Rae’s visit to Houston for Quilt Market

Hello there! I feel so fortunate to have attended Quilt Market in Houston this past weekend. I had a spectacular time and I’d love to share it with you!

Quilters, sewers, shop owners, pattern writers and fabric manufacturers come together from around the world twice a year for this amazing trade show. I’ve been designing fabric for Dear Stella Design, a Timeless Treasures company, for a year and a half, so it was time to attend the show and finally meet many partners and friends - some face-to-face for the first time! 

Here I am at the lovely Dear Stella booth!

A dress pattern (using my “Perch" fabrics) designed by “Made by Rae” - no relation lol! 

This is one of my newest collections “Into the Reef.” The lovely quilt was designed and made by Sew Many Creations. Jessica from SMC worked in the booth with us, and it was fabulous finally meeting her in person, learning about her process, and seeing her impressive quilting wizardry!

Embellished quilt labels from my “Made with Love” collection.

I was also very excited to meet Denniele from Louanna Mary Quilt Design in person! She’s designed quilts for several of my Dear Stella collections, including this "Late Night Lanterns" quilt, using my “Night Garden” collection.  I’m so amazed by the talent of these makers, and it’s truly surreal seeing these gorgeous projects with my art on them. I’m very grateful to work with such outstanding people at Dear Stella!

It a super short trip, but luckily I got out to see a bit of downtown Houston. The historic district and Market Square Park were especially lovely. I must say, Houston does a great job with green-space downtown. Halloween weekend wouldn’t be complete without some inspiring spooky trees and old buildings! - Rae

Jennifer illustrates summer vacation for FLOW Magazine!

One of our favorite clients (and likely one of your favorite reads) is FLOW Magazine. Every assignment is so very clever and creative and their products are just THE best! Of course, we think they pick the very best artists too! Watch this charming little video to get an overview of FLOW's Vakantieboek (Vacation Book) 2016!

FLOW's Vakantieboek (Vacation Book) 2016  is out now! Jennifer's paper doll delights me and readers around the world as we slide in summer relaxation mode!

You can purchase the book here! Happy Swimming! - Jennifer

GUEST BLOGGER: Kathy Bean shares her embroidery of Lauren's work!

What a thrill to hear from embroidery artist Kathy Bean! Kathy liked a piece of art by our own Lauren Lowen so much, she rendered it with needle and thread. So cool! Here's the story in Kathy's own words: "I learned the basics of embroidery as a child but only picked it back up again recently after seeing so many beautiful things others were making on Instagram. When I began teaching myself some specialty stitches, I wanted to challenge myself further than the samplers and patterns that were already available on the Internet. Last summer I began following Lauren Lowen's Instagram feed. I don't remember exactly how I stumbled upon her work but I fell in love with the whimsy and playful colors right away. 

So when I decided to try my hand at a more intricate embroidery pattern, I thought of Lauren’s artwork. I chose the girl because of the movement in the composition and the color palette. Plus, she makes me smile! I messaged Lauren to ask if it would be okay if I used elements from her images as a template and she agreed!

In the photos you'll see my process, which I think is fairly standard. I chose selected elements from Lauren's painting and transferred them onto tracing paper. Then I cut them out and rearranged them into a somewhat smaller composition. I used the window as a light box to trace the images onto my fabric with an embroidery marker. The fabric I used is from Cotton & Steel basics.

Then I selected a color palette in DMC floss that complemented Lauren's original work as well as the fabric I chose. Since I was using this project as a way to practice certain specialty stitches, I tried to repeat the same motifs throughout the piece. Some of the specialty stitches I used are burden stitch, blanket stitch, satin stitch, leaf stitch, double chain stitch and French knots.

I quite enjoyed making this delightful little piece! I appreciate Lauren's enthusiasm about the project as well. Now I have to decide just how to finish it so I can hang it up!”

- Kathy Bean (you can follow Kathy on instagram as: emi.roos