A Very Mod Christmas

I love living in a small-ish town where everyone is so supportive, helpful and genuinely excited about being a part of our little business. The friendships we have made in the past few months of having our MODKID HQ here are absolutely priceless!!

Last month I told you guys about how the Modern Quilt Guild ladies pitched in to create some of the most amazing quilted projects I've ever seen. Well, this time Jon, Emalee and I were blessed with the help of our friends, The Barrs, and 4 wonderful girls from Illinois State University's Apparel, Merchandising & Design Department: Megan Bjorn, Alethea Hemauer, Paige Kent and Jessica Lottinville. Talk about The Season of Giving... these wonderful people worked tirelessly to create our amazing window display for the upcoming December First Fridays event, which is in just 3 short days!

It all started out with a super cool idea by my friend Nikki. She came here one day talking about floating trees and Christmas light waterfalls. Shortly thereafter, Emalee, Nikki, Megan, Alethea, Paige, Jessica and I were brainstorming, sketching ideas on paper and figuring out the logistics.

Several shopping trips later, we were ready and eager to get started. The Sunday after Thanksgiving Jon and Justin hung our Christmas light waterfall, complete with a soft curtain of white mesh to soften it up a bit.

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Then yesterday, the Merchandising girls came by to get the rest of the display done. The floating tree proved to be the most challenging part, since the ornament strings kept twisting into one another and tangling themselves into a colossal web. Luckily, Em & Em gathered up the patience to untangle each and every strand. A million thanks to sweet Emily Parks (currently referred to as Ms. Parks by her adoring students) for stopping by and helping us out!

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How many people does it take to put up a floating tree? Well, it appears the answer is seven! And one photographer. haha

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Even as we were hanging the tree, those pesky strands kept gravitating towards one another... eeeek!

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Then it was time to get the base nice and leveled (easier said than done, by the way!). A little higher here! No, a little lower there! This strand needs to go 1" to the right! No, your other right!

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We all let out a huge sigh of relief once this little project was finished! Then it was time to step back and admire the masterpiece... ahhhhh.

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The rest of the display went together without a hitch.

Wrapping faux presents...

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With cute ragged fabric bows...

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Making the windows nice and "snowy" (you'd think by now and in the heart of the Midwest, we'd have some real snow, but nope!)

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And adding the finishing touches... TADA!

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A million thanks to the Merchandising girls, Megan, Alethea, Paige and Jennifer, for all your help, your smiles and your positive attitude. This is BY FAR the coolest window in Downtown Bloomington (at least in my eyes)! And a special thanks to their teacher, Elisabeth Reed, for connecting me with these great girls.

Also, a million thanks to Nikki Barr, Justin Barr and Emalee Grambo for all of your help and super cool ideas! It was definitely worth all the headaches and late nights, no?

And last, but not least, big hugs and kisses to the adorable MODKID models, Sydney, Sophie and Anna for being such great troopers and coming out to model for my First Fridays invitation. It turned out so awesome!!!

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If you are in the Central Illinois area, please stop by and see us this Friday, December 2nd from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. We will have music, refreshments and live window display PLUS lots of items for sale! In addition, all of the other businesses downtown will have activities, food, displays and sales going on. There's even pictures with Santa and free gift-wrapping at a few venues. This event is not to be missed!!
Sewing MODKID Style, Sneak Peek #2

Sorry it has taken me so long to get to this next sneak peek. I know I promised them monthly until release date, but this month has been particularly crazy, with Quilt Market catch up, new fabric & pattern release planning and birthdays/holidays galore. Thank you all for the reminders and your patience.

When I set out to design projects for Sewing MODKID Style, I wanted to create a wide variety of styles that would appeal not only to the girly-girl, like my little Sydney, but also to the young, cool girl (or the 9-going-on-16-year-old) like my Sophie. I know -- from personal experience -- that not all girls love to run around in twirly skirts and cutesy tops, so this book has a selection of projects that are designed for the Sophies of the world. I call it Urban Chic because with the right mix of fabrics and trims you can take these pieces from basic to boutique in a snap!

Here are "big girls" Sophie, Maddie and Emersyn (with Sydney tagging along for good measure) sporting their Not-So-Plain Tees, Leg Warmers and Fingerless Gloves... or as kids like to call them these days... texting gloves, haha.

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Above photos by Dawn Bergeron Photography.

The girls had such fun this day playing with skateboards, scooters and cameras...

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Sophie is also wearing the Leggings pattern from the book sewn in a denim knit to resemble skinny jeans or jeggings.

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That [above] is one of my absolute FAVORITE pictures of Sophie I've ever captured, by the way. It totally helps when a kid feels comfortable in what they're wearing and in their environment. I've learned this the hard way, believe me. Oh, and Sophie's rocking skateboard? You can get one just like it here. :)

If you missed my last sneak peek, you can go back and check out the first few projects I revealed (much more girly-girl) and the book's cover too. So much more to come... stay tuned!

Sewing MODKID Style will be in stores in March of 2012 and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Overstock, Book Depository, Easons, Books-a-Million and Sew Mama Sew. (Retailers: if you have my book on your site, please let me know so we can add you to the list!) A full list of retailers will be available on the WILEY website.
Fall Quilt Market 2011 recap

This time I traveled solo, so we decided to do a small booth, as in half-a-booth, as in a tiny, little wedge of space that I could set-up and call my own...

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It looks way bigger in pictures than it was in actuality, but I'm not complaining. It was stress-free and fun and still did a pretty good job of showcasing the new fabrics, the new patterns, the beautiful quilts and even a few new products.

Here are a few detailed shots...

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The best (absolute best) part of Quilt Market is the constant stream of happy visitors. Oh, how I love to chat with these ladies that I only get to see once or twice a year! I'm sure you'll recognize these smiling faces...

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Jenny Fish was my lovely assistant during Schoolhouse and I am ever so grateful!

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I even got to meet Cindy Kitchel, Vice President and Publisher at Wiley. What a treat!!

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Another one of my favorite parts is the parties! Who can forget the parties... every night, all night long?! :)

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I will leave you with some breathtaking images I captured from our hotel room on my last day in Houston. My roomie and I got up extra early on this day so we could try to make the most of our last day at Quilt Market. It was still dark outside, so I captured these images from our 13th-floor hotel room:

The convention center at dawn...

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As the sun was coming up over the horizon...

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And a few minutes later, after my shower...

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Then the downtown Houston skyline at dawn...

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And after my shower...

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I always enjoy my time in Houston. It feels like home. Until next year...
Happy [belated] Halloween!

I am still sorting through all my Quilt Market photos, so I thought I'd post my Halloween pics so there wouldn't be such an empty lull on the blog. Oh, and I also owe you all the 2nd sneak peek of my book. It's all coming this week, I promise. But for now... here is our little freak show...

Sydney was a Fairy Devil or Devil Fairy (it fit her personality oh so well!)

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Sophie was Ginny Weasley (Harry Potter's girlfriend)

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Jon and I went as The Walking Dead...

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I even spent a few minutes playing with Photoshop to create this nifty screen saver for Jon. It fooled a few into thinking it was real! mwa-ha-ha-haaaaa

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If you want to use the above photo as your screen-saver, just click on the image, which will take you to Flickr, and download the largest size.
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