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  • Luxury Bedding

    ByHeather Bailey

    I've come across the most luxurious baby bedding by Tushies & Tantrums. I believe I was originally tagged in an Instagram post. (Which is one of my favorite things about Instagram—getting to see what is being made with my fabric collections. Tagging is such an easy way to share.)

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    Below is just one of the luxurious sets that Tushies & Tantrums has put together using Heather Bailey fabrics. The featured prints are those shown above, all from my Lottie Da collection: Dauphine turquoise, Lottie Dot purple, Carousel Stripe orchid, and Lottie Dot olive.

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    I adore this Jenny-Lind style crib as well. When I was a little girl, I slept on an antique Jenny-Lind-style "slave bed" that my parents painted bright orange. They had a custom mattress made for it because it was tall enough for a man, but much more narrow than a twin bed. It is one of my regrets that I didn't rescue that bed from a garage sale they had after I left home for college. That same unsalved regret had me practically leap across the store when I found this orange bookshelf at an antique shop.

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    The wish to sew my daughter a dreamy crib set must have played some part in my decision to design fabric. Charlotte was nine-months old when I began the fabric branch of my career. Her bed was still outfitted in her brother's crib sheets from eight years earlier. Now, whenever I see a beautiful crib set made with my fabrics, my mama heart skips a beat. However saccharine, I feel as if I get to play a small part in nurturing your sweet little ones. And there is nothing I love more than being a mama.

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    If you are looking for the tip-top-best bedding for your little ones, visit the Tushies & Tantrums Etsy shop. Ashley takes custom orders as well, so compile your dream fabric-combo and get in touch. There is a "Request Custom Quote" button on the lefthand side of the Etsy shop's home page.

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    Up Parasol

    ByHeather Bailey

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    Up Parasol projects are starting to show up all over the web. I'm excited to share many of them with you with links out to their makers. Before doing so, let's have a closer look at this new collection which is available now at independent quilt shops and online at HeatherBaileyStore.com.

    Up Parasol is centered around two prints from my previous Garden District home-decor collection—Cakewalk and Mockingbird. These two designs were repeatedly requested on quilting-weight cotton, so I heeded the pleading and pinned swatches of these two on my design board to let them seep into my subconscious. 

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    What was born of this pairing is the new Up Parasol collection. I added many all-new prints of various scales and themes, including an extremely useful pinwheel blender named Devon Check, a vintage-flavored mum print named Mum Toss, a modern little flower repeat that looks a bit like a tiny umbrella named Stella, a fresh and trendy lattice print named Trellis, an inviting Summer Plaid and another super-useful two-tone print named Lulu. Among these is my favorite new print which shows a wood-cut style bird with flowers on his wings alighting from a branch, Meadowlark.

    UpParasol310BI'm not sure if it's my favorite new print because of the finished look or because I had such a happy time creating this particular design. Again, of course, there's the mother-hen in me who believes it's just not right for me to pick any favorites. 

    I do really love how these prints work together. They are cheerful and buoyant while also sophisticated and chic.

    I had the pleasure of creating a couple of Up Parasol quilts for the industry trade show, Quilt Market. One quilt will be out soon as a new pattern—so I'll wait just a few more days to share the details of that design. And the other is a large crazy-quilt-style design where I mixed Up Parasol with my basics collection, True Colors, as well as a couple of hand-selected solid colors for punch. This freely-pieced quilt is shown in the photo above on the turquoise quilt rack.

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    Crazy-Quilt How-To

    Each block was started with a five-sided semi-pentagonal shape that was free-style cut with a ruler, but without set dimensions or proportions. I then pieced wedge-like strips around this center piece the way you would with a log-cabin block, trimming excess fabric from each newly-attached strip to keep the edges straight and ready for the next strip to be added.

    As each block became bigger, I used a 12.5" square ruler as a guide to keep my piecing on track. Once the whole stack of blocks were made and I had arranged them into a layout, I used the same ruler to trim all blocks to a tidy 12.5" square before piecing them together. 

     

    If you can make sense of that, then you can make a crazy quilt too! Let me know if you have any questions about how to put it together and I will be sure to answer those here, or in a follow-up post. 

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    Meanwhile, visit your local quilt or sewing shop to get your hands on these delicious Up Parasol fabrics. Or visit HeatherBaileyStore.com if you don't have a sewing hub nearby. Remember to include some True Colors and Lottie Da fabrics for an expanded variety of compatible designs, perfect for your modern quilting and crafting projects.

    Pick up a copy of my Blooming Borders embroidery pattern while your at it. There is a border print included that features the same two birds shown in the Up Parasol Mockingbird print. Just imagine pairing your beautiful embroidery work with coordinated fabric in your next project—yum. 

     

    RELATED POSTS:

    BirdEmbroidery150

    NEW Embroidery Patterns 

    		   GardenDistrict150

    Garden District

    		   TrueColors150

    Introducing True Colors

     

  • Getting Going on Sewing

    ByHeather Bailey

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    It's a sewing week for me. For the last two years, I've spent most of
    my creative time at the drafting table and behind a computer, catching
    up on print and product design after having a baby. It's been great to
    get reacquainted with my sewing machine and start playing with these
    sunny new fabrics.

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    Angela Pingel of Cut to Pieces
    kindly offered to put together the quilt top for my upcoming free
    Lottie Da quilt pattern. She got right to it and had the top pieced in
    no time—which means the pattern will be ready soon—once the quilt is
    finished and photographed. Thank you, Angela!

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    With no corners to match up, the Lottie Da free quilt pattern is a
    perfect beginner quilt. I'll get into that more once the pattern is
    complete in the next couple of weeks.

    For now, enjoy this sneaky peek courtesy of Angela. And stop by Cut to
    Pieces for Angela's post and a bigger peek at the quilt top.

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    And don't forget to
    enter the Lottie Da giveaway that closes Sunday night at 11:59pm PST (9-15-13) for a fat quarter stack of the entire collection—over a $100
    value.

    If you missed our Heather Bailey Store newsletter earlier this week announcing the Lottie Da collection… Enter promo code LOTTIEDA917 for a FREE full-size sewing pattern
    with any purchase of $50 or more through 9/17/13 11:59pm PST. Add your
    selected items to your cart to meet the order minimum, then add your
    selected pattern, followed by the promo code at checkout.

    Happy Weekend!
    xo—Heather

  • Giveaway Day 31 – I Aim to Tease

    ByHeather Bailey

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    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.

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    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

    Read More “Giveaway Day 31 – I Aim to Tease”

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    Holly Day Girls

    ByHeather Bailey

    I have a new 'job' at my church.  I've been asked to teach the
    10-12-year-old girls crafting skills, and to organize service projects
    with them.  Sure! I can do that.  Today is our first activity.  We're
    making holly pins from yo-yos & felt.

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    Over
    the next few meet-ups, I'm going to help the girls put together their
    own sewing kits, teach them to crochet, develop babysitting kits, learn
    emergency skills etc.  I want to find a senior center we can visit as
    well. 

    They're the sweetest group of girls.  It should be big, big fun.

  • Personalized Pillows

    ByHeather Bailey

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

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    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.

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    I’ll Get You, My Pretty.

    ByHeather Bailey
    In the spirit of summer picnics, I've added three colors of gingham to the variety show, in long and standard lengths:

    She's No Picnic – Red Gingham
    My Pretty – Blue Gingham
    Check Please – Pink Gingham

    And a pack of Red, White & Blue ties with a bonus 6th tie. 

    As
    far as patriotism goes, this new multi-pack not only covers the USA,
    but also Australia, Great Britain, France, Iceland, and a number of
    other countries;  (did you know there are at least 11 countries with
    red, white, & blue flags?)  A great pack for back-to-school as
    well, especially if your kids wear school uniforms and are limited in
    their color choices for hair doo-dahs.  The Red White Blue multi-pack is only available through Labor Day though (Sept. 7th). The ginghams are available while supplies last.

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    I'm almost done typing up a new ice cream recipe
    too — just in time for the outrageously-hot weather that rolled in
    this week.  If you're suffering through summer, definitely get an
    ice-cream maker.  They're great.  Of course, you might have to exercise
    extra, which may not be the best way to stay cool. Hm.