The ModTiki – and why not?

Does any one recall Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room?  I do!   It was quite simply a most magical experience and is still a Disney classic to this day.    Located in Adventureland, it debuted in 1963, and entertains its guests with a colorful cast of animated talking toucans, birds, tropical flowers, tiki drummers and best of all, talking tiki totem poles – all singing a variety of catchy Polynesian tunes.  It is just fabulous!

So when we moved back to Southern California and decided to finally settle in Palm Springs, little did we know that we were moving into a mecca of what might be termed upscale, but rather touristy Polynesian playlands.   Around every corner in Palm Springs and the surrounding communities, you’ll find tiki themed hotels and cocktail lounges, serving exotic rum-laced cocktails from their own enchanted tiki rooms adorned with of course, Tiki statues.

Within a few months of moving here, I was quickly becoming Tiki obsessed. One morning to Carl’s chagrin, we even ventured out in triple digit temps to take photos of our Cosmos quilt draped over a favorite Tiki.  This guy greets visitors daily at the  entrance to the famed Club Trinidad and Purple Room (where Frank, Dean and Sammy used to hang out in the 60’s).    I just love the way the Tiki and the quilt  become one piece  – elevating both to new level of art.

So it was only a matter of time that I ‘needed’ to design a ModTiki – and hey, why not?  I started sketching this guy out about 12 months ago but didn’t really make him a reality until a few weeks ago when I made the samples and wrote the pattern.

Warning — These ModTikis are fun and can be quite addictive….I had a great time looking through scraps of batiks and fabrics testing out which fabric prints might look great as the tiki body  – like these two made from Island Batiks or the Kaffe Fassett Artisan Collection…

….or this one made with Banyan Batiks, which would reflect more of  traditional hand carved look to the ModTiki…

As always, my preferred method of applique stitching the shapes was on on my trusty Bernina 750QE sewing machine, using Stitch #2 and an open toe applique foot (#20 for Bernina lovers) using Aurifil 50 wt thread in the top and in the bobbin. My preferred zigzag setting is stitch length 0.5 and stitch width 3.0 – for me, this creates a nice tight stitch that resembles a satin stitch without being too tight,  and nicely outlines the shapes without overwhelming them.

What’s terrific too is that the shapes on the ModTiki provide many opportunities where you can “stitch into and out of the points”  – this is a fabulous look and really adds a “high end” look to your applique stitching.

When you approach the point of an applique shape, as you are stitching,  reduce your stitch width so the zigzag stitch becomes smaller and smaller – this is stitching ‘into the point’, if you will  – then after turning the corner, enlarge your stitch width to stitch ‘out of the point’.   It’s a little like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time and takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, it really does create a fabulous touch to your appliqués.

The ModTiki pattern includes both the small wallhanging size – which is fat quarter friendly and measures 11″ x 22 (or 16″x 22″ when adding the optional flower appliqués), but also the Kon Tiki larger size – measuring 44″ x 66″ – 12 half yards is all you need for this bigger version and that includes the background fabric and all the fabrics for the 12 Tikis.

I’m finding that almost any fabric can make a great Tiki!  Solids, batiks, florals, geometrics, you name it!

So are you feeling a little ModTiki?  Then go ahead and give our happy little guy a try!  It’s guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and makes an excellent gift for that guy in your life!  You can purchase the pattern on our website here.

Mahalo and Aloha! Until your next colour fix~
Linda & Carl

 

 

 

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“…My Kinda Town…”

We recently moved house and sewing studio to the fabulous city of Palm Springs, California! It’s taken awhile to unpack and organize but we are settling in quite nicely!

Known as the mecca for Hollywood royalty getaways,  mid-century modern architecture and trendy pool parties and tiki bars – there’s plenty to do here and the town is super hip –  hosting such huge events such as the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Modernism Week, and Coachella Music Festival and Stagecoach Music Festivals.

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Similar to our previous residence in Pinehurst, NC – the permanent year-round Palm Springs population is about 45,000, and doubles during the winter season with part time residents from the north and vacationers galore.  To the east of Palm Springs, are several other desert cities including Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, and Indio.   

Big Bear Lake is just a short half hour away or so –  Los Angeles is just over a one hour drive to the West – and San Diego just two hours to the South.    And there’s o end to the shopping experiences –  a vibrant downtown area (that’s a statue of ex mayor Sonny Bono in the picture to the right), the upscale El Paseo shopping district (think Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills) and a super huge outlet mall just a mere 10 minutes down the freeway.  Entertainment and year around activities include two modern art museums, countless tiki bars and lounge acts, three regional repertory theaters, and two huge resort casinos/spas that host an array of super star entertainment like Lionel Richie, Tom Jones or Bette Midler in any given week.  Hollywood king pins such as Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope (see his house below – it is wild!), Dinah Shore, Lucille Ball and more all built homes here, adding a touch of stardust and old Hollywood glamour to certain areas of the town.  And of course, the famous Rat Pack played and stayed here…so it doesn’t get any much better than that!

Although the desert heat of summer pushes daytime temperatures into the 100s, it’s a dry heat and believe it or not, much more comfortable than the humid conditions we experienced while living in North Carolina!   The area boasts more than 350 days of sunshine with less than 5 inches of rain a year and winter temperatures average in the 70s with nights in the mid-40s – now that sounds like a fabulous way to spend Winter!

With all that – the pace is very relaxed, living is easy and fun is the name of the game! What attracted us to the area was the vibrant and colourful Palm Springs downtown  – streets lined with majestic palm trees, a vast variety of boutique shops, art galleries in abundance and the absolute mecca of mid-century art, artists and architecture that flood every corner.  Inspiration and colour is found in every niche of the city and surrounding areas.

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Our new home and studio is just outside the Palm Springs downtown area and we have fondly named it the Colourwerx Dezign Haus.    It is a challenge working and living in the same space especially when there are two of you and you are married!  And to make it doubly challenging – even after 6 weeks we are still unpacking, decorating and setting up the design and sewing studio – we promise a post on this progress soon!

We’re having so much fun exploring our new town and  all it has to offer!  A favorite getaway is the Thursday night Palm Springs Village Fest – over 180 vendors and local artists line the downtown streets.  A terrific find from last week’s visit was this colourful camel print we purchased from a local artist, Jutta Malry.  Of course, many more of her prints will be added to the Colourwerx Dezign Haus in the near future.

Quilt 2

Quilt 1

Palm Springs is a fabulous town to live in or just visit –  in short, as Frank Sinatra use to say….”it’s my kinda town…..”   (I know….I know….he was singing about Chicago….but oh well…)