Artist Spotlight: Heather Bailey

Heather Bailey

Meet Heather Bailey, a full-time professional artist, a patented inventor—and a world-re- knowned star in the textile, craft, and decorating arena. With her sophisticated floral designs and smart geometric prints, Heather has inspired a new generation of crafters and home decorators to embrace art and color in their everyday lives.

Heather’s creations, including fashion and home-decor items, have sold worldwide in the best stores: Fred Segal, Henri Bendel’s, Bloomingdales, and more. InStyle, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, Country Living, and other top publications have all highlighted her unique fabrics and creative designs. Heather has contributed to books on business and on personal style. And, she has published dozens of innovative quilt patterns, sewing patterns, and embroidery patterns for the sewing industry.

What is your favorite part of the quilting process?
I particularly love to bind a quilt by hand. As the sole provider for a young family with more than one business to run, I rarely sit on the couch! So, finishing up a quilt not only delivers the satisfaction of a completed project, but it also offers my best chance to relax into the soft, comfy couch with my kids and watch a movie together. I know that some quilters dread this step, but I love it!

Who are your favorite fabric designers?
I am intrigued by the simplicity of architect, C.F.A. Voysey’s art-nouveau-style textiles and the versatility of Florence Broadhurst’s work, from groovy mid-century geometrics to elegant, detailed florals. As for current designers, I particularly enjoy Brandon Mabley’s work. He is a joyful, delightful person and his enthusiasm for playful design and bold color is reflected in his fabric designs every time. He makes me smile.

What notion or sewing tool are you most dependent on?
Barbara Willis offers a tool called The Stuffing Fork. It used to be available in stores, but now it’s only available on her website, I think, so it’s pretty obscure at this point. It’s a simple, skinny metal bar with a plain handle on one end. At the other end, the metal bar has a slit cut into it. This minimal design is truly the most amazing stuffing tool I’ve come across. It grabs a bunch of stuffing like nobody’s business. It does a marvelous job at packing gobs and gobs of fluff into even the smallest areas when needed. All of my popular pincushion designs are stuffed firmly, and I use The Stuffing Fork every time. This approach not only gives the pincushions a nice weight on the table, but it also rounds out the forms of each design for a polished, professional result.


I love the fine-point water-soluble marking pen that Clover makes. It outlasts its competitors and provides a crisp blue line every time. I use the Clover pen to mark fabrics as needed for all of my sewing patterns and embroidery patterns.


I adore the edge-stitching for my sewing machine. The blind-stitching foot does the trick too. They each have a vertical metal plate at the center of the foot which guides a folded fabric edge through the machine. With the needle positioned off-center, this guide provides a stitched line which runs perfectly parallel to the fold. It’s the ideal tool for professional-looking top-stitching—which comes in handy for a variety of homespun projects like aprons, totes, tablecloths, machine covers, etc.

How were you introduced to sewing and quilting?
My first craft obsession was paper. At 4-years-old, I filled my bottom dresser drawer with heaps of paper: white paper, lined paper, construction paper—any paper I could get my hands on. With the assistance of a stapler, scissors and glue, I’d busy myself for hours building all sorts of intricate 3D creatures, from robots to elephants.

When I was eight, my family and I went on a vacation to the mountains. At some point in the stay, my father parked our van near a trail-head and left the vehicle to investigate whether he wanted to explore this area or move onto another trail. My mother was in the van with us, knitting in the front seat.


My father was gone for what seemed like forever to me at that age and I was incredibly bored. I eventually asked my mom if she would show me how to knit. Instead, she pulled out a crochet hook and taught me the basic single-crochet stitch. Before my dad was back to the van, my Barbie had a brand-new skirt. That was my very first foray into textiles.


With the gift of a small Learn-to-Crochet book, I took off with my new hobby and became a crocheting dynamo. I made purses, and I designed clothing for my dolls. Teachers at my school ordered gifts for their children. Third grade, age eight—my first business! Once, I crocheted a three-foot long banana slug after I returned from sixth-grade camp in the redwoods—partly due to a lack of resources as my only yarn at the time was an enormous cone of coarse yellow yarn that I had picked up at a thrift store.


I also started sewing while in elementary school. My first project was a pair of flip flops made from terry cloth and cardboard. Again, this somewhat-silly project was born of the materials I had on hand; when the sewing bug bit me, the only fabric I had access to was a nest of terry-cloth scraps in my mom’s closet.


With permission to use her sewing machine, I set up a table in my bedroom, shut the door, and studied the machine’s buttons and dials until I had something that resembled a stitched line feeding out of the machine. I wish I had a picture of those flip flops. I don’t think I ever wore them beyond the few small steps from my room to the kitchen to show them off to my family.


In junior high school, my skill level improved by leaps as I reconstructed clothing and sewed outfits from scratch. Pants became skirts, old tee shirts became headbands and my first love, Steve, received a plush, articulated teddy bear dressed in a Michael-Jordan jersey for Valentine’s Day.


In high school, I learned quilting. My mother knew all of the tips and tricks for perfect piecing so I was very good at it from the start. My first quilt was for my own bedroom, but every other quilt I made for the next fifteen years was given to a friend or family member. The perfect gift! There aren’t many gifts that someone will use and enjoy every day for years and years and know that they are loved.


By the time I was 17 and in college, my preoccupation with all things handmade picked up serious speed and I soon learned my way around many new arts: knitting, spinning, weaving, stained glass, upholstery, ceramics, bead making, faux finishing, silver smithing, illustration, and painting. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Clothing in Textiles at age 20.

What was the most frustrating sewing project you ever worked on?
I once made a clutch purse from an expensive orange-and-red tie-dyed goat pelt someone gave me. I combined this with crocodile-embossed red patent leather which was just too thick for my machine. I was determined—and there was a lot of hammering on a wooden block to try to compress the material. I got through it, but the purse didn’t have the crisp, professional lines I was going for. The top edge of the purse needed more structure and more layers than I could dare tackle with a standard home-sewing machine.

What do you do to find inspiration/encourage your creativity?
My favorite hobby is “Learning New Things.” I listen to audio-books and podcasts nearly every day. I learn about psychology, history, art, writing, family systems, cooking, barn-building, you name it. On average, I consume the equivalent of two or three books every week. When my mind is engaged in new ideas, albeit from a diverse range of topics, I’m able to simultaneously dive into creative auto-pilot. It’s like one half of my mind is happily learning while the other half of my mind is happily drawing, painting, or sewing—and they don’t get in each other’s way. The information doesn’t need to remotely relate to what I’m
creating. I could be learning about the Bay of Pigs while drawing a peony floral design.


The only time I cannot multi-task like this is when I am writing. Writing requires my full focus! So, as long as there are new topics I’m curious about and I’m feeding my mind a steady stream of intellectual input, creative output comes as a natural byproduct. There is so much to learn, thank goodness, I don’t imagine the fountain of creativity will ever run dry.

What occupation would you like to try if sewing/making wasn’t an option?
This is a tough one because when I want to do something, I do it! I find a way to fit it all in. If sewing weren’t an option, I would focus my energies on fine-art painting, and I would build my body work in that realm. However, if I couldn’t make visual art of any kind—fabric, quilts, paintings, and so forth—then I would spend all of my professional creative energy writing and teaching—spreading my love for art, color, design, innovation, business, family, and the creative life.

Who is your favorite fictional character?
Elf—because “smiling is my favorite!” and enthusiasm is my love language.

What fabric have you been hoarding/saving the longest?
I once stumbled across a set of my exact childhood bedsheets on eBay—peachy butterflies and flowers on a yellow pastel background. I snatched them up! I figured if I gave them a deep, deep clean, they could make their way into two quilts one day—one for me and one for my older sister with whom I shared a room. We had matching bedding. I also came across the exact fabric that my mom used for appliques in my very-first homemade blanket when I was three or four. I jumped at the chance to buy that piece, but it disappeared right when I put it in my cart. I messaged the seller through other listings and gave it a good go, but I never heard back. Boo!

Describe your perfect day.
The “perfect day” seems like a fiction to me, so I’m going all in. I wake up in Paris. My own good man gives me a big, warm hug and we chitchat about the latest things we are reading or learning while I get ready for my day. I feed the kids a warm breakfast and set them up with their own ideal activities. Then I head out into the sun to ride my bicycle to a morning painting lesson from the reincarnated John Singer Sargent. I magically absorb all that he could ever teach me in those short three hours. At a corner cafe, I enjoy a baguette sandwich while I plot out a new fabric collection in my sketchbook. Along comes David Bowie, also reincarnated, who sees one of my paintings rolled up in my bicycle basket and stops to inquire. He commissions me for a giant portrait of him. We brainstorm what outlandish costumes he might wear—the weirder, the better. I agree to draft the costume
pattern and make it happen. We call my teenage daughter who nearly faints when David Bowie says hi.

I have to get going. I have a meeting with my publisher about my book on tenacious creativity. I stop by a charming chocolate shop on the way back to my family and pick up a giant bouquet of pink peonies with pops of craspedia—my favorite fresh-flower combination. With carefree abandon, we eat at all of the chocolates before dinner and share stories from the day. After dinner, we snuggle up on the couch for a movie while I bind a quilt made from my latest fabric collection. More warm hugs for everyone—long ones—long hugs are the best. Then finally, a bath by candlelight, a foot rub—I’ve gotta throw that in there too—and it’s time for bed! You can only do so much in one day.

Want to know more about Heather Bailey? Check out her blog at HelloMyNameisHeather.com or head over to her website HeatherBailey.com.

Get to Know: Jacquie Gering

Jacquie Gering.
Jacquie Gering

Meet Jacquie Gering, a modern textile artist based out of Prairie Village, Kansas. She began quilting in 2009 and her quilting style has evolved from first exploring traditional quilting to settling into her own way of creating that encompasses a modern, minimalist style that she works through today. 

We had an opportunity to ask Jacquie a few questions ahead of her special appearance on BLOCK Party on Thursday, March 18. Keep reading to get to know Jacquie, from her favorite tools to her history of sewing, and join us on Thursday to see her in action!

What is your favorite part of the quilting process?

Design is my favorite part of making a quilt, but design is a key component in almost every facet of making a quilt: creating the pieced design, choosing color and fabrics, choosing a quilting design and even that final design choice of picking the right binding or deciding to use facing rather than binding. 

Who are your favorite fabric designers?

I don’t really have many favorite fabric designers since I use almost exclusively solid fabrics when I make my work. The one shelf of prints I do have is filled with fabrics designed by Yoshiko Jinzenji. Her prints are unique in the fabric world. They are sparse yet graphic and they have always intrigued me.  I’ve been purchasing them since I started quilting in 2009, but it’s taken me years to figure out how her prints integrate with my aesthetic and how to use them effectively in my quilts.

What notion or sewing tool are you most dependent on?

The one tool that I couldn’t do without is my sewing machines. They are the workhorses in my studio.  I have a Brother Nouvelle 1500s which is a semi-industrial straight stitch machine that I use pretty much exclusively for piecing. It’s a beast. It sews fast with beautiful stitches and it never needs to go to the shop. It is simple to operate and to care for, yet it has the features that I require for good piecing: presser foot pressure adjustment, needle down, thread cutter, multiple feed dog settings and a knee lift. I love that it’s fast. My other machine is a Bernina 820 and it is always set up for quilting. I bought that machine so that I could quilt my own quilts. It has a large harp space to support quilting large quilts and it is sunk into the table so that my quilts are well supported when I quilt. It does more than it needs to for me and because of the level of complexity of the electronics it’s fussier than my Brother, but I take pristine care of it and have learned it inside and out and what it takes to make it work for what I need it to do. Both my machines are covered when not in use and they are cleaned and oiled regularly to keep them in tiptop shape.

How were you introduced to sewing and quilting?

The women in my family introduced me to sewing. They were all accomplished seamstresses.  My mother taught me to sew as a child.  She was my 4-H leader and tried her best to teach me the sewing skills she thought I might need. I was pretty much a failure in her eyes. I didn’t love sewing or making my own clothes and accessories though as the obedient daughter I did. I wasn’t very good at it and since I didn’t love it I abandoned it as soon as I could buy my own wardrobe. The women in my family quilted as well, but I didn’t really see it as interesting or special so I didn’t learn to quilt from them. I discovered quilting much later in life through the art world. I stumbled onto quilting after seeing the Gee’s Bend exhibit. I found those quilts intriguing and so different than the quilts I knew growing up. I bought a sewing machine and dabbled a bit. The timing was serendipitous. Quitting my current job corresponded with my discovery of quilting and on a whim I decided that quilting was the career I wanted to pursue. I fired up Google and taught myself what I wanted (needed) to know and I’ve been learning ever since.

What was the most frustrating sewing project you ever worked on?

I’m not sure I can say. Frustrating is an odd choice of words for me. In fact, I looked it up because something felt weird about it. Frustrated is “feeling or expressing distress or annoyance, especially because of the inability to change or achieve something.” Some pieces challenge me and some are abject failures, but that’s all part of the process. I always feel like change is an option for any piece I make. If something’s not working I change it whether it be design, fabric or technique. Failure is how I learn. Some pieces get started, abandoned and may get resurrected and live in a new form in the future. Some are still in the closet. I may have learned all I can from them at this point. 

What do you do to find inspiration/encourage your creativity?

I know that this is a trite thing to say, but inspiration is everywhere; you just need to look for it and recognize it.  I get inspiration from design concepts like line or space and concepts like pressure or flow or from events in my own life or in society in general. I consciously teach myself to slow down and notice and to think about, study and explore those things around me. I could have enough design fodder for my entire quilting career simply from exploring the concept of line. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed with too much inspiration and I have to focus and try to sustain myself in one place. I’m a starter and I jump to shiny pieces of inspiration to start new projects rather than finishing or deeply exploring where I currently am working.

What occupation would you like to try if sewing/making wasn’t an option?

If quilting weren’t an option I’d be exploring some other area of art or design. I love designing in my own home. I’m a gal with a power tool and I’m pretty good at paint, drywall, wallpapering and tiling. My husband and I have renovated every home we’ve lived in. We designed and built our own home out in the Kansas countryside. It was so much fun since I got to make every decision that went into that house from designing the placement of the electricity to the kitchen. We’ve moved six times since 2013 and every time I move into a new place I get to play interior designer. 

Who is your favorite fictional character?

Cookie Monster is my favorite fictional character. Cookie Monster lives his passion. I admire that. He’s also curious and asks questions when he doesn’t understand. He’s the opposite of a know it all. He’s also a great example of what’s on the outside is not necessarily what’s on the inside.

What fabric have you been hoarding the longest?

I don’t hoard fabric. I use it. Nothing that I own is so precious that it won’t go in a quilt someday.  I do have one piece of fabric from 2015 that I still have that is special. It was a piece of Yoshiko Jinzenji fabric that I bought at QuiltCon and she signed it for me. Of the few yards of that print that I purchased I have about 8″ left and that 8″ has her signature. I should probably frame it for my studio. When I first started quilting I didn’t have any idea how to buy fabric or what to buy so if I saw it and liked it, I bought it. I made loads of buying mistakes those first few years and ended up with fabric that I didn’t want to use. As I figured out who I was as a quilter, I set about reducing my stash and developing a more curated collection of fabrics. I don’t have a gigantic stash any more. Too much fabric overwhelms me. 

Describe your perfect day.

My perfect day would be spent with my husband in New York City. We love the energy, diversity, and opportunities of the city. I’m sure it would be spent with time at the MOMA or Guggenheim or some other museum, music or dance venue with time to explore and walk a neighborhood or read a book in the park with a good dose of people watching and of course there would be coffee, a great bottle of wine, friends and food, delicious food.

We can’t wait to have Jacquie join us on Thursday, March 18th at 6:00 pm cst for our BLOCK Party!

You can keep up with Jacquie by following her on Instagram and Facebook. Don’t forget to swing by her website, www.jacquiegering.com, and blog, too!

Get to Know Blair Stocker before Missouri Star Live!

Meet Blair Stocker: owner of Wise Craft Handmade, quilter, designer, author, crafter, teacher, and more! Here are a few things about Blair, who will make a special appearance on Missouri Star LIVE Tuesday, February 16. We found out her favorite quilting tool and what her perfect day is – keep reading to learn more about Blair!

What is your favorite part of the quilting process?

I really love every part of the quilting process- the way the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I get a new design idea, picking fabrics, repetitive piecing (which I like to call my Netflix time), quilting, hand sewing on the binding. Each part has its own positives for me. I guess if I’m forced to pick a favorite part, maybe designing and picking the color palette for a quilt. I worked in apparel design for many years and coming up with seasonal color stories was always my jam, so this part can feel similar.

Who are your favorite fabric designers? 

I love Ruby Star Society, Denyse Schmidt, Alison Glass, so many others too. Any sort of colorful fabric line with little things like flowers on them just gets me every time.

What notion or sewing tool are you most dependent on? 

My Ruby Ruler™, most definitely. I don’t design any quilt or lay out any blocks without it. It helps me find what I like to call “quilt sparkle”.

How were you introduced to sewing and quilting?

My maternal grandmother taught me lots of things like knitting, simple sewing when I was a preschooler. (Just a side note, I don’t know if I’d have the patience to teach a preschooler to knit!)

What was the most frustrating sewing project you ever worked on?

The Weekender Bag by Amy Butler. I tried to make one probably 15 years ago and broke the sewing machine I was using at the time. I thought my sewing days were over, but I REALLY wanted to make that bag! (I still have it!)

What do you do to find inspiration/encourage your creativity?

My husband and I officially became empty nesters this year and decided to make a big life change and move from Seattle, Washington to Santa Fe, New Mexico. I pinch myself every day that we live in such a beautiful place. Even though it’s a bit challenging to visit local museums and shops during the pandemic, I have managed to visit a few. So inspiring. Although, even just walking around downtown Santa Fe is so inspiring to me too. All of this, and daily doses of unlimited sunshine have done a lot for my creativity.

What occupation would you like to try if sewing/making wasn’t an option?

I have always said that if I didn’t do this, I would love to do something with linguistics, maybe voice analysis. Regional accents have always been very interesting to me, and I’m pretty good at picking up on where people are from. For example, I am from North Carolina, I met a woman here in Sante Fe who immediately felt like “kin”, I knew she had to be from NC. When I asked where she was from, imagine my amazement when we both realized we grew up 30 minutes apart in North Carolina and went to the same college!

Who is your favorite fictional character?

No question- Arietty from The Borrowers. I loved how the world was so big (literally!) and full of wonder to her. As a kid, I wanted nothing more than for Arietty and her family to live under our floorboards.

What fabric have you been hoarding the longest?

That’s easy- Liberty of London “Ciara”. I don’t hoard it, but I do buy it by the yard(s) and would have a bolt of it if I could.

It’s my favorite of any fabric in the world. I have used it in many quilts, like My Liberty Spikes quilt (see picture below). I played with altering the color of it by bleaching some of it a little. All the printed areas are the Ciara print in the same colorway, just some are bleached a little, some a lot, and some none at all.

Describe your perfect day. 

Well, I awake to a clean house, magically done while I was sleeping! After that, spending the entire day in my studio (which is being built as an addition onto our house this year) just sewing and designing quilts. Listening to music, true crime podcasts, or some sort of inspiring self-help audio book. Then, closing up shop for the day (by closing the antique door/entrance to my studio) and having dinner with my husband, ending the day with junky reality tv. Mixing a day like this with days spent at museums or talking shop with fellow creatives is really about all I need out of life.

You can keep up with Blair on social by following her on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. Don’t forget to swing by her website, https://wisecrafthandmade.com, too. If you want even more, join Blair in her private Facebook group, where she hosts community stitch alongs.

Tune in to Missouri Star LIVE with Misty on Tuesday, February 16, when Blair shows off her the Ruby Ruler, and teaches you to find your “quilt sparkle”!

DIY: Scrunchie & Tech Case

Dive into a new sewing project and create something fun like a tech case or a scrunchie!

DIY Scrunchie, DIY tech case, Tula Pink Monkey Wrench

To make a tech case, you’ll need:

Watch the tutorial >


DIY Scrunchie, DIY tech case, Tula Pink Monkey Wrench

Or make this scrunchie
You’ll need:

Watch Jenny and Misty whip one up in just a few minutes >

Just follow these six easy steps!

  1. Lay your strips right sides together and sew together down one side. Turn the strips over and sew down the other side, creating a tube.

2. Turn your tube inside out. (Iron if desired, but not required since it will be scrunched up by the end.)

3. Grab your elastic and attach a safety pin to one of the ends of elastic and through the end of the tube so the elastic doesn’t fall through.

4. Scrunch the tube up over the piece of elastic.

5. Sew back and forth across the elastic to close the ends together. (You can also tie a knot.)

6. Now, place one end of the tube into the other end and stitch down. Viola! You’ve got a cute, new scrunchie!

SHOP KIDS & BABY THEMED FABRICS