I thought I was pretty clever when I came up with the title of this post. We are the 16th designer on the Moda Pillow Talk blog hop, it is the 16th and we are Sweetwater- so it made sense to me!
For those of you who are new, Sweetwater is actually 3 people. My mom, Karla; sister, Susan and me, Lisa.
When we were asked to make a pillow that represents us, we knew we would use words to tell the story. We love words, typography and anything graphic. Here is our pillow:
Most of the words represent our company now- our fabric lines, our blog, etc. "1986" represents the year my mom started her company "Farmyard Creations". That seems like a very long time ago, but I can remember spending my summers folding patterns and earning $5 per 1000. Seriously, a whole five dollars. My niece, Jordan, commands a much higher rate now.
Of course, we put the words on a label. Labels are a huge part of our business. And for those of you who know us, you know we put labels on everything:
So, if you would like to try our labels, we will personalize one for you so you can make a pillow similar to ours:
We used some of our favorite words,because we know they describe you or someone you love. We personalize it by putting a name(s) or word at the bottom of the design. On the sample, we have my sister's last name along with the names of her family members. You can have anything you wish printed on that line.
The pillow kit, including the label, fabric and pattern is available on our Etsy site. You can also purchase the label separately- it looks great framed.
Okay- here are our answers to the blog hop questions (because there are 3 of us, I made everyone have separate answers):
What is a little known fact about yourselves?
Lisa- My husband is a dairy farmer and I hate milk.
Susan- I know how to walk Indian style on my knees. It starts with this position (notice the nice brown grass):
Now up your knees:
Now just put one knee in front of the other:
I'm sure it would be better on video, but you get the idea. Now try it!
Karla- My first job wasn't too creative. I was 15 and cleaned cabins at a Colorado mountain resort. I made 50 cents an hour.
How do you relax?
Lisa- That's a tough one. I'm not one for sitting, but I do read a little bit before bed to help my mind shut off. My ultimate relaxation is taking a 90 minute walk. I rarely (never) get to do it anymore, but it sure relaxes my mind.
Susan- I take a very, very hot bath every night. I come out looking like a tomato.
Karla- I love reading blogs. Quilt blogs, decorating blogs, etc. I consider it market research.
What do you wear to bed?
Lisa- T-shirt and shorts. Every night. But it has to be a white t-shirt. Don't ask me why. Absolutely no flannel.
Susan- Plain, very old and raggy t-shirt and shorts.
Karla- T-shirt and pajama pants. I love flannel.
What kind of pillow do you like?
Lisa- I like whatever pillow is on my bed. I'm not too particular. However, I was at a hotel recently that had square down filled bed pillows. I really liked that- just the right size for my head. I looked for some and found them at West Elm. They were $24- and I would need 4 to spread across my bed, so I'll just stick with my old $10 Target one for now.
Susan- Kinda picky. I need 1 soft and 1 hard pillow. The hard one has to be on top of the soft one. Actually, I am really picky about my bedding. I have a problem with hotels. Not only do I bring my own pillow, I bring my own blankets. I will absolutely never touch the sheets, blankets, bedspread or pillows at any hotel. Even if it were the Four Season (where I have never stayed), I wouldn't touch it. I'm convinced there are cooties in all of that. I do use their towels, though. Go figure.
Karla- Soft. When I travel I would like to take my own if it would fit in my suitcase.
When you were young did you sleep with a stuffed animal?
Lisa- I did sleep with a doll. Her name was "Baby Beans". She was pink, kind of dirty and had really ratty hair.
Susan- I slept with 2 stuffed animals- Papa Smurf and Smurfette. Both looked a little ragged and grungy.
Karla- Nope.
Do you sew in bed? Read? Watch tv? Eat?
Lisa- I just read. Wish I could watch TV, but we don't have one in our bedroom.
Susan- No sewing, no reading (I can count the number of books I have read in my life on 2 fingers). No TV- we have a small TV in our bedroom that you would need a microscope to see. No eating. Just sleeping.
Karla- Only reading in bed. Usually magazines.
How many nights have you or your spouse spent on the couch?
Lisa- The only time I sleep on the couch is when my husband isn't home. I admit to being kind of scared at night when he isn't there, and for some reason I feel safer on the couch. I have no idea why. My silly mind just thinks that if someone were to break in and attack me, they wouldn't do it if I were on the couch.
Susan- I sleep many nights on the couch (by choice). If I can't fall asleep, I go directly to the couch and I am out like a light.
Karla- Not the whole night, but I fall asleep quite often watching TV on the couch.
Nighttime toddy?
Lisa- I do most of my work at night when my son finally goes to sleep- so I usually have a little snack, not a "toddy" though. I usually eat something I don't want him to have, like chocolate.
Susan- No toddy.
Karla- Would a McDonald's Coke count? McDonald's has the best Coke.
Early to bed or all-nighter?
Lisa- Oh I could stay up all night and not get tired. But mornings- I hate them!
Susan- Not early to bed, not an all-nighter. I'm a tweener.
Karla- Early to bed- but not like 7- more like 9:30.
Who would you most like to have a pillow fight with?
Lisa- Probably my sister. I need to get her back for torturing me when we were kids. She used to play a game of who could hit the hardest. She always won because I never hit her. Don't worry, she grew out of her mean stage. Now her son tortures me. I used to be able to wrestle him and let him win. Now the seven year old just takes me down.
Susan- My sister. I know I would win because she wouldn't fight back.
Karla- Lisa and Susan. It's generally two against one in all our decisions. And I'm always the one.
Now for the best part. Of course we are going to give something away! My sister said the other day she was tired of talking about Sunkissed on our blog. Well, too bad for her. Our next fabric line isn't here yet, so this is what we have. If you aren't too tired of trying to win some Sunkissed, leave us a comment telling us what colors you would like included in our next collection to. Well, technically it's not our next collection, because we hope to show you that in the next few weeks. But the collection we haven't designed yet. Not making any promises, but we do listen!
The winner will win an entire collection of fat eights (from Sunkissed of course!).
We will announce the winner on Monday- right after the Moda Pillow Talk blog hop concludes. Don't forget to visit Deb Strain's blog next. She could possibly be the sweetest woman on the face of the earth!
*OOPS! We screwed up. Tomorrow is Barbara Brackman and Deb is on Friday. Sorry!