To those shops and buyers who attended the show, thank you for dropping by! We are so inspired by all your excitement about the our new fabric collection, about the response you’re getting from our sewing patterns, and by the feedback you’ve given us. We’re feeling energized by you and hope that we’ve inspired you in return.

Let me start by showing you a photo from after the show, when we were all packing up the booths and getting ready to leave. This is one of the vintage doll houses that inspired Moda’s booth.

I’ve really enjoyed working with Moda and can’t say enough good things about the company and the people. They are an extremely talented and professional group. And before I show you their booth, I want to highlight a few details from it that feature the doll house theme:

Cute, yes? See all that attention to detail? You know how much I love all that. Not only was the booth designed to look like a giant doll house, but the tables and chairs all looked like grass with a picket fence surrounding it! And the little red wagons filled with ginger snap cookies. Well, it’s all just too cute.

So now I’m sure you’d like to see how it all looks together, right? From where we stood, it’s quite an impressive display. (Click to enlarge the photo for full effect, taken during a quiet moment near the end of the show.)

I enjoyed getting to know many of the salespeople, learned a great deal from them, and enjoyed being part of the entire process. It was also wonderful to meet and get to know many of the other Moda designers.

And now that you’ve seen the terrific people with whom I am so proud to be working, here is our little corner of the show:

There will be lots more to show and tell about, but I’ll leave you with that for the time being and will be back soon with additional photos and information. I hope you’ll be inspired, too!

This season’s trunk show features items from our Spring 2010 and Fall 2009 collections sewn from prints in Denyse Schmidt’s new Hope Valley collection, with the addition of a School Days raincoat made from a recent Amy Butler laminate.

We’ve finalized the first several stops on this season’s tour. Here’s where you can catch the show in coming months.

• April 6-19: Quilt Essential Fabrics, Abbotsford, BC
• April 22-May 3: Plum Project Studio, North Vancouver, BC
• May 11-25: Cloth and Bobbin, Narberth, PA
• May 28-June 13: Textile Fabric Store, Nashville, TN
• June 17-27: Spool, Philadelphia, PA

If you are a retailer and would like to host the show in July or August, please contact the studio to arrange details.

You can see the trunk show at the following locations:

• Waechter’s Silk Shop Asheville NC, June 2-June 15
• Seams Like Home Quilt Shoppe, Anchorage AK, June 19-July 3
• Colonial Quilts, Savannah GA, July 10-July 24
• Bay Window Quilt Shop, Perham MN, July 30-August 13
• The Stitchin’ Post, Sisters OR, August 18-September 7

The first four stops scheduled are:

• Cloth & Bobbin, Narberth PA, March 28-April 7
• Bobbin’s Nest Studio, Santa Clara CA, April 15-April 23
• Olive Juice Quilt Shop (formerly A Stitch in Time), Onalaska WI, April 27-May 7
• Hip Stitch, Albuquerque NM, May 12-25

We’ll be adding to this list over time, so stay tuned for more locations and dates.

If you are a retailer and would like to book a trunk show for your shop, please email us for details.

Purl is well-known for its outstanding selection of fabrics. The staff stocks beautiful Japanese prints, a wide selection of Liberty tana lawn, and a number of other exquisite offerings inside this jewel box of a shop.

For these samples Purl selected a sweet floral Liberty print for the Birthday Party Dress and paired it with a coordinating Kona cotton solid for the tab. Because Liberty prints are very light-weight and ever-so-slightly sheer, we used a white cotton lawn for the facings to be sure they didn’t show through. (The Liberty print sold out within two days of setting up the window display, so I’m sorry I can’t give you a link to it.)

The Sailboat Top and Pants are made from a fresh architecture-inspired Anna Griffin print and a Kona cotton.

We raided the fantastic button selection at Purl’s yarn shop just down the street for the finishing touch. Those buttons on the pants are wool felt!

And here are some views of the window from inside the store. How about those giant paper dolls?

You can see more photos from the shop windows on the Boersma’s Flickr set.

If you’re planning to attend the show, I hope you’ll join us for the presentation.

We showed you the fabrics we selected for the show. Would you like to see how the samples turned out?

I think the fabrics in the 2 + 2 blouse and skirt are so fun together, with all those polka dots in different scales. We used a light-weight quilting cotton for the blouse, since the heavier home dec quality would have been too stiff. But the pleats look terrific in the heavier fabric. I want to wear this one myself!

The playdate dress has the same print as the 2 + 2 skirt, but in a different colorway. And I like how the weight of the fabric helps to maintain a crisp inverted pleat at the front. The patterned piping gives the dress a fun little shot of color and texture, too.

The Sandbox pants look great in corduroy, and the use of a printed fabric at the waistband adds a little interest without overwhelming it.

Flannel Bedtime Story pajamas are cozy for fall, and we used the home dec fabric for the neckband, waistband, and leg trim. Again, I like how just a bit of the busy print doesn’t overwhelm the outfit but gives it a little pop.

And the Sunday Brunch turned out beautifully. I really need to take a photo of the inside of the jacket because our sample maker did such an amazing job with the binding at the seams. It’s as beautiful inside as it is outside, which is really saying something for an un-lined jacket. That little kick pleat at the back skirt looks really nice and crisp in the heavier fabric, too.

I neglected to ask our sample makers whether I can identify them here. Is it ok, everyone? I’m thrilled at what beautiful work they did, and I’m sure they’re pround of it as well.

This season we fell in love with Denyse Schmidt’s County Fair collection by Free Spirit. The patterns and colors are fresh and exciting, with a bit of vintage flavor and a contemporary autumnal color palette.

County Fair has a lovely weight that is very appropriate to fall dressing. It’s slightly heavier than a quilting cotton, with a wonderful drape. Although the line is billed as a “home dec” weight, it’s not heavy or stiff like you might imagine. Instead, it’s perfect for little jackets, skirts, and pants. I’m having trouble keeping my hands off the fabrics and wish I could sew all the samples myself, it’s so wonderful.

If you’re a wholesale customer who is interested in hosting the trunk show, please drop us a line. The collection will be ready to go by the end of August, and we’d love to send it your direction!