Traveling with Modern June Part 1

We are honored today with a guest blogger post, meet Kathie (on the right) and her sweet daughter Kimberly. Kathie is my trusty Production Manager and Distribution Director (PMDD) and my person!! If you watch Grey's Anatomy you'll get the my person reference it roughly translates into BFF. 

Last week Kathie and her family went to Nigara Falls to visit family and to enjoy the sights. I had no idea that Kathie took a copy of Sewing with Oilcloth with her, so imagine my surprise when I found these photos in my inbox this morning. She is hysterical!!

Kathie...

Here they are, the first in a series....

"Traveling with Modern June!"
Your book "Sewing with Oilcloth" and the fabulous black lace oilcloth bag came
EVERYWHERE with us!  The 3 photos attached highlight the Erie Canal and first
5 original locks built into Lake Erie.
We're a part of History <3 br="br">
Next up...Modern June travels across the US border in Canada.
Wheeeeeeee!

P.S.
I totally love this woman!!! Every business woman should have a Kathie!!!

xoxo,
Kelly

Junie gone mad!

There I was in the corner of my studio working away on emails with my back to the room. I hear Kathie, Junie-shipping-goddess-of-love and Oilcloth-Addict-yardage-cutter-of-happiness start singing. It started out as "row, row,  row, you boat" but quickly ends up being "row, row, row, your bolts."

OMG, I knew she had lost it. I couldn't even turn around, I just sat there in a fit of giggles for a few minutes before I got up and grabbed my camera. This woman is hysterical, she cracks me up every single day!!! She's a Yankee in a very southern city, which makes her even funnier. I am a lucky girl!! 

What you've got to understand it that our order are off the charts! And for that I thank you! Kathie on the other hand is a bit stressed. But don't worry about here, I've got cake for her today. At least our growing pains are filled with laughter and not tears!

Told you she's been busy!!!

New laminated cottons from Sis Boom

From left to right Nelly, Mikaela, and Jodi.

I know I say this over and over, but I really mean it! Laminated Cotton ROCKS!! And Jennifer Pagnelli from Sis Boom just adds to that love! These prints are to-die-for-yummy-laminated-cotton-goodness. 

My Junies and I just can't decide what to make first with these pretty and luscious prints. They are really soft and supple, so I am thinking I need a green and white raincoat!!! Nicole took home a yard of each to make some of her Nicole Lee Designs Urbana Bags. Kathie can't wait to here hands on one! 

Check out Jennifer's upcoming book Girl's World: Twenty-one Sewing Projects to Make for Little Girls available for pre-order at Amazon, and then go check out her blog filled with lovely eye candy!

Where did all the fabric go?

Some of you may remember that we lost a hundred year old tree back in August when Hurricane Irene decided to drop it on our house as she was leaving town. We are just now getting out house and studio repaired. Above are our 4 contractors up on the the studio roof, this was the day the removed the chimney. That was a VERY stressful day, let me tell you!

Up until now we've been able to deal with the damage and stay open. We've cranked up the space heaters to fight the wind that has been coming through the roof line. We've even lugged oilcloth up a step latter for a week or two. We cringed while the chimney bricks fell on the roof above us for an entire day.

My friend Kathie, the Junie Shipping Goddess of Love has a saying, "You can't keep a good Junie down!" We'll... We've discovered that even good Junies have limits!

Starting tomorrow the guys will be coming inside to work in the studio, dining room and kitchen to repair the ceilings and plaster walls. They will also be ripping off the roof to the studio. Fun. As you can imagine this is a total pain, just when we want to be thinking of the holidays, just at the busiest time of year!!! 

Because of this construction work I have had to completely empty out the studio and most of our home. No studio means not cutting table. Heck, we don't even have a printer right now. Please don't fret, the guys know we need to open back up ASAP! We hope for good weather and no surprises!!! Please sign up for our newsletter (see the sidebar on the right) and we'll let you know when we are back to cutting. I am sure there will be a little coupon included!!

When we open back up I will have a few new laminated cottons to share with you all. The fabric that I bought at Quilt Market has started to come in, I know you'll love it all!! Hint... little boy prints!!!

I am very sorry for the trouble, we'll be sure to let you know when we open back up!

Wish us luck!!

xoxox,
Kelly

We're still here...

As you all know, Hurricane Irene was a mighty storm that raged her way up the East Coast. On her way out of Richmond, she decided to drop a tree on our home and the Oilcloth Addict/Modern June studio. My family and I are totally and completely fine! Totally numb on Sunday, and filled with anxiety and tears on Monday. This morning finds me hopeful one minute and filled with butterflies the next.

Cute boys on the studio roof!

Thanks to the big burly men at Altman Contracting, LLC. we are feeling much better! They worked a full 12 hour day getting the tree off our house and then covered it with a big tarp (in the dark) so last nights shower wouldn't do more damage to our ailing roof and attic.

Thankfully the tree didn't come through the studio roof, and that the trees root ball didn't damage the shed where we store most of our material. What a relief!

Soo... What's next? I guess we go back to work today, thanks to Kathie!! I'm kind of a mess but she'll come in and cut and wrap up your orders. She'll have to take them to her house to print shipping labels until our internet services are back. This should only cause a slight delay for you all.

I hope my fellow East Coast peeps are all well and have power ASAP!

xoxox,
Kelly

shipping and handling

My lovely tablecloth is made from the green lattice laminate from Sisboom

We are gearing up to makeover our studio space and I've been blogging about it on my Modern June blog for a couple of weeks now. This piece of the puzzle is to help us get your laminated cotton and chalk cloth orders to you in nicely wrapped rolls, so I thought I would share it here on OCA too!

OOOOOOKKKKKKKKK! That's a really big roll of poly tubing...

Kathie (Shipping Junie of Love... yes, that is her official title) and I have been dreaming of the day when we can ship our chalk cloth goodies and our rolls of chalk cloth and laminated cotton more efficiently. For years we've been cutting down Uline's long poly mailers. We've cut them lengthways and widthways, so that we cut down on waste and costs. They cost us $1.70 a pop, so getting four packages out of one mailer was good business. We've also reused the poly tubing that the bolts came it. Often splitting them in half. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done cheaply.

 

I started squirreling away a few dollars here and there to buy a big roll of poly tubing. I figured that we needed to have it on hand before we made over the studio so we could plan on where to put it. HOLY COW, was I right about that! This bad boy is gigantic! I placed my MacBook in the shot so you had an idea of just how big this thing is.

Well, we had planned on attaching it to the wall that the cutting table butts up on to but I don't think that's such a great idea. Mr. Modern June would have a total fit about that!!! Officially, I am not allowed to hang things on the wall. It's not because I am girl, it's just that I really suck at it. ; ) Heck, I doubted that the rack would really stand up once the roll was put on. Engineering is cool, just like magic!

Who knows where this will end up! Stay tuned...

Our Studio: Fabric Storage

After 7 years of business I finally have proper storage for all of our laminated cottons, chalk cloth and oilcloth!! I am just a happy as I can be. The other day I went in to the studio early and was overwhelmed by the days tasks. Then I turned my head and saw my pretty new wall of fabric and I actually waved at it, like a teenage girl flirting with a boy across the lunchroom. Hhheeeey! Yikes, I hope I didn't blush! 

Nicole loves it!

Geneva and Kathie love it!

I love it!