Q Tell us about yourself.

A. I live in a beautiful rural part of New Jersey with my husband and 3 sons (and adorable mutt Pesto).  When my children were born, I traded my commute and NYC design job to freelance from my kitchen table. Many years later, I now have a lovely sunlit home studio, where I continue to create sweet character art and botanicals for a variety of children’s products and more recently, quilt fabric.

Q. What Inspires You?

A. I have been a lifelong creative, and I suffer from ICMT (I Could Make That) also known as See Something, Make Something. I am always making something, growing something or cooking something that I saw on Pinterest. I even rope my friends into trying whatever I am currently into. I think that is my superpower, convincing people that they are more creative than they believe. Creativity is for everyone, I truly believe that.

Part of the reason I wanted to move to the country, was my love of gardening. I have a large organic kitchen garden, and I happily share my harvest with friends and the local wildlife. Much of my inspiration comes from the flowers and vegetables I grow, and the animals who visit my vegetarian buffet. I plant almost everything from seed, this way I can study every stage of the growth cycle. My husband even made me an indoor grow light setup, so I can get a head start on the growing season.

I have an adventurous spirit and also love to travel. Over the years, I have visited many beautiful countries, and even lived in Ireland for five years. My favorite places to visit are the beautiful National Parks of the United States. There is so much unspoiled beauty there, you just have to go see it for yourself. My kids loved the wildlife, but the hiking mom made them do, not so much. Oh, the things I make my family do; ziplining in the Guatemalan Rain Forest, river hiking in Zion, the Mist Trail in Yosemite, and did you know you can bike at the top of the Grand Canyon?

So, I would have to say my work reflects everything I hold dear- Family, friends, nature and travel.

Q. Why Design Fabric?

I am a firm believer of education and investing in yourself. Several years ago, I came across an online class that Bonnie Christine was teaching, and she opened my eyes to the world of beautiful designer quilting fabrics. I didn’t even know this industry even existed, but from that moment, I knew they were my people -- makers!

I took all of her Skillshare classes, joined her Flourish membership, and set out on a mission to become a licensed fabric designer. Step-by-step, one thing every day, as she teaches. The biggest hurdle for me was creating my website and an online presence. I wasn’t worried about creating the art, I already knew how to do that. I made friends with like-minded creatives, which helped to keep me going when I was feeling discouraged or frustrated.

Several more online classes and website revisions later, I was finally ready to send my printed portfolio to a few companies for consideration. I sent my package out to 6 companies, it contained 3 fabric collections. From this effort, I received a contract with Studio E Fabrics. The two collections below are from that portfolio. Small, consistent steps toward a big goal pays off.

Design Process:

I like to design in collections. Each collection starts with a story that I want to tell.  Something that is special to me. I find it much more organic to work that way, the ideas flow much easier.  I prefer to sketch my initial ideas on paper. I also love to paint some of the elements with watercolors. This is my favorite part of the process.

Then, when I am happy with my concepts, I use micron pens to finalize my sketches, and bring everything into my iPad or computer, where I continue to color and add texture.

Finally, I create my final repeating patterns in Adobe Illustrator on my iMac. My art has more of a modern, graphic feel to it, rather than realistic, but I always ensure the hand drawn quality remains intact.

Q. Tell us about your fabric.

A. Blossom and Grow and Find Your Path are my first two fabric collections with Studio E Fabrics.  Since I have a lot of experience designing patterns for children’s products, it was natural that my first two collections would be geared for children.

Blossom and Grow celebrates all of the little things we take for granted and was inspired by the Robert Brandt quote “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things”… The butterfly who visits our garden for an afternoon, a rainbow after a sun shower, pretty blooms that open for a little while, children who grow up…

I love soft, muted colors, so this collection is very sweet and soft, but does have pops of coral and a nice deeper green to make the pastels pop. I made a fun Instagram reel to show the entire collection, you can see it here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZzLF-mD4Go/

I am in the process of sewing my first quilt with this fabric, I consider myself a confident beginner.  I made sure I designed a little help into this collection, in the form of “cheater” panels, for beginners like me. There is also a super sweet fabric book panel you can make.

I am enjoying the process so much, that I signed up for Lo and Behold Stitchery’s online quilt class “Beginner Quilt Academy”. The only sewing education I ever received was when I attended school in Ireland in my teens, (I remember making a pajama set with French seams!) and from Melanie Ham’s YouTube channel?

Find Your Path is my second collection with Studio E and I was inspired to create this while preparing to send my first-born son off to college. All of the life lessons we teach our children through nature are sprinkled within this collection. I even made a cheater panel with positive sentiments we tell our children and hope they are listening. I also designed an interactive fabric book panel that includes 2 finger puppets. I look forward to using this collection to make my quilt for my online quilt class.

I made an Instagram reel to show my behind-the-scenes process, you can see it here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CaAXYn_jfGi/

Q. What advice do you have for a new maker?

A. If you are just starting out in your creative journey, I would encourage you to stay true to you. Create art that is deeply personal to you, don’t spend a lot of time looking at what others are doing. Create the things that you want to see in the world, I know there are other people out there who want to see it too. Also, the best investment you will ever make is in yourself, it will build your confidence and help open up opportunities you only dreamed of.

New Jersey-based artist, lifelong creative, pizza lover, Maureen Fiorellini creates sweet character art and surface patterns for a variety of products sold worldwide. Her work reflects everything she holds dear- family life, nature and travel. She traded in her commute and NYC design job to freelance and raise her 3 boys with her wonderful husband. Her preferred medium is pencil and paper. She creates hand drawn illustrations which she then carefully digitizes making sure to maintain the organic quality of her art. She also enjoys working in watercolor and gouache. She suffers from ICMT ( I could make that) and when not at her desk, she can be found making or growing something that she saw on Pinterest.

Connect with Maureen

Instagram: @maureenmaker

Pinterest: @maureenmakerartist

Blog: maureenmaker.com