Has Heidi Emmett Done Anything since the Artistic Alchemy Retreat?

by Heidi Emmett

Fasten your seat belts everyone and I’ll show you! It has only been 7 weeks since the retreat at Zephyr Point and I have been busy, busy, since the day I came home!  Modern Patchwork has my Free-form Circles Pillow project in the latest edition. It just came out, Fall 2016. Get it NOW. Christine is in it too.
Drum roll please………I LOVE these pillows and they are super fun and easy to make.
The day after I finished all my projects for the book I wrote, yes, you heard it right, I WROTE A BOOK (yes, I’m shouting it out!!)! O.K., deep breath, Heidi was asked to write a book on my Quilted Wearables and accessories. People, quilted wearables/wearable Art is becoming a BIG deal! And I’m going to be a part of it. So excited and honored to write this for Leisure Arts. Look for it in Early Spring. O.K. where was I, oh yes, the day after I finished the book and sent everything off, I went to PIQF (Pacific International Quilt Festival) held in San Francisco area and picked up my first EVER!! sit down quilting machine by Handiquilter. It’s a Sweet Sixteen.
Feast your eyes on ALL THE ROOM I have (sorry, I’m yelling again, I’m so excited) to quilt a large Coat or Jacket, wallhanging, tote bag, and on, and on, I can quilt!
I had to get a new comfy chair. I can lean waaay back in it too. It is a Flintan from Ikea. And of course while I was there I checked out the fabric department that is buried in a corner of the drapery section. It was a feast of yummy fabrics. I bought a bunch for future wearable projects I have in mind.
Below is the very first project I will quilt on my Sweet Sixteen.
Terrific Tabard with a large scaled fabric as the start. Always take a picture of the fabrics you think you will use in any Art to wear project. Pictures help you see the other prints in new ways. I see a few that will have to go.  This is a “Thank You” vest for a lovely lady(thank you Katie McCollum) who introduced me to Checker Distributors, the largest distributor in the U.S. They are now carrying my “hard copy” Art to Wear patterns. In fact, my Terrific Tabard, “Aussie Angle” is in the Checker booth this very week in Houston. So, my vest traveled to Houston, but not me. Maybe next year! Months of working on getting all the behind the scenes details ironed out to begin this new journey of hard copy sales in a big way. Finished the final details a week before the book was due. Ohh boy, not much sleep for me. 

Oh, I taught a Rafiki Skirt class. This was crazy fun! You learn to create your perfectly fitted pattern using your measurements. It’s the African way of making a pattern.
Deciding on how the fabrics will look next to each other. 

O.K. the skirts below ARE NOT FINISHED YET BUT WE RAN OUT OF TIME! So they don’t look so good in this pic. There I go, yelling again.That’s Terry (creator of Terial Magic) on the left and Trish Morris-Plisse on the right. This class was for “Jamboree” for the Pine Tree Quilt Guild of Grass Valley, CA. 

I also taught at the Mountain Star Quilt Retreat in Downieville, CA. Wow, what a lovely, gold rush town, and what lovely people that live there. I had such a fun time teaching.   I love this stone wall on one side of the town Museum. Many of the buildings, homes, and businesses were all built in the late 1800’s.  My students worked on a Fun Fall Leaf Tablerunner or Center piece. I have many more pics I want to share on another post either here or on my own blog: Designsbyheidi.wordpress.com This project designed and created by me, first appeared in Stitch magazine fall, 2015 and Stitch E-book . All my students and I decided these leaves could easily be used in a quilt or even on a garment, hmm… did they mean a camouflage garment? KIDDING!

Phew, I’m exhausted but so happy. Creative and fun things are starting to happen for me. But I’m finally getting a weekend off and I will put myself in my new chair and quilt up a storm as big as the one we are having outside. We love the rain and it makes me cozy and happy to be inside quilting. Hugs, Heidi