HELLOmynameisHeather

Heather Bailey Interview with Modern Sewciety

I have been keeping this blog since 2006. Along the way, I've received several requests for podcast interviews. However, for one reason or another, the timing never worked out to schedule a call. Till now.

Stephanie Kendron from ModernSewciety.com caught me at just the right time. Hear my interview in EPISODE 34 of the Modern Sewciety podcast, available now. Click here to tune in from your computer or download the episode and listen on your portable device. Stephanie and I discuss my fabric-design process, how I built my current business, my patented invention, my family and a lot more.

Have a listen and comment here if you have any follow-up questions from the interview. I will check in regularly and reply.

Texas Two-Step

We're back in the studio after another great tradeshow in Houston where I introduced two new fabric collections: Lottie Da and True Colors. It's always a treat to catch up with shop-owners, designers, editors and friends. It's even more fun when there are new fabrics to share.

Our booth took the first place prize, which put a pretty blue ribbon on a rough ride to get there. On my way to the airport, Isaac called to say that our van's new transmission had died again. He wasn't far from town, towing our booth to Market. With only 15 minutes to discuss our options before entering airport security, I closed the call with "You better just go buy a new vehicle and get back on the road. Have fun!"

Hours later, when I landed in Texas, I learned I was a truck-owner—Isaac's dream truck—a big ol' Ford F150. Isaac glowed right through the phone. Talk about the stars aligning for the man. Your vehicle breaks right when your wife is about to board a plane, leaving you just enough time to hear her say, "Go buy something." Then, with blanket permission to do as you wish, you get to choose your dream truck without even having to field her questions. And on top of that, she's glad. The problem is solved.

Makes me smile every time I step up into my shiny new truck.*

* I'm told this is my truck.

This transportation trip-up put us a full 24 hours behind schedule which left me unexpectedly stranded in San Antonio, three hours from Houston. (Isaac was originally going to get me at the airport on his way through town.) What was to be a full work day, finalizing the tradeshow booth in Houston became a mini vacation day in San Antonio. I booked myself a hotel, got some much-needed sleep, and spent the next full day touring The Alamo, enjoying the gorgeous downtown Riverwalk and weeding through Lucha Libre masks and Eukeleles for some Christmas presents at the Mexican Market. Isaac and the new truck arrived by nightfall in time to grab some gourmet ice cream and hit the road for Houston.

What a week. We pulled out of that tailspin and kept on trucking. It cost us needed sleep when we finally made it to Houston to set up—and some dignity—while we scrambled to set up the booth in a quarter of the time we had planned.

Some blue ribbons mean more than others.

Keynote Delivered

I just returned from Utah where I delivered the keynote address at this year's Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City. What a great experience. And what a fun respite from the whirlwind of work I have this month. I was there for the entire event which gave me the chance to get to know a lot of the attendees—such an inspiring group.

And the Salt Lake City food! That was a surprise. It helped that I went out to eat with some local foodies. Take Note: Bruges Waffles, Settebello Pizzeria, Plum Alley, Gracie's Bar, Hatch Family Chocolates & Ruby Snap Cookies.

I'm back in the studio now and I have to tear right into my class project for Thursday's Creative Bug shoot. I haven't forgotten about the Lottie Da fat-quarters giveaway. We will go through those entries and select our random winner this week, then post it here on the blog.

I just wanted to pop in with a quick hello and an update. I'm excited to tell you more about this great event and the thoughts and stories I shared at the closing dinner after I get through this next swirl of sewing.

Thanks to @cailamade and @hotpinkstitches for letting me snag photos from your Instagram feeds.

Pause. Wait. Go. Go Fast!

Are you in Utah? I will be at The Material Girls quilt shop in South Jordan THIS Wednesday from 6pm to 8pm. Stop by and let's meet.

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I had such a quaint little weekend. I pieced a lap quilt, made cherry muffins, did the laundry, went to a movie. I even slept at night. Nothing nearly reflective of my high-energy obligations this week and next. (High-energy is code for compressed and quickly becoming stressful.) My True Colors fabric hadn't arrived yet for next week's Creative Bug shoot, so I made lemonade of the situation and relaxed. I meditated on this week's keynote and did some prep for next month's needs. And I completed an entire quilt top.

My quiet activities took place in a stir of remodeling. Isaac and Elijah shuffled furniture out of our family room to make way for wainscoting and new flooring. I have a number of great vintage pieces that will need reupholstering or rebuilding in some way, but we'll deal with the furniture and trimmings later. Certainly no sooner than November.

My True Colors fabric was delivered this afternoon. The race is now on. I leave for The Sewing Summit in Utah in two days and must resolve the Creative Bug project before I go, get my kids squared away, and keep a number of other projects moving forward.

Some of you have asked for an update on my upcoming embroidery patterns. They will be ready soon. A few of these other obligations pushed their way forward in line. The work is 98% complete on the embroidery patterns, so my hope is to complete them once we've wrapped up the Creative Bug shoot. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know we're making progress on that despite my hectic schedule. We had planned to keep the embroidery patterns quiet till this Fall, but went ahead with previews earlier this year when my Lottie Da fabric collection was delayed for Spring Quilt Market. We had arranged a booth, but we weren't going to have fabrics. So, embroidery!

Okay. Time for me to go, go go.

If you missed the announcement at the top of this post, I will be at The Material Girls quilt shop in South Jordan, UT this Wednesday night from 6pm to 8pm. Come by for a hello. And see Lottie Da in person.

It's Official

As I hinted last week, I'll be heading to Utah in three weeks to give the keynote address at The Sewing Summit 2013. The announcement was made yesterday on The Sewing Summit blog and throughout their social media outlets. Click on the image below to read the full article.

What is The Sewing Summit? As they put it, "We’re a cross between a traditional sewing retreat and a social media and blogging conference... With hands-on workshops, networking events, inspiring speakers, informative lecture sessions and enough down-time to connect with friends new and old—Sewing Summit is the only event of its kind. Join us for a weekend of skill-building, networking, laughing and reconnecting!"

I'm excited to meet everyone and share. The event has been sold out for a while. However! They have added a handful of spaces this week. If you are interested in attending, jump on it. Just have a look at these great classes and teachers. I hear the sewing labs will be open till 2am or so. You can sew in your pjs with friends. Doesn't that sound dreamy? Of course, I'm a serious night owl.

So then, whether you're attending or not, what would you like to hear from me at an event like this? The conference covers such diverse topics: fashion, quilting, blogging, photography, business and more. I want to do a bang-up job for you all.

Psst...

I may have let slip that a certain someone whose name rhymes with "feather daily" is going to be at The Sewing Summit next month in Salt Lake City, September 19th through the 21st. The event has been sold out for a while, but a little birdie told me that the show coordinators are offering a handful of additional tickets for sale today, starting at 9:00am MST (maybe 30 tickets or so?).

Feather Daily thought you guys might like to know—especially after you have a look through their site and see what a remarkable event it will be. These tickets are in hot demand, so act fast if you're interested. Great teachers, great classes and an incredible variety of subjects, ranging from quilting, crafts and garment sewing to fabric design, photography and social media.

Get your calendars out, you might need to fly to Utah in a few weeks.