SURTEX 2011
(or why I love my husband more than words can describe)

... because he flew the red eye from Salt Lake City to New York City, got off the plane and took a cab straight to the Javits Center where he proceeded to turn this...



... into this! All by himself! Yes.



Then he eventually checked into our hotel and rested until I arrived later that evening. After about 4 hours of sleep, we got up the next morning and headed back to the convention center to start Day 1 of 3 of the Surtex art licensing show. (Click on that link to read more about it if you're not sure what the show is). After having done Quilt Market booths for 3 years this was a bit of a culture shock for me, but all in all I think (hope) we nailed it.

Here are a few close up shots of our booth...



My Zazzle mugs....



My art portfolios (these took me days and days and days to make so I'm mighty proud of them).



A cool Kalencom bag we managed to grab a sample of right before the show. Jon actually walked through the streets of New York all by himself carrying this bag the night before the show! Yup. I love him.



And our sign (which I completely forgot to print before we left so I had to print it quickly at the business center).



Jon did manage to get this one picture of me in the booth...



And he captured this one of me and The Perfect Bookmark. LOL! Oh, and a better view of my Vogs.



I'm deep into Surtex follow-up as we speak so there's nothing yet to report. But rest assured that as soon as something super exciting happens, you'll be the first to know. :)

Have a great LONG weekend, everyone! xoxo

WDT, Part 3: Orlando
Bernina University

And on with the tour... We spent the next few days in sunny Orlando at the Bernina University 2010 show. I really didn't know what to expect since this was our first time attending but I was certainly not disappointed. Set-up was a snap (a few minutes of our time versus the 2 days it takes to set up a Quilt Market booth). The setting couldn't be any more gorgeous. And there was lots of opportunity for networking. I saw some familiar faces there and met lots of new people.

I spent most of my days doing this...



While the rest of the family did this...



But they did let me out once in a while, so I can't complain...



The highlight of the show was in no doubt the last day in which Sydney was invited to participate in the 2010 Bernina University Fashion Show. WOW! What a wonderful experience this was for all of us, but especially for my little baby, who had her runway debut and never even broke a sweat (I can assure you the rest of us were way more nervous than she was!)

The Fashion Show lasted well over an hour but we wanted to share a little 6-minute excerpt from the show with you all. This is the portion that showcases the indie pattern designers such as yours truly but you'll also recognize some familiar names like Pink Fig, Lila Tueller, Lucy Morey and Colette Patterns. Enjoy...



(and yes, I know the announcer called Kyoko "Ava"... oh well. She realized her mistake later on and corrected it when the real Ava came out.) ;)

And now for the giveaway! I made a lot of new friends at Bernina University and it totally paid off to stay till the end because after the show, most vendors left behind lots of show samples. The Olfa booth was right next to ours and the nice Olfa lady gave me a couple of Olfa Circle Rotary Cutters which she assured would be ideal for cutting those circles on the sides of my Sun & Surf Tote... and she was right! This tool is downright GENIUS! Down the aisle from us the nice couple manning the Dritz booth gave me a few samples of their 40 mm snap-on grommets, which are the same size that I use for the Sun & Surf Tote. You see where I'm going with this, right?



I would love to share the wealth with one of my dear blog readers by giving away a prize package which includes:

1 Olfa Circle Rotary Cutter
1 Pkg of Dritz brand 40mm snap-on Grommets (you choose the color...I have 8 different colors! And each package contains 8 grommets.)
1 Sun & Surf Tote pattern
3 yards of Patty Young fabric (you choose the fabrics from any of my 4 quilting cotton collections!)

Just leave a comment below and tell me... well... anything! Did you enjoy the video? Do you want your own complete Sun & Surf Tote kit? What fabrics would you choose if you won? Are you enjoying your Summer so far? Have your Summer travels taken you anywhere fun and exciting?

I'll randomly pick a winner one week from today (Monday, July 26). Good luck!!!
Added: please leave a way to contact you in the comments... either a clickable link or an email address. In the past we've had a heck of a time trying to contact contest winners! ;)

KYOKO at TALA



When Kathy Miller told me a couple of weeks ago that they wanted to feature my Kyoko sewing pattern at their upcoming L.A. Textiles Show (a.k.a. TALA) on April 14 - 16, I was thrilled! Of course, we didn't have Mezzanine yardage yet to work with, so she said I could pick fabrics from one their new collections to make a sample. I was immediately drawn to this large floral, Flower Shower, and its coordinating stripe, Stripe Hype. And of course, I paired it up with a staple of mine, the Berry Ta Dot and some of their adorable printed bias tape. I just LOVE how this turned out!



As soon as the box of fabric & trims got here I got to sewing (I wanted to get it all done before my sewing patterns were delivered!) Sydney insisted on trying it on, so how could I refuse? We got these adorable pictures done just minutes before it shipped off to MMF! Check out the action shot! What a ham...



If you are in the LA area and plan to attend the Textiles Show, stop by the MMF booth and say hi to Kyoko (it won't have Sydney inside of it, but it'll still be cute!) Oh, and a little birdie told me that they will be showing Mezzanine at the show! WOOHOOO! You can be one of the first stores to get it in stock! :)

On another note, I've been a little quiet around here because of this:



That's just the view from one side of my dining room. This is what our foyer looks like:



Boxes & boxes & boxes of patterns arrived last Wednesday and we've been printing packing slips and boxing up orders ever since. It's become a family affair as we try to make it into a fun game at times so the kids don't feel slighted. We let them count the patterns, then we double check their counting. They get to help stack the lighter boxes by the front door but often end up distracted by bubble wrap.... who doesn't? I already had a little mishap involving my index finger and the metal teeth of my tape gun, OUCH!, and last night I accidentally printed two sets of shipping labels for each box, so we had to go back in and void the second set. Fun, fun, fun! I guess practice makes perfect, eh? But nevertheless, all pattern pre-orders will be shipped out this week so they'll be arriving at a store near you shortly!

Well, since I'm actually sitting down at the computer for a few minutes (which seems like a luxury these days!) I figured I'd do another Q & A session.

1. When will the patterns be available for purchase on your website?
All patterns are in stock and ready to ship. However, we need to fulfill all wholesale pre-orders and I would like my retailers to have enough time to get them in and start selling them on their own sites before I do. So, give me a few days and the site will open up for consumers to shop!


2. Do you have a list of retailers that stock your patterns?
I am compiling a list this week and will post it on our website a.s.a.p. In the meantime, check out this announcement on Boutique Café, where some retailers have been leaving their links. Also check out this wonderful review by MiscellaneousFinds4U which also features some store links! :)

We are happy to report that we have retailers in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Germany at the moment! If you are a retailer and would like to carry our line of MODKID patterns in your store, please go to our website at and click on the WHOLESALE link to fill out an application.


3. Can I purchase your fabric and ribbons as well as patterns on your site?
No. At the moment we are only selling our MODKID sewing patterns on our site. If you are a retailer interested in purchasing my 2 fabric collections, Andalucia and Mezzanine, please contact Michael Miller Fabrics at info@michaelmillerfabric.com and they will pair you up with a sales rep in your area. Wholesale ribbon purchases can be made through Caroline Devoy at www.jcarolinecreative.com


4. Are the Sophie 3-Way Pants available for pre-order right now?
The Sophie 3-Way Pants are currently in development and will be available for pre-order with our next set of patterns, probably around June/July 2009.


And the following one is an oldie but goodie (I get this question so much, I thought it merited re-posting the answer)

5. Do you allow sales of items made with your sewing patterns?
All of my sewing patterns come with a legal line that reads: "Modkid LLC allows the right to use this pattern to create items sewn by the purchaser and only the purchaser for personal use or sale. Please direct inquiries for any other commercial use to info@modkidboutique.com. Any printed or electronic reproduction of this pattern in part or whole is strictly prohibited." This pretty much means that YES, you can sell these items if you are an independent sewer and if all items are sewn by YOU and only YOU, but if you intend to mass-produce these items or have them manufactured by an outside source, you need to contact me to work out a licensing agreement.


Thank you all for sticking around with me even though I've been such an bad blogger this past couple of weeks. I promise to be way more chatty (chattier?) when I get all these patterns shipped out... first things first!

Night at the Cirque

Tonight Jon and I went to see Cirque Du Soleil's new traveling show, DELIRIUM. If you haven't heard about it, it differs from their previous shows in that it is more musically-oriented (so, not as much circus-y stuff). So I was a bit skeptical at first, because I like the circus-y stuff. But the show was amazing! I totally surpassed my expectations and it rivaled every other Cirque show I have ever seen. They still had some acrobatics mixed in with the dancers, singers and musicians, so it was like sensory overload! Of course, the minute we got there they told us that the use of cameras was strictly prohibited, so I couldn't get any pictures of the show itself... just the stage before (the blue one) & after (the orange one). And of course that goofy picture of Jon and I waiting for the show to begin... doesn't he look enthused? LOL!

The whole show was done like a dream sequence and we (the audience) were all part of this wacky dream. There was this guy (the dreamer) who floated above the stage suspended from an oversized blue balloon (that sometimes changed colors according to the scenery on the stage). The music was entrancing ... at times it sounded like something right out of Carnival in Brazil, and at times it sounded more like a cross between Dead Can Dance and Massive Attack. Drums, drums, drums. There was everything from tribal chants to Gregorian chants. The singers had amazing voices and they sang in many different languages. The costumes were gorgeous and of course I was drooling and trying to take a mental picture (since I couldn't take an actual picture) so that I could maybe try to incorporate some of those elements in my designs. Check out this gorgeous willowy mermaid-like dress that was like 50-feet long (this is not my picture... I swiped it from their site, but I just had to include it here because it was breathtaking!)

But my favorite part, and you guys are gonna think this is totally weird, was this guy that walked around on stilts through the whole concert. Now, I have to interject here and inform you all that for as long as I can remember I have had a strange fascination with stilts. Could it be because I am only 5-foot-tall? Probably! But, nevertheless, it's always been a fantasy of mine to walk around on stilts and I become totally entranced when I see stilt walkers. So of course, as soon as that guy made an appearance, my eyes followed him everywhere he went. He wore these super flowy pants that had layers and layers of colorful gauze in different lengths and he babbled incoherently but in a very comical way. He was also mighty talented with a hula-hoop.

All in all, a very pleasurable experience and a wonderful Valentines/Anniversary gift that I will never forget!