The Changing of the Guard

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There comes a time in every young designer’s life when the pin board needs to be revisited. Old things need to be replaced with new things so the trail of inspiration doesn’t go cold or get stale. This is one of my favorite board arrangements and I thought it deserved to be memorialized before I took it all down. I tend to curate my bulletin board. I don’t just throw any old thing up there. It can be as simple as a postcard or a tear sheet from a paint catalog (much like the one on the mid right). These particular pages were liberated from a magazine in the waiting lounge where I get my hair cut.There was a fair amount of coughing and throat clearing that occurred while tearing. They probably thought I had Tuberculosis or something, it went on for ever, I suck at petty crime.

The real gems here are the fabric swatches.  It’s a brief history of fallen soldiers from various fabric lines. On the left you will find the rejected color groupings from Neptune. If I could have made that line 100 pieces I totally would have. There was some really good stuff in there that never got it’s 15 minutes (actually I made a quilt out of them which I will share with y’all as soon as I find my camera again). There is also a little bit of Nest rejects at the top and bottom but my favorite part is in the middle-ish.

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These little guys were the original colors for Flutterby. After getting the sample swatches back we decided they were too soft for this line and went completely in the opposite direction. I saved them and they reemerged a couple of years later as Hushabye. So there you have it. Every bulletin board tells a story. I guess I fill mine with the ghosts of lost ideas. What’s on yours?

14 Responses to “The Changing of the Guard”

  1. is that navy mixed in with the pastels for the original flutterby? oh how i want those! spoonflower please?? you know we would all flock… and how bout those tuna cans.. i still want those too. as for me.. my board currently has a few ruler guides from college.. some spoonflower samples.. stray ric rac..post its and a few random paper pieced blocks.. it needs an update.. just never seems to make it to the top of the to-do list

  2. So pretty! My (small) bulletin board has actually not made it back onto the wall since we moved into out new apartment in (cough, cough) May. You’ve actually just given me the motivation to put it back up; seriously, I’m going to go and do it right now!

  3. I really enjoyed seeing your board and reading about the evolution of your swatches.

  4. Wow, I don’t even have a board yet. I’ve been putting it off, but now I know that I definitely need one for inspiration!

  5. I don’t have a pin board but have been thinking for a while that I should have one.

    I have only had my own sewing space/studio for the last few months since we moved. I have got a list of project ideas on a “whiteboard” that I made by putting fabric in an old picture frame – I write on the glass.

    I am such a visual person that I really should start a board – that would mean printing out all the inspirational images that I find and bookmark online though, I guess in some ways I have a digital pin board.

  6. I can beat Kaye, mine has been waiting to be put back up since we bought this house in 2004. I bought some shelves 2 years ago – I suppose it will be at least another 4 before they get put up, too!

  7. I love the little soft color pieces. I love those snails. Looking forward to seeing the next board, which I am sure is in progress. My board has spilled out onto the wall, stuff taped up everywhere. Chaos.

  8. Jenny, dear,
    you are so cool. have i told you that receintly? ;)

  9. thanks for sharing :) I love to see how other people “live”. You are so talented – and seem very down to earth. Love your fabric and website.

  10. While you put your samples down,I put mines up.
    I found some pieces of NEST and made a very pretty Bag out of it.

    Love your fabrics!

  11. Oh, I’ve never really thought about all of a designers ideas that never make it to us! It would be interesting to know if quilters/sewers would make the same choices the fabric designers/manufacturers do.

  12. Thanks for sharing your “fallen soldiers” — it’s always so cool to see all the work that goes on behind the scenes. I’m obsessed with the bulletin board itself — did you make it?

  13. I love all the colors; your stuff is so pretty.

  14. Hey Kim, I did make it, sorta. It’s just those cheap cork tiles you can get anywhere. I think I got mine at Target. I put ‘em up and cut out the shape. I have a better shape on the other side of the room but that one has TOP SECRET stuff on it. All in good time.

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