Etxe is the first part of our last name. It is a Basque word that means house or home. Our whole last name means 'other house' or 'other home'. I learned these things when living in Bilbao on the northern coast of Spain, following my roots to learn more about myself and the world.

We all come from somewhere else and we are all trying to make a home in this world wherever we happen to be. We (my sister and I) grew up in a small town in Arizona and have since lived in many different places. Our younger sisters still live at home while we older ones have been trying to create 'other homes' in different cities, most recently here in Washington, DC.

We've been thinking a lot about what makes us feel at home and wanted to do some exploration around this topic. It's also helpful to think about as we create new designs out of fabric--we're searching for that perfect piece that we'll want to take everywhere and will make us feel the comfort of home.

For the next few months we'll be posting responses to the following questions about home from our friends and readers as part of a series called etxe : home.

How do you define home? What in your closet makes you feel most at home? What is your favorite memory of home? What’s something you always take with you when traveling to remind you of home?

We'll post each piece on Tuesday, so check back every week to see a new exploration of ETXE : HOME. Read the first post here.

How do you define home?