Creative Grids Curvy Log Cabin Ruler

Today we did another Facebook Live, again on the Creative Grids Rulers, this time around on the Curvy Log Cabin Trim Tool. These blocks are so fun and there are lots of different ways to lay them out, I  was browsing on Pinterest after we did the video and now have a couple different ones that I really want to make!

Esther is using Sugarcreek by Corey Yoder and the 8" Curvy Log Cabin Ruler for her blocks. 

This ruler works the same as the Log Cabin Rulers, the only difference really is that half your strips will be narrow and half will be a wide. 

Blocks rotated so the white is in the center instead of on the outer edge of the block. 

The ruler comes in 3 sizes, 4", 6" and 8" finished. Each ruler has the cutting sizes listed right on the ruler and also comes with printed instructions. 

As with the other Log Cabin Blocks you start with a precisely cut center square and work out from there. With the Curvy Ruler it is important that you begin with the wide strips, and the ruler shows you which way to work around the center square. The first round is always the most difficult as you figure out the placement of the strips and after that it is really simple. Just sew, press and trim. 

And after 3 rounds of logs you have a super fun block that looks like a lot of work but was really quite easy to make. 

Do you have any big plans for the weekend? My new long arm was delivered to my house yesterday so I hope to be able to work on getting that setup, and the exterior of my house could use a wash, so I may have to pull out the pressure washer tomorrow and give the siding and windows a good cleaning. 

Kayla

Background Fabrics

Happy Monday, or Tuesday by the time some of you get this in your inbox. I had a busy day today with supervising the boys homework, moving my long arm to its new home and than doing groceries. When I got home from the grocery store, I thought I had just enough time to sew for an hour before watching a TV show with my Husband. I was sewing away, when all of a sudden I remembered it was Monday and I had yet to write my blog post!

So here we go. 

I just wanted to share with you some thoughts on background fabrics. The go to for many people, including me up until about 2 years ago was white solid. However I got really sick of doing a white solid all the time and have since switched it up a lot, from colors to different fabric blends to multiple background fabrics in one quilt. 

A white or cream tonal is a great way to start breaking out of the white solid background box. It adds a little texture but it still really simple. 

Blender prints are also a great alternative to solids, they are not quite as stark and add some movement, my favorite is Melange fabrics by Stof, and Thatched by Robin Pickens, both have very little extra color but blend well with a lot of the current fabrics and have great looking texture. 

I have switched up my colors in backgrounds a lot, light pink, light blue, light grey, dark grey, navy and chocolate brown are some of the latest colors for backgrounds in my quilts.  

I am currently working on a quilt using a black Moda Crossweave, I must admit that I am not a huge fan of working with it. I love the texture and look of it in my quilt, but it is really messy to work with (think black strings everywhere!) I have also used Essex Linen in some of my quilts it has a little stretch to it but it definitely adds a great texture to the quilt. 

My absolute favorite thing to do right now is using multiple low volume fabrics in one quilt, I find they find add a lot of interest to the blocks without overtaking the whole quilt. 

What are your favorite background choices? Do you stick with solid white, other solid colors, or multiples?

If you always do the same thing I encourage you to play around a bit, lay your fabrics out on various colors and textures, and see which one pops your fabrics the most, it may surprise you!

Have a great week, 

My Dad turns 50 this week so we hope to celebrate with him, and than my new long arm should also be arriving this week and I am so excited to get it all set up!

Kayla

Creative Grids Log Cabin Rulers part 2

Happy Thursday, did you have a good long weekend? Our family bought some shrubs and annuals from Coaldale Nurseries and planted them on Saturday, and than one of my dogs promptly dug up the planter the next day! So I may have to get a few more annuals when this rain stops to fill that one back in, and hopefully by than the others ones haven't floated away. We sure are thankful our Relaunch Event was last weekend and not this one, we wouldn't have been hanging quilts outside this week. 

We are again open for walk in business and we only ask that you don't come if you are sick, hand sanitize when you come in, and if there is six people in the shop you will have to wait until someone leaves before you come in.

 

Today on Facebook we did a video on some more of the Creative Grids Log Cabin Rulers. Esther started off by giving some history on the Log Cabin blocks, and how in the beginning they always had a red center which stood for the heart of the home, and than one side was light logs to represent the happy and prosperous years, and the other side was dark to represent the hard, sadder years of life. 

Than we focused on the 12" ruler, which also has the markings on it to make 6" blocks. Esther mentioned that it is a great ruler if you are on a budget and can't decide between a large or a small, however it is a larger ruler to maneuver when making the smaller 6" blocks. 

I will do a post sometime in the next few weeks with more details on which ruler to use when, and how sometimes bigger is not necessarily bigger.

The 12" works the same as the 8" that we showed a couple weeks back, just with a larger center square and wider strips. The 12" size is perfect for jelly rolls as the strips need to be cut at least 2.25" so there is very little extra waste using a 2.5" strip. 

One block can be cut from 56" of a dark 2.25" and 45" of a light strip. Obviously fabric is not this wide so you would need 1.5 strips for every dark and just over 1 for every white, and you want several prints in each block, but it helps for calculating how much you need. 

For example a lap quilt sized at 60"x84" would be a total of 48 blocks, 8 rows of 6. 

Each block takes 1.5 strips of a dark: 48x1.5 equals 72 -- 2.5" strips if it were me I would 

have a couple extra on hand just in case I mess up a cut and for a little more variety, I wouldn't want the same prints beside each other.You would also need the light fabric and you would need at least 54 strips I would probably go with about 60 or 70. 

Here is a little cutting chart from the ruler, this is the insert that comes with the Ruler itself and it is also downloadable from the Creative Grids Website, each Creative Grids Specialty Ruler comes with one of these little instruction pamphlets. 

 In her 12" block Esther is not doing it the usual color way with darks on one side and lights on the other, she is putting all the colors everywhere and I think it looks really neat.

Next week we are going to be talking about the Curvy Log Cabin Rulers. They again work in the same way but half the strips are narrow and the other half wide, and when sewn together results in a quarter circle effect, four blocks put together would make a circle in the center. 

This pattern is one that we can order for the Curvy Log Cabin Creative Grids Rulers. 

As the finished blocks are the same size, you would need the same length of strips, just cut at a different width. Here is a link to the  Creative Grids Website, if you interested it will tell you what size of strips and squares to cut for each block. 

Ruler link

You can purchase the rulers from our site here, or drop into see us. 

I hope you are enjoying our little sew along videos and that you are learning something new. 

Have a great weekend.

Kayla

Relaunch Reviews

Happy Thursday, today was the first day of our Relaunch Event and we had so much fun. It was a long day for us, starting early with hanging quilts outside, getting our little presentation table set up and making sure we had the shop already to go with signage and sanitizer. 

We did the day in time slots, everyone got 45 minutes to shop and this method worked really well. It gave us time to clean, organize and catch our breath between groups. 

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The presentations also went really well, and the feedback so far has been great. 

Thank you everyone that attended today and has signed up for tomorrow, although we were very busy during the shut down with curbside and online orders, it sure is nice to have customers in the shop again. It just is not the same without you!

We are closed Saturday through Monday for the long weekend, but we open our doors again on Tuesday. There will be no need to make appointments, just come and shop as usual, we will just give you a squirt of hand sanitizer when you come in. If there is more than 7 customers in the shop we may ask you to wait outside until someone leaves. 

For those uncomfortable with shopping in store or those who are unable we will still offer curbside pickup. 

Have a great long weekend, we have some yard work to do at our place so hopefully the weather forecast remains good!

Kayla

PS no blog post Monday May 18

Relaunch, Reopen Event

It is another new week, a week that I w as supposed to be spending in Pittsburg. Esther, Carrie and I were set to be flying out to International Spring Quilt Market tomorrow, but that was all cancelled. Instead with the Government's announcement of Phase 1 of the Relaunch we will be doing a little event at the shop on Thursday and Friday instead. 

On Thursday and Friday this week the shop will be open by scheduled time slots. We opened them for booking on Saturday afternoon and all  the spaces for Thursday are now filled, there is still a couple open on Friday. The time slots are each 45 minutes long. You can sign up here for the event 

There is some fun things planned for this Relaunch Event. 

For everyone that booked a slot we have a free little gift for you. 

The shop will be 20% off for shopping with bag hardware, interfacing, elastic and already discounted fabrics excluded. 

If you make a purchase of $50 or more you will get a Swag Bag full of goodies from us and a few of our distributors. 

A Schoolhouse Presentation, and a Quilt show, more details below.

One of our favorite things to do at Quilt Market is attend Schoolhouse which are little lectures or presentations designed to teach us about a newly releasing product. 

We have decided to do a little Schoolhouse Series during our Relaunch Event, to give you a taste of what it is all about. 

We will give short presentations on a variety of subjects that we get the most questions about as shop owners. The timing of each is designed to be right before or right after the scheduled shopping times, that way you can come early and stay after your shopping appointment to listen to our presentations. These are not mandatory at all, and will be short, probably about 10 minutes each. They will take place outside, on the Eastside of our building. 

The schedule is as follows:

Thursday May 14

10:15am Panels and Precuts
11:15am Marking Tools

12:15pm Which Ruler When

1:15pm Batting and Beyond
2:15pm Why Buy a Pattern
3:15pm Pins and Needles
4:15pm Cutting Smart

Friday May 15
10:15am Which Ruler When
11:15am Batting and Beyond
12:15pm Panels and Precuts
1:15pm Why Buy A Pattern
2:15pm Marking Tools
3:15pm Cutting Smart
4:15pm Pins and Needles

We also have an outdoor Quilt Show planned. All of us have been doing a lot of time sewing in this shut down so we have lots of new quilts to display. 

After the event we will be closed Saturday-Monday for the long Weekend, and will reopen on Tuesday. This will be walk in as it was before the closures happened, with just a few more safety protocols in place.

Safety Protocols

We will be following Government Directives,
if dates change or we are told to again close doors to public access
we will comply immediately.

For those that come to shop we will be using the East door as our entrance.
We will be starting with allowing 7 customers plus staff in the shop,
so there may be the need to wait outside for a few minutes.
Sanitizing Station will be set up either right outside the door or right inside,
depending on the weather.

Please use the sanitizer available before fully entering the shop.
When inside, or standing in line outside please follow the 2 meter apart rule.
Inside the shop we ask that only one person at a time be in the
pattern or bag hardware sections as these spaces are a little more confined.
For the rest of the shop stay behind the marked lines at the counter and till.
Also please avoid leaning on the counters.

Do not come to our shop is you are experiencing any of the following:
cough, fever (over 38°C), shortness of breath, runny nose or sore throat.

For those that do not feel comfortable entering the shop
we will still offer curbside pickup.
The new pickup location will be on the Northside (main street)

Have a great week everyone, and I am so excited to start seeing your faces rather than just your cars. I am off to finish a few more quilts before Thursday rolls around. 

Kayla

Creative Grids Log Cabin Ruler

Happy Thursday!
Today we did a Facebook Live Video on The Creative Grids Log Cabin Rulers. Esther went through the process of sewing and trimming a block, and we showed you a couple projects we have made with the various sizes.
For the 8" finished block which Esther was showing you need to cut a 2.5" center square, and for the rest as long as your strips are at least 1 3/4" wide there is no other exact cutting. Esther happened to be using 2" wide strips because that is what she cut from her Fat Quarter Bundle of Just Red by Zen Chic.
After sewing the first round of logs on to the center square you trim the unit by placing the round 1 Square on the ruler on top of your center square and trimming what is outside the ruler edge, rotate your block and trim the other two sides, than sew the next round. Repeat until your block is finished.
Esther trimmed after adding 2 logs, and you can do this two, I always trim after the full round is complete.
This block is great for scraps because you can just pull all your fabrics and start sewing. Use the short pieces for the inner logs and the larger ones on the exterior rounds. There is no need to cut the pieces smaller before sewing because you are going to trim them after you sew anyways.
The Ruler comes in 4 sizes, 4", 6", 8" and 12" finished and they all work the same with, just with different measurements. Each ruler has the measurements listed right on it.

The Mini Heart Quilt pictured here is one I made a couple years back. I used the 4" ruler to make it. There is 4 blocks, two that are made using the Courthouse Steps placement with red on one side of the block and white on the other 3, and two that are the typical log cabin layout. It was a lot of fun to sew and only took an evening to make, quilt and bind. It hangs out by my computer desk in our dining room all year long.
This ruler really does make Log Cabin Quilt blocks easy to make.
We are nearly sold out of the rulers in the 8" size and the 12" ones are gone, but we did order more today and they should be here sometime in the next couple weeks. If you are hoping for one of these sizes we can definitely put take your name down and we will call you when they come in, just call us at the shop or send us an email.
We are hoping for a little more information from the Alberta Government on if our business will be included in the reopening next Thursday. If we are we have some events planned that we will share in a newsletter and here on the blog on Monday.
Have a great weekend, my forecast looks like it could be great for spending some time in my sewing room.
Kayla

Weekly Special

Happy Monday, we got some positive news this past weekend with a plan for the staged relaunch of our Economy. We are hoping that we are part of the retail sector that can open with restrictions on May 14 but are still waiting for confirmation on that. As soon as we know for sure we will let you know.
Last week in the May Newsletter I mentioned that we will be adding a new section to the website called Weekly Special.
Each week we will put a different collection of fabric, patterns or notions on sale. The sale prices will be valid until the following Monday, when I change them out to a new one.
The discount amount may vary as well each week. There will be no need to enter any special codes at checkout, the discounts will already be shown and applied.
This week the Special is Little Snippets by Bonnie and Camille. We have put the yardage, precuts and kits on sale, and they are over 15% off. If this collection has been calling your name act quick, because it will go quickly I'm sure.
Here is a direct link to the items. 
The Summerville Quilt Kit does not have a photo listed, but the fabric coloring is similar to the Fabric on the pattern cover, just no Navy Blue, but Charcoal Grey instead. ( I am thinking I need to make each  of the four seasons of this one because they are all so cute, Springville, Summerville, Autumnville and Winterville, maybe I need to shop and snag up one of these kits for myself.)
We are also adding more to our Clearance Section on the website as well, so be sure to check those out too, if you are looking for some discounts.
We have two Facebook Live Videos planned for this week as well. Tuesday Morning Esther, Carrie and I will all be sharing which Creative Grids rulers are our favorites and why. Thursday Esther will be starting the Log Cabin Ruler Series. Many of you have already purchased this ruler, and we hope you will be sewing along with us.
Have a great week.
We have some school work to do here at home, thankfully my boys need little assistance from me as they are brainy, and their teachers have filmed all the lesson instructions, I basically just need to supervise.
Kayla