I had the opportunity to meet and hang out with fabric and pattern designer Tanya Wendelken while at Spring quilt market.  Tanya, a very young looking mother of three, also gave us the opportunity to quilt her quilt that was on display in the FreeSpirit/Westminster Booth.

(We actually had a total of four quilts hanging in the FreeSpirit booth which we quilted and they are free patterns on FreeSpirits website–including Anna Marie Horner and Heather Bailey’s quilts...and in addition, we had four quilts hanging in the LakeHouse Fabrics booth which we quilted on our Statler Stitcher quilting machine...quite exciting for Stephanie and I!)  

I asked Tanya to tell you more about the life of a fabric/pattern designer.  Tanya has also crossed over to the blogging world and started a blog called, Grand Revival Design. Plus, Tanya is doing a little give-a-way on her blog right now, so head on over!

So give a big blogging welcome Tanya.

“Wow, I'm so happy Gina asked me to blog. So here's a little about me...

I'm a fabric designer for Free Spirit which has recently merged with Westminter Fibers and my collection Barefoot Roses was just introduced at Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City Utah. That's a whole story in itself, it was my first time to market and for fabric lovers it's kind of like fabric Nirvana.

I'm also a sewing pattern designer and am developing a line of patterns. The first pattern, the Flea Market Bag pattern, was introduced at Quilt Market and is available through great retailers. I'm a married mother of 3 crazy, smart, sweet, sometimes quite naughty, exhaustingly lively children all under age 10.

Inspired By Old Junk

Other things to know about me, I LOVE old stuff (old houses, old furniture, old junk) always have, always will and I'm kind of a geek. I live in Norfolk an historic old city in Virginia.

 Inspiration for me comes mainly from the past, old objects, architecture, textiles, even old movies and movies set in the past, inspire me. I see old things as a way to really connect with the past and this is what my design work is all about. My designs for me feel nostalgic but revived and refreshed for the way we live today hence the name of my company.....Grand Revival.

Sewing It Up!

 I've been sewing since I was maybe 5 or 6 and I still have a lot to learn.

 I learned to love sewing and creativity in general from my mother who has
 always made beautiful things and who has a wonderful and sophisticated
 design sense.

My Barefoot Roses Fabric Collection

My new fabric collection totally reflects this. The patterns include lots of old-fashioned nostalgic motifs like roses, dots and ticking stripes but rendered in fresh, clear, vivid colors. I wanted the collection to feel familiar and fresh at the same time. I also wanted to make a collection that could easily cross over to home decorating and accessories so that it could be used for a quilt or curtains or a handbag with equal success. This was important to me because I'm a bit on the frugal (ok, cheap) side and am always looking for fabric that I can decorate, quilt or make a dress or a  bag out of that doesn't cost $30.00 a yard.

I have always loved textiles since I was really little I had definite and strong feelings (weirdly) about what kind of comforter I wanted for my bed. It's funny and a bit cliche but the things your attracted to when your little can really give you clues about what you should be doing as an adult.

Finding A Balance with Motherhood and Business

Where this business takes me in 5 years really depends on my children and my own capacity to balance motherhood with everything else. My oldest son will go to middle school next year which makes me realize how quick this whole kid thing goes. I really want to enjoy and experience my kids while they're little and I am definitely not the kind of woman who can "do it all." I'm the kind of woman who must get 8 to 9 hours of sleep every night or I'm a really cranky baby the next day.  So, I'm just not sure where I'll be in 5 years. For now I'm just going to take it day by day and make changes where necessary.

Advice for Aspiring Designers and Creators

The main advice I have is that if your lucky enough to know what you want to do (for so many people this is the hard part) just have confidence in your own vision. Do not think that there is some magical barrier up preventing you from getting into the industry, job, business you want.

I think this is the biggest hurdle to get over. If you have real confidence that there is a nitch in a field or market that you can fill then put your ego aside and go for it! You may get a lot of "no's" along the way but if you have confidence in your own vision the chances are good that someone else will take a chance on you. You'll absolutely never know until you try. Cliche but true.
 
Anyway, that's all the very limited amount of wisdom I have to offer. Thanks so much for reading this and please come visit me at my blog if you have a chance.
 
Take good care,Tanya

Thanks for the insights, Tanya.  I am looking forward to seeing her new projects and designs that will be coming our way...And I am looking forward to playing a bit more with Tanya...we are going to be getting some of her fabric samples to design with...I will keep you posted.

(Photos and graphics are the creation of Tanya.)