Know Your Fabric Designers: A Guide to Spotting Designer Quilting Fabric Without the Selvage
From Kaffe Fassett's outrageous color combinations to Alexander Henry's cheeky prints, here's how to recognize some of quilting's biggest names without having to check the label.
If you've spent enough time around fabric, you start to develop a sixth sense. You can spot a Kaffe Fassett floral from across the room, recognize a Tula Pink print by its hidden animals, and identify Liberty by those unmistakable little flowers.
It's a little like recognizing a designer handbag. Once you know the signatures, you start seeing them everywhere. And if you love hunting for secondhand fabric as much as we do, knowing your designers is a particularly useful skill. There's nothing quite like finding a gorgeous piece of discontinued designer cotton buried in a pile of mystery fabrics.
So, consider this your unofficial field guide to some of quilting's most recognizable fabric designers.
1. Kaffe Fassett Collective: More Is More
The signature: Explosive color, oversized florals, bold geometrics, and patterns that have no interest in the art of subtlety.
If you've ever looked at a piece of fabric and thought, "Surely there's too much going on here," there's a decent chance you're looking at something from the Kaffe Fassett Collective.
The collective brings together the work of Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably, and Philip Jacobs, each with a distinctive approach to pattern. Think enormous botanical prints, intricate mosaics, punchy stripes, and color
combinations that somehow make perfect sense despite breaking every rule you thought existed.
Fassett is especially famous for his fearless approach to color. Philip Jacobs brings richly detailed, often oversized botanicals, while Brandon Mably contributes playful geometric and abstract patterns.
How to spot it: Look for densely packed designs, dramatic scale, saturated colors, and unexpected combinations of prints. If it feels like a flower garden having a very fashionable nervous breakdown, you're on the right track.
2. Tula Pink: There's Probably an Animal Hiding in There
The signature: Fantastical animals, intricate illustrations, hidden details, and electric colors.
Tula Pink doesn't just design fabric. She creates entire little worlds, often populated by creatures you might not notice at first glance. What initially looks like a complicated floral or geometric print might reveal an owl, a fox, or some other unexpected visitor once you take a closer look.
Her illustrations are extraordinarily detailed, with elaborate linework, layered motifs, and clever use of negative space. Her palettes often feature vibrant pinks, purples, turquoise, lime green, and dramatic dark backgrounds.
There's also a sense of humor running through her work, which makes identifying her prints feel a little like solving a puzzle.
How to spot it: Look for animals integrated into elaborate illustrations, highly detailed patterns, and bold, often jewel-toned colors. If you have to stare at it for thirty seconds to figure out what you're looking at, investigate.
3. Ruby Star Society: Retro, Quirky, and Very Cool
The signature: Nostalgic graphics, playful illustrations, unexpected motifs, and modern color palettes.
Ruby Star Society is technically a group of designers rather than one individual, which means there's plenty of variety across its collections. Still, the brand has developed a recognizable visual personality: playful, modern, a little nostalgic, and often delightfully strange.
Think illustrated household objects, tiny animals, retro florals, abstract shapes, and patterns that wouldn't look out of place on vintage packaging from the 1960s or '70s.
You'll also find plenty of beautiful supporting prints, including grids, dots, and understated geometrics.
How to spot it: Look for whimsical novelty illustrations, retro-inspired shapes, and unexpected color combinations. The overall effect is often charming without feeling overly precious.
4. Anna Maria Parry (formerly Horner): Bohemian Florals With a Dramatic Side
The signature: Lush botanical prints, painterly details, rich colors, and an eclectic, artistic sensibility.
Anna Maria Parry, formerly known as Anna Maria Horner, has a distinctive approach to fabric design that feels somewhere between textile art and a fabulous vintage wallpaper collection.
Her designs often feature large flowers, elaborate foliage, and expressive illustrations. There's a romantic quality to the work, but not necessarily a delicate one. These prints can be bold, dramatic, and packed with color.
You'll often find deep blues, saturated pinks, warm oranges, and rich greens alongside unexpected contrasting shades.
How to spot it: Look for expressive, hand-drawn botanical motifs, dramatic florals, and rich, layered color combinations. Think bohemian maximalism with an artist's eye for detail.
5. Liberty Fabrics: The Queen of Tiny Florals
The signature: Delicate ditsy florals, intricate botanical patterns, refined color palettes, and timeless British style.
If you've ever seen a fabric covered in hundreds of impossibly tiny flowers, there's a chance you've encountered Liberty. The British design house has an enormous archive of prints, including florals, paisleys, Art Nouveau-inspired designs, and more unusual illustrations. But it's those incredibly detailed little flowers that many sewists recognize immediately.
Liberty is also famous for its Tana Lawn cotton, which has a remarkably smooth, lightweight, almost silky feel. It's popular for garment sewing, although Liberty also produces fabrics specifically for quilting.
Some of its most recognizable designs have been around for decades, including the beloved Betsy print.
How to spot it: Look for small-scale flowers, intricate botanical detailing, and tightly arranged repeating patterns. If it looks like something you'd find in an exceptionally chic English grandmother's wardrobe, it could very well be Liberty.
6. Heather Ross: Nostalgia in Fabric Form
The signature: Whimsical illustrations, childhood memories, playful animals, and storybook charm.
Heather Ross has a knack for transforming ordinary memories and everyday experiences into fabric prints that people become rather attached to. Her designs have featured everything from goldfish and horses to mermaids, children, and tiny illustrated scenes.
Unlike some of the more maximalist designers on this list, Ross often gives her illustrations room to breathe. You'll find softer palettes, simple backgrounds, and charming motifs that feel almost like little sketches.
Her work frequently evokes the feeling of a favorite childhood book or a particularly happy summer.
How to spot it: Look for sweet, hand-drawn illustrations, nostalgic subjects, and small narrative scenes. If a fabric makes you feel oddly sentimental about a childhood activity, it might just be Heather Ross.
7. Tilda: Vintage Romance
The signature: Romantic florals, nostalgic color palettes, delicate motifs, and coordinated collections.
Created by Norwegian designer Tone Finnanger, Tilda is practically a love letter to vintage textiles. Its fabrics frequently feature floral patterns, soft botanical illustrations, delicate geometrics, and carefully coordinated colors.
Think dusty pinks, faded blues, sage greens, buttery yellows, and vintage-inspired reds. Although some collections embrace deeper or more saturated colors, Tilda maintains a recognizable sense of nostalgia.
One of the most distinctive things about the brand is how beautifully its prints work together. A floral, a stripe, and a tiny geometric might all look as though they've been collected from the same antique sewing box.
How to spot it: Look for romantic, vintage-inspired florals, charming little patterns, and harmonious color palettes. If the fabric feels like it belongs in a European cottage with an impressive linen collection, think Tilda.
8. Alison Glass: A Sophisticated Rainbow
The signature: Saturated colors, intricate little motifs, geometric patterns, and modern blenders.
Alison Glass has a particularly recognizable relationship with color. Her collections often feature expansive rainbow palettes, sometimes with dozens of shades that work beautifully together. But unlike designers whose fabrics rely on giant statement motifs, many of Glass's most recognizable prints are relatively small in scale.
Her popular Sun Print collections feature geometric patterns, delicate linework, and repeating motifs that create subtle texture when viewed from a distance.
It's the kind of fabric that can look almost solid until you get closer and discover all the tiny details.
How to spot it: Look for rich rainbow palettes, fine geometric patterns, small repeating motifs, and modern fabrics that sit somewhere between a solid and a statement print.
9. Alexander Henry: A Little Bit Naughty
The signature: Bold novelty prints, vintage pinups, tattoo-inspired illustrations, skulls, kitschy motifs, and plenty of attitude.
If Liberty is the sophisticated British grandmother of the fabric world, Alexander Henry is her rebellious younger sister who got a tattoo and moved to Los Angeles.
Alexander Henry Fabrics is known for its distinctive novelty prints, often drawing inspiration from vintage illustrations, popular culture, tattoo art, and retro imagery.
The company's designs have featured pinup figures, skeletons, colorful florals, and all kinds of wonderfully unexpected subjects.
Many of its prints feel almost like vintage posters or illustrated artwork rather than traditional quilting cotton.
Of course, not every Alexander Henry design is provocative. The brand also produces florals, geometrics, and more conventional patterns. But that cheeky, retro sensibility is one of its most recognizable qualities.
How to spot it: Look for bold illustrated novelty prints, vintage pinup imagery, tattoo-inspired motifs, and retro artwork. If it looks like something you'd find in a rockabilly boutique or a vintage tattoo parlor, check the selvage.
The Fabric Designer Cheat Sheet
Need the abbreviated version for your next fabric hunt? Here you go.
Designer | What to look for |
Kaffe Fassett Collective | Explosive colors, giant florals, busy patterns |
Tula Pink | Hidden animals, intricate illustrations, electric colors |
Ruby Star Society | Retro graphics, quirky novelty prints |
Anna Maria Parry | Bohemian florals, painterly botanicals |
Liberty Fabrics | Tiny florals, intricate details, British heritage prints |
Heather Ross | Nostalgic illustrations, whimsical scenes |
Tilda | Romantic florals, vintage-inspired palettes |
Alison Glass | Rainbows, tiny geometrics, modern blenders |
Alexander Henry | Bold novelty prints, pinups, tattoo-inspired artwork |
