One Million Pillowcase Challenge

Have you heard about the One Million Pillowcase Challenge from our friends at American Patchwork & Quilting? Last year we participated in this challenge and, with the help of some very talented and generous women in our community, we were able to donate 57 pillowcases to local chairties.

This time, when APQ asked if we would be interested in participating on the Pillowcase Pinterest Challenge, we didn't hesitate before saying yes, yes, yes. After all it's such a great cause!

The winning pillowcase was this darling Train design (the link will take you to a PDF you can download if you'd like to make your own) and we knew exactly what fabric we would use to make ours. The blue colorway of my new line, Just My Type, for Michael Miller Fabrics, is perfect for this design! Check it out!!

If this Train pillowcase is not your cup of tea, there are 35 other designs in the APQ site that you can download for FREE.

We had such a great time sewing up this sweet pillowcase and knowing that it will go to a great cause! Our pillowcase will go to:

The Child Advocacy Center
200 W. Front St.,  Suite 500 B
 Bloomington, IL  61701 

If you'd like to participate and donate your pillowcase to charity, here is a list of ideas on where to donate.

Winner and weekend recap

Thank you to all who commented on our One Million Pillowcase post. As promised we have randomly chosen a winner who will receive enough fabric to make 2 pillowcases and the pillowcase template of her choice. The winner is comment #31:

midnight hysteria3:48 PM

i would love to make some (2) pillowcases and donate them to the children's hospital in seattle, the oncology floor -- although my granddaughter was treated at primary childrens in slc, i know the need for bright and cheery pillowcases for children who are confined to hospital for looooong periods of time .... thanks so much .... darlene

Darlene, many congrats on winning. It sounds like a wonderful cause and I am so happy to contribute to it! Please send your mailing address and template choice to info AT modkidboutique DOT com at your earliest convenience and we'll get the package out to you.

This past weekend I had a lecture and book signing at The Fabric Nosherie in St. Louis in celebration of their one year anniversary. Since it is a relatively short drive from our house, I decided to bring the whole Young clan and extend my visit into a family weekend getaway.

Well, little did I know that the girls would actually want to be part of my presentation! This is definitely a first. Here is Shannon, owner of The Nosh, introducing me...



And introducing the "real designers". I am rolling my eyes because Sydney just hopped in front of me and did one of those "TA-DA! Here I am!" poses with arms outstretched and all. That girl!



I want to thank all of the sweet ladies and kids who attended my lecture. We all had a lot of fun and I had a wonderful time meeting each and every one of you.



Here I am with the lovely Ms. Shannon.



And a shot of the *packed* store!



I will definitely be going back there every time we visit St. Louis.

One Million Pillowcase Challenge
57 closer to the goal!



I was honored when the team at American Patchwork and Quilting asked me to help promote this amazing event called the One Million Pillowcase Challenge. In case you have never heard of this, APQ is tring to reach their goal of sewing 1 million pillowcases and donating them to charities around the country. I was so touched by this program that I decided that MODKID should become a participating shop... and so we did! Next thing you know we had people coming out of the woodwork to help us help APQ reach their goal.

We had a sew-in last Friday with some local sewing and quilting enthusiasts and check out what we made...



Everyone brought their machines, set up camp at MODKID and sewed up some beauties, using patterns readily available here and fabric donated by us.



Even my girls pitched in...



All in all, we finished 18 pillowcases that day, including a couple sent in by my mom.



If you'd like to see some of these up close and read about what fabrics and patterns we used, click here, here and here.

But that's not all! My former intern, Jessica, organized a sewing group at Illinois State University's Apparel Merchandising and Design Association, and they were able to make 39 more pillowcases! Just look at all these young girls sewing their hearts out at the ISU Sewing Lab! It's so great seeing a whole community come together for a wonderful cause like this one.







Yesterday, Emalee and I collected all the pillowcases, divided them into 3 groups and delivered them to the following charities:

The Crisis Nursery

Children's Home & Aid

1119 E. Taylor, Bloomington, IL 61701 

***

The Clare House

Center for Battered Women
703 E. Washington Street, Bloomington, IL

***

The Child Advocacy Center 

200 W. Front St.,  Suite 500 B
Bloomington, IL  61701

We got to tour their facilities and hear their stories, and just felt so lucky to be able to help out like this. I would like to thank each an every one of you who helped us with this cause... Terri, Pat, Jen, Beth, Carissa, Vicky, Maria (a.k.a "Mami"), Sophie, Sydney, Erin, Emalee, Jessica and all of the AMDA students! Also, a big thanks to APQ for organizing this wonderful event!

Would you like to make your own pillowcase at home? Leave us a comment and on Monday, Sept. 24th we'll randomly draw a winner who will receive enough fabric to make two pillowcases plus a full-color print out of the pattern of your choice from the APQ site. You can keep one and donate the other, or donate both... it's up to you. You can find a charity in your hometown or send the pillowcase(s) back to us and we'll take them to one of the charities above. Please, don't forget to leave a way for us to contact you if you win. GOOD LUCK!!