Moda Love Designer Blog Tour

Welcome to the Moda Love Blog Tour!

Each day you've been able to visit 3 different Moda designer's blogs for inspiration, giveaways and lots of Moda Love. Sensing a theme here??? Today's fellow Moda designers are the delightful and whimsical Bunny Hill and the extraordinarily talented and lovely Deb Strain. I can't wait to see what their Moda Love brings.

For me, after almost 15 years with Moda, the respect for Mark Dunn and his family company continues to grow. He is an outstanding businessman with a generous spirit and inspires us all to do our best work. But it's Lissa Alexander, Director of Marketing, that makes all the fun happen. Her ability to bring dozens of designers from all over the world together is incredible! She's the inspiration behind Moda Love and had a few questions for each of us:

When did you fall in LOVE with quilting/textiles?
It must have been a genetic thing since my Mom claims I complained about polyester blend sheets and scratchy blankets from the very beginning. Soft, cotton, natural fabrics have always been my first choice. My Gramma Ethel showed me how to make Barbie clothes by hand and had quilts on her beds. Her first love, however, was rug hooking. There were rugs everywhere in her house! I had access to her scrap bags of cottons, wools and buttons for doll clothes. Hand-stitching instilled in me the love of petting the textiles as I worked, enjoying the smoothness or texture of the various fabrics. A couple of treasured quilts from her mother inspired me to make my own quilts from new fabrics that looked old. Now, I have cupboards full of vintage quilts and quilt tops just waiting to be made into new KT fabrics!

What fuels you to create?
When I'm stuck and haven't had an original thought in days, I go shopping! Antique quilts and textiles (actually anything old and worm) inspire me to design. Sometimes I just go into my stash of old quilts and take out a pile to explore for new fabric prints and something about it always gets the creative juices flowing. Living in the country is always inspirational as well, with the changing colors of the seasons, the foliage and flowers changing outside my studio window, the wildlife that visit and call for me to come sit with a glass of iced tea on the porch to watch. I guess slowing down, breathing it all in and loving every minute of what I do is the fuel that keeps me going.

I love the color....RED.
Red is full of life, energy and possibilities. It's in virtually every fabric line I create and is a staple in my home decorating schemes year round.

I get shaky knees when... I find a gorgeous antique quilt/fabric - OR when my husband, Robert, kisses me.

When I teach workshops, I love...the quilters!
I learn so much from everyone I interact with at a workshop - their lives, their friendships and the fun that comes from a shared passion for quilting. Since I work by myself, I enjoy the stories, feedback and support of quilters all over the country. Here's a group of delightful ladies from a workshop at Patchwork Garden in Buffalo, NY.

What is your all time favorite Moda precut?
It's so hard to choose, but I'd have to say Charms because they play so well with all of the other precuts. I collect all the Moda designer's charms when traveling to quilt shops just for fun. That means I also have to search for antique boxes, tins and baskets that are the perfect size for holding all those charm packs. Win/Win! I use precuts in almost every quilt I design because I love to have my quilt ready to start sewing without alot of tedious cutting. They also work well with my layered patchwork technique AND you get an instant fabric collection in a beautiful little bundle. Gotta Moda LOVE it!

These are all Moda charm packs by the various designers -
and not a one is KTQ! Now I'm hooked on collecting mini charms, too!

Each of the Moda designers made a quilt from the same basic pattern with their new fabric collections. Here's my Moda Love quilt featuring a Paisley Park Layer Cake. Find the instructions for using a Layer Cake, charm or mini charm at Moda Love Layer Cake Quilt.

Now here's the good stuff! Comment here to win one of these awesome Moda precuts.
Check back for the list of winners on each of the designer's blogs on September 13th.  Good Luck!

A chair full of goodies - Moda's precut charms, Honey Bun,
 Jelly Roll, Honeycomb and a bundle of fat 1/4's.
Don't miss a chance to win!

The quilt behind the little red chair is our Rustic Star quilt from the October issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine. We haven't even received Paisley Park fabric yet and are almost sold out of kits! If you're interested, call Jamie today to reserve your very own Rustic Stars kit. 785-488-2120.