Rashida Coleman-Hale

A founding designer at Cotton+Steel fabrics, Rashida Coleman-Hale has been making things ever since she can remember. Sewing is a gift passed on to her by her mother, grandmother, and grandfather, who was a tailor. Rashida studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Not sure if fashion was her calling, she traded her sewing machine for a computer and worked as a freelance graphic designer. Her passion for sewing was rekindled in 2006 after the arrival of her first child, and she began the blog I Heart Linen to document her re-born creative life and her life as a stay-at-home mommy.

Her first book, I Love Patchwork, was published by Interweave press in Fall 2009 and was awarded the 2010 PubWest Book Design Bronze Medal in the How-To/Crafts category. Her second book, Zakka Style, was published by C&T Publishing in Fall 2011.

Having spent much of her youth in Tokyo, Japan, where her love of linen began. Her experiences there have completely influenced her work and its style. Her work has been featured in SewNews, Stitch, SewHip!, ReadyMade, Burda Style, and Quilting Arts magazines, as well as on popular blogs such as Ohdeedoh, Design Sponge, Decor8, Craftzine, Sew, Mama, Sew, and True Up. She has also designed fabric for Timeless Treasures and Cloud 9 Fabrics.

Rashida lives in California with her husband and their three children. Read more about her crafty life at iheartlinen.typepad.com.