The Male Perspective

Greetings and salutations! Today’s post is brought to you by the letter “J”, “J” for Jon. I’m Patty’s DH (Damn, oops I mean Dear Husband in Twitter shorthand) and I’ll be guest blogging for your reading pleasure. Patty is up to her neck in cut up fabric (literally!) as she is busting her butt to get the next set of MODKID patterns done. And lucky for me, I’ve been getting to preview them and trust me, you’re gonna like ‘em!

Let’s get down to business. We randomly selected the lucky winner of last week’s giveaway and without further ado its Elka who was #214:

Elka commented:
I LOVE your fabrics and patterns! I was just on your site to send the web address to a friend of mine who is looking for great fabric for some sewing projects she has in mind for her soon-to-arrive baby. Your stuff is fresh, cute, and beautiful. I am so thankful for designers like you that INSPIRE my generation to sew! - Elka, elka@vignettesphotography.com
A rotary cutter that looks like a compass, some grommets (that word makes me think of a character from Sesame Street), a Sun & Surf Tote pattern and 3 yards of Patty Young fabric are going out to Elka and thank you to all who entered and left such great comments. Elka, I would sew up the tote for you myself before sending but since I got a C- in Home Ec Sewing in junior high, I’ll be merciful and let you do the sewing yourself!

Now for some fun stuff. Back a few weeks ago at the conclusion of the WDT, we decided to do some R&R at the end of the trip. We settled on Ruby Falls as this was a favorite childhood destination of Patty’s family. It was a really cool place (and by that I mean cold, it was 50 degrees down there), so I’d like to share some pics with you.

rubyfalls1
Who wants a shower?

rubyfalls2
Call a plumber! The Earth sprung a leak!

rubyfalls3
Keep me warm Sydney. It’s freezing down here!

rubyfalls7
Cave Safety with The Buddy System - Family Style!

rubyfalls4
“All right Mr. De Mille, I’m ready for my close-up,”

rubyfalls5

rubyfalls6
That was fun! Is it time for lunch yet?

The tour guide told us that once we got back to the surface that we were deemed “survivors”. I think the hardest part of surviving was making it through Sydney’s complaints about being hungry for lunch. A tip for all of you: don’t take a 5 year old down a 1000 foot hole without snacks at 11 am. Do so at your own peril! All in all, it was a good time and something for us and the kids to remember.

I have just a couple more small items before I let you get on your way, so hang in there!

Our very popular pattern Frida has just gone into “out of stock” status but will be restocked in a couple of months when the next set of patterns get produced (Hurry up Patty!). We’ll let you know when we have them back in.

Also, I’ve updated the website with some new graphics and content reflecting Patty’s newest fabric collection, Playdate. Check out the new Home page and About page.

You’ve made it. You want a cookie (sorry I had to say it)? Well, I want one too but that’s not in my diet. I’m of the opinion that diets are self-inflicted torture, but I digress. Thanks for hanging out with me today and I promise Patty will be back for the next post.
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...

BU-booth1

While the rest of the family did this...

BU-pool1

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

BU-pool2

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?

BU-giveaway

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! ;)
WDT, Part 2: {Still in} Atlanta
Whipstitch Fabrics


Atlanta was good to us. We were there for less than 24 hrs. but seemingly did and saw so much! Well, I do realize now that I should've posted these in chronological order, but in the interest of keeping things exciting, let's go back in time about 4 hrs., shall we? Before we headed to Intown Quilters, Jon and I stopped in to see our friend Deborah at Whipstitch Fabrics.

The modern, open and sort of urban feel of this space really spoke to my design style. I felt right at home from the moment we walked in. {of course, seeing a huge display of knits front & center definitely helped with that warm & fuzzy feeling}

whipstitch4

Deborah and I hit it off like we were old school buddies. We chatted and laughed about everything under the sun. I got to meet some of her sweet staff members and took a quick tour of the shop before picture time. This photo was really dark at first but I wanted to include it because I thought it was so cute...

whipstitch1

Ahhh... much better lighting over here by the front window...

whipstitch2

Haha... here I am totally freaking out over a vintage Singer that was identical to one I almost bought at an antique show recently. See, what I mean? We're like two peas in a pod, that girl and I!

whipstitch3

Deborah, thanks so much for having us, for the delish hummus & pita snacks and for recommending that amazing brew pub Jon and I spent the rest of the afternoon at watching the World Cup semi-finals and eating antelope burger (well, Jon did, I just had a bite).

Next up... Bernina University, Sydney's runway debut and a not-to-be-missed giveaway! Stay tuned.
WDT, Part 1: Atlanta
Intown Quilters


I'm finally back from my whirlwind Tour of the South (part of my World Domination Tour). There was lots of driving, eating, drinking, talking, world-cup-game-watching, and even though I didn't do any shopping (shocking, I know) I did come home with lots of nifty goodies thanks to the generosity of some pretty awesome ladies we met.

On the evening of Wednesday, July 7th, Jon and I walked in the door of one of the most awesome quilt shops I've ever laid eyes on: Intown Quilters, in Decatur, GA. I was immediately drawn to this section of the store right near the front, not sure why....

intown1

I loved how Sarah & team had the store laid out, so organized and pretty. There was a rainbow of fabric bolts and colorful baskets filled with fat quarter bundles that you could just grab & go...

intown2

Everywhere you looked there were sewn samples and neat store displays like this one...

intown3

This store is a crafter's paradise, with an immense selection of fabric, patterns and books to choose from. They even had trims & notions galore, including the full collection of Andalucia jacquard ribbons and Michael Miller printed bias tapes...

intown4

You step downstairs and it's a whole other world with a huge room dedicated to classes. This is where we spent most of our evening. The sweet and talented (and soon to be published author) Mary Abreu, of Flourishes fame, introduced me. It cracks me up how much shorter I am than her even though I'm wearing like 3" espadrilles and she's wearing flats!

intown5

I talked and talked and talked some more to a room filled to the brim with sweet Southern women. I'm not sure what I'm doing in this next photo... I'm either "raising the roof" or explaining just how big something was. Hey, I'm Hispanic... I talk with my hands!

intown6

We brought a full trunk show of MODKID samples for show & tell, and sweet Mary was the perfect Vana White.

intown9

I spliced two audience photos to try to show the whole room... not my best Photoshop work but you get the idea.

intown11(crowd-spliced)

After the presentation, video and giveaways, it was time for photos...

intown12

And of course we had to take a group shot before leaving... here are Intown Quilters' employees and friends in front of the Wall o' Patty Young.

intown13

What a wonderful time we had! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Sarah Phillips and Mary Abreu for putting this event together and for your wonderful Southern hospitality!! And thanks to all who attended that evening! xoxo

stay tuned for more tour photos...
Proudly designed by | mlekoshi Playground |