry for being such a tease, but that’s what we do in this business.

Well, that was fun. I hope you enjoyed my concise, not so concise, synopsis and analysis of the Studio E April 2023 release.