HELLOmynameisHeather

Continuous Loop

So this cracks me up.  I get off of my plane, head toward baggage claim and am greeted by "Charlotte," with a crown on top.  Every day I'm greeted by Charlotte with a crown on top.  Always a crown .  I grinned, as the last thing my Charlotte had said to me before I left town was, "Goodnight, Queen!"  (You see, if she's a princess, then I must be the queen -- for continuity's sake -- her idea, not mine.)  Then, on the road, I notice that many of the road signs have a crown on them as well, I have a brief Twilight Zone moment, then have to ask. 

Turns out Charlotte, NC is nicknamed "The Queen City," as it was named after Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, great-great-great grandmother of the current Queen of England.  I had no idea.  Just as I had no idea my daughter was royalty when I named her Charlotte.  Just a happy coincidence.

Spent my Friday with Westminster/Free Spirit, the company that produces my fabric.  Great people.  Good, honest & visionary.  We all had lunch at a place called Sugar Magnolia & I had a go at my first authentic Southern food:  fried green tomatoes (yum!), hush puppies, collard greens & shrimp calabash. Found out that one of the four key people at the company went to the same high school as me. He was there when my brother & sister were there.  We had teachers in common and shared some funny stories.  Mainly about our spit-fire math teacher and her fabulous wardrobe.

Our school had been built in the 70s with some bright idea to have all of the classrooms open to each other.  Imagine 9 classes taking place in one big hall or 'pod'.  Ridiculous idea.  Well, that didn't work out too well, so they quickly had to install wall-dividers.  My mother taught at the school and I clearly remember her frustration at the constantly moving walls. Kids would lean their chairs back into them and disrupt the class next door.  It was built in a big circle, with the library in the middle, a large hallway around that, and then 4 or 5 'pods' fanning out from the hallway.  Navigating that main hallway between classes prepared me for driving later on.  Stick to your lane, signal when you need to turn, etc.  It was people soup.  Most of the classrooms could be entered from outside though too.  It was California after all.  Our lockers were all outside.

Jeff stopped me by Sewing Arts Studio for a Hello and some giddy chatter about sewing with Timtex.  They pointed out a snapshot of me on the wall from a couple of Quilt Markets ago.  I didn't think twice about it till this week (as that photo now leads me to another crazy coincidence).  I received an email just this week from a old friend from high school who says she saw my photo at that same quilt shop recently & told the owners, "Hey, I know her!  We went to high school together." They responded, "That's Heather Bailey.  She's designed these fabrics over here."  Brandi told the story better.  Here's what she said, "And I know it has to be you because you look exactly the same...So I already owned some of your fabric and I had pulled a Free Spirit ad out of a magazine over the summer because I loved the fabric and wanted to find it…it was yours!!!" 

So, here's my brain thread...

Princess Charlotte -- Charlotte, NC -- high school connection with colleague in Charlotte, NC -- visit quilt shop with same colleague, see photo on wall -- receive email from another high school friend who found me from photo on wall at same quilt shop in The Queen City of Charlotte, NC -- Princess Charlotte... and it loops.  Though I'm a little weirded out, I'm also quite reassured by the interconnectivity of it all. Like a snowflake under a microscope, intricate & mesmerizing.

And though I should end it there, all poetic and thoughtful, you have to see these new headrests on Continental airlines.  They can be bent around your head!  Now you don't have to have a window seat in order to catch a nap.  Someone should sew up some shower-cap-like fabric covers for these things and start a little business.  Or Continental could offer them for a buck on every flight, like they do with headphones. 

Les Machines

Found my card reader.  And I'm doing what I can to hop back on the tool train too.  I receive regular requests for sewing machine recommendations, but am a little shy about recommending a starter sewing machine as I've been entirely spoiled on the sewing machine front and haven't had to shop for a starter sewing machine for, well two decades almost & I'm not that old!   

I have three sewing machines and two sergers.  My newest machine is a Bernina Artista 640.  The coolest thing about this one is that I can design embroideries on my computer & then stitch them out at will. Of course, I confess, I've only done this once so far.  But that's because I've been designing more than sewing in recent months. (Isaac wrote an article for Sew News about how to interface with these machines if you're a Mac user & not on PCs. The embroidery I designed for that article is available as a free download in my sidebar under "Free Embroidery File.")  Anyhow, I'm not up to a comprehensive, statistical review, but I can say that Berninas are a very pleasant machine to sew on.

Speaking of Berninas -- Quick story -- Partway through my Apparel Design degree our workshop space was re-outfitted with an army of new Bernina 1620s.  Reading through the manual late one night (many all-nighters were pulled at school - Project Runway pretty much wraps up the experience), there was a mention of 'memorized buttonholes,' but the instructions weren't clear what exactly those were or how to set the machine to do it.  Oh, but the idea of 'memorized buttonholes!'  I proceeded to poke & prod & tap out all manner of button sequences before I was successful.  I think it took me an hour or so to break the code.  Completely worth it!  And, of course, I got to be Santa Claus the next day showing my friends that new technology.  We all took a renewed interest in buttons that season.

Anyhow... sewing with a quality machine is really important, especially if you're new to sewing.  I've taught many people to sew who were originally convinced they were stinky sewers.  In every case I recall, it was their cheapy cheap sewing machines taunting them. The machines would lock up & the threads would get all tangled.  Hands in the air, "I stink!" I'd re-thread the machine & get them going again, only for the machine to grunt & groan once more.  "My friend, it's your machine that stinks!  Here, try mine."  "Oh, hmmm, maybe I can sew."  Yes, I've witnessed this many times.

Of course, you don't need that Cadillac up there in order to be successful either.  Most new sewers should look for a machine with a straight stitch, a zig-zag stitch, buttonhole capability, back-stitch button, ability to change needle position, interchangeable feet, etc. But go with one of the better brands.  (Can't say just which models though as I haven't researched any of this lately.)  Get a good quality machine so you're more likely to succeed & to like yourself as a sewer.

Otherwise, just know that if you're learning to sew with a $50 machine from the drugstore that half of your sewing battles are not your fault.  Blame the machine.  That works too.  And don't give up sewing!

My other machines...
• Viking #1+ Sewing Machine - Not as new as the Artista 640, so it's not in prime position anymore, but I still like this machine a lot.  This is the machine I take out when a friend comes over to sew.  And I like to do buttonholes on this one too (out of familiarity, I think).
• Bernina 840 Sewing Machine - Old machine.  It was old when I got it too.  But it has metal parts! And everyone I've ever heard discuss this machine has given it the - same - exact - nickname -, "workhorse," which really weirds me out. I've lent this machine out to many friends who were learning to sew. And this is the machine I do all of my upholstery and slip-cover sewing on.  It's not an industrial machine, but it's tough.
• Bernina 2500 DCET Serger - Haven't mastered this one yet, but it does all of those cool hem stitches for sewing with knits.  I like to keep this one set on a cover stitch and use my other serger for overlock, so I don't have to switch the threading around too much.  See, totally spoiled.
• Bernette 234 Serger - I love this serger. Just a good, straight-forward machine that's easy to troubleshoot.  Perhaps its our history though.  Loyalty.  I bought this one used.  It was the summer I turned 20.  I had already survived one fashion show in college (huge collection, one-of-a-kind hand-sweaters too, so tiring!) & I knew I'd be putting together another collection the following year.  This serger was my ticket to sewing at home & pulling fewer all-nighters at school (yes, those were crazy-fun, but I was newly-married & trying to be more sensible). It was $200 or $250 at the time, which was about as much as we paid in rent, but neither of us flinched.  It was a good call.

So, those are my machines, a couple of which came as presents from my generous MIL who opted to be paid in machines in exchange for design work (machine embroidery, I think) over the years .  She's just about outfitted all of her daughters with top-of-the-line machines now.  Ridiculously fabulous & indulgent pursuit, don't you think?  Yes, there were times when my sewing machine was worth more than my car.  Not the nicest cars back then though.   

I'll take some photos of my other machines & mix them into this post later this week to break up all this text. I could probably go on, but I'm actually sewing today & am anxious to get back to it.  I'll upload some N.Carolina photos for next time too.

Impressive.

Where's my card reader for the point n' shoot?  I was going to show you some random shots from my trip to Charlotte, NC, but I can't find the card reader & I don't want to wake Isaac up over it.

I was going to name the post "Old News," as I'm finding it hard to be very current with my updates (still meaning to show photos from our Disneyland trip months ago & my antique store finds with Laura). Now, when I do find the card reader, I'm going to have to name the post "Very Old News," as it will have been a whole week since I headed out to Donna's Inspired. event.  Which was mightily impressive!  What a tremendous feat, Donna & Bill.  You must be fearless.  And everything was beautiful & seamless.

Donna has two new books out.  I picked up a copy of each while I was at the event.  I knew that she had used a couple of my pincushions in some photography for Fabric Scrapbooking, but I had no idea that my Freshcut line was used throughout the whole book & on the cover.  That was a fun surprise.

Cool projects too.  Donna has no fear of fabric, though she doesn't profess to sew.  And she's spreading the love.  The owner of Scrapbookin' Adventures is all jazzed now to carry my Freshcut fabric collection, as well as the whole Freshcut scrapbook collection (coming in June, I'm guessing. I'll get some dates.)  I think Donna's to blame. Or maybe Christina.  She taught a fabric/paper project too.  Anyhow, I can't wait to see what projects they put together.      

And a big thanks to all of the wonderful women I met last weekend.  I had a ton of much-needed fun.

Lotsa Lotsa

I didn't realize it until later, but "Random Debris" was a pretty sad-sounding post title, huh?  That wasn't my intention.  We're doing quite well for all of the hubbub.  My dad's heart tests went well and he was released from the hospital on his birthday - best present possible.  Home-cooked meal at our house & chocolate cake too. Four family birthdays this week in fact, and one little baby girl on her way.  Lots of birthdays, lots of design projects, lots of catching up, lots of Lotsa.

I'm heading out to North Carolina in the morning for Donna's big shindig.  Humorously, business trips seem to be my best chance to relax.  It's those long plane rides: sketchbook, embroidery, audiobooks, iTune movies for my Nano.  I'm all set.  Watched a rental from iTunes on my way to the Country Living event last month.  Pretty cool.  I just wish they'd give you longer than 24 hours to complete a movie once you start watching it.

photo:curious    fabric:coming soon

More on that later - *Pray for May* - Gotta go.

Random Debris

My intentions are good.  I keep meaning to take out the camera to photograph my sewing machines or my Foredom drill, but it's been a crazy week.  I'm busy wrapping up some huge projects that were put on the back-burner months ago when the paper collection cut in line.  You know that stage of moving where all of the furniture, boxes & other obvious items have been put on the moving truck, but the floor's still swimming with random debris: the broom, several floor lamps, thread racks, spinning wheel, cleaning supplies, whatever?  I'm at that stage on a few business projects.  Not the fun part -- but it does mean we're almost done.

My brother's wife is on bed rest trying to make it one more week before delivering their fourth child.  We've had their youngest over a couple of days this week & that's been big fun for Charlotte.  Then my dad went into the hospital today with a heart issue.  Word is that it's not too serious, but the doctor wants to keep an eye on him tonight.  So there we are. Just enough added jazz to make picture-taking less important for today.  But a quick blog post is still a nice change of pace for a few minutes :)   

Keepin' it pretty, here's a photo of Miss Charlotte showing off her favorite accessory (a snapped up point-n-shoot from our day at the Renaissance Festival).

And for good laughs, check out this April Fools Day banner!!