Going to Market

Plans are being made, bags are being packed, and creativity is converging in Minneapolis, Minnesota for International Quilt Market Spring 2015 next weekend. Patty is packing up some exciting things of her own!

You've already been introduced to Vivid Knits for Riley Blake. Well, these two dresses will be making an appearance at quilt market to reintroduce the Penny knit dress pattern. It is the same quick-sew, beginner friendly, lots of options dress it has always been, with a brand new cover featuring the lovely Vivid knits. 

Patty didn't stop with knits as she planned her Vivid prints!! Allow me to introduce Vivid Canvas by Patty Young for Riley Blake!! We can imagine the bright colorful prints on clutches, pouches, totes, coats, home decor, and more. 

Speaking of coats, another lovely pattern had a little face lift! The Paige blazer and hooded jacket looks so bright and fresh in this pretty canvas print. 

Stay tuned for a new FREE pattern featuring VIVID Canvas! Patty will be revealing this at Quilt Market this weekend, and then we will share it here for all of you to make. In the meantime, tell us what you would make with Vivid Canvas.

Come see me!!!

Introducing: Just My Type
Spring 2013 Fabric Collection

This is going to be literally the quickest new fabric reveal I have ever done. I am leaving for Portland to attend the International Quilt Market at the crack of dawn tomorrow and I haven't even packed yet, so as soon as I hit publish on this baby I am running home to do just that.

A little about Just My Type: It is a vintage type-inspired collection designed with a retro color palette and printed with a faux linen texture, for the “look” of linen but the “feel” of quilting cotton.

The collection boasts 25 prints produced on premium quality quilting weight cotton.

This collection is so new that it's not even up on the Michael Miller website yet, but I thought I should let you guys know what I was showcasing this week, in case any of you are going to attend the show. Here is a breakdown of all the prints (I promise to expand on this more when I get back!)

How about some inspiration images, eh? We didn't get a chance to sew up too much because we've only had the fabric here for about 7 days. But we did manage to make a few cute dresses from our Spring 2013 pattern collection. Below, from left to right are: Grace, Bailey, Riley and Quinn.

Of course, a few pillows for the booth...

And some other booth décor items. :)

And another little surprise before I go... JUST MY TYPE PRECUTS! Yeah, baby!
(these are just prototypes but they should look a lot like this when they're done)

Would love to hear what you think of my new collection. At this time tomorrow I should hopefully be in Portland getting ready to start setting up my booth, so it would be nice to have some comments to read while I'm away. :)

Winners, a Flash SALE and New Product reveal!


Thank you all for your sweet comments on our newest PDF pattern, the Holly Jumper Dress. I read each and every one of the 96 comments that came in and was pleased to see how many of you already owned a MODKID pattern or a copy of my book and just were hesitant to try PDFs. There were also a few comments from folks who came from the PDF industry, but had never tried a MODKID pattern before. Regardless, there were so many great comments that we couldn't choose winners ourselves, so we left it up to chance. We used Random.org to choose 3 winners, and the results were:

Comment #32:

Kelly Smith3:28 PM

I love PDF patterns. I am horrible about losing my patterns, but I always make sure my PDFs are backed up in many places. I haven't tried any of your yet, but I love the Holly dress. This will be the first spring/summer that my girl has been walking so I can't wait to make her some cute dresses.

Comment #35:

Angela4:40 PM

I have some of your paper patterns, but haven't yet bought one of your PDF patterns. Holly is a gorgeous girl's dress and I would so love to,win it :-)

Comment #77:
Gorby family blog9:53 PM

I love that Holly goes up to a size 10. My oldest daughter doesn't get many handmades anymore since so many patterns stop at size 8. It's a beautiful dress and I'd love to make one for her!

Congrats to all the winners!! Please take a look at our PDF pattern offerings on our Etsy store, and email us your choice at info (at) modkidboutique (dot) com, so we can get it to you right away. 

Since so many of you commented that you had not yet tried one of our PDF patterns, we thought we'd make it a little easier on you and give you a 20% off code to use in the next 24 hours... use code TRYMODKID2 to receive 20% off you entire order on our Etsy store! This code is only valid on our Etsy store and is not valid on our website for paper patterns or books. It expires Friday, May 3rd at 12 noon CST.

While I have you all here, I also wanted to talk a little about what's been going on in the design front. As some of you might now, I am a licensed designer for Silhouette America, designing shapes to use on their Cameo machine, which die cuts on paper, vinyl, fabric and other surfaces. Well... true story: I had designer's block recently. It happens to the best of us, I've been told, haha. I didn't upload any new shapes to my Silhouette shop for about 2 weeks because I just couldn't come up with anything new to draw. I needed to draw something that just felt... well.. me. Do you know what I mean?

I dug deep and deeper and then I had an A-HA moment. I thought, why not go back to my roots and draw up my favorite things? What are my favorite things?? Well, I seem to have an almost unhealthy obsession with mid-century modern chairs. I own a couple at home and drool every time I see one at a local auction house. So, I drew up some shapes based on my favorite mod chairs...

Then, I looked around my house and found my other obsession... vintage cameras! I own probably 2 or 3 dozen of these beauties and they are sprinkled all over my house and studio. I just adore looking at them...

Finally, I thought, why stop there? Let's draw everything retro and vintage! haha

Anyway, you can find my new retro and vintage shapes, along with the rest of my Silhouette Shape Collection, HERE.

Wondering what's going on in the fabric front? Well, we are busy getting ready for the International Quilt Market, which this Spring happens to take place in one of my favorite cities in the whole wide world, Portland, OR! This is a special Market for me because I feel I've come full circle. The first Market I ever attended, 5 years ago, was in Portland, and here I am, 5 years later and 12 fabric collections in. I am not ready to completely show you my new fabric collection, but how about a little sneak peek? OK...

That's it. Not giving any more hints! Stay tuned for a full reveal... soon! :)

Quilt Market via Instagram

My new iPhone5 and super cool case featuring Textured Basics came in just a few days before I flew out to Quilt Market, so the night before I left I made an executive decision: not bringing my big camera! This is the first time I've done that and for those of you who know me well, you know that that thing is practically an extra appendage for me. But, being that I was traveling alone this time, and it was a quick trip for me, and the new phone boasted such an incredible camera, I figured it was worth a try, so let me know what you think!

I did have a booth, a tiny little thing (5' x 8'), but bursting with color and pattern! Here are a few shots...

The big square quilt in the back was designed by the wonderful Ellen Maxwell and it will be a free download on the Michael Miller site, once the fabrics come in. The small table runner on the left side was designed by none other than Debbie Taylor of Fat Quarter Shop and It's Sew Emma patterns, and it's currently available on the Fat Quarter Shop site as a FREE download!

I did manage to play with the Panoramic photo feature that comes built into the iPhone5 camera app and I must say, I LOVE IT! (click on it to enlarge)

I *heart* going to Quilt Market not only because it affords me the opportunity to show off my newest projects, but also because I get to visit with dear friends, some which I only get to see once or twice a year. This has quickly become my family away from home and I truly look forward to catching up and sharing a good meal (or drink) at one of the many fabulous events that surround the show.

I had the pleasure of spending some QT with these wonderful ladies... from left to right Shannon Robinson (of Fabric Nosherie), Laura Gunn, Trenna Travis (newest licensed designer at Michael Miller Fabrics), me and Heather Bailey.

I love the vintage feel of this Instagram pic of Kait Witte (of Michael Miller Fabrics) sporting a gorgeous skirt which she sewed herself out of Textured Basics.

At Fabric 2.0, I documented the very moment in which Quilts, Inc. "bought the party" from Caroline Devoy. heehee

Then Bob Ruggiero (Quilts) tried to make Jon jealous. I used this picture to remind Jon to never ever skip a Quilt Market again. ;)

 

After the party, a few of us headed across the street  to The Grove for dinner and lively conversation. Here I am with Aneela Hoey and Roxane Cerda (C&T Publishing). Not pictured, Carla Crim.

The following night it was the Modern Quilt Guild Party and I am sad that this is the only picture I captured that evening. Here I am with Jessica Levitt (left) and Jenean Morrison. (sorry, so blurry! I guess the photographer must've had one too many glasses of wine!)

In addition to the parties and dinner, I also love visiting my friends and associates at their booths... you never know what you'll find and what sorta trouble you'll get into.

At the GenerationQ booth, I spotted my quilt hanging right at the front! This design will appear in a future issue. And... in case you haven't heard... the *current* issue is pretty darn special to us. Go get it! Seriously!! (more on that soon)

At the GenQ booth I had a photo op with none other than Betz White and Thomas Knauer (pssst... Thomas, a.k.a. waycoolkid, graces the cover of the current issue I was talking about! Don't miss it!)

And here's me being silly with GenQ's picture quilt...

Speaking of quilts in booths (not that there aren't enough at this show! haha) I also spotted our Houndstooth Quilt -- a version made by Kristen McVane of Stash Quilts -- in the United Notions booth! Doesn't it look gorgeous all made up in Heaven & Helsinki?? WOW!

Over at the Westminster booth, I got the pleasure to speak with Ty Pennington, who was there to promote his newest fabric collection. What a nice guy!

And last, but certainly not least, I visited for a while with the dynamic duo of Kim and Kris of YouCanMakeThis and The DIY Dish fame.

While we were chatting it up, Lizzy House showed up and we couldn't resist taking this The View-esque photo... haha

Yes, we were discussing very important matters... can't you tell?

Well, I guess for not having my camera with me I didn't do too shabby of a job of documenting the show, eh? Thanks for coming along with me on this crazy ride... especially to all of you out there who kept me virtual company while I spent much-longer-than-I-wanted-to in airports last week. (that's what I get for flying out on Hurricane day!)

OK, one more and then I'll go. I leave you with a sweet pic of me and my booth mates. I love these gals!! (photo courtesy of Trenna Travis Studio)

Stay tuned for GenerationQ magazine info and giveaway... coming shortly!

Introducing... Textured Basics!

I am thrilled to announce my newest fabric collection with Michael Miller Fabrics, being revealed next week at International Quilt Market (Booth #1318) and shipping to stores in November. My heart skips a beat when I look at it... Textured Basics features six basic geometric prints, designed in six delicious colors (plus a "multi") and printed with a faux canvas texture, for the “look” of canvas but the “feel” of quilting cotton. There is even a Natural Basic Texture, which is perfect for quilt backgrounds and sashings, all printed on premium quality quilting weight cotton.



Here is a full color card of all 43 SKUs... if you'd like to print it, just click on this image, which will take you to Flickr, and download the largest file size, so you can get a good quality print-out.



Of course, as it is always the case when we release a new fabric collection – which usually coincides with Quilt Market booth prep – we have been busy little bees creating items made with Textured Basics. Below are some of our projects and ... pssst... here's a little secret for you: you will be seeing some sneak peeks of new patterns for the Fall. These will be fully-revealed tomorrow (hopefully) as soon as we get them up on our site. It is a new format for us, so we're super excited!

First of all -- and possibly the project we are most enamored with -- is this Houndstooth Quilt. It came out so bold, modern and fun! And yes, there will be a pattern... more like a sewing card... well, you'll see tomorrow!



I designed this easy-to-piece quilt, Emalee pieced it in one afternoon and my friend Lisa Feeney of Sew Memorable Quilts quilted and bound it for us. Isn't it awesome?



And because we loved this design so much, we even came up with a lap quilt version of it in pinks and creams, which we thought would be perfect for a baby's nursery:



Here's my girl, Sophie, modeling this woven version of the Hailey dress (View D) made up in Diamonds Tangerine with a ruffle made of Vintage Houndstooth Multi. Doesn't she look adorable?



A trio of MODKID  cuties... from left to right, Piper in Houndstooth and Shoreline, Baby Hannah in Cool Dots and Swell Stripe, and Kyoko in Hexies and Shoreline.



And because we love that fabric combo for Piper so much, we created another colorway of it, which can be seen in the United Notions booth next weekend at International Quilt Market!



This fabulous wrap skirt for women will be another pattern being revealed tomorrow, so this is all I will show or say about that for now.



Same goes for these mod cases. I just adore how the bold prints work so well for these!



Emalee sewed up some bold pillows for my mini booth. You can never have enough pillows and I'm thinking some of these would make awesome free tutorials for the blog! ;)



Last, but certainly not least, this is all I can show you at this time of this super fun quilt. If you are attending Quilt Market next week and want to see the full thing in person, head on over to the GenerationQ booth (#960). For the rest of you, you'll get to see the full thing soon, soon... in a future issue of the magazine. ;)



OK, that's it for the fabric reveal. Stay tuned for the new patterns reveal coming tomorrow. If you have an iPhone or iPad and would like to sport some Textured Basics, check out the cases I've designed on Zazzle. I got mine in the mail yesterday. It's this one.



So, what do you think of Texture Basics?

Spring 2012 Quilt Market Recap

Yes, I know it's been almost a full month since we went down to Quilt Market in Kansas City but I've been a bit preoccupied with too many things to count. This was my 9th Quilt Market attending (my 8th exhibiting) and I've finally learned the secret to it all: Get Help and Have Fun! I can't lie and tell you that doing these type of shows is not a hair-splitting, brain-aching, back-breaking experience, but this time I was determined to change that. And yes, I still stressed over all my public appearances, because after all these years, I still haven't gotten over my stage fright.  So, between schoolhouse and 3 book-signings I got so many butterflies in my tummy I could've just floated away... but I survived, I had fun, and I'm here to tell all about it.

Our booth this Spring was all about Heaven & Helsinki and Sewing MODKID Style. We started building this booth literally months ago at our studio. Our walls went up before Spring Break. We chose this purple hue called Robes For the Queen (from the Disney by Behr collection at Home Depot, which they just discontinued, sadly) because it was the perfect match to the darkest purple in Heaven & Helsinki. Soon enough, we were filling our booth up with fabric-covered goodness.



There were a dozen kites, some suspended above us, others perched on the outer wall. We had a wonderful quilt, made again by members of the Central Illinois Modern Quilt Guild, then finished, quilted and bound by the über-talented Betty Woodruff, who also concepted the original design based on my Fair Isle print.

We had these larger than life banners facing the main aisle that showcased photos from our MODKID Fashion Show video, which we also played on a flat screen TV in the booth...



We had plenty of sewn samples, some on dress forms and some on hangers, along with pillows and fabric-covered chairs...



A wall of framed fabric swatches formed a nice colorful border around Lars, who was the main attraction apparently...



We brought some help along with us this time, so here are Emalee (left) and Jessica (right) on the last day of the show, right before tear down. We seriously couldn't have done all of this without their help and positive dispositions.



And since my mission was to have fun, I couldn't leave the show without capturing this silly shot of Team MODKID!



Now, I mustache you... what do you think of our booth?

To everyone who hiked all the way to the far end of the convention center to see us, I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! It's always so nice to see familiar faces and meet new friends. xoxo