HELLO my name is Heather

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    Swoon

    NiceyJanePicnic
    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.

  • I am…

    Couch2

    … admiring my new old couch, purchased yesterday.  I'm
    looking for the perfect color combo.  Gray fabric, I think.

    … moving along on photoshoot prep for our
    next brochure.  My adorable model has been measured & it's time to
    make a fitting muslin.

    … replenishing the felt selection at the HB store — now all of the pretty colors are visible again.

    … playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey with all of these overlapping sewing and building projects.  My head is spinning.

    … justifying a break to say 'Hello' on the blog.  Hello!

  • Marching, Marching

    EdnaAndFriendsBlue2

    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!

  • Have you Herd?

    Make a new friend in Henrietta turtle (or skip the flower corsage and
    make a Henry turtle). Henrietta will gladly house your pins &
    needles or entertain your baby or pet — but not at the same time. She's funny that way.

    HenriettaCvr

    You may have glimpsed my pokey new sewing buddy in my recent interview
    on NBC. This sewing pattern is hot off the press and ready to ship. I'm
    in love. Sitting by my sewing machine, Henrietta reminds me to take my
    time and enjoy the process.

    Fresh from Bingo night, come Edna, Matilda, Eloise, Harriet, Penelope and Gladys. "Shush, dearie. Did that nice young man call B-15?" Six different materials kits available herepattern sold separately.

    A herd of turtles. Or as my dad likes to say, "A terd of hurtles."

    TurtleKits

  • Announcing Heather Bailey Felt

    FeltFlowers

    FeltTile

    FeltRolled
    This photo could seriously be a poster.  I may have to print it out
    onto canvas and hang it over my couch. Oh the many uses of felt.

    If you haven't stopped by my shop for a while, you may want to take a look through the all-new Designer Felt section.
    I know how hard it can be to find high-quality felt in good colors. 
    Most chains only carry the nasty, polyester variety or a handful of
    muddy colors in wool-blend. I needed a source for great felt and
    figured you must need a source as well.

    Packaged2

    I'll be stocking a custom palette of over 3 dozen wool-blend and
    bamboo felts at the Heather Bailey Store.  I love to embellish projects
    with felt flowers or use felt to make pincushions and ornaments. These
    are the felts I use for the leaves & stems in my Fresh Picked
    Pincushions
    , in La Fleur Debris scrap flowers and in
    several upcoming patterns (getting so close now!).

    I
    recommend stocking up on a variety of colors & neutrals to have on
    hand — like a box of crayons.  You'll be surprised how many flowers,
    leaves, stems & whatnots you can make from a small stack of felt.

    RollHoriz2
    We'll be changing out the colors occasionally, so check back often to
    see if there is anything new.  Did I mention how excited I am about
    this felt?  No more hunting.  And they're nice to look at.

    FeltTile

  • Suture-Free Future

    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.

  • Packing Flowers

    FlowerProject2

    Today I'm heading over to the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City for a live interview & some crafty kibitzing on KSL's Studio 5 with hosts, Brooke & Darin. We're making fast, fabulous, fabric flowers. Fashionable too — and friendly.

    The
    spicy flower above turned out perfectly for the red & olive reverse
    of my red Marlo Bloom bag (shown on the cover of the Marlo Bloom sewing pattern). It takes my handbag right into Fall, all wooly & frayed, with felted houndstooth leaves and raw silk at the center.

    FlowerProject1

    I
    also played around with some of my favorite vintage buttons &
    millinery supplies, such as these green ceramic flower stamen. On the
    show, we're making medium-sized flowers, but as I couldn't stick to one
    size for the samples, I'm listing measurements for the large purse
    flower and the small, blue headband flower as well. Of course, make
    whatever size flower you wish & stitch it where you like.

    I say everywhere.

    FlowerProject4a

    Pop Garden Scrap Flower Tutorial

    Medium Flower

    1.  Tear a strip of printed cotton fabric 3" high by 20" wide. Pop Garden works.

    FlowerTute1

    2. 
    With wrong sides together, fold fabric strip in half, as shown. Stitch
    long, gathering stitch along matched torn edges, through both layers.
    (For a torn-edge flower, stitch along folded edge, through both layers.)

    FlowerTute2

    3. 
    Gently pull stitches as you sew, to gather fabric into a circle. Fasten
    fabric circle at center with a couple of stitches. Secure & trim
    thread.

    FlowerTute3a

    4. 
    Of felt, cut three tiered circles — 2" wide, 1.75" wide, and 1.5"
    wide. Notch edges of large & small circles. Remove all 'hanging
    chads' of felt — we'll have none of that. Stack felt circles as shown.

    FlowerTute4

    5. 
    Onto gathered fabric flower, layer stacked felt circles and a
    decorative button or brooch. Stitch layers together at center several
    times through button to secure. Conceal gathered edges at back of
    flower by whip-stitching a circle of scrap felt to the back of the
    flower. Then, attach a sew-on pin-back, hair clip, ponytail elastic, TT
    headband
    , bobbypin or barrette. And that's it. Easy-peasy.

    FlowerTute5

    For
    your reference, the following chart shows the measurements used for the
    other flowers featured in the photos above. The large flower is made by
    stacking a folded piece of silk on top of the folded cotton print with
    folds aligned. Gathering stitches are sewn through all layers, near the
    fold. And the large flower spirals into several layers, unlike the
    other two shown.

    FlowerTute6a

    I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at Friday's Start-up Princess event. If you're interested in last-minute registration, I've got a present for you — use code STUDIO5 for $10 off the registration fee. Or tune in to the show today, as two viewers will receive free tickets on air, valued at $99 each.

    Also, there is an all-new category at The Heather Bailey Store.
    See if you can spot it. I'm eager to post more, but need to rush off to
    the station. Let's just say the new category ties in perfectly with
    this tutorial and with more projects to come. I'll spill the beans in
    my next post.

  • Gilding my Sneakers

    CEclass72

    I've just returned from Creative Escape,
    a several-day craft-a-thon with hundreds of enthusiastic and kind women
    from all over the world: Japan, Canada, France, Australia, the U.S.
    Though I taught all day a couple of days in a row, I'm surprisingly
    refreshed. I blame it on the touching & funny keynote addresses
    presented by Heidi Swapp & Melanie Wellman — and my decision to wear tennis shoes instead of heels. 

    CEclassA72

    The CE students went out of their way to express their excitement
    for my class, bring gifts (chocolate, jewelry, handmade cards, hair
    clips, etc.), and make the experience fulfilling for us teachers as
    well. (Thank you, ladies!)

    All 700 or so in attendance were deeply moved by the response to
    CE's designer lamp fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
    the final evening. All of the teachers at the event, and from past
    years, donated a hand-built, one-of-a-kind lamp to be sold in silent
    auction — all $ going straight through to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

    72CE2009

    To
    add excitement to the final evening, two of the lamps were sold at live
    auction. One bidder forked out $29,000 for charity to get her hands on
    Tim Holtz' lamp (neat girl too), and Heidi's lamp raised over $8000.
    Without gushing on, I'll just say I was seriously moved. I think we all
    were. It was a great time. Thank you, Heidi & the Bazzill team for
    including me in this year's event.

    CEstudents72

    So…Now
    that the cat's out of the bag on the fundraiser, I can finally show
    photos of my lamp design — think tweet, tweet, chirp, chirp. I'll
    gather up some photos to post.

    It's great to be back. I'm wrapping up several big projects (hallelujah!) this week before heading out to Utah to deliver a keynote address at the Start-Up Princess event
    on September 11th. If you're anywhere near South Jordan, Utah next
    weekend, sign up for Friday's event and come say 'hi'. Or visit me at Material Girls
    quilt shop on Saturday the 12th — around 1ish (till 3ish?), I think. 
    I'll post a sure time as soon as it's confirmed. I'll also be on t.v.
    on Thursday, the 10th at Studio 5 in Salt Lake City. As for the rest of the trip — I'll probably be sleeping, huh?

  • Take Time to Wear the Flowers

    FloralPendant350
    I had the best time bead-shopping with my mom & sister last night. 
    We clucked and cooed over each other's finds and left with an
    assortment of big plans.  We hurried back home afterward & sent the
    men out to a movie together.  Now to plan a jewelry night.  I'll
    probably have to wait a week or two — if I can stand it.  We'll see.

    As promised, I posted the floral pendants I mentioned yesterday.  They're similar to the blackbird pendant,
    maybe a tiny bit less shiny.  Same material though. These are also
    a discontinued design;  I was only able to get my hands on twelve.  Here they are.

  • Babblejabber

    I'm scattered like these buttons between a bevy of projects.  It
    looks like they will all be wrapped up around the same time.  I'm
    finishing up several new patterns, an assortment of kits, a contract
    for a new product line (!!!), and so on.  (More on these soon.) 

    ButtonBowlsHB

    Next
    week I'll be at Creative Escape getting raspy from eight-hour days in
    front of a large crowd of crafters.  I'm hoping my loud, floral apron
    will distract everyone from the dark circles under my eyes.  That, and
    under-eye concealer.  Anyone have a favorite brand of concealer to
    recommend?  I'm planning ahead.

    I still need to do my annual
    birthday giveaway.  I've decided to wait till I release some of the new
    goodies I've been developing.  That way the prize will be fresh &
    exciting.  Ya, just you wait.  I haven't forgotten.

    Also, I've
    posted a handful of blackbird necklace charms for purchase.  Since my
    Laura No Peeky post, a ton of you have asked where to get one.  I did
    my research.  It turns out it's a discontinued design, so I decided to
    get what was left & just post them.  They're $3.50 each.  And I
    only have 20 of them.  When they're gone, they're gone.

    Off to a
    ridiculous, private bead sale this evening with my sister.  I'll be
    shopping for doll eyeballs.  Very exciting.  I'm sure I'll be tempted by more glamorous things though.

    Update:  The blackbird pendants are all spoken for.  I do have a similar pendant I'll post soon.  It's floral.  I'll take a photo & let you know when they're up.