Cloud 9 Fabrics Debuts Retro-Inspired Fabric, MicroMod

Rob Bancroft is branching out into the fabric field – and so is his pattern-making company.

Bancroft is the husband of Alexia Marcelle Abegg, with whom he co-founded the popular Green Bee Patterns in Nashville.

Bancroft's debut fabric line – titled MicroMod – by Cloud 9 Fabrics is now at Owl & Drum!

“I like the colors of the MicroMod prints as they have more of a masculine feel, which is something that we don’t have enough of in our store,” said Bianca Howell, the co-owner of Owl & Drum.

Howell and business partner Dani Weaver selected four prints from the brand-new microMod collection – named “Tick Tock,” “Vertigo,” “Seaweed” and “Night Vision” – during a recent buying trip to the International Quilt Market in Houston.

Tick Tock in White

Seaweed in Purple

Vertigo in Teal

Night Vision in Teal

MicroMod, a 100 percent organic cotton fabric, is a retro-inspired fabric which features geometric shapes, with purples and teals incorporated in the interesting color pallet.

“With it’s moody, neutral colors and vibrant accents, this mid-century, modern-influenced collection is perfect for everything from home decor to garment sewing,” according to Cloud9Fabrics.com.

“It is also one of Cloud 9’s price-sensitive collections, which means you get the benefit of buying organic at an average quilting cotton cost.”

MicroMod is the first licensed fabric Bancroft has designed for Green Bee Patterns’ new fabric division. (In fact, the Tennessee company is now called Green Bee Patterns & Design!)

For more information about Bancroft and his work, visit http://alexiaabegg.squarespace.com/green-bee-patterns.

Want to see more? Here's a taste of what of some future collection from Cloud 9 Fabrics.

Four prints from Coleman-Hale’s new collection for Cloud 9 - "Blossom Festival," "Motif Madness," Cranes" and "Of A Feather" - are also due to arrive soon at Owl & Drum.

Her new range is called Tsuru, which means “crane” in Japanese.

Tsuru from Rashida Coleman-Hale

“Tsuru soars with beauty and grace - and a touch of modern funkiness,” states Cloud9Fabric.com.

“Rashida spent part of her youth living in Japan, and some of her beautiful work is influenced by Japanese culture and landscapes,” Howell said.

For more information about Coleman-Hale and her work, visit her blog at iheartlinen.typepad.com. 

Owl & Drum is also eager to receive the prints called "Textila," "Sparro," "Chevrona" and "Lechuza" from designer Eleanor Grosch's new Mixteca range.

Mixteca by Eleanor Grosch

"Mixteca serves up wild sophistication - exotic and energetic, bold and dynamic, vivid and subtle," according to the designer biographies on Cloud9Fabrics.com, which notes Grosch's collection is certified as organic as is part of its price-sensitive collections.

"Eleanor is a very well-known print illustrator of animals who is also creating great designs for fabric," Howell said.

For more information about Grosch, visit justeleanor.com.

Interested people can also visit Cloud9Fabrics.com’s downloads page for the company’s current selection.

For more details about Owl & Drum – Tulsa’s one-stop shop for fabrics, homemade gifts, craft books, accessories and supplies – call Bianca at 918-742-1404, visit owlanddrum.com, or follow the store on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger.com, Pinterest and Instagram.

"Holiday Open House" Prize Winners

Owl & Drum customers Kara Lowry, Annie Ferris and Rennee Lenertz are the winners from our recent “Holiday Open House” in-store prize drawings.

Kara wins a multi-colored, one-of-a-kind Urban Creatures necklace, specially made by Owl & Drum co-owner Bianca Howell.

Annie wins a $25 gift certificate to spend in the midtown Tulsa store, while Rennee wins a pattern of her choice by Green Bee Design & Patterns.

“We had a really enjoyable first open house and we’re grateful to all our customers, old and new, who stopped by last weekend,” Howell said.

“People liked our ‘make-and-take’ gift table, especially children, where they had the chance to embellish glass ornaments with felt, feathers and confetti and make unique gift tags from fabric scraps.”

Owl & Drum’s inaugural “Holiday Open House” on Dec. 1-2 also featured a special trunk show from Green Bee, a leading pattern-making company from Nashville.

Attendees saw examples of Green Bee’s popular “Scoop Tote” bag, “Vera Bag,” and the “Amelia” dress – all of which are stocked at Owl & Drum – among other patterns and samples.

The star of the show was the spectacular Diamond Ring Quilt, a king-sized quilt made by Green Bee.

“Everybody who saw the quilt said they loved it,” Howell said. “People enjoyed seeing all of Green Bee’s different designs and samples – they really do create some beautiful patterns.”

For more details about upcoming events and classes at Owl & Drum, call Bianca at 918-742-1404, visit owlanddrum.com, or follow the store on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger.com, Pinterest and Instagram.

Join Us At Our "Holiday Open House"

We can’t wait for our biggest event of the holiday season! And it's coming up just around the corner . . .

Owl & Drum’s “Holiday Open House” will feature a special trunk show from a cutting-edge pattern-maker, a make-and-take table for customers, 20 percent off of all craft books in the store, prize drawings and light refreshments.

And the weekend of fabric-filled fun starts soon . . .

The first annual open house will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, and 12-4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2, at Owl & Drum, 2810 E. 15^th Ave., Tulsa, OK.

Prize drawings at the store will include patterns, gift certificates and a multi-colored, one-of-a-kind Urban Creatures necklace – specially made by Owl & Drum co-owner Bianca Howell.

"We'll have festive sweet treats and simple, but enjoyable, crafts for people of all ages to make and then take home," she said.

"I'm excited about our upcoming 'Holiday Open House' and, especially, Green Bee Design & Patterns' trunk show. They create some beautiful patterns and use a lovely range of silhouettes.

"People will like seeing first-hand the finished articles that can be made from their stylish patterns."

Green Bee, a cool company out of Nashville, has sent Owl & Drum a variety of samples – including dresses, bags, and other items – to show exactly what people can make with a bit of time and effort.

Attendees will be able to see examples of Green Bee’s popular “Scoop Tote” bag, “Vera Bag,” and the “Amelia” dress – all of which are stocked at Owl & Drum – among other patterns and samples.

Green Bee was established by Alexia Marcelle Abegg, Rob Bancroft and Michelle Abegg.

Alexia Marcelle Abegg, an artist, designer, seamstress and author, runs a sewing school in Nashville called STITCH.

“I began to work with fabric and stitches much like I had been doing with watercolor and paper,” she says on the company’s website, greenbeepatterns.com.

“Rather than following a pattern, like the quilters of past generations in my family, I began to improvise and develop an instinctual method.”

Her husband, Rob Bancroft, is an artist-turned-illustrator who  says “the transition from painting to print and pattern design was a natural evolution.”

His first fabric collection, MicroMod, from Cloud9 fabrics is due to debut in stores – and its arrival is eagerly anticipated at Owl & Drum! – in December.

Michelle Abegg has been an avid seamstress since childhood, designing everything from children's clothing to custom wedding gowns. She says it’s her “dream job” to be a designer with Green Bee Design & Patterns in Nashville, where she lives with her artist-photographer husband Jimmy Abegg.

Greenbeepatterns.com features free knitting patterns to download, information about stitching classes, “Shop Green Bee,” and examples of patterns, art and interesting journal entries.

The newest pattern, the Sophia cowl – Green Bee's first knitting pattern – is just one of the free downloads that are available on the website.

For more details about Owl & Drum’s upcoming “Holiday Open House” on Dec. 1-2, call Bianca at 918-742-1404, visit owlanddrum.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger.com, Pinterest and Instagram.