I just heard that The Elven Garden is having a fun Pop Garden giveaway this week. Enter to win this stack of popular, out-of-print fabrics from my Pop Garden collection over on her blog at TheElvenGarden.blogspot.com by Saturday, December 14th at 2pm (Australian DST) for a chance to win.
I'm working behind the scenes to finish up the new embroidery patterns so we can get those back from the printer with plenty of time to ship them out before Christmas. I plan to scent up my home with cinnamon and nutmeg—baking or candles, whatever it takes—then snuggle up with my kids and a soft quilt to embroider while we watch The Sound of Music or Gone with the Wind.
Doesn't that sound fabulous? It's the picture in my head that's getting me through the last leg of this race. I should have some embroidery-pattern news here very, very soon.
Happy Holidays!
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.
It's the season for late-night sewing. With two collections to present
at Quilt Market next week, there's some serious sewing going on around
here. All of my clothes are covered with thread. Every surface is
stacked with odd cuts. The studio floor is littered with scraps.
In all the excitement of the last couple of weeks, I certainly
haven't forgotten about our Lottie Da fat quarters bundle giveaway. This
glorious stack of fabrics is sitting on my desk waiting for a new home.
Thank you, everyone for your enthusiasm for my new collection. I hope
you will take a trip to see the fabrics in person at your local fabric
retailer. Nothing beats mixing and matching prints in the wild paintbox
of a quilt shop. I am on the edge of my seat to see what you will make
with the new line, so please share. My Facebook page is a great place
for that. And I'll be prepping a Heather Bailey Fabric Flickr group soon
as well. On Twitter, catch me at @_HeatherBailey and on at
@HeatherBailey on Instagram. Hashtags help everyone else find the
images, so don't forget #heatherbailey and #lottieda.
Now, onto the fat quarter bundle winner ˆ-ˆ-ˆ-ˆdrum roll ˆ-ˆ-ˆ-ˆ… The Lottie Da fat quarter bundle goes to Denise Clason,
Lucky #168 ("These prints are so fresh and cute, with a little vintage
flare! Love it!") Denise, we will email you and get these goodies in the
mail. Thank you, Random.org for making the selection for me.
By the way, it looks like Denise is sharing in-depth notes on the various classes she took at The Sewing Summit last month. Read through
her notes on Personal Branding, Pitching Articles to Magazines, Blogging, HTML Basics, and so
forth. It's almost like being there.
I made it through the Creative Bug
shoot last week for creativebug.com. It was a close call, with only a few days to complete
the prep—fabric was late to arrive. Ashley was out sick and Karen had
other obligations, so I was short-staffed to boot. Mom to the rescue.
She came over and cut out pillow pieces for hours. (Extra amazing, as my
dad's in the hospital with a broken hip right now—yikes!) And I called
in some freelance help as well for yet more cutting—there were lots of
step-outs to prepare.
We made it. I even got three hours of sleep. Let's just hope the recording doesn't pick up my puffy, bloodshot eyes.
What a delightful film crew Creative Bug has: two camera operators, a
sound technician, and an artist's coach—to help me stay organized and
coherrent. If only we could keep her around, right? I wish I'd had the chance to get to know them all better. I
did all of the talking for hours straight.
Perhaps we will collaborate on future online classes. Next time, with
more sleep. You'll watch those ones and say, "Wow, Heather just got 5
years younger in this new video."
The magic of sleep.
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.
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.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
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 a sewing week for me. For the last two years, I've spent most of
my creative time at the drafting table and behind a computer, catching
up on print and product design after having a baby. It's been great to
get reacquainted with my sewing machine and start playing with these
sunny new fabrics.
Angela Pingel of Cut to Pieces
kindly offered to put together the quilt top for my upcoming free
Lottie Da quilt pattern. She got right to it and had the top pieced in
no time—which means the pattern will be ready soon—once the quilt is
finished and photographed. Thank you, Angela!
With no corners to match up, the Lottie Da free quilt pattern is a
perfect beginner quilt. I'll get into that more once the pattern is
complete in the next couple of weeks.
For now, enjoy this sneaky peek courtesy of Angela. And stop by Cut to
Pieces for Angela's post and a bigger peek at the quilt top.
And don't forget to
enter the Lottie Da giveaway that closes Sunday night at 11:59pm PST (9-15-13) for a fat quarter stack of the entire collection—over a $100
value.
If you missed our Heather Bailey Store newsletter earlier this week announcing the Lottie Da collection… Enter promo code LOTTIEDA917 for a FREE full-size sewing pattern
with any purchase of $50 or more through 9/17/13 11:59pm PST. Add your
selected items to your cart to meet the order minimum, then add your
selected pattern, followed by the promo code at checkout.
Happy Weekend!
xo—Heather
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.
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.
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.
To see the full line of prints, click here.
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.
I'm getting things done this week. I just need to keep it up.
I've even sneaked in some time to embroider paisleys while cuddling
Evan at night. He giggles when the needle comes through the fabric,
chanting, "Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes…" I've got to get this on tape.
After the Sewing Summit keynote
in two weeks, I have a film crew coming to my home studio to tape an
online class. I am designing the project today, after I go over a
newsletter to introduce Lottie Da.
Of course, the fabric I am supposed to use for the class is not in the
United States yet (this is a different group of fabrics than Lottie Da).
And then the day after the shoot is my high school reunion in the San
Francisco bay area. I have to decide if I can fit that in. I don't want
to regret not going for the next decade. And I can't put off arranging
flights and hotel, so I have to decide this weekend without knowing how
I'll survive the next two weeks.
the mix, I would like to complete the embroidery patterns that I'm
anxious to introduce. And get things rolling along for a tradeshow in
October, followed by another fabric collection due November 1st. Oh, and
costumes for Halloween. You know that I can't let that slip. It looks like I better get some help on Lottie Da samples for Market.
As they say, one foot in front of the other. I'm not leaving my
studio much for the next few weeks. For me, it's one thought in front of
the other. So far, so good. We'll see how I feel in a few days!
