Bari J.

Teaching. It is one of the most satisfying things that I get to do. I feel really lucky that I'm getting to do quite a bit of it this year. The past two Wednesdays I taught my Patchwork Rose handbag from Inspired to Sew. There were four students and each left with a finished or almost finished bag which was really exciting.

Each student did their own version of the original in beautiful fabrics. This one is Sheila's bag. I think the mix of fabrics made it really interesting to look at.

There were the original velvet roses... 
And then Laura Fraga who is a designer and expert at hand applique decided to do a different kind of rose on her bag. These are her roses made with bias trim and sewn on by hand. She showed us how to make them. They are apparently a traditional flower that is done on Baltimore Album Quilts often. If she gives me permission, I'll do a tutorial. I just love the pristine look of these.

Here are a couple finished bags. This is Connie's. I love her smile. She was super-excited to go show it off at school pick-up after class.

And here is Nancy. I love the Victorian feel of her bag.

Nancy also brought in a tree inspired by the one in my book but smaller that she is working on. It was so exciting to see it take shape!

Next class up is the container garden pillow at Cotton Patch in Lafayette, CA. Can't wait. See my sidebar for details. Psssst. It's the same as the pillow I made for my mom (two posts down).

I love this place so much. I've been there a couple times now. The owners of Crown and Crumpet used to own a store called la Place du Soleil, and I sold them some jewelry and collage art back in the day so I've known Amy for a long while it seems. Not only is she a really great business woman, she's really nice too.

Today my mom and I made a special trip into the city just to go there. We ordered tea for two which came with 2 pots of tea, tea sandwiches, scones, and dessert.  It was all wonderful and you just can't beat this ambiance. All the Cath Kidston fabric makes me melt.

You can see there's been a lot of shopping on Etsy too. I see a lot I recognize here.

In the front of the store, there's a little boutique that is very much like what la Place du Soleil was like. And I recognized these from Lori Marie right away!

I also recognize these although I can't remember whose they are. I bet you do though and can tell me.

If you are ever in San Francisco, put Crown and Crumpet at the TOP of your must see list. It's in Ghiradelli Square which is also a must see.

 

 

 

 

My mommy is in town for a visit. And she found the unfinished version of this pillow which I made in July for a class sample. It's a project in Inspired to Sew and this one is an UFO I'd entirely forgotten about. Mom wanted it and that was just the excuse I needed to divert my attention from what I was doing and make it into a pillow for her. Glad it's finished and has a new owner.

I did manage to finished up two of the Slice Fabrique projects and sent them off to Utah for photographs before I got distracted. Of course I took a few of my own before they left.

And in other news, my studio appears in the newest edition of Studios magazine with the one an only Ty Pennington on the cover!

And look! We're BFF's in the table of contents... Yup. That's my studio pictured right beneath his. 

Ty Pennington. Bari J. Ackerman. BFFs. 

I'll be getting a few copies in stock soon if anyone wants one. 

 

 

A ways back I posted about a project I was working on for Making Memories Slice Fabrique Digital Cutting Machine... custom applique designs that can be cut out automatically. I don't know if maybe you remember?

Well, I'm so excited about it now, I could pee! Yesterday I received a sample digital card with my very own designs on it. You guys, it is SO flipping cool. I love this thing. It is so easy. You just iron fusible web on your fabric back, set it on the Slice cutting board and press a button. So totally addicting.

I've been dying to show you. My card, like my upcoming fabric line is called, Paris Apartment, and the designs will coordinate. I'll be designing quilts and projects to go with both that will debut at Quilt Market. This is a small sneak peek a just a few of the projects. There are 18 layered designs on the card altogether.

Above is the chandelier design (yes, there's a chair too!). It can be cut to assemble to an amazing finished size of 17 1/2". This one will go on a 24" pillow. It took me less than an hour to cut all the pieces (there are 22 in all). I machine appliqued them on and did little French knots for the drippy crystals. It's made from the Lecien Flower Sugar line.

This cake stand design is 5.2" wide. I'm making this piece into a tea towel. I used my light box to trace the words "let them eat cake" on it and then I used a backstitch with Cosmo Multi-work Embroidery Floss to embroider it. The fabric is Paris Apartment and a touch of Flower Sugar.

Below is the cameo design. I'll be doing a bit of embroidery around it then leaving it in the hoop to display. I've again mixed Paris Apartment and Flower Sugar. The cameo itself is a dark grey shot cotton.

Fun, right? Well, back to work... and making dinner and cleaning up this joint. I'm teaching tomorrow (see sidebar) and my mom is coming to visit for a week! I'm so looking forward to all our misbehavin! I'm taking her to my favorite tea room, Crown and Crumpet! I'll take pictures to share, no worries. 

 

 

 

In my real life, I've never been to Paris, let alone lived there. But like many Americans, it's something I dream of.

My upcoming fabric line from Lecien, Paris Apartment, is how I imagine I'd live my life there. 

The names of the prints (all translated to French) express rooms that would be in my apartment, designs you'd see in it and the people who would be with me. There's a sewing room for Anna (le salle du couture d'Anna), my 15 year old daughter...

and a salon (le salon d'Emily) for Emily who is 13.

I imagine Super Husband and I would enjoy relaxing in our lovely sun room (le salle du soleil) and I'd fill the place with chintz prints (le chintz moderne) and vintage linen (le linge d'epoque). And of course, it would be overflowing with flowers from our little garden (le jardin).

Of course, I'd love for you to visit me in Paris. I'll save a guest room just for you.

 

PS. These are fabric "strike-offs". They are the first prints that the mill in Japan does to show the fabric company and designer what it will look like and so color etc can be approved. What you are seeing here is the first I'm seeing on fabric. Some of these colors may not end up in the finished line. 

This line begins to show to distributors and stores in March and it sounds like they will end up in US stores in June.

 

My friend Cara came up with this Charity Challenge when she was driving down the street and saw a sign at a Women's Shelter. They desperately needed paper towels. A basic to most of us, Cara was moved by this sign to do something. 

Go to Cara's blog to find out just how you can help. Not only will you feel good about helping someone in need, but you can also win a nifty prize! 

 

 

Did you sew today? After the gym, errands and a large round of procrastination via Twitter, I ended up with an ounce of afternoon sewing time. I've been wanting to make a spider web quilt even though probably everyone else is totally done with them, so I started that quest. Now, however, I'm thinking of making just this little star portion into a zippy pouch because I don't really have time to finish it and I loathe UFOs sitting around. The Ladies in Waiting (projects I have fabric and ideas for already) own a large enough portion of this studio. So this may be as far as I ever get on a spiderweb quilt. I guess I just wanted to know how to do it, then once I knew, I didn't care anymore. I'm like that sometimes.

Were you inspired to sew today? What'd you make?

In other news...

My good friend Monica asked me to pick the winner for her Inspired to Sew Giveaway...

So here goes... 

Out of 193 (wow!) entries the winner is #19! Nancy, claim your copy of Inspired to Sew!

 

 

 

In Theory...

This should work.

In practice, it's a curved piecing nightmare that refuses to lay flat.

So, for those of you more experienced than me, any ideas?

 

This was going to be another zippy pouch. But then I spent an inordinate amount of time on the embroidery.

Cause I love hand stitchery.

The purple and red are all hand done and the stitching on the seams is by machine. Maybe now it wants to be a pillow?

Or add blocks and make a big quilt? Maybe a bigger handbag. What do you think?

BTW, it occurs to me... if you are interested in these stitches, I'll be teaching them in a free online class... You can check my sidebar for details. I promise it to be lots of fun. 

For those of you who are curious, the roses on the roofline are bullion stitch mixed with some french knots and lazy daisy stitches.

On the side of the house lavender is growing. Also made with bullion stitches. And on the ballerina's dress I added a little yellow rose made from bullion stitches.

And this is the piece prior to hand embroidery.

Any ideas? What should this be?

My mom was always big on Valentines day with her kids. There are four of us. And for each of us she always put something special in our rooms on Valentines Day morning. It made me feel really important to her, and it's something I always remember. I've made a point of doing the same for my kids. I little piece of jewelry, candy and other goodies has been our tradition. This year I'm also going to hang treats on their door knobs for an extra surprise. These are so simple to make and can be used throughout the year for all sorts of gifting purposes. This free pattern includes instructions for a rolled felt rose and for the the blanket stitch. Enjoy!

Download Vintagevalentine

 

 

Feel crazy good, red shoes. Check.

Guess that means I'm radio ready!

Listen in today. I'll be on Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski... check here for times.

 

 

Possibly I need to be sent to rehab for a zippy pouch sewing addiction.

I am seriously avoiding doing what I need to do around here.