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.
Up Parasol projects are starting to show up all over the web. I'm excited to share many of them with you with links out to their makers. Before doing so, let's have a closer look at this new collection which is available now at independent quilt shops and online at HeatherBaileyStore.com.
Up Parasol is centered around two prints from my previous Garden District home-decor collection—Cakewalk and Mockingbird. These two designs were repeatedly requested on quilting-weight cotton, so I heeded the pleading and pinned swatches of these two on my design board to let them seep into my subconscious.
What was born of this pairing is the new Up Parasol collection. I added many all-new prints of various scales and themes, including an extremely useful pinwheel blender named Devon Check, a vintage-flavored mum print named Mum Toss, a modern little flower repeat that looks a bit like a tiny umbrella named Stella, a fresh and trendy lattice print named Trellis, an inviting Summer Plaid and another super-useful two-tone print named Lulu. Among these is my favorite new print which shows a wood-cut style bird with flowers on his wings alighting from a branch, Meadowlark.
I'm not sure if it's my favorite new print because of the finished look or because I had such a happy time creating this particular design. Again, of course, there's the mother-hen in me who believes it's just not right for me to pick any favorites.
I do really love how these prints work together. They are cheerful and buoyant while also sophisticated and chic.
I had the pleasure of creating a couple of Up Parasol quilts for the industry trade show, Quilt Market. One quilt will be out soon as a new pattern—so I'll wait just a few more days to share the details of that design. And the other is a large crazy-quilt-style design where I mixed Up Parasol with my basics collection, True Colors, as well as a couple of hand-selected solid colors for punch. This freely-pieced quilt is shown in the photo above on the turquoise quilt rack.
Crazy-Quilt How-To
Each block was started with a five-sided semi-pentagonal shape that was free-style cut with a ruler, but without set dimensions or proportions. I then pieced wedge-like strips around this center piece the way you would with a log-cabin block, trimming excess fabric from each newly-attached strip to keep the edges straight and ready for the next strip to be added.
As each block became bigger, I used a 12.5" square ruler as a guide to keep my piecing on track. Once the whole stack of blocks were made and I had arranged them into a layout, I used the same ruler to trim all blocks to a tidy 12.5" square before piecing them together.
If you can make sense of that, then you can make a crazy quilt too! Let me know if you have any questions about how to put it together and I will be sure to answer those here, or in a follow-up post.
Meanwhile, visit your local quilt or sewing shop to get your hands on these delicious Up Parasol fabrics. Or visit HeatherBaileyStore.com if you don't have a sewing hub nearby. Remember to include some True Colors and Lottie Da fabrics for an expanded variety of compatible designs, perfect for your modern quilting and crafting projects.
Pick up a copy of my Blooming Borders embroidery pattern while your at it. There is a border print included that features the same two birds shown in the Up Parasol Mockingbird print. Just imagine pairing your beautiful embroidery work with coordinated fabric in your next project—yum.
I have been all over the place—everywhere except home.
It was refreshing and fun, but I am seriously ready to get back to real life. And that's a great feeling.
I had a design project that was about two days off of delivery when we left town. Evan's chickenpox slowed me down just enough that I had to wait till we were back to get that wrapped up. I finished the work last week, unpacked, ran around getting kids set up for the new school year, took a few deep breaths—including a hike to our favorite waterfall last Friday with friends—and now I'm back in the ring.
I've decided to have at least two Wonder Woman Days each week where I tear through my to-dos like I'm battling a horde of supervillians. I'm still debating whether this calls for a token tiara and gratuitous gauntlets to enhance my resolve or whether my invisible airplane is enough.
Yesterday was such a day. By the end of the day, my 'completed' list was five times taller than usual. Yikes. I really earned my stripes when I gathered up suit and tie for Elijah's senior yearbook photoshoot, picked him up early from his graphic-design course, shuttled him on time to his appointment across town, dressed and ready to go... and one last look-over revealed that the child had not shaved. We're talking 1/4" of growth or more—allbeit sparse—peppered all over his face. Not good.
Now, I don't shave my face. And he hardly ever does. Neither of us remembered this little detail. I was quite tempted to throw a nice little tantrum in the waiting room. This wooly diversion could set us back by hours while we waited for another opening or rescheduled for August.
I closed my eyes, took several deep breaths and it dawned on me that this was one of those bad-in-an-extra-funny-way moments I would look back on fondly one day. I gritted my teeth, then gathered my golden lasso and my shaggy son and we headed to the grocery store for supplies. He put his tee shirt back on, shaved in the restroom, re-dressed in his fancies and headed back to the photo studio to wait.
The shoot was much more involved than I expected, including shots of him in a cap and gown. Be still, my mama heart. I'm so glad he was clean-shaven. If I hadn't decided earlier to be Wonder Woman, I don't think we would have dodged that speeding bullet very well. I have so much to catch up on. Rescheduling would have been a defeat.
I was even nice about it. How about that? And I fed the hungry boy a giant's serving of Backyard Tacos to celebrate our victory.
I love that kid.
Today? Today is not a Wonder-Woman Day. It's a secret-identity day and I'm proceeding at normal speed — rebooting for another blam!-kerpow! day tomorrow.
What a week! Evan has chickenpox; my trusty little car is in the shop getting fit with a new harness; my Trash Ties patent needs some paperwork-love, I have a new fabric collection to deliver and another one to review. Oh! And another one to announce—shipping this week. And a big inventory-reduction sale to orchestrate. My store manager is out of town on vacation and Isaac is working a construction gig for our friend's new photo studio all week. So, he's not around either.
I'm at the hub of hubbub. It's enough to make a gal appreciate some good, old-fashioned, downtempo embroidery. Slow it down, think things through, meditate, devise a plan....then pow! Make it all happen.
Somehow.
My meditation is your win. Because what I came up with when taking things slowly for a day is - so - much - fun. And I'm working out a way for you to get your stitchy fingers on it for free. Just give me one or two more days to sort out the details and I promise to tell all. Consider the photo a sneak peek. And start planning your summer projects, because we are putting together a Big Ol' Summer Sale* for next week as well — making space for more good things to come.
New artwork is on its way to the mill. I pretty much have to disappear for a while in order to make that happen. Then, spring comes: lunch dates, time to help friends who are grieving, maybe I cook a real meal here and there, even wear make-up on a no-big-deal-regular day. My personal spring couldn't come at a better time, because it's spring. And I'm needed.
It's just beautiful outside. And I'm determined to soak it in before the Arizona summer descends.
Vote TODAY for the Heather Bailey sewing machine in Bernina USA's Faceplate Faceoff on facebook. Vote every day through 4-14-14 and you can win this rockin' $1900 luxury sewing machine. Pretty awesome giveaway. Set a reminder.
It's party month at the Bailey's. With two birthday parties to throw for my children in January and my younger brother's wedding coming up next week, my personal creative time is fully spoken for. This hasn't kept me from dreaming about what I'll work on next, once the storm of confetti has blown west. I have new fabrics to work with—stacks of True Colors and Lottie Da are sending out a pulsing beacon from just about three feet behind me to my left. Boop, boop, boop, boop.
I guess it's a little odd to segregate my personal creative time from my professional creative time. I create for a living, so I should be satisfied with the dozens of hours I'm spending on new print designs and other products during the week. Really, what's the difference? Perhaps it's the element of play. Or maybe it's throwing obligation to the wind and just creatively goofing off for few hours here and there. I'm aching to 'play' with these new fabrics some more. There just isn't time this month. Hm. I guess I could show up to my brother's wedding with an odd assortment of experiments and call them "decorations." Here you go, Ryan, some quilt-block tests for your hors d'oeuvres table. So glad I could be such a help to you this week!" Or perhaps not—something about throwing them the wedding that they want.
Till February, I'll get my fix through you guys. I love watching what pops up on your blogs, on Instagram, on Flickr, etc. If you post a project with my fabrics or my new embroidery patterns, let me know. And send me links to others' projects you come across.
In fact...in fact! There is a sweeping True Colors blog tour going on this week and next, all over the web. You'll want to check this out.
The amazing bloggers below are working with Free Spirit's new True Colors collections, adding their personal flair. There will be inspiration galore and a bunch of giveaways. The fabulous bloggers that will feature my own collection are highlighted in 'radiant orchid.'The other wonderful blogs will be working with Anna's, Joel's and Jenean's True Colors prints. Should be a serious shindig. Don't miss the first two who have already posted.
And! I nearly forgot. Here is video of the four of us discussing color and these new True Colors collections. I'm a little shy to share this as **I have never been so sleep deprived** as I was the day we filmed this video. I had something like six hours of sleep over a four-day period. And it shows. Thank goodness for CreativeBug's fantastic filming skills. I only wish they had included my little soapbox moment on the importance of "UGLYCOLORS" Maybe my bleary-eyed, tongue-tied self did not communicate the idea as eloquently as I remember. Anyhow, Anna has similar thoughts on "muted" colors. I ditto what she says.
Let's see some fabrics! My new collection, Lottie Da, started shipping
this week. I'm over the moon. And I'm thrilled to share the line with you
today.
With
a playful, 60's-mod vibe, Lottie Da combines dancing pop florals with
groovy go-withs—butterflies included. With strategic contrast
planned into the collection (value, hue, scale, and so forth), Lottie Da
is versatile and fun. Combine like-palette prints for a quiet,
sophisticated look, or incorporate contrasting colors and values for
greater pop. You can take this collection in so many different
directions.
Tweaks to my production process allowed me to experiment with colors I
haven't focused on in the past—violet, aqua and charcoal to be specific.
I started sewing with Lottie Da this week and I'm having a blast with
this zingy palette. I designed a foundation-paper-pieced project I'll
be sharing soon, along with a new free Lottie Da quilt pattern. I'll
show you how the prints can be combined for different effects. I'll also
post peeks at some original Lottie Da artwork and previews of projects
to come.
To celebrate the launch of Lottie Da, let's have a giveaway—giveaways are the best. I have a lovely Lottie Da fat quarter
stack for one lucky winner, including all thirty-two prints
in the
collection. Enter by Sunday, September 15th at 11:59pm PST by leaving a
comment on this post. Make sure you enter your email address in the
comment form so we have a way to contact the winner. One entry per
household.
But! Don't wait for news on the giveaway before stocking up on Lottie
Da. The first print-run of a Heather Bailey cotton collection tends to
sell
out quickly, so stock up fast and soon or risk having to wait a month or
two for the next shipment.
For first news on upcoming products, sales, freebies and more, make sure to sign up for the Heather Bailey newsletter.
Watch for those upcoming Lottie Da project posts. And, send in pretty
pictures of your own Lottie Da projects. We love to see what you're
making—and to show you off.
There are strike-offs everywhere at the studio today, looking better
than ever. They tend to show up with only a moment's notice and require a
fast turn around. Reviewing fabric samples takes daylight though—and
therefore a reshuffling of the day's top projects. If it can be done in
the dark, it gets bumped.
Over my years designing fabric, I've learned that the sooner I hand in
my color notes, the sooner I get finished fabric in hand. When
strike-offs arrive, our little ant hill stirs into a frenzy to get the
job done and set the world straight again.
All stirred up and settled back down again. Daylight has faded, but
the job is done. Even better, we don't have to wait till this collection
is ready for production before... there... will... be... fabric.
In fact, we don't have to wait long at all. There is a tower of boxes a
few feet behind me—just delivered today—that house a brand-new fabric
collection. The only thing holding me back from tearing into the
shipment is getting today's giveaway posted while it's still the 28th!
So,
let's hop to it. You enter the giveaway, I'll open the boxes. And as
soon as daylight rolls back in, we'll take some pictures, sew up a few
little ditties and set the pretties before you within the week.
With a new fabric collection close at hand, I figure a $50 gift certificate to the HeatherBaileyStore.com would make someone's day.
Comment to enter. One entry per household. Be sure to include your email
address
in the comment form so we can contact you if you win.
Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Thursday 8/29/13. Watch for the winner to
be announced within the week at the bottom
of the post. For more info on my August giveaway party, click here. Please
share the word. Check back every day.
I'm
finishing up another fabric collection, then heading out to Washington
D.C. with Isaac and the kids. I'm proofing colors by day and packing by
night.
This is crazy. Exciting and crazy. I have never designed so much
fabric in a year. The next big collection launches in a few weeks and ships
in August or early September, then there is a 'basics' group hitting in
October and the designs I'm completing this weekend will be in stores
next spring. And there's another fashion group in there that's not on
the books till Free Spirit finishes up some market research. And that's
just the fabric update.
When I booked the tickets for D.C. I had no idea just how much I
would need a vacation come July. I unkink my fingers, uncross my eyes,
straighten my back and declare, "Bring it on."
A plywood portrait, eight feet tall, from the parking lot at The Icehouse. Seriously funky.
How does this relate to me? It doesn't really. Except, we're building
our own funky wall for our quilt market booth today. If the concept
works, it's going to be really cool. I'm dying to tell you the
punchline. But you won't get the punchline without seeing the wall
first—so, back to building we go.
We're doing a test run here, then re-framing the walls up in Portland from scratch.
I don't enjoy being vague—but what's a girl gonna do? I promise to
tell all very soon. Depending on our execution, the booth will be either
pretty or funny—or perhaps both.
So, I ask you, if "Happiness is winning!", then is losing sheer misery?
Or can we take happiness into our own hands and go get ourselves a
gosh-darn happy planner at Target and make everything okay again? Become
a winner.
I'm
planning to do lots of giveaways this year—serious fun. But, announcing
winners always seems like a bit of a bummer for the non-selected—as
evidenced by the 'Giveaway Echo' that generally follows. I certainly
don't want to sadden the masses—even if this "Happiness is" card does
rub it in just a little bit :-)
(Ladies, please email me your shipping addresses & we'll send
your planners out this week. If you prefer a particular cover design,
let me know—I'll try to accommodate your request.)
So, guess what! I have a new collection of planners and calendars at
Target stores nationwide. True story. And they're gorgeous.
I worked with Mead—the
company we all know for their awesome back-to-school supplies,
notebooks, office organization, etc. What a great company to work with.
It's business love.
If you’re getting organized for the new year, like I am, go get one
of my new planners. There are a number of different styles and sizes,
including prints and solids: pocket planners, purse-sized planners,
desk planners, wall calendars. Several of the designs have a full-month
view, followed by a week-by-week view—which is the bomb, as far as
planners go.
(There is one design which makes a fantastic daily journal. I'll take more photos and show you what I mean.)
It’s months of work to put together a new collection like this. And then, BOOM!,
one day the news explodes in a post. Like fireworks.
Come to think of it, I started on this line before I was pregnant with
our baby and the collection hit stores more than a year after he was
born. In effect, birthing a new planner collection takes just about as
long as it does to gestate a baby elephant.
So, next time you’re at Target, go have a look. And while you’re in the
planner section, straighten up the area for me, will you? And tell
someone else in the aisle—“See this gal here, Heather Bailey, I know
her.” Then, go suggest to your friends that they need spiffy new
planners too.
Thanks, friends. I’m getting fantastically caught-up on design work
which means there will be news erupting left and right around here.
To celebrate, let's do another giveaway. I have THREE undated
calendars for three lucky fans. Undated means they can be used for a
different year than 2013. It doesn't mean they're "Undateable." And you can use refills to keep these planners going after the current year is over. Leave a comment to enter the giveaway.
I also have TWO more planners to give away for you Instagrammers. Post about the Target collection or upload this image—AND include the hashtag #heatherbaileyplanner to enter. In fact, you can use any of these photos if you like. See my Instagram page for a glimpse at the planners our Instagram winners will get to choose from (user name: @heatherbailey).
I also have SEVEN of these adorable pocket planners below to hand out. These go to the first seven guests to place an order at www.HeatherBaileyStore.com and SIMPLY ASK for one in their Order Comments at checkout.
Giveaway winners will be determined sometime on Monday, January 28th. Good luck!
Getting back to project eye-candy, here's my finished chair. I went with St. Charles Bouquet in blue—which is perfect with my living room decor—and a distressed green finish to pay homage to the original condition of the chair. The contrast between the crisp new fabric and the lightly-weathered frame makes for a bold, yet elegant statement—in my smug and humble opinion.
This is my Garden District™ fabric collection which came out right around when little bub came out to meet the world. I announced the collection to my newsletter subscribers but never managed to post any reveals here on the blog. Having a baby can be disorienting, to put it lightly.
St. Charles Bouquet is a modification of Rose Bouquet from my Pop Garden™ quilting-weight collection. Those of you who have collected my designs will note that the focal bouquets of the print are much closer together and the scale of the design is much larger. The artwork was re-created and re-colored with home decor specifically in mind.
The other prints in the Garden District™ collection are all new. Mockingbird is a print I put together at first for my Nicey Jane™ quilting-cotton collection, but it was swapped for Picnic Bouquet at the last moment, favoring the scale and mood of Mockingbird for home dec projects. Plus, Picnic Bouquet was too perfect for Nicey. It is one of my favorite prints in that collection.
I have received many pleas to release these home dec prints on quilting-weight cotton and laminated cotton as well. It would be helpful to know just which prints you're most interested in seeing in these other formats. They would need to be rescaled, paired with the perfect companion prints and recolored perhaps. There is a lot of thought that goes into balancing a cotton collection so the variety of prints can be mixed into the same quilt or craft project. It's complicated. But it can certainly be done.
This collection was inspired by the urban gardens and vintage architecture of historic New Orleans. The prints are distinctly romantic with an urban influence. A portion of the collection is printed on a luscious cotton sateen, and others are printed on a sturdy cotton canvas. (In my opinion, a well-designed and inviting room offers a variety of textures.) The sateen prints are 55"/56" wide and the canvas prints are 58"/59" wide. Think bedding, curtains, pillows, purses, jackets, skirts, nursery decor, and more. At $17 to $19/yard, they are considerably more affordable than most designer decorating fabrics.
That stack of chairs I just posted about... Garden District is the whole reason there IS a stack of chairs. My furniture-collecting habit reached new heights once this fabric collection was put into production.
Finally, great color for the home! I got tired of searching for the perfect fabrics for my own home and decided to give up already and design them myself. I am genuinely, personally relieved.
I lost my voice a few days ago. It's only gradually coming back to me. In my gusto to get things done today—it's the first quiet day I've had in a long stretch—I somehow forgot all about my condition.
I set up a business call for the afternoon with one of my licensing partners and was only reminded of my voiceless state when I answered the call with an inaudible croak.
Oops. They called looking for Heather Bailey and Neville Longbottom's pet toad answered the phone.
Leafy layers of tracing paper with final modifications blanket my studio. When this design is finished, I will have one more print to go.
I lay in bed this morning with my eyes closed for half an hour letting impressions of that final print soak into the backs of my eyelids. These images are elusive and transforming. Remember that Michael Jackson video where one person morphed into the next, over and over—Black or White? Like that.
The trick is to jot these ideas down without indulging in them just yet. I'm saving the last print for dessert.
One petal reads "Yes," the other says "Same"—don't mistake it for "Sane." I'm not there yet, but getting very close.
I'm in the thick of designing new prints. The one I'm working on right now will probably take me all week—at minimum. This pushes me awfully close to my target date, but the print is gorgeous, so I'm taking the gamble.
The other designs are close. I can see the light. As long as I work through the dark, right?
In other news, we survived Spring Break. I look forward to having the kids around. But wow, this week, I'm more ready than ever for them to head back to school. A snippet of quiet, a splinter, a shard, a crumb, would be oh so lovely. Tomorrow is the day.
Check out the current issue of Where Women Create magazine—that’s me on the cover below. Included are the first public photos of our company workspace, a.k.a. HB headquarters, as well as photos of my home studio. See our design space, the online store’s fulfillment area, the amazing worktables Isaac completed last spring, and more. The article covers my typical workday, juggling kids, artwork, employees, licensees, etc. I've been holding off showing you my new space till this issue hit newstands. I'm glad it's here!
If you are new to Where Women Create, rush to get your first copy. Seriously. Each issue is more like a book than a magazine, thick with beautiful images and inspiring stories. The cover price is bit higher than other magazines—in order to keep the issues from being bogged down with a gazillion advertisements, and to make space for much more content than other magazines have—completely worth the price. If you're looking for a signed copy, we have a handful available. Just a handful though.
The magazine’s founder, Jo Packham, has a long history in book publishing. Where Women Create is her first magazine title, sprung from a book by the same name. This year, she has launched her newest project, Where Women Cook, a sister magazine to Where Women Create. Read up on your favorite foodies. Drool over pages of mouth-watering recipes. This new title promises to be just as inspirational—especially if you're into food—and who isn't?
Jo, along with Nancy Soriano (love Nancy too!), former Editor-in-Chief of Country Living Magazine and current Publishing Director of Craft for F & W Media, are the founders of The Creative Connection conference held last month in Minneapolis. I attended the conference last year as a Panelist and had intended to be there this year as well. Everyone featured in this month’s Where Women Create magazine was there for an autograph party on Friday night and several participated in classes, forums, panels, and so forth. I was home feeding the newborn.
It’s a fantastic event that I lend my enthusiastic support to. If you have the opportunity to attend next year’s conference, do. Follow the event’s twitter chatter by entering the hashtag #tcce11 over on Twitter. To find out more about next year’s conference, check the Creative Connection website for updates. Also, if you're in Orlando this weekend, head to the Southern Women's Show to meet Jo and her team. Where Women Create has a full schedule of events and meet-n-greets planned for the show's stage.
Thank you, Jo, for the honor of being your cover gal for this issue. It’s been a delight getting to know you this year.
It's official. My first collection of home decor fabrics is in the works. I mailed out the artwork earlier this week. I'm so excited. And relieved. That last part of the design process is pretty grueling.
I can't show any sneak peeks till the copyright process is completed. I can let it slip that one of the prints is called Cakewalk. A great name with an even-better history. (There are no cake illustrations involved though.) I love learning about weird stuff.
Here's the skinny.
The cakewalk is a dance from the civil-war era. It was a tradition begun by slaves which developed into a parody of high society ballroom dancing and dandy mannerisms. Instead of taking offense, plantation owners encouraged the comedic dance. Many would host Sunday cakewalk contests to determine who could high-kick, saunter, curtsy, and tip his hat to best effect. The prize was usually a cake wrapped in cabbage (I'm guessing early Saran Wrap here). It is from this tradition comes the saying, "That takes the cake!"
The dance hit the mainstream around 1890 or so -- Victorian society was due for some silliness.
The high-stepping march of a band majorette stems from the cakewalk as well.
After discovering old-timey cakewalk footage on You Tube yesterday, Isaac and I took a stab at the dance ourselves. Right here in my office. Flag that one for the next church talent show, right? If you need a stress relief, I highly recommend it. Odds are you'll win a good belly laugh and burn off some cake while you're at it. Then again, you might need to be punch-drunk with exhaustion to fully understand.
I'm sitting at my new desk with my toes nestled in a cream shag rug.
It's my first full day working from the new studio. We still have a
lot of painting and decorating to do before this place feels like home,
but the shag rug is a cozy start -- along with my green, crocheted,
doily coaster.
-- Which reminds me that I need to park a camera up here if my photos are to match up with my chit-chat now and again. Here are a few Nicey Jane pillows and a full-size Nicey Jane quilt. Recognize the settee, updated & reupholstered in a french-gray velveteen? --
The hardest thing to get used to is the glorious quiet. Who knew quiet could be so distracting.
My studio at home is smack-dab in the middle of the house, with two
wide, arched entrances and no doors. I'm used to Isaac's music and
loud-talk from the other room, dogs barking at the front door, Dora the
Explorer calling out from the family room and Charlotte playing at my
elbows. Oh, and four phones and a fax machine ringing intermittently.
Charlotte will still play at my elbows here, as she should. She has
discovered a 'cave' at the back of my display dress form. She rounds
up my threesock-doll bats and lets her imagination trot along. The beefy warehouse shelving makes for fabulous bunk beds too, I'm told. For turtles, elephants, bats, and little children.
The rest of the happy rackity-clackity will stay put at home. I'll still be there most of the time to enjoy it.
Gotta run. My mom is on her way over for a lunch date.
She's gussied up and ready for her big debut. Meet Nicey Jane™, my
new fabric collection for Free Spirit. Nicey is sassy, sweet, and ready
to sew. In other words, check your local fabric store, as Nicey Jane
arrived this week.
These new prints are available in two color palettes. We'll call the pink/olive/tangerine palette Kissing Boothand the blue/gray/gold palette Porch Swing. Along with florals, geometrics, and stripes, there are also a handful of Nicey Jane cotton solids -- which are batting their threads at me now, calling, "Sew with me, Heather. Forget that computer and run away with me."
In a couple of weeks, there will also be eight 58" wide laminated
cottons (similar to oil cloth, but light-weight and super-duper supple
-- must touch). I'm excited that the finish is light-weight enough to
be gathered. Once I finish up my stationery design work this month,
I'm going to sew up a Smarty Girl book bag with the laminated cotton and give a full report. I also have some raincoat plans and a kid's booster seat to make.
(I never did show off my birthday bicycle,
did I? Nicey is doing the job for me now. Yep, that's my
pinkity-pink-ol bike there. I never would have guessed I'd go for a
pink bike. Would have guessed orange. Or khaki. Or bright yellow. I
love it though. Wait till you see the bicycle saddlebags I'm planning
to make out of this print -- but in laminate. Oh yah.)
Back to the fabric, shall we?
The collection tells the story of small-town girl, Nicey Jane. Nicey
heads to the city on Friday nights to swing dance with her beau -- but
not before hanging the laundry to dry & enjoying an afternoon
picnic on the farm. The prints are named for Nicey's story: Hello
Roses, Hop Dot, Swing Toss, Wash-Day Ticking, Welcome Road, Picnic
Bouquet, Slim Dandy, Dream Dot, Church Flowers, Pocketbook, and Lindy
Leaf.
(The Lindy Hop is my mom's favorite dance. She tried to teach me some moves on the family room rug when I was little. Tried. The Lindy is dang-tricky.)
Now for dessert, a little Nicey Jane video. Be patient with the resolution; I uploaded this piece to YouTube instead of hosting it on my own site so it can be shared, embedded in other blogs, watched a gazillion times, etc. I have Isaac to thank for the wink -- you'll see.
For second dessert (what would a Hobbit
call a second dessert?), I believe I'm in the mood for a celebratory
giveaway. New fabric has arrrived -- and it's Christmas time -- a dangerous combination. So, three prizes! One $50 gift certificate and two $25 gift certificates to The Heather Bailey Store.
To enter, leave a comment. Tell us something fun, or interesting, or weird, or clever, or
something kind someone has done for you. Something like that. I do read all of the
comments. I'll go first (see comments).
Happy holidays, my friends. I'm off to stir some hot cocoa with a
candy cane and find myself a pair of slippers. It's cold outside.
I'm
off to Houston for Quilt Market. The stars have aligned. As such, I
am thrilled to debut a new feature fabric collection, a palette of
cotton solids and an assortment of delicious, laminated prints (my
samples arrived at the studio just yesterday). I also have several
fun, new sewing patterns to share (Henrietta is one of six new patterns).
If you're heading to Market
this weekend, stop on by booth #s 1957,59 for a hello -- and a first
peek at my upcoming collection, Nicey Jane™.
Bring smelling salts. These fabrics may cause fainting -- they're stinkin' gorgeous.
Such great feedback on the turtles!
It sounds like a lot of these names are making their way back into
fashion: Henrietta, Matilda, Penelope, Harriet, Eloise. How awesome
is that?!
Here in the studio, I have
a quilt in the works, several aprons, handbags, blankets,
basket-liners. It's like bathing in ice cream. Wait till you see what
I mean.
And let me just say that my
mother is a SAINT. She's doing more sewing than I am this week. I'm
juggling contracts left and right, interviews, booth plans, model
chasing (see yesterday's tweets), pattern covers, sample design -- that kind of stuff. All fun, but a juggle nonetheless. Thank heaven for mom!
Here it is, my live interview on NBC's Studio 5 in Salt Lake City. Catch a glimpse of my next mini pattern. Try not to glimpse the ribbon dangling from my shirt sleeve though.
Written instructions for the Pop Garden scrap flowers featured on the video can be found here. I had an incredible time in Utah this weekend. I met many fun entrepreneurs & was showered with some amazing presents -- necklaces, notecards, homemade games, tee-shirts, chocolate. The Sweet Tooth Fairy's Double Fudge Cake Bites made my night on Thursday. Imagine oreo-cookie-flavored cake with a truffle-chocolate shell. Yeah. Holy happiness, Batman.
I don't even know where to begin with all of the adventures
I went on this month. I may have to grant myself a
Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card and skip immediately past Go -- at least till
I'm caught up on some design projects.
This
weekend I went through the first round of strike-offs for my next
fabric collection. Gah! I normally wouldn't mention strike-offs
because, really, it will be months before the fabrics are available.
But, gah! They're gorgeous. I'm ready to fly over to the mill and
screen the prints myself if it will speed things up. I'm dying to sew
with this fabric.
See,
now I feel better, and you feel worse. Which is why I normally don't
say anything. But, that's what I'm working on today. And that's where
my brain is.
I'm also thinking about a giveaway to celebrate my blogiversary. It's been 3 years now. So, how does this sound for a prize?
Leave a comment, telling us what your first sewing project was -- or if
you don't sew, what your first sewing project might be -- or if you
don't plan to sew, why not!? Or your favorite remedy for puffy eyes.
I don't know, tell us something interesting. Or just say, 'Hi.' That
works too.
I'll let this go through Thursday night MST, then hand it over to the Random Number Generator for an edict.
I may hand out a couple of extra giveaways too. I tend to do that.
The photos? Some shots from my weekend in Pittsburgh. What a beautiful city!
I'm
back. I know I never mentioned that I was leaving, but you figured
that out, right? I spent a week in Houston at Quilt Market with my
sew-good friends. Laura,
Isaac's sister, flew in to assist me and we had more fun than two
people should on a business trip. I met Laura 16 years ago, when I
first met Isaac. We're two weeks apart in age and are good, good
friends. More on Laura later -- or earlier. She tends to pop into
posts regularly around here.
My new sewing patterns are now available wholesale to retailers.
We've built some amazing new systems to support our wholesale program,
including an online ordering system. We were at Market to introduce
that program and my sewing patterns to the sewing/quilting industry. I
can't say what a thrill it is to have such robust systems in place.
Now I can really go to town on design, while Tara and Rachel keep
order-delivery running smoothly.
I came home to the Halloween rush and a week of Fall activities. We
barely fit pumpkin-carving in for all of the parties and events going
on. However, carving your pumpkins on Halloween day does mean they're
fresh and spritely for trick-or-treating -- especially when the
weather's been in the mid-90s all week. My jack-o-lantern has
eyelashes and cheeks and Elijah gave his a friendly uni-brow.
I'm excited to be back. I've got my kids under my wing, my home
mostly back together and a mind full of projects to get started on.
So, guys! It sounds like Pop Garden & Bijoux are starting to
hit stores. Several shops have emailed me about how their phones are
ringing off the hook with calls from you blog-readers -- just pacing for these
fabrics. Nadine, from Material Girls Quilting in Utah, emailed me with
news that many of my fabrics were delivered today and that before she even had
them unpacked, one customer purchased 28 yards of Pop Garden
alone. Nadine says she's been receiving
several calls a day in anticipation of my new collections. I think I
might just have to make my way up there & meet these girls
sometime. Sounds like there's some wild-sewing taking place in South
Jordan, Utah.
I
can't say how important it is to support your neighbor- hood fabric
shops, like Nadine's. They are your best source for technical help,
for fabric & supplies, and for the cheerleading we all need to get
through our projects sometimes. Fabric and quilt shops are a great hub
for finding comradery with women who share the same interests as you,
and can help provide the community that we, as women, thrive on.
I've started a list of shops that will be carrying my new fabric collections. Free
Spirit doesn't have an easy way to deliver store info until after orders
have been shipped, so it will likely be another week or two before we
receive the full list of stores. If you have a local shop that's expecting my
fabrics, please drop us a note with their name, address, phone #, etc.,
so we can add them to the list. (The link is in my sidebar.) Who
knows, perhaps you'll discover a new shop in your area. I just recently found a
quilt shop near me that I had no idea was there.
Let me know about your favorite online stores as well! Have you
seen the collections for pre-sale anywhere else? With Freshcut, there
were a number of online stores allowing pre-orders.
Pop Garden & Bijoux are currently Free Spirit's best-selling
collections -- yes! As such, these fabrics shouldn't be too hard to
track down here soon. Not like Freshcut -- which is growing more &
more scarce now that it's no longer in production.
As soon as we're able to photograph some fat-quarter packs and
designer doses for the HB store, we're going to move the individual
fabric swatches of Pop Garden & Bijoux to a free-standing page for
project-planning and whatnot. Maybe I can get
Jenny B to teach me how to code the page so you can move the swatches
around -- wouldn't that be too cool? At that point, we'll only be
selling Freshcut by the yard and select combinations of Pop Garden
& Bijoux. I expect we should have those fat-quarter stacks in place by the end of next week.
Anyhow. I'm hoping a comprehensive store list will help address
those of you who have emailed about having a hard time finding what you
need. Please let us know who we're missing. Email [email protected].
We can always wait for the info from Free Spirit, but would love to get
the store list fleshed out sooner, if possible, so you'll know which
stores will have the collections here soon.
Introducing Pop Garden & Bijoux, my
new fabric collections for Free Spirit -- 'sister collections' to mix
& match. Click on the photo above for a fabulous & not-so-shy
preview of all of the prints in the combined collections.
Fresh
flowers in three playful palettes to keep your projects lively and your
sewing spirits high. Inspired by the first burst of Spring, Pop Garden
captures the energy of a garden in fresh bloom. Mix prints for a
custom bouquet of fabric. Lively & fresh --- you'll love these!
bi•jou[be-zhoo]; n. pl. bi•joux [French] 1. a jewel or a trinket 2. anything small and of elegant workmanship A
collection of "jewels or trinkets" to customize your bouquet of prints
and add a bit of sparkle. Designed with quilters & crafters in
mind, Bijoux presents a wide palette of small-scale, cut-able prints to
mix with today's modern, large-scale florals. a.k.a. "almost-solids,"
"mix-ins," "palette-builders," "pretty ditties," etc.
• • •Coming to Independent Fabric Stores -- End of July 2008• • • -- for wholesale information,click here--
And I've re-designed my blog -- it's a blogiversary tradition. But,
this time I had some serious fun & added all sorts of bells &
whistles. So, re-fresh your page or clear your cache if needed.
Here's hoping everything is in working order.
I'm feeling thankful this week -- just so grateful for the goodness
that exists in the world. My last attempt at a post (it was never
posted) sounded something like the Gettysburg Address. I can't decide
if it's powerful & poetic or just plain sappy, so it'll have to
wait. And, seeing as my blog has now turned two and I'm feeling gushy
& grateful -- well, I'm thinking a giveaway will suit the occasion. Three giveaways! What do you think?
This time I won't ask you to suffer through your embarrassing
stories or tell me a dumb joke (though you really should go have a read
through those horrifying stories & stupid jokes if you haven't already). Leave a
comment & I'll ask the random number generator for help in choosing. I wish I
could do a thousand giveaways. Wouldn't that be cool? Perhaps one day.
Each box will be a mish-mash of hoo-hahs & what-nots (good
ones), whatever I'm feeling like when I pack them up, but I'll be sure
to include your favorite color of Trash Ties, a new pincushion &
some Freshcut. I'll even include a precious couple of bits &
scraps from my own samples of Pop Garden & Bijoux (I only have a
small piece of each fabric until the first print run hits the states on
big barges next month).
Thank you for hanging around & for going out of your way to send
kind notes, leave thoughtful comments, & name my dogs. Thank you
for your friendship. I wish you all lived on my street & we met up
for play dates at the park or lunch on the town twice a week -- or we
could hang upside down from trees together & knit. I've always
wanted to try that. (Perhaps I should I explain that one, huh? -- I
had a dream once that I was hanging upside down with my legs hooked
over a tree limb & knitting -- some half-awake amalgamation of
childhood jungle-gym memories & a my love to make stuff. It was a
pleasant dream. Would be so much nicer with friends though ; )
So, I guess this post is now a fabric-release-, new-blog-look-, mushy-giveaway- extravaganza.
This will be an exciting next month. Lots of big debuts in June/July!
Have a hunt around my new links & see if you can discover some
previews of what we've been up to the last while & what's about to
pop. I'll feature the new fabric collections in more detail over the
next few weeks -- just needed to catch up with you guys first. I'm
back in the blog saddle now -- whoa, Nelly!
So, off I go to Portland! I'll be debuting two new fabric
collections which I'm absolutely itching to share with you. I'll be
back early next week with the full, colorful release. Then there's
some more big stuff in the month to follow. You'll see ; )
If you're heading to Quilt Market this week, come visit me at the Westminster/Free Spirit booth. I'll show you what I've been up to --
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.
Hi! I'm Heather Bailey, a fabric & lifestyle designer, an inventor, and a mother to three amazing kids. I love to create. Need to create. And I'm spreading the word on how fulfilling and necessary creativity is to the human soul. Love & nurture your family, be true & honest with your friends and make good stuff—three necessary ingredients for a happy & beautiful life.
This, here, is my personal blog.
