FreeSpirit Fabrics speaks to a community of makers with a love for sewing, quilting, and crafting. FreeSpirit brings together a global portfolio of leading designers with fabrics as diverse and expressive as the artists themselves. freespiritfabrics.com

Heather Bailey is a world-renowned star in the textile, craft, and decorating arena. With her sophisticated floral designs and smart geometric prints, Heather has inspired a new generation of crafters and home decorators to embrace art and color in their everyday lives. ""I aim to bring more women to know the joy and deep fulfillment that comes from creativity and from nurturing our families with the work of our hands,” says the inspiring mother of three.

Amy Butler has been making things all her life. In 1992, Amy and her husband Dave decided to move home to be near their families and start their studio Art of the Midwest. She worked hard in art school to hone her skills and became obsessed with fashion and surface design. One of her core beliefs is that through who we are and what we do, we can inspire great change in ourselves, each other, and in the world.

Joel Dewberry has an appreciation and love of all things tactile. Following his graphic design training, he pursued a career in brand development and corporate identity. After years of brand development, Joel launched his own textiles brand, Joel Dewberry Eclectic Modern, in May 2007. Joel's sense of harmonizing an eclectic mix of design styles into a cohesive collection has drawn him respect and attention as it delivers a modern yet timeless style.

Kathy Doughty began making quilts more than twenty years ago, after a move to Australia with her family. She opened a patchwork shop in 2003 and eventually developed the popular Material Obsession shop with her husband, John. Kathy lives in Sydney with her family. materialobsession.typepad.com

Margot Elena is the design and marketing mind behind several cult-classic, niche beauty brands including TokyoMilk, Lollia, Library of Flowers and her newest creation, The Cottage Greenhouse. Margot Elena is a true “designer’s designer” held in highest regard for her multi-dimensional creativity and talent. Her brands are frequently featured in trend-setting lifestyle magazines and top department stores.

Dena Designs: As President and Creative Director of Dena Designs, Inc., Dena has simultaneously managed the roles of designer, businesswoman, and mother while crafting a hugely successful company, and lifestyle brand. Today Dena Designs encompasses a wide array of products, ranging from home décor and accessories to greeting cards, gifts, craft items, books, and more. While many designers rely on perfection, Dena believes that it is the process that makes the project fun and memorable.

Laura Heine began quilting more than 30 years ago. The journey of quilting led to opening her Fiberworks quilt shop in Billings, Montana and designing more than 50 different lines of fabric. An award-winning quilter, her creative work has been published in many magazines. Laura's collage quilts showcase fused applique, cut flower motifs, and an impressionistic way of using color and value to create one-of-a-kind quilts using fabric as her palette.

Anna Maria Horner's fresh perspective and her vision of being surrounded by the work of her own hands has led her to partner with more than two dozen manufacturers to produce designer housewares, gifts, and textiles. Her goal is simple: to create designs that make the consumer feel alive and well. She has a zeal for life and family, and is a busy mother of seven! Anna Maria and her husband, Jeff, make their home in Nashville, where she develops her art collections in her studio, published sewing and needlework patterns, and writes books.

Erin McMorris studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati and textile design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. She has worked in London, San Francisco, and New York and currently rests her laptop in Portland, Oregon. www.erinmc.com

Verna Mosquera studied marketing in the arts at California State University. At age 25, she packed up her life and moved to her father's homeland of Uruguay, where she met her husband Miguel. They travelled Europe and lived a year in Florence, Italy before returning to the States. Her appliqué technique is one of the special features of her vintage, romantic designs that make them unique, current and instantly recognizable. In 2004, she launched her business, The Vintage Spool and designed her first fabric collection.

Shannon Newlin's designs are strongly influenced by the forms and colors of flowers and nature. Her artistic journey began as child, where she enjoyed painting on an easel in her kitchen. She held a successful career as a creative director in product development and design in both LA and NYC. She now resides in North Carolina with her husband and children. She founded Shannon Newlin LLC where she uses her creative energies to sell and license her artwork in fabric and wall art.

Jennifer Paganelli has a strong connection to all things vintage, including fabrics and forms as the basis of her textile work. Her brand, Sis Boom, has been seen all over the world and featured in magazines such as Country Living, Ladies Home Journal, Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens, and many others. From celebrities to traditional “crafty types” to Folk Art collectors, her fans identify with Jennifer's strong, saturated, and lively color palettes.

Tula Pink graduated from Otis College of Art and Design, with degrees in both Graphic Design and Illustration. She worked as a senior exhibit designer for two major Los Angeles Museums before working in the music industry. Through all the moving and mind-changing, one thing remained certain: her love for fabric and sewing. She designed her first fabric collection in her living room, dedicating time after work and on weekends. A few years and several wonderful collections later, Tula now designs fabric not just for quilting but for a whole lifestyle of DIY-ers.

Amy Reber is a multifaceted surface and textile designer from the Pacific Northwest who has a fervor for drawing, rich colors, pattern, and design. Remarkably, she is self-taught and has spent several years evolving and perfecting her bold, authentic illustrations and designs. As a military spouse and stay-at-home mom to three young children, her journey to becoming an award-winning artist and surface designer has been filled with many valuable insights and experiences that are beyond measure.

Jane Sassaman draws inspiration from her experience as a window dresser, sign maker, illustrator, and designer of decorative accessories. She began to quilt in 1980, and since then, her exuberant designs have attracted worldwide recognition. When she isn’t designing fabric in the studio, she is on the road teaching quilt classes, sketching in the garden or browsing through her wonderful library of design books. She is also the author of The Quilted Garden, which includes 20 years of her work and exercises for making nature-inspired quilts.

Denyse Schmidt is a former graphic designer and graduate of Rhode Island School of Design. Intrigued by the rich historical nature of quilts, Denyse adds her distinctive aesthetic sensibility to this rich art form. Though firmly rooted in the techniques of American quiltmaking, Denyse Schmidt is renowned for her fresh, offbeat approach to design and color, changing the way we think about quilts. She writes books, publishes quilt patterns, and works from her studio is located in a historic factory building in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Sharon Thornton is the inspiration manager for FreeSpirit Fabrics.

Tanya Whelan's love of sewing and the birth of her third child lead her to create a line of children's hats and luxe baby blankets. The process of sourcing fabrics for her line eventually evolved into her popular retail fabric store, Flapper Girl Fabrics. Tanya's desire to see a little bit of the past come back to life for today's quilting, crafting and interiors forms the basis for her design company Grand Revival and many of her collections for FreeSpirit. Tanya lives with her husband and three children in the historic city of Norfolk, Virginia.

Brandon Mably has been interested in color and design since he was young, being raised in a small seaside town on the coast of South Wales. With no formal education in design, Mably made a radical career change from cooking to knitting in the late 1980s after a chance meeting with the Kaffe Fassett, that led to an apprenticeship. For many years Mably organized the running of the Fassett studio, where he was trained in knitting, needlepoint, hook rag rugs, and grout mosaics.

Kaffe Fassett has dedicated the last 50 years of his life to the world of knitting, needlepoint, and patchwork. He has produced over 30 publications from how-to books to color in design and also tours internationally. He lives in London, UK. kaffefassett.com