About the Author

"Love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life"In a nutshell, this quote describes exactly the way Kay feels about her work as a pattern designer for clothing and accessories with a classic yet fresh modern appeal. It was in fact what drove her to launch her company, Serendipity Gifts, in 2001 after spending the first nine years of her professional career as an elementary school teacher when she sewed in her spare time and sold her creations to colleagues.Sewing has always been a passion of Kay's as far back as she can remember. From childhood when she first held needle and thread in her hands and put them to fabric with the patient supervision of her mother, she has been truly inspired. Soon after she was busy at the sewing machine making everything from pillows to doll clothes to creations for herself. This passion extended to all things creative which led her to crochet, paint and draw. Throughout her high school years, she took art classes to expand her knowledge of various art forms, laying the foundation for a future as a designer.After resigning from her career as a teacher, her company sold appliqué patterns to local quilt shops and then eventually to distributors for the industry. In 2002, she attended her first International Quilt Market in Houston as an exhibitor. It was a phenomenal success and she has been blessed with a bustling business ever since. She has earned a reputation in the industry for her innovative designs with well written step by step instructions, making her patterns some of the most popular in the marketplace.Since that first quilt market, Kay has worked diligently to be on the cutting edge of the design industry. Her patterns started out mainly as appliqué driven designs but have since evolved into highly tailored styles with a sophisticated vibe. In fall 2005, she launched Boutique Chic, a new line of tissue patterns for skirts. Because of their success, more of these patterns have followed and she has now added dresses, bags, and jackets to the collection. As of spring 2006, her company operates as Serendipity Studio. In addition to the designs she creates for her company, she is now a licensed designer for the McCall Pattern Company as Kay Whitt Designs.In June 2010, her first book with Krause Publications, Sew Serendipity, was released. It has gone on to be a top seller in the industry and is known for great fitting patterns with clear instructions and stellar illustrations. Her newest book, Sew Serendipity Bags, was just released in September 2011. It bears the same great features as the first book, making it a perfect accessory companion to Sew Serendipity.Kay resides in Texas with her husband Keith and their bird, ET. She is always busy working on something new and exciting and never tires of sharing her passion for design and sewing. From learning to sew as a girl to art classes in high school to teaching young children, her career has come full circle to