The Inspirations of Erica Smith Billups Designer for Blank Quilting Corp.

January 6, 2023 Artists & Designers, Fabric & Sewing

Tell us about yourself.
Hi! I’m Erica Smith Billups, and I can honestly say that I never thought I’d be a fabric designer. But sometimes, life has bigger plans for you than you can ever even dream of. Here’s my story of how I haphazardly stumbled into fabric design…

I’ve worked as an artist for the last 13 years, but it wasn’t ever something I had planned on. I became a first-time mom in late 2009, and quickly realized the long hours and grueling travel schedule of my decade-long career in big agency PR wasn’t going to align with my new mom-life. So, I left the corporate world with hopes of PR freelancing in between mommy-ing. It didn’t go well. I wracked my brain trying to find a career – or at least a gig of some sort – that would pay the bills but still allow me to be home with my baby.

In between job searching, I began dabbling in Microsoft Publisher. Yes – Publisher. Not some fancy design program or expensive software. I wanted to create a big poster for my daughter’s playroom filled with inspirational and fun messages – and at that time, it didn’t exist in the market. So, I created my first ever typography print “Playroom Rules”. I printed it off at Office Max and hung it up in my home. I got a few compliments on it, and someone suggested it would also work well for a pre-school or elementary classroom setting. So, I swapped “Playroom Rules” for “Classroom Rules,” added a place on top to customize the print with a teacher’s name, created a shop on a new online marketplace – Etsy, and the rest is history. I sold thousands of my customized “Classroom Rules” print in those first few years. It was a simple concept, created on a whim, by someone with zero design training or experience. And it catapulted me onto a career path I never imagined.

What inspires you?

I’ve come a long way since my days of “Classroom Rules” and Microsoft Publisher, but it wasn’t without late nights, trial and error, tears of frustration, and picking myself back up by my bootstraps to try again. I taught myself to use Adobe Photoshop Elements - the easy, streamlined little brother of regular Photoshop. I expanded my collection beyond typography and began adding my doodles and illustrations into a digital format. I figured out how to bring my watercolor painting techniques from paper to the screen. I learned about layering and adding textures. Mixing unexpected patterns and colors. With one goal in mind: to bring the ideas racing through my mind to life. Some of my designs are big wins, and I get to see them sold in retail stores nationwide, and hung in people’s homes who have no idea that I am the artist behind their favorite wall art. And some of my creations are commercial duds, that only hang on the walls of my own home. Being a full-time artist is not for the faint of heart.

Tell us about your fabric.

Which brings me back to fabric design. It was the spring of 2020, when we were all quarantining in our homes and the world outside our windows spiraled in chaos. Unwillingly thrust into the world of homeschooling my two elementary-aged children, my art took a backseat to “new math” long division and modeling US land formations. Sprinkled in-between Zoom classes and homework assignments, I found myself having some tough conversations with my children about really serious topics – racism, politics, violence. Topics that are hard enough for adults to process, let alone children. I saw a need and worked to fill it by creating visual representations of unity and inclusivity, while promoting concepts of self-love, beauty in diversity, and togetherness. All in a kid-friendly way.

I incorporated words and phrases that had deep meaning from our most influential historical leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., as well as those from modern-day influencers like poet Amanda Gorman. What came out of this creative endeavor was my Unity and Diversity line of prints. In 2021 I expanded my Unity and Diversity collection further by adding a new colorway – rainbow! Bright, vibrant, exciting primary colors that further represented inclusivity and equality. This collection of prints is what inspired my first fabric collection with Blank Quilting Corp. – “Better Together.”

What’s next? I created a new line of fabric for Blank Quilting Corp. inspired by a poem I wrote a few years ago: “Take me to the ocean; Let me sail the open sea. To breathe the warm and salty air; And dream of things to be.” We’re calling it “Nautical Adventures” and if all goes as planned, it will be launching Spring 2023. The fabrics will feature sailboats and ocean waves, buoys and nautical flags. It also gives a glimpse under the sea, with cute whales, crabs, sea turtles, and fish. Part preppy, part whimsical, “Nautical Adventures” will be a really fun line!