Now that the snow is finally melting and Spring is actually in the air, we’re kicking off Moda Mondays, a super fun series designed to showcase a stunning lineup of thread collections by our treasured Moda Designers. Check in here every Monday to learn more!
We couldn’t be more thrilled to start up our Spring Moda Mondays with industry icon, Pat Sloan. Pat has written over 30 books, designed hundreds of quilts, designs fabric collections for Moda, curates thread collections for Aurifil, hosts a weekly podcast for American Patchwork & Quilting, organizes the Aurifil Designer of the Month program, and still manages to travel extensively for her lectures while peppering in fun events like The Splendid Sampler Sew Along and so very much more. She is a tireless crusader for quilting and sewing education and is generally seen as an inspiration to all;). So… we love Pat. Pat is just amazing.
Pat’s latest collection with Moda Fabrics is Sunday Drive, a group of incredibly versatile prints and colors all inspired by her memories of Sunday drives. Reds, blues, greens, and neutrals come together to create florals, batiks, and lattice prints. The coordinating thread collection shares a title with Pat’s motto, Let’s Go Sew! It is a terrific range of colors in 50wt that complement her fabrics perfectly, but would also make a terrific stash building box. The collection is available in both large and small spool boxes.
THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
Let’s Go Sew
12 Large Spools, 50wt (1422yds/spool), 100% Aurifil Cotton
4060 – 5021 – 2605 – 2630 – 2850 – 2720
2730 – 2785 – 2890 – 2882 – 5002 – 2260
10 Small Spool, 50wt (220yds/spool), 100% Aurifil Cotton
4060 – 5021 – 2605 – 2850 – 2720
2785 – 2890 – 2882 – 5002 – 2260
THE INTERVIEW
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got started in the world of sewing and quilting?
My first career was 20 years in computers. I’m a geek – I wrote code and managed very large teams of software engineers doing very long term projects. This means I’m a juggler and I know how to whip up a mean schedule.
In 2000 my husband and I decided to leave the corporate world and start our own small design business. So now we have been small business owners for 17 years.
You can read more & check out several other interviews I’ve done by clicking here.
Do you remember the process of making your first quilt and how you felt once it was complete?
That was a long time ago, I was making a ‘bedspread’. You can read my sort of epic story about it right here.
For some reason that didn’t inspire me to continue quilting. So, fast forward to when my girlfriend Gwyn signed me up for the 12 week, all by hand, cardboard template, ‘Learn to Quilt Class’ and for some reason, I loved it!
How did you first connect with Moda?
As a hobby quilter, my favorite shop loved Moda and carried mostly Moda fabric, so that is when I first used it. Every designer Moda has created fabric that I personally love… the designs just speak to me! So when I started designing patterns, I used Moda fabrics and eventually submitted designs and joined their team! It’s a dream come true to work with them.
What do you love most about working with them?
There are so many reasons that I adore ‘My Moda Family’. Every person from Mr. Dunn, the man who had such vision to start a business providing fabric to quilters, to the Design team with Cheryl Freydberg and all the Marketing folks, each and every person is a class act. They are generous, they are helpful, they are kind, and they give back. They give back to the designers, the quilting community and the world via their charity work.
I’m lucky enough to have gone to an event in South Africa with Mr. Dunn and his sons Brian and Josh. The company made sure all our instructor things were shipped over months in advance. Then the three of them helped the designers when we got there to be sure we had what we needed to teach. Plus they set up their entire booth for the event and talked to quilters for every day of the show. At the end we all took a day trip safari which was so much fun to do! That is just a little peek at how the Moda team supports and helps its designers and the industry.
What did you love most about putting your latest collection, Sunday Drive, together for them?
Every time I start a new fabric collection I have a theme to build off of. This is my write up I did for myself to start the collection:
“When was the last time you took a Sunday Drive? Maybe you left the city for the country market. Or you went from the country to take in a museum. A Sunday Drive was the highlight of the weekend when I was a little girl, and to be honest, it still is! The joy of exploring around the area with no plan is thrilling. We might find a new park to walk in, or a fabulous ice cream stand. Round the next corner and there is an adorable garden center or a fantastic farmer’s market. The part I love is having it unplanned. When I was little and family went for a drive, we didn’t know where we’d go, and we didn’t mind that. We rolled down the windows, enjoyed the wide open spaces and explored each stop on our Sunday drive! “
Do you have a favorite project made with the collection?
The Round About is my favorite made with Sunday Drive. I decided to use a lot of my light patterns from the collection and mixed my cottons and batiks into the same quilt. I wanted the quilt to feel very fresh and airy! It was so fun to see it come together and I like it in fabric even more than I thought I would!
What is your favorite thing to make?
I really love to do wall hangings and machine appliqué. I’ve done my fair share of small, medium and large quilts, but time and again I love to hang my quilts as art. I want to be able to see them. Creating ‘Let’s go Sew’ with my black polka dot sewing machine has been such fun. I am planning to make another in red & white and surround it with Splendid Sampler blocks that are sewing themed. Stay tuned for a challenge on that!
When did you first discover Aurifil threads?
I was part of an internet community called Second Life, where I hosted a group of quilters (of course!) and this guy named Alex wanted to join my quilt group. So, I asked him to tell me a bit about himself. He said he worked for a thread company and could they send me ‘some spools to try’. I thought, why not…
Next came a suitcase of all the colors of Aurifil, from Italy… and THAT is how I found them! I kind of like Alex..
What do you love most about them?
The entire Aurifil team is passionate about Quilting. When I introduced Elena and Alex for their 30th anniversary party, Elena talked about how she saw these amazing pieces of art and was inspired to talk to her father about opening Aurifil USA. Their goal is to celebrate quilts, sewing, and the makers. They are also incredible team players working with all the companies in the industry.
On a personal level they are my friends. I met them very early on in the start up of Aurifil USA and we worked together to get the word out about this incredible thread.
You’ve been a champion for Aurifil threads for years, including being the creative genius behind the Aurifil Designer of the Month program. What do you love most about the collaboration?
I love interviewing the designer each month to learn more about them. It’s so easy in this fast past internet world to just see a photo and move on. But that photo was taken by a person with a story. I want to know how they got where they are, what inspires them, where and how do they work and create.
The designers really have fun, too, looking for just the right photo to share.
Then we do the fun block patterns, and it’s a surprise each month that I truly look forward to!!
Do you have a favorite color/weight and why?
Is this a ‘turn the table’ question? I ask the Designer of the Month the same thing and they also cry ‘uncle’! So now it’s my turn to pick ONE… (note- I allow them THREE colors!)
If I had to only have one color of thread, it would be from my Perfect Box of Neutrals, 5011, but you really should have the whole box!
How did you go about selecting threads for your latest Aurifil collection, Let’s Go Sew?
I put in a range of yummy shades that work with my Moda Fabrics. From aqua to blue, navy, red, green and that great pinky red (5002). There are 3 neutrals and then a fun neutral variegated 4060.
What top thread tip would you want to share with our readers?
Buy the big spools, they are a better value, and you can keep the threads tidy by locking the tail under the cap!
Where can we find you this year?
If you go to my website you can find all the projects I’m hosting this year.
Then sign up for my newsletter where I give updates, tips & finds!
On Facebook, you can join me at my super fun group, Quilt with Pat Sloan.
and on Instagram too!
THE GIVEAWAY
To enter-to-win 1 Large Let’s Go Sew Thread Collection and one Jelly Roll of Sunday Drive by Pat Sloan for Moda, click here to head to the Rafflecopter entry page, or simply click on the image above. You do not have to complete all the options to be entered but the more options you choose, the more entries you have! Entries will be accepted from now through 11:59pm Eastern Time on Sunday, April 9! Winner will be randomly selected and announced here on Monday, April 10. Good luck!
UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed! Congratulations to our winner, Sylvia Lopez!
ABOUT PAT
Website: http://www.patsloan.com
Blog: http://patsloan.typepad.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatSloanQuiltFun/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/QuiltWithPatSloan/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QuilterPatSloan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quilterpatsloan/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PatSloan
Newsletter: https://madmimi.com/signups/99771/join
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/patsloan/
Having sewn since she was a child and quilted for over 20 years, Pat eventually looked to her craft as a business. After a few years quilting she started to teach quilt making to others and then turned her skills to pattern designing. She found that she really enjoys designing and seeing how other quilters made her patterns. In 2000 Pat’s designs became so popular that she and her husband Gregg formed a design and publishing company called Pat Sloan & Co. In addition to designing and publishing her work, they now travel around the country teaching and showing her quilts to quilt guilds and quilt shops. Also, Pat has had her designs published in all the national magazines, she has written 31 quilt books and has designed many lines of fabric for Moda Fabrics.
Visit her website for more info.
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