Year of the Taupe
 

According to fabric industry blurbs, this is supposed to be "The Year of the Taupe."

Taupe fabrics, a Japanese style of fabrics featuring a soft color palette and typically high quality screen-printed goods and finish have come on to the radar screen outside Japan in the last several years. Lots of people are discovering them and using them to create beautiful quilts and other projects.

So, what's your take on taupes? Love them? Hate them? Indifferent? Use them? Never heard of them?

Comments?

Taupe - kind of bland. I prefer colors that are found in historic quilts and 30's quilts. Also like fabric that looks tea dyed. Don't care for Japanese fabrics or turquoise/red combos, or lime green which seem popular now. I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to fabrics.

It's OK as a complement ... but I don't want an abundance of taupe. I would rather have grey.

I bought a BOM last year using Japanese Taupe for all the fabrics. Expensive but oh the fabric is so nice! I didn't know Japanese Taupe came is so many different prints; solids, plaids, floral. It's beautiful. Not bland at all. It has a lot of texture in the fabric. The BOM is the quilt on the cover of Past & Present - My Quilting Life- Yoko Saito. Beautiful book. The quilt is made from all Japanese Taupes. [ATTACH=CONFIG]392879[/ATTACH][h=1][/h]

Remember - we're talking about taupes, which are a style of fabric, not the color taupe.

Nice quilt, Bella! :thumbup:

I love the Japenese Taupes have one of the original collection of 35 fat quarters and yardage for backind , bindind and borders. But can not bring myself to cut into it is so beautiful.

I love them too. They're also known as daiwabo fabrics. There are quite a few Japanese quilters who have made absolutely stunning quilts using nothing but daiwabo taupes. I keep hoping the American quilt magazines will start featuring these types of quilts.

http://pinterest.com/peggi/japanese-quilting/

Love lovelovelove!!!
I have boxes of Daiwabos - still looking for the perfect (and worthy) project.

Years ago I could never understand why the Japanese "beige" quilts were so gorgeous, and yet similar beige American quilts bored me to tears.

And then I discovered "taupe" - and a world of difference.
I have more shades of taupe then I do of blues.
And the Japanese are just masters at using these fabrics.


There are a few US shops that carry the real stuff, and a number more that carry more commercial lines, like Serenity by EESchenck.

They're sort of like 30's repro fabrics.
Having just a few bolts in the shop doesn't really sell.
The shop owner needs to commit.
Because the fans of these fabrics want variety.
And they'll buy them all.
So I understand why most shops don't stock them at all.

And certainly these days the trend is to prepackged collections - ugh! that all look the same and seem to fly out the door where they can be all made into the same exact d9p.

So I buy a lot from Japan and a few select online sites.

Here are some of my favorite vendors:
http://www.kallistiquilts.com/

This site used to have a much larger selection:
http://pinwheels.com/cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi?cart_id=8661757.IP76.109.55.181IP.4123.s 0&lastmenu=&product=DaiwaboBasics

https://www.oneworldfabrics.com

There are some European shops that larger selections - they're a big deal over there.

And equilter has a fairly decent selection of the Serenity prints.
http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc...eyword=daiwabo


@BellaBoo- that BOM is gorgeous!

If you love Japanese Taupe then you need that book. It has gorgeous one of a kind patterns. The BOM was over $500 not including the backing. I have several block made and the fabric is a dream to sew. This will be my quilt. I'm spending a lot of time on each block enjoying it slowly. I sew a fast easy quilt pattern when I get the urge to have a quilt finished.

I do - and pretty much any of the "real" taupe or indigo (my other totally out-of-control obsession) books.
I'll be looking forward to your completed quilt - worth every penny.

Here's some eye candy for you - pictures from the recent show in Tokyo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robots-...7632631306938/
Not be to too treacly - not my style - but I'm awed at the beauty of these creations.

I visited a quilt store near my house yesterday and about 1/3 of the stock was taupe. But the difference was the textures! There are so many fabrics here with dimension! If you check out the various Japanese quilting magazines, most of these fabrics are used here for smaller projects, like purses, carry bags, and wall hangings.

I really like contrast so I like taupes for the neutrals, but I also like the pretty cream and taupe combination quilts that allow for a soft palette and then emphasized with ornate quilting in a contrasting thread.

Oh goody! You're in Japan, and I really want to pick your brain!! Can you possibly give a list of the best Japanese quilt magazines, in your opinion? And are any of them written in English? I know of one called Quilt Japan, and I've picked up a few books by Yoko Saito, but they seem to be mostly (as you said) for handbags and small projects.

Taupe is okay in SMALL doses. I joined a fabric moratorium and I'm not buying any fabric this year unless I have to have backing. So no matter what the fabric designers say, it's the year of the stash at my house!

Being new to this subject--one of the many reasons we're on this board is to learn of new subjects, eh?-- I Googled Japanese taupes, and found "the genre is very forgiving. The wide range of hues, all based on an underlying Taupe color, go extremely well together with very little effort."And Peckish's Pinterest link shows projects in, you guessed it, shades of taupe.... All were beautiful, as long as you like subtle, earthy tones.

I'm working on a neutrals quilt right now, all shades of cream, cream on cream, taupe, beige, tan...it's wonderfully rewarding. Each time I put two fabrics together, it's a pleasant surprise how good it looks. Never thought I'd enjoy it this much!

I discovered daiwabo two years ago and have several pieces which I ordered from Quilt Kits Online. http://www.quilt-kits-online.com/ The owners of the shop are delightful and talked with me about the fabrics. I love them and am waiting for just the right project...they're my treasures in my stash.

Oh those Japanese taupe fabrics are wonderful and the quilts are fabulous.
All these links are great - thanks for posting them.
Yup Quilt Kits Online has quite an extensive selection.

I am in love with this gorgeous Winding Ways quilt done in taupes: http://sarahlovesfabric.com/tag/winding-ways/page/2/

I LOVE taupes! I have been in love and collecting them for years now. I have been waiting for them to catch on here in America. Right now I am doing the Union square BOM through Pinwheels quilt shop. It is an adaptation of one of Yoko Saito's patterns and it isgreat. I am currently preparing to do another Yoko Saito BOM.
What is nice about quilts made with Taupes is they can look contemporary, traditional, modern. They easily fit into any decor.

I am happy that they are becoming more popular. That means greater availability. That also means greater competition for the fabrics that make it over here. That being said, they will probably never be as popular here as they are in Japan. I'm ok with that. I would love to go to Japan and purchase some fabric there. A real dream come true!

Actually, the Cara Collection Serenity by EESchenck is designed and printed under contract by Daiwabo in Japan, so they are "real" taupes. The major difference is that EESCO specifies a higher quality of yard goods for their contract than are typically used by Daiwabo.

Other popular taupes are made by Lecien in Japan, and Daiwabo is attempting to import directly into the USA now, with mixed success.

EESCO is also coming out with a new taupe line which was designed by their own in-house designers here, and printed under contract by Daiwabo.

So they're getting more available.

I've never seen it before! I really like it! I don't know what I would do with it, but I love the variety..I even liked one that was all taupe..and I'm more of a all "pink and purple" kind of girl ;)

I was introduced to taupes by a couple os friends. Love the calmnest it brings to a quilt. I have a small collection and have been able to pick the up at around $5 A yard.
Www.deltapatchwork.com just had a whole bunch in her clearance section.

my LQS www.cherishedpeices.com has a farly large selection of japanese taupes. they are realy pretty and she dosent charge a crazy price eather.

http://www.cherishedpieces.com/ (correct link)

Canadian, but she sells quarter yards cuts online.
Always a plus to me.

(Remember - we're talking about taupes, which are a style of fabric, not the color taupe.)

Thanks for telling me this, I had no idea what taupes were, I thought it was the color.

Well it's all depend what you're working on, Today we don't use the beige or white as much as we use too, so TAUPE, either fabrics or colors, there's no harm in trying in one of your project.

Broad range of Taupe
 

Quilters sometimes confuse the term "Taupe" with simply the gray/brown color we in the U.S. associate with it. In fact, Taupe is a genre of fabric very popular in Japan as well as many other Asian countries. The Japanese also refer to this genre as "Natural" fabrics. It is not merely gray/brown, but covers the entire color spectrum, and all values from off-white, to pure black.
Another misconception is equating the name Daiwabo with all Taupe fabrics. Daiwabo is one fabric producer in Japan, similar to RJR, Robert Kaufman, or Clothworks in the U.S. They produce Taupe lines, but also produce many other fabrics (currently not available in the U.S.). It is also common to hear people refer to the Serenity line of fabrics by EE Schenck Co. as Daiwabo. This is not the case. EE Schenck has contracted with Daiwabo to produce the artwork for these fabrics, so the designs are from Daiwabo, but the fabrics are printed on the same underlying gray goods as are other EE Schenck lines, such as Maywood. These are beautiful fabrics, and they are neither better or worse quality than true Japanese Taupe fabrics, merely different. Most of the real Japanese print fabrics are on a somewhat lighter, higher thread count fabric, very popular with the Japanese consumer for handwork and applique. Serenity is printed on a weight of fabric more popular in the U.S. for machine quilting.

Ok you guys have me really interested in this. I have never heard of these fabrics. My Son and DIL live almost across the street from a fabric store in Iwakuni, Japan. My DIL doesn't know anything about fabric. She would gladly send me some fabric if I asked. What info do I need to give her? Also are there certain Japanese quilting magazines(in English) I shoud request? Thanks.
Pat

Just to be clear, the fabrics on the Cherished Pieces website advertised at Daiwabo, are in fact all Serenity by EE Schenck in Portland, Oregon. They are beautiful pieces, and yes, they are less expensive than Daiwabo fabric from Japan.
-Steven

As a correction, Steven, EE Schenck's Serenity series is designed by Daiwabo, and also printed by Daiwabo under contract. The newer Serenity series, starting with Serenity 16, have been printed on a different stock than the 60 square quilter's cotton used for Maywood and other popular higher quality lines. Serenity 16 and newer are printed on a 75 square cotton, which is a lighter weight but finer fabric, pretty identical to what the traditional Daiwabo has been printed on.

A friend made a quilt from neutrals only. I thought it would be blah but it's really lovely. I saw some fabrics at quiltfest this year, various values of taupe, texture but basically reading as solids. One thing I didn't like was the Japanese fabrics were narrower than the standard 42-44 inches and expensive.

Hi Cindy,
The change to the more recent Serenity fabric is interesting to note. However, when comparing the Serenity 17 line with other current Japanese prints from Daiwabo, Lecien, Westex, and Olympus, the latter appear finer, a little lighter and silkier textured than the Serenity fabric. The only one I have here that I find very similar to the Serenity is Kinkame European Taupe line from Clothworks. I would not notice the difference using it for machine sewing, but for needleturn applique I do notice a difference, particularly in how easily the fabric frays.
I do like the changes that EE Schenck has made to Serenity, not only the fabric weight, but also returning to a broader color palette, more characteristic of the earlier Serenity releases... I hope they continue with this.

BTW, I love your website.
-Steven

Very interesting. I had never heard of them before :)

Peckish: I just saw your question and I will post on it later. I will show you some magazine covers and some taupe projects. My avatar is a hand-pieced and quilted sewing case that I made following my favorite magazine's instructions.

meanmom: I do not know of any Japanese quilt magazine in English. I pick whatever project I like and read it through multiple times before I attempt it. There are a lot of photos and diagrams, but a tremendous amount of detail in most projects.