Sharing The Joy! A Giveaway

The Writer and I had so much fun at the photo shoot with Josh Moates, Layla and Kevin Palmer and Marilyn Heard. What a fabulous team. I love it when you are working your fanny off but it feels like fun.  To read all about the shoot go to The Lettered Cottage.

I can’t even believe I am posting that horrible picture except that it is so cute of Layla. Oh, to be twenty something again….

This one is a little bit better, not much. LOL

Here I am taking a picture of Layla…

who’s taking a picture of Kevin and Josh who are….. taking pictures. haha .. whole lotta clickin goin on!

Now for the good part. As a celebration for getting this far and as a thank you to YOU for being excited for us we are having a give away.

Look at the fabrics shown below, leave a comment telling me which one is your favorite and one lucky person will receive a bolster pillow in the fabric of your choice.

If you were peeking through the front door of my shop this is what you would see today.

The 2013 collection numbered and ready for your reaction.

These two little guys are called 17.angel wings in turquoise and

                                         18.diamonds in pink

On the opposite side of the store is #20 “Springtime Fun in orange.”

So decide which number is your favorite; leave me a comment telling me your choice and be a gem and share this on your Facebook page and we will see what happens!

Winner will be announced December 14, this Friday. Good Luck!

Excitement Is In The Air As We Prepare For My Fabric Photoshoot

We have been scouting locations for a photo shoot for my new fabric line that will hit the market the first of January but in my heart there was really only one place that would do. We paid a visit today with the Governor’s representative and discussed the possibilities. Not only does it thrill me to simply walk the grounds but tears fill my eyes as I remember the kindness of Mr. Red Blount. He made his fortunes the old fashion way- hard, hard work and long hours. Then he spent his latter years giving back. And, oh, how he gave. Without this precious man there would be no Shakespeare Theater in Montgomery. The Montgomery Museum of Art certainly would not be what it is today. There would be no Blount Park and now the state is the guardian of the incredible home, conservatory and chapel that Mr. and Mrs. Blount built and their children donated for the State’s use.

As you drive onto the estate you cross this charming bridge/

Looking to your right you see this lovely bridge.

The trees still had some pretty color.

There were no trees at all on this property when the Blounts bought it. Don’t you love people with vision?

Just being on the property made me happy.

From the motor court you walk down a couple of steps into a formal garden.

And then… the pièce de résistance…. the conservatory

Be still my soul.

Bobby McAlpine, you out did yourself. Josh Moates of Kim Box Photography tells me the light in there is amazing.

Then you walk inside… and lose your breath.

David Braly did some amazing work also in the painting of the walls in the stair hall.

The pool and pool house are beyond the conservatory.

I really hope we can make this work. I can’t quite figure it out in my head yet but I have some talented friends that I am sure will help me.

Thank you Blount family for making my city beautiful. We appreciate you.

If you would like to say, “That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

www.cindybarganier.com.

DONE!

We did it! The fabric baby has been birthed. We will go to market in December with 18 patterns and coordinates and hope and pray that the public gets as excited about it as we are.

Now the issue is how to get the samples made. There are so many steps involved in this process:

Serged fabric, printed tags, applied tags, fitted grommets, applied rings….. the list seems never-ending.

But we will get it done. Do I see a cottage industry in the making?

Thanks for being excited with us. Pictures will be forth coming.

And if you would like to say, “That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

 www.cindybarganier.com.

Finger Biting Time

Which one do I choose???

The time is here. Thursday, I have to decide which fabrics will make the cut for the première of the Cindy Barganier Fabric Collection. I wish I could just spread all of the options out on the floor and have each of you vote for your top 10. Or better yet, someone just come do this for me.

So many decisions to make. Which pattern on which ground? Linen? Cotton? Silk? Wool?

This or That

That this is just how I feel. LOL

arghhh. See you Monday after all of this is behind me.

If you would like to say, “That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

www.cindybarganier.com.

The New Age Of Digital

If you missed part 1 click here or part 2 click here

After seeing the huge area required to print the traditional way it is almost comical to see what is required now.

The new way to print

So there you have it. One day, that whole big plant will potentially be reduced to this.

The following picture is from the colorist room where designers scrutinize color match so that each run is the same.

color guide

 This shows fabric patterns that are being tested for color, match and scale that are still on the drawing board.

Now the work begins

So now it was the time of discovery, did I really know what I was doing and would my work translate into what their designer needed.  (Read “nail-biting time”)

Amazingly, for the most part I got it right. LOL

We made a few minor adjustments on pattern match and it was time to make a strike off to see how it would really look on fabric. YIKES! This was really happening. What if we all hated it? What if we all loved it? What if , after all of this, we couldn’t meet the dead-line?  So many “what ifs”.

I’m seeing my work on their computer system for the first time.

Do we hit the print button or not?

PRINT!

And out rolls the first ever strike off of the new

CINDY BARGANIER FABRIC COLLECTION

Springtime Fun from Cindy Barganier Fabric Collection

What would you call me?

Ocean Stripe from Cindy Barganier Fabric Collection

FIRST 3 PATTERNS AS WE SAW THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME

Bear in mind that this is being done on the cheapest fabric with no sizing or finishing which is what makes the color pop.

Sadly, this little guy didn’t make the cut. He was pixelated and couldn’t be fixed.

NO GO

What do you do when the pattern you had planned on featuring won’t work? You pretend like you are back in college and you stay up until the mood strikes and you design a new pattern from scratch that will work. You then send it to the mill in the wee hours, get it approved as soon as the doors open, run the strike-off, get customer approval and print all within a 12 hour period so that you hit your dead-line.

Then one day the UPS man arrives and he hands you the first bolts.

Cindy Barganier Fabric Collection

So you jump in the car and head to 30A for the installation.

before

A week ago this was a closet. I found a carpenter who could go to Florida in one day to remove the doors, remove all of the shelving and rods and build a daybed with raised “tables” at either end.

Then sweet Marilyn Heard and George Evans went down with us to transform it into a daybed extraordinaire.

We worked, and we worked..

and then we worked some more

No, you aren’t seeing things. Yes, it is midnight and yes, we are all working in pajamas. LOL

We are the crazy ones who are most creative at night. That’s why we move into the houses for concierge move in services.  It’s going above and beyond.

We didn’t have all of the lamps and accessories yet but this will give you a good idea of where we are headed.

Bespoke Daybed in Amber fabric by Cindy Barganier

Amber Fabric by Cindy Barganier

Then we moved on to the next room where the Ocean Stripe fabric was being used.

Ocean Stripe in teal and blue

Thanks to a little Pinterest inspiration I used the fabric on Yolo Board inspired headboards and added individual lights for nighttime reading enjoyment.

Ocean Stripe by Cindy Barganier

We haven’t gotten to accessorization yet but do notice the adorable vintage bathing suit sheets peeking out from the shams.

 While ya’ll hit the waves, I’m just gonna hit the bed.

I’m done.

Thank you to another precious client who “gets it” and let’s us do our thing.

We loved working with you and can’t wait to hear your squeals tonight.

If you would like to say, “That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

www.cindybarganier.com.

Fabric Lesson Continued

If you missed part 1 of  My Fabric Line Is On The Market click here.

With roll upon roll of fabrics and wallcoverings ready to be either printed or shipped I was a girl in paradise.

This big, bad boy is the steamer room that will make charcoal out of you in nothing flat. It is here that excess dye is removed and sizing is added to give the fabric a soft hand.

The very first decision that has to be made before printing can begin is which ground fabric you want to use. There are hundreds of options from Belgian linen to China Silk. Within each category are sub-categories based on weight, finish etc.

The grey goods are pre-washed to remove any impurities or finishes that might be on them that would affect printing.

Stroheim and Romann -maybe?

This machine “re-squares the fabric if it has become skewed during the print process.

Now here is the mind blower for me as I scroll through the next few images…..

That’s right,,, that says RALPH

Thibaut Wallpaper

Duralee/Highland Court ready to ship

Lots of Thibaut

Was this Waverly? I couldn’t keep up.

That’s just lots of good old fashion paint and dye folks. Watch your clothes!

Making sure the Purchase Order matches the goods.

So these people now print for Duralee, Highland Court, Thibaut, Kelly Werstler, Ralph Lauren, Schumacher…… and ….. me?

 How does that even happen. God is amazing.

Stay tuned for the final installment of old world meets new in the land of fabric design.

If you want to say, “That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

www.cindybarganier.com.

New Fabric Line Hits The Market!

What artist wouldn’t be happy with a post that opens with a picture like that!

This was not planned to happen this fast but when a client sees your designs for fabrics,  flips and says,

“I want to use it”

you find a way to make it happen- right?

It was a case of right time, right place, and, God’s favor.

One of the plants that prints for Duralee is experimenting with digital printing as opposed to hand printing and they needed a guinea pig. I had a mountain of fabric designs that had so many colors they HAD to be printed digitally and I needed a printer. God put us together.

I warn you, this is going to be a long post so I will break it up into bite size pieces but I think you will find it fascinating.

hand screen printing

Traditionally, fabrics have been made a couple of different ways. The oldest method and most expensive is custom, hand screening where two people walk opposite each other down a long table filled with fabric and drag a wooden squeegee over screens made of silk to push dye through the silk. There is a different screen for every single color. For instance, if the pattern has red flowers with brown stems and green leaves, the guys walk the length of the table applying the brown first, one repeat at a time, for the entire 60 yards of fabric. Then they remove that screen and get the one with the flowers on it and do the same thing applying the red, then grab the third screen and apply the green etc, etc, etc.  It is very labor intensive and one little mistake can ruin an entire run.

silk screens

fabric ready for screening

rows and rows of screens for different fabrics or papers

Then some amazingly smart person figured out how to cut the patterns onto large drums and have a machine do the work of the sqeeggee men.The color is laid simultaneously as the fabric passes along the conveyor belt.

This is what the drums look like. This would be the “screen” for one color.

rotary printers

The bolt of washed fabric, called grey goods at this point, is feed onto the conveyor belt very carefully so that it is precisely timed to arrive at the next color station after the previous part of the pattern has been printed.

Now this is where it starts to get really fun. Can  you see that each tube or drum has a different part of the over-all design on it? One has the tree trunk, another the branches, another the leaves, then the birds etc.

You can literally just walk down the ramp and watch the pattern come to life right in front of you.

I have always loved factories. They fascinate me.

In person, you can look through the end of the tube and watch the color squirting through the openings.

first one color

then another

until finally

you have the finished deal

Doesn’t that just make you want to cheer???

final product

I think this is a Schumacher pattern but I am not sure. This machine squares the fabric up and heat sets the dye.

yuk, it’s stiff

As it rolls off the belt it is inspected for appropriate color, pattern match etc and adjustments are made. The fabric is very stiff at this point. You would not want to sit on it.

This machine is called a calander and it adds finish. Two rollers, one with heat and pressure and one with cold, squeeze the fabric as it goes through. To make a chintz the skids shine it like a spit-shine.

being prepared for sizing

It will next be sent basically to a VERY hot steam bath where any excess dye will be washed away and sizing will be added to make the fabric soft and pliable.

We will continue our lesson on how fabric is made tomorrow.

If you would like to say, “That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

www.cindy barganier.com.

Related articles

• Digital Fabric Printing (interiorsbyelement.com)

Great New Video From Beacon Hill

	Beacon Hill Fabrics has just come out with their new Rustic Collection and I thought you might enjoy a glimpse of what we get to see. The video is fabulous. Enjoy. Introducing The Rustic Collection
	Experience The Rustic Collection through video… Visit the Beacon Hill YouTube pageBeacon Hill’s latest introduction draws from the contrasts and similarities between rustic retreats across the Americas. The timeless and elegant designs feature natural fibers and cool and saturated color palettes complimentary to every design scheme.Visit beaconhilldesign.com to view the full collection.
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And if you would like to say,”That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

www.cindybarganier.com.

 

Craaaazy Week!

Whew! Did you miss me? Sorry for the absence but we just did 5 cities in 3 states in 6 days which means some exciting posts are headed your way!

The first part of the week featured a seminar for fabric designers who want to license their work- ME!

Have you ever heard of this show?

If your answer was “yes!” then you know who Martyn Lawrence Bullard is– “everyone’s favorite Brit”.

Well…

 He is perfectly delightful and I loved spending some time with him but he reminded me  of one thing….people with a huge platform (name recognition) do a lot less of the actual work than I do. LOL

I ACTUALLY draw all of my designs, then scale them, color them, put them into repeat etc. etc. He walks in with a box of “inspiration” in the form of old textiles, ceramic tiles, pottery , jewelry and Shumacher’s design team designs the collection. hmmmm I need a bigger platform. haha

Here are some shots from a recent show where he and his assistants are preparing for and having an initial meeting with Daisey Fuentes.

       They look a little intense to me.

  

Here she comes.

 

So I’m thinking this lovely……

 

       

  I love these next two pictures because they show his cute little wit and playful personality.

 

Well guys and gals another successful meeting! Great job

 

On the way out-of-town we stopped by here

in order to see this

If you don’t understand go here. 🙂

And if you would like to say, “That was fun!” at the end of your project contact me at

www.cindybarganier.com.

 

Lost And Found

Lost And Found.