Winner and weekend recap

Thank you to all who commented on our One Million Pillowcase post. As promised we have randomly chosen a winner who will receive enough fabric to make 2 pillowcases and the pillowcase template of her choice. The winner is comment #31:

i would love to make some (2) pillowcases and donate them to the children's hospital in seattle, the oncology floor -- although my granddaughter was treated at primary childrens in slc, i know the need for bright and cheery pillowcases for children who are confined to hospital for looooong periods of time .... thanks so much .... darlene

Darlene, many congrats on winning. It sounds like a wonderful cause and I am so happy to contribute to it! Please send your mailing address and template choice to info AT modkidboutique DOT com at your earliest convenience and we'll get the package out to you.

This past weekend I had a lecture and book signing at The Fabric Nosherie in St. Louis in celebration of their one year anniversary. Since it is a relatively short drive from our house, I decided to bring the whole Young clan and extend my visit into a family weekend getaway.

Well, little did I know that the girls would actually want to be part of my presentation! This is definitely a first. Here is Shannon, owner of The Nosh, introducing me...

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And introducing the "real designers". I am rolling my eyes because Sydney just hopped in front of me and did one of those "TA-DA! Here I am!" poses with arms outstretched and all. That girl!

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I want to thank all of the sweet ladies and kids who attended my lecture. We all had a lot of fun and I had a wonderful time meeting each and every one of you.

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Here I am with the lovely Ms. Shannon.

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And a shot of the *packed* store!

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I will definitely be going back there every time we visit St. Louis.
One Million Pillowcase Challenge
57 closer to the goal!

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I was honored when the team at American Patchwork and Quilting asked me to help promote this amazing event called the One Million Pillowcase Challenge. In case you have never heard of this, APQ is tring to reach their goal of sewing 1 million pillowcases and donating them to charities around the country. I was so touched by this program that I decided that MODKID should become a participating shop... and so we did! Next thing you know we had people coming out of the woodwork to help us help APQ reach their goal.

We had a sew-in last Friday with some local sewing and quilting enthusiasts and check out what we made...

Pillowcases-All

Everyone brought their machines, set up camp at MODKID and sewed up some beauties, using patterns readily available here and fabric donated by us.

sewing at modkid

Even my girls pitched in...

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All in all, we finished 18 pillowcases that day, including a couple sent in by my mom.

Mami's-Pillowcases

If you'd like to see some of these up close and read about what fabrics and patterns we used, click here, here and here.

But that's not all! My former intern, Jessica, organized a sewing group at Illinois State University's Apparel Merchandising and Design Association, and they were able to make 39 more pillowcases! Just look at all these young girls sewing their hearts out at the ISU Sewing Lab! It's so great seeing a whole community come together for a wonderful cause like this one.

jess

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sewing at ISU

Yesterday, Emalee and I collected all the pillowcases, divided them into 3 groups and delivered them to the following charities:

The Crisis Nursery
Children's Home & Aid
1119 E. Taylor, Bloomington, IL 61701 

***

The Clare House
Center for Battered Women
703 E. Washington Street, Bloomington, IL

***

The Child Advocacy Center 
200 W. Front St.,  Suite 500 B
Bloomington, IL  61701

We got to tour their facilities and hear their stories, and just felt so lucky to be able to help out like this. I would like to thank each an every one of you who helped us with this cause... Terri, Pat, Jen, Beth, Carissa, Vicky, Maria (a.k.a "Mami"), Sophie, Sydney, Erin, Emalee, Jessica and all of the AMDA students! Also, a big thanks to APQ for organizing this wonderful event!

Would you like to make your own pillowcase at home? Leave us a comment and on Monday, Sept. 24th we'll randomly draw a winner who will receive enough fabric to make two pillowcases plus a full-color print out of the pattern of your choice from the APQ site. You can keep one and donate the other, or donate both... it's up to you. You can find a charity in your hometown or send the pillowcase(s) back to us and we'll take them to one of the charities above. Please, don't forget to leave a way for us to contact you if you win. GOOD LUCK!!

Lecture and Book Signing at The Nosh

This weekend I'm headed to one of my favorite places... St. Louis! I met Shannon (owner of a super fabulous fabric shop in Missouri called Fabric Nosherie) almost a year ago at the Fall Quilt Market and we hit it off immediately. I said, any friend of Laura's is a friend of mine! So, of course, I was thrilled and honored when she asked if I would be part of her One Year Anniversary Celebration!

mo-05 Picture shot earlier this Summer at Fabric Nosherie.

Shannon and her team at The Nosh are celebrating all week so, if you live in Missouri here is the full schedule of events:

Sept. 18 Tuesday - 50% off Oliver + S book and patterns. 50% off Sew Liberated book

Sept. 19 Wednesday - 50% off Miss Henrietta pin cushion pattern

Sept. 20 Thursday - For every $30 you spend, you will be entered into a drawing to win 1 of 3 adorable bags that we've had at the shop!

Sept. 21 Friday - 10% off everything

Sept. 22 Saturday -
Workshop/Book Signing with Patty Young 11:00 a.m. (first 25 to RSVP will receive 15% off Patty Young books and patterns). When you spend $35 or more, you will get the chance to Pop a balloon (when we say chance what we mean is that you’ll throw the dart until you pop a balloon – even if it takes all day) . Inside the balloon is a surprise. It could be 20% off you’re next purchase or it could be a special delivery from Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt or Laura Gunn… which one will you get? So many prizes……can. not. wait.
 
So, there ya have it! Come out and see me!! I promise it'll be a great time. 
 
Fabric Nosherie
21 N Gore Ave, Webster Groves, MO 63119
Find us in old Webster just a block north of Lockwood on North Gore
(Right next to Dr Jazz) Click for directions 314.968.3794
http://www.fabricnosherie.com/
Do you CAMEO®?

I am so thrilled to share with you this new design venture I am embarking on. This past Summer I attended the CHA Show (Craft & Hobby Association) in Chicago and I met with so many lovely folks. One of them worked for Silhouette and after showing me how their amazing Cameo® machine worked and taking a look at my portfolio (which I conveniently brought on my iPad), urged me to submit some designs for their contributing artist program. I also had dinner with a couple of lovely designers who had nothing but great things to say about this company. So, fast-forward a couple of months and I am now the newest licensed designer at Silhouette! I'm sure you'll recognize some classic Patty shapes in my artist page:

Silhouette-screen-capture

If you're not familiar with Silhouette or the Cameo, here's a bit of info for you (directly from their website):
The Silhouette CAMEO® is an electronic cutting tool for personal use. Like a home printer, it plugs into your PC or Mac® with a simple USB cable. However, instead of printing it uses a small blade to cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric and more up to 12" wide and 10 feet long. The machine also boasts a quiet motor and the ability to register and cut printed materials. 

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The Cameo can be used to make Scrapbook pages, Cards, Custom apparel, Vinyl décor, Etched glass, Sketch designs, Temporary tattoos and Paper crafts.

The designs I have currently available on the Silhouette site are all "regular cut" which means that they are SVG files to be used with their software and printed on their machine. They are scalable, meaning you can scale them to any size you need, and editable, which means you can modify them (move elements around on a layout) to fit your needs.

My dear friend Char from Crap I've Made used three of my designs to make some adorable shirts for her kids and friends. In her words, "I made some t-shirts using some stencil vinyl and the Silhouette fabric ink and then I tried one with freezer paper and the Silhouette fabric ink.  They turned out pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself." I couldn't agree more!!

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Here are some close-ups of all three:

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char3

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Eeeek! I want one now!

More designs will be popping up every week, so bookmark my page and check often! If you guys out there make any fun projects using my shapes, please send me some photos (email to info AT modkidboutique DOT com) and I will be sure to share them here.
Sewn Hats Winner!

Thank you to all who commented on my Sewn Hats giveaway post. I had a great time reading through your comments. The Random Generator chose a winner from the 50 comments we received and here it is... drum roll...


Comment #18 is:
We have five heads in my family and they all love hats!

Many congrats to Melissa on winning your very own copy of Sewn Hats! Now you can cover those five heads in style! :) Melissa, please email us at info AT modkidboutique DOT com with your mailing address and I will forward your information to Wiley so they can send you your book.

All... stay tuned as tomorrow I will be sharing a new venture I have been involved in! If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, then you most likely already know, but I am super excited about it and I am preparing a nice little post with sample projects and much more! See ya!!
Sewn Hats Book Tour and Giveaway

I am so thrilled to tell you about this exciting new book that I've had the pleasure of contributing to. Sewn Hats is a collection of 35 hat patterns contributed by industry experts and curated by Carla Crim, a.k.a The Scientific Seamstress.

People are often curious about how long things take in this industry. I get that question repeatedly... how long does it take for a fabric collection to come out? ... for a pattern to be produced? ... for a book to be published? Well, let me tell ya, it's a long time for patterns and fabric, but not nearly as long as it is for books! You really have to have patience in this industry (and that's definitely not my virtue!). I was curious about how long this one took, because Sewing MODKID Style seemed to take forever and a day. Well, I was originally approached by Wiley on January 5, 2011 to ask if I was interested in contributing to Sewn Hats. WOW, that's exactly a year and 8 months ago! But let me tell you, it was well worth it! This book is spectacular!

Sewn Hats

When I first got the book in my greedy little hands last Thursday, I was immediately surprised by three things:
  1. First, the book has 35 patterns, people! WOW! I know, from personal experience, all the work, time and effort that goes into each and every project of a book like this, so to see this times 35 is truly exceptional... and unusual! Talk about bang for your buck!
  2. My pattern is the first one in the book! I also know, from personal experience, that I usually end up last because my last name starts with a Y, haha! Well, I guess they weren't going alphabetically this time. ;)
  3. Lastly, I was not aware until I held the book in my hands, of just who all had been contributing to this little masterpiece. Seriously, this list reads like a who's who in our industry. These are fellow designers and authors who I have loved and admired for quite some time... Joanna, Mary, Betz, Melissa, Jennifer, Bari and so, so many more! Not to mention Ms. Carla herself! I am not worthy!!
So, without much further ado, let me present to you my own project for this book, which I titled, Sunny Days Hat. As the title describes, it's a sweet little sun hat with a ruffled brim and a decorative ribbon detail that weaves in and out of the hat. But the best part is that since it has no visible seams the hat is fully reversible! So you can use different fabrics for each side and have a completely different look each time she wears it. It comes in 3 sizes, so it will grow with her.

Here are some of the photos we took for the project. These first 2 were shot at the Missouri Botanical Gardens:

Sunny Days Hat Photo-01

Sunny Days Hat Photo-02

And these three were shot here at Modkid. You may recognize that sweet little blond girl, Elizabeth, from two of our most recent patterns, Chloé and Hannah. Boy, how much she's grown! She was only 3 then! And look how short Sydney's hair was! It's halfway down her back now. :)

Sunny Days Hat Photo-03

Sunny Days Hat Photo-04

Sunny Days Hat Photo-05

So... I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Sewn Hats. Do you like to sew hats? Do you collect sewing books? What's your favorite thing to sew? Please leave us a comment and be entered to win your very own copy of the book, courtesy of Wiley Publishing. A winner will be announced a week from today, on Wednesday, September 12th, 2012. Please leave a way to contact you if you win. Good luck all!!

Follow along with the Sewn Hats Blog Tour:
9/11 -  LuluBliss.com
9/21 – Figgys Patterns
9/26 – Bari J.
9/28 – SisBoom.com
10/1 – Sew Mama Sew
10/2 – Aesthetic Nest
10/4 – Betz White
10/8 – YummyGoods.com
10/10-  Wiley Craft
Winners!

Thank you all for your kind comments on our Fall 2012 patterns.  So glad you love them so much! As promised, we have randomly chosen 3 winners from the comments you left and here they are...


#10
Having to choose one is tough. I'd guess I'd choose Hailey as my daughter is almost a tween.

#49
B. Wright1:32 PM
I loooooove the Piper pattern!

#58
Love the Piper jumper. So cute! 

Congrats to the winners! Each of you will receive the pattern of your choice and enough fabric to make it! Please send your mailing address to info AT modkidboutique DOT com and we will get your package out to you right away!

The new patterns have all shipped to the retailers who pre-ordered them, so you will be seeing them popping up here and there on the internet (and hopefully even at a brick and mortar store near you!)

Check back here tomorrow as I will be kicking off a book tour and giving away and wonderful new book that I am featured in. :)
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