freshcut

  • Personalized Pillows

    FeatureFriBanner
    Imagine coordinating all of your child’s bedroom pillows — with some personalization to boot.  With Bella Marie's personalized pillows, you can.

    MarleyBaby

    Seamstress and Etsy shop-owner, Marie Villa,
    loves personalized items, as do her children.  To Marie, her name
    pillows are "the perfect projects to make that not only coordinate with
    a room's colors, but also personalize it at the same time.”

    Marie used an assortment of Heather Bailey Freshcut fabrics for
    the “Emme Pillow” below. Other materials include a background fabric
    (Marie used a solid, pre-quilted fabric) Heat n' Bond™ Lite, stuffing,
    and lots of thread.

    Emme

    According
    to Marie, this is a simple design to make.  Each pillow takes about 2
    hours to complete. "The letters are the only thing that can get tricky
    – but with practice you can get them just right."

    MarleyBaby2Marie's pattern is from one of her favorite websites, www.youcanmakethis.com,
    for $6.95. However, if you don't have the skills nor the time to make
    your own customized pillows — but you love homemade, you’re in luck. 
    Marie will make a custom one for you.  Contact Marie through her Etsy
    shop, Bella Marie Designs, to place your custom order.  Keep in mind, longer names such as Savannah can be fit onto a slightly longer pillow.

    If you don’t have a little guy or girl in mind, Marie suggests a “Mom” pillow for mother’s day or a special “Grandma” pillow
    with grandchildren’s names hand-embroidered around the pillow's front. 
    For pillow inspiration, comb through Marie’s Flickr set here.

    Savannah

    *For more information about Feature Friday & the artists spotlighted, click here*

    Photography courtesy of Marie Villa.

  • Shredded

    ReUpholster4
    I just counted and we own a total of 13 rolling office chairs.  That's
    a lot of office chairs.  Of course, the one I prefer at the moment is
    shredded and hideous.  It's the ugliest chair of the bunch.

    My
    neck and arm are all out-of-whack from trotting all over NYC with two
    heavy bags.  This chair holds me together best.  It's a bit
    out-of-place in my studio though.  So, today, I'm slip-covering it. 

    No big style-ambition this time.  I'll be glad to take it from hideous to mediocre.

    Yep, that's exposed foam in the back there.

  • Plumpness

    Have I mentioned it's
    great to be back home?  With an expanding roster of help around the
    studio, we're starting to get caught up, even ahead, on some projects. 
    Rachel and Lindsay spent a day or two just putting together a plump
    stock of Strawberry Pincushion Kits, after finishing up the Flutterby Flip-Book Kits.  Emily has kept everything else plugging along.  Being ahead is great.  I highly recommend it. 

    StrawKit

    So, back to The Giveaway.  What a variety of first sewing projects!  I've been reading comments all day. 

    1.  Congratulations Lindsay BrownRandom picked you for the big giveaway.  Lindsay won a Freshcut scrap bag, a HB sewing pattern of her choice, and a Flutterby Flip-Book Kit.  Here's what Lindsay wrote.

       
    "Hi Heather!!! Let me start out by saying I am an ENORMOUS fan!!  I
    just completed 2 projects for my girls.  I made a pillowcase dress with
    the Lime Paisley and I made my youngest daughter the matching capris. 
    I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your fabrics!!  Thanks for posting this!!"

    Kits2.  Random also picked the lucky Shannon / lilyhaven who wrote,

       
    "Holy cow! 975 comments already! … My first sewing project was a
    tiered skirt for my then 3-year-old daughter.  I was so proud of
    myself!  I wanted to sew for years and years and finally broke down and
    tried.  I've been addicted ever since.  I can't wait to see your new
    fabrics!!!" 

    I'll be sending Shannon a Freshcut scrap bag, along with a pack of HB ribbons.

     3.  Then, for AndieBee, who apparently barely survived her first sewing experience, I'm sending a Strawberry Pincushion Kit, along with a copy of my Fresh Picked Pincushions sewing pattern.  AndieBee wins just for surviving — and for calling me "cupcake."  Here's what AndieBee wrote.

       
    "Hi cupcake! My very first sewing project EVER in life: I was three and
    hangin' out with my Momma while she was making something-probably a
    dress or short set for me. She got up from her incredibly snazzy Singer
    machine in the wood cabinet to do "something", so I climbed up on her
    chair for a better view. Momma always held the pretty colorful straight
    pins in her mouth as she took them out to sew. I decided to help take
    them out while she was away…of COURSE I put them in my mouth just
    like her. And OF COURSE I swallowed one of those bad boys!! LOL

       
    "All I remember of the rest of that day was having to drink something
    icky and Momma monitoring my potties! Apparently it all came out okay,
    since I don't remember having to go to the hospital. ;O)  I picked
    sewing back up again when I was about 8 or 9, when Momma got tired of
    making Barbie clothes, and I've been sewing since."

    Ladies, send me your addresses. 

    Thanks everyone for participating — and for the blogiversary hoopla.  I'm loving being back home and back to blogging, tweeting, etc.  Thanks for sticking around while I was away through May.

    …which reminds me, there's something special posted for @TrashTies followers over on Twitter : )

    And, speaking of plumpness, check out this blog, with it's cheeky background image.  Bacon-infused waffles?  I'll be taking my camera with me next we go out to the fair.

  • |

    Giveaway, Oh Giveaway

    Food5

    I don't even know where to begin with all of the adventures
    I went on this month.  I may have to grant myself a
    Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card and skip immediately past Go — at least till
    I'm caught up on some design projects.

    Food2noteThis
    weekend I went through the first round of strike-offs for my next
    fabric collection.  Gah!  I normally wouldn't mention strike-offs
    because, really, it will be months before the fabrics are available. 
    But, gah!  They're gorgeous.  I'm ready to fly over to the mill and
    screen the prints myself if it will speed things up.  I'm dying to sew
    with this fabric. 

    Bridgenote2See,
    now I feel better, and you feel worse.  Which is why I normally don't
    say anything.  But, that's what I'm working on today. And that's where
    my brain is.

    I'm also thinking about a giveaway to celebrate my blogiversary.  It's been 3 years now.  So, how does this sound for a prize?

    Hotelviewnote2
    Leave a comment, telling us what your first sewing project was — or if
    you don't sew, what your first sewing project might be — or if you
    don't plan to sew, why not!?  Or your favorite remedy for puffy eyes. 
    I don't know, tell us something interesting.  Or just say, 'Hi.'  That
    works too. 

    I'll let this go through Thursday night MST, then hand it over to the Random Number Generator for an edict. 

    I may hand out a couple of extra giveaways too.  I tend to do that.

    The photos?  Some shots from my weekend in Pittsburgh.  What a beautiful city!

  • |

    In Limited Supply:
    album kits, fabric… patience

    It is refreshing to be home again.  Not only to sleep in my own bed
    and hug on my little kids (of course), but now I can start scratchin'
    at those irresistibly- itchy projects I sketched up while I was away. 
    Here and there, at least.  First, I have some emails and interviews to
    complete, as well as some fabric strike-offs to sort through (yes,
    round one is in the house!).

    Flutterby4a600

    So, check out my Flutterby Flip-Book mini
    album.  I used an old-fashioned wooden clothespin for the butterfly
    body.  A variety of cardstock wings make up the album's many pages,
    with a sprinkling
    of flowers and miniature butterflies thrown in for good measure.  The
    perfect album for celebrating a special event, a summer-load of
    activities, a new baby, a birthday, quirky kid-drawings, etc.

    FLUTTERBYkit2

    This is the workshop I taught at Inspired in North Carolina this month — the stinkin' cutest-est album ever.  We kitted up
    some extra albums, with full-on illustrated instructions included, so
    you can make an album too if you like. (Or maybe set up your kids or
    grandkids with a kit — gotta keep those children engaged over the
    summer.  My two have been squabbling all day.)  So, if you're
    interested, hop on over to the HB store.  Limited supply!  When they're gone, they're gone. 

    FlutterbyInstr400

    Freshcut™ is in the same boat too.  Free Spirit's warehouse is plum out of my Freshcut collection now.  We received our last supply.  Though the demand for that collection never subsided, the supply certainly now has, so last call for Freshcut!  Heck, here's a discount while you're at it.  Use the code "AlmostGone" through June 1st for 10% off any fabrics from my Freshcut collection.  We'll all sigh as it trickles away.

    And this week is my blogiversary again — three years now.  I'll put together some sort of giveaway, so stay tuned for that. 

    I'm
    off to dig myself up an urgent dose of Tylenol.  My kids aren't used to
    being around each other all day.  It's adjustment time — for all of us.