Houston’22- the “Art Quilts”

A painting of sunflowers on a fence.

So… in our last Houston post I showed you a spectacular group of miniature quilts (which is actually my favorite genre of quilting, but for this post I am highlighting my favorites in another genre I also admire… the “Art Quilts”. And now, it’s YOUR turn! Are you a fan of the “Art Quilts”? If…

Read More

Houston ’22 Quilts: the Miniatures

A purple quilt with a ribbon on it.

So… after years of attending quilt shows, I find that its the “miniatures” and the “art quilts” that I find the most fascinating. And this year’s group of “miniatures” and “art quilts” may quite possibly be the most inspiring to date! As a matter of fact, I find them SO inspiring that as I contemplate…

Read More

PPC28: A Stained Glass Bag

A colorful purse with a strap on it.

So… In our last post I showed you the first two samples I created in the course of developing this pattern but unusually, they BOTH turned out to be “Gorilla samples”, which of course was pretty disappointing So it goes without saying that this time I was determined that my next sample would qualify as…

Read More

Quilt Market & Festival ’22: the Shows in Review

Two pictures of a booth with a lot of decorations.

So… now that the 2022 Quilt Market & Festival are in our “rearview mirror”, it’s time to review both the success of the Shows themselves and of the Booth Setups we chose to use. First, let’s critique our “setups”. And now for the closeups… At Market– Our buyers are retail store owners. They are at…

Read More

Eye Candy for November ’22

A collage of different types of bags and purses.

One of things I love best about designing patterns is seeing the incredible bags our customers create using our patterns! As a matter of fact, there’s not much I like better than opening up an email that includes a picture or two of a customer-made bag! And here’s the deal, this month’s selection of bags…

Read More

Houston 2022: the Set Up

An american airlines airplane flying through the clouds.

So… Here’s a little riddle for you… “There’s one really BIG change that’s going to take place for us this year for Quilt Market & Festival and it’s going to take place before we even get there”. That’s OK! You’ll never guess what it is, so I’ll tell you! For the 1st time in NINE…

Read More

Our 1st Quilt Market Since 2019

Studio Kat Designs

So… for the first time since 2019 there’s going to be a Quilt Market in Houston this Fall! And I have to say… I’m really excited and ALSO very overwhelmed! Why, you might ask? It’s because selling wholesale has always been a significant portion of our business and with so many quilt stores shutting down…

Read More

PPC28: A Tale of Two Gorillas

Two different purses with zippers on them.

So… an interesting this happened on the way to developing the pattern for this new design. Normally, my first step after getting my idea down on paper (in the form of a sketch), I create a “prototype”, that’s to say that I create a skeleton form of the new design (without a lining and devoid…

Read More

PPC28: The Inspiration

A sketch of a bag with a zipper.

So here we go again! It seems like we were just working on the Katalina Shoulder Bag (and actually, we were), but we’re also off and running on our next new design! First of all, I very often have a non-work-related project that I want to work on for a week or two after publishing…

Read More

Booth Evolution 2022

Studio Kat Designs

So… As Quilt Shows slowly start coming back on line after the LONG pandemic shutdown, it’s worth noting that when the closing bell rang at the conclusion of the 2022 AQS Paducah show, we signified that we have completed a decade & a half of trade shows. WOW! It’s hard to believe we’ve been doing…

Read More