Let' Get Quilting - 10 pc bundle of Peaceful Garden by Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs

There are three ways to win this 10 pc bundle in the giveaway this week. We are asking you to go and vote for your favorite NEW collection on the Henry Glass website in the What's New section.

We have just released the Summer collections, so it's your turn to tell us what you love!

This week's contest will not be awarded until after the Memorial Day holiday, so you have an extra day to win!

Let's Get Quilting - Peaceful Garden 10 pc bundle

Designer Spotlight: Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs

Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs

  

Mary Jane Carey will totally admit to being a gypsy. Or a being an original hippie. Or both.

Either way, she has had a fascinating life story that has led her on a path to becoming a fabric designer for Henry Glass & Co., Inc.

Mary Jane started her quilting adventures in Western Massachusetts in 1970. There were no nearby quilt shops or fabric stores in the area.  Mary Jane was determined to quilt, so she bought sheets at the local department store, cut them up, and sewed them together. She learned her basic sewing skills by observing her mother create clothing, but the quilting gene goes way back. 

Her great-grandmother made quilts for the rooming house she owned in Arkansas.

On each of the beds was a handmade quilt for the travelers that stayed there.  Even though Mary Jane never met her great-grandmother, who she was named after, instinctively she knew she wanted to try and follow her great-grandmother's model and create quilts.

The quilting bug caught on. Imagine her excitement when she purchased her first pair of good scissors. Mary Jane still has this same pair of scissors, almost 50 years later.

The Christmas Shoppe was established in 1993 as a once a year retail pop-up in her home. Mary Jane's specialty was a handmade muslin Santa Claus.

She fastidiously created a body out of muslin and made his clothing. Over the years, she adding lots of other products including small quilted projects.  Mary Jane’s love affair with quilts went over the top in 1997.

Mary Jane's experiences lead her to some self-discovery, she had been a natural-born merchandiser all along. Setting up a retail shop once a year just wasn't enough for her, she yearned for more. Currently, her traveling retail store includes 2500 pounds of merchandise; that is then packed and shipped to over 10 - 15 different locations for 3 to 5-day shows all around the country.

This itinerary is just another illustration of her gypsy tendencies.

Mary Jane's early life was also quite the nomadic trail. After graduation from high school in Northern California in the long-romanticized era of Haight-Ashbury and the hippie generation, she met her husband while at her job at the Bank of America.  He had just arrived in Berkeley from Boston and needed to open an account.  From Berkeley, they moved to New Mexico. There was great food, but the desert was not for her. They moved to Boston when their baby girl was six months old.  The relocation continued all around the New England area 27 times in the next 10 years, with a short detour to Nevada for a year.

Though Mary Jane has had many changes of address over her lifetime, she does have strong ties with her family.  Some 47 years later, she still has the same husband, and she has managed to "settle" down, living in the same home for 19 years.

Mary Jane's putting down of roots has allowed her living room to warehouse some 2000 bolts of fabric.  Mary Jane inexhaustible energy and drive are evidence in her 155 traveling days for shows all around the country.

"It is part of my Norwegian upbringing," she says, "I am genetically inclined to be a hard worker."

Several years ago, Lisa Loessel, Design Director, for Henry Glass & Co., Inc. approached Mary Jane Carey at the fall Quilt Market.  Lisa was interested in Mary Jane's design style, her color pallet and merchandising sensibilities. Mary Jane after that received an invitation to design her first fabric collection for Henry Glass. She now had fabric created to compliment the quilt patterns she designed and sold through Holly Hill Quilt Designs.  That was several fabric collections ago. Mary Jane's fabric designs reflect a shabby chic hinging on a romantic style, capitalizing on her sophisticated sense of color.  Her popular collections include Journey to Versailles, Peaceful Garden, Purely Christmas, and most recently Reindeer Magic.

Quilt Market!

The Henry Glass & Co. crew went to Quilt Market recently and we had a great time seeing our designers, customers and friends from the quilting industry.  Thank you to all who stopped by our booth to see our collections.

Several designers had booths at the show. We are excited to see their latest work. Janet Nesbitt made her debut as the owner and designer of her new company, One S1STER Designs.

Dana Brooks of My Lazy Daisy and Barbara Jones, formerly of QuiltSoup have teamed up to start a new venture called Tickled Pink. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting new concept.

Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs had such a pretty booth. The soft colors and the shabby chic decor was very pretty.  She and Leanne have teamed up for another year of their club. We'll show you some of the projects very soon.

Leanne Anderson of The Whole Country Caboodle and her daughter Kaytlyn were at the show with their wonderful patterns and club. They made up samples from the Henry Glass book "A Flair For Fabric" and we are in love with their versions of the projects too.

Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures is well known for her beautiful floral-inspired quilts and table runners but lately her adorable boys have been a big part of her designing perspective. We love this monster quilt!

Come back for more Quilt Market inspiration. Remember to enter the Let's Get Quilting giveaway. Have a great weekend.

- HG

Gentle Garden

The Gentle Garden collection by Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs is making its debut in quilt shops in January. This pretty range features dusty green, soft pink and cream colors. The prints include sweet flowers and can be used in many different types of projects. Hop over to the Henry Glass website to download the free patterns, Gentle Garden and Dancing With The Stars.

There is also a group of patterns that were designed to accompany Mary Jane's Ninth & Vine range that can be used to make up some beautiful nursery items using Gentle Garden. Click here for the Henry Glass free patterns library.

-HG

Quilt Market - Houston 2014

Howdy! Next week Henry Glass & Co., Inc. will travel to Houston for International Quilt Market. Stop by Booth #608 to see the latest outstanding collections that HG offers to the quilting industry.

Henry Glass is proud to announce the publication of "A Flair For Fabric" [Publisher: Martingale, November 4, 2014]. The book proposal developed in response to Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This beautiful collection of projects ranging from quilts to pillows and other small projects features fabric from Henry Glass & Co., Inc. The designers are generously donating their royalties to the Red Cross.

On October 24, 2014 the HG designers will be hosting their own Schoolhouse Presentations to present you with their new product information. Also, all attending designers will be present at the Martingale Schoolhouse for the launch of the book. Please join the Henry Glass designers for these exciting events.

There will be exciting demos by the Henry Glass designers at Booth #608 at 10 a.m. each morning. They will be participating in various book signings to support the launch of "A Flair For Fabric." Drop by Booth #608, take a look at the new collections and pick up your free tote bag. There will be prize drawings for fabulous bundles of Henry Glass fabric. Just attend any demo to receive an entry ticket for the drawing. Tote bags available while supplies last and only one entry per person, per demo.

Make sure you attend the book signings at the Henry Glass booth as well as at the Martingale and Brewer Distributor's booths. See details below.

See you soon!

-HG

Why We Love Giveaways!

We love hosting giveaways and we love it even more when someone sends something back to us using the prizes. Although isn't a requirement to send something back to us, Katie Wyatt gifted us with some special finished projects. She had recently won a bundle of "Simply Christmas" by Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs.

[Photo: Henry Glass & Co.]

A short time after receiving her fabric, we received these beauties in return with a lovely card. She made several other projects from the fabric that we sent her and all we can say is wow. We asked her to tell us a little about herself. She is a talented sewer but also a generous soul. Thank you Katie Wyatt.

Katie’s love of sewing began in high school.  After a many year break from fabric and the sewing machine she was encouraged to return to this art by her sister.

[Photo: Katie Wyatt]

Katie has made [and continues to make] countless quilts, which are donated to help raise funds.  The money raised is used to aid in the recovery of sick westies released from puppy mills or owner surrenders.  This fund raising cause is a very passionate one.  Also Make-A-Wish Foundation has received several quilts for local children to use to keep them warm when while receiving drug treatment therapy.

Her love of sewing extends to creating doll clothing for the American Girl.  All clothing is given  away. To view Katie’s blog showcasing her American Girl clothing and quilts visit www.katiesews4fun.blogspot.com.  

 [Photo: Katie Wyatt]

Trying to keep the art of sewing alive she co-teaches classes at the local YMCA.  There Katie and the several members of the Bayside Quilters Guild teach young girls how to sew clothing using the American Girl doll as a model.   Classes for young students are designed to keep the art of quilting alive.

 [Photo: Katie Wyatt]

Katie Wyatt lives on the eastern shore of Maryland with her husband Wilson who is a writer/photographer.  They have two westies named Julep and Derby.  You and see Julep and Derby at www.westiejulep.blogspot.com

Thank you so much for sharing and for your gift! 

[Photo credits: Katie Wyatt except where noted.]

Stay tuned for a big giveaway coming up soon by following the Henry Glass & Co. blog or liking our Facebook page.

Have a great holiday weekend.

-HG

Inspiration Tuesday & Giveaway Winner Announced

[Photo credit: Maria Tavy Umhey]

As readers of this blog, you know how much we love it when you send in a photograph something that you've made with our fabric.

This week we received the photograph for "Goofin' With Geese" by Maria Tavy Umhey. She recently designed a quilt that will soon make its appearance in "The Quilter" magazine. Maria used our "Folio" collection and the scraps left over from that project were used to make this beauty.

Thanks for sharing Maria!

If you have a project that is made from Henry Glass fabric, we'd love to see it. Please send a photograph of your project here.

We also have the winner of Mary Jane Carey's fabric to announce. Congratulations and please send your contact information to Lisa.

The winner is:

Katie, Julep and Derby's Mom said...

For a modern twist on Christmas sewing I like to usse Lime Green and a Bright Red.

Have a great weekend and best luck to all those who have entered.

Katie

Congratulations!

Have a great day.
-hg

Desire To Inspire: July 2014 Edition

The summer is flying by and it is that fun time of the month. We have been so impressed by all of our Desire To Inspire challengers since we started it. If you want to be a challenger, read below for the details. Many talented quilters, both beginners and advanced, have submitted a quilt to us. If you don't hear back from us right away, don't worry. We have all submissions on a list and we will get to your name as soon as a suitable spot comes up.

This month's challenger received a bundle of Mary Jane Carey's Tour Des Fleurs. [We have a giveaway going on for her latest collection, "Simply Christmas," in case you missed it. Here's the link to the post with the details.]

Let's see what our July 2014 Desire To Inspire Challenger made with this beautiful collection. Her name is Pamela Boatright and she's from Coos Bay, Oregon.

Tell Us About Your Family

Married for 34 years to my sweetheart - Perry, and we have 5 beautiful daughters - and 4 grandchildren!

How long have you been quilting?  

My mom helped me make my first quilt (tied comforter in a stacked brick pattern) when I was in high school - but I didn't start quilting seriously until 1986.  I always say that having 4 children under 5 years of age, I needed to have something to enjoy and work on that would stay done.  I've always loved sewing, but when I started quilting it was like a whole new world opened up to me!

What's your favorite technique?  

I love making miniatures - they are so cute! Plus they don't use a lot of fabric.  Strip piecing techniques are really fun as well.  

Who taught you how to quilt?  

My mom taught me how to sew at a very young age, but my quilting skills are mostly self taught. I've learned a lot from magazines and books, plus watching televisions shows such as Simply Quilts.        

Do you belong to any guilds?  

I am one of the founding members of my local quilt guild.  It's been wonderful to share and enjoy the company of fellow quilters.  I work one day a week at my local quilt shop - Threads That Bind and I also sell my finished quilts and patterns on Etsy and am team captain of a group of quilt makers on Etsy (Quiltsy Team)  We consider ourselves something of an online guild!

Anything else that you would like to share with our readers?

Working in the quilt shop has really encouraged me in my growth as a quilter.  I have made a variety of shop samples, taught some classes and discovered the joy of creating my own patterns.  I enjoy using EQ7 to come up with designs and find that being able to put the actual fabrics I am using into those designs helps me visualize the results easily.  Quilting really satisfies the creative urge for me and I love playing with fabric almost every day.  I also enjoy blogging about my projects - pamelaquilts.blogspot.com

Thanks again for choosing me to participate, I really enjoyed creating my challenge quilt!

Thanks for participating in our July 2014 challenge, Pamela. You did a fabulous job.

-hg

More Simply Christmas & Giveaway Too!

Happy Friday! This week has been about Christmas in July. In case you missed the first part of the post, read all about Holly Hill Quilt Designer Mary Jane Carey's new collection, "Simply Christmas" here.

We thought that we would make it a fun start to the weekend by having a giveaway of Mary Jane Carey's latest collection of "Simply Christmas." You can enter here and on Facebook. Make sure that you share this with your friends so that they can enter to win too! All you have to tell us is your favorite holiday colors. Do you like traditional reds and greens or are you more fashion forward and love turquoise or fuchsia? Have a another color combination? Let us know. There is no right or wrong answer. We want to hear what you love. Comment here on the blog or on Facebook by Thursday, July 31, 2014 at midnight and we will select a winner on Friday. We will randomly select a winning entry. Good luck!

Here's a look at the entire collection. She designed a beautiful quilt pattern that is free for you to download by clicking here.

Do you want to see what else Mary Jane has sent along? We shared some of her projects here on the blog the other day.  All photos courtesy of Mary Jane Carey/Holly Hill Quilt Designs.

We will have some more photos from Mary Jane on Facebook and Pinterest.

Have a great weekend.

-hg

Simply Christmas

It is very warm outside but we have Christmas on our minds. Mary Jane Carey, designer and owner of Holly Hill Quilt Designs designed a beautiful Christmas line. It has just hit the store shelves so make sure that you look for it at your local quilt shop. She sent along some gorgeous inspiration to get you going for your Christmas in July sewing.

The Simply Christmas collections features lots of holly and snowflake prints that are colored in sweet reds and greens. The prints are perfect for any holiday project that you can imagine. Visit the Henry Glass website to see the entire collection. The free pattern for the quick and easy quilt Simple Snowballs can be found here.

Come back soon. We will show you some more wonderful holiday projects by Mary Jane.

-hg