Fun Stuff

The patterns
are finally in & they’re gorgeous!  Our printer had trouble with
their folding machine, and knowing we were anxious to ship them, they
thoughtfully farmed out the rest of the pattern-folding to another
print house so we wouldn’t have to wait for them to receive a
replacement part. 

So there would be no delay, my father & I drove out to
this other printer around 10pm on Friday night to pick everything up so
the pattern stuffing could happen over the weekend.  This new place was
kind to fit my pattern-folding into their schedule on short notice (no
notice, really) — and then let us come by in the middle of the night
to get them.  Cheers & applause.  While there, we got the 15-minute tour, Mister-Rogers style.  I love machines.  Folding, gluing, binding, collating, clean-cutting, kiss-cutting.

Our printer did a wonderful job though.  I can’t wait for you to
see.  All orders with patterns included can now be processed – hooray!

(On that note, thank you early birds
for placing pre-orders, knowing they wouldn’t ship out immediately.
Thank you for your confidence and patience.  Processing early bird
orders all at once is allowing us to best perfect our new shipping
& fulfillment systems.  And it’s going really well.  We should be
all caught up soon and back to the super-fast turnaround you’re used
to)

So then, on top of this excitement, my assistant, Tara,
decided last weekend to get married next weekend!  Now, after being
engaged for three years and taking the wedding plans kinda easy,
everything’s suddenly all-a-bustle.  We’re super excited for her.  When I mentioned her engagement before,
she was thinking end-of-September/ beginning-of-October and I was going
to see what ideas you had for her.  Now there’s not much time for
idea-gathering.  It’s fun to see it all coming together so well — and
in such little time.  Her mom & grandma have really jumped
onboard.  It’ll be a small, intimate wedding — maybe 20 guests.
Dramatic red flowers, B & W floral print tablecloths, I think (tres
chic!).  I’m sure it will be beautiful — I’ll share photos.

And Isaac’s just returning tonight from photographing a wedding for Kathy Miller‘s stepson, Alex.  (His new bride, Aseem, is a writer for the tv show, Scrubs.)  I hear it was breathtaking
— a traditional Indian wedding — with tents, saris, henna tatoos, and
fabulously rich colors.  I can’t wait to see the photos.  I’ll share
those too.

(The wedding photos shown above are from Kara Peterson in Las Vegas.  Kara used a Freshcut print
as her centerpoint in decorating the Utah County Courthouse for her
November wedding last year.  She sent me these photos just this week.
Good timing — with all of the wedding talk taking place over here.
Kara, what are these mini-merengue-looking treats?  They look
delicious.  And, did everyone get a diamond ring on top??  Now, that’s
dessert.)

It’s my birthday.  My plan is to la-di-da all day — for just one day.  The big plan is no plans : )

It’s also Grand Opening day.  In honor of the occasion, I’m giving away a free pattern for La Fleur Debris brooch with every order placed in the HB store
from now until
midnight tomorrow*.  This sassy pin can be made from your sewing
scraps, hence the name (floor debris + fleur-de-lis = fleur debris —
see?) and can be made entirely by hand.  Wear one in your hair, on your
coat, or pinned to your purse.  I’ve done all three, but not all at
once.

(Isaac says my parenthetical explanation is "too much exposition."  I say "Bah.")

You may remember seeing some of these couch-flowers here before.  This one is my very favorite to date (on that great little coat, on that great little girl!).

I figure a good-ol’ birthday giveaway is fitting as well — we have a serious tradition going — and I do have a whole tray’s worth of flowers made up.  So, post a suggestion for a giveaway contest maybe, and one of the flowers will go to the best idea.  Two other flowers will be won by sheer luck.  Sound good?

Thanks for playing along.  This is the third year of such silliness.  Check out the joke contest from two years ago & the embarrassing stories from last year’s birthday.   I could certainly use some more giveaway contest ideas — and a good helping of birthday giggles.

Happy ‘Day!
xo–Heather

**All orders received from Tues,
August 12th through Weds, August 13th at 11:59pm Pacific Standard
Time will include one copy of the Le Fleur Debris pattern.  It’s a
printed pattern, not a download.  No need to enter any codes at
checkout : )

I’ve been accumulating.  I’ve been accumulating good things for giving.  And it’s time to pick some numbers!

∆   ∆   ∆ 

Out of 2000 comments (oh my, oh my), all the luck and the goodies go to…

#1057:  Jill — "Great giveaway! Congratulations on everything new going on – how exciting!"

#156:  Jenny — "what great fabric! i love it!"

#1306:  elliebelle — "I love the new layout of the blog – it looks
great!  The colors of your new lines of fabric are so fun and fresh.
Great job!"

— chosen at random —

So, Jill, Jenny, & elliebelle, email me with your addresses
& we’ll get your packages shipped this week.  And, don’t forget to
tell me which color/style of Trash Ties you’d like!

∆   ∆   ∆ 

This time the pear photo is no taunt — no longer a forbidden
fruit.  I’m kicking off my sewing patterns this month.  Our ducks are
just about lined up & ready to quack.  I couldn’t be more excited
to wrap up these first patterns and this is the week.  Then it’s just a
little wait for the printers to do their thing.

Oh, and there
are other things.  Other fun, fun things.  But, I’m not saying a word
for one more week or so — which is not such a long wait anymore, as
I’ve been keeping some of these things to myself for almost a year
now.  Can’t wait to show you!

∆   ∆   ∆ 

"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect
of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the
approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false
friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of
one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy
child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played
and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one
life has breathed easier because you have lived – this is to have
succeeded."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

I’ve
been thinking about this statement a lot lately.  Who was this Emerson,
to speak such a truth?  "To have sung with exultation (whether a good singer or not, it is no matter — it’s the singing) …to find the best in others …to endure the betrayal of false friends";  the
comfort of gardening and the blessing of a healthy child.  Simple
truths, but so powerful.  When you boil this life down to its essence,
it’s where your heart is at that matters.  Love is the thing. 

I think it’s that old unpublished
Gettysburg- Address-post in me trying to sneak its way out again.
Perhaps it’s wisdom to just let Emerson do the speaking, but I’ve had a
tender heart these last few months.  My understanding of the human
experience has come into greater focus this year & I’m just aching
to wax philosophical. 

It was
along this line of thinking, that I had originally wished to become a
doctor.  In my teenage mind, being a doctor was perhaps the best way to
be of service to humanity.  And though I’m grateful for modern medicine
& the blessings it brings so many of us, I now know that there are
opportunities in all walks of life to strengthen the world around us.
And it all starts with kindness & goodness within — bulletproof
kindness.

I’ve just been thinking.  And I could so
go on here.

Of course, Emerson died over 100 years ago.  If
he were still around, he’d certainly amend his list to include  "to
dance a mad-dance to Another One Bites the Dust" — my own
universal truth.  (Emerson might not approve of the lyrics, but he’d
agree with the dancing.)  Queen is so fabulously all-over-the-place.

Hmmm, kinda like this post.

I was toying with the idea of putting together a local meet ‘n greet
– Phoenix, AZ area.  I was getting serious about setting one up for
May.  And then good fortune winks my way and I meet Kristin, designer
extraordinaire and owner of my favorite local boutique,
Domestic Bliss (amazing! Like Anthropologie, but better), who has plans
to open a new facility for local creative types to meet up & frenzy
off each other’s energy, take classes, etc.  We became fast friends.
She’s naming the studio Blissful Living.  And her concept is very close
to my heart.  (We had an amazing dinner at their home a couple of weeks
ago – should have brought my camera! – must go back & take photos.
She even has chickens – fantasy of mine – in the most adorable chicken
coop you’ll ever see.)

And
Kristin is quick to it — Blissful Living opens on Friday!  I’m
planning to be there this Saturday, May 10th, from 11-2 to meet up with, well,
whoever stops by.  A meet ‘n greet.  Thank you, universe.  So, come see
me & maybe even bring some of your creations with you!  And if you
stick around, hopefully you’ll make some new friends with similar
interests who live in your neck of the desert.  Visit Kristin’s
Blissful Living blog for more info.  And here’s the address:
Blissful Living  166 W. Main St. Mesa, AZ.

I’ll be teaching a workshop there toward the end of June too — details to come.

And meet Chloe, my new little niece!  My brother’s fourth child, second
girl.  (And she looks just like her big sister, Haley.)  They’ve had a
couple of rough years and couldn’t be more ecstatic about welcoming
home a new baby.  It’s a thrill to witness.  We’re so glad she’s here
& safe!

So this cracks me up.  I get off of my plane, head toward baggage
claim and am greeted by "Charlotte," with a crown on top.  Every day
I’m greeted by Charlotte with a crown on top.  Always a crown .  I grinned, as the last thing my Charlotte had said to me
before I left town was, "Goodnight, Queen!"  (You see, if she’s a
princess, then I must be the queen — for continuity’s sake — her idea, not mine.)  Then, on
the road, I notice that many of the road signs have a crown on them as
well, I have a brief Twilight Zone moment, then have to ask. 

Turns out Charlotte, NC is nicknamed "The Queen City," as it was named
after Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, great-great-great grandmother of
the current Queen of England.  I had no idea.  Just as I had no idea my
daughter was royalty when I named her Charlotte.  Just a happy
coincidence.

Spent my Friday with Westminster/Free Spirit, the company that
produces my fabric.  Great people.  Good, honest & visionary.  We
all had lunch at a place called Sugar Magnolia & I had a go at
my first authentic Southern food:  fried green tomatoes (yum!), hush
puppies, collard greens & shrimp calabash. Found out that one of
the four key people at the company went to the same high school as me.
He was there when my brother & sister were there.  We had teachers
in common and shared some funny stories.  Mainly about our spit-fire
math teacher and her fabulous wardrobe.

Our school had been built in the 70s with some bright idea to have all
of the classrooms open to each other.  Imagine 9 classes taking place
in one big hall or ‘pod’.  Ridiculous idea.  Well, that didn’t work out too
well, so they quickly had to install wall-dividers.  My mother taught
at the school and I clearly remember her frustration at the constantly
moving walls. Kids would lean their chairs back into them and disrupt
the class next door.  It was built in a big circle, with the library in
the middle, a large hallway around that, and then 4 or 5 ‘pods’ fanning
out from the hallway.  Navigating that main hallway between classes
prepared me for driving later on.  Stick to your lane, signal
when you need to turn, etc.  It was people soup.  Most of the
classrooms could be entered from outside though too.  It was California
after all.  Our lockers were all outside.

Jeff stopped me by Sewing Arts Studio for a Hello and some giddy
chatter about sewing with Timtex.  They pointed out a snapshot of me on
the wall from a couple of Quilt Markets ago.  I didn’t think twice
about it till this week (as that photo now leads me to another crazy
coincidence).  I received an email just this week from a old friend
from high
school who says she saw my photo at that same quilt shop recently &
told the owners, "Hey, I know her!  We went to high school together."
They responded, "That’s Heather Bailey.  She’s designed these fabrics
over here."  Brandi told the story better.  Here’s what she said,
"And I know it has to be you because you look exactly the same…So I
already owned some of your fabric and I had pulled a Free Spirit ad out
of a magazine over the summer because I loved the fabric and wanted to
find it…it was yours!!!" 

So, here’s my brain thread…

Princess Charlotte — Charlotte, NC — high school connection with
colleague in Charlotte, NC — visit quilt shop with same colleague, see
photo on wall — receive email from another high school friend who
found me from photo on wall at same quilt shop in The Queen City of
Charlotte, NC — Princess Charlotte… and it loops.  Though I’m a
little weirded out, I’m also quite reassured by the interconnectivity
of it all. Like a snowflake under a microscope, intricate &
mesmerizing.

And though I should end it there, all poetic and thoughtful, you
have to see these new headrests on Continental airlines.  They can be
bent around your head!  Now you don’t have to have a window seat in
order to catch a nap.  Someone should sew up some shower-cap-like
fabric covers for these things and start a little business.  Or Continental
could offer them for a buck on every flight, like they do with
headphones. 

I
just got back from a fantastic weekend in Chicago with dozens, make
that hundreds, of inspirational women.  I enjoyed the tremendous honor
of participating in the web panel at the Country Living Women
Entrepreneurs event at the Renaissance Hotel.  Wow.  I think we’d all
agree. Wow. 

A much-needed, much-enjoyed energizer!

They dyed the Chicago river green that day.  I hear there was a
fantastic parade.  Though it was tempting to sneak outside for a quick
peek, we were all plugged in for a serious re-charge and not likely to
disengage.
I spent the event shoulder to shoulder with Anna Griffin, as dynamic as she is beautiful.  Such a treat to get to know her.

*Panel photos courtesy of Anna herself, who thoughtfully dug out my
camera for a couple of quick shots.  (Thanks, Anna!  Your photos were
the best ones of the batch.)  There she is with miss Beth Ferreira of
Etsy — lots of exciting things in the works over at Etsy*

Dozens of business owners gathered from over 40 states to attend the
event.  I had the pleasure of meeting many of them during the breaks —
I wish I could have met them all.  Evenings were spent getting to know
the panelists & the well-knit Country Living editors & staff.
What an amazing group!  Contagious electricity.

I’d share more photos, but most of them are blurry &
psychedelic.  I did get one sharp shot of the audience to my left.
That’s Vicki Bodwell in front (sunshine embodied) of Warm Biscuit.

My Saturday night ended with a winding tour through the maze-like
hallways of the House of Blues with Maggie Pace of Pick Up Sticks (love
her!).  I’d have been set with blog photos if I’d had my camera at
dinner that
night — imagine walls upholstered with crazy quilts & painted
shoes.  And the pokiest elevator in modern Chicago — good company
makes all the difference.

Then there was Sunday.  Bonus day.  No work, no plans, just a
last-minute meet-up with a gaggle of gals from the event.  Joanna
Figueroa & I drove out to Lincoln Park to window shop and fabric
talk with the delightful Paula Prass, her beautiful daughter, Jennifer,
miss Bari J., and Anita Hopper who makes handbags of recycled leather
jackets (great concept).

What a fantastic weekend!  Kudos to Country Living for bringing
women business owners together for such a meaningful event.  If you’re
revving up to focus your creative dreams into a real business, I highly
recommend attending next year.  Thanks Country Living for your
hospitality, I had a wonderful time. 

Super Tuesday + Fat Tuesday = Super Fat Tuesday!

Now that’s something to celebrate.  Seriously though, go vote.  Stop
browsing the computer, put down your work or play, pack up your kids if
you must and go vote in The Primaries.  There are a few clowns running
for U.S. President this year.  Though they might be entertaining in the
role, I must say Down with Clowns in this case.  Go vote for someone
who’s not a clown — whichever non-clown suits you best, but vote.

What do you do with a bunch of party-clad toddlers when Princess, Princess, Queen (aka Duck, Duck, Goose) and King Simon Says have lost their charm? 

Jewel up some crafty crowns!

So I was going through Charlotte’s birthday party photos today,
archiving them into their appropriate places, when I realized that our
crown craft was an idea worth sharing — for birthday girls
everywhere.  It worked out perfectly, and captivated a table full of
kids for a noteworthy while.  So, for anyone with a little girl’s party
coming up soon, here’s a great activity.

These foam crowns are from Michael’s.  They’re only one dollar
each.  Add two buckets of foam stickers in letters & shapes (50%
off right now), a couple of adults for sticker-peeling, and a big
table.  That’s it.  Not very tricky at all, but dern successful. 

The girls went for goopy, froo-froo crowns and the boys kept things fairly
simple.  Even Max joined in, although he was already sporting the best
crown ever.

On other fronts, I’m designing another fabric collection right now and
it’s nearly impossible to tear myself away for anything.  Yes, partly
for the fun of it, only partly, but mostly because I can’t
stand the suspense.  I’ve been working away on one of the designs for
five or six days now and well, I really need to step out into the
sunlight.  Fun design though.  Unexpected and a bit cheeky.

Things are moving along smoothly with Trash Ties too.  We’re ahead
of schedule and getting orders out even earlier than promised at the
moment, so that feels good.  And I’ve just now set up the Trash Ties
photo group at Flickr, though I haven’t posted any photos yet.  So, go
join the group, post your Trash Ties ‘dos & beat me to it.  I can’t
wait to see what you’ve dreamed up.  Like this and this and this — you
guys rock!

The more tired I get, the more exclamation points I’m tempted to use.  What’s that about? !  Time for a nap, I guess. !

I have had the hardest time falling asleep this week.  And I’m not
talking about midnight or 1am.  I’ve been up till 4, 6, 7am before
falling asleep.  Such a drag!  But, I’ve made some important half-alert
discoveries. 

For instance, last night I analyzed the implement of leg warmers.  I
thought back to the dance classes of my childhood and had no
recollection of cold ankles or even dancing outside in cold weather.
And if a dancer were to dance outside in cold weather, wouldn’t her whole body need an extra layer, not just her lower legs? 

I then flashed back to 5th grade and the vague recollection of a
leg-warmers- over-jeans trend.  Now in that case, leg warmers were an
accessory, an expression of personal style and good taste. Right? 
Anyone?  So, is this what leg warmers are to dancers, just an
accessory?  Hmmm, no, that couldn’t be, as they would surely have been
named something other than "leg warmers."  They would have needed a
snappier name like Kickies or something.  Or Lady Legs.  Ya, good one.

No, no, there’s got to be something more to it.  Hmmm… legs, ankles.  Oh yes, ankles!  Skinny jeans! (Hang in there.)
Skinny jeans only look okay on a small sampling of female forms.  I’ve
got it!  Leg warmers balance out the figure.  Make a dancer’s hips look
smaller.  Just like flared jeans do vs. skinny jeans.  Some smart lady
from way-back-when just named them "leg warmers" so dancers of all
shapes and sizes could save face.  "Oh, these old things, they just
keep my legs warm."  Such a nice lady.  I wonder what her name was…

And so my evenings have gone.  One important discovery after another. 

It’s getting about time to pull out the potholders.  Every pretty, vintage potholder that makes its way home with me tends to end up on my funky junky Christmas tree (check these out).
Makes me laugh to see them hanging there in the mix, "Hee, hee, there
are potholders on my Christmas tree!"  I even like them there when I’m
well-rested and sane.  It’s true. 

Okay, I’m off for a Friday date.  Make sure you stop by on Monday — I’ve got something REALLY BIG planned.