We're so excited to announce our 2020 Peek Into Batiks Monthly Quilt Along. Starting in January 2020, there will be 1 new block for all 12 months featuring our beautiful batiks. Stay tuned for more details. We can't wait to sew along with you!
Showing posts with label Making it Fun!. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Making it Fun!. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Become a Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador. Apply now!
ATTENTION QUILTING INDUSTRY DESIGNERS & BLOGGERS
Want to gain exposure while sewing with the best fabric?
APPLY TO BECOME A BRAND AMBASSADOR!
Michael Miller Fabrics provides bold design, inspires creativity and offers exceptional customer service, all while “Making it Fun!”. Now is your opportunity to join the team as a Brand Ambassador!
What it means to be a Brand Ambassador:
1. Share your love for Michael Miller Fabrics
2. Participation in our online quilt along/block of the month by designing a block to be included in a quilt.
3. Broaden your skill set and explore new techniques in group challenges.
4. Create buzz around new product launches by featuring Michael Miller fabrics on your blogs and social media platforms.
5. Include our “I Like Mike” promo badge on your website and social media.
6. Tagging @michaelmillerfabrics on posts and using the hashtags #ilikemike, #michaelmillerfabrics #makingitfun.
7. Provide feedback to our marketing team.
Perks of being a Brand Ambassador:
1. Free fabric and goodies.
2. Promotion of you and your brand by sharing your content on our social media channels.
3. Opportunities for you to be featured on our blog and marketing channels.
4. Sharing our “I Like Mike” promo badge and other graphics and images for your posts.
5. Opportunities for your patterns/projects to be included in our catalogs and marketing materials.
6. Connections to magazine publications for your projects using Michael Miller fabric.
What we looking for:
This program is targeted at QUILTERS. This is the perfect opportunity for those actively building a brand in the quilting industry. We are looking for enthusiastic designers and bloggers to promote our brand and fabric through social media, online or in-person events and social media channels. Our Brand Ambassadors must have active social media outlets, be experienced quilters and engaged in the quilting community. This year we are specifically looking for 1-2 Brand Ambassadors to work exclusively with our Minky products. Minky is super-soft, 100% polyester fabric - great for baby blankets, quilts, scarves, stuffed animals and more! In your application, please indicate interest in Cotton or Minky.
What is required:
Projects will vary from group challenges to monthly events. We will provide all fabric required for program-related projects, plus other goodies. We will promote two campaigns per quarter (8 per year). Ambassadors will make projects and post about them. You may offer free patterns or patterns that you sell commercially. We are looking for posts from the opening reveal of what’s in the box to the final project. Facebook live, Instagram Live, videos and product demos are encouraged.
Ambassadors may be asked to provide projects for our sales reps, Quilt Market and magazine outlets. Ambassadors are expected to actively participate in a private, ambassadors-only, Facebook group and respond to emails. MEETING DEADLINES IS A MUST!
This ambassadorship runs January 1, 2020-December 31, 2020.
If you have questions, please email: susan@michaelmillerfabrics.com or visit the Michael Miller Fabrics booths (414 & 415) at Houston Quilt Market and speak with our marketing team.
How to apply:
Click link below and fill out the application. Applicants will be assessed by the marketing team at Michael Miller Fabrics based on your blog content, posting regularity, social media content and photography. Thank you in advance for your application!
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Introducing Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador - Elizabeth Townsend Gard
We are so pleased to introduce Elizabeth Townsen Gard as our ninth Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador!
Dr. Elizabeth Townsend Gard is the host and director of Just Wanna Quilt podcast, which now boasts over 200 interviews in its
first year. Some special guests include Marianne Fons, Tula Pink, Jenny Doan, and Rob Appell,
among others, and interviews industry leaders and regular quilters.
Elizabeth is also a copyright law professor at Tulane Law
School, and Lepage Entrepreneur Fellow at the A.B. Freeman School of Business
at Tulane. She has been quilting since age 13, and quilts every night as
part of this project.
The Just Wanna Quilt project has grown into a movement
(called the Quilting Army) -- of conversations about quilting on our lives,
entrepreneurship, charity quilting, and intellectual property, among other
topics. Elizabeth, along with her law students, are working on the Copyright Workbook, which will include Chapters with Patterns to learn copyright and other aspects of intellectual property. The first Chapter, Basic Training, was debuted at QuiltCon 2019. The Just Wanna Quilt project was featured in Quiltfolk magazine for Louisiana in July 2018. We had an interactive booth for the first time at Houston.
1. What was your first sewing project?
My first sewing project was an embroidery and cross-stitch project
on burlap when I was about 5. I've always sewed, mostly hand sewing, with
my mom. But we also dabbled in quilting, beginning at age 13, which was
in 1979. It was a pink basic block quilt that we tied. We went to a
quilt shop and I remember picking out the fabric. We powered through that
first quilt in a weekend.
2. What other hobbies do you enjoy?
Hmmmm....binging just about anything on Netflix.
3. What is your favorite color?
Hot pink. But I wear mostly black.
4. Where is your dream vacation?
A quilting cruise to Cuba. I've never been on a cruise and
I've never been to Cuba. But that sounds pretty awesome. Especially
if the cruise left from New Orleans, where I live.
5. Who taught you how to sew?
My mom. She passed away about ten years ago. So, I
always feel really connected to her when I sew. Mom-time. She made
elaborate Danish cross-stitch masterpieces, and also knitted.
6. What food could you eat everyday?
Dark chocolate, French fries and pot stickers. That's what I
had for breakfast this morning. Just kidding. Well, not the
chocolate and fries.
7. What do you want to be doing in five years?
Well, that's interesting. My kid will be in college. I
hope that we've turned our house into the Just Wanna Quilt clubhouse (a New
Orleans duplex) for hanging out and sleepovers, which we are in the process of
doing right now. I'm still teaching law, but maybe visiting as a
professor at wherever the kid is in college. We have the Law and
Entrepreneurship Center up and running to help others with their dreams, which
again we are working on now. And the Quilting Army really has become a movement
of kindness and community.
Thank you Elizabeth!
Check out her podcasts and content on:
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Introducing Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador - Karly Nelson
We are so pleased to introduce Karly Nelson as our eighth Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador!
1. What was your first sewing project?
My first sewing project was a simple and the super basic of baby quilts. Yarn ties and all!
2. What other hobbies do you enjoy?
Travelling, reading, watching documentaries,
doodling, knitting, astrology, eating chocolate....
3. What is your favorite color?
A myriad of teals.
4. Where is your dream vacation?
All around the world!
5. Who taught you how to sew?
Trial and error, pattern tests and YouTube.
Although my mother (who has never sewn) says I got my sewing talent from her! 😂
6. What food could you eat everyday?
Brownies...maybe topped with some strawberries
and raspberries but mostly the brownie.
7. What do you want to be doing in five years?
I want to be sitting on the beach in front of my
beach house, eating brownies while planning my girls prom dresses while I'm
also neck deep in a dozen other projects! A book and fabric line may be part of
those projects.
Thank you Karly and welcome to the brand ambassador team!
To see what she is currently working on, check and follow her main channels:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paisleyroots
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paisleyroots
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Introducing Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador -
We are so pleased to introduce Jennifer McClanahan as our seventh Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador!
Jennifer
McClanahan is a pattern designer, a mother of three amazing children, a soon to
be grandma and a loving wife.
Jennifer
spent the majority of her childhood in beautiful southern Indiana, learning
many crafts, including sewing, from her mother, aunts, cousins and grandmother.
A couple of years after graduating, she married her high school sweetheart and
embarked on a 22-year journey of traveling the world with her Navy husband and
kiddos. Jennifer credits these world travels and variety of cultures for
expanding her creativity and influencing her modern, artistic and bold style of
design.
Once
Jennifer’s husband retired from the Navy and her children began spreading their
own wings, she decided to share her passion for quilting and unique design with
others. Thus—Sweet Tea Pattern Co. was born!
Jennifer feels blessed and
fortunate that she can spend her days in her studio doing what she
loves—creating, designing, sewing and quilting. When she is not in her studio,
you can find Jennifer binge watching reality TV, cooking and enjoying time with
family and friends.
Here are some questions we asked her and responses:
1. What was your first sewing project?
Its been a long time, I learned to sew when I was around 5 years
old, so I believe it was a blanket for my doll.
2. What other hobbies do you enjoy?
All types of sewing, but I enjoy drawing, reading –
fiction and nonfiction and cooking.
3. What is your favorite color?
Its so hard to pick a favorite color I love all brite
colors. I guess if I have to choose one
I tend to lean towards Blue.
4. Where is your dream vacation? Ireland
5. Who taught you how to sew?
I come from a large family that all sews. I’ve learned different
things (crocheting, cross-stitch etc) from different family members but I would
say sewing/quilting ultimately came from my Grandmother.
6. What food could you eat everyday?
Anything Mexican
7. What do you want to be doing in five years?
I want to still be sewing everyday and playing with my
future grandkids.
Thank you Jennifer! We look forward to working with you and are excited to see what you create for Michael Miller Fabrics.
To see what she is up to follow her social media accounts and pages below:
Instagram: http://instagram.com/sweetteapatternco/
Facebook: facebook.com/sweetteapatternco.com
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Introducing Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador - Kris Poor!
We are so pleased to introduce Kris Poor as our fifth Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador!
Kris has a dedication to creating innovative patterns. She is a major player at Quilt Market and we love her fun booth design and demos.
I am thrilled to be a
Michael Miller Fabrics Ambassador!
Let
me introduce myself; I am Kristine Poor, owner of Poorhouse Quilt Designs. I
have a degree in Engineering and in my previous life, I worked as a
manufacturing engineer (mostly writing assembly instructions!)! I started
Poorhouse Quilt Designs in September 2006, after designing the Sampler Tote as
a gift for a family member. The tote was a hit around town and a pattern
company was born!
My
pattern line has grown since that first tote - there are bags, bowls, quilts,
banners, ornaments... Our most popular pattern is the Fold’n Stitch Wreath. I
enjoy experimenting with unusual materials and sharing the results with you!!
I create our designs from our
home studio in Derry NH. Most of my days are spent writing a little, stitching
a little, sipping coffee, repeat! Where I stitch, I can gaze out to the trees
and sometimes spy a deer or two walking by in the early morning!
My husband Bill works with me;
he is a recently retired IT project manager. He runs our day to day operations
as well as our laser cutter! We laser cut projects for quilt shops around the
country. Laser cutting has been an adventure - we have even laser engraved a
cheesecake!
Bill and I have 2 boys, Alex, 23 and Eric, 20 – both boys are recent college graduates, busy getting their careers going! Lastly, no pets here…. I am too sneezy!
1.What was your first
sewing project?
Fun question! I had been playing with a sewing machine and just
stitching on scraps (instead of practicing my flute) starting in about 4th
grade. About a year later, I decided I should make a dress for myself. My
mother brought me to the fabric store and we got a pattern (ooh I loved those
big pattern books….still do!!) and a lovely red polyester with big pink polka
dots, pink ball buttons and a long red zipper. We made that dress and I wore it
with pride! The moral of this story is: If you want your child to sew, put a
sewing machine in the room where they are supposed to practice or study!!
2. What other hobbies do
you enjoy?
I love to paint and enjoy being in the mountains in the summer.
3. What is your favorite color?
Red is my jam! I generally put a bit red in everything that I sew
for my booth at Quilt Market so that everything goes together!
4.Where is your dream vacation?
4.Where is your dream vacation?
A Scandinavian tour would be my dream vaca! I would love to visit
my family’s roots in Dalarna Sweden (yes – think dala horse – I am a big fan!!),
as well as the capital cities, the fjords, palaces and Viking ships. I guess I
better get saving!
5. Who taught you how to sew?
I had 3 great teachers - my mother Jean and my grandmothers! As
mentioned, I was playing with a sewing machine and asking questions that my
mother found she couldn’t answer. She decided that she would take an adult ed
sewing class (she was an athlete in high school and never took home ec). She
taught me at home as she learned. I also learned from Dolly and Stina
(grandmothers), who would help me to sew for my dolls. Great women with loads of patience! I still
sew with my mother often (poor Jean – she gets stuck with sewing/testing my
patterns!!)!
6. What food could you eat everyday?
Hands down – ice cream. Not just any ice cream – local ice cream
at outdoor stands in the summer ice cream.
7. What do you want to be doing in five
years?
The
plan – teaching and touring the USA pulling a trailer for two! My husband and I
plan to hit the back roads to hunt down quirky attractions, scenic views and
meet quilters along the way. Bill is a railroad history buff, so I am sure we
will include a few whistle-stops too!
Kris Poor
Poorhouse Quilt Designs
Find me at:
Website:
https://www.poorhousequiltdesigns.com/
Blog:
Facebook:
Instagram:
Thanks so much Kris! We can't wait to see what you come up with!
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Introducing Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador - Stephanie Cunnyngham !
We are so pleased to introduce Stephanie Cunnyngham as our fourth Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador!
Stephanie has a contagious enthusiasm for sewing and quilting. We love her whimsical aesthetic.
Hello!
My name is Stephanie Cunnyngham, and I am a wife, boy-mom, and
farmhouse-dwelling girl who loves sewing and living in the country. I grew up
in rural Indiana and have lived here all my life. I married a handsome man I
met at a Civil War reenactment, and we have two very handsome, energetic, and
fun-loving little boys.
I
guess you can say I have always loved being creative. My mom and I would spend
Saturdays painting or sewing when I still lived at home. My granny lived two
miles down the road, and she was an avid quilter that was always sewing
something at her kitchen table or making quilts to sell. I would go visit her
and she would try to teach me to hand-quilt or crochet, but she was left-handed
and I was young, so we would get frustrated with the sewing quickly and decide
we would rather just spend our time together talking and eating pie. I carried
my love for art and creativity to college with me, and my first college degree
is in Art History from DePauw University. I loved taking art classes in college
and learning about composition, layers, and working with different methods or
creating. When I got married and moved away from home, my mom bought me my
first sewing machine, a white machine with purple accents by Kenmore from
Sears. I made curtains for our apartment and aprons to sell at markets and
fairs.
Right
now, I really enjoy all things quilting, and I have published a couple of mini
quilt patterns that I sell through my etsy shop, and I have had had two
patterns published in Homespun Magazine. Pattern design is definitely something
I would like to continue to develop.
• My first
major sewing project that I made by myself was a reproduction ball gown to wear
to a fundraiser for a historical society I volunteer at. It involved layers of
taffeta, organza, and lots of trim.
My
first quilt was made from the scraps leftover from all the cotton aprons I was
making. I used very fluffy batting and hand quilted it. It was a learning
project, that’s for sure.
2.
Other hobbies I enjoy are antique shopping, gardening, and decorating (and
re-decorating) my house. I also love planning vacations, some of which we
actually take!
3.
My favorite color sometimes changes with the season, but one color I love in
almost all shades is green. Jadeite green, mint green, grass green. You will
find those colors pretty much all over my house. I also love rich purples, and
I am starting to develop a love for yellow.
4.
As far as a dream vacation, I’d have to say anywhere with mountains.
5.
My granny tried to teach me to sew, but it was really my mom who taught me
techniques and how to use a sewing machine. She is fantastic as sewing clothes
and made my wedding dress. As far as most of my quilting knowledge and
techniques I have learned, I am mostly self taught. My favorite things to make
are small quilted projects like bags/pouches, mini quilts, and pillows.
6.
Oh, how I love food. If I could only pick three things to eat if I was stranded
on a desert island, they would be strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, and
bacon. But mostly bacon…
7.
I also have a Master’s Degree in Nursing, and I currently work as a consultant
for two different hospitals. Over the last few years, though, I have started
spending more time at home and less time at work so I can focus on enjoying my
boys and on turning my sewing hobby into more than just a hobby. In 5 years, I
would love to see myself focusing just on sewing, pattern writing, and possibly
even fabric design.
Thank you so much Stephanie!
Be sure to follow Stephanie at :
Instagram : @sissybellesews
Website : https://www.sissybellesews.com/
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