With so much to choose from, registering and nesting can be a bit overwhelming. That's why I love bringing in stylish, creative women to discuss their own favorites and help sort things out a bit for the rest of us!

Heather Ross is a fabric design and sewing ingenue. She has shared some great nesting thoughts today!

What is the most loved housewarming or wedding gift you have ever received?
A cherished engagement portrait of Heather's grandmother promises to be the most loved gift in the Ross home. "It was her engagement portrait," explains Heather, "and was painted in Japan in the thirties by a very young painter named Kiyoshi Saito who soon afterwards became a celebrated Woodblock artist."

What is the most loved housewarming or wedding gift you have ever given?
"My dear friend Denyse Schmidt makes the most beautiful modern quilts {above right}. I gave one to a close family member last year when he got married and I know that they love it as much as I did. They even got to work with Denyse to come up with the perfect design.

"She also does these totally amazing workshops for brides to be. Instead of a liquor- soaked trip to Vegas with your ladies in waiting (which happened to be on my list, to be honest) you can go to her beautiful studio and make a quilt together... At the end of the day everyone merges together their blocks and voila: a quilt top!"

What is the most useful housewarming or wedding gift you have ever received?
Heather puts her {persimmon Kitchenaid Mixer} and classic {Black and Decker Blender} to work! "I use the mixer to make bread dough, pizza dough, cookie dough and waffle batter. The blender sees almost daily use as a smoothie machine... I even bought a huge bag of bendy straws so that I could send them off to work with my husband."

What is your favorite home item that you purchased or found for yourself?
"My table! I blogged about it...It's extremely ancient and was made from a single plank of thick wood and no nails. I'm pretty sure the wood was "split" rather than sawed on a mill...I like to say that its style is 'Early American Tinker Toy.'

Heather emboridered her own pretty monogram onto linen napkins as part of a "Modern Trouseeau!"

What dishware do you use on a daily basis?

"I use {Wonderful World} by Villeroy & Boch, blogged here. I can mix and match all of the colors...its like setting the table with a set of magic markers! Or, I can serve dinner for up to four all in one color. I also got sixteen teacups and saucers, all in bright yellow, because when I do serve tea and coffee it's for a baby or wedding shower and yellow always looks so fresh. And it goes into the dishwasher!"

What is your dream pattern or place setting?
"I am always on the lookout for vintage handpainted china, and collect Limoges butterfly pieces, which are so dear that I only use them for soaps and pins and things."

As for a completely luxurious splurge, Heather would love Marc Chagall's {"Pour Ida" China} collection, comprised of  12 five-piece place settings and nine serving items for $33,400; Ted Muehling's {Insect Porcelain} series, $740 for a fruit plate {pictured below left}; or  Fornasetti's beautifully odd {Adam and Eve Plates}, which cost $4,212 for a set of twelve.The Muehling fruit plate, left; and butterfly Limoges pieces from Etsy seller Petit Poulailler, right.

What is your favorite little treat {a certain type of flower, hand soaps, towels, sheets} especially for houseguests?
Heather loves huge bowls full of peonies, as well as this {terra cotta pomegranate diffuser} by Santa Maria Novella.

She has also begun to take a trick from hotels, skipping the whole concept of a fitted sheet. Instead of using a duvet, she sandwiches comforters between two crisp clean flat sheets or even just floral cotton fabric yardage (Liberty of London is a favorite source).

What is your next dream or goal for your nest? "I have but one big dream for the kitchen of my future," says Heather, sharing the {La Cornue CornuFe Stove} from Williams-Sonoma. It's $8,600 of sheer cooking bliss!

Heather has strewn sheepskins around the apartment for her pets to snuggle on {above left!}. "When I am in my kitchen or my studio with a happy pet at my feet on a cloud of white fluff the world feels quite cozy."I was a fan of Heather's before, and am even more so after working with her on this post. Follow along on her blog, pick up her book, and beg her to schedule another Modern Trousseau class so more of us can embroider our own gorgeous monograms onto linen napkins like she did!