When I first met Heidi Kelly, we were at a gallery opening for the METAvivor Serenity Project, which was loud and exciting. As we were talking, I noticed the clutch she was holding contained a recognizable textile designers’ print. I asked her if she had made it. It turns out, she had. Heidi and I are both breast cancer survivors. And, you can imagine that finding community and support during an experience like this is crucial. To find friends who -also- share a passion for making, stitch, and quilting fabrics? Precious.
Heidi is on the right, Marianne Duquette Cuozzo, another creative survivor, is on the left.
Check out Heidi’s website, FB, Insta, and Etsy.
This is what Heidi has to say about working with Florabunda!,
“I was so excited to work with Melanie Testa and her Florabunda! collection not just because I absolutely adore mixing and matching prints, but Melly and I share a very important bond, we are both breast cancer survivors. Being able to collaborate with a fellow artist and breastie was an amazing experience.
Florabunda! is an exciting collection of prints and not to mention beautiful, vibrant colors. I chose to design a one of a kind handbag and coordinating makeup bag. I used 8 different fabrics and all are represented in the handbag.I added a small makeup bag that not only can be worn as a wristlet on its own, but has a metal clip to attach it to the inside of the handbag. My favorite print is the large floral print with the pink background, which I used as the main fabric for the handbag. Thank you to Melanie for this amazing opportunity and a chance to really push my creativeness.
Check out Heidi’s interview of me here. And Heidi’s post about using Florabunda! here.
And as a reminder, here are all the participants in the hop:
June 7–Tiffany Hayes
June 8–Deborah Boschert
June 9–Sara Mika
June 10–Lyric Kinard
*June 11–Kathy York
June 11–Teri Lucas
*June 12—Susan Brubaker Knapp
June 12 Leslie Tucker Jenison
*June 13—Tiffany Hayes
June 13—Jamie Fingal
June 14–Debby Brown
*June 14–Heidi Kelly
June 15– David Gilleland
Please follow RJR Fabrics and Quilty Box and me, @mellytesta on Instagram! That is where we will host most of the the giveaways (my blog will have some extra swag).
And hey, if you don’t know who Quilty Box is, you should! I am their featured artist for the month of June. They are a quilterly subscription service that introduces you to the latest products, fabric lines and patterns, by up and coming quilt makers and artists. They will be giving a Melly Box away to one of you off this blog on June 16. In the meantime, get ready to see what my colleagues made!
Melanie Testa 