I came across this old blog post and thought it would be fun to re-visit.
Enjoy!
Love Letter (originally posted February, 2009)
Seeing as its almost Valentine's Day I thought I should write a letter publicly declaring my undying devotion to...
Kaffe Fassett.
"Eh???" I hear you say.
You were expecting someone else's name?
Something that begins with "O" and ends with "liver"?
Weeeeellllllll......
Allow me to explain.
Let me count the ways that I love Kaffe Fassett
(Sorry, Ollie...)
1) I love that when I met Kaffe at a workshop he taught a couple years ago he was exactly what I expected: 1 part diva, 1 part artiste, 1 part brutally honest, all parts fabulous. I loved that Kaffe would come around and look at my quilt in progress and it would make me so nervous, like I was in school again, and he would suggest something to me. But he wouldn't just suggest. Even his comments were works of art. I remember one comment almost verbatim: He said to me, of a pink fabric I had put on my design wall,
"Alright, love. Now that you've gotten that horrible lipstick color out of your system let's take it down and put up something even better. Something like a dirty, dishwater lilac perhaps."
You can't see it via the computer but I am shaking with laughter as I type this. Honest.
But the best part was (and I'm not making this up), ten minutes later, Kaffe's partner, Brandon came by and said "That's nice but I liked the pink color better..."
Now, that's entertainment.
2) Having said that, I love that Kaffe was nice to me. He had a couple of suggestions, but on the whole, he really liked my colors. He said I had "the most fabulous fabrics in the world at my finger-tips." (He was talking about his own collection, by the way).
Was it cheating to go to a workshop hosted by Kaffe and use Kaffe Fassett fabrics? Was it just too easy? Nah. In my defense, I used a lot of other fabrics. And all the other kids were doing it, too. But for the record, if he had been mean to me and not liked my colors I probably would have had to change professions and wouldn't be able to show my face in this town again.
Luckily it all turned out okay.
3) I love that he uses Color. That's right, Color with a capital "C" because so many palettes these days are playing it safe and Kaffe would certainly never be accused of that. They call it "Glorious" for a reason.
4) I love that every time he comes out with a new collection, the store makes all kinds of money. Interesting side note: If I ever get to meet Amy Butler, I'm going to tell her the exact same thing.
5) Last but not least, and on a completely serious note, I love that "Kaffe" is his own genre. Know what I mean? When you walk into a quilt shop, they usually have everything sectioned off: Batiks over here, Reproduction prints over here, Asian prints over here, and if the shop carries Kaffe Fassett fabrics, they always say "And the Kaffe's are over here..."
He has his own flippin' section!
How cool is that?
There really is no one else who has done that. Nobody knocks off Kaffe, because nobody comes close. He does his own thang and he does it well.
Shouldn't we all be so lucky, no matter what we are doing with our lives?
So, that's why I love Kaffe Fassett so much.
And by the way, dearies, it rhymes with "Safe Asset."
As in, "You have a Safe Asset with Kaffe Fassett."
And that is straight from the man himself.
Love comes in all shapes and ways, you know...
Happy Valentine's Day to you, no matter who you Love!
XOXO
Rhea
