Woodland Wonderland: Month 3

 We are on Chapter 3 of our Woodland Wonderland Block Of The Month. This month we are adding 4 new fabrics to the mix and will be making several blocks, including Olivander the Owl which is one of my favorite blocks in the whole quilt.

 

It all starts on page 16 of our pattern booklet. In addition tho the four new prints you received in your package you will need to add 1 red, 1 ivory, and 4 green prints from previous months. In the end I decided to only use the new ivory print in this chapter rather than adding a 2nd one. Also from the 2nd Taupe print I found that I needed 2 -- 1" strips rather than the 1 that they instructed, and I did not use the 1 1/2" strip from green print 1 in my blocks, and couldn't find it mentioned in the instructions at all. 

Olivander the Owl

There are a lot of pieces in this block and in the cutting instructions they are labelled a-o. I used my alphabitties to keep them all straight while cutting and assembling the block. There is no piece labelled L, but you could cut the eye template and call this L if you really wanted. 

Speaking of the eye template, the base of a large spool of Aurifil Thread is the same size (or very close too) the eye template pictured in the book. So I traced around my spool onto a piece of steam a seam 2 times, than cut out the shape leaving a 1/4" seam allowance and pressed it onto a piece of my black background fabric. I used a blanket stitch to applique the eye in place. 

Holly Leaves

These four blocks are quick and easy to assemble, and I used the Diagonal Seam Tape by Cluck Cluck Sew to make it go even quicker.

 

Snow Tree Block

I will admit I had some issues with this block, I just could not make it work with cutting all the rectangles in half as directed, so I actually cut 4 of the piece D, and cut 2 in half from the top left to the bottom right and 2 in half from the top right to the bottom left. Cutting corner to corner, I got 4 of each triangle needed. Than it worked to lay it on the block as directed and sew it in place. To be honest I didn't actually draw the lines, I just found the center at the top and than used that to line up the triangles. 

Have fun making the blocks this month!

Kayla

Carrie will be here on Thursday to share the next set of Blocks for the Midnight Clear BOM, and there will be no blog post next Monday, as we are closed for Labor Day. 

Project Jelly Roll 2020

The third Saturday in September every year is National Sew a Jelly Roll Day. This year it takes place September 19. This project started four years ago, and was created by Moda to encourage people to unwrap and unroll those sweet little rolls and actually sew something. There is contests for the shops to create the best store displays using Moda Jelly Rolls, quilts and jelly roll patterns, ( we got first place in the contest two years ago :) )

This year Moda has released 6 limited edition Grunge Jr Jelly Rolls for Project Jelly Roll 2020 and we have all 6 in the shop. Moda also released 4 exclusive patterns to shops. From September 10-19 when you buy a Moda Jelly Roll in our shop you will have the option to choose one of these patterns to take home for free as well. 

In the past we have had Jelly Roll Races in the shop and we have opened up the classroom to work on your own Jelly Roll Project. This year we encourage you to unroll a Jelly Roll on Saturday September 19, and share pictures with us on Social Media of your progress for a chance to win a prize. 

Do you like working with Jelly Rolls? 

I love how cute they look stacked up on my shelf, but I also love the projects that can come from using one too! 

I think this year I may have to make a Jelly Roll Rug for the new sewing studio that I get later this winter, or maybe I should finish last years project ;)

In a couple weeks I will share some of our favorite Jelly Roll Books, Patterns and which Jelly Rolls are our new favorites. 

Kayla

Sidewalk Sale

With September just around the corner we have decided to say good bye to August with a Sidewalk Sale at our shop. The sale will take place this week Thursday, Friday and Saturday. 

Hours for the sale are 

Thursday August 27 11am - 4pm

Friday August 28 11am - 4pm

Saturday August 29 11am-3pm

We will have kits, precuts and finished quilts for sale. All the products will be discounted from the regular price. 

The sale will take place outdoors on the East Side of our building. 

Tuesday, August 25 on Facebook Live we will be doing a sneak peek of some of the items that will be on sale, and there will be an opportunity to purchase some of these items during the Live video as well. This will be at 10:30am on our Facebook Page Chicken Feed Quilts. 

Many of the kits have been made up in the last few weeks and were not available for purchase in our shop before this, so there will be lots of new things to check out. We have also been curating many different Fat Quarter Bundles, and have put together lots in various color ways and fun collections. 

Kayla

Midnight Clear Block of the Month: Block 1

Today is the first day of the Midnight Clear Block of the Month, so Carrie is here to share her block 1's, and her tips and tricks for making them easier. 

For this week we are making 2 block 1's. When I first opened my book to block 1 I was a bit intimidated by the look of the block, but the pattern is broken down really well. and you just have to make 3 components and then piece them together as a 9 patch. 

First for color placement. I followed the color placement exactly as they have it in the pattern. I just think that this gave the block a really cool effect, you could easily switch them up if you wanted to though. 

For cutting. Anytime there is an 1/8th measurement I round up, and trim later. That is what I did here as well. I cut 3" instead of 2 7/8"s so that after I piece the half square triangles I have more room to square them up. For the rest of the pieces I cut as the pattern said and then labeled them with my Alphabitties to keep them straight. 

Now for making the half square triangles. I don't know about you, but whenever I mark a line down the center I have a tendency to sew on the line instead of on either side. With my Creative Grids Marking Tool I can easily draw 1/4" on either side of the center and then sew on the line. If you haven't already noticed I am a fan of tools, so to square my half square triangles, I used my Creative Grids 4-in-1 Half Square Triangle Trim Tool. All markings on this tool are in finished sizes, so I put the 2" line on my seam and squared them up. Then you simply make the 4-patch Units. 

For the Pinwheel unit I followed the same steps as above to create my Half Square Triangles and then again simply assembled my 4 Patch Units.

The next unit is a Square in a Square block. To make these I put my red square down, then placed my white square and my black square in opposite corners. I used my Folded Corner Clipper to help me make these flip and stitch corners and this worked really well for me. Do this again with the other white square and green square. 

 

Now all that is left is assembling your units into blocks and you are finished. 

Have fun sewing up your blocks, I will be back with block 2 on September 3rd. 

Favorite Products: August

Looking at the forecast for this week it looks like we are in for another hot one! Hopefully you have a cool space in your house that you can spend some time sewing. 

Today I want to share with you our favorite products this month. 

Esther has been doing a lot of hand applique lately and also has made a few bags. For these projects she loves the Sewline Pencil to trace lines for her applique and for marking zippers and centerson her bag pieces. She especially loves the pink lead as it shows up on almost all the fabrics she uses.  

Carrie is loving our new Ruler Holders. WE had these made for our shop by our Brother-in_Law. They are nice and heavy so they don't tip over and two together make great bookends. Carrie loves that she can keep the Ruler Holder on her cutting table and have all her rulers easily accessible but still put away neatly. 

I am loving the Labor of Love book by Sherri McConnell. It has 10 great projects in it of various sizes and they all have made it to my must make list. They also vary in difficulty which is so nice. I just finished up this quilt which was made using the Cottage Charm pattern in the book, and it went together so quickly, and I think it will be one of my go-to patterns in the future for when I need a quilt that goes together really quick. Sherri is also doing a quilt along with the book this fall and I am eager for it to start. 

 

What are your favorite products right now?

Have a great week! Carrie will be blogging again on Thursday.

Kayla

Midnight Clear Block of The Month: Introduction

Carrie is starting up a new block of the month program and she would love to have you join her. 

She was looking at books on the shelf and found a book called Holiday Wishes from Sherri Falls for This & That Paper Company. She will be creating the Midnight Clear Block of the Month (it is the quilt pictured on the cover of the book, and is shown below) using The Christmas Card fabric from Sweetwater Fabrics. The Quilt finishes at 58.5" x 73.5"

The program will run from August 20 until November 26. Meaning your Quilt top will be done, and you should have time to get it finished and displayed for Christmas. Starting on August 20, and packages will be ready for pick up or shipping on every second Thursday. Shipping will cost $4 per block package.
There is a $5 fee to sign up and then it will cost $25 for each block. The $5 fee will be applied as a credit to your first month.
Link to sign up will be at the bottom.
When you sign up we will contact you for your credit card information, and we will auto charge your card for each block. 

The first week you will receive the book and the fabrics for Block 1. For the next 5 packages you will receive a package for blocks 2-6. There is also a package for sashing and inner border, and a package for finishing, which includes the binding but not the backing. (We make 2 each of block)

Every second Thursday Carrie will share her blocks, as well as her tips and tricks for making the blocks easier. 

There is limited kits available so sign up soon by clicking the link below. 

Click here to sign up
If you are too impatient to wait for your blocks every two weeks and want the full kit right away just let us know and we can do that for you.

Carrie just cannot wait to get hers started, and will probably begin working on it after this weekend of her brother’s wedding is over.

Fall Classes -- New Format

How is your summer going? Ours has been great, and we are working on some plans for the end of summer and start of fall at our shop. 

Many of you have been asking what our plan is for classes this fall is? If we are going to do them and what that will look like. 

After much thought we are going ahead with classes, but we will be a using a different format than we have in the past. 

Rather than having a set project that the instructor walks everyone through, we are going to treat it more like an open sew day. 

We are calling it Sewcialize, come sit, sew and socialize. 

Each class date will have a theme that the instructor will follow, but you do not have to if you don't want to. Instead just come to our classroom and sew for the day and socialize with old and new friends.

Each session is $10 to attend and the classroom will be open from 10am-3pm. 

You do need to preregister, and spaces are limited. This way we can follow the social distancing protocols that have been set out. 

The Schedule for classes, instructor and the theme are posted below. 

September
Tuesday September 8: Tammy -- Accuquilt GO
Wednesday September 16: Carrie -- Panels
Thursday September 24: Esther -- Creative Grids Trim Tools

October
Friday October 9: Kayla -- Collage Quilts
Tuesday October 13: Tammy -- Accuquilt GO
Thursday October 22: Esther Foundation Paper Piecing
Friday October 30: Carrie -- To Be Determined

November
Saturday November 7: Laura -- English Paper Piecing
Tuesday November 10: Tammy -- Accuquilt GO
Thursday November 19: Carrie -- To Be Determined
Friday November 27: Kayla -- Sew Kind Of Wonderful Quick Curve Ruler

December
Wednesday December 2: Carrie -- To Be Determined
Tuesday December 8: Tammy -- Accuquilt GO
Wednesday December 16: Esther -- Tote Bag

You can sign up here for any of the Sewcialize Sessions. 

We look forward to sewing with you this fall. 

Kayla

Christmas Fabric 2020

I know its only the beginning of August but our newest Moda fabrics are all Christmas themed so I thought I would share them quick tonight. 

We have Holliberry By Corey Yoder. We also have the book a very Coriander Christmas which features a really fun Block Of The Month Pattern, and a bonus pattern. 

Tahoe Ski Week by Mara Penny has such fun prints and the colors are not Christmassy at all, it is actually much more winter themed. Esther is making a quilt called Norway by Thimble Blossoms with it. 

Chill by Zen Chic is also a winter collection.

Christmas Card by Sweetwater has been really popular in the shop!

Naughty or Nice by Basic Grey has also been really popular, we have already sold out of several bolts from this collection. 

Juniper by Kate and Birdie is a brushed cotton so it super soft. If you are curious brushed cotton just means it goes through an extra step in manufacturing called brushing which involves fine metal brushes rubbing the surface of the fabric to produce fine fibers from the woven pieces, which leaves the surface super soft. 

Holiday Lodge by Deb Strain. 

Chill Out is from Cotton and Steel (not Moda, but Trendtex is the distributor for both so I am including it today) I brought home fabrics today for a sample, but I have two other quilts that NEED to be finished before I can cut into it. 

Do you make quilts with Christmas Fabrics?

My boys all have Christmas Quilts that are on their beds from November-most of January. I am planning to make a new one for my bed this year, and I love displaying Christmas and winter themed quilts on the blanket ladder in my living room. 

Kayla