Meeeeeoooooowwwwww!
(that's me letting the cat out of the bag!)

Thanks for giving Jon such a warm welcome on his blog writing debut last week. I'm hoping your words of encouragement will give him the confidence he needs to take over more often when I'm in this state of craziness.

Soooo, I've just been given the green light to make the big announcement so without much further ado: I AM WRITING A BOOK!!! With WILEY!!! WOOOHOOOO!



Sorry, that's about as much as I can say about it at this point. But I can say that I am super excited that the folks at Wiley took such an interest in me and even more excited that they thought my idea for a book (right down to the title, which, again, I can't share at this moment) was as cool as I thought it was. eeeee!

In addition to reading a bazillion contract pages and signing on the dotted line til my hand cramped up, I've also been working on a whole new set of sewing patterns, due out this Fall...



And when Jon said "up to her neck in cut up fabric" he wasn't kidding! Here's a little snapshot of my studio floor right at this moment. I'm somewhere under the pile of ModBlooms, I think.



Oh, and I've also been proofing tons of strike offs for my next fabric collection... also to be released this Fall. Here's a little sneak...



I truly cannot wait to be able to share this collection in its full glory. It is my most sophisticated line to date and showcases some of the best drawing I've ever done... plus it has the widest range of print sizes of any of my existing collections... pattern sizes range from a teeny-tiny 1/2" to a full 24" repeat, and everything in between!

So, now that the cat's finally out of the bag hopefully you'll believe me when I say that things are about to get CRAZY around here. I know I say that every time but this. time. it's. for. reals. YO!

As if book-writing, pattern-making and fabric-designing wasn't enough to fill up my day, I'll also be doing a little bit of traveling, this time around the lovely Midwestern "I" States of Indiana, Iowa and Illinois. Tomorrow I'm headed to the beautiful city of Indianapolis where we'll meet up with the lovely duo of Paula Prass and Jennifer Storey for a little R&R with the fam. On Friday, I am continuing my WDT in the city of Clinton, Iowa where I'll be giving a lecture at Sew Many Things (holler if you're coming!). And finally, on Saturday, we are all headed up to Chicago to spend a little quality time with loved ones before school starts.

OK, OK, since I'm feeling happy and grateful, I'll give you a one more teensy tiny fabric sneak...