December Designer of the Month Liz Hawkins and Beth Hawkins of Lizzie B Cre8ive

 

Hi I’m Pat Sloan the Aurifil Designer of the Month coordinator. For December our stitchery series is from the incredible Lizzie B Cre8ive design team duo, Beth Hawkins and Liz Hawkins. Who are not sisters, do not live in the same state, but they did marry brothers way back when… before they even quilted!

Beth and Liz have an incredibly playful style which shows up in their quilts, their fabric and

in their booths at the trade show! who else puts a FULL TREE into their booth, it’s pretty darn amazing! They are the most generous of quilters and if you can book them to teach or go to an event where they are, I promise you will have the BEST time ever!

So you don’t get confused….

Liz is a Red head… Beth is BLONDE…

Liz lives in Pennsylvania and Beth lives in Arizona…

I interviewed Liz and Beth on July 2, 2012 and February 14, 2011 on my radio show.  Click the date and scroll the page to listen to the podcast! Plus for some fun.. Click here to see Liz, Beth and Pat Jib Jab the Holidays!

You must start to follow their blog  and Facebook page

Blog http://dreamlaughcreate.blogspot.com/

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/LizzieBcre8ive 

This is our last 2012 block… the setting will be revealed later this month or early next month. Plus later this month I’ll reveal the 2013 Design team!

Remember to post your photo at our Flickr folder of a project given by one of the Aurifil Designers of the month (see tab on right for all the profiles). One quilter EACH MONTH will win a REALLY NICE THREAD prize from Aurifil! Just post a photo of your completed block. Everyone in the Flickr folder is in the running!

Flickr folder –www.flickr.com/groups/2012_aurifil_featured_designerofthemonth/

Let’s get to know Liz and Beth… or Beth and Liz… they finish each others sentences and

you know rumor has it that sometimes I call them by the other one’s name…but I’m not sure how true that rumor is

When did you first start to do embroidery or stitching? Where did you learn

Liz: I did my first stitching when I was 11. A church lady taught me. It wasn’t
pretty. It’s probably collecting dust in my parent’s crawl space along with my
crocheted watermelon oven pad and macrame’d plant holder. The 70’s were
sweet!

Beth: I started in the 70’s too… embroider-tattoo’ing all over my hip-hugger, bell bottom jeans!

(Gosh, don’t look too closely at that lettering. I guess I was still learning that
chain-stitch?!) My mom and grandma taught me everything stitchy.

I have some well-loved and still-in-use dish towels that were embroidered by my
grandma. I debated whether I should actually use them, or just stash them
away…but I love to use them in my kitchen and think of her and all the things she
taught me. Good memories of drying dishes in the kitchen or helping her cook.

Favorite go to stitch? 
We do a lot of lettering in our appliqué designs, and add finishing touches to the
appliqué with embroidery stitches…and the stitch we use a LOT is the basic
outline (or stem) stitch.

Did you work at another career prior to this … what was it? Do you still do that
career while having your design business?

We both did a lot of crafting and retail. Beth organized and ran craft shows with her Mom, and Liz whipped up crafts and sold them in local home and craft shows. But I think we would both agree that our REAL career is being Mom’s, which we still manage to do while running Lizzie B….well, sort of. At least we keep the freezer stocked!

What does your studio look like?

Liz: My daughter and her friends describe it as a “Happy Place”. They like to just
sit on my purple couch and hang out. It’s filled with inspiration and things I love.
My sewing machine faces the window where I get a view of the ever changing
Delaware River. I love it!

Beth: My studio USUALLY pretty organized, but definitely FILLED to the brim with
clutter, inspiring things I love, and LOTS of color.

What is your favorite storage tip or place?
Beth: IKEA! Love their shelves. They line the wall of my studio… Perfect shelves
for quilts, fabric, patterns ready to ship!

Liz: Ditto! We love IKEA.

How do you fill your soul? What I mean by this is – what makes you SO HAPPY
that you know that if you do this you are experiencing a little ‘Heaven on Earth’.

Beth: This sounds kinda silly, and definitely not stitching-related…but I LOVE to ski. (HEY, WAIT. I guess it is stitching-related this month! Just realized our design is a little skier girl…) Our little tucked-away ski resort in the Arizona mountains is the best place! Last time I was there, I was the only one on a particular ski run, and was making the first tracks in the snow that morning. I could see for miles…and I just thought to myself, “I am so HAPPY and I LOVE this!”

Liz: Spending time with my husband and kids. We do a LOT of lounging around in our family room together talking and laughing. My kids are hilarious and completely goofy. Their friends often join us and marvel that we like to hang out together, but they join in and become part of the family too. My HOME is definitely my little heaven on Earth. On my kitchen table there’s a saying: “A house is built with walls and beams, a home is built with love and dreams.” So true!

How do your ideas develop? Do you sketch, doodle, put ideas on a mood board?

We doodle like crazy. And love using our iPads to doodle and send ideas back
and forth. It makes living so far apart just a little easier!

What are your Aurifil ‘go to’ thread colors?

When we’re stitching, we LOVE that turquoise…see snowflakes. Seriously,
yummy! But when we’re sewing our go-to is definitely the neutrals, especially
#2326. (Liz: which apparently was also my daughters, as I found spools of my
missing Aurifil stashed in her drawers and even in the car when she left for
college!)

 

What is your favorite stitching tool?

Liz: Pandora. Can’t stitch without music! But, ok, if I have to choose just one
tool, I’d say my thimble. I love my thimble. It saves my finger. And looks good
when I forget to take it off and make a run to the grocery store….

If you could train with, or work with, or follow one person for a day.. who would it
be and why?

Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale….etc. Why? You know they totally
get us. 😉

Why did you select the image you did for your block’..

Beth: Our little skier girl is from a series of appliqué quilts that we designed. One
small quilt for each season…with the same little girl in each quilt. We loved our
little winter girl, hitting the slopes with her braids flying behind her! We thought it
would be cute to replicate the design in embroidery…perfect for our December
block.

Liz: Our little skier girl is obviously Beth! (maybe not the long braided hair, but
still…)

12 Wt Aurifil Threads Used in Liz and Beth’s block

• 4663 Variegated Turquoise
• 4150 Variegated Gold
• 5002 Cherry Red
• 2372 Dark Brown
• 2692 Black
• 5016 Green
• 2315 Flesh

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Click HERE to download the Block

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Do you travel to teach? 

We just got back from teaching on a Caribbean cruise…SO much fun! We travel to
guilds, teach at shops, retreats…we love meeting quilters wherever we are

anything else you’d like to share… new fabrics, books, teaching event?
We are currently getting ready to release an e-magazine filled with projects made
with our current fabric line called Vogue with Henry Glass Fabrics. Watch for it!We are also doing a fun event in AZ in February called Dream Laugh Create
Studio (click here for more details! http://www.dreamlaughcreatestudio.com/)

And a few on the light side… 

• If they made a movie of your life, what actress will play ‘you’? – Meryl Streep. She’d make me look wayyyyy better than I am!
• Favorite Expression – “shut the front door” makes us giggle.
• The Book you are currently reading –

Beth: I just started “The Night Circus” (Liz said it was good…!)

Liz: It WAS good! Now I’m reading “Notorious Nineteen” by Janet Evanovich. Ok, Stephanie Plum cracks me up. Whatever. Don’t judge. 😉

• Your Favorite Movie

Beth: I have lots of favorite chick flicks (they are the best for stitching!) but this time of year…it’s gotta be “A Christmas Story”! “You’ll shoot your eye out!”

Liz: I’m with Beth here. LOTS of fav chick flicks. Or I keep re-watching the BBC Sherlock Holmes which I’m quite obsessed with. But this time of year? Gotta break out the Christmas movies! We just watched Elf. “Santa’s coming. I KNOW him!”

Dream Vacation spot

Beth: Kauai, Hawaii. (Why I live in the desert, instead of right there on the beach, I have no idea….)

Liz: The ocean and a sunny beach. Anywhere.

• The Color you have always LOVED.….

Beth: turquoise blue. In all it’s different shades.

Liz: orange. Never knew why until I read in the book “Colorstrology” by Michele Bernhardt that “This is a color that resonates with laughter and celebration-it is easy to smile when you wear or surround yourself with orange. This color will lift your mood and allow you to see the brighter side of life.” YES!

Visit Liz and Beth at

Website, where you can sign up for their newsletter http://lizziebcre8ive.com/

Blog http://dreamlaughcreate.blogspot.com/

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/LizzieBcre8ive

Twitter https://twitter.com/lizziebgirls

Pinterest http://pinterest.com/lizcre8squilts/

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Looking for Aurifil 12 wt? CLICK HERE for a Store List

Red Rock Threads has a nice selection of 12wt thread HERE

We would also love for you to ask your Local Quilt shop to carry Aurifil thread!

Visit “We Love French Knots” with loads of stitchery inspiration! If you need to freshen up your stitching skills, there is a series of videos by our Design team member Bari J. http://www.welovefrenchknots.com/stitch-videos.html

EACH MONTH we will pick one random winner that has made a stitchery block.. that person will receive a special Aurifil thread prize! Winners are all contacted via Flickr email and posted at our flickr page in the winner topics.

You can make ANY of the 2012 blocks to be in the running (and we hope you make them all!). Share your photos at our Flickr Folder… we can’t WAIT to see what you do!

www.flickr.com/groups/2012_aurifil_featured_designerofthemonth/
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