Bionic Gear Bag Recap

We hosted our Bionic bag Workshop these past couple days in our shop, although it turned more into a fun little retreat than an actual structured workshop. 

Esther, myself and an additional 8 ladies have spent the last two days, laughing, learning from each other and best of all sewing. The Chrysalis Cafe made snacks, coffee and lunch for us both days and delivered it to us, so we sewed to our hearts content, and when food arrived on our tables we ate, than kept sewing. 

Each of us made a Bionic Gear Bag, and all of them turned out so great. Most of us still need to finish binding the edges, but we decided to do that at home and make the couple bonus projects that Esther had planned for us. 

We had a fun pouch tutorial from Anna Graham of Noodlehead Designs that we modified a little by making it even smaller and it works great for holding Wonder Clips. 

Esther also designed a neat little machine needle holder that has space for needle boxes, lightly used needles, as well as a description for what each needle is to be used for. It rolls up and neatly fits into our gear bags to keep everything together. 

As is usual when you get 10 ladies sewing together there were some mistakes made. This cute little corner was dubbed the "Comfort Corner." Because if you have to pick something out, you may as well do it in a fun, comfortable chair. 

Everyone walked away with a nifty notion or pattern as a prize, and it seemed that every time we drew a name, the winner was not even paying attention to what was going on and we needed to call the name a couple times along with "winner" before they would clue in. 

Thank you again to all the Ladies who joined us, Esther and I had great time, and we hope you did as well. This was a great ending to a season of making bags together, and once we get the plans finalized for next years bag club we will post the details, and the sign up information. 

As a side note my nails matched my fabric so well that I just had to take a picture.
 Kayla
Scroll down to see more pictures of us working hard.

Classroom Update

On March 25 the renovation on our classroom began. Since that day it has undergone a vast transformation. The walls were framed in, drywalled, and painted. We got a real ceiling hung just this past weekend, and today Hermans Carpets laid down a new floor us today. We are also getting more lighting installed by Live Electric so the area will be nice and bright.
Esther and I had the opportunity to design a custom studio for the space as well and this will get installed by Adora tomorrow. We have a nice cutting table to do demos and our own cutting on. We have a custom ironing station that will fit our monster wool pressing mat, which measures 22"x60". There is lots of extra counter space for us to have our most used notions at our finger tips, and customized storage for those that are a little more specialized and for projects.
For the new classroom we have new chairs and new sewing tables that are nice and sturdy, as well as 3 designated counter height cutting tables and 3 ironing stations that will also have wool mats and Oliso irons for you to use.
There are a few more things that have been added but we will be having a big reveal on May 9 and 10, so you will have to come check it out than to get the full picture.
This weekend we have our Bionic Gear Bag Workshop, and I will post a recap of it on Friday Evening.
On Saturday, Chicken Feed Quilts will be featured on Instagram for The Great Canadian Shop Hop that began at the start of the month. If you are on Instagram be sure to follow us.
As mentioned on May 9 and 10 we will have our Classroom Reveal Party. There will be snacks and demos in our newly renovated classroom and some flash sales as well, so come check out our new space and learn about some of our favorite tools.
Also in May, Esther and I will be attending the Spring Quilt Market, which this time around is being held in Kansas City. We hope to also visit the Missouri Star Quilt Company while we are there. I love attending Quilt Market and always come home with so many new ideas and inspiration for the shop and new projects.
In June we have another information presentation planned and will I post more information about it in a few weeks. Also in June is the Lethbridge Festival of Quilts, which is a Quilt Show put on by the Lethbridge Centennial Quilters Guild with lots of quilts to see and vendor booths to shop at. We will have a booth there during the event.
These next two months are looking to be busy for us again, but I must say I love every bit of it.
This week is Easter Break for my boys, and I have spent the last few days hanging out with them at home, getting them to help with some spring cleaning (we cleaned the deep freezer out today) and doing some sewing, my oldest made himself a pillowcase today, and now my 5 year old is asking when he gets to make one.
Hope to see you at all some of these upcoming events,
Kayla

April Events

April is right around the corner and usually I would share our next list of classes but we are not having much for classes this next month because are we doing a major renovation of our classroom.
If you have been in our classroom, it is currently a lot of concrete and brick. But in a few weeks it should be all dry walled and painted with some fresh flooring on the floor and a new ceiling above. We are also getting some custom cutting tables and ironing stations built for the space, as well as some design boards to hang on the walls. There will also be a Smart TV hooked up for some video classes and demos. All of this combined should make for an inviting space for you to come and participate in classes, clubs and sew days.

We put a deadline on the people who are doing the renovations for us, and said we would love to have it done by April 25 so that we could host our Bionic Gear Bag Workshop in our brand new space. They were a little shocked and asked when they could start and we said April 2, but we let them in a couple days early and they started today, will take a break while we have our sale and start up again on Monday.

For those interested the Bionic Gear Bag Workshop is a 2 day event taking place on April 25 and 26. We will be making the Bionic Gear Bag, and Esther and I will give instruction and we will also have some video support from Sally Thompson the designer of the bag. It is $100 to attend and this includes the instruction, pattern lunch for both days and snacks. The supplies are an extra fee and need to be purchased at our shop. 
This Bag was designed to hold all your sewing tools in one convenient bag and still stay organized with a variety of zipper compartments and pouches. It could also be used for any other tools from another hobby, or for your cosmetics or as a way to keep all the little things together while travelling.
I have chosen to use a few pieces from the new line from Bonnie and Camille Little Snippets, I just love the measuring tape and think it will be great for the exterior of the bag.
Their are limited spots available so sign up by clicking the link below to register for the event.

Register Here >

Don't forget our big Spring Clearance Sale starts on Thursday at 10am and continues until Saturday afternoon and we will add new bolts each morning.

Kayla

Bag Workshop Highlights

Last weekend was our Bag Workshop. It was a three day event in which we made 3 different projects. 

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The first day Esther and I were the teachers and we combined this day with our Bag Of the Month Club for October. Most of the class made the Dainty Day Tripper by Mrs. H, which is a bag that can convert from a small backpack to a cross body bag. Nearly everyone completed their bag and they all turned out beautifully and look so different from each other! Two ladies did the Luxie Lunch Bag which is a pattern by Emmaline Bags. 

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SXLLM​​Friday and Saturday we had Tara from UhOh Creations come down from Calgary to do some teaching, Esther and I were even able to spend the two days sewing. We made the Cottowwood Boho Bag and Pouch which are patterns written by GML Designs and Serial Bag Makers. Again nearly everyone finished their projects. All the ladies made their bag and pouch a matching set, and even those that started with the same focus fabric looked very different in the end.
Many of us also added some Bling to fancy up our bags, we added extra rivets, zipper pulls and handmade labels as well as tassels that we made ourselves. It is amazing how a little extra bling can take your bag to a whole new level. 

Esther's daughter-in-law was kind enough to provide us with some baking and lunch each day, which was appreciated by everyone, and very much enjoyed. She made us tacos one day, sandwiches another and soup on the final day. 

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Friday night, Tara did a little show and tell for us, sharing her background of sewing, and some of the bags that she has made, as well as telling us about her role as a pattern tester for various Bag Designers.  I believe everyone went home from the show very inspired. I for one got home and purchased one of the patterns, and have already printed it and chose my fabrics and hardware, now to see if I can finish it before my next trip. 

Next week is our November session of the Bag Of The Month Club, in which we will be doing the Evelyn Bag by Swoon, and learning about the various strap anchors from Emmaline. 

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For more pictures of our Bags from the Workshop check out our Facebook Page.

Kayla

Bag Of The Month Details

We have decided on the dates for our Bag of the Month Club as well as the designers. The Club will have one session that runs on Saturdays and another that takes place on Tuesdays and will start at 10am and go until 4pm. 

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To kick off the club the first month will be a free pattern and the supplies will be included in the club fee. We will be making a pouch, and we will be focusing on using mesh and clear vinyl. The dates for this one are Tuesday, September 15 and Saturday, September 18. 

October is the Workshop and so there is just the one date, Thursday, October 18. We will be using bag frames this month, there is the free Retreat Bag pattern from Emmaline as one option, and we have a few other patterns as well that designers have written which use the frames from Emmaline. 

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November we are back to Saturday and Tuesday the 3rd and 6th respectively. We will be doing a pattern by Swoon this month and learning how to use the variety of Strap Anchors that Emmaline has developed. 

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On December 4 and 8 we will do a NoodleHead pattern and lean a little more about different interfacings and how they can change the look of your finished bag. 

As this is a lot of bags in a few short months and life can get in the way we have decided to use January for a makeup and finishing class, if you had to miss a class you can use January  to make the bag you missed and if you have been able to attend all the classes you have the option to work on any of the bags that you haven’t finished. 

February 5 and 9 we will be working on a wallet! We have a couple options on wallets and will discuss them more in the club and make a final decision with you. 

In March we will get together on Tuesday the 5th or Saturday the 9th and will be doing a pattern written by Andrie Designs. 

For the final month we will be making a backpack by Sassafrass lane. This class will feature some different rings.The dates for April are the 2nd and the 6th. 

The goal each month is to try out a new designer and learn new techniques and how to use the specialty Hardware that Emmaline offers. Esther and I have been working on all the bags and we have made small changes to each one.

Registration for this club is open now and we can hardly wait to get started. Sign up in store, through email or by phone. 

I will be going camping next week so there will be no blog posts on Tuesday or Friday. The next post will be on a Tuesday July 23. 

As a result the pair of the Be My Neighbor Quilt Block 10 will be postponed. This gives some of you a chance to catch up and for those that are caught up feel free to make Block 10, and if you have any tips for me please tell me about them. 

I am off to do some more packing, have a fantastic weekend, 

Kayla

Bag Workshop Details

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago we will be hosting a bag workshop in October. We have finalized the projects, so continue reading to see what they are along with the rest of the details.

This will be a 3 day event that will run Thursday, October 18, Friday, October 19, and Saturday, October 20. 

On Thursday, Esther and I will be teaching the Retreat Bag by Emmaline, and we will have some different options for adding pockets and straps. There is two sizes available for this pattern. There are also a couple designer patterns that feature the Bag Frames to choose from instead of the Retreat Bag.

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Friday and Saturday, Tara Sinclair from UhOh Creations will be coming to make two bags with us. One is the Cottonwood Boho Bag by GML Designs and the other is the Cottonwood Pouch by Serial Bag Maker. The Bag has a few different size options and features 2 exterior pockets, as well as an interior zip pocket and an adjustable cross body strap. The Pouch has a zip top, 8 credit card slots, hidden slip pocket and interior zipper pocket. 

The combinations of fabrics and hardware will make your creations unique to you.

The price is $125 for all three days of instruction and will also include 3 meals as well as beverages and snacks. All supplies will be an additional cost, and will need to be purchased from Chicken Feed Quilts. 

Friday evening (October 19) Tara Sinclair will also be doing a trunk show. Come join us to see some incredible bags and have dessert at the same time. Cost to attend this is $20. Even if you don't make bags this will be fun to attend.

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To go along with this workshop we will also be starting the Bag Of The Month Club in September. It will be a seven month club running September through April and skipping January. We will get together one day a month and work on a bag together. Each month will be a different type of bag from a different designer. Esther and I are working on the samples so that you can see which projects we will be doing. So far it looks like we have a project pouch, a backpack, a tote bag,  a ruler holder, a handbag and we are still deciding on a wallet and a couple other patterns that we are waiting to be released to the public. 

This Club will be $150 to join. All patterns and supplies that are needed will be an additional cost.

If you sign up for both the workshop and the Bag of the Month Club before August 1st or before the workshop is full, whichever comes first, you will save $25. 

Spots are very limited, and several seats are already spoken for, so we are asking that you pay a 50% deposit to hold your place.

Sign up quickly if you want in on what is promising to be an exciting weekend. You can sign up by phoning our store, sending us an email, or even better coming in. If you sign up through email or phone you will need to send us an interac e-transfer or credit card for the deposit.

Come see us next weekend at the Cactus Rose Quilt Club Quilt Show. It is being held at the Medicine Hat Curling Club, Friday, June 8, 12-8pm and Saturday, June 9 from 10am-5pm. Admission is $5. 

Kayla

Bag Workshop

Esther has been working on setting up another workshop for sometime now, and this week we got confirmation on a Bag Workshop! This is mainly a teaser post about it as this is just confirmed and very few details aside from the dates have been worked out. 

We have an experienced bag maker who also happens to be a pattern tester and designer coming to our shop October 19 and 20 to do a workshop on two bags as well as a trunkshow for us. 

Esther and I are also thinking of adding an optional third day as well, where we will teach a third  pattern. This would take place on October 18. 

We are still working out the pricing details, as well as venues for the trunkshow.

I will do a much more detailed post in a few weeks when we have all the information worked out, along with some pictures of the bags we are making, and who will be teaching them. 

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To go along with this, as well as by request we will be starting a Bag Of The Month Club in September. The Club will get together once a month to sew a bag. The patterns will all be from different designers, and range in style from totes, to wallets, to backpacks and more.

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Esther and I will be spending the next few weeks making up the bags that we have chosen for the club, and get them into the store so that you can see the different patterns we will be doing before you sign up.
If you have never sewn bags before but are eager to try the Club is a great place to learn. It is a great way to learn and get advice rather than doing it completely on your own. That doesn't mean only beginners can join, it will be good for bag makers of all skill levels.

We have recently got in some fun cottons that look like cork and leather, and there are a few more colors on the way. These are great for those of you who like the look but are nervous to work with the real thing, or are scared your machine will be able to handle it. Come in store to check them out in person.

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Before I can start my bags for the club, I need to finish up the minis that I am working on. I have a couple that need quilted, one that is cut, and another that I took home today. I hope to have them all finished for next Friday's blog post. 

We will be closed on Monday for Victoria Day.

Do you have any long weekend plans? My husband is taking me out for breakfast tomorrow morning while my inlaws watch our boys and than our family will be doing some yard work, and we have a Family Barbeque Sunday Evening.

Kayla