Meet Miss Mustard Seed; mom, accidental entrepreneur, textile and paint expert and now a FreeSpirit!

Miss Mustard Seed, Marian Parsons, joins the ranks
of FreeSpirit Designers!

Her story is like yours or mine.  Young mom, looking to supplement her families income to help cover the cost of diapers and groceries; $200 a month would suffice. What started out as a one-woman-show decorative painting and mural business, evolved into an antiques business that tripped into a blog and blossomed into a entire brand.   Now, you can find Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint Line in over 300 retail locations in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. Plus, her followers, over 150,000+ in all Social Media channels, love absorbing her talent, inspiration and joy as she guides you to making your home beautiful all on a DIY budget!

To add to her DIY and maker reproitoire, you can now partner all this love of love antiques, decorating on a budget, and giving old pieces of furniture new life with beautiful FreeSpirit Fabrics.  Introducing FreeSpirit Bunnies, Birds and Blooms! 

FreeSpirit Bunnies, Birds & Blooms by Miss Mustard Seed in the
Mustard Seed (top) and Enamel colorways. Each features
Solids which mimic her Milk Paint line, a perfect combo for your
DIY pleasures.

To welcome her in true FreeSpirit style, we have called upon a few friends who love fabric and more importantly are loving the designs from Miss Mustard Seed. Please plan to follow our Instagram Tour where some of your favorite "experts" will give you plenty of reason to want to touch, feel, sew and create along with Miss Mustard Seed!  Here is the schedule:

Miss Mustard Seed, April 5

Material Girl Quilts, April 12 

My Bear Paw, April 19

Kitchen Table Quilting, April 26 

Fat Quarter Shop, May 3

Lish Dorset, May 10

I'm A Ginger Monkey, May 17 

Daisy and Jack, May 24

She Quilts A Lot, May 31

Along the journey, please share the work of these instagrammers using #MissMustardSeedinstagramtour and perhaps you may be chosen to win some of your own Bunnies, Birds and Blooms!!!!!!

Enjoy!

The Artist UnSEWn - FreeSpirit Presents Tanya Whelan's Rambling Rose

"Hygge is in the Air"

Tanya Whelan's Rambling Rose

You may have heard the term "hygge" a lot lately. It seems to be everywhere this year and especially this time of year. Hygge is a Danish concept that is often translated as coziness in English. From what I understand it basically just describes a feeling or atmosphere where the small, simple things in life like warmth, good food, family and friends are appreciated and celebrated. Though the Scandinavians undoubtedly do coziness incredibly well, I think every culture and perhaps even every person has their own version of what makes for coziness and warmth in a home. Maybe it's a New England cottage by the sea on a snowy day with a roaring fire, or a little log cabin in the mountains with pot belly stove, or even a walk up brownstone apartment in New York City with a perfect little Christmas tree with it's twinkling lights that represents a refuge of warmth and coziness to you.

Tanya Whelan's Rambling Rose

For me, where ever I happen to be, quilts have always brought home the feeling of coziness. I loved the quilts I would see in antique stores when I was growing up. I loved the bright colours and floral patterns pieced into intricate designs. But I especially loved the idea that these beautiful quilts were put together over time using leftover fabric from worn clothing or feedsacks out of necessity and that they were made by hard working women to keep their families warm and safe. I loved the quilt that my mom made in the seventies out of leftover fabric from sewing projects. Though she always intended to, my mom never got around to actually quilting it. The top was pieced and tied to keep the batting in place but it made no difference to me as a little kid. It simply made me feel safe and warm. Years later I wrapped my own baby boy in that same quilt. Similarly the baby quilts my mom made for each of my children still bring me that sense of warmth and love. As does the perfect pink, expertly hand quilted quilt my grandmother made me which kept me warm in my first apartment New York City as a young adult.

Tnaya Whelan's Rambling Rose

I think all of my fabric collections are inspired by my love of homeyness, of coziness, of hygge and this newest collection, Rambling Rose, is no exception. So, at this coldest time of year I just want to wish you lots of hygge and lots of snuggling under that perfect quilt.

xoxo

Tanya

Desinger Spotlight - FreeSpirit presents Eden by Tula Pink PLUS a Giveaway!

Want to know more abut Tula Pink? We sat down with Tula to discuss her newest FreeSpirit collection, Eden. Enjoy!

CONGRATS to Jenny from Fort Wayne, IN for winning! Tell us what you think would be a fun "Tula" collection - do you have a theme or animal you would like to see in her fabric? Comment below and you could win a Fat Quarter bundle and 3 yards of Crouching Tiger fabric from her newest collection, Eden! 

Modern Solids, Traditional Inspiration Challenge!

"Handed down from generation to generation, evolving slightly each time, [traditional] quilting patterns are themselves a living. breathing entity." – Denyse Schmidt, "Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration".

We are very excited to be partnering with Denyse to host the first ever Modern Solids, Traditional Inspiration Challenge! 

We’ve selected 7 amazing bloggers who have accepted the challenge.  Starting this month we will be featuring their progress as they make a quilt using fabric from our Modern Solids 75pc Fat Quarter box*.  The winner’s quilt will be featured in our booth at this Fall’s Quilt Market!

Big Charms pattern available from Denyse Schmidt.  Check out the Discover section of makeitcoats.com for loads of more free projects and patterns featuring our FreeSpirit designers and fabrics!

*Please check with your local shop for the Denyse Schmidt Modern Solids box

Cocoon Tutorial

Here is a great tutorial that is 'Easy Peasy' for your quick project liking. These pillows will surely put some color in your home for the summer months ahead. Cocoon is offered in three great substrates that can all translate to pillows very well. Voile, for a VERY soft look and feel, linen which is a light weight that would compliment your porch and then our standard cotton weight which is great for any area of the house.

Thanks to Melissa P for bringing us this great pillow tutorial. Enjoy!

The Last Day of our Spring Celebration . . . One Last Chance Comment to Win!

This is our last day of celebrating the beginning of Spring. Karen at Birdsong Cabin is the winner of our Day 3 Giveaway, six one yard cuts of Classica by Annette Tatum!



Rowan Farmington by Martha Negley



Last but not least, we want to again talk about our sister brand Rowan and the beautiful prints in Farmington by Martha Negley, 33, 100% cotton SKUs available now. According to Martha, her father's family was from Farmington, Illinois. This new collection is inspired by that small town and, in a way, his memory. Herringbone brick paths, iron gates, crabapple trees, spring flowers and the feathers for the fly fishing enthusiasm he passed on to her

Farmington says Spring all over with its beautiful flowers and very usable all over prints.  To get your creativity started, make this table runner using her Crocus and Iron Gate prints.

To add a little Farmington to your life, tell us about your home town and how it inspires your creativity, much like Farmington, IL inspired Martha. Comment today only and we will select one random winner to receive six, one yard cuts of Martha's Farmington.