Bari J.

 
 
I've met some really wonderful people through Twitter, and when I asked for help testing patterns both on my blog and over in Twitterville, the response was incredible! 

Thank you all for your hard work, your fabulous notes and wonderful photos!

Here are a few of the creations made from my Full Bloom line of fabric...

This Green Living Market Bag was made by Rebecca Makas:

 

 

And another Market Bag from Lori Porten (I ended up using this as the pattern cover):

 

And this State Street Tote was made by a local friend, Anita Monery:

 
Wonderful, huh? 

I told you this would happen. Since I bought my ruffler, I have had a small addiction. I have to put ruffles on everything. And though I usually send most of my shop sewing out to a seamstress, I decided to do these pillows myself. Because I like the sound the ruffler makes, and I like how fast it goes. I like that what used to take 1/2 an hour now takes 5 minutes. I am powerful. I can make ruffles without getting ruffled! 

So get 'em while they last. There's not a lot of them in the shop, but right now there are a few 14" pillows with super-yummy oversized ruffles. 

 

 My experience shopping on the internet for products has been that I often am not quite sure if I'm going to like the product I'm looking at. I put the item in my cart, then I second guess and leave the website.

So, when I heard about The Open Sky Project, I was intrigued. OpenSky is a community of Shopkeepers who sell products they use and love. So when you buy something you know you are getting a product that is tried and true. You'll find bloggers that you know there, including my friends, Amy Powers of Inspire Company, Cameron Blazer of Cottage Industrialist, and Nancy Geany of Dark Horse Farm Designs... And now I've decided to open Shop there as well. 

You may wonder why I would do this when I have a shop of my own right here, so let me explain. On OpenSky, my Shop features products that I use in my studio and in my day to day life that I don't have room to stock right here. OpenSky takes care of all of the sourcing and shipping. I simply pick out the items I love. I make a small percentage of the sale by doing so.

Right now, I've started my shop with just several products. I'm being mighty picky about what goes there as you can imagine. If I am going to endorse it, I gotta' love it.

One of these items is Swedish Trace Paper. I found this product years ago when I first started designing handbags. I use it for making my sewing patterns. The reason I love it is that it is easy to see through, trace a design onto and best of all... you can sew on it. So you can mock designs up right on the pattern paper without wasting fabric.

 

There's more to come soon. I hope you'll stop by and visit! 

 

... it is there for you. The problem is you have to ask. And, for me at least, that is not the easiest of tasks.

I'm an "I'll do it myself" kind of person... Usually afraid to ask for help for fear of looking weak. For fear of having to say that I "need" help. 

I did not ask for very much help over the past six years in the creation of this business. I've held it together, struggling, for the large part, to do it all myself. Unfortunately, I'm not good at all of it. Nor is all of it something I'd want to do. I, for instance, hate selling. I also vehemently hate anything to do with numbers. 

That said, when I started on the journey of creating sewing patterns, I knew deep down that whether I liked it or not, I did not know exactly what I needed to do to get it done. And I desperately needed it to be done right. So begrudgingly, and probably only because I absolutely had to, I gave in and asked for some much needed help. And no one, much to my surprise, judged me for asking. They were happy that I finally did. 

Oddly, what I thought was going to be the feeling that I had somehow failed myself and failed others by simply asking for help, did not happen. What did come was relief. And the joy of knowing that there are people who will stand by me no matter what. And that even people I don't even know well are willing to share their expertise to help me along. 

That was what I was thinking about this afternoon when my package of sewing pattern proofs arrived from the printer. I was thinking about just how silly that all is. And that from here on... when I need help, I'll ask.

 

 

 
 
 

A month ago, I said I was determined to get my sewing patterns to market. And I set a goal to have them ready for pre-sale by February 9. It's February 11... about time, huh?  

I'm proud to introduce my four debut sewing patterns, Izzy Pin Cushion and Toy, Kitchen Art Accessories, The State Street Tote, and the Green Living Market Bag. Each one has a little something extra in the directions. The Izzy Pincushion has directions for the blanket stitch for applique and a nifty rolled rose in felt, the Kitchen Art Accessories have directions for fabric collage using free-motion quilting plus embroidery stitch directions for the leaf of the pear pot holder, the State Street Tote features either a magnetic closure or my signature spring closure (which will be available wholesale), and the Green Living Market bag features instructions for French seams and a really neat way to do a double sided cuff.

All of the patterns are now available for wholesale only pre-order. Approximate shipping is March 15, 2010. If you are a store owner and would like to carry my patterns please contact me and I'll send you an account number and password for my wholesale shopping page on my website. I'll need your state resale number to set up your account. They will also be available through several distributors. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

Back when I was a theatre student, I would have sort of considered this like winning one of those pretty statues. My work right here in Romantic Homes Magazine! I mean, come on! Whaaat??!! ((Insert acceptance speech here!))

All kidding aside. I'm just really thrilled. I love the cover of this issue. And it makes me way happy to be in The Color Issue. You may have noticed... I like color. 

Romantic Home's Editorial director, Jacqueline deMontravel, both edited and photographed this article. A great big thank you to you, Jacqueline! I'm silly giddy about it! 

 

(This is the March issue, but it's already on newstands.There are full instructions and a diagram to make my Garden Tea Party quilt with collage edges in a table runner size. Hurry and go get it... my mom and sisters may buy them all up and there will be none left for anyone!)
  
 

I finally made it back to my sewing drop in at The Quilter's Inn. Forgive the iPhone photos. I forgot the memory card for my camera in the printer. **Sigh**

Here are just a few of the projects the ladies were working on or sharing the finished results of today:

Several of the ladies were working on this pattern in different colors...

 

 

 

Here's a finished beauty that was being shown off...

 

And another... how much do I love that she mixed my fabric with Kaffe!!!???
 

And this is probably one of the most amazing pieces I've ever seen. It took her YEARS to collect all those striped fabrics!
 

And look what she did with the scraps! Amazing, huh?
 

And lastly, an adorable snowball design for a child's quilt.
 

Yes. My friends are amazing.

I on the other hand did nothing but cut squares all day. I never made it to the sewing part. Figures.