50 Things You Don't Know About Me

*As I am trying to update this new blog of mine, I'm bringing over a content I wrote previously on the Art Gallery Fabrics' blog. This post was written on December 30th, 2011. I think this post is interesting because it will give you bit of information about me. Hope you enjoy it! and I promise more new post later on. 

xoxo  

Pat

Today I'm joining the 50's club and I have a strange mix of feelings. I don't know what to think: if I am already old, if I'm still young --this thing they say that "these days 50's are the old 40's". You may have experienced it already.

Going over my life in my mind as a film rolls at the movies, I could see how many things I went through and how happy and grateful I am about everything I've achieved!

For this occasion thought that a blog post had to have something different about me. Told myself: "Pat, you better come out with something special to share"!

Hope you like it.

1. I was born in Argentina, this same day 50 years ago
2. I still feel like 25
3. My parents divorced 26 years ago. I never saw my father again, so I don't know if he's still alive 
4. My mother taught me how important is to love your family and your sewing machine. As I grew up I realized how right she was. She is 84 and lives with me as well as my only sister, the best one a person can have
5. My father taught me how important is to love dogs. He also taught me to hunt. These days I love dogs but I hate hunting
6. I moved to the US 22 years ago
7. Never knew what a quilt was until I came to live here
8. My original hair color is dark blond and now white hair is rampant, so I use extra light brown to color it
9. I met my husband Walter when we were both 20 and we fell in love immediately
10. Since then we are together for the good and the bad
11. Always thought that I could not have found a better husband than him
12. We got married at 23
13. I still drool over him :-0
14. My only son Alex is the best son a mother can have
15. I suffer from Endometriosis
16. So I had to have four years of treatments before I became pregnant 
17. I lost one pregnancy before and another one after my son Alex
18. He came to this world through C-section, because I didn't dilate more than 3 cm
19. He had Wilms tumor when he was 9. After a year of chemotherapy the cancer disappeared
20. I think I was born with a special gene in my body. The "sewing" gene. I sew since I can remember
21. Also love to cook since I can remember. My first cooking book was a present from my mom for my 7th birthday
22. My first year married I cooked 365 different meals for Walter. Bad thing. He gained 45 pounds
23. I lived in 3 countries during a same year
24. I am 5'4" tall and weight 138 pounds
25. OK... I confess: I am a procrastinator! This thing of "Don't leave for tomorrow what you can do today" doesn't go with me. I prefer to wait till tomorrow
26. My family call me the handywoman of the house. I can paint walls as well as installing an entire tile floor on the kitchen or bathroom
27. Many years ago I learned that for the chinese people roosters symbolize harmony in the family. I love them. That's why I began collecting many in all sizes and materials 
28. Because I'm so fortunate in life, every day I wake up thinking how much good I can make to the people around me
29. HATE to exercise. I'm a couch potato at heart 
30. LOVE to read. I can lay down an entire day reading and having Dulce de Leche Häagen-Dazs 
31. I am a perfume compulsive buyer. Never use the same fragrance everyday. For me, it's a mood thing
32. My favorite color is... of course... PINK!!
33. And my favorite flower a peony
34. I am a history junkie. Favorite readings: royal biographies. More than 300 books on the subject are sitting on shelves at my house
35. Still can't speak and write 100% perfect english; people say I do it very good. I don't know why but I feel embarrassed by that. I would love to speak more slang
36. All my life I was an admirer of Coco Chanel, but if I have to confess, the designer that inspired me the most was and still is Kenzo. He changed my vision of fashion and printed fabrics forever...
37. I could never get up early. It's a great effort to do it. It seems that my body clock did not come well set from the factory. My ideal day would begin if I wake up at 12 noon. At night I feel is the best time of the day. That's why I design complete collections at night. My senses awaken and the best of me comes alive --or this is what I think, 'cause everybody is sleeping and can't see it :)
38. The first time I made a quilt 20 years ago I didn't have an absolute idea of what I was doing. Hell no! Everything I know today I learned myself. Trial and error were my friends
39. Should I introduce you other friends I have: quilting books!. I learned so much from them
40. I LOVE quilting, but never thought that would be that much and that I would become so obsessive about perfect piecing 
41. I came to this industry hand painting fabric panels during my period of landscape quilter. Because I couldn't find specific colors in stores I decided to paint my own. All my quilting friends told me they would love to buy them at quilt shows. The first panel I sold at a quilt show in Dallas was "a moment I'd never forget". Selling panels to award-winner quilter David Tailor made me feel like I was in heaven
42. Years ago, never thought that I was gonna design fabrics. Now I can't imagine my life without designing
43. Neither that I was gonna work with my husband as my partner
44. I have cried after working a lot of time on a collection and didn't come out the way I wanted
45. I have pulled out the hair of my head too. Well... almost
46. Is there a color freak? That's me! Thanks Pantone :)
47. When I start designing, a color palette always comes first. That triggers a mood and... the name of the collection draws in my mind very vividly 
48. For me, drawing was a long journey of personal evolution. Designing fabrics walk the same path
49. One of the best designers and master of color for me is Kaffe Fassett. The first time I met Kaffe I couldn't believe my eyes! He came to my booth to shake my hand and congratulate me on my designs; I was sooo excited but he didn't realize that my knees were shaking too... 
50. I LOVE to be connected with you in here. Many people say that a blog shouldn't be written only to expect comments. I don't think so. Every time I write a post I wait with excitement to read yours!

All my love, 

Pat

Carnaby Street Style

Hi everyone!

How was your weekend? Mine was great! I was working on an album with some juicy pics for Facebook in anticipation of the debut of my new line. And.... the moment has come! I'm so nervous and excited at the same time, like I'm about to show my first line ever. There is no remedy for me :) Every time I introduce a new collection I always have butterflies in my stomach, thinking if you are going to love it as much as I do :) Each collection of mine comes from a feeling that moves me very deeply inside and this time is not an exception!

It's my pleasure to introduce to you: CARNABY STREET!!

Remember I was traveling to London this past June? I came back with so many ideas! What's not to love about British culture! Everywhere I looked, I couldn't find anything I didn't immediately fall in love with! 

My Boho Dress pattern made in several prints of the collection

During my time there, I decided to visit the infamous Carnaby Street. I wanted to visit the place where the British fashion culture of the 60s changed the whole fashion world forever. 

Take a look at my collection video for Carnaby Street, where flower power, love, and peace reign free! A big thanks to the best team in the world that helped my dream become a reality with this video :):)
I recommend you watch this in full screen!

When you walk down Carnaby St., you get the sense.. the feel.. the importance of the influence of the British culture and how it revolutionized fashion, music and many more aspects of our society. 

Brit Boutique Radiant shown here on these palazzo pants

It was truly inspirational place and an opportunity to design that should not be missed. The minute I came back, I began gathering as much material and inspiration of the Swinging London movement as I could find. I found so much material, with such a brightness and boldness in color, that I just had to design!

Think flower power and fashion! Groovy blooms and strong geometrics are the signature of this colorful line!

Carnaby Street comes in two vibrant color ways: Rad Love and Cool Peace!

Rad Love is full of bright citrus greens and lush raspberry pinks. With subtle hints of tender green and deep tones of royal blue, what's not to love about Rad Love!

Cool Peace is all about minty greens and dusty rose. With its bright touches of citrus green and dark hints of navy blue, enjoy the freshness and boldness of this chill palette.

One of my favorite prints in this collection is Psychedelia Gold and Peridot! This fabric is a combination of an overall print and bands that you can cut and use in many different ways. Here are some creative ideas.

This collection inspired me so much, that I practically couldn't stop sewing! I made groovy coasters, gorgeous FLOWER POWER pillows, and even a reversible table runner! Do I sense a few FREE patterns coming along?! I'm sure you'll love what I have lined up for you in the coming months!

Carnaby Street is perfect for combining with all the Elements that AGF has to offer!

If you want to thrown in some solids to the mix, here is a list of Pure Elements that go great with Carnaby Street:
PE-437 London Red, 405 Cherry Lipgloss, 439 Raspberry Rose, 411 Quartz Pink, 409 Light Citron, 416 Lemonade, 417 Emerald, 406 Burnt Orange, 407 Empire Yellow, 408 White Linen, 412 Tender Green, 424 Mirage Blue, 415 Parisian Blue, and 428 Nocturnal.

And here is a list of Oval Elements that are just waiting to be combined with Carnaby:
OE-913 Cranberry, 910 Sweet Pea, 928 Tangerine Tango, 901 Papaya Orange, 911 Golden, 900 Peacock. 918 Blue Lagoon, 932 Sapphire, 914 Emerald Coast, and 909 Key Lime.

And what's even better is that I have matching threads to go along with this collection! I've had the pleasure of working with Aurifil and coming out with my own thread collection!

The Bold Beauty Box is perfect if you're head over heels with the Rad Love palette! Great for quilting and sewing, this little case is all you'll need to start sewing those groovy projects!

The Eye Candy Box is wondrous when working with the soft jeweled tones of the Cool Peace palette!

Now... for my favorite part of this post! Here is Carnaby's FREE quilt pattern, London's Calling!

You can download the instructions here! It's a super easy, super fun project that you can make over the weekend!

Hope you like my new line and you can get you stitching with all these inspirational images :)
Stay tuned for some more inspirational posts on fashion and home decor featuring Carnaby!

XO,
Pat

How to wear pure elements

Probably most of you are already familiar with my solids, Pure Elements. I come up with new colors with every new collection I launch, so you always have that exact tone you're looking for.

Maybe some of you are wondering "How does Pat choose what color to pick?", I mean, there are soooo many! Well, I'm constantly keeping up to date with fashion runways, editorials and campaigns and there's always "those" colors that just stick in my head. And of course, I'd love to share some of those images with you so you can also see that you can make beautiful, bold fashion statements by only using one color! The right color, that is ;)

These are some Pure Elements colors I've come up with lately... what do you think? getting any creative ideas to renew your wardrobe?

This is APRICOT CREPE, a soft creamy tone of orange that is sooo light for spring and summer!

And because I never get tired of blues, here's MIRAGE BLUE, which looks great paired up with white, so flowy and summery!

 A great neutral: SANDSTONE is that gorgeous safari pastel tone that is so in right now. 

MOONSTONE is a super dark shade of gray for the ones that don't wanna wear black and still wanna look chic. 

I know this color SPICEBERRY can be quite intimidating because of its intensity, and it's quite rare... but isn't it marvelous? Do you dare to wear it?

MYSTIC GREY is a soft, light tone that should be in everyone's "basic stack". 
I've been seeing navy blue all over the place lately, so modern and so elegant; this is NOCTURNAL. 

So how are you linking these new colors?? Think of other ways to apply them to your wardrobe or home??

Love, Pat

Houston Quilt Market 2012

I came back from Quilt Market very excited! It's so inspiring to see how far this industry is going and how engaged all of us are in bringing the next generations to join the "sewing revival"... I happened to have a blast! The people from Art Gallery made this awesome video showing the company headquarters and all the AGF designers' booths! Check it out, you can see me saying hello as well as showing my booth too. Hope you like it and share it :) 

I want to thank to all the friends who stopped by to say hi and thank you for making each Quilt Market much nicer for me liking my new products! Your love means everything to me!

XO, Pat