Home & Family

  • U-Pick-a-We-Bop

    ByHeather Bailey

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    There is a housing community nearby that is centered around a working farm, with a restaurant and a coffee shop on the premises as well. It's rather cool. Well, super cool. Even the people who work there are cool. If you ever visit the restaurant, Joe's Farm Grill, make sure to visit the restroom. I can't bring myself to dispel its mysteries, but I'll just say it is the coolest restroom I've ever seen. And bizarre. Think 60s saturday-morning space-adventure.

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    UpickApples3_470HBThe community was built on the family farm of a local restaurant developer—the Joe of Joe's Farm Grill. When this Joe sent word out on twitter last Saturday that they were opening their groves for u-pick apples, Charlotte and I concocted an apple-centric plan for Father's Day breakfast.

    I clearly had apple-picking good times on my mind when I got dressed. Charlotte intuited my intentions and picked out clothes to match. When Isaac woke up and staggered into the room to find us in technicolor peasant clothes, he teased, "What's up with you and the russian doll clothing? The two of you look like rainbow refugees."

    I said, "Hey now. We're going apple picking. What better to wear?"

    He must have agreed because no sooner had I finished tying my scarf than Isaac trotted out of the closet in a floral shirt, a fedora, and aviator glasses, all fancied up and ready to join us.

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    Here's the best part. When we pulled up to the grove, the man working the scales wore an outfit identitcal to Isaac's: folky shirt, fedora, and aviator glasses to boot. He was entirely too cool to be working a farm. Isaac and I could barely keep a straight face as we greeted him and got directions. I meant to sneak a picture of the two of them, but our camera only had a dribble of juice left in it. It died too soon.

    UpickApples5_470HBCharlotte and I hadn't planned to take pictures of our excursion—that was a bonus that came along with Isaac.

    It was bright out. And hot. But with the farm being only a mile from our home and apple-picking consuming only a few minutes of our day, I'm sure we'll be doing this more often. They grow everything from peaches, citrus, grapes and apricots to squash, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers.

    One day I'm going to track that Joe down and shake his hand. It's inspiring to have such a visionary neighbor, bringing style and humor together with panache. If you ever visit Gilbert, AZ, stop by Joe's Farm Grill or one of his other restaurants, Liberty Market or Joe's Real BBQ. They are hands-down the coolest places in town.

    If you're interested in coffee, stop by Joe's Roaster Project blog. It looks like he's developing a new commercial machine for coffee roasting. Restaurants, inventions, a community farm. His ideas are big—and all over the place.

    I can relate.

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    Good as New

    ByHeather Bailey

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    Getting back to project eye-candy, here's my finished chair. I went with St. Charles Bouquet in blue—which is perfect with my living room decor—and a distressed green finish to pay homage to the original condition of the chair. The contrast between the crisp new fabric and the lightly-weathered frame makes for a bold, yet elegant statement—in my smug and humble opinion.

    Upholstery470wThis is my Garden District™ fabric collection which came out right around when little bub came out to meet the world. I announced the collection to my newsletter subscribers but never managed to post any reveals here on the blog. Having a baby can be disorienting, to put it lightly.

    St. Charles Bouquet is a modification of Rose Bouquet from my Pop Garden™ quilting-weight collection. Those of you who have collected my designs will note that the focal bouquets of the print are much closer together and the scale of the design is much larger. The artwork was re-created and re-colored with home decor specifically in mind.

    The other prints in the Garden District™ collection are all new. Mockingbird is a print I put together at first for my Nicey Jane™ quilting-cotton collection, but it was swapped for Picnic Bouquet at the last moment, favoring the scale and mood of Mockingbird for home dec projects. Plus, Picnic Bouquet was too perfect for Nicey. It is one of my favorite prints in that collection.

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    I have received many pleas to release these home dec prints on quilting-weight cotton and laminated cotton as well. It would be helpful to know just which prints you're most interested in seeing in these other formats. They would need to be rescaled, paired with the perfect companion prints and recolored perhaps. There is a lot of thought that goes into balancing a cotton collection so the variety of prints can be mixed into the same quilt or craft project. It's complicated. But it can certainly be done.

    This collection was inspired by the urban gardens and vintage architecture of historic New Orleans. The prints are distinctly romantic with an urban influence. A portion of the collection is printed on a luscious cotton sateen, and others are printed on a sturdy cotton canvas. (In my opinion, a well-designed and inviting room offers a variety of textures.) The sateen prints are 55"/56" wide and the canvas prints are 58"/59" wide. Think bedding, curtains, pillows, purses, jackets, skirts, nursery decor, and more. At $17 to $19/yard, they are considerably more affordable than most designer decorating fabrics.

    That stack of chairs I just posted about… Garden District is the whole reason there IS a stack of chairs. My furniture-collecting habit reached new heights once this fabric collection was put into production.

    Finally, great color for the home! I got tired of searching for the perfect fabrics for my own home and decided to give up already and design them myself. I am genuinely, personally relieved.

  • Good as Old

    ByHeather Bailey

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    I was digging through some old pictures today and came across these 'before' pictures for a chair I upholstered last spring. If Shredded Chic worked in a family environment, I might have kept the chair as it was—it had its own appeal, all shredded and torn.

    ChairSpring470wtOnce I had the chair fully dismantled I learned it was much older than I expected —and really well made. The frame was solid. The whole thing was upholstered with tacks and the arms were padded with horse hair. I had incorrectly assumed that its larger size meant it was much newer.

    This thing was old. Perhaps big-bummed-bustle gowns explain its size.

    Tacks are more of a pain to remove than staples—but more gratifying. Once you get a good purchase on one, it prys out like butter. They aren't so friendly on bare feet though.

    I only had one day to finish the job before photographing the chair for a tradeshow. I was 5 months pregnant so this was quite a task. Upholstering is like wrestling a dusty, groggy bear. Afterward, you're covered with claw marks and you're sore all over.

    Isaac was very attentive that day, fussing over my swollen self, bringing me tools and water, untangling the air hose as needed. He was fascinated with the process and envious of the loud racket I was making. Though I learned upholstery back in college, Isaac had never witnessed me do the work.

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    He got involved here and there. He had his first adventure with a webbing stretcher; he tied the springs back into place for me too and made sure the frame was square again—he did an excellent job.

    I'm planning to have him do ALL of the prep work next time. That should save me a few pulled muscles.

    ChairLegBefore470wI have a stack of collected chairs waiting to be upholstered with Heather Bailey home dec prints. More chairs than I have room for really. So, birthday presents for friends? Reception seating for the office?

    I'll post 'before' photos of my next project and get your take on color/fabric combos.

    Truth is, such physical work is a nice change of pace. With gear laid out and a queue of chairs ready to go, the blazing heat of the garage is nothing a freezy Jamba Juice and a run through the sprinklers can't remedy.

  • Apples in Bloom

    ByHeather Bailey

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    Last year we harvested one, singular apple from our tiny new twig of an apple tree. We sliced the tiny Anna apple into four pieces and passed it out to the children. It was a precious preview of what was to come; sometimes it's years before you know if you picked a good fruit tree or not. The group consensus was, "Hooray, these little apples are tasty!"

    This year, both tiny apple trees are covered with fruit. I feel equal pride and pity for their load. They are bent over and moaning. A beautiful ordeal—like an achy pregnant woman approaching her due date.

    *The Horticultural Scoop: One tree is a green Anna Apple, the other is a Dorsett Golden. Not all trees will cross-pollinate, but these will, allowing us to have two varieties come harvest time. Soon, soon.

  • Medicinal Cuteness

    ByHeather Bailey

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    Are you ready for some cuteness?

    As it turns out, yardwork can still progress without risking scuffed baby knees and a stomach full of gravel chunks. All it takes is a scrap of smooth plywood, a bounce-a-licious bouncy chair…

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    …and one cute baby…

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    …who is tickled pink to watch his dad and teenage brother paint the new sideyard fence.

    Now Bobbin and Pixel can explore new roaming grounds under the lime tree, with their pet door, food, and water moved to the laundry room, far from the baby's reach. With good cause…

    Little Bub started crawling last Sunday. The following day, he began pulling himself to standing and cruising slowly along furniture. Three days later, he climbed up a flight of stairs and halfway back down again. Whoa, Nelly—zero to sixty in no seconds flat.

    I blame the bouncer. Our little cherub has some serious baby muscles now.

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    Sunshine & Ice Cream

    ByHeather Bailey

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    It's been a long time since we've attempted a 12-hour road trip with an infant. It all comes back to me so clearly now.

    We just returned from a week in Utah where we celebrated our niece, Ellie's, marriage to Mr. Jon Cox. Isaac urged me to fly up separately with the baby, then meet up with him and the older kids once there. But I insisted we go The Togetherness Route and all take the car.

    Little bub did rather well. Of course, this is because we drove all night for each leg of the trip. Now it's time for a vacation from our vacation. Isaac and I need sleep.

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    Isaac comes from a giant, collected family which claims 10 kids. Those 10 kids have kids of their own, ranging from 2-months-old to 30-something. It's entirely too rare that we get to visit with a large sampling of this boisterous group. This is a family which will actually DANCE at a wedding. Dance-dance, not sway.

    Ellie was radiant in a 60's-inspired silvered dress which made a gentle bell, just skirting the floor. (Such a neat girl—I really need to tell you more about her and the charity work she is doing!) As Ellie is Charlotte's true doppleganger in the family, my own life fast-forwarded for a few minutes here and there as I caught glimpses of Charlotte as a woman on her own wedding day.

    Charlotte looked like sunshine and ice cream, wearing her new Easter dress to the wedding; Ellie paid her a mighty compliment, saying, "Charlotte is so adorable; she's my top competition today."

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    The reception was held at the Salt Lake Hardware Building—crazy cool place. I didn't have the camera out much, as my arms were full of baby. At nearly 9-months old, holding him is like wrestling a thorny bludger. His will is developing more quickly than his motor skills. Scratchy nails are his best negotiating tool. I haven't processed the photos yet, but if there are any of note, I'll post them.

    BaileyEaster_05At the reception, Elijah learned DJ skills from his cousin Izzy's husband, Johnny. Elijah has since been reading up on sound boards and other equipment in the B&H Photo catalog. (Izzy is one of Ellie's two vibrant younger sisters—the one whose wedding we attended two Christmasses back.) Izzy has a blog now at A Dose of Lovely—that's another post to add to the queue.

    From these photos, you can see that I never got around to posting about Granny's Easter dresses. I pulled up the photos—in a timely manner, I add—but every image was so breathtakingly delicious that I couldn't decide which ones to use.

    So I postponed.

    Here at last are Charlotte, Haley, and Chloe, my mom's three granddaughters, enjoying the Arizona sunshine outside my sister's home on Easter Day. Granny coordinated these three in my Hello Roses fabric, accenting each dress with a unique twist of lemon. These dresses—and the little girls wearing them—make my heart pit-a-pat.

    Charlotte's slouching white socks and mary janes give me a distinct thrill that's surely grounded in the slouching church socks of my own childhood.

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    It was a truly wonderful trip. As I wrapped up a new fabric collection the day before we left, the timing was perfect to enjoy a brief escape with my kiddos before immersing myself in the next big project.

  • Hatching the Hoard

    ByHeather Bailey

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    It was a happy hunt: Laffy Taffy, Starbursts, and Twizzlers a-plenty. It's a chocolate-free tradition—the melting hazard is too high. Thank goodness too, or I might snatch some of Charlotte's spoils. I can resist the rest.

    Not that there has been a dearth of chocolate around here.

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    Despite my belly-aching, we had a great weekend. To switch gears from working to family time, I went on a short run Saturday morning. I returned ready to pause my projects and enjoy the moment.

  • Stop, Stop, Do not Hop on Mom

    ByHeather Bailey

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    We have a HUGE easter egg hunt coming up this morning. Hundreds and hundreds of eggs. Perhaps hundreds of children too.

    It's a rather fabulous neighbor tradition.

    My sweetest memory of the hunt was watching Isaac head out onto the field to escort Elijah seven years ago—with teensy new Charlotte in a baby carrier on his chest. He was glowing with greed for his tiny little Charlotte—she's all mine. The three of them were a greeting card that day.

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    I'm in a bit of a fix. My neck has been kinked up all week, kinking up my schedule—much pain, no sleep. I'm beginning to feel better and have surrounded myself with printouts, in the throes of composing a new collection. I'm not thrilled about stopping.

    Yet, the weekend is scheduled to the max. There's the egg hunt, then we have friends coming over to barbeque later on. Add to that Easter celebrations all day tomorrow.

    Aah! I don't have time for so much fun. Stop the fun.

  • Thank You, Beecher Bunny

    ByHeather Bailey

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    Look what came in the mail for Charlotte and Elijah. Aunt Laura is too clever. I'm a bit surprised the U.S. Post Office will accept eggs as envelopes. But here's proof.

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    I can't believe Easter is next week already. We have no plans. Every branch of my family has some big to-do or major stress they are dealing with right now. No one is really free to host. It might fall to me, as my design load does not warrant the same reverence as some of the others' stressors.

    We could probably handle a backyard BBQ. How to make it Eastery though? Hm.

    Anyhoo. There's still time to mail out easter eggs filled with candy, making nieces and nephews very happy. Send earrings for a sister or ribbons for a friend's ponytail. They may cost a little more to ship than envelopes, but the added delight is worth the added pennies. Such a fun surprise!

  • Huzzah!

    ByHeather Bailey

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    The Baileys had a day in the sun—much needed. We dawdled around the Renaissance Festival for a few hours with my sister Julia and her family. Hermione guided us from place to place while Isaac and I juggled the baby between us. Elijah was in a separate world eating frozen cheesecake, making candle keepsakes, practicing alien languages—with a girl. Yep, Elijah brought a girl. I have been repeating this to myself ever since, Elijah brought a girl. 

    I will adjust.

    I'm always amazed by the variety of folks that carve a life out for themselves from this spectacle: broom-makers, puppet-makers, leather-mask-makers; there is room for all sorts. (Not much room for their bosoms in those corsets though.)

    Charlotte wants one of everything. In the past, we've picked up bat wings and bendy-dragons for her to play with. This year, we couldn't extract Charlotte from the mega-overpriced, shoulder-sitting-dragon-pets booth to find a reasonable keepsake for her. Good memories will have to suffice this year.

    Poor girl.