Mother and daughter duo Sherri and Chelsi proudly present Balboa, their tenth fabric collection for Moda, which will not disappoint fans of soft secondary colours and modern florals.

Florals and ditsy print fabrics never go out of style, and when combined with a contemporary colour palette, you know it’s going to be popular. Sherri McConnell and her daughter Chelsi Stratton are a design dream team from southern Nevada. Together they’re building a catalogue of fabric collections that work beautifully with one another, as well as with other Moda fabric lines such as those by Corey Yoder and Fig Tree. Put them all together and you have the ultimate cohesive scrap quilt that will complement most contemporary spaces.

The newest collection, Balboa, is inspired by California’s Balboa Island: a harbour community in Newport Beach with a walkway all the way around for gorgeous waterside views. Sherri and Chelsi would visit with family every year, so it’s a place close to their hearts. Sherri says, “The delightful shades of greys, blues, purples, coral pinks, and pesto greens are reminiscent of those magical times on the coast. We spent hours window shopping, eating ice-cream, navigating the boardwalk and pier, watching the sunset, and enjoying a carefree respite from the desert heat at home.”

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About Sherri and Chelsi

Sherri has been sewing since she was a child, and says she was influenced by her quilter grandmother. In 2008, she was one of several quilters that decided to take up blogging about the craft around that time, starting her blog A Quilting Life to record everything she made—which was considerable, as she gave a lot of her finished quilts away. The next natural progression was to design quilt patterns, which then led to writing books.

Watching her mother start up her pattern company, Chelsi was inspired by her hard work and beautiful designs and began to make quilts—which she admits she found frustrating at first. Chelsi likes to draw, so when the Sherri’s next itch to scratch was fabric design, Chelsi was a natural choice of partner. And for Chelsi, “Being able to design fabric together has been a dream come true for me!”

Chelsi is drawn to fashion trends, trees and plants and they both follow interior design and colour trends. Chelsi sketches floral designs by hand and then refines them on the computer. The rest of their designs tend to be blenders and geometrics, which are created digitally. The results are beautiful. 

“We believe in creating beautiful fabrics to express the beauty in the world,” says Sherri. “And we love helping others enjoy this incredible pastime.”

Both women are also pattern designers in their own right, creating quilts in their own unique aesthetic to partner with their fabric lines.

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Labour of Love Sampler Quilt

Earlier this year, Sherri’s book, Labor of Love: Scrappy Quilts at the Heart of Home was released through the Martingale publishing house. This quilty peek (above) is from the Sew Along that Sherri is hosting. It will happen over the course of 13 weeks, once Balboa is available in store to purchase—not long to wait! Because you will need the book to make the quilt, Sherri will post weekly PDF downloads on her blog to adapt the patterns for use in the sampler. You can see a video of the quilt in more detail and fabric requirements at A Quilting Life right now: https://www.aquiltinglife.com/2020/06/labor-of-love-sew-along-update.html/

Balboa from Moda Fabrics is arriving in Canadian stores at the end of September. The ladies release two fabric lines a year, so look out for Happy Days coming out in February 2021 too!

Shop fabric from Sherri & Chelsi