New artwork is on its way to the mill. I pretty much have to disappear for a while in order to make that happen. Then, spring comes: lunch dates, time to help friends who are grieving, maybe I cook a real meal here and there, even wear make-up on a no-big-deal-regular day. My personal spring couldn't come at a better time, because it's spring. And I'm needed.
It's just beautiful outside. And I'm determined to soak it in before the Arizona summer descends.
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.
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.
What
a month! And what a marathon of frenzied fun. I'm exhilirated to have
made it to the finish line. Today is the last day of my month of giveaways—every
day this August. I had an impulse to shower you all with presents as a
big Thank You Party for your love and support. And I ran with it.
I'm honored that so many great companies and good friends contributed
prizes. I was especially touched to read all of the sweet comments made
by Mary Engelbreit's fans on Day 24.
I hope that twenty or thirty years from now I will have maintained as
meaningful of a relationship with my fans as Mary has. That was
inspiring. Thank you for that.
There is one more proper August prize to hand out. But, truthfully, I have more prizes to give away than I have days in August.
In fact, there are some gorgeous prizes associated with my new fabric
collection that will be offered up next week when I officially introduce
the line.
So, though we've completed this month of daily giveaways, the giveaways will keep on coming
at a steady pace, mixed together with new designs, inspiration and
behind-the-scenes peeks at artwork and new products in development.
I know you are all anxious to see the new fabric collection—only a
couple more days to go! As such, I've decided to tease you with my Day
31 prize. The image above is proof positive that a new line awaits, but
it sure doesn't reveal much of the artwork or even the color palette
involved—considering that you're only glimpsing a portion of the line.
Here is an appetizer. I am wildly excited to share more.
Today's winner will receive a thirty-piece design roll from my new Lottie Da fabric collection—to
be revealed this coming week. Each piece is 2.5" x the full width of
the fabric. Great for a variety of projects—and for project-planning.
Comment to
enter. One entry per household. Be sure to include your email
address
in the comment form so we can contact you if you win.
Giveaway closes at 11:59pm PST on Monday 9/2/13. Watch for the winner to
be announced within the week at the bottom
of the post. For more info on my August giveaway party, click here.
Watch for more exciting giveaways next week.
Good luck!
xo—Heather
There are strike-offs everywhere at the studio today, looking better
than ever. They tend to show up with only a moment's notice and require a
fast turn around. Reviewing fabric samples takes daylight though—and
therefore a reshuffling of the day's top projects. If it can be done in
the dark, it gets bumped.
Over my years designing fabric, I've learned that the sooner I hand in
my color notes, the sooner I get finished fabric in hand. When
strike-offs arrive, our little ant hill stirs into a frenzy to get the
job done and set the world straight again.
All stirred up and settled back down again. Daylight has faded, but
the job is done. Even better, we don't have to wait till this collection
is ready for production before… there… will… be… fabric.
In fact, we don't have to wait long at all. There is a tower of boxes a
few feet behind me—just delivered today—that house a brand-new fabric
collection. The only thing holding me back from tearing into the
shipment is getting today's giveaway posted while it's still the 28th!
let's hop to it. You enter the giveaway, I'll open the boxes. And as
soon as daylight rolls back in, we'll take some pictures, sew up a few
little ditties and set the pretties before you within the week.
With a new fabric collection close at hand, I figure a $50 gift certificate to the HeatherBaileyStore.com would make someone's day.
Comment to enter. One entry per household. Be sure to include your email
address
in the comment form so we can contact you if you win.
Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Thursday 8/29/13. Watch for the winner to
be announced within the week at the bottom
of the post. For more info on my August giveaway party, click here. Please
share the word. Check back every day.
Good luck!
xo—Heather
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.
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.
If you're looking for a fun present for someone artsy in your life, check out this new coloring book from Jenean Morrison,
another print designer who works with Free Spirit. She published this
gorgeous thing herself. And it's just that—gorgeous. Every page is a new
repeating pattern—there's 50 of them—on crisp, white paper, in a thick,
substantial book—it's not one of those floppy, wussy coloring books
with newsprint pages.
I'm a big fan of artsy, craftsy gifts for kids especially during the
holidays because they come with built-in entertainment. This makes the
time off from school go more smoothly. And it's not TV or video games.
I'm giving this copy to Charlotte for Christmas. So, I've gotta go wrap it up.
If you want one too, as a gift—or for your own self—you can get your copies on Amazon.com. Here's the link. Support an independent artist while you're at it. They are only $12. And stop by Jenean's blog for a hello and a congratulations. Birthing out a book is no small feat.
Leafy layers of tracing paper with final modifications blanket my studio. When this design is finished, I will have one more print to go.
I lay in bed this morning with my eyes closed for half an hour letting impressions of that final print soak into the backs of my eyelids. These images are elusive and transforming. Remember that Michael Jackson video where one person morphed into the next, over and over—Black or White? Like that.
The trick is to jot these ideas down without indulging in them just yet. I'm saving the last print for dessert.
One petal reads "Yes," the other says "Same"—don't mistake it for "Sane." I'm not there yet, but getting very close.
