Author: Heather Bailey

  • Luxury Bedding

    ByHeather Bailey

    I've come across the most luxurious baby bedding by Tushies & Tantrums. I believe I was originally tagged in an Instagram post. (Which is one of my favorite things about Instagram—getting to see what is being made with my fabric collections. Tagging is such an easy way to share.)

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    Below is just one of the luxurious sets that Tushies & Tantrums has put together using Heather Bailey fabrics. The featured prints are those shown above, all from my Lottie Da collection: Dauphine turquoise, Lottie Dot purple, Carousel Stripe orchid, and Lottie Dot olive.

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    I adore this Jenny-Lind style crib as well. When I was a little girl, I slept on an antique Jenny-Lind-style "slave bed" that my parents painted bright orange. They had a custom mattress made for it because it was tall enough for a man, but much more narrow than a twin bed. It is one of my regrets that I didn't rescue that bed from a garage sale they had after I left home for college. That same unsalved regret had me practically leap across the store when I found this orange bookshelf at an antique shop.

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    The wish to sew my daughter a dreamy crib set must have played some part in my decision to design fabric. Charlotte was nine-months old when I began the fabric branch of my career. Her bed was still outfitted in her brother's crib sheets from eight years earlier. Now, whenever I see a beautiful crib set made with my fabrics, my mama heart skips a beat. However saccharine, I feel as if I get to play a small part in nurturing your sweet little ones. And there is nothing I love more than being a mama.

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    If you are looking for the tip-top-best bedding for your little ones, visit the Tushies & Tantrums Etsy shop. Ashley takes custom orders as well, so compile your dream fabric-combo and get in touch. There is a "Request Custom Quote" button on the lefthand side of the Etsy shop's home page.

  • Wednesday Quilt Inspiration

    ByHeather Bailey

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    At the studio, we are busy prepping for the quilt industry's fall tradeshow. We have a few new patterns coming out, as well as new fabric collection. I cannot wait to share more! With quilts and soft goods on my mind, I am sharing some quilt inspiration today. TrueColors_HeatherBailey_Craftbuds_410a

    This charming clamshell quilt was put together by Craftbuds.com for the True Colors blog hop a while back. I love how the simple, repeating design allows for playful eclecticism with the print combination. And the finished quilt looks great with rounded corners. Shown is a mix of Lottie Da and True Colors prints, along with three solid fabrics. Craftbuds' post lists some tips for assembling a clamshell quilt of your own, including links to an 8" shell pattern and a 12" shell pattern.

    I've been quite sick for the last few weeks. Feeling much better today, the first thing on my list is to visit here for a hello. I have big plans for this fall, with lots to share, including new fabrics, patterns, tutorials and tips. Expect to hear from me more regularly.

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    Giveaway in Progress

    ByHeather Bailey

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    I'm popping in to let you know about a giveaway that's in the works. Gina from CampClem.com has been posting new projects made from my Lottie Da collection all week, including a fantastic little beret made from theses leftover quilt-block pieces (below).

    In conjunction with her blog series, Gina is giving away a Lottie Da camera-strap cover, two Heather Bailey embroidery patterns and a collection of stationery. The Camp Clem giveaway closes this coming Sunday (9/14/14) at the end of the day, so stop by soon to enter at CampClem.com.

    There are several posts in her Lottie Da series, all of which show her step-by-step process for each project:

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    At the studio, we're working on new patterns for this fall and prepping to share our new fashion-fabric collection, Momentum, which ships out to stores this month. I'm watching Roman Polanski's Tess (of the d'Urbervilles) from 1979 while I work today. Or rather, I'm listening to it. The film is quite good so far—you know, should you be looking for an old Jane-Austen-ish kind of film to keep you company.

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    Heather Bailey Interview with Modern Sewciety

    ByHeather Bailey

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    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.

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    Up Parasol

    ByHeather Bailey

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    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. 

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    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.

    UpParasol310BI'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.

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    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. 

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    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. 

     

    RELATED POSTS:

    BirdEmbroidery150

    NEW Embroidery Patterns 

    		   GardenDistrict150

    Garden District

    		   TrueColors150

    Introducing True Colors

     

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    Reboot

    ByHeather Bailey

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    1406_Mexico3_265Aaaah…yes.

    Wow.

    What a summer.

    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.

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    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.

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    140722_SeniorPictures_06_325Now, 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.

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    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.

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    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.

    Glad to be back.

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    Embroidered Jewelry — I’m on a Kick

    ByHeather Bailey

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    So, here's what I made in my time off last week — teensy little embroidered necklaces for me and my close friends. Well, and for you too. We made up a few dozen kits and posted them in the online store. There's a FABRIC SALE this week — through Friday 6-13-14 at midnight MST — with 15-40% discounts on my classic fabric collections (Freshcut, Pop Garden, Nicey Jane, etc.). We're making space for new fabric collections on their way.

    HeatherBaileyStore_EmbroideryIf you order $35 or more of fabric and other goodies, you can get one of these limited-edition embroidery kits for FREE with your purchase. Once you're done shopping, add the pattern kit to your cart, then enter the code FREETINY at checkout and the price of one pattern kit will be subtracted from your total. Details about what's in the pattern kit are listed here. All three designs are printed with heat-transferable ink and can be used multiple times to make at least a dozen stitcheries. Heat-transfer and necklace-assembly instructions included.

    I'm taking eight of these kits with me to Mexico later this month so I can teach my friends and their kids how to stitch up a necklace or two while we sit under umbrellas with our toes in the sand. I think I might bring my Foredom drill too so we can drill holes in sea shells and string them together into keepsake jewelry during siesta. Eight women and girls, 11 men and boys — we are going to have a blast. These little kits are the perfect portable vacation project. I'm so excited.

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    The Hub of Hubbub

    ByHeather Bailey

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    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. 

    *Sign up for the Heather Bailey newsletter for full details.

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    Housekeeping

    ByHeather Bailey

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    We have been busy prepping samples for my next quilting fabric collection—coming in June. My fashion-fabric collection is almost here as well. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you will have seen a number of sneak peeks last weekend during Quilt Market, the industry's trade show. Now that the business-to-business side of things is kicked off, we can start putting together some full reveals to share what I've been up to in the design department.

    Before moving onto new releases, I have a little house-keeping to do. First, let me congratulate Ricky Tims and Tula Pink for winning the Bernina sewing machine face-off. And Brenda P. from Pensacola FL won the sewing machine—what a great prize—so fun!

    BookWinnerRandomOrg200SMI also have a book-giveaway winner to announce. Lisa McGriff, lucky #7, email me your address and I will have your copy of My Rag Doll sent posthaste.

    Lisa McGriff said…

    "I had a Raggedy Ann doll as well, to this day I still love Raggedy Ann dolls. I would love to win this book so much!!"

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    Finally, watch for a MIGHTY Inventory Reduction Sale at HeatherBaileyStore.com in the next week or two. All discontinued fabrics—collector's take note—will be on sale. Start planning your summer projects now. It's time we make space for new collections on their way.

  • My Rag Doll & a Giveaway

    ByHeather Bailey

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    RagDollD300I must tell you about this gorgeous new book from Corinne Crasbercu. With beautiful photographs, classic designs, and even darling little sketches and watercolors mixed in throughout, Corinne's new book, My Rag Doll, is a visual treat. Here is just a glimpse of the bright and inviting styling in this treasure of a book.

    Even the materials-list pages are pretty. Look how the fabrics, ribbons and yarns are laid out for the Red Riding Hood doll shown above.

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    My Rag Doll takes you through the creation of a simple doll with customizeable hair and features. You can start with a clean and tidy hairdo and let the naturalism develop over time as the doll is loved and dragged about by her human friends. Or, you can style her hair with wispies and frayed ends for a more broken-in effect—see hair-style examples above.

    And there are many different clothing and shoe patterns included as well, from dungaries and a raincoat to pajamas and a kimono—and everything in between.

    RagDollJ_Cover300LI have a true soft spot for rag dolls. The sweetest gifts I received as a child—and I still have most of them—were all rag dolls made by my mother. My first rag doll can be seen in my baby portrait at one year old. I was so attached to my Raggedy Ann that the only way my mom could get me to stop crying during the photo session was to hand that doll right on back to me.

    My next rag-doll baby doubled as baby Jesus in our family Christmas devotional when I was four. Somewhere amongst my keepsakes there is a photo of me as Mary holding my dolly Jesus. Later, for my eighth birthday, my mom made me another doll with a matching moses basket and a change of clothes. Again, there is a photo of me somewhere with my friends all gathered on our front lawn while I tear the wrapping paper off of this beloved gift.

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    I have often thought about creating the quintessential rag-doll pattern book. Something to pay homage to my long-standing love for rag dolls. I envisioned an intro with these personal photos and an account of my own history making dolls, even having dolls of mine displayed at a museum. Then, a lovely book like this shows up on my doorstep—it's great to have publisher friends—and my fantasy is quite fulfilled. I don't even have to do the writing and pattern-drafting work. I can skip straight to the fun part—gathering fabrics, trims and yarn and making up a rag doll for my own daughter to drag about and love. While I might write my own doll book one day, I'm in no hurry for now. This book is lovely.

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    Stitch Craft Create, the publisher, has offered me a second copy of this new book to give away. To enter, leave a comment below by Friday at midnight MST. If you have a rag-doll memory, share it with us. One winner will be randomly chosen early next week. To purchase the book in advance and also immediately receive a downloadable e-book at no additional charge, click here. Or you can pre-order the book on Amazon. Blog-hop details here—psssst—there might be others giving away a copy of the book.