HELLO my name is Heather

  • Giveaway Day 4

    ByHeather Bailey

    Day04_GiveawayBanner

    We are onto Day 4. Hello Sunday. I'm posting a little bit late today.
    Perhaps that will increase your chance of winning? Sorry about that. I
    had church.

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    Today's HELLO Giveaway prize is a DOZEN 9"x12" sheets of Heather Bailey designer wool-blend felt ($27 value). Winner picks the colors. Our wool-blend felt is far
    superior to polyester felt in appearance, texture, durability — and
    style. Great for hair accessories, pincushions, brooches, dolls and more. Several of our top sewing patterns
    use felt for embellishments, including Henrietta Turtle, Effie &
    Ollie Elephant, New Leaf Folding Totes, and Fresh Picked Pincushions to
    name a few.

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    Comment to enter today's contest. Be sure to include your email address
    so we can contact you if you win. Today's giveaway closes at 11:59pm PST 8/4/13.
    Watch for the winner to be announced within a day or two at the bottom
    of the post. For more info on my August giveaway madness, click here.
    We have some seriously amazing prizes planned, including tools,
    equipment, jewelry, toys, Project Life, stationery, fabric from my next
    collection (which I'll introduce this month)—exciting stuff. Please
    share the word.

    If you're watching
    for updates, I'll post the winners from Day 1 through Day 3 this afternoon.

    Good luck, everyone. Thank you again for your love and support.

    xo—Heather


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  • Giveaway Day 3

    ByHeather Bailey

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    Today's fabulous HELLO Giveaway prize is a lovely print from the lovely Laura Gunn. Laura will send today's blog winner TWO beautiful 8×10 giclee print from her Etsy shop—winner
    chooses which print. And there are lots of fantastic pieces to pick
    from, including watercolor florals, like the one shown below, birds,
    butterflies, and beetles.

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    I hesitate to add more images because those pink flowers up there are
    completely doing it for me today. Of course, the three Laura Gunn
    watercolor prints that I own myself are all birds. They are also irresistible.

    LauraGunnBirds470new

    Comment to enter the contest. Be sure to include your email address
    so we can contact you if you win. Each day's giveaway closes at 11:59pm PST.
    Watch for the winner to be announced within a day or two at the bottom
    of the post. For more info on my August giveaway madness, click here.
    We have called on a number of our friends with businesses and have
    scored some seriously amazing prizes so stay tuned.


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  • Giveaway Day 2

    ByHeather Bailey

    TurtlePatternKit_HeatherBailey2

    I have new fabric strike-offs to go over today and a magazine ad due
    on Monday, along with kids starting school next week. (Can you believe
    that? August 5th.) Not to mention a church campout, a dinner party and
    more housewares to prep for the factory. It's going to be a busy
    weekend.

    So let's get right to business. Today is Day 02 of my month-long Giveaway Party. The prize for August 2nd is a Henrietta turtle sewing pattern and a turtle kit
    to go with it (winner's choice). Henrietta is one of our top sewing
    patterns. She's fun to make and all too cute as a pincushion or toy.

    You don't have to be in the U.S. to enter. We love all of you—and we
    know how to ship things overseas 😉 Be sure to enter your email address
    so we can contact you if you win. Watch for the winners to be announced
    at the bottom of each post. For more info on my giveaway madness, click here. Each day's giveaway closes at 11:59pm PST that day.

    Good luck, everyone.

    Psst—up next week, we have custom jewelry, paper craft craziness, big brands, big prizes. Don't forget to check in every day.


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  • HELLO Giveaways!

    ByHeather Bailey

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    I was chatting at my baby earlier this week, conspiring with him to
    start a Birthday Month tradition for August—as we are the only two
    August birthdays in my immediate family. With enough fuss, we'll surely
    make the Mays and Januaries jealous. Midst our little tete-a-tete it
    dawned on me that I neglected to host my annual birthday giveaway last
    year. Boo.

    TryingtoSew_HeatherBailey470
    I will now make up for that. Right. About. Now. In the spirit of Birthday Month, how about a GIVEAWAY EVERY DAY for the month of August!? I'm talking about fabric, patterns, jewelry, equipment, supplies, etc.

    Sewing_HeatherBaileyWI
    am SO very grateful to each of you for your love and kindness—and for
    your support of my business and consequently my little family. I am
    inspired by you daily and I look forward to your comments and feedback.
    Thank you so much for your encouragement.

    I know this madness will put me in a swirl, but I don't care. I want
    to show you my appreciation. Celebrate with me. And let me celebrate
    you. I'll post one new giveaway on my blog each day in August. To enter a giveaway, simple leave a comment on that blog post by 11:59pm PST on the day of the post.
    Be sure to enter your email address so we can contact you if you win.
    We'll draw a winner at random, send out an email, then announce the
    result with an update at the bottom of that post.

    If you are on Instagram as well, enter an additional daily giveaway for a $15 gift certificate. (See footnote in green below.) That's actually two giveaways each day, isn't it? This thing keeps growing!

    HELLOgiveaway_GiftCertifictae470

    To kick things off with a splash, today's giveaway is for a $50 GIFT CERTIFICATE to our online store, HeatherBaileyStore.com
    where you can stock up on fabric, felt, sewing kits, patterns, paper
    crafts, and more. I have a new fabric collection I will be announcing
    later this month. And I'll be releasing all-new embroidery patterns as
    well—in between blogging about giveaways, right? This prize should come in handy.

    Remember, comment below
    to enter and make sure to submit your email address so we're not stuck
    with no way to reach you!

    Good luck. And again, thanks for your enthusiasm and support. I love you guys.

    xo—Heather


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  • Virginia. Is this place for Real?

    ByHeather Bailey

    It's great to be back home, but a bit of my heart and a large portion of my imagination
    are lingering behind in Virginia. For the middle-part of our big summer
    vacation, we drove south from D.C. to Colonial Williamsburg, with a stop
    at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello on the way.

    GovernorsMansionT

    If I could live my dream life, I would garden and keep animals on a
    lush green farm at the edge of a big city. I would spin yarn and churn
    butter, cultivate the perfect cabbage, and make cheese. However, I would
    also wear glamorous dresses to the theater, learn portraiture at an art
    atelier in the city, take the light rail to business meetings, and type
    away on my top-of-the-line computer. All with my kids in tow.

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    My life isn't too far off of this dream in spirit. I grow fruit trees
    and make art. And my kids are here with me. But the lush trees and
    rolling hills are missing.

    This is where Virginia comes in. My. Freakin'. Word. Pardon the language. Virginia is gorgeous.
    I almost had to close my eyes on the way to Monticello in order to
    survive the view: white fences, electric green grass, trees as big as
    buildings.

    Williamsburg

    Perhaps Providence will plop the perfect excuse in my lap to move somewhere lush and lovely and near a fun city. How about a Kickstarter
    campaign to build a blogger's getaway paradise with fully-teched-out
    guest cabins. Or a reality tv show about trying to make such a
    disjointed reality work. Have it all. Be it all.

    WilliamsburgGarden2

    But I need a town to pin this fantasy to. What are the best little
    beautiful places to raise children, with great schools, strong, moral
    families and exciting things an arm's length away. And don't forget the
    large plots of land, big trees and cute houses. Give my dream new
    breath.

    If you relate, then you'd love Colonial Williamsburg.
    They run the town like it never left the 1700s, wigmakers, shoemakers,
    blacksmiths, cabinet-makers and all. I can't say enough about the place.
    There's' nothing like it out west, that's for sure.

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    The gardens are immaculate and the buildings are charming—and I'm all
    about the workshops. I don't blog about them much, but I have a
    spinning wheel and a jeweler's bench of my own. I've built shoes,
    churned butter, made yogurt, turned pottery, made lampwork glass beads,
    and worked on a horse ranch. My inner pilgrim.

    MossCovered

    I feel so disloyal to Arizona right now. Sorry, Arizona. I still love
    you—and your sun-bleached cow skulls and scorpions—but where are your
    towering trees and brick buildings? Where are your moss-covered walls
    and magnolias? Tell me it was a hallucination. Virginia is not real.

    Virginia is not real…

    Virginia is not real…

  • D.C.

    ByHeather Bailey

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    We did it. We really did it. We took a much needed break and had two
    wonderful weeks touring Washington D.C., Williamsburg, and New York City with the
    kids and visiting east-coast family—Isaac's sisters, Evie and Laura
    both live near D.C. with their families and his brother Ross lives near
    N.Y.C. It was a trip like none other we've had to date. I came home
    home this week refreshed and inspired.

    In D.C. alone, we saw: The Natural History Museum, The Library of Congress (incredible!), The National Portrait Gallery (I'm finally ready to try my hand at portraiture), The Lincoln Memorial, several war memorials (speechless), The American History Museum, The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum (my baby's heaven), and a had a private tour of The U.S. Capitol Building (my office manager, Karen's son works for our AZ congressman). I posted highlights from the trip on Instagram as we went along. There is so much more that wasn't posted.

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    This collage shows some highlights from the DC portion of our trip. My iPhone
    alone has 1000+ photos from the trip, so choosing was tough. Some of you have asked for our itinerary to help plan
    future vacations to the area. I'll type that up and post it for you this week.

    Can I just say that D.C. was so much more magnificent and visually
    powerful than I expected. I was proud to see such beautiful architecture
    and art on display. I was especially taken by The Library of Congress and The National Portrait Gallery. I wasn't so sure about the massiveness of some of the government institutions. That was shocking. But, all in all, wow.

  • Bring It On

    ByHeather Bailey

    Wardrobe_HeatherBailey_470
    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."

  • Felt-ertainment

    ByHeather Bailey

    AirdaleTerrierFeltProject_01b
    My daughter Charlotte should write a book. I've never seen a more prolific eight-year-old. She is a craft-making machine.

    Her favorite stuffed animal is an Airedale Terrier. So, this week,
    she decided that all of her arts and crafts would be Airedale-Terrier
    themed. Today, she is finishing up this incredible little felt pillow
    and then I'm on board to teach her how to cross-stitch—another Airedale
    Terrier.

    AirdaleTerrierFeltProject_02b

    If you follow my feed on Instagram, you'll know I'm trying to be more
    organized about my kids' summers this year, and break the time up with a
    number of planned projects and activities. We'll see how that goes.
    But, as for the down time in between, I have to say that a big bin of
    felt    , some thread and a needle sure come in handy.

  • Remember Boredom?

    ByHeather Bailey

    It's been another whirlwind of a month. I start every-other post along these lines, don't I?

    You'll know I've made some big changes around here if the general
    flavor switches to "Not much going on right now," "Nothing new," or "I'm
    bored."

    Remember boredom? I have a faint, nostalgic sense of it from deep
    within my childhood memory—right next to a yellow Plymouth Reliant,
    parachute pants and Monchhichi dolls.

    PlymouthReliantK80s_MonchhichiDoll

    I'm back from Quilt Market in Portland and busy wrapping up a new
    product line launching in July. I am dying to share it with you.

    I'll have photos soon. Call this a whisper. I'll be back with a shout—just as soon as we send the final artwork on its way.

  • Just a Blip About Walls

    ByHeather Bailey

    PlywoodWallArt_Hellomynameisheather

    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.