The Winner, Winner, Winner, Winner, Winner, Winner

Greetings friends! (This is still Sandi, not Kathy!) I will tell you all she is doing well, just busy running around the country for one reason or another. :) She'll be back soon.

So the hijack was fun, after so many people wanted in on the free fabric, we decided to give away a little more than 2 stacks. Kathy is chipping in and SIX (woo hoo!) winners were drawn. I decided to do something a little creative and picked every 50th comment. So commenters 1, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 will win a fat quarter collection from Ginger Blossom. If one of these are your comments, please email me at portabellopixie@aol.com with your address and I'll get your fabric to you!

And BTW-thank you so much for the enthusiasm! We love the collection and are thrilled that everyone else is excited by it too!


CraftAddictConfessional said:
Sandi, you are a nut! LOL! Can't wait to get my hands on some Ginger Blossom -- and the next great things to come from you and MM, too!

Judy b said:
I love that little dress. and what a great idea the inspiration section is.

Caroline said:
Ever since I saw your fabric I have been dying to get my hands on some. I even posted on my blog about it and french friends keep asking me when it finally comes into stores!

K*dunc said:
i love love love your fabric! please, please, please, me me me!

Melanie said:
Oh - I wish you could hear my son's wicked laugh. I think he perfected it at 18 months...maybe 2 years!

the winns said:
I love your fabric. I can't wait to get some and start sewing for my 3 girls!

Blog Hijack

If you read this blog, then you are a fan of Michael Miller fabrics or Kathy Miller. Well. (Insert first of wicked giggles here.) This is not Kathy Miller. (Insert second, more slightly wild wicked giggle here.) I have HIJACKED Kathy's blog! (Insert wild, out of control cackle here Muaa haa haaa!)

This is Sandi Henderson of Portabellopixie. And before you call the blog police, Kathy has asked me to fill in today and guest write. But I'm going to pretend she doesn't know about it because it's more fun that way. ;)

Let's see, so I am supposed to talk about me. Well, in case you aren't bored to your gourd from reading about me on my blog, then here is the scoop! I am a lisenced designer for Michael Miller Fabrics. My first line, Ginger Blossom is just about to hit stores. In the next few weeks everyone will be able to play with it!

Working with Kathy and everyone at Michael Miller has been so wonderfully rewarding that we decided to start right into a second line after the artwork for Ginger Blossom was completed. That second line will debut in May and will be in stores shortly after that. So there will be lots to play with in the next little bit!

My background is in children's clothing design, and along with the second line of fabric, we will be releasing our first line of sewing patterns. The line consists of 4 patterns for boutique children's clothing. What is boutique clothing? To me it means super cute and very well contructed, while still being wearable! Here is a sneak peek of one of the patterns to be released this May at Quilt Market. These patterns will go beyond a regular "how to" in that each one will have an inspiration section that will really show how to make the most of the pattern. Dozens of beautiful photography to dazzle and delight. Crafting and sewing are again becoming cool and sewing for children is a huge part of that!

Let's see, before I go, how about I give away some fabric? We had a little giveaway over in my land recently and only one person got to win, so I'll spread a little textile love over here too. Leave a comment and TWO (whoa) people will win a fat quarter of each print from Ginger Blossom. From me to you. Just don't tell Kathy I hijacked her blog or we won't get to do this again. shhhh.. muahh ha ha (You should totally give the wicked laugh a try, it's good for the sould every now and then.)

Oven Mitts - Puppet Style

Is it an oven mitt? a puppet? It's both....in one pattern from the talented Joanna of StardustShoes!

Wishing you Joy in the New Year

Here we are, the Michael Miller gang all together for some holiday fun and games; scavenger hunt and a race to the restaurant , followed by the "Jeopardy" version of "How well do you know your co-worker?"Afterwards I decided to do a little night shopping and came upon this behind the NY Public Library in Bryant Park.............

beautiful tree, eh?
.....take a closer look....

a zillion donuts...hee...hee... heeee!

all set up to promote "The Simpson Movie" coming out on DVD

the whole family turned out

complete with a skating rink in Bryant Park.....yep.....you never know what you'll stumble upon in NYC

Shanghai - New York - home!

I'm back home in California now. I've been living out of a suitcase since Quilt Market, the end of Oct. Don't get me wrong I love the travel and it's all been invaluable. But as we all know; "there's no place like home". Sorting through and catching up after the holidays. I'll be bringing you all up to date albeit belatedly .

Here's some pics of my time in Shanghai.......amazing city...........
shopping in "Old Town"

Had a foot massage (heavenly) and an"ear massage" (wonderful). While I was on the massage table for the ear massage an ear candle was shown to me and the next thing I knew there I was lying on my side with a lit candle in my ear! Had to Google it later to find out what that was about! No harm done, but I don't think I 'll be doing that again!

Ducks on a rack

Barbecued duck feet

Here I am in Korea

Greetings from Seoul! I've been moving around a lot. Trying to keep up with all my computer gadgets and cameras. Dropped my camera the other day and am now relying on my i phone . yes, I am now an i phone devotee:)

Ancient culture in the midst of modern Seoul


Nothing like spicy Korean barbecue to warm you up on a cold December day!


Trees lit up for the holidays.



Christmas lights around the skating rink in the center of Seoul.



Starbucks is everywhere in Asia, but so are the pretenders - this made me chuckle!



A little local flavor with your Latte'

Where in the world is ......... ?

Greetings from Osaka, Japan!

As the new year approaches, Japan is getting ready for the Year of the Rat.

Japan has always been into "cute". Case in point, the ever popular Hello Kitty shown here in a rat costume as a mascot/ key fob to be hung on your cell phone. Haven't taken a poll here but it seems that everyone has some sort of mascot/charm hanging from their phone.

Gingko trees along the streets in Osaka, Japan.

Here's something they never told me when I majored in textile design ages ago: That a career in textiles would lead to travels around the world, and, in my case a lot of it in Asia. For me this has been the best of all worlds. I love travel, long flights to read and think and the thrill of the hunt, whether it's sourcing new fabrics or finding great art reference. And then there's the side perks: shopping and eating!

I love all Japanese food.


Most departmaent stores have an entire floor full of not only Japanese sweets ( yum) but chocolates and goodies from all over the world.



The best way to get to and from Kansai Airport and Osaka, the Rapit train, only $13 !

Quilt Market Follow-up

First just a quick note about the TRIMS : To all of you asking ; When , Where and How to buy our fabulous new trims : They won't be available till January but I'll post a vendor list in a couple weeks of those carrying the complete collection.

Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of time to get out of the booth (next posting) and roam the aisles, and when I did my camera wasn't always with me (haven't quite "got" this blogging-reporter thing down yet!). But here's just a few of the terrific people I saw (and had my camera with me) at Quilt Market.


Rob Appel sporting some of his free form stitch work. New ideas are all over Quilt Market and a lot of it is in the aisles. This is why I love going to Market! It's it's such a creative fest!


Cindy Taylor Oates wearing our Dandy Damask print has the cutest Mommy and Me Aprons!

Ellen Medlock and her wonderful purse patterns.

Hoodie of Hoodies' Collection. Here she is with her fun eclectic booth.

Liesl of Oliver + S debuting her patterns for childrens' clothes with beautifully illustrated paper dolls by Dan Andreasen.

Sandi Henderson of Portabello Pixie with her wonderful husband Dustin and me. Notice the quilt she made out of the strike/offs (test samples) from her Ginger Blossom Collection coming in January.

Me and Edie McGinnis with Mark Lipinski of Quilter's Home Magazine debuting his Katmandu print Line for Troy fabrics.

follow up with the winners

If you haven't given me yr snail mail address or received an email from me asking you for it, Please email it to me at: blog@michaelmillerfabrics.com

This applies to the first 24 comments on the November 19th post and the first 14 comments on the November 27th post

Thanks to all of you for the terrific response!

And the winners are!

Hey! The response to our offer of free Ruffle Rac and Bias Trims to the first 15 of you to email has been so fantastic that we're pulling an OPRAH and sending them to all who responded! Don't worry that includes all of you who posted comments too!
Thanks for your response!