Desire to Inspire - the October contest is now requesting a Challenger!

Where the crossroads meet at rustic natural surroundings and the luxury of living the good life, you have arrived at Moose Lodge.  The Moose Lodge fabric collection is born from the imagination of Jan Shade Beach, one of the most prolific designers of Henry Glass. 

Here is a peek of the whole collection.  In this month's challenge, you will receive the fabrics shown above, and a whole month to create whatever you want!!! Plus you get to keep them when you're done!  

Inspired by the Moose Lodge collection? We want you to put your name in the hat for this month's challenge? Comment on this blog post. You MUST put your email in the comment, so we can contact you. These comments will not be published. 

This is how it goes: 

1. YOU sign up below with your email or blog name to this post.

2. WE pick a winner. 

3. YOU send us your address.

4. WE send you the "Moose Lodge" fabrics shown above.

5. YOU make something AWESOME during the month of October, with pictures and your story.

6. WE post it. 

7. YOU keep it. 

* We would like to have challengers show us they can do it. So while you don't need a blog, a profile with some quilt pictures (and a real name) helps. Enter by commenting with something you have done before. We will not post your emails, or links on the site, it will remain private. We just want to get a flavor of how inspiration strikes you!  

Design to Inspire - September Challenger Laura Piland

Meet our September Challenger: Laura Piland!

My husband and I grew up in the same town in Kansas and met in high school just before he left for basic training in the United States Air Force. He served four years, and was stationed in Kansas for the same amount of time. Then we moved to Las Vegas, Nevada for his job. I taught middle school math for most of the time we lived there. I loved it! Math has always been my favorite subject!
Also while living in Las Vegas, I got an inkling to make a quilt for a friend after she had a baby. I had sewn a little bit as a kid, but never made a quilt. I used internet tutorials and YouTube videos to teach myself everything I needed to know! I also called my mom and grandma for quite a bit of advice! That first quilt was made six years ago. As soon as it was finished, I started another. And another. And…I was hooked!

About four years ago, we decided we wanted to move somewhere with lots of trees. We also wanted to move to a small town and start a family. Those desires led us to Mountain Grove, a small town in southwest Missouri. Since moving here, we have had two boys. The oldest is now 3 ½ and the youngest is 1 ½. I am currently staying at home with them. This new challenge of dealing with toddlers has led to much more quilting! I like to say quilting is to me what fishing is to my husband! It keeps me sane!

Sweet Hexie Pillow with Sew Bee It! Collection

Mountain Grove is about an hour away from the “big city” of Springfield, Missouri. The area is referred to as the Ozarks. There are lots of trees and hills, called the Ozark Mountains. We live on a small farm about ten minutes into the country. The dirt road that leads to our house has trees covering several parts of the road. The days just started to get cooler this week, and I am really looking forward to the leaves changing colors! On the way to our house, there are five low water bridges. I had never heard of those before moving here!

Basically, they are concrete patches in the road where the creek flows right over the road. So we drive through the creek five times on the way to our house! During a heavy rainstorm, the water level in the creek becomes too high to pass through. The rest of time, my boys like when we drive fast through the water to make big splashes! Oh, the life with boys!

Pillows and Quilt with Sew Bee It!

Mini Quilted Books

In the six years since I started quilting, I’ve made 79 quilts! 38 of those this year! I’ve made mini quilts, mini mini quilts, table toppers, table runners, baby quilts, and large quilts too. I sometimes make things other than quilts, but I always go back to quilting. In 2014, I wanted to make 14 quilts in 2014, but I didn’t hit that goal. So I changed it to 15 quilts in 2015 – and ended up making 27! I think I’m well on my way to my 16 quilts in 2016 goal too! Ha!

 (You can see all my quilt finishes on my blog!)

Sew Bee It! Quilt Close-up

I don’t really have a set style or type of quilt that I love. However, I really love trying new things! I rarely make the same quilt twice. I always seek out new techniques and short cuts. I don’t want to waste the precious sewing time I get! I tend to like more modern quilting designs, but I don’t limit myself! I’m always willing to learn something new!



I sew almost exclusively on my vintage Bernina 930 Record. I bought it just after starting my first quilt. I quickly realized the “just in case” hand-me-down machine I had was causing more frustration than it was worth! I use my Bernina to piece and quilt. I have a walking foot for straight-line quilting and a darning foot for free motion quilting. I’m not sure I could trade it for any other machine! I love it!

 Finished Quilt with Sew Bee It! Collection

This year, I discovered that writing quilt patterns feeds my love of math and teaching! I have written a few patterns and will be releasing some more very soon! It is a goal of mine to teach quilting classes at quilt shops or quilt guilds one day!

Sew Bee It! Apron 

The online quilting community has really helped me find my “tribe!” I love connecting with quilters all over the world! I’d love to “meet” you and get to know you too! You can find me around the web on Facebook, Instagram, Ello, Pinterest, and of course, my blog. I like to share the stories behind the quilts I make along with behind the seams photos. In fact, I have a blog post up about my Desire to Inspire Challenge with lots of behind the seams photos!

Sew Bee It! Weaving Pillow

Facebook: Slice of Pi Quilts - http://www.facebook.com/sliceofpiquilts/
Instagram: @sliceofpilife - http://www.instagram.com/sliceofpilife/
Ello: @sliceofpilife - http://ello.co/sliceofpilife
Pinterest: Slice of Pi Quilts - http://www.pinterest.com/sliceofpiquilts/
Blog: http://sliceofpiquilts.blogspot.com/

I have truly enjoyed the Desire to Inspire challenge this month! I still have a fabric panel and some other fabrics left over, so be sure to keep an eye out for more projects from this fabric line! Thank you Henry Glass & Co. for the opportunity to work with these beautiful fabrics!

Let's Get Quilting 2016 - Quilt Camp by Barbara Jone of QuiltSoup

In case you missed this, here is a great interview with Barbara Jones who designed this cute Quilt Camp collection. We are giving away a 6 pc. bundle this week, which is a mix of some of these styles.

Let's Get Quilting - 2016 Quilt Camp by Barbara Jones of QuiltSoup

Let's Get Quilting 2016 - McAnderson's Farm - 13 pc bundle giveaway

Leanne Anderson of The Whole Country Caboodle has designed this cute farm line, and all the barnyard is here!   This collection, called McAnderson's Farm is for all animal lovers, but especially those of us that hold dear memories of farm experiences in our younger years.

Let's Get Quilting - 2016 McAnderson's Farm 13 pc bundle

Here's your favorite fabrics that are SHIPPING RIGHT NOW into your favorite quilt store...

We have two big events in the marketing of fabrics here at Henry Glass. The first big event is when new collections are released to the shops. That is so fun, and our next major event is coming up in just three weeks - which is the Fall 2016 release. 

The second major event is when fabric ships into your local quilt shop, and you can FINALLY go get the cute things you've seen us post about, use for giveaways or see the designers reference.  Now, granted, we ship new collections out every single month. But some months are just bigger and better than others. 

So to give you the low-down, here are just a few of the Henry Glass collections that are currently showing up in your local quilt shop:                                     

"Modern Tyke" is a fun and on-trend juvenile line from the collaborating team of Kim Diehl and her daughter Molly!   There are two spins on the collection, one being more of a 'baby' palette with softer tones, and the other a 'tot' spin on the same designs with a palette for active youngsters.   This modern collection has baby geos, birds, arrows, and words for the modern mom. Do not miss this offering from the talents of the Diehl mother and daughter team. 

"I Love You This Much" is a whimsical dinosaur novelty line from another mother-daughter team, Leanne Anderson and her daughter Kaytlyn of The Whole Country Caboodle. We interviewed Leanne on this blog in February and at that time we had just launched this collection and she and Katylyn were very excited about the warm reception from quilt shop owners.  "Dinosaurs are a timeless icon, they just don't go away," said Leanne. "Whimsical or real, it was our twist on the designs that they would portray a positive message of love even through the eyes of a funny dinosaur."

“Savannah Garden” is the latest collection in the “Reflections of the South” series designed by Mary Ellen Von Holt of Little Quilts.  Savannah Garden is a tribute to the lavish gardens that graced the southern landscape. This fabric collection depicts beautiful floral designs and paisley prints reminiscent of fabrics from an earlier era. The line is created in a palette of vanilla, spa blue, Prussian blue, with accents of honey and soft red. There’s a wonderful toile fabric illustrating song birds, camellia flowers and the Cherokee rose. The Cherokee rose is the state flower of Georgia. Savannah Garden is the seventh in the series which included: Roswell Mill, Tanyard Creek, Whittier Crossing, Hampton Farm,  Pheasant Run,  and Touch of Baltimore.

That's just a sneak peak of what is in stores now waiting for you the next time you stop in. These collections are also arriving now, so go check them out!

Quilt Camp by Barbara Jones at QuiltSoup

See Bee It by Shelly Comiskey

Journey to Versailles by Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs

Let's Get Quilting 2016 with Score! a 9 pc bundle giveaway contest!

Get a fresh new look to your projects with this soccer themed sports fabric designed by First Blush Studio. Enter to win a 9 pc SCORE! bundle.

Let's Get Quilting - 2016 Score! by First Blush Studio

Martha Walker of Wagons West Designs shows off projects to make with "A Prairie Journal" Collection

Martha Walker has put the heat on! Literally! Without air conditioning in her house during this summer, she has been quilting up some beautiful pieces using fabric from her latest collection, "A Prairie Journal" which is arriving into quilt shops any day now!

Martha uses a 'strippy vine' applique technique that she generously shares the tips to make on her blog; WagonsWestDesigns.com or find the instructions HERE on the Henry Glass website.

See the whole A Prairie Journal collection, and grab a couple of these amazing free projects HERE.

Henry Glass Designer Spotlight: Barbara Jones of QuiltSoup

They say there is always more than one route to a destination. Barbara Jones, a designer for Henry Glass, and owner of QuiltSoup Pattern Company is a perfect example of one who has taken one of the more interesting routes to becoming a fabric designer and pattern maker. First, she became a molecular biologist and worked in human genetics at the University of Utah.  That certainly isn’t an ordinary route, but one that seems perfect for Barbara.

So what was the beginning of this journey?   Barbara, of course, had endured her adventures in sewing, like many of us have, at the hands of zealous home economics teachers who insisted our seams be beautiful and the clothing we make in class actually fit. (Who among you ever actually WORE your first home economics project?). She knew she wanted nothing to do with that kind of sewing.

She started quilting very young… 18, as a matter of fact, in preparing for her first baby she ventured into quilting at an invitation from her mother-in-law. After that first glimmer of interest she set the hobby down until her first grandchild came along when she picked up quilting again, and hasn’t stopped for the last 30 years.

Her interest peaked when she saw a beautiful quilt in a store window that caught her eye. Here was a beautiful object that was flat, and didn’t have to ‘fit’ anybody. This was her kind of sewing. She inquired about the quilt, and was encouraged to take a class, as this particular quilt was an ‘advanced’ quilt with a lone star and log cabin blocks. So she started with the class, and a couple of others.

After making a few patterns, it occurred to Barbara that she never made the quilt the same as in the picture or even followed the pattern very closely. Every piece she created was truly something that she created from inspiration from the pattern, not the pattern itself. When she discovered applique, her own techniques blossomed, and soon after Barbara was designing quilt patterns herself.

Designing quilt patterns was really just a hobby, until friends started saying they wanted her patterns, and then the hobby became a full-time job at age 51. She quit her job sequencing the human genome, and focused her efforts on designing creative quilt patterns. Seven months later she went to her first quilt market and began to sell patterns.

It seems a logical question to ask, how does one get from a molecular biology lab working on the human genome project to designing quilts? How do those two pursuits fit in the same brain? “Very easily,” says Barbara. The two tasks are very similar in approach. They both require left brain and right brain thinking. They both require tremendous precision. They both require visualizing the results of an experiment. They both require inventing the manner that will show the result of what you are investigating.  

And so when did designing fabric enter into the picture? At her second quilt market Barbara was approached by four different fabric companies to design fabrics. The first experience designing fabrics wasn’t what she thought it might be, so she gave up.  Then, after some persistence by one of the Henry Glass lead stylists, Barbara joined the design team of Henry Glass. That was 8 years and 25 collections ago.

Barbara begins her design process with a concept, and she starts drawing or painting with every collection she starts. For instance with QuiltCamp it was the elements of the cute ‘glampers’ or retro 1950’s glamorous campers that are everywhere now. She thought the only way she would go camping would be with her quilt friends, and she knew that quilters can also be terrific cooks, so she added the cook-out elements to the line.    

The Clean Living line was inspired by a recent move Barbara made to St. George and a total re-do of her home in the mid-century modern style. She had a few of her mother’s living room pieces from the era when avocado green, harvest gold and orange ruled the country’s palette. She even has a bright orange chair in her new living room to pull it all together! Once she began thinking about that time period there were lots of elements that just aren’t around any longer, like the starburst clocks, records and old TV’s. She has found that this time period resonated with a lot of people depending on how familiar they are with those years.

Barbara professes a LOVE for color, and creating the color palette for a collection in one of her favorite parts of fabric design. “It is part of the precision of the process, to be calculating and still visionary. You know it when you see it.”

And in finishing up our interview with Barbara, she offered up her life’s philosophy, “With some sacrifices and hard work you can do just about anything you want. Change your mind and you can change your life. And, have a grateful mindset. Be grateful every day.“

Henry Glass is grateful too, to have an awesome designer like Barbara Jones on our team. 

Laura Piland has accepted the Challenge for Henry Glass Desire to Inspire Challenger for September

Meet Laura Piland who has accepted the Henry Glass Desire to Inspire Challenge for September. She is the mother of two toddler boys and designs quilt patterns which you can see on her blog at www.sliceofpiquilts.blogspot.com. She currently lives in southwest Missouri, and has just finished her 36th quilt of the year. 

Check back to this blog on September 30 to see what Laura will do with the Sew Bee It collection! 

Laura Piland

     

Let's Get Quilting 2016 - Christmas Elegance Bundle Giveaway

For this week's giveaway we have a Christmas Elegance bundle. The designer is Jane Shasky of Jane's Garden. She has also designed Pretty as a Pansy which will be shipping out in January.

Let's Get Quilting - 2016 Christmas Elegance by Jane Shasky of Jane's Garden