Lavender Season is here!

Lavender harvest is in full swing this month all across the country (even the world!). It is one of my favorite parts of summer. Fresh cut lavender smells so good and I just can’t get enough. This spring I even started my own lavender hedge around my greenhouse. I can’t wait until it grows in a bit and I have all the lavender I could ever ask for.

Lavender in my garden!

Not only does this wonderful herb smell so incredible, it is my go to cure for those pesky mosquito bites I get when I am out working in the garden in the evening. Just a dab of essential oil and they disappear! I also love having it next to my bed or on my pillow to help me drift off to sleep.

 

In honor of the Lavender season we wanted to share with you our Lavender Bliss: Project Booklet filled with projects that you can make using dried lavender. One of my favorites is this Hanger Cover. It helps protect my clothes while also bringing a bit of freshness to my closet. The booklet includes sachets, pincushions, spa essential and lots more.

Lavender Hanger Cover project included in the project booklet.

We are also excited to announce the arrival of a new lavender print fabric! This is the perfect print for all of those small projects and don’t you just love the color?

Our latest lavender fabric print in purple.

THIS WEEK ONLY! With each Lavender Bliss: Project Booklet ordered we will be including a FREE fat eighth of our latest lavender fabric. Begins 7/21/14 and ends 7/27/14. Visit our website at www.firetraildesigns.com or simply CLICK on the image below.

Lavender Bliss: Project Booklet

P.S. For those of you that don’t have a lavender farm near where you live, we have Dried Organic Lavender Florets on our website so that you don’t miss out! (Certified organic by the Washington State Department of Agriculture)

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Lavender, Lavender, Lavender!

So for the last month I have basically been eating, sleeping and breathing lavender. Our sample yardage of Lavender Bliss arrived towards the end of April and we were frantically sewing samples for the Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City, Missouri the first few weeks of May. The whole studio smells like lavender- you can’t help but feel calm and relaxed as soon as you head down the stairs.

In the midst of all of this sewing we finished up 4 new sewing patterns and got a lavender project book started that will be available in June. Here is a peak at some of the things we have been making out of Lavender Bliss.

This is one of our new pattern called One + Ten. It takes 1 yard of an allover print that you love and 10 fat quarters. Here we used the large allover scenic from our collection and ten coordinates. This past Christmas I made my dad this quilt for his Man Cave using a car allover and a bunch of brightly colored tonals (including flames of course!). This is such an easy quilt to sew up and it is a perfect size for cuddling up on the couch with.

One + Ten Quilt Pattern in Lavender Bliss

Focus Feature is  another pattern to use an allover print that you can’t bear to cut up. This was perfect way to use the Lavender Bliss scenic allover. We also made this one up in a giant Kaffe Fassett floral with black sashing and it is absolutely stunning! This pattern includes instructions for quilts in 4 sizes (including twin). A great way to really show off your fabric!

Focus Feature Quilt Pattern in Lavender Bliss

~ Michelle

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Spring is here!

Love Spring! Check out all of those amazing colors.

Spring is finally here in the Pacific Northwest. It is finally warm enough to start planting and getting things cleaned up after the winter weather. The tulips are even making an appearance in the Skagit Valley. They were only a couple of weeks late… We took a trip up there last weekend and it is truly an incredible site. Not all of the flowers were quite ready but it was definitely worth the trip.

Beautiful tulips and daffodils.

Between all of the gardening and enjoying the spring blooms we are frantically working on getting things ready for Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City. Can you believe it is less than a month away? Great news is that we should have sample yardage of Lavender Bliss hopefully next week! In the mean time we am finishing up some of the patterns we will be releasing in May. Maybe next week I can give you a little sneak peek : )

Lavender Bliss Production Samples. Don't they look great?!

This week was pretty exciting though. We got the first production samples of Lavender Bliss and they look AMAZING. We are so happy with how they turned out and can’t wait for everyone else to see. The sewing machines are calling for us to get started. Guess I should get back to work. Kansas City here we come!

~Michelle

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Inspiration and Lavender Bliss…

A few years ago, we visited the south of France during an European Art Tour I planned around all of the art I studied in college. During our few days in Nice we took a drive determined to find the infamous lavender fields of Provence.

We stopped in a little town for lunch and an adorable French man told us how to get to the “Largest Lavender Fields in France.”He warned us, however, that they were much too far away to go there and back to Nice in one day. Despite his attempts to persuade us not to, we continued on our journey following his directions and our instincts. Thanks to the wonders of GPS, we had absolutely no fear of getting lost- just put the hotel address whenever it was time to head back.

Rows and rows of lavender in Provence, France.

It turned out that these magnificent lavender fields were less than 2 hours way! For Americans who drive almost an hour to work everyday, this is nothing. We turned off the highway and headed into the Provincial country side. We discovered a truly incredible area of France with lavender fields as far as the eye could see.

View of Provence countryside with lavender fields as far as you can see.

It was mid July just before the lavender harvest and the air was filled with the enchanting smell of lavender and the buzz of bees hard and work. After driving around all of the country roads and taking lots of pictures, we decided we better head back to Nice- although it was very hard to leave.

Check out all of the bees in the air and on the sunflower blossoms!

This was one of the highlights of my first trip to Europe and I would highly recommend a drive in Provence to anyone traveling to France. The landscape is truly breathtaking and when you add all the amazing lavender and sunflowers, it is truly an unforgettable experience. We used some of our favorite memories from this trip to help use create our new fabric line, Lavender Bliss. We hope you enjoy!

~Michelle

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Lavender Bliss- Coming this Summer

We are happy to announce that our first fabric line, Lavender Bliss, is on its way from Andover Fabrics! It is scheduled to ship this June- just in time for the summer lavender harvest! Here is a sneak peak…

Together the line includes 13 beautiful prints in rich purples, warm greens and luscious creams. One of the standouts of the group is this incredible landscape that runs selvedge to selvedge.

Portion of the lavender landscape from Lavender Bliss.

Another great print is the lavender stalk allover on a soft, creamy background. This design will be great for any number of sewing projects- everything from quilts and other home accents to lavender items to use every day or give as gifts.

Lavender stalk allover from Lavender Bliss.

To check out the rest of the group, visit AndoverFabrics.com and watch for it to arrive at your local quilt shop this summer!

We are also working on some great sewing patterns that can be used along with Lavender Bliss or with other fabrics you love. Watch for updates with lots of great project ideas in the coming months. We can’t wait to see what you create!

~Michelle

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