Introducing Belle Époque

Designer Lillis Taylor has partnered with Brittany Hartwell of the eco-chic boutique Molly Green to create Belle Époque, a line of dresses and sashes that evoke the aura of artistic expression and feminine freedom during Europe's "beautiful era". Drawing inspiration from the provocatively vivacious Can-can dancer and the "frou-frou" of her skirts, Belle Époque also symbolizes the timeless magic of Southern Charm.

Belle Époque debuts this Spring with its first collection: Birmingham Belles. This line of dresses features sashes inspired by Birmingham, AL. Take the Botanical Gardens with you in the form of: Wisteria, Rembrandt Tulips, Triumph Tulips, or the Rose Garden Topiary; circle your waist with cursive scrawls of "You Are Beautiful"; or make Vulcan an accessory for a night out on the town. Taylor and Hartwell will be celebrating Belle Époque at a number of events this Spring. For more information, please contact Molly Green. 

Belle Époque logo: the union of a Can-can dancer's skirt and a Magnolia blossom.

Spring 2012 Petal Top Collection

A spring rain just began washing away the soft yellow dust that has covered our world here in Birmingham for the past week. As the thunder gently rolls across the valley, I am reminded of one of the beauties of Alabama: thunderstorms. I can see the robin's nest outside of my window and mama and papa are both snuggly settled in the thick of the holly bush, as the rain comes down.

On a day like today, it is quite enjoyable to stay in, working on designs and long overdue computer work. I'm trying to come up with a colorful campaign that shows off the unique options available with my spring line of petal tops. I can print on cotton silk, sateen or voile and each top will be unique depending on how I cut the pieces out from the printed fabric. I'm also using different lining fabric for each top, making these blouses truly one-of-a-kind. To see the individual blouses up close, visit the FLICKR gallery. Tops are available as made-to-order items in our Etsy shop and at Molly Green in Homewood, AL.

Tré Lilli at Molly Green

We continue beautifying the Workroom at Molly Green. Here's a shot taken once we ran out of Mod Podge yesterday. Funny, I always thought it was Modge Podge...also, I thought it was interchangeable with glue...possibly, but definitely not wood glue! Paint continues to fly and slowly but surely, we approach the time when work will be occurring in the Workroom. Until then, find me there intermittently.

Today I've holed myself up by this here computer to crank out some design work. Every once in a while I get up to dance to a song that makes its way up through the iTunes shuffle or to try and save this crazy bee that refuses to let me catch and release her. Clearly she digs my music more than her freedom. Molly Green and I are working on a new line called Belle Époque and I think I've finally got a logo we can work with. See it here first and stay tuned for the fancy roll-out-fanfare soon soon soon!

 

Baby quilt

I spent all morning working on this quilt top for a dear friend who is having a baby girl this June. I really loved the Scrappy Star quilt square I made the other day and think the 18" finished square is perfect for a centerpiece to a small quilt. I'm still working out the best way to add dimension to the finished center square, but am happy with this first attempt. My friend said she loves shades of blue and fuchsia and I gave her shades of orange and purple. Oh well, at least there is plenty of pattern to excite a newborn's eyes.

Inglenook Quilting Bee: A new member

Meet Ms Lizzy - she brought a stack of fabric strips and she sewed seams while I pressed and pinned strips together. She managed to get two panels the size of the one she's holding sewn before the bobbin gave out.

This week at Inglenook, I arrived with a machine that was donated by a guild member. I knew that Ms Annie wasn't going to be joining us and I was pretty sure I was going to be the only guild member that morning. There was a lot of activity at the library, and I noted that two utility workers were waiting for the library to open when I arrived. Shortly after putting our room together: opening closets, pulling out the big cutting table, setting up the iron, the sewing machine, etc, a new member arrived. The lovely Ms Lizzy came walking in with the most beautiful smile upon her face. Not recognizing me since I wasn't there the week before, she walked into the room and sat at a table, seemingly waiting patiently for someone she knew to arrive. I introduced myself and she got very excited to begin.

Ms Lizzy had come the previous week with her sister, who is a quilter and Ms Lizzy said that her sister wanted to get into hand-sewing and hand-quilting and wasn't interested in working on a machine. Ms Lizzy however, was so happy to find us and talked a happy streak as she sewed seams into her fabric strips. She told me that she had gotten into crocheting a few years ago and had made one of her children a bedspread. When the other children saw the bedspread, Ms Lizzy got a long list of requests. She told me she was now working on the last of ten bedspreads and that this last one was a queen-size. She also told me that she used to hand-quilt and that she still has a contraption that attaches to the wall so that you can roll the quilt up and away as you go. She even said there is a quilt still in the contraption that she started many decades ago.

When women tell me stories such as these, I beg them to let me visit their homes and they always say no. Would that I were a ladybug and could hop into Ms Lizzy's purse in order to see this quilt up close and personal.

It was exciting to have a new member and though we missed Ms Annie (and prayed for her husband who was having a procedure that morning) we talked and laughed and sewed for most of the morning. Twice we had young men walk into our room and ask what we were up to. I tried to convince both men to sit and sew a seam, but one was shy and the other was one of the utility workers I had seen at the beginning of the morning. The utility worker strayed and started speaking with me about sewing and fabric and Jeraldine walked over and said, "Now don't be flirting with us and messing us up from all the hard work we're doing. If you want to sew, fine, if you don't, get on your way". As I blushed a shade of purple, I grinned big, thinking of my great-grandmother. She certainly would have said something as direct and it made me want to hug these sweet women who have become members of an extended family for me. Jearldine didn't scare the young man away though and he just grinned and asked if we could go on a date sometime. It wasn't until his co-worker came looking for him that he finally left, but not before promising to come sew with us on a day off. This got the ladies talking about men and beaus and while I tinkered with our new Singer and it's sensitive bobbin, I listened to stories of first dates and flirtation and sweethearts from many decades past. As with every week, our three hours flew past and it was time to leave before I managed to get the machine properly threaded. I'm hoping that Sharon, the guild's bee keeper and a fixture at Inglenook will be able to attend next week and will have some savvy with the machine that I don't yet have. 

Ms Lizzy, Ms Jearldine and Ms Carol tinkering with a fancy new machine

Ms Jearldine's cuddle quilt blocks, ready to be sewn together

Ms Jearldine's second cuddle quilt, this one with sashing

Quilt-loving

I've got my quilting hat on at the moment and wanted to share the latest from the fantastic Block-of-the-Month club. Thanks to this club, which I am a member of through the Birmingham Quilter's Guild, I have learned so many quilt block patterns. These are terribly inspiring and this latest one might be the most inspiring yet. I have a few baby quilts to make for dear friends and find this color explosion such a great idea for a baby quilt. Can you imagine being able to spend your first days exploring the colors and patterns and shapes of this star? I'm going to get back to it and then treat myself to some comedy at ArtPlay later this evening. For those who are quilt-loving like me, don't forget that tomorrow, March 17th is National (why not International?) Quilting Day...which means you should spend part or all of the day with some quilt-loving activities...enjoy!

The first task is to cut out 36 two-inch squares from scraps in your scrap bag. I had the scraps but not the patience to cut out all 36 at once. I had to cut a bit and then sew a bit and then cut a bit and then...

35 unique fabrics. Can you spot the duplicate?

Once the center piece was complete and I had the eight additional scraps cut out, I realized...hm, this is gonna be big!

Very fun once it all comes together

Largest single quilt square I've ever made at 18 inches

Angels all around us...

Today was one of those days that the angels let me know good and well that they are indeed all around us. When my father first started painting, he often incorporated this phrase in his pieces. It became a mantra that I associated with the magic of his creations and his continued success in his new-found passion. I believe that those angels are always there, whether we're awake to them or no.

My morning began at the monthly Birmingham Quilters' Guild meeting, where a memorial quilt three years in the making was presented to the surviving daughter of Dr. Tom Caldwell. I know very little about Dr. Caldwell, but he was an avid member of the Guild and much loved by all the members who remember him. The memorial quilt is a period piece and is absolutely stunning. Sewn based on the standards in practice between 1743 and 1793, it was magnificent to behold. More than twenty women participated in the fabric choice, appliqué, piecing, hand-quilting and binding of the quilt.

It has been three years since I took up needle, thread and fabric in Poland in search of community in relation to sewing, and today, as I walked about the room of 100+ members, I was struck by the dear friends I have made in the short time I have been a member of the BQG. I have become a cog in this delightful whirly-gig of a community. These women and men truly care about one another. We are part of a larger whole and we find ways to work together in service to community, while sharing our love of fabric and sewing and creating. I know this is a gush-pile, but you will forgive me as I sing with my angels.

After Guild meeting, I met my father at his studio to go over a few things before heading to a meeting at the old firehouse a few blocks away. A musician lives in the upstairs of the firehouse and gives music lessons in the downstairs portion. We met today to discuss a partnership in the future. I will leave this thread semi-veiled as we work out the details. Just know that today I met a lovely kindred spirit and look forward to collaborations with him in the future.

Following my firehouse meeting, I ventured further East into Woodlawn. I had a productive and idea-generating meeting with a business consultant through Mainstreet Birmingham, talking marketing strategies, business plans and budgets. She gave me homework, several potential new contacts and lots of energy.

Sadly, she told me a story while we were getting to know one another that I feel I've heard all too often. A few times she made a clear distinction between creative minds (myself) and non-creative minds (herself). I noticed this after perhaps the second or third time and made mention of it. I told her that she could be an artist, is an artist for that matter. She responded that no, she is not capable of making art. She then amended her statement to suggest that a traumatic experience when she was quite young might be the culprit of her mindset against calling herself capable of "art". When she was very small, perhaps still in pre-school, she made a picture of a cat - the perspective being from the back of the cat with its tail in the foreground. Apparently her teacher thought the drawing no good and did not select it to be in an exhibition of the class' best creations. Do you see how fragile we are when we are young, people? To this day, a grown, incredibly capable woman remembers such an experience. And how many times have you heard a similar story? People! Ignore the taste of others. Create, create, create!

Following my fantastic session with Trudy, the can-do business coach, I made a trip to Molly Green, which I left at 10:45pm last night after a day begun at 1pm helping re-arrange the store. As some of you might know, we are putting a Workroom inside Molly Green and thanks to the industriousness of Brittany and Anna, it is becoming a truly great space. After such an inspiring day, a few moments chatting with B&A led to what we all think is a truly great idea and collaboration. More details forthcoming...

Okay, so my angels are a bit cryptic today. Well then...enjoy this fantastic wall in The Workroom and check out that cutting table - so delightfully large and mod-podged (decorator's type: mod-podge is fun and makes you feel like a professional...here we used old pattern pieces). Also, the chair was my great-grandmother's and the sewing machine was given to my mother by her mother. Now there are some angels...