Design

  • 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.

  • |

    “Car. Beep-Beep.”

    ByHeather Bailey

    OldDeliveryTruck2_Hellomynameisheather
    It's
    Quilt Market season at the studio. We're in a bi-annual bustle to prep
    for the show. Today, I met with another local stitcher who will be
    helping out with samples. I'm skirting around that misleading 'sewer'
    word. I think we just need to come up with a new spelling. Same word,
    new spelling: sewwer, sewur, sew-er, sew-erer, sewurr, seweur
    (french-ish)…

    What a fun afternoon. Fun I have no business having. Fun I have no business without.

    I was up with the baby till 4am last night, nursing him through a
    105º fever. I finally climbed into the tub and poured water over his
    back while he slept against my shoulder. It was so sweet. But, man am I
    tired!

    It's 7pm now on Friday night and it feels like my day is just getting
    going. I don't think date night is gonna happen unless Isaac wants to
    help refine pattern covers, book flights, schedule meetings, or sew.

    ** I let the baby pick a photo and title this post for me. **

  • Free Baby Bib Pattern & Tutorial

    ByHeather Bailey

    HeatherBailey_BabyBib_Cover470

    Are you ready for another free pattern? Baby Bibs!

    I've been making bibs for my kids since my first child was born 16
    years ago (seriously?). Now his tee-shirts are bibs. And his jeans are
    napkins.

    This time around, with my littlest—who is now a year-and-a-half, I have these AWESOME laminated cotton fabrics
    to work with. They make the BEST     bibs. Easy to sew, wipeable,
    washable—and pretty. Half of our family stock of bibs are made with the
    laminates and half are made with all-cotton quilting-weight fabric.
    They're both great. But, the laminates are slightly favored.

    So, this is a really simple pattern. You can make a bunch of bibs in
    one sitting. If you coordinate a few bibs and add some
    embellishments—like ribbon or an applique—you can whip up a fantastic baby shower gift in no time. Cute AND useful—the best gifts to get. Download the pattern here—or follow the sidebar link under Free Patterns.

    SlobberMonkeyBabyBib_HeatherBailey

    I'll be sharing My Slobber Monkey Baby Bib pattern on PBS this spring. Check your local listings for Sew It All TV.
    In Phoenix, I believe the episode will be airing next Monday at 9:30am
    and 2:30pm on Eight Life (Cox 80). Tune in for sewing tips, fabric and
    embellishment variations—including a monster bib. For more info about the episode, see this post.
    I don't want to be redundant—except to say that we filmed the episode
    in one, long, 30-minute take. I, myself, am anxious to see how that
    worked out.

    Fun, fun!

    All my love and sewiness,
    Heather

  • Watch Me on PBS

    ByHeather Bailey

    I am guest-hosting an episode of Sew It All on PBS
    this spring. Every PBS affiliate has a different schedule, so I can't
    give you an exact date. BUT, the episode should be airing very, very
    soon. So, visit PBS.org to
    check the schedule in your local area. Sew It All slated this as
    Episode 4, but from what I hear, the episodes can be shuffled around by
    the PBS program directors. And different areas will carry different
    shows. Very interesting stuff.

    SewItAll_HeatherBaileyBW_BabyBib

    Anyhow, we're making baby bibs. Here are Sew It All host, Ellen March,
    and I holding up a baby bib together—it must have been very
    heavy—weighted down with cuteness. I'll post about the free pattern next
    week, along with a little monster you can applique on the bibs—or on a
    kid's tee shirt or bag, etc.

    The fabrics shown above are laminates from my Nicey Jane collection—I LOVE them. They are so fun to work with!

    Chances are, you'll see the episode before I do. Stop back by and let
    me know if you have any questions afterward. We filmed the show in one
    take. One, long 30-minute take. Can you believe it? No pressure, right?

    It was a blast.

  • Quilt-Store Dreaming

    ByHeather Bailey

    FabricNosherieSign2

    Have you ever dreamed about being on the front lines of the sewing movement? Talk about jumping in with guns blazing. Fabric Nosherie, one of the coolest quilt stores around — is for sale.

    FabricNosherie2

    If you have a hankering to live in the friendly midwest and you have
    what it takes to command and inspire a growing community of modern
    stitchers, have a closer look at this rare opportunity. Classes are in
    progress, fabric is on order, customers are bustling in. The business
    has grown beyond what Shannon can manage while also raising four very
    young boys. She's decided to auction the store so it can continue to
    grow while she re-focusses on her family.

    FabricNosherie3

    For more background on the store and its founder, Shannon Robinson, click here. For details on the auction in progress—ending March 25th—click here.

  • The Icehouse

    ByHeather Bailey

    IcehouseExterior_A

    The building that last week's Revive conference was held at is so cool. It
    is a gutted old relic from the early 1900s, a place where they used to
    manufacture 300 lb. ice blocks for refrigerating food in railcars
    heading east.

    IcehouseExterior_D

    The owner of The Icehouse, as it's called now, is dedicated to the arts and offers the space
    for exhibitions and creative events. One upcoming sculpture show is all about different artistic takes on manhole covers of all things. Seriously.

    Have a look at some of the manhole covers on the
    Icehouse's Facebook page. They're pretty spectacular.

    IcehouseExterior_C

    The property is crusty and textured and fun. Even the pavement in the
    parking lot is appealing in its chunked up, brightly-painted way.

    If you are cool. And you need a cool place to host something cool, then check this place out.

    The Icehouse
    429 W. Jackson Street
    Phoenix, Arizona

  • Meet Ashley

    ByHeather Bailey

    Meet my new intern, Ashley. If you follow my daily feed
    on Instagram, you'll remember my quick post about her a couple of weeks
    back. She has been working with me for a few weeks now and I just
    wanted to take a moment to introduce her.

    Ashley is a fashion design student at the local college, with a focus on
    textile design. I wasn't sure we had room for an intern on our team,
    but Ashley was enthusiastic, self-confident and pleasantly tenacious—all
    great qualities.

    In short, she impressed me into a yes.

    They say, fortune favors the bold. This is absolutely true. Add talent
    and style to the mix, and you have great odds for success.

    AshleyT

    So, I have a fun story about Ashley. The day we first met up, after I
    returned to my desk from our lunch together, I came across a press release for a design competition from Aquafina
    in my inbox. Often enough, such emails get dismissed or filed away.
    However, this time, without reading over the details too closely, I
    forwarded the email to Ashley and then forgot all about it.

    A couple of weeks later, Ashley came into work and said, "Remember
    that contest you sent me? Well, I'm a finalist!" (Of course, I only
    vaguely remembered forwarding some-kinda-something to her, so I can't
    claim a lick of credit for this.) It turned out the contest was for a
    fashion sketch and the four finalists would be treated to a fully-paid trip to New York City and tickets to the Project Runway
    finale. Ashley's submission not only won her a top spot amongst the
    entries, but her tenacity in securing Facebook votes paid off big-time.
    She and her husband spread the word every which way and asked for
    help—they even passed out flyers at the mall. Impressive, huh? Way to
    make things happen.

    So, less than a month after our first meet-up, that is, less than a
    month after I forwarded an unassuming little email her way, Ashley and
    her husband flew to New York just last week and had a seriously good
    time of it. The trip included several days to do their own thing in the
    city. Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, they had to fly back west
    before the Project Runway finale show was taped—or risk being stuck in
    town for several days longer. But, to make up for it, Aquafina is going
    to fly her out for the next finale show. We'll have to pick her brain
    then, right? 🙂

    Pretty cool, huh? And all because she went for it—and is talented
    too—that always helps—the same reasons why she'll be working here with
    me while she finishes up her degree.

    So, say hello to Ashley. And if you cross paths with her while
    following up on an order or calling in for whatever reason, give her a
    big, warm welcome.

  • Win to Plan, Plan to Win

    ByHeather Bailey

    Ooo! I just received samples from my Project Life Olive Edition collection—like, five minutes ago: 12×12 papers, albums, month dividers and card kits. The fact that it was time to announce some giveaway winners gave me the perfect excuse to dig into the big box of journaling cards.

    WinnersT

    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.

    CanvasPlannersWI'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 🙂

    So, shatter the Giveaway Echo and leave a congrats for Tiffany Harvey, Claudia Miller, and Kristy from Hopeful Threads. Random.org was their friend today. Each will receive a canvas planner from my collection at Target stores now.

    (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.)

    And congratulations to our three Instagram winners—posted earlier today on Instagram: @loveelainellc, @daniellewilkes, and @danielle_layla. It appears Danielle is the name to have.

    P.S. There are still a few FREE pocket planners for the taking. Just
    ask for one at order checkout and it's yours—while supplies last.     Details here.