Modern Quilts Unlimited, Fall 2013

Today was a great mail day! Our postman brought us comp copies of the Fall 2013 issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited, which features not only a 3-page story on our company, MODKID, but also a fun Crossbody Bag pattern that Emalee designed exclusively for MQU.

Look... my name is on the cover!! :)

There are lots of great photos from their visit to our studio. Here are just a few...

Check out this gorgeous Crossbody Bag. You'll have to make one for yourself and one for your BFF! They come in two sizes... this Web Extra has instructions for the large size, which is big enough to carry a laptop!

A million thanks to Carol, Vicki and Linda for the wonderful article. Carol and Vicki actually visited our studio for a photoshoot and spent a day with us in the beautiful Historic Downtown Bloomington. Vicki flew in all the way from Colorado! So, thank you gals! It was a pleasure hanging with you! :)

AVERY Dress PDF Pattern

Emalee really hit it out of the park with this new design! This adorable dress pattern for girls sizes 2T to 10 features a fitted bodice with Peter Pan collar, a super full, twirly skirt and 3 different sleeve length variations to take her through all seasons. It also comes with a couple of extra optional embellishments to change it up every time you sew it.

MODKID's newest pattern, AVERY, can be found here:

• Etsy
• Craftsy
• You Can Make This

NOTE: This is a downloadable PDF pattern, NOT A PAPER PATTERN. Your pattern can be opened with Adobe Reader and will print on standard letter-size paper (8.5" x 11"). There are 26 pages total in this document, including full-size, computer-drafted pattern pieces.

Here are a few inspiration images to get your creative juices flowing!!

P.S. The above dresses were sewn using my newest fabric line for Jo-Ann Fabrics, Rendezvous.

WWC's 12 Days of Christmas

MODKID is thrilled to be participating in Where Women Create's 12 Days of Christmas for the third year in a row. Last year we donated a bunch of sewing goodies, but this year we decided to give away something that EVERYONE could enjoy, whether they sew or not... and what's better than one of our MEGAN purses, already sewn, packaged up and ready to ship?!





This is the exact purse featured in the cover of our MEGAN pattern, designed by my mom and sewn here in the studio by Emalee using Grand Bazaar fabrics and ribbons. To enter the giveaway go HERE and leave a comment on the WWC Blog to be entered to win this and several other prizes donated by the wonderful women featured these 12 days.



Best of luck, everyone! Stay tuned this week as we recap our busiest weekend of the season... including our December First Fridays event (you have to see these pictures!) and Sophie's Harry Potter Birthday Party (so much fun!!). See you soon!!

A Very Mod Christmas

I love living in a small-ish town where everyone is so supportive, helpful and genuinely excited about being a part of our little business. The friendships we have made in the past few months of having our MODKID HQ here are absolutely priceless!!

Last month I told you guys about how the Modern Quilt Guild ladies pitched in to create some of the most amazing quilted projects I've ever seen. Well, this time Jon, Emalee and I were blessed with the help of our friends, The Barrs, and 4 wonderful girls from Illinois State University's Apparel, Merchandising & Design Department: Megan Bjorn, Alethea Hemauer, Paige Kent and Jessica Lottinville. Talk about The Season of Giving... these wonderful people worked tirelessly to create our amazing window display for the upcoming December First Fridays event, which is in just 3 short days!

It all started out with a super cool idea by my friend Nikki. She came here one day talking about floating trees and Christmas light waterfalls. Shortly thereafter, Emalee, Nikki, Megan, Alethea, Paige, Jessica and I were brainstorming, sketching ideas on paper and figuring out the logistics.

Several shopping trips later, we were ready and eager to get started. The Sunday after Thanksgiving Jon and Justin hung our Christmas light waterfall, complete with a soft curtain of white mesh to soften it up a bit.



Then yesterday, the Merchandising girls came by to get the rest of the display done. The floating tree proved to be the most challenging part, since the ornament strings kept twisting into one another and tangling themselves into a colossal web. Luckily, Em & Em gathered up the patience to untangle each and every strand. A million thanks to sweet Emily Parks (currently referred to as Ms. Parks by her adoring students) for stopping by and helping us out!



How many people does it take to put up a floating tree? Well, it appears the answer is seven! And one photographer. haha



Even as we were hanging the tree, those pesky strands kept gravitating towards one another... eeeek!



Then it was time to get the base nice and leveled (easier said than done, by the way!). A little higher here! No, a little lower there! This strand needs to go 1" to the right! No, your other right!



We all let out a huge sigh of relief once this little project was finished! Then it was time to step back and admire the masterpiece... ahhhhh.



The rest of the display went together without a hitch.

Wrapping faux presents...





With cute ragged fabric bows...



Making the windows nice and "snowy" (you'd think by now and in the heart of the Midwest, we'd have some real snow, but nope!)





And adding the finishing touches... TADA!







A million thanks to the Merchandising girls, Megan, Alethea, Paige and Jennifer, for all your help, your smiles and your positive attitude. This is BY FAR the coolest window in Downtown Bloomington (at least in my eyes)! And a special thanks to their teacher, Elisabeth Reed, for connecting me with these great girls.

Also, a million thanks to Nikki Barr, Justin Barr and Emalee Grambo for all of your help and super cool ideas! It was definitely worth all the headaches and late nights, no?

And last, but not least, big hugs and kisses to the adorable MODKID models, Sydney, Sophie and Anna for being such great troopers and coming out to model for my First Fridays invitation. It turned out so awesome!!!





If you are in the Central Illinois area, please stop by and see us this Friday, December 2nd from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. We will have music, refreshments and live window display PLUS lots of items for sale! In addition, all of the other businesses downtown will have activities, food, displays and sales going on. There's even pictures with Santa and free gift-wrapping at a few venues. This event is not to be missed!!

Like a time lapse movie...

This past weekend I slept like 40 hours total. Seriously, I wanted so badly to hang out and catch up with friends and family but I just kept falling asleep every moment I could... on the couch, on the bed, I even fell asleep on the floor while the kids played video games and I clutched a big fluffy pillow. I guess I was overdue for some R&R since for the last month or so I've averaged like 3 hours a night (or less on some nights!)

When I replay the sequence of events that happened in the past 2 weeks, it sorta feels like one of those time-lapse movies. Ya know what mean?

• May 10th - Jon, Emalee and I drove to Chicago then flew to Salt Lake City
• May 11th - First day of Quilt Market set-up





• May 12th - More booth set up
• Schoolhouse -- I met up with The Dancing Kyokos



Well, they didn't really dance but they did look amazing in their own versions of the Kyoko Misses', didn't they?! From left to right, Julie Herman (Jaybird Quilts), Kristin Link (Sew Mama Sew), me, Melanie Thornton (Above All Fabrics), Traci Butler (Hip Fabrics), Kelsea (Stash Quilts) and Mary Abreu (InTown Quilters). Not pictured, Emalee Grambo. I am forever thankful to all you lovely ladies for making my Kyoko Fashion Show a reality! It was by far the funnest schoolhouse session I've ever had. :)

• Sample Spree (yes, we actually did it!) Ahh, there's Emalee in her Kyoko!



• May 13th -- Day 1 of Quilt Market





• I was interviewed by Daria Muirhead of Boutique Café



• Then by Heidi Porth of Quilt Home



• Then by Pat Sloan of American Patchwork & Quilting (yes, 3 interviews in the same day! I guess everyone got wind that I was leaving early...)



I was also surprised by Kathy Miller & team with a big box of cupcakes (not all for me) to celebrate my birthday and also Christine's (we both had our 40th in May!). YUM!



• That evening we had our Michael Miller Fabrics sales meeting in which I had to recreate my Schoolhouse talk but without the aid of my Dancing Kyokos so it wasn't nearly as fun. After dinner, Jon flew across the country to NY to set up our Surtex booth the next day.

• May 14th - half day of Quilt Market for me because I flew to NYC that afternoon to exhibit at the Surtex licensing show for the following 3 days.

• The SHY Girls (Sweet Hot Yams) and other sweet friends surprised me for my birthday and brought me a Mocha Coconut (they even had them make it the way I like it -- on ice, not blended) and a Birthday Pop. Love my girls!!



Like I said before, I flew to NYC that afternoon and the rest of the story I will save for another post, but for now I'll leave you with a few more pics of my booth at Quilt Market. This time we went simple with a single booth and no hard walls, but still saturated with color and pattern. :)











A million thanks to my lovely assistant, Emalee, who sewed about 95% of the items you see in my booth and also to my sweet mom and dear friend Valerie who made some awesome purses and accessories to add the finishing touch to our display!

Birthdays and Beehives

Our baby girl, Sydney, turned 6 on Friday. *sniff* The first thing she said when she woke up was, "How much taller am I today?" I squeezed her so hard you'd think I wanted her to go back in the womb. Of course, I had to play it up, so I purposely found a dress in her closet that I knew would be too small so she could try it on and I could go on and on about how much she's grown. heeheee



Her birthday party was at our local kid's gym on Saturday and boy, did they have a blast! All of her BBFs were there...





All of us adults were tired out just from watching them jump...



... and run...



and jump some more for over an hour.





But come on... who wouldn't love to hang out here all day?! (and I'm not just talking 'bout kids here...)



After getting all sweaty and stinky, Sydney made her wish...



... blew her candles...



... ate to her little heart's content and posed for group pics...



Of course, we had to get a silly one in there...



Then came home and played with all her new gifts until waaaaaaay past her bedtime! :)

One of Sydney's favorite gifts was this paper guitar that plays several songs from the 80's...





Boy, she totally thinks she's a rock star! LOVE IT!!!



And speaking of 80's songs, rock stars and beehives (yes, there was a purpose to that silly title!)... I went to see the B52s last Wednesday with a few girlfriends. Oooh, it was sooooo much fun!

We partied like it was 19..... 89! haha In this picture, Dawn, Nikki, me and Wendy.


Beehive on my head courtesy of Em & Em! Yes, they can do hair too....BONUS!


The fabulous Dawn Bergeron, photographer extraodinaire and sweet friend, took these amazing photos at the concert.




And as much of a blast as we had during the show, the real treat came afterwards, when we got to meet singer Kate Pierson and get our picture taken.



She was as short as Nikki and I, can you believe it?!? And super sweet to boot!



Here's a little video clip I shot of my favorite song, Private Idaho!

Enjoy!!!