Has anyone been watching Jay McCarroll on Celebrity Fit Cub?  I knew I’d have to start watching when at last quilt market, Jay told me that he was in the middle of taping the show and was rooming with Bobby Brown and Kevin Federline.  I mean seriously!  He is proving to be just as lovable, entertaining, and competitive as he was on Project Runway.  Plus, you can take bets on which of his quilting cotton designs he’ll be wearing next.

Remember how we nerd out when we see our favorite fabrics on tv?  Keep those eyes peeled for Jay to show off more from his Woodland Wonderland, Garden Friends, and Germania collections.  It has me thinking, a head scarf sure does look easier and faster to make than those dresses I’ve got queued up…

You can catch up on Celebrity Fit Club on vh1.com

Lucky us, that even out here in the country we have so many talented designers nearby.  We especially admire Jen Giddens, who designs some of our favorite bag patterns while attending university in a quite competitive program.  So that you could get to know her too, Jen was kind enough to answer some interview questions recently.  Read on and you’ll see why we think Jen is so awesome, and why we’re so excited for her upcoming workshop at Suppose!

Other than designing bag patterns, what do you spend your days doing?

The bulk of my time is spent doing school projects. I’m a junior in the Interior Design department at Utah State University. I love the creativity and practicality of my major, and I spend a lot of time perfecting projects and participating in school organizations. I also work for the USU Cooperative Extension program, where I write researched based documents and develop projects about clothing and textiles.

When I’m not working on patterns, school, or work I enjoy skiing, training for my second half marathon, baking oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, spending time with my husband and with friends, and drinking endless amounts of tea!

Where do you get design inspiration?

I hope that all of my patterns are a combination of aesthetics and function. This is true for interior design as well: for something to be truely beautiful, it must first satisfy its functional requirements. When I first develop a pattern, I ask myself what functions the bag should fulfill. Of course I think about how the bag will look, and it’s often a back and forth process as I move from function to aesthetics and back.

In terms of what inspires me in general, this is a tough question because my inspiration changes daily! I am inspired by images from interior design magazines, textiles, furniture, etc. I am also inspired by the natural world. I enjoy going to the library and checking out books about shells, seeds, corals, beetles, or whatever else strikes my fancy as I browse through the stacks.

What was the first thing you ever sewed? The last thing?

In Home Economics in middle school I sewed a pillow shaped like a jar that held a cute little felt bug! It was adorable, and I loved it until it was completely squished and flat. Most recently, I sewed a lovely gray linen dress with a ruffled collar.

What’s the hardest part about designing patterns?

The most difficult part about designing patterns is making sure that what I am thinking in my head is effectively communicated onto paper in my instructions. I wish I could invite you over to my house so we could sew together! Instructions seem so impersonal, and it is hard for me to bridge the gap sometimes.

What one sewing tip do you wish everyone knew?

Don’t be afraid to try new things and mess up! I am self-taught, and the way I do things might not necessarily be the way it is taught by some expert seamstresses. I have made SO many sewing mess-ups, but each time I learn something new that I can apply to my next project. Don’t be afraid to do things that aren’t by the book.

What one sewing tool can you not live without?

I absolutely love my Gingher scissors that my Grandma got me for Christmas years ago. They feel lovely in my hand and are a dream to cut with.

Any plans for other types of patterns in addition to bags?

Eventually, I would like to branch out into patterns for home use. I would like to make patterns for home organization and patterns for use in the kitchen. I have no concrete plans yet, but I do have pages of doodles in my sketchbook.

Can’t wait for those home org & kitchen patterns!

Jen will be teaching her most popular bag pattern in the Pleated Tote Workshop on Saturday, April 17 at 10:00am Suppose. See more about the class here and more of Jen’s bag patterns here.

The other night we were catching up on some recent episodes of Medium, when suddenly Bridgette Dubois was wearing one of our favorite Alexander Henry prints as pajamas!  There it is, Spotted Owl in Green Tea.

I haven’t figured out whether somebody out there is producing pj’s with AH fabrics, or the costume designer is having these made just for the show.  We’ve seen Patricia Arquette wearing pj’s made of familiarly cool quilting cottons before, so maybe somebody on Medium is just a fabric junkie too.  But yeah, we’re nerds, taking screenshots of tv shows.  I’m not promising it won’t happen again.

We’ve always been fans of Liberty of London‘s coveted, luscious cotton Tana Lawn fabrics and the detailed, floral and whimsical prints they’re known for.  Though the luxury brand is a British icon, it has heretofore lacked an American presence. But that’s all changing.

Liberty seems to be teaming up with strong, reliable brands that we love all over the place these days. And being the brand loyalist I am, I’m a bit giddy to see the convergence of Liberty prints all over my every day go-to sources.

Recently, Liberty teamed up with Kaffe Fassett and Westminster Fibers to produce classic Liberty prints on quilting weight cotton in new Kaffe Fassett colorways. (Would be good for a man quilt, no?)

Now Target is about to release a range of Liberty of London wares from clothing to bikes, all featuring killer prints. Tomorrow a Liberty/Target in NYC near Bryant Park opens for just a few days. It sounds amazing and you can bet I’ll be checking the blogs and Twitter for details since I’m not there. And then maybe to assuage my jealousy I’ll sew my own dress and pillows out of our own Liberty from the shop.

As if that wasn’t enough, Liberty has also hooked up with MAC, which might as well be the official makeup of Suppose (if only they’d give us free stuff) as it’s all we know how to wear. The Liberty/MAC collection features sweet but edgy limited edition colors in a variety of products for making your face lovely.

And of course the packaging shows of Liberty prints in a way that makes you want to buy it all, even though you’re not low on makeup at all. I’m such a sucker!

Way to go, Liberty, on making your way in the American marketplace, and with the right collaborations. You know where I’ll be shopping this weekend.

Tonight we had Creative Guild meeting so it’s about time that I put up some photos from last month’s meeting, eh? Here’s what some of our ladies were up to in February.

Emma Jean is the lucky inheritor of this vintage appliqued quilt top.  Anyone know what this block pattern would be called?

Jennifer’s been on a softie kick.  Here she’s got Hector Giraffe, Polly, and the monky who’s name I forget but who has the most awesome plaid pants & suspenders.  I believe these are all from Softies Only A Mother Could Love.

Nita recently made this ultra sweet Oliver + S Birthday Party Dress for her brand new niece with the AH Spotted Owl print. I’d wear it.

That’s just a taste of all the amazing things our guild members have going. More show & tell from the Suppose Creative Guild soon!

Sometimes its surprising to me that there’s not more overlap of the worlds of fashion and quilting, both having a foundation in textiles.  But the trendy art of one can seem worlds away from the traditional craft of the other. I always say that it doesn’t have to be so, and apparently Jean Touitou knows it too.

Jean Touitou is head of French fashion labels A.P.C. and Madras, and was the kid playing guitar on the right in that photo. (At first I thought it could have been a young Zac Posen.) The log cabin quilt on the wall was made by Touitou’s mother and now hangs in his Paris studio, just a part of his quilt collection.  Touitou even put this photo on a t-shirt for his upcoming Fall collection. But that’s not all.  Via style.com…

He and his Madras co-designer Jessica Ogden are currently at work on a quilting project (part art exhibition, part retail initiative) for which they dug fabric out of the A.P.C. archives and delivered it to women in India who have been specially trained in the handicraft style of the American South. “My mother was a quilter,” Touitou explained, “and so was Jessica’s mother. We share the obsession.”

It’s unclear what exactly this quilting project is, but I am oh so curious (and will update appropriately).  I love that these fashion elite appreciate the contributions of quilting and find the influence of patchwork in their own design aesthetic.  I likewise think that there is a lot in the fashion world that we can glean for use in our approach to patchwork and quilting.  In fact, I’ll be starting a new series here on the topic soon.  Keep on the lookout…