Countless people will tell you they dream of designing fabric. But a literal textile dream was the start of Eileen Taylor’s 18 years of designing for Moda.
“I’d worked in the industry for decades,” says Eileen, “so when I dreamt an entire line of Northwoods fabric, in color, I attributed it being around fabric all day. But when I had the very same dream two nights later, I got up at 4 a.m. and started sketching.”
While she had the vision, she claims she lacked the drawing skills to bring it to fruition, so she called on Lynn Hawley Bloomquist, a friend in the garment industry. Together they created a line of fabric based on their Minnesota surroundings and Eileen took it to Quilt Market three weeks later. Not only did Moda like the look, they sold dozens of fabrics just from the artwork.
At the suggestion of Lynn’s son the women named their design team Holly (for Hawley) Taylor—“Taylor and Bloomquist didn’t have the right ring,” says Eileen with a laugh—and they have since completed more than 60 lines of fabric. This past year they also designed fabric for the all-Wisconsin shop hop and for three years they created fabric especially for Minnesota’s annual shop hop.
“Minnesota is a huge quilting state,” says Eileen. But their fabric don’t just appeal to residents of the upper Midwest: it’s also popular in woodsy locales like Washington state and Canada.
This centerpiece served as inspiration for fabric design
Lynn and Eileen find inspiration for their fabrics all around them. “Sometimes we’ll just hop in the car and take a trip together,” says Eileen. “We’ll wander the back roads, looking for things in nature. We’ve even drawn inspiration from the names of Northwoods motels and inns.” The women get their creative juices flowing by looking through shelter magazines, visiting local shops, and perusing racks of paint chips. “Once I took a photograph of the tile in a motel bathroom where I was staying and we used the shape in a fabric,” says Eileen with a laugh. Sometimes it’s not necessary to leave home to find inspiration—the reeds and berries in a floral arrangement Eileen created for her dining room table sparked the shapes and images of an upcoming line of fabric.
Eileen was a rep for Moda for 17 years. Connecting with Moda was such a blessing,” says Eileen, who attended her 52nd Quilt Market in spring 2010. “Working with them was the best chapter of my career.” Though she retired from her role as fabric rep two years ago, lovers of warm and woodsy fabrics can rest assured that the design duo of Holly Taylor shows no signs of slowing down.
Is there such a thing as save the date for blog hops like there is for weddings? I did not check blogger etiquette rules, but wanted you to not miss any of the goodies happening October 1st through the 14th. Go ahead and save the dates to meet the contributors, collect recipes and have a chance for giveaways.
Hi! My name is Amy Barickman, and I have been enjoyed working with Moda for many years, almost 20!! Indygo Junction is my pattern company and I recently launched Amy Barickman, LLC as the book publishing arm of my business. When Lissa and Debbie asked me to guest post on my new book,Indygo Junction’s Fabric Flowers, I jumped at the opportunity!!
There is nothing quite like the subject of flowers. Infinite variety, delicate detail, and exquisite color. Each summer I take 100’s of photos of flowers for my own enjoyment. It is amazing what the camera can capture and fortunately digital photography offers the ability to affordably take an infinite number of photos!! Recently it seemed everywhere I looked in fashion flowers were blooming: giant flowers on purses, tee-shirts embellished with ruched roses, flowers on headbands, flip-flops, and hats. It seemed the time was right for Indygo Junction’s Fabric Flowers!!
We have created a video to learn more about our Fabric Flower book that is sure to inspire your creativity to bloom.
In the pages of this book, you’ll find 25 quick & easy flower projects for wearing, decorating and sharing with inspiring techniques for the novice to the more advanced creative enthusiast.
Accessorize your hair, headbands & hats
Embellish your wardrobe with pins, necklaces & chokers
Accent your shoes, purses & scarves
Decorate with bouquets, pillows & holiday trimmings
A blog tour, flower challenge, and giveaways are being planned to make our focus flowers for the coming year!!! We hope you will join in the journey, follow our blog and Facebook pages to keep up a garden full of activities we have planned!!
When I agreed to share my new book with you as a guest blogger, I was asked to share a little more about myself with you. So here are few things you might not know about me.
What is your one guilty pleasure in life? I love beer and Bell’s Oberon Beer – a Michigan summer brew is my favorite. I actually stock up in September as I know I will not be able to acquire this brew throughout the rest of the year. Their sunshine logo is what led me to my first taste!
Where do you do your best thinking? It seems I am always thinking about ideas. It is hard for me to turn my creative brain “off”. When antiquing, shopping flea and thrift stores, I get in the “zone” – scoping at clever vintage patterns, fabrics, and quilts… as far as my best peaceful thinking, that happens on Torch Lake floating on my paddle board or Kayak. I call it sacred water and am fortunate to spend several weeks there each summer.
What do you listen to when you work? Bruno Mars, Train and always the classics. And of course… Kid Rock’s Summer in Northern Michigan and the new Pontoon song by Little Big Town’s Pontoon!!
Today is Moda’s day for the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/blogs/apqstaff/
Moda has been a proud sponsor of this event since the beginning so when we were asked if we would like to be one of the stops on the blog hop we jumped on board.
A couple of days ago we set up 2 machines in the sample dept. We sat down during lunch and sewed pillowcases for a local charity.
stack of bright fun pillowcases
Roll it up method pillowcases are so fun and easy.