Counting Sheep

Counting sheep to go to sleep. This was one of my first designs in the Amelia Harper Collection, creating  a Z.Z.Z. pattern in the background of heart shaped faced lambs. My thought was its a way to encourage sweet dreams for the little ones in a fun style appropriate for girls or boys.

This print comes in four colorways: orange, turquoise, mint and coral. Each color also comes in 3 different scales so it works for different types and sizes of projects.  I hope you enjoy these pictures of Emily modeling the lounge pants. She told her Grandma that she liked these the best.  A special thanks to Melissa at The Linden Tree for making these out of my fabric.  She also helped me sew the blanket back with the softest fabric I've ever felt. Her shop has many colors of the Cuddle.

Here are some more pics of our project. Again, the Lambzie fabric can be purchased from Modern Yardage at this link. I hope you will try some out on your next project.

Medium scale turquoise Lambzie from the Skye color way on the front.

Super soft Cuddle fabric on the back.

Amelia Harper All Dressed Up

Such a sweet dress for a sweet little lady.  When I received my swatches from Modern Yardage for my Amelia Harper Collection, I really liked how the flowers and boxes print in Skye worked together and decided early on that would be used for Amelia's dress.  My very talented friend Carole chose the pattern and discussed what to use for lining and the buttons.

First Carole made a dress out of muslin to see how it fit Amelia. We met at The Linden Tree for a fitting and once Amelia got past the clothing change, she was very patient with having her inseams checked. Carole decided on a slightly larger size so Amelia could wear her dress longer.

Amelia's fitting with her Mom and Carole at The Linden Tree

Here are pictures of Amelia's dress up close. The dress is lined with voile. The lining is cut shorter than the outer fabric to pull the hem into a bubble shape. It is just beautiful! Carole did a fantastic job with her attention to detail. I can't thank her enough.

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Elastic gathered hem with lining

Here are a couple of yo yo headbands Liz made out of the flower print in a smaller scale. The stretchy elastic band was so comfortable for a baby to wear. Thanks to Liz for making these cute accessories that just add that final touch to the dress. 

Butterfly wing dress

How fun to see projects being made from my new Amelia Harper fabric for Modern Yardage. My friends at The Linden Tree have been so helpful sewing up beautiful dresses, yo-yo headbands, blankets and lounge pants this past week. We'll start with this dress Melissa made using my Butterfly print in Skye, medium scale on the outside and Flowers print in Skye, small scale on the inside.  This young lady's Grandma works next door to the Linden Tree at Brown & Greene Floral, a fantastic shop for flowers, gifts and plants.
You can order this fabric at Modern Yardage here.
Below are some more close up pics of the dress:

No zippers! The dress ties at the shoulders.

Rick rack edging at the bottom is just the right touch.

The dress is reversible with small flowers on the inside

The reverse side

The rick rack works for both sides

Liz made a yo yo head band to match. 

Meet Amelia Harper

4 generations: Amelia Harper, my niece Jessie, my sister Cathy & my Mom Carol.It was a peacock theme birthday party for my Mom last October and everyone dressed accordingly!  

Meet Amelia Harper, the namesake for my latest Modern Yardage Collection.  I knew last year when my niece Jessie and her husband Matt announced they were going to have a baby, that I wanted to design a line of fabric for their nursery and their baby.

Amelia Harper born in August

Jessie and Matt were looking for gender neutral imagery and color.  They saw their friends receive pink and blue items only to have their next baby be a different gender. So I kept that in mind while developing oranges, greens, taupes, turquoise and mint green palettes.  Jessie and I both share a love of Craftsman style and have gone on many Frank Lloyd Wright home tours with my sister (her Mom) so part of the collection needed to represent that as well.

So while they put the nursery together, I was developing the fabric designs.  They knew they were having a girl but didn't disclose the name they chose, so I would have to wait to know what my collection would be called.

Amelia Harper was born in August in Minneapolis. I'm the closest relative in town so I rushed over as soon as possible to meet her.  Such a wonderful sweet baby! Aren't we all biased when it comes to the babies in our family?

Jessie, Matt and Amelia at Christmas

So now my collection had a name. It would take a few more months for my collection to be born at Modern Yardage.  I have been working with very talented friends and bloggers to create wonderful items out of the fabric. We will be sharing nursery items, a specially designed quilt, clothes and much more this month.

I am so lucky to live so close to Amelia and be a part of her life. You can purchase Amelia Harper fabric online at  Modern Yardage here.

Making Room for More Art in Your Life

Homegrown Bittersweet, my Grandpa's straw hat and my framed art.

This is what I hear a lot at my art shows..... "I love your work but I just don't have room in my house!" 

Same shelf with my son's art of Garrison Keillor and my framed art. 

I'm here to offer you a solution that I use in my home studio.  It's a large shelf I bought at Ikea and measures a little over 6 feet long and is about 10 inches deep.  Since I spend so much time at the computer facing this shelf, I occasionally or seasonally like to change things up. Without having to hang the artwork or add nail holes in the wall, I just lean the frames up against the wall. 

You will enjoy rotating your art, or collections and creating your own combinations.  So make some room for more art in your life.  

Large glass vase with dried reeds, art framed in white and ceramic white pitcher.

Big SnOwls with Big Possibilities

What could you make with extra large Snow Owls? These fabric panels are available thru Modern Yardage with my SnOwls Collection. My first thought is pillows; both as regular shape and contour shape.  Melissa, owner of The Linden Tree, made up the first pillow using a super soft fabric on the back with a piped edging. Perfect to snuggle with! Thank you to Genevieve and Lindsey for posing with them.

These panels are available in 6 colors to match all the SnOwl prints.  I'm going to use the violet one to make a contour pillow over Christmas break to match the lounge pants I made.

What else can you make with these designs?  A pillow case, a center for a blanket or quilt, a tote, stretch it over canvas for art?  I think it's fun to offer these large panels to my Modern Yardage collections. Check them out and order yours here.

SnOwls Collection

Gray SnOwls Flight, Pine Cones, Flakes

Introducing my latest Modern Yardage Collection SnOwls!  These snow owls in Flight are the highlight of the collection with two additional prints called Flakes and Pine Cones.  They come in 6 different color ways: aqua, periwinkle, cocoa, gray, magenta and violet.  In addition, each print comes in 3 sizes: small, medium and large!

Cocoa Snowls Flight, Pine Cones, Flakes

Aqua SnOwls Flight, Pine Cones, Flakes

Magenta SnOwls Flight, Pine Cones, Flakes

Periwinkle SnOwls Flight, Pine Cones, Flakes

Violet SnOwls Flight, Pine Cones, Flakes

When you order this collection from Modern Yardage here, you will get a special gift with SnOwls icons in the white space to use for all your projects.  I think they make great appliques on tops.  I can't wait to show you how great these look as lounge pants.

Coming next, I'll feature the SnOwl icon panels available in each color.