SEWING MARATHON COMPLETE

As I promised in yesterday's post, I'm sharing the clutch I've been working on.  I just finished all the hand sewing (lots of buttons and a rosette) and I think it turned out pretty cute.  I used my Grey Haute Blooms fabric with my Golden Haute Ditzy fabric as the rosette.  I originally planned on putting a wristlet strap on it, but it's a good size clutch so I opted to leave it off.  I don't think I'd carry it by a wristlet.  I think I might carry this to the cocktail party that Robert Kaufman is hosting on Saturday night in Houston at the Quilt Market.

Sewing Marathon

So I've been frantically working to get ready for Quilt Market next week.  It will be my first Quilt Market and I'm so excited because I get to meet everyone at Robert Kaufman that I've been corresponding with via phone and email.  They're supposed to have some sort of sneak peak of my collection for buyers which will be fun to see - I have no idea what the 'sneak peak' consists of.  Since the bulk fabric is not ready, I'm guessing it will be on paper.  
I also can't wait to see what all of the amazing artists that I follow have going on and to see all of the beautiful booths.  (I dream of having a booth of my own someday)  I probably won't sleep much because I'll be so inspired and full of creative energy.  Plus I'll be with my crazy fun mom and my cousin, Michelle who are also extremely creative and very talented.  I've been working on getting a bunch of promotional materials together for Market, so I've been crazy busy.  I just got my business cards in the mail last week and they look great.  I highly recommend overnightprints.com if you want great quality with reasonable prices.

I also finally broke down and got an iPad so I could put my portfolio of designs and photography on it.  And I can't just have plain iPad, so I ordered a skin for it in my Pink Haute Blooms print from Zazzle.com.  I haven't received it yet, so I'll share it when I do, but I did get an iPhone case from Zazzle in my Turquoise Haute Blooms print which just arrived this week and I love it!

The biggest thing I've been working on for Market is sewing up a few bags to carry at the show.  I mean, of course I have to promote my Modern Bliss collection and carry some totes in my own fabric right?  The crazy thing is that my ACTUAL fabric is not ready yet and the ACTUAL color palettes will be different so I'm really just promoting the artwork and my tote designs (which will eventually be sold as Andie Hanna sewing patterns).  I ordered a bunch of my fabric from Spoonflower with the spoon dollars I won in the Fabric8 contest and designed a few totes and a clutch for my mom and I to carry at Market.  I put my mom to work and the 2 of us have had a couple of all-day sewing marathons.  Since I designed the totes myself and drafted the patterns, we had to sew them up in muslin first to make sure the proportions were right.  We finally got the 2 totes done and will be working on the clutch this weekend.
The first one is a large tote in my Lively Line Up fabric with contrast trims in my Haute Ditzy and Medallion Melody prints.  I quilted the main portion of the bag with a turquoise topstitch which was a bit tedious but I really like how it turned out.  (my first time quilting anything)

The next tote is a more feminine tote with shirring in my tonal Grey Haute Blooms print.  It has an adjustable shoulder strap so you can wear it over your shoulder when it's short or cross-body when extended.  My favorite part is the rosette detail in my Golden Haute Ditzy print with vintage mother of pearl buttons.  I absolutely love how the rosettes turned out and now I want to make them and put them on everything!!

FUN NEW PROJECTS

So it's been awhile since my first post and I've been super busy.  I've got a few freelance projects going and I've been working on some more print collections for Andie Hanna Designs.  I've also been working on some design concepts for my first collection "Modern Bliss" launching in the Spring.  I'm working on some concepts for other licensing opportunities as well as some sewing pattern designs.  It's fun to see how my collection looks in so many different products and styles.  Here are several of my initial concepts that I've ben working on.  I'll share more as I create them.  I've actually ordered some of my fabric from Spoonflower and plan to sew up a couple of the tote and clutch designs.