You could say I’ve known Kaffe for about 30 years – though he does not know me. In the mid 1980’s when I was deep into knitting, he came out with his landmark knitting design book. He had made his mark as a designer in the knitting and fashion world when his very first ever knitting project was featured in the Vogue Knitting magazine. My collection of Kaffe Fassett books and fabrics From early 2000s, major exhibitions have included ‘The Textile Tradition, Then and Now’ (2001) and Quilt Bonanza (2003) both at The American Museum in Bath, plus shows at Stening Slott, in Sweden (2004) and Rohsska Museet, in Gothenburg (2004). Kaffe started his artistic career as a painter, first in the US and then in the UK where he moved in 1964. He eventually discovered that he had a greater passion for textile design which is where his successful career ultimately took him. Listening to his talk it was clear that his eye and his mind were wired to see color and pattern in ways that most of us do not. He showed us how he finds inspiration in the smallest things, like the color variations of lichen covered stones or the shade gradations in a geranium leaf. The ‘Ancestral Quilts’ Exhibition at the Quilt Museum in York in Summer 2015 showcased Kaffe’s new stunning quilt designs inspired by the Quilters Guild’s historic collection of antique quilts from 1780 to 1949. This successful exhibition promoted the original antique pieces as well as the inspiring new pieces by Kaffe, as well as a section to inspire creativity and interactivity for visitors. This Exhibition is travelling to 3 venues in USA from Autumn 2015 called ‘Blanket Statements’. His bold Graphic cushion, in just two blue and white fabrics, or his Brilliant Squares cushion in eight subtly different fabric squares, are ideal for those new to patchwork. His 3D Shadow Box cushion, playing with juxtapositions of dark, light and bright fabrics, and the subtle changes of pattern in his Marble Tile cushion, on the other hand, offer more of a challenge.

Kaffe turned his hand to printed fabric design when working with Liza Prior Lucy in USA on new patchwork designs, publishing his book Glorious Patchwork in 1997. Since then, Kaffe has produced many hardcover books on patchwork, as well as working on over fifteen Patchwork & Quilting books annually for Rowan Yarn/Westminster Fibers. Kaffe is a Patron of the Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles; a national membership organization formed in 1979 and made up of 7000 individual members mostly in the UK, to bring together quilters, promote the heritage of quilting and work to ensure a vibrant future for the craft. He is also a Patron of the UK Knitting & Crochet Guild and the Heritage Crafts Association.

In 2015 Kaffe became a Patron of the Shetland Peerie Makkers, set up with Brough Lodge Trust, to teach hand-knitting to Shetland youngsters, to nurture Shetland’s wonderful culture of hand-knitting for future generations. In 2013, the solo exhibition ‘Kaffe Fassett – A Life in Colour’ at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London, featured over 100 works including knitwear and throws, patchwork quilts and a tactile installation for visitors to touch so that they could get a better understanding of the structure behind his work. In 2014, ‘Kaffe Fassett: 50 Years in Colour’ Exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery was extremely popular, and later toured to Norway in 2015.

His Autobiography ‘Dreaming in Color’ was published in September 2012 and has proved to be extremely popular and sold worldwide. In this special edition in Kaffe’s Patchwork and Quilting series, Kaffe has taken inspiration for the 20 new quilts in this book from some particularly glorious quilts of the past. Kaffe has taken 15 quilts that caught his eye from the Quilter’s Guild Collection and worked his magic using his current range of fabrics to give them a wholly new dimension, bringing together his passion for textile making with, as he says ‘the ingenious discoveries of past quilt-makers’. He highlighted what he loved about each quilt using words that were also emphasized with large, expressive whole-body gestures. As he pointed out specific details about the color combinations that he admired in each example, phrases like “love the chanciness”, “otherworldly palette”, “sings out” and “absorbs heat” were combined with positive encouragements like “gorgeous”, “stunning”, “outrageous”, “lush” and “delicate”. You could see each student glow with joy as he praised their color innovations. Kaffe discusses one more of the class quilts Being more concerned with colour and design, Kaffe Fassett then worked extensively in many different textile arts, rather than the fashion world, later in his career.Kaffe Fassett was born in San Francisco in 1937. Kaffe started as a fine artist, winning a scholarship to study at The Boston Museum of Fine Arts School when he was nineteen. He left after three months to paint in London, and he still continues to exhibit his paintings. After settling in England in 1964, his passion for colour led him to knitting and designing knitwear for Missoni and Bill Gibb amongst others, and his hand-knitted garments are now in museum collections all over the world. He later took up needlepoint and patchwork, creating both his own works and designs for others to make.

Whether in the form of a cushion or a table runner, a mini-quilt or a tablecloth, a kimono or a tea cosy, or a stole or shawl, Kaffe’s 20 small pieced designs in this book – ranging from the most simply stitched to the m ore intricately pieced – mix bold flower patterns with strong geometrics in a mouth-watering range of colours and in palettes that range from the sizzingly hot to the cool and delicate. At the Dubai Quilt Show I finally had a chance to see and meet him in person. Most everyone at his opening lecture and in fact at the quilt show itself, was there to see him specifically. Yet despite this popularity he accepted the adulation with grace and humility, patiently signing quilt books and posing for cell phone photos with the attendees.

The Master of Glorious Color

Easy-to-follow, illustrated designs with close-ups and a detailed colour chart to enable you to copy the pattern From 2009, Kaffe has been a Patron of Fine Cell Work’s ‘A Gift of Quilts’, charity project working with prisoners to create needlepoint and patchwork items sold internationally.