Market and Moda

Although I worked while I was in Houston at Quilt Market, the lines do get a bit blurred between work and play....I can't say that about my prior work travels at all, but this was my 9th trip to Houston and it was a fun treat to attend the dinner party for Moda, celebrating their 40th year.

The president, Mark Dunn had some great words to share with everyone attending, employees and customers alike.  Several Moda designers were in attendance and it was a festive event.  By complete luck of timing, we were seated at a table that included 4 ladies who held a unique place of honor at the event and here is a snapshot of their story....

There are 4 sisters and one next generation niece/daughter that collaborated to make a special gift quilt for Mr. Dunn.  They combined a crazy number of hours of labor (2700+), cross-country coordination (Florida to Arizona), secret access to the Moda fabric vault (who wouldn't want that opportunity) and much goal setting and task keeping went into the creation of this quilt.  The quilt was presented the day before market opened and represents an amazing snippet of fabric history for Moda.

The hand-applique includes a small swatch of fabric from ALL the fabric collections...ALL!  The stashes were combined and that's where the Moda vault was also accessed to fill in the gaps - a 2.5 inch square of each fabric was contributed.  I don't recall the specifics, but these ladies did own an impressive amount of the Moda vault amongst them!



Apparently 2 sisters have identical stitchery skills and they had the task of stitching all the Moda designers names around the perimeter borders.  Another sister took on the challenge to stitch the names of the fabric lines - onto the BACK of the quilt.  Here are some photos - look for more online if you want to see more of this project and it's story.

The quilt back

Thanks so much for sharing dinner and your story ladies!!
Andee Andriole, Candee Ferris, Cheryl Ann Edholm and Mary Andra Holmes