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  • Embroidery Patterns are Here!

    ByHeather Bailey

    HeatherBaileyEmbroidery_BirdBorder3

    Embroidery patterns are here. Printed with heat-transferable ink for your ease and convenience, our FOUR new embroidery patterns make stitching beautiful needlework fun and relaxing—perfect for your holiday break.

    EVERY PATTERN INCLUDES

    • 11" X 17" pattern sheet with heat-transferable ink.
    Each design can be heat transferred multiple times.

    • Instructions for a variety of transfer methods including
    tracing options.

    • Illustrated guide to basic hand-embroidery stitches.

    These first four patterns feature birds, flowers, paisleys, butterflies, repeating borders, frame designs and more. Stitch a quilt label to match your next Lottie Da quilt or trim out your next apron with a charming cherry border. There are countless ways to incorporate this rewarding hobby into your creative repertoire.

    EmbroideryPatternCovers

    HeatherBaileyEmbroidery_FreshFlowers2We did it! The new patterns are completed in time for Christmas. Now we can go a-wassailing, then come back home to sit and stitch while snuggled up with our troop of bug-a-boos. I love holiday break—only a few more days till my kids are home for a couple of weeks.

    Everything comes back from the printer today and we'll work into the night to begin shipping tomorrow so you can have your hands on these great new patterns right away—and have a fabulous holiday break making beautiful projects for yourself and your loved ones!

    Ask for them all at your local, independent fabric store. It always helps to make requests. Not every shop will know these are available. In fact, if you want to bring in a pattern catalog to show them, email me and we'll send you one to drop off at your local shop.

    Quilters will be especially excited to hear about the Fresh Flowers quilt labels and frames pattern. Several of the designs coordinate with fabrics I've designed, such as Sprig, and Dauphine. With these frame designs, you can match your quilt label to the quilt itself. I've never seen this before—so I'm calling it revolutionary.

    HeatherBaileyEmbroidery_Cherries2

    The Blooming Borders pattern includes a variety of designs in repeat. In other words, transfer a border multiple times to the length that suits your project. One of these repeating borders (the bird design shown at the top of this post) coordinates with the Mockingbird print from my Garden District collection—which will be out next year on quilting cotton (wink, wink).

    HeatherBailey_GardenPaisleysButterflyIn short, embroidery is seriously fun and relaxing. And I hope to make it even more so by providing beautiful designs, all ready for your use. As I've mentioned before, it's "like coloring in slow motion." But, with much more substantial and long-reaching results.

    For me, this is like birthing another baby—an art baby. I've worked long and hard on every aspect of this new pattern collection to get every nuance and need met with style. I couldn't be more excited to send these out to your ready hands and see the beautiful things you create.

    You guys are amazing. Thank you, as always, for your cheerful support.

    A BIG Happy Holidays to you!

    xo—Heather

  • Late Night Sewing

    ByHeather Bailey

    It's the season for late-night sewing. With two collections to present
    at Quilt Market next week, there's some serious sewing going on around
    here. All of my clothes are covered with thread. Every surface is
    stacked with odd cuts. The studio floor is littered with scraps.

    LateNightSewingT

    In all the excitement of the last couple of weeks, I certainly
    haven't forgotten about our Lottie Da fat quarters bundle giveaway. This
    glorious stack of fabrics is sitting on my desk waiting for a new home.

    Thank you, everyone for your enthusiasm for my new collection. I hope
    you will take a trip to see the fabrics in person at your local fabric
    retailer. Nothing beats mixing and matching prints in the wild paintbox
    of a quilt shop.     I am on the edge of my seat to see what you will make
    with the new line, so please share. My Facebook page is a great place
    for that. And I'll be prepping a Heather Bailey Fabric Flickr group soon
    as well. On Twitter, catch me at @_HeatherBailey and on at
    @HeatherBailey on Instagram. Hashtags help everyone else find the
    images, so don't forget #heatherbailey and #lottieda.

    Now, onto the fat quarter bundle winner ˆ-ˆ-ˆ-ˆdrum roll ˆ-ˆ-ˆ-ˆ… The Lottie Da fat quarter bundle goes to Denise Clason,
    Lucky #168 ("These prints are so fresh and cute, with a little vintage
    flare! Love it!") Denise, we will email you and get these goodies in the
    mail. Thank you, Random.org for making the selection for me.

    By the way, it looks like Denise is sharing in-depth notes on the various classes she took at The Sewing Summit last month. Read through
    her notes on Personal Branding,  Pitching Articles to Magazines, Blogging, HTML Basics, and so
    forth. It's almost like being there.

  • The Magic of Sleep

    ByHeather Bailey

    CreativeBug_HeatherBailey

    I made it through the Creative Bug
    shoot last week for creativebug.com. It was a close call, with only a few days to complete
    the prep—fabric was late to arrive. Ashley was out sick and Karen had
    other obligations, so I was short-staffed to boot. Mom to the rescue.
    She came over and cut out pillow pieces for hours. (Extra amazing, as my
    dad's in the hospital with a broken hip right now—yikes!) And I called
    in some freelance help as well for yet more cutting—there were lots of
    step-outs to prepare.

    We made it. I even got three hours of sleep. Let's just hope the recording doesn't pick up my puffy, bloodshot eyes.

    HeatherBailey_CourtneyCerruti

    What a delightful film crew Creative Bug has: two camera operators, a
    sound technician, and an artist's coach—to help me stay organized and
    coherrent. If only we could keep her around, right?  I wish I'd had the chance to get to know them all better. I
    did all of the talking for hours straight.

    CameraCrewCollage

    Perhaps we will collaborate on future online classes. Next time, with
    more sleep. You'll watch those ones and say, "Wow, Heather just got 5
    years younger in this new video."

    The magic of sleep.

  • Paper Hearts

    ByHeather Bailey

    OrigamiHeartValentine_HeatherBailey_1b

    Oh, love… love, love. It bends our paper hearts backward and
    forward—folding our lives into something more beautiful—or making an
    unintelligible mess of us.

    OrigamiHeartValentine_HeatherBailey_7bW2How's that for romantic cheesiness this Valentine's Day!? Have at it, Hallmark.

    Yesterday, I took a break from working on artwork for my next fabric
    collection to fold a few paper hearts for my children. My new 12×12 paper packs from Project Life have been calling my name since they arrived at the studio last month.

    I'm delighted with how these valentines turned out. I wasn't sure
    that cardstock would fold so well. But hey, here they are. See for
    yourselves—pretty great.

    There are number of techniques for folding a variety of origami
    hearts. This design is one of my favorites. I like the burst of
    contrasting color at the center. And they are super fast and super fun
    to make. 

    OrigamiHeartValentine_HeatherBailey_9 copy

    I suggest you take a quick break from whatever it is you're doing right
    now and make one—a little play for a better day. You can use any ol'
    paper, though double-sided paper is best. And, because you start with a
    rectangle that is twice as long as it is wide, you can even use a dollar bill from your wallet.

    OrigamiHeartValentines_HeatherBailey

    To make things easy, I created a PDF instruction sheet. See sidebar under "Free Patterns" or click here. The image below gives you the general idea.

    For my hearts, I used one half-sheet of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper each and wool-blend felt in Bubblegum from my designer felt collection at HeatherBaileyStore.com. Though we have some papers in stock at HeatherBaileyStore.com, these particular papers are only available at Amazon.com. Click here or search "Project Life Olive Edition" on Amazon. They come in a pack of 24
    for only $7.99. However, for Valentine's Day weekend, the paper packs
    are on SALE for an additional 20% off (that's $6.39 each), along with
    the rest of the Project Life Olive Edition I designed—wahoo!

    HeatherBailey_OrigamiHeartPaperValentine

    By the way, there are Heather Bailey for Project Life GIVEAWAYS GALORE being hosted this weekend around the web. My Olive Edition is making some special rounds for the holiday. Becky Higgins is giving away a core kit, binder and pocket pages on her blog, as are Ali Edwards, Lisa Bearnson and Margie Romney Aslett (tomorrow). I'm not even sure if that's the whole list.

    I will have a GIVEAWAY here too tomorrow, so be sure to check back in. And, like I said above, the whole Olive collection is seriously on SALE for the weekend. Go crazy. Go get some.

    And fold up some paper hearts for your smoochies today. You don't
    even have to run to the store to have heart-felt valentines ready to go.

  • Knit Bits

    ByHeather Bailey

    Knitting1
    I
    taught myself to knit 20 years ago. My freshman year in college, my mom
    gave me some supplies for Christmas, but she never got around to
    showing me the basics over Christmas break. She offered to teach me once
    I returned home again for the summer—but I was too impatient. I would
    have to teach myself. My first project was a fisherman's knit
    sweater—because that's my kind of crazy—always start with the hardest
    project.

    Knitting2wIsaac
    and I dated long distance for my first couple of years of college, so
    we spent a lot of time on the phone—often for hours at a time. I got a
    lot of knitting done during those long calls.

    Come to think of it, I made two fisherman knit sweaters that
    semester—it was A LOT of time spent on the phone—Isaac was quite the
    talker back then. I was happy to listen and knit, occasionally chiming
    in with an "uh-uh…yep…sure…of course…then what?…" A $40 Radio
    Shack headset phone saved my aching neck. I loved that phone.

    That was back when I still planned to become a surgeon. Knitting and
    doll-making were my stress-relief from a demanding school schedule.

    By the time I switched my major to Apparel Design, knitting was my
    side-kick. I brought my knitting to class, to the cafeteria, to
    church—everywhere I went.

    Later, when I designed a full-on clothing collection for competition
    in the university's annual fashion show, my collection was the only one
    to include a variety of knitted garments. In fact, I suspect that my
    men's intarsia sweaters were pivotal to my First Place win in my first
    fashion show. It was early in my second year of the program, and I was
    competiting against designers with twice as much schooling and
    experience.

    Knitting3

    Living in sunny Arizona, I don't knit quite as frequently as I did
    when we lived where it snows. But, it is still one of my
    all-time-favorite pastimes. When I get the itch to knit, it doesn't
    matter if I have a project figured out—or even the right needles (as
    evidenced by my rubber-band-modified double-pointed needles above)—I set
    to it.

    RuffleScarf1wThis
    time, I tried my hand at the trendy, new ruffle yarns and made a scarf
    for my sister-in-law, Laura. She's in DC, where it's a bit colder. And
    she's my style-sister. If I can't wear it—because it's just not cold
    enough here—then I can enjoy the finished knitting through her.

    I did finally grab some shorty little light-weight bamboo needles to finish the job—so I could knit on a plane without bothering my neighbors—and avoid getting patted down by airport security.

    I dont' know how many of you knit, but have you ever tried working with ruffle yarn?

    My take: It was fun to knit with, but a little slow. You knit each
    chain/eyelet that runs along one edge of the yarn (see top photo), and
    it's a bit of work to keep the yarn untwisted. Then there is the matter
    of burying the yarn ends. There was no straight-forward solution for
    this, so I put it off of course. I finally resolved to crochet the ends
    into the work so they would be undetectable—which worked perfectly.

    I finished up last night, in time to ship this one off for
    Valentine's Day. Sorry for the spoiler, Laura. I'm sending chocolate
    too.

    If you're a
    knitter, here are the details: I cast 15 stitches onto size US 4
    (3.5mm) needles. Knitting every row, I used 2 full balls of Flaunt™ yarn
    by Loops & Threads™ (Michael's) for a mid-length scarf. This yarn
    comes in several variegated options, as well as in solids.

    Next up, I'm making a twinner scarf for me—in teal.

  • |

    Good as New

    ByHeather Bailey

    GardenDistrictChairT

    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.

    GardenDistrictFabricRolls470T

    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.

  • Same Not Sane

    ByHeather Bailey

    Leafy layers of tracing paper with final modifications blanket my studio. When this design is finished, I will have one more print to go.

    TracingPaper_470bT

    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.

    TracingPaper2up_470bT

    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.

  • Tray Jolie

    ByHeather Bailey

    CupcakeDecorating

    How about a new free pattern?  An early Valentine’s Day present.

    Here’s a sweet little project that goes together quickly — a bow-tied box for treats or trinkets.  Perfect for displaying tasty truffles and candies for your Valentine or hip paperclips and doo-dads for your desk.  The pattern and instructions below are for one 3″ x 3″ x 1 1/4″ tray.  However, once you have the hang of it, you can scale the design up or down as needed. Imagine tasty trays for sewing supplies, post-it notes, business cards, candies, jewelry, buttons, keys, coasters…

    TreatBox4

    Treat_trinket_tray

    TreatTrayPattern2MATERIALS LIST (one 3″ x 3″ x 1 1/4″ tray) 

    7” x 7” fabric*
    7” x 7” lining fabric*
    3/4 yd narrow piping
    1 1/3 yd ribbon, 1/8” wide
    8” x 10” stiff, thin cardboard
    Thread 

    HELPFUL TOOLS
    Pins, scissors, needle, liquid seam sealant (such a s Fray Check™)

    * Suitable fabrics include laminated cotton, quilting-weight cotton, light-weight decorator fabric, and other light to medium-weight woven fabrics

     

    INSTRUCTIONS (click on illustrations to enlarge)

    A. Cut Out Fabric & Cardboard – Click here to download pattern pieces. Using pattern, cut one 5 7/8” square of fabric and one 5 7/8” square of lining fabric. Round corners per pattern & clip at circles to mark ribbon placement. Of cardboard, cut one 3” square, and cut four 1” x 3” rectangles.  If cardboard is flimsy, cut two sets & glue corresponding pieces together to stiffen.

    Tray_01_02_03b B. Baste Piping to Tray Exterior – Baste piping to tray exterior. Join piping at one black circle by overlapping piping neatly. Trim.

    C. Attach Ribbon Ties – Cut eight pieces of ribbon, each 6” long. With a small stitch-length, sew one ribbon to tray at each black circle, on top of piping; stitch back & forth across ribbon to secure well.

    D. Sew Lining to Exterior – With right-sides-together, pin lining to exterior. Sew around tray, leaving one side open between black circles. Notch curve at each corner. Turn tray right-side-out through opening in seam.

    E. Insert Cardboard & Stitch Around Sides – Insert one rectangular cardboard piece into tray;  butt cardboard up to stitching at side of tray opposite from opening, beneath the seam allowance on exterior side of tray. Secure cardboard in place by stitching 1 1/8” away from fabric edge (not piping edge) along stitching line shown on tray pattern, beginning & ending at black circles. See illustration. Be sure stitching runs alongside cardboard & does not go through it & ribbons are not caught in seam. Insert another cardboard rectangle at one adjacent side & stitch as before. Repeat at opposite side of tray. Slide cardboard square into place at center of tray & stitch along last stitching line, parallel to opening. Insert last cardboard rectangle into opening. Fold tray lining edge under 1/4” & ladder-stitch to close opening in seam.

    Tray_04_05_06_07
    F. Tie Corner Bows & Trim – Fold sides up & hold corners together with a pin. Tie two ribbons at each corner into a bow. Once tied, trim ribbons to desired lengths. Finish ribbon ends with liquid seam sealant to prevent fraying.

    ENJOY!


  • |

    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.

    HollyPin470
    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.

  • Packing Flowers

    ByHeather Bailey

    FlowerProject2

    Today I'm heading over to the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City for a live interview & some crafty kibitzing on KSL's Studio 5 with hosts, Brooke & Darin. We're making fast, fabulous, fabric flowers. Fashionable too — and friendly.

    The
    spicy flower above turned out perfectly for the red & olive reverse
    of my red Marlo Bloom bag (shown on the cover of the Marlo Bloom sewing pattern). It takes my handbag right into Fall, all wooly & frayed, with felted houndstooth leaves and raw silk at the center.

    FlowerProject1

    I
    also played around with some of my favorite vintage buttons &
    millinery supplies, such as these green ceramic flower stamen. On the
    show, we're making medium-sized flowers, but as I couldn't stick to one
    size for the samples, I'm listing measurements for the large purse
    flower and the small, blue headband flower as well. Of course, make
    whatever size flower you wish & stitch it where you like.

    I say everywhere.

    FlowerProject4a

    Pop Garden Scrap Flower Tutorial

    Medium Flower

    1.  Tear a strip of printed cotton fabric 3" high by 20" wide. Pop Garden works.

    FlowerTute1

    2. 
    With wrong sides together, fold fabric strip in half, as shown. Stitch
    long, gathering stitch along matched torn edges, through both layers.
    (For a torn-edge flower, stitch along folded edge, through both layers.)

    FlowerTute2

    3. 
    Gently pull stitches as you sew, to gather fabric into a circle. Fasten
    fabric circle at center with a couple of stitches. Secure & trim
    thread.

    FlowerTute3a

    4. 
    Of felt, cut three tiered circles — 2" wide, 1.75" wide, and 1.5"
    wide. Notch edges of large & small circles. Remove all 'hanging
    chads' of felt — we'll have none of that. Stack felt circles as shown.

    FlowerTute4

    5. 
    Onto gathered fabric flower, layer stacked felt circles and a
    decorative button or brooch. Stitch layers together at center several
    times through button to secure. Conceal gathered edges at back of
    flower by whip-stitching a circle of scrap felt to the back of the
    flower. Then, attach a sew-on pin-back, hair clip, ponytail elastic, TT
    headband    , bobbypin or barrette. And that's it. Easy-peasy.

    FlowerTute5

    For
    your reference, the following chart shows the measurements used for the
    other flowers featured in the photos above. The large flower is made by
    stacking a folded piece of silk on top of the folded cotton print with
    folds aligned. Gathering stitches are sewn through all layers, near the
    fold. And the large flower spirals into several layers, unlike the
    other two shown.

    FlowerTute6a

    I'm looking forward to meeting many of you at Friday's Start-up Princess event. If you're interested in last-minute registration, I've got a present for you — use code STUDIO5 for $10 off the registration fee. Or tune in to the show today, as two viewers will receive free tickets on air, valued at $99 each.

    Also, there is an all-new category at The Heather Bailey Store.
    See if you can spot it. I'm eager to post more, but need to rush off to
    the station. Let's just say the new category ties in perfectly with
    this tutorial and with more projects to come. I'll spill the beans in
    my next post.