Sun & Surf Tote Sew-Along

Are you ready ladies and gentlemen? It’s time for our first sew-along!!
You may have heard on our Modkid Facebook Fan page or within our Facebook group that Patty is working toward having all her existing paper patterns in PDF form. To celebrate the first paper to PDF pattern release, we’re hosting a sew-along!



The Sun & Surf Tote is perfect for a trip to the beach, swim lessons, or a day at the park. It’s big enough to hold a couple of towels and has plenty of inside and outside pockets. Best of all, it is the perfect size to use as a diaper bag or a market tote, while being stylish and unique!

The sew-along with be July 28 – August 1. So put it on your calendar now! Between now and then we’ll be posting what you’ll need, where you can buy supply kits, the schedule, and prizes. During the sew-along we’ll tackle a few steps a day to take you through the pattern, so by the weekend you’ll be set to hit the pool, beach, or market with your new tote!!

I’ll be back to tell you more, but you’ll want to post your tote in our Sun & Surf Flickr Group by Monday, August 4th to be entered to win the final prize pack. Don’t have a Flickr account, no problem. Post totes to Facebook and Instagram using the tag #sunandsurfsewalong so we can all find you. We’d love to see progress photos and totes in our Facebook Fan Group as well!

More good news! For the duration of the sew-along, Patty is offering the Sun & Surf Tote pattern at $5.95 (that's $2 off the regular price). So, pick up your PDF pattern or paper pattern, and get ready to sew! Two lucky winners will receive a free Sun and Surf Tote PDF pattern to get the party started. Enter below, but be quick, we'll announce the winners Thursday, so you'll know if you need to purchase the pattern.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Counting down the days

The Creative Connection Event is exactly 2 weeks from today and I simply can. not. wait. It's gonna be so awesome meeting up with all the great personalities at this show... I already have a list as long as my arm of women I want to get to know. If you haven't made a decision as to what classes to take, I want to let you know that although my Friday classes are now closed, I still have a few spots open in my Saturday classes.

Click on the links or photos below to learn more about my two classes...

FRENCH WINDOW PILLOW COVER
Saturday, September 17, 2011

Teacher: Patty Young

Time: 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm

Registration code: SPM

SUN & SURF TOTE
Saturday, September 17, 2011

Teacher: Patty Young

Time: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Registration code: SAM

And if you are a beginner sewer and are a bit apprehensive, please don't worry... I will have EVERYTHING there for you to get started with. You only need to bring your smile and eagerness to learn something new. :)

And, in case you haven't seen my prior posts on this subject, I have A TON of goodies to give away to all my students... rotary cutters, rulers, self-healing mats, and lots of other things!! So, in addition to a super cute project made by YOU, you will be going home with some awesome freebies from my sponsoring companies, OLFA, Prym Consumer USA and Dill Buttons. How cool is that!?!

Hope to see you all there!!

The Creative Connection Event

Have you heard about this thing? It's three whole days of creative, crafty goodness, or as they say on their website: a national conference and market celebrating creative women and entrepreneurs. I couldn't attend last year because it happened around the same time as my first manuscript was due for my book and unfortunately I just couldn't tear myself away. However, I was tickled pink when co-founder, Jo Packham, asked if I wanted to teach at this year's event! Of course I said yes... and now I want to tell you all about it...

I'll be teaching two classes (click on the name to be taken directly to the class page):

Sun & Surf Tote
At the start of this class I will hand you a kit that contains everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING, you need to complete this awesome tote... from the fabric, to the interfacing to all the notions, including buttons, grommets and even the thread! You will even get the original pattern, so you can take it home and make it again and again. You will walk away with a finished tote, just like the one pictured below, that is perfect for a trip to the beach, swim lessons or a day at the park. Hmmm...maybe it can even become your carry-on luggage for your return trip!





French Window Pillow Cover
Just like with my other class, you will receive a signature MODKID bag containing everything you need to complete this adorable pillow cover, including all the fabrics, the printed tutorial, the binding, thread and even a cute MODKID woven tag! All fabrics are from my Sanctuary line for Michael Miller Fabrics.





Last week, all the materials started arriving from all the wonderful companies I'm working with. Check out this awesome stack of fabric bolts courtesy of Michael Miller Fabrics...



And how about these adorable decorative buttons from Dill Buttons of America, Inc. There are enough buttons here for everyone to have 1 and then some (whatever we don't use, I'll give away at the end of the class).



And last, but certainly not least, I received a box of goodies from my good friends at OLFA. There are circle cutters and rotary cutters galore. We'll get to play with these in class and at the end of the class, I'll draw names for a giveaway.



So, in case you missed it above click here to read more about the Sun & Surf Tote class and here for the French Window Pillow class. Register soon because these classes fill up fast and there's limited enrollment!

Oh, I will also be participating in a roundtable pitch slam session -- Pitch To Become A Designer for a Textile/Licensing Manufacturer. If you've ever wanted to become a licensed textile designer, here's your chance to pitch your collection to a group of experts! I will be sharing the roundtable with Heather Bailey and Suzy Ultman. After pitching their ideas, participants will be able to spend some time with artists that have been through the whole licensing process. The experts in this category are Kathy Miller and Lilla Rogers. Learn more about this Pitch Slam session here.

Hope to see you all there this September! Let me know if anyone has any questions. And if you're attending, let me know too... I'd love to get to know my students in advance!

xoxo

Squeezing...

...the last sweet and juicy drops out of the Summer before school starts, that's what we've been doing. Today I had a to-do list as long as the State of Illinois, but since we live here in the frigid Midwest and we know all too well that our days of galavanting in the sunshine are numbered I turned off my 'puter and spent the afternoon doing just so.

The girls donned their brand new swim gear in anticipation of their new season of swim lessons.



Sophie is an old pro, a regular fish underwater, just going back to hone her diving and backstroke skills.



Sydney on the other hand has always been a little too afraid of the water, so much so that she flunked her last swim placement test because she wouldn't even put her feet in the water. Well, not today. Not sure what came over her but the minute she put on that swim cap and goggles it was like she became someone else. Within 10 minutes she was swimming underwater like a cute little mermaid. She even begged me to take her to the deep end so she wouldn't accidentally touch the bottom (I seriously had to clear my ears because I wasn't sure I heard her correctly). And no, we didn't get any pictures of today's momentous event because I didn't want to chance my big camera getting splashed. In hindsight, I should've brought the point & shoot, but in my defense I never in a million years expected to be needing it for THIS!



Between you and me, this is what the power of sheer determination can do. She desperately wants to pass her next placement test so she can be accepted into Lane 1 with the other "big kids." If she flunks the swim test again, she has to go in a "nervous beginners" course with the "babies" (as she calls them, they are really kids of all ages, but she doesn't want any part of it). See. there's nothing wrong with a little pride and vanity every now & then. ;)

Oh, another good thing that happened today was that I finally got the chance to use my Sun & Surf Tote for what it was intended for, instead of traveling around with me on my WDTs. And... the girls brought their matching water bottle carriers along too.



Aren't these cool?! They were made for us by the über-talented Ariel Yoder. Get your own here. I personally think she charges too little for them, so you may want to take advantage before she changes her mind.

Free Tutorial Friday

It's Summer time and do I have a treat for you! The über talented Valerie Haberer of Sew Much More designed this super fun and easy-to-sew Summer Strip Quilt to go along with our Sun & Surf Tote pattern. And now that Playdate is in stores worldwide and our new patterns have shipped to all who pre-ordered, feel free to use this tutorial to saturate your Summer months with color!



Those of you who stopped by our Quilt Market booth last month may remember this adorable mini-quilt on our far left wall. It is the perfect compliment to our Sun & Surf Tote since it rolls up and fits inside snugly.



It's such a clever design where the strips are sewn right onto a standard bath towel.



You can embellish the towel with embroidery or applique to add an extra touch of whimsy.



Click on the image below to download the free PDF tutorial. The file is 4.3MB so if you have a slow connection, let me know and I can send you a low-res version. All tutorial links are also posted on our side bar... over there >>>



Enjoy!

(pssst... there's still time to enter my scraptastic giveaway... winners will be chosen on Sunday, June 2oth)

Wanna Play?

If you're seeing this on your reader, you might want to pop on over to get the full effect... my blog header and background have been updated in honor of my latest quilting cotton collection, PLAYDATE, for Michael Miller Fabrics. I know I say this every time, but I am so stinking excited about this one!

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Andalucia was inspired by our Honeymoon in the South of Spain. Mezzanine was inspired by an extended work trip to Northern Europe. Flora & Fauna was inspired by nature. Well, for Playdate I decided to stay close to home and draw inspiration from none other than my own kids... and boy am I glad I did! I sat them down and asked them to tell me their favorite things (a la Sound of Music). They started out rattling off the obvious: dolls, teddy bears, flowers, chocolate, lollipops... then the list started taking an interesting turn: Chinese lanterns, goldfish, princess tiaras...

I thought to myself, "OK, I can make this work!" So what do you think???



The collection has 17 designs divided into two color palettes, Recess (all the ones with light and bright backgrounds) and Slumber Party (all those with darker, deeper-toned backgrounds).



And yes, it comes with its own MODKID Rag Doll Panel fashioned after my very own Potty Girls!!! You have no idea how long I've been wanting to bring my Potty Girls to life... well, possibly ever since I dreamed them up a couple of years ago. :)



There are 3 dolls in each panel and they stand 18" tall with fronts and backs and come with full assembly instructions. They'll come to you wearing cute MODKID undies but I've been having a blast making little Mod knit dresses for them. :)



When the fabric starts hitting stores, I'll upload a template and tutorial for these 5-minute dresses... promise! :)




OK, so you guys wanna see how we've been using the rest of the prints in the collection? Ask and you shall receive. Of course Valerie had a Playdate of her own with all her dolly designs.... how adorable are these?



ACK! She's killing me with cuteness... the selvedge trim, the fussy-cut sequined goldfish, the retro sunglasses...



Of course, I couldn't resist sewing up two of our most popular girl sewing patterns, Kyoko and Frida, to showcase the collection next week at Quilt Market. Sydney says these are her favorites! (mission accomplished)





And I even made myself an outfit to wear to Schoolhouse (more info on that to come). This outfit uses my Pretty Flowers Turq print for the A-Line skirt and rolled rose pin combined with my Blossoms Citron knit for the blouse and yoga skirt band. Wait till you see the whole thing... it turned out stunning, if I shall say so myself. :)



I made a quilt and couple of cute pillows for Sydney's bed...





We are actually hauling Sydney's entire bedroom set up to Minneapolis next week for the show. Believe it or not, she doesn't mind one bit and is excited about sleeping in her inflatable sleeping bag for a few days "like camping in my own room". Gotta love kids! :)

The Goldfish print looks so cool as a lampshade... those goldfish just seem to pop!



And last, but certainly not least, may I present to you a new pattern I specifically designed for Playdate. This is the first in our line of mini-patterns, which we are calling MODKID LITE (half the calories, same great taste... haha... no, that's not the tagline, but would be kinda funny, eh?). They are smaller patterns and easier, quicker projects for the beginner sewist.



This is the SUN & SURF TOTE, perfect for a trip to the beach, swim lessons or a day at the park. It’s big enough to hold a couple of towels and has plenty of inside and outside pockets for all your smaller items.



And best of all, it is the perfect size to use as a diaper bag...



...or a market bag, while being stylish and unique! Features a padded strap for comfort and button & loop closure for easy access.



So there ya have it! New fabric and a new pattern, all in time for Quilt Market. PHEW! I'm exhausted!!! What do you think?

The Sun & Surf Tote pattern is already in stock and will be available for purchase at Quilt Market and up on our website as soon as we return. Playdate is available for pre-order through Michael Miller Fabrics.