quilting

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    Pause. Wait. Go. Go Fast!

    ByHeather Bailey

    Are you in Utah? I will be at The Material Girls quilt shop in South Jordan THIS Wednesday from 6pm to 8pm. Stop by and let's meet.

    – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

    I had such a quaint little weekend. I pieced a lap quilt, made cherry
    muffins, did the laundry, went to a movie. I even slept at night.
    Nothing nearly reflective of my high-energy obligations this week and
    next. (High-energy is code for compressed and quickly becoming
    stressful.) My True Colors fabric hadn't arrived yet for next week's Creative Bug shoot, so I made lemonade of the situation and relaxed. I meditated on this week's keynote and did some prep for next month's needs. And I completed an entire quilt top.

    ProductTesting_LottieDaQuilt

    My quiet activities took place in a stir of remodeling. Isaac and
    Elijah shuffled furniture out of our family room to make way for
    wainscoting and new flooring. I have a number of great vintage pieces
    that will need reupholstering or rebuilding in some way, but we'll deal
    with the furniture and trimmings later. Certainly no sooner than
    November.

    StripPieced_LottieDa4

    My True Colors fabric was delivered this afternoon. The race is now on. I leave for The Sewing Summit
    in Utah in two days and must resolve the Creative Bug project before I
    go, get my kids squared away, and keep a number of other projects moving
    forward.

    Some of you have asked for an update on my upcoming embroidery
    patterns. They will be ready soon. A few of these other obligations
    pushed their way forward in line. The work is 98% complete on the
    embroidery patterns, so my hope is to complete them once we've wrapped
    up the Creative Bug shoot. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know
    we're making progress on that despite my hectic schedule. We had planned
    to keep the embroidery patterns quiet till this Fall, but went ahead
    with previews earlier this year when my Lottie Da fabric collection was
    delayed for Spring Quilt Market. We had arranged a booth, but we weren't
    going to have fabrics. So, embroidery!

    Okay. Time for me to go, go go.

    If you missed the announcement at the top of this post, I will be at The Material Girls quilt shop in South Jordan, UT this Wednesday night from 6pm to 8pm. Come by for a hello. And see Lottie Da in person.

  • Getting Going on Sewing

    ByHeather Bailey

    130911_LottieDaQuilt4hb

    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.

    130911_LottieDaQuilt1hb

    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!

    130911_LottieDaQuilt2hb

    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.

    130911_LottieDaQuilt3hb

    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

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    Introducing Lottie Da

    ByHeather Bailey

    LottieDaFatQuarterStack_T

    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.

    LottieDa_305With
    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.

    LottieDa_Bookshelf_K_Short

    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.

    LottieBolt470_HB1_VertTo celebrate the launch of Lottie Da, let's have a giveaway—giveaways are the best. I have a lovely Lottie Da fat quarter
    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.

    JellyRollA_470

  • Giveaway Day 31 – I Aim to Tease

    ByHeather Bailey

    Day31_HELLOgiveawayBanner


    LottieDa_DesignRoll1b

    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.

    LottieDa_DesignRoll2b

    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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    Giveaway Day 28 — There Will Be Fabric

    ByHeather Bailey

    Day28_HELLOgiveawayBanner

    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.

    ColorTabs_TwistCrop_470T

    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!

    ZZ-GFT03_050-2_300So,
    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 

    Read More “Giveaway Day 28 — There Will Be Fabric”

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    It’s Official

    ByHeather Bailey

    As I hinted last week, I'll be heading to Utah in three weeks to give the keynote address at The Sewing Summit 2013. The announcement was made yesterday on The Sewing Summit blog and throughout their social media outlets. Click on the image below to read the full article.

    SewingSummitAnnouncementC

    SewingSummitWWhat
    is The Sewing Summit? As they put it, "We’re a cross between a
    traditional sewing retreat and a social
    media and blogging conference… With hands-on workshops, networking
    events, inspiring speakers,
    informative lecture sessions and enough down-time to connect with
    friends new and old—Sewing Summit is the only event of its kind. Join us
    for a weekend of skill-building, networking, laughing and
    reconnecting!"

    I'm excited to meet everyone and share. The event has been sold out for a while. However! They have added a handful of spaces this week. If you are interested in attending, jump on it. Just have a look at these great classes and teachers.
    I hear the sewing labs will be open till 2am or so. You can sew in your
    pjs with friends. Doesn't that sound dreamy? Of course, I'm a serious
    night owl.

    So then, whether you're attending or not, what would you like to hear
    from me at an event like this? The conference covers such diverse
    topics: fashion, quilting, blogging, photography, business and more. I want to do a bang-up job for you all.

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    Giveaway Day 19 — Stella

    ByHeather Bailey

    Day19_HELLOgiveawayBanner

    At Quilt Market last May, I met Nathan and Stacy Wiedenmann who were
    there introducing a new product to the world. And it was no elementary,
    homespun product either, but a multi-function task light of all things.
    Now how do you get that made?

    The inventor in me can't resist new gadgets. The business owner in me
    thrills to see someone tackle manufacturing with success. Isaac has two
    pet lighting inventions he wants to patent and market one day, so
    meeting small business owners in the lighting trade is extra fun.

    Day19_StellaLamp_Logo4

    Now, I'm going to butcher the Stella Lighting
    story, but as I understand it, Nathan was at a meeting at Starbucks
    where he and an associate were discussing a prototype of this lamp when a
    quilter approached them to find out more about it. After a
    demonstration, she insisted that she needed the lamp and she needed it
    now. And that other quilters and crafters needed it too. The punchline
    is: this godsend matchmaker hooked up a great little lamp with an eager
    audience and it was true love.

    StellaBlackRightSo
    what makes this light different? The Stella task lamp is stocked with
    21 little LED light bulbs, all rated to last for 50,000+ hours—we'll
    call that a lifetime of use. You never have to change the bulbs. With
    efficient LED technology, the lamp uses 10% of the electricity of a
    comparably bright incandescent light. And the light stays cool, so you
    can work right under it very comfortably. It is available as a desk lamp or floor lamp.

    It also has five brightness levels, so it can be adjusted to the task at hand. You can choose from three different light temperatures, including a warm light (very similar to incandescent light), a very cool light, and a bright, daylight-balanced light.

    For me and my purposes, the
    daylight-balanced setting is where it's at. Much of my work involves
    reviewing colors for accuracy. And having a Stella on hand allows me to
    work later into the day, after the sun has set—perfect for evaluating
    fabric strike-offs, painting new artwork, or choosing thread colors.

    The light is even and bright and the neck of the lamp can be bent in almost any direction. It's streamline shape allows it to peek in quietly over your work or move aside as needed.

    Day19_StellaLamp_Logo4

    Check in with Stella on Twitter and Instagram. Visit StellaLighting.com
    for a video introduction and more information about the product and the
    company. Art stores, quilt stores, needlework stores and more are all
    starting to carry this new light, so watch for the Stella at your local
    shop.

    Stella Lighting is generously donating one white Stella task lamp for today's giveaway. A $220 value.


     Comment to enter. One entry per household. U.S. shipping only on this one. Be sure to include your email
    address
    so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
    address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
    field on the comment form. Today's giveaway will close at noon PST on Tuesday 8/20/13. Watch for the winner to
    be announced within a few days at the bottom
    of the post.

    For the backstory on my August HELLO Giveaway project, click here. Please
    share the word. And check back every day.

    Good luck!

    xo—Heather

    Read More “Giveaway Day 19 — Stella”

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    Giveaway Day 9

    ByHeather Bailey

    Day09_ElephantPattern

    Wow, thank you for your baby-naming stories and input.
    What great comments! I promise that there aren't too many more big
    stories I've kept to myself. Just designs. Designs that aren't out on
    products yet. But, I have lots of that coming soon. Mostly fabric,
    fabric, fabric.

    It's Friday, and for today our giveaway prize is a copy of my Most-Crazy-Popular-Ever sewing pattern Effie & Ollie Elephant, along with the winner's choice of elephant kit which includes all of the fabric, interfacing and trim for one elephant. A $19 value.

    Comment to enter today's contest. Be sure to include your email address
    so we can contact you if you win. Today's giveaway closes at 11:59pm PST on Friday 8/9/13. Watch for the winner to be announced within a day or
    two at the bottom
    of the post.

    For more info on my August giveaway madness, click here.
    Please
    share the word. Check back every day. And stay tuned for some big
    whoppers next week, with several prizes ranging in value from $100 to
    $300. Good luck!

    xo—Heather


    Read More “Giveaway Day 9”

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    “Car. Beep-Beep.”

    ByHeather Bailey

    OldDeliveryTruck2_Hellomynameisheather
    It's
    Quilt Market season at the studio. We're in a bi-annual bustle to prep
    for the show. Today, I met with another local stitcher who will be
    helping out with samples. I'm skirting around that misleading 'sewer'
    word. I think we just need to come up with a new spelling. Same word,
    new spelling: sewwer, sewur, sew-er, sew-erer, sewurr, seweur
    (french-ish)…

    What a fun afternoon. Fun I have no business having. Fun I have no business without.

    I was up with the baby till 4am last night, nursing him through a
    105º fever. I finally climbed into the tub and poured water over his
    back while he slept against my shoulder. It was so sweet. But, man am I
    tired!

    It's 7pm now on Friday night and it feels like my day is just getting
    going. I don't think date night is gonna happen unless Isaac wants to
    help refine pattern covers, book flights, schedule meetings, or sew.

    ** I let the baby pick a photo and title this post for me. **

  • Little Bits Giveaway

    ByHeather Bailey

    LittleBitsQuiltingBeeKathreen from Whip Up has a new book out. Little Bits Quilting Bee is all about using small bits of fabric, such as charm squares, jelly rolls, layer cakes and fat quarters to create a bunch of fun, modern quilts, from wall hangings to bed quilts. (Quilters have great terms for identifying every kind of fabric scrap.)

    All sorts of aesthetics are represented in Kathreen's designs. Some quilts are sewn from solid fabrics only. Another features reproduction prints from the 1930s. There are japanese novelty prints, woodsy prints, modern florals and geometrics (my alley). My favorites of Kathreen's designs involve circles. She has a play quilt that looks like a scrappy, colorful sun and another that reminds me of the Spirograph I received for my 6th birthday, with interlacing swooshes and circles. The photography is fresh and clean– and there's a pattern pack included! That's the best.

    In celebration of Kathreen's fabulous new quilting book, Chronicle Books is providing me with a copy to give away. Send Kathreen your well wishes in the comments below and I'll employ the RNG to help me pick a winner.

    Follow the Little Bits Quilting Bee blog tour over at Chronicle's lovely blog.