Sew Red Blog Tour - Kaari Meng & French General

Kaari Meng is the creative force behind French General and the designer of the fabulous Chateau Necklace from Sew Red.  Thanks for contributing to the Blog Tour, Kaari!

Read Kaari's post here.

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Anna Maria Horner

Anna Maria Horner is our contributor to the Blog Tour today!  We loved her Target Practice Belt, a stunning combination of patchwork and embroidery.  You can read more here!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Vanessa Christenson

Please welcome Vanessa Christenson of V and Co. to the Blog Tour!

Vanessa created the adorable You Are So Loved baby quilt for the Sew Red book.  Take a look at Vanessa's blog for more details!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Tula Pink

We are lucky to have Tula Pink on the Blog Tour today!

Tula Pink is the creator of the beautiful Paper Hearts Quilt; this ingenious design looks like chains of cut-out paper hearts - adorable!  Tula's blog is here.  Head on over and see this awesome quilt!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Nancy Zieman

Thanks to Nancy Zieman, host of public television's "Sewing With Nancy", for her great blog post!  We can wait to make the Spiral Scarf!

Check out her post here!

Happy Saturday!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Saremy Duffy

We're thrilled to have Saremy Duffy, creator and mastermind behind the adorable accessory line Chicken Boots, on the Blog Tour today!  Thanks for your fantastic and useful Jewelry Case, Saremy!

Check out her post!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Brett Bara

Brett Bara, the founder of Brooklyn Craft Camp (www.brooklyncraftcamp.com - coming up March 16th!) created a gorgeous Origami Felt Pillow for Sew Red.  Check out her blog post! http://www.brettbara.com/sewing/announing-the-sew-red-book-giveaway/

Thanks, Brett!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Sweetwater

We love Sweetwater fabrics and designs - their Mama Said Sew line is a favorite, and looked great in their design for the Sew Red Book!  Check out their awesome blog post today!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Amy Butler

Amy Butler is one of our favorite stars - she designs patterns, fabrics, yarn, and more!  This gal does it all.  Below, she gives us a sneak peek of her design for Sew Red, the Drawstring Dress, made up in her new Alchemy fabric, and answers a few questions for the Sew Red Blog Tour.  Thanks, Amy!

~Heather

1.  Why did you choose to participate in Sew Red?

I decided to participate in the Sew Red project because it's such an important cause to bring awareness to. I don't think there are many people who in some way have not been affected by heart disease. I've certainly been affected by it in my family. The good news to share is that we have the power to prevent the disease from growing by educating each other on the preventative things we can do to maximize our heart health and live a full and fabulous life! I think it's so neat that all of us in Sew Red our sharing our heart felt passion for sewing and creating and using our gifts for more good. What a wonderful way to give back and be a part of something that's all about love, health and healing. 

2.     What design did you contribute and was there any inspiration for it? Tell us about your creation!

I contributed a brand new dress design that I'd been working on for a couple of years. I made my initial prototype for the launch of my first voile fabric collection and ended up using the pattern for not only my voile launch but also for my follow up Lark quilting cotton release. I love using my various weights of fabrics for many different kinds of sewing projects to show the versatility and inspire sewists to play and create their own uses and interpretations of my projects with my various materials. When Laura and Casey approached me about Sew Red I was in the process of completing the dress pattern. How cool that it found it's perfect home in this book! I have several photos of my dress XXX here made up in my brand new Alchemy Studio Rayon fabric. The two work so beautifully together! 

3.     What did you enjoy the most about participating in Sew Red?

I loved connecting with everyone on the Sew Red team!  Casey and Laura are amazing to work with. the process was effortless and fun! I am a big believer that when you connect with something that gives back you are bringing your best self (and everyone else is too) to the table. There's only room for love and joy. It was a real honor to be invited to take part and selfishly... it feels pretty darn good to have a chance to do good. Thank you everyone on Team Sew Red! You Sew Rock!!

Sew Red Blog Tour - Mark Cesarik and Me and My Sister Designs

We are lucky to have two very special posters on the blog tour today - Mark Cesarik (http://homeecny.blogspot.com) and Me and My Sister Designs (http://www.meandmysisterdesigns.com/blog/)!  Go on over and check out both - they each did a fantastic post!

Happy Presidents Day!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Patty Young

Come meet Patty Young, creative genius behind ModKid Designs!  She created the beautiful Sonoma Purse for the Sew Red book!  http://modkidboutique.blogspot.com/2013/02/introducing-sew-red-win-your-own-copy.html

Enjoy!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Valori Wells

Head on over and check out the awesome post Valori Wells did for the Blog Tour! http://valoriwells.typepad.com/valori_wells/2013/02/sew-red-and-valentines.html

Her quilt, the Pathfinder, is gorgeous and will be an instant favorite!  Thanks, Valori!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Ty Pennington!

You probably know Ty from his successful shows, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and before that, Trading Spaces - some of our favorites, for sure!  A home improvement whiz, Ty was inspired to get into fabric design by traveling around the country and getting to know even the smallest corners of our great nation, along with the people who live there.  His fabric collection, Impressions, was a direct result of these travels and the amazing people he got to meet along the way.  In his guest post below, Ty tells us what led him to get involved with the Stitch Red campaign.  Thanks, Ty!

Also, check out the beautiful Westminster Backpack Ty designed for the new Sew Red book!

~ Heather

My colleagues at Westminster Fibers are big supporters of projects like this, anything for a good cause, and I feel the same way. So being a part of the Sew Red Blog Tour was a no brainer.

Every October when I go to the Quilter's Show in Houston, creative people come by my booth and show me the cool things they make with my fabric. I’m always impressed with their creations, so this was my chance to come up with something unique for a great cause.

On EMHE (Extreme Makeover Home Edition) we built a house for the Grinnan family in Redlands, CA.  Their daughter Hannah had undergone a heart transplant.  It was an amazing experience to meet Hannah, and learn more about her condition and her inspiring spirit. 

- Ty

Sew Red Blog Tour - Marcia Harmening

Day 2 of the blog tour features Marcia Harmening of Happy Stash Quilts!  She contributed the beautiful Queen of Hearts Quilt to the Sew Red book.  Check out her blog: http://www.happystashquilts.com/blogs/news/7331958-sew-red-available-today

Enjoy!

~Heather

Sew Red Blog Tour - Kay Whitt

Thanks, everybody, for joining us on the Sew Red Blog Tour!

First up is Kay Whitt, the amazing designer behind Sew Serendipity and the Sweet Sixteen Skirt featured in the Sew Red book!  Head on over to her blog to learn more: http://blog.sewserendipity.com/2013/02/sew-red.html

Happy Monday and Happy Sewing!

~Heather

Come Along for the Sew Red Blog Tour!

So many exciting things are happening with the Stitch Red Campaign!  Along with being mentioned in yesterday's New York Times Article about Jimmy Beans Wool (http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/how-social-media-put-a-tiny-yarn-shop-on-the-map/), we're expecting our first copies of our new book, Sew Red, later this week!

The book is going to be absolutely beautiful, and we can't wait to start shipping out copies!  It's still available for pre-order, if you haven't reserved yours yet.

We already told you a bit about what's going to be in the book (http://gostitchred.blogspot.com/2013/02/national-wear-red-day-and-sew-red.html), but here's a sneak peek of a couple of the amazing designs!

Here's the Fleur Rouge Quilt by Anna Griffin - isn't it gorgeous?

And check out the Sonoma Purse by Patty Young - fun and functional!

As a way to introduce you to some of these great designers, we've set up something extra-special: a Sew Red Blog Tour!  

Starting on Monday, February 11th, we'll be featuring a different designer each day, with a special post from each of their personal blogs written especially for Stitch Red!  Join us on the tour to get to know these fantastic designers and get more sneak peeks of the Sew Red book!

~Heather

National Wear Red Day and Sew Red!

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all wearing red today for National Wear Red Day and the kick off of American Heart Month! We certainly are! The crew at Jimmy Beans Wool wore red today and snapped this photo after our morning meeting. 

Also, I wanted to tell you all about a fun contest we are hosting for the kick off of our new book Sew Red! Sew Red is the follow up book to last year’s Knit Red and features sewing and quilting patterns from over 25 celebrity designers! Each copy purchased from Jimmy Beans Wool will be signed by the author herself, Laura Zander (aka. Jimmy)! Inside Sew Red, you’ll find pattern sheets, instructions, beautiful photography, heart healthy tips and recipes, and personal stories of heart disease shared by the designers themselves. Not only that, but we also had the honor of welcoming back Deborah Norville to write the forward for this very special book.

Some of the many designs from Sew Red include quilts from Kaffe Fassett, Valori Wells, Tula Pink, and Mark Cesarik as well as gorgeous accessories and garments by Brett Bara, Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Ty Pennington and so many more! We feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such an accomplished crew of designers and are sure that there is something for every type of sewist in this book!

As our contribution to the Stitch Red campaign, we have agreed to contribute a minimum of 5% of our gross profits from the sale of Sew Red to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) in support of The Heart Truth® and women's heart health education and research.

You'll be hearing much more about Sew Red in the coming month, and we hope you'll be adding it to your library soon. In fact, if you Pre-order your copy from Jimmy Beans Wool starting today, we'll add you into a drawing to win your copy for free! We’ll draw names on the day the books arrive to our warehouse, which is expected to be sometime next week! How fun is that?!?! 

We all hope you have a lovely, heart healthy weekend!

<3

Kristen, and the Stitch Red team!