Bari J.

A feature, a confession and a discount code.

A feature, a confession, and a discount code.

I'm super excited to tell you that I've been included in Uppercase Magazine's Surface Pattern Design Guide. Uppercase is a magazine run by two wonderful entrepreneurs who simply love design.

Ok got that out. Now the rest of this I've re-written this 10 times. I was simply going to do the standard, "hey look where I've been featured post", but I can't. I feel like I need to tell you a little more.

But I'm afraid you are going to think at best, I'm cheesy, and at worst, I'm an emotional mess. So please know that I've pulled on my big girl panties to tell you this. 

Something about being featured in THIS publication has made me more proud than just the usual feature. You see, I've been at this for a decade. I started really getting into sewing all those years ago because I loved the designs on the fabric. The ride has been so crazy and dizzy since then, I'm not quite sure how I got where I am. And some of you may think, "Come on, she's so successful. How could she feel like this?". But the truth is, it's not easy to Actually. Make. A. Living. By. Creating. I'm not complaining about how I'm paid or what I'm paid. I have several great partners who I adore and am extremely grateful to have. 

I'm just saying that to make it in surface design alone you have to reach a critical mass in the number of licenses you have and the number of surfaces that your work is on. That's just a fact. And it is NOT easy to get there. 

Does being featured in this magazine mean I've made it? No. Certainly not. But the symbol of the recognition of being in this magazine... with the company I know I'm in... it is just one more thing that is keeping me going. 

When I design, I feel like it's coming out of me from me feet up to the top of my head and out. I LOVE designing like it gives me life. There is nothing like believing in yourself and your work for getting you where you need to go. But a little recognition along the way is truly a boost.

Thank you, Janine and Erin. I'm am more than honored to be featured in your beautiful publication.

 

For a $15 discount on an Uppercase subscription, use code 'USPDG2014'.

Thanks for listening and not judging.

Have a colorful day,

Bari

 

 

Strike-offs. What are they? And what do designers do with them?

Strike-offs. What are they? And what do designers do with them?

You may have heard the term "strike-offs" before from people in the fabric industry. Have you ever wondered what they are and what the heck we do with them? My next line "strike-offs" arrived today. These are basically just samples of your designs. They are printed on a very short run just so you can take a look and make final approvals.

So, what does the process of "correcting" samples look like? I imagine every designer looks for different things, but this is what I do... First I go through all of the colors I chose and make sure they are correct. I use Pantone colors. Some designers and companies just ask designers to send a paint chip or other sort of sample for the fabric mill to match to. But Pantone is the universal color language that designers in all areas use, so I find that this is the most accurate way to get the colors I want. I also look to make sure the screens were straight and no details were lost. Strike-offs also give me a last minute chance to see if colors and scale work the way I thought they would on the screen and on paper. 

All in all, it's a tedious but exciting process. And it's always such a joy to see art that I created on an actual piece of fabric or product.

Feel free to ask any questions if I left anything out... I'd be happy to answer in the comments below. 

Now, I think I shall go cut these babies up! 

PS... These will be in the hands of sales people next month and I will update you on the name of the line and show more samples at that time! I hope you enjoyed this little preview! 

How to Create a Half Drop Repeat and an Overlapping Half Drop Repeat In Photoshop

Hi there. For the new year, I thought I'd add some fun photoshop tutorials to this space. I know there are lots of artists out there who would like to make pattern repeats but don't know where to start. Here's a tutorial on how I do it in Photoshop!

Enjoy!

 

Good heavens, I think I just gave birth to an 15 pound baby! (fabric line reveal)

Good heavens, I think I just gave birth to an 15 pound baby!

(A fabric line reveal!)

For whatever reason, this line was incredibly difficult to bring to life. It was in my head, but I couldn't get it out. I kept telling Pat, "I'm stuck. I'm stuck.". And then suddenly, I was unstuck... and out she came! It was like giving birth, no kidding. And, dang the kid had a big head.

Giggle.

Here is just a little sneak peek ... She's inspired by my latest obsession, Downton Abbey. I have my sister-in-law, Mary (my brother's wife... we have a couple Marys), to thank for getting me hooked. Thank you, Mary! 

 

Beachside Holiday... New pattern and giveaway!

I've just posted the Beachside Holiday PDF sewing pattern! It's right in time for the weather to get cooler... you'll be wanting to take a beachside holiday very soon.

To kick off this pattern, I'm giving away two PDF copies.

Comment anytime today or tomorrow before 8PM PST and you can win.

Available on my website OR  patternspot.com AND will soon be at fatquartershop.com as well! 

The winners have been picked. Comments are now closed. Please see the next post.

Welcome to my... Paris Apartment

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.

 

Fall Pattern Release Sneak Peek!

I'm so excited about this quilt I just can't keep it to myself any more. This pattern, 1 of at least 4 that will be released in October is my very first quilt pattern for sale. It's a traditional zigzag quilt with a modern twist. In what would be the neutral rows, I've incorporated striped fabrics which are reversing directions, and then (because more is more and I couldn't help myself) I added giant rick rack to add a some flair. I hope you like it as much as I do. More to come very soon!

 

sew me something good

 
Decorating is an on-going thing around here. And I'm definitely a person who changes it up on a regular basis. In fact, moving furniture is sort of a monthly ritual. 

I've sewn many curtains over the years, but I think I'm really in love with my newest from my Country Lane group which I'm thinking really lends itself nicely to home decor. First I made these for the family room...  
 

 

The above are just a width of fabric, and are hung half above and half to the side of the window. I didn't line them because they are simply to frame a group of three windows and don't really serve a functional purpose. But when I finished the next set of curtains, I wished I did, because truly, lining curtains gives them a much more luxurious look and feel.

This next pair is lined and fully reversible. They look just as pretty from the outside. I used 4 different fabrics on them... All from Country Lane (Lattice, Prairie Plaid, Meadow Monarchs and Vintage Lace). You can see the butterflies from the lining through the plaid, and when I put them on the tie backs I can turn them so the lining shows.

As a side note, I referenced Deborah Moebes new book Stitch by Stitch because I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish the hem being that it was two-sided. I received an advance copy of it, and Deborah will be stopping by my blog for a chat on September 29th so you'll soon be hearing a lot more about her and her work. Her book, which teaches you to sew step by step, is really helpful even to those of us who have been sewing for a while because it has details in it that sometimes you just don't think of if you haven't done it before.

 

When I finished with the curtains, I did something I'd been planning to do for a while... with a can of spray paint... You can see them on the back wall of our family room. I'm thinking now that the wall color needs to be yellow or blue. Not ready to decide quite yet, but the sand pebble color definitely has to go. We purchased the two sofas this Spring. The leather on the left is from Crate and Barrel and the white straight ahead is from Pottery Barn. You can see in this photo how the first set of curtains flank the bank of windows. Thinking a version of the curtains should go on the far window. But for now, I better get back to sewing for quilt market which is approaching very quickly! 

 

    

Quilt Market Sneaky Peeky

Did you notice something new here?  

I hope so, because I changed the graphics on my blog to go with my next fabric line!

 I'm super proud of this one. I mean, I am proud of the other two, of course, but this one is just taking up a special spot in my heart. I really makes me smile. For sure by October my house will be all reds and blues. 

Introducing...

And now you can go back to what you were doing. Because *sigh*. It won't be in stores until October.

But if you'll be at quilt market you'll get to see all the nifty stuff I've already made from it. I'll be in the Windham booth ... #3712 - 3717  

And I'm also doing a school house: Fabric Mixology! Room 210 A at 4:15. See you there!

Flips, Tees & Me Getting Carried Away

So, when I heard Flip was letting you Design Your Own Flip Camera, I HAD TO HAVE ONE. I wanted one for a long time, but when I heard that, well, I FLIPPED! Then I find out, I can list my design on Cafe Press, so you can buy one too, and I was totally sold. And now you can get your own Bari J. designed Flip Cam here... LOL.

But then my little brain started whirling, and I thought "Oooh, what else can I design?". So, I went and designed some of these... for all of my favorite Fabric Junkies... and now, you can get one here.

I'm so excited. I can hardly stand it. What should I do next? I'm just itching to design... Book and fabric lines be damned  But I think I'll get back to work... on my book.

Unleashed!

FIN-A-LLY!!! I can speak. I can speak. Well, a little anyways. Enough to give you a line name and a tiny preview. Here it is (well, sorta'-kinda' a little bit), Art Journal, my new line for Windham Fabrics...which will be available for quilt shops to order in October (in stores late April 2010).

 

Ok, fine. Twist my arm. Here's a little tiny bit more, the front of a post card I'm sending out.

 

Emily Calls "Dibs!"

 

This is the Garden Tea Party Quilt shown in my sidebar. Before it gets shipped off to hither and to yon (apparently there is some taking turns going on), we decided to take some pics. 

This first photo was Emily's idea. She said, "Hey, let's take one of those Pottery Barn photos and I can be in it!". Sounded like a plan to me. Sweet thing called dibbies on this quilt upon the first stitch. That's a kid after my own heart.

Could I actually really still be talking about quilt market?

I promised more pictures from market, didn't I? This here is the name-dropping issue. 

And, since my friend Cindy says there are absolutely no pictures of me on my blog, and that is an issue for her, the first one is of me... and April Cornell. Yes, I have no shame, I dragged April Cornell over to the Windham booth going, "Look what I made!". No shame at all. 

Actually, April was really gracious and so kind. She even organized a Twitter-Meet-up. Which by the way is the coolest thing ever about Twitter. April tweeted "Twitter meet-up 10am Saturday, Moda booth." and a ton of us showed up. Seriously cool. And why I loooove tweeting and reported over Twitter the whole time I was at market.

Oh, and here's who I dragged April away from ... nervy, huh? Brandon Mably. Sorry, Brandon. 

Btw, I have no idea how I got into this picture. I meant to be taking a picture of them together, when someone said, "Hey, don't you want to be in the picture?". Uh. No. But. O.K.

Speaking of Brandon, I asked Kaffe Fassett if I could take his picture, and he said yes, but unfortunately he was so engrossed in his work, he didn't look up for the shot. Awww. He also was very gracious with my bumbling and bubbling. I was a little overjoyed to meet him. Eeeks. 

Here's a great shot! This is Myrinda from Fabric Hound and Kristen from Gocks Frocks with first Project Runway winner and fabric designer, Jay McCarroll.

Now, I know I mentioned something about showing you my own little spot...

This was the original quilt I presented when I showed the line to Windham. It's on it's way to France right now! I'll let you know when I hear more about this. Very exciting fun stuff.

And, here is a bit more... 

Well, that's all folks. Until next market. BTW, it looks like maybe, possibly, likely, I think my second line will debut there. More about that and some other unbelievable stuff later! 

Quilt Market III ... and there's way more than this too!

I gave up and stopped categorizing these pictures. They're all crazy mixed up, and that's the way they're going to stay. (Man, I have an uncanny way of creating more work for myself... I'm trying to give that up, but it's vuuuuurrrry difficult for me.).

Below is my new friend, Genevieve. She's also a new designer at Windham with her beautiful Collection, Flower Bucket. Genevieve also makes the most adorable jewelry. You can see some of it here. Wood, leather, total cute.

Next is Joanna Figueroa's booth, Fig Tree Quilts. Joanna is a local gal, and also a friend. She was so much part of my inspiration to get started. Her booth, btw, won best merchandising. You can see why.

Here is a shot of Jenean Morrison's marketing piece for her newest line for Free Spirit called Picnic Parade.

And here, a piece I nearly fell over when I saw by Paula Prass. It's in her new line, Summer Soiree for Michael Miller. I roomed with Paula, her daughter Jennifer AND Sandi Henderson. Four gals. One room. Tons of fun. And Miss Sandi... had a flip cam. She's in big trouble if she ever shows her recordings though. Makeup free and in pajamas. Hmmppff.

And, last (for today) but not least, Maw Bell Designs GORGEOUS quilt pattern. To die for, huh? And there's more more more to come. I didn't even show my very own space yet, did I?

Garden Tea Party ... Free Downloadable Quilt

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

 More quilt market pics to come, but in the meantime, enjoy this free downloadable quilt pattern. Made from the Bari J. Full Bloom line, it has a collaged border instead of traditional binding. The full line is available at many online shops and quilt stores around the world, but I know for sure it's already on pre-order from Jona at Fabritopia. It's due in stores within the month. Store owners can contact Windham for details on ordering wholesale.

Download Gardenteaparty_barij_final2

Quilt Market II

There was so much to see. This (in no particular order) is just the tip of the iceberg. I was absolutely crazy about all of these designers, but Laura Gunn's debut collection from Michael Miller had me at hello. Check out the fabulous prints based on her paintings. They even have a textured look. Totally incredible. And not an easy effect to create on fabric. But it works SO well! Links are below.

LINKS: 

Patty Young

Valori Wells

Laura Gunn

"Mom! Pull yourself together!"

I am a total freak. Just ask my 11 and "almost 13" year old girls. They'll tell you. I need to get a grip. 

Of course there are many reasons why they think this. But I think I may have added icing to their cake last week. 

They were with me when I visited my UPS box as we do a couple times a week. This time a package from Windham arrived. I dragged it back out to the car where the girls were patiently waiting for me to take them to their various activities.

I knew what was in the package. A couple copies of my color cards. I opened the box and pulled them out. And to the utter dismay of my very, very hip and cool pre-teen girls, I start crying. "Oh my gosh, girls! Look! It's real! Your mom did it! I did it! Oh my goodness. I can't believe it!" and on and on just like that.

Until I started laughing... And saying the same sorts of things. The girls are now frantically looking around to make sure no one can see them in the car with their mother, the freak, now crying and laughing because she got a box with some stuff in it that totally did not relate to them. Emily is crouched down low in the back seat.

Finally Anna yells, "Mom! Pull yourself together!". 

This sort of shocked me out of it. Pull myself together? I'm not apart. Don't you two get it? I did it! 

Well, no they didn't get it. Still don't get it. 

Or maybe they sort of get it, because about five minutes later, Anna pipes up again, "When I grow up, I'm not going to have to get a job for real because I'll take over the Bari J. empire.". 

I try to hide my new round of tears (uh, and laughter). The "almost 13" year old Anna responds with a sharp crossing of the arms and rolling of the eyes. "Thank goodness we're not sitting in that parking lot where everyone can see us.", I can hear them thinking.

I did pull myself together in time to drop them off, and before they got out of the car, they quickly looked around to see if anyone could see them, hugged me and said, "Love you."

"Love you too. And, btw, work hard because you're going to have to get a job 'for real' when you grow up." 

Of course, if the "Bari J. empire" is what Anna so graciously (and a little bit frighteningly) thinks it will be, I'd be happy to have her hang around.

But don't anyone breathe a word to her about that until she finishes college. 

A must see!

Yay! Good news. My friend Jennifer has opened her new Sis Boom web store with home goods, childrens, women's and more made from her own fabrics. As expected, it is super beautiful. The site, first of all, is just so Jennifer. She has the most wonderful (I'd say classic/vintage-modern) style...

I am especially happy that she decided to sell her tunics in finished form. Methinks I'd look super-cute in this one! I think it's going to have to be a gift to myself when I loose that last 10 lbs. When am I going to do that?

And I'm also thinkin' this pillow would look really fluffy fun on the little settee in my living room.

This is one of my favorite Jennifer Paganelli fabrics. There's something so not-too-sweet-but-just-sweet-enough about Jennifer's designs.

So, if you haven't already stopped by the new site, it's definitely a must do/must see/must shop.

Show and tell!

They're letting me talk... and show... I know, I know... I already gave out a lot earlier, but now they've completely uncorked me! This is pretty much the whole enchilada! Below is a virtual quilt (ie: I put it together on the computer as I don't actually have any of the fabric yet). It will be available as a free download when the fabric hits the stores May 15. Shop owners! You can order from Windham now. 

Impatience is a Virtue.

Impatience is a Virtue.

OK, this was not part of the plan, but I'm giving up some of the goods. I've been hinting and hinting at this and "duh" I know you knew what I was hinting at but ok so, I can't keep a secret. Never have been able to... Telegraph, Telephone, Tele-Bari. I can't shut up.

Actually, if you tell me a secret, I am like a vault unless you are endangering yourself or you are my sister. I can keep the secrets of others, but not my very own. It's ugly.

So... Oui. I am on my way to my goal of having licensed designs as a lot of you know I am DYING to do. You would not believe the single track mind I have. It's good and bad and all that stuff. No one ever said I wasn't totally type A. The good news is that progress is really being made (as S.L.O.W. as that process is).

However... I wanted to see what it would look like on fabric. It was driving me nuts. What would these designs on this little screen look like on real actual fabric? Honestly, I couldn't take it.

And, how cool would it be to be able to show fabric companies my designs on F.A.B.R.I.C.??? Seriously, is that cool or what?

So, I decided to take the matter into my own hands and print some of my own darn fabric. And, VOILA! These pieces showed up in my mailbox today (more on how later). I can tell you I really did almost pee myself.

I even used my fabric scissors to open the envelope. That's the kind of desperation we're talking about here.

And now look, I'm not even showing you the whole enchilada.

Seriously, I think I might lay down on the floor and cry.

EDIT: I just want to clarify that this is not a licensed line yet. It has not been picked up although I am making in-roads on that. This is my dream. This line in whatever form it takes will be licensed at some point ... because I am not going to let it not be. The getting to that point is a really, really long road. I feel sharing the process with you along the way will show that it can be done. Whatever that "it" is for you. Thank you so much for your encouragement. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

More Blog Header Switcharoo

But this time it's not me. How fun! I did this one for Tara Frey over at Bella Cafe.

New Black and White Messenger Bag

Available here.

Ready for 2008?

I am now! Just got the new calendar from PaPaYa (Anahata & Gina Katkin ). Yippee! It's already on my inspiration board. Not that I am looking to wish this year away... I'm just thinking ahead. Makes me feel under control. Ha ha.

I have also been meaning to mention that I stopped by My Daughter's Wish again this week (or was it last week... who knows?) I'm getting as bad with the paper as I am with the fabric. I'm a print-a-holic. I got some pretty, pretty papers though... you can't blame me. It leaped into my basket and said "take me home!". I couldn't leave the poor babies behind. They needed me.

Handbags, Handbags everywhere!

Holy Moly! I just picked up a slew of handbags & am now quite overwhelmed. I'll be posting some of them on my website in the coming week. The rest, sadly, are sold. I hate saying goodbye. Here are just a few.

 

Friday Night Prints

Maybe this will be a regular feature on this blog. The prints, I mean. Hmmm. Thinking about it.

This first print came from a line drawing I did and some other stuff I threw in. I love cameos, and will soon be doing an applique for a handbag.  The second one is copyright free art that I altered. I so need to learn to do another kind of print beside this staggered thing I'm doing. At least the second one is a two-way. I have dragged out a ton of books and have been pouring over them. Something is a-brewin', I think. Who knows?

Applique Day

Paper Obsessed... more on the "who do you love?" list that goes on for infinity...

Leslie Saito of the Paper Princess has it down. Her original designs are scrum-dilly-uptious! I bought a couple of items several weeks ago, and I'm due for some more...

Here's what I have my eye on:

Birdy notecards...

More Twine... Comes in a buncha' colors...

And, though I'm taken care of in the calling card department, I think I need these personalized calling cards...

Carried Away with Prints...

Now I REALLY am having too much fun. Those teacups have been on the brain. I'm getting back to work, really.

based on the other patterns & this one I created in my sleep last night.

More Fun With Photoshop

Oooie, Gooey! I am having too much fun with my lousy 2.0 version of Photoshop. I better get my butt in the kitchen and cook up some dinner for my starving children and husband.

As always, please, please, please respect the copyright of this image. Thank you a million.

Sunday Evenings

Sunday evenings when the kids are winding down and going to bed I usually end up coming in here and playing around for an hour or so. Recently, I've been goofing around with Photoshop. I'm loving making various patterns. I have what I think is the very first version of Photoshop which really stinks, though. I know there are much more sophisticated ways of doing this, but here's my pattern attempt for tonight. Not to be huffy and puffy, but I might decide to do something with this image someday, so please don't use it without my permission. Thanks so much. Now I'm off to be tortured watching the Sopranos with my husband who needs some company.

New Fabrics...

Good grief, I forgot to post new fabrics that came in like two weeks ago. They both come in canvas backed cotton, or wipeable, coated (and canvas backed) cotton. I'll get right on adding them to your handbag choices on the website, you can expect them to be there in the next 24. Thanks for taking a peek!

New Work

Just some things that came in today. The Isabelle messenger will be available on my website later today or tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

   

Inspired Prints... Part I.

I can't resist paper... Of course, I think every gorgeous inch of it should be fabric, but that's besides the point. These are  from more fabulous Woman-Owned Businesses...

From Cecily Ink : the Fresh Style Card File. Organized and beautiful! Cecily Ink is owned by Alex Wijnen ... And again, where do you all find the energy? This is not Alex's full time gig. She also owns a successful graphic design business.