Pattern & Personality: Meet Fabric Designer Amy Latta

Today's Pattern & Personality profile shines a light on Amy Latta, the creative force behind Amy Latta Creations. Known for her uplifting style, joyful hand lettering, and beautifully approachable DIY projects, Amy brings a refreshing blend of positivity and artistry to everything she makes. With her signature warmth and unmistakable creative voice, Amy continues to build a community where encouragement, imagination, and heartfelt design take center stage.

What is a fun fact most people don’t know about you? 

Before becoming a designer, I spent four years as a professional ballroom, Latin, and swing dancer. When our kids came along, I stepped away from it to spend more time with my family, but I still love to dance!

Are you a tidy-desk or beautiful-chaos kind of designer? 

I actually love that description, "beautiful chaos"! That's a great way to summarize my workspace. There's always a little bit of everything all over the place, especially when I'm in the middle of a project. I try to stay at least somewhat organized, but in general it looks like a craft store exploded on my table. 

If your latest collection had a soundtrack, what songs or artists would be on it? 

Sunny Honey is based on bees and sunflowers, so I think it would have cheerful tunes like, "Walking on Sunshine," "Honey Bee," "Here Comes the Sun," and "You are the Sunshine of My Life."

What’s your signature color, the one that shows up in almost everything you design? 

My favorite color is pink. I always gravitate to it, and I definitely built my first collection, Bloom and Sew, around my signature color palette. However, because some of my fabric collections are seasonal, I actually end up having to use other color combos - like red, white, and blue for Oh Say Can You Sew, coming this January!

What inspires you?

I'm inspired by beauty, especially the beauty found in nature. Although they're totally different color palettes and motifs, all of my fabric collections start with some version of florals and/or leaves. Bloom and Sew features pink blooms and little daisies, Sunny Honey is full of Sunflowers, and Oh Say Can You Sew focuses on poppies to honor American service members. Even my upcoming Harvest Home collection has branches and vines with berries, along with pumpkins and apples.

If you could only use one fabric from your latest collection, which one would it be?

My most recent collection that's available in stores is Sunny Honey, which is a cheerful line based on sunflowers (my favorite!) and bees. While I love all 24 of the fabrics, if I could only choose one, I think I'd use "Sunny Bouquet" in blue. It has a light blue background, trios of small sunflowers, and fun little buzzy bees flying around in between. This particular pattern combines my favorite elements of the collection and I really love the shade of blue.

What’s your “can’t-live-without” tool in your creative space? 

It may not seem like the most exciting answer, but I'd have to say "Olga," the 45 mm rotary cutter from Missouri Star. The truth is, if not for rotary cutters, mats, and quilting rulers, I would absolutely not be a quilter. If I had to cut all of those pieces by hand with scissors, forget it! Besides Olga, the other big game changers for me are my Janome Continental M6 Sewing Machine and the Meander Free Motion Quilting Template. These have allowed me to do my own professional-looking quilting rather than send all of my larger projects away to be quilted on a longarm.

What do you listen to or watch while you work:  music, podcasts, silence, Netflix binges? 

My Amazon music playlist is constantly on shuffle while I'm creating. Normally, it's some of my favorite worship songs, but starting in November, I'm all about the Christmas music! 

What’s your go-to comfort snack or drink when you’re deep in a project? 

Iced coffee! My favorite this time of year is a homemade iced peppermint mocha with peppermint cold foam, crushed candy cane, and dark chocolate shavings. When it's not the holiday season, I typically go for an iced caramel macchiato with salted caramel cold foam and salted caramel drizzle.

What’s one creative habit or superstition you secretly have? 

It's more of a philosophy than a habit, but I've made the choice not to sell my handmade creations. Rather than selling a finished product, I want to provide instruction and inspiration that allows others to create projects of their own. My passion is teaching, and helping other people see that they really can make beautiful things. I love equipping them and helping them unlock their own creativity.

If you could only use three colors for a year, what would they be? 

I really don't think I could do it! I thrive on variety, so I feel like I'd get bored really quickly.

What’s your favorite guilty pleasure? 

Besides my iced coffee? Probably Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark with dark chocolate.

What’s your creative superpower? 

I'm an incredibly visual learner and crafter, so I tend to be able to visualize a finished project before I start. It's really helpful, because I can see things in my mind, like how different fabrics will work together before I actually piece them. Nine times out of ten, when I finish something, it looks just like I envisioned it.

Early bird or night owl? 

I am 100% a night owl. Now that my kids are old enough to get themselves up and moving in the mornings, I don't start anything before 9 AM. 

Last book read or movie watched? 

My husband and I really enjoyed Season 2 of Mistletoe Murders on Hallmark Channel. Now that it's the holiday season, we typically watch several Hallmark Christmas movies a week. Yes, they all have the same five plots and the same dozen or so actors, but I am here for it!

One project at a time or 10 in progress? 

If they're small projects, I tend to focus and finish one at a time. However, I do usually have several quilts in progress on the side. Right now, I have two finished quilt tops that I need to quilt and bind, and one quilt top I'm still working on. This year, I really enjoyed participating in the Andover "A Block at a Time" Facebook challenge, where we made a new block each week from July through early December. 

 

Want to learn more about Amy Latta and Amy Latta Creations? Follow her online: 

Instagram.com/AmyLattaCreations

Facebook.com/AmyLattaCreations