Bainbridge fabric designers launch new line

The public is invited to the launch of “Flowering Around,” a fabric collection from Clothworks Fabrics designed by local artists Lynnette Sandbloom and Laura Jones of Beach Garden Quilts.

The public is invited to the launch of “Flowering Around,” a fabric collection from Clothworks Fabrics designed by local artists Lynnette Sandbloom and Laura Jones of Beach Garden Quilts.

The launch celebration for “Flowering Around” is 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 17 at the shop, which is located at 181 Winslow Way E.

“Flowering Around” — a summery floral collection in soft blues, reds, greens, and taupe — is Beach Garden Quilts’ first fabric collection, although Sandbloom and Jones have been designing quilts since 2004. The pair are especially known for designing floor cloths, which are essentially quilts for the floor that are finished flat and coated to withstand shoes and feet.

Through their patterns and demos, Sandbloom and Jones have inspired countless customers and students to create their own floor cloths.

Beach Garden Quilts is very much a home-grown Bainbridge Island business, and Sandbloom and Jones are the current generation of two families who bought land on the island in 1929. The two now reside on adjacent properties with their families and still use the original cabins as guest houses and, in Sandbloom’s case, as her art studio.

Sandbloom has been an artist since college and has continued to paint, illustrate books and write, while Jones studied textiles and owned a retail store for many years. Both became quilt addicts when their children were young and they took a local quilting class together.