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

Accuquilt Event: January 2020

Merry Christmas everyone! I have been having a great time celebrating with family, and having my kiddos and my hubby all home has been great. Sam and I have spent the last couple days working on finishing up our reno. I finished the painting of the new space last week and am now busy prepping the remainder of the main floor for a couple fresh coats. We are hoping to put the casing on tomorrow or Thursday and start setting up the furniture as soon as its done. I am so excited for it to all be finished. Needless to say there has not been a lot of quilting happening in my house in the past few weeks, but I hope to remedy that soon too.
With it being Christmas tomorrow, that means January is just 1 short week away, and in January we have an instructor from Accuquilt coming to do few presentations for us.
Pam Heller has been an Accuquilt Instructor for the past 5 years and travels internationally to teach quilters around the world to get the most out of the Accuquilt Cutting System. She will be in our shop on January 14 and 15 to teach you.
On January 14 at 2pm there will be a lecture called First Date with Bob. Pam will introduce to the BOB Dies, which stands for Block On Board. The BOB Dies give you the ability to cut an entire block on one die, and is great for beginners and advanced quilters. The class fee for this is $10.

Later that day at 6pm, there will be a presentation called GO! Beyond the Basics, where Pam will take you through the GO! Qube Companion Sets, the specialty dies, and some curved piecing as well. The tips and tricks she share will take your quilting to the next level! The class fee for this one is also $10.

On January 15 at 10 am there will be a final presentation, this one called There's a Die For That. This one will contain some special tricks to help you convert your rotary cut patterns to be Accuquilt GO friendly. The class fee for this presentation is $20.
For all of these presentations there is no need to bring any supplies, but we would love to see some projects or quilts that you have made using the Accuquilt System so if you have any feel free to bring them along.
For each presentation there will also be exclusive dies available only to those who attend the presentation.
Over the course of the two days there will be sales and giveaways as well.
If you are interested in the Accuquilt System or already have a GO Machine and some dies we would love to see you at the event.
You can sign up for any one of them or all three by clicking here.
Have a wonderful Christmas.
Kayla

One Block Wonder Class

Happy Friday everyone, it has been a busy couple days at the shop with our Sale running this weekend but it has also been a lot of fun. We have one day left in our sale, it runs tomorrow yet from 10am-4pm, all yardage and precuts in the classroom are 50% off and there is scrap bags to stuff for $5. We have been adding new stuff whenever there is room for yet, so the tables are just as full now as they were Thursday when the sale began. Come on out and see it for yourself.
The business continues with a couple classes next week.
Esther is teaching a One Block Wonder quilt class and there is a full day option as well as an evening option. We have had quite a few questions as to what this quilt is so I thought I would share some information on it.

The One block Wonder quilt is made using panels or large prints, and the way you lay out your blocks can make a huge difference on the end result. There are no Y seams involved it is all simple piecing with 60 degree triangles. 
 Esther made her first quilt using a Hoffman Panel called Wanderlust-Italy. It turned out so neat, and is made with 7 repeats of the same panel. That may sound like a lot, but most panels are about 24" so less than a meter.
After some browsing she found several more quilts made with panels that we have in our shop that I thought I would share with you.

I absolutely love this Giraffe one and I may just have to make it for myself, if the panels are not sold out in the next few days. 


This one was done with the Dream Big panel from Hoffman, and we have quite a wide variety of different colors of these flowers in stock and all of them would look amazing done up.


Another one that totally surprised me with how neat it looks is this one done with a Call of The Wild Print. I think any of the panels from this collection would turn out absolutely amazing. 

If you would like to learn how to do this and make your own super unique quilt come join the class. I might join so I can make one and get it finished.
The evening class starts on Wednesday at 7pm. The class is about two hours long. You will than meet again the next two Wednesdays again from 7-9pm. The dates are October 9, 16, and 23.
The full day class is on Wednesday, October 16 from 10am till about 4pm.
 You can click here to sign up for the class, just scroll down and select the full day or evening option.
If you buy the supplies at our shop there is no class fee, if you use fabrics from your own stash you will need to pay $25. For the class you will need 6 or 7 repeats of your chosen panel, a 60 degree ruler and clips or pins. We have three cutting stations with rotary cutters, mats and 6x24 rulers and 3 pressing stations with wool mats and oliso irons, but you are welcome to bring your own if you.
We have fallen in love with the Acorn Precision Pressing System and it would be extremely helpful for this quilt, as it gives you incredibly flat seams!

There are two other classes happening next week as well that I will mention quickly, the Jelly Roll Rug is an evening class starting on Tuesday October 8 at 7pm, with the second session on October 15, you will need to come to both and there will be a little homework. Again the class is free if the supplies are bought at our shop.

We also have the Adventure Time Backpack class. You need Bag Making Experience to sew this bag. It is a two day class on October 10 and 11 from 10am-4pm both days and all the prep work needs to be done ahead of time. The cost to attend this one is $40 plus supplies.
Have a great weekend, I will be hanging out in the shop tomorrow for the sale,
Kayla

October Classes

Happy September! I sent two of my boys off to school today, 1 headed off to the first grade and the other is in Grade 3. While I do like getting back to a more structured routine, I sure will miss hearing their laughter and chatter all day long, and miss their help as well, they do so much around the house and are great at occupying the two younger boys. With them back at school I am hoping to carve out a little more time for quilting as well, as I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I wanted to this summer. A great way to get back into the quilting groove is to take a couple classes and we have some fun ones taking place in October. We have some classes running during the day and others that we are offering as evening classes.
We have introduced a new way of pricing classes for this season. Unless otherwise posted our classes are free to attend if you buy the supplies from our shop, if you choose to use your own fabrics there will be a charge. In most cases this will be $25. We hope that this makes taking a class a little more appealing.


The Jelly Roll Rug is still super popular and we have a class for you to learn how to make your own. There are several shapes and sizes of rug as well as a wide variety of Jelly Rolls to choose from. The class is two sessions, Tuesday, October 8 and Tuesday, October 15 from 7pm-9pm. This class generally fills up quite quickly so if you are interested register soon.
A popular quilt of late has been the One Block Wonder Quilt. Made from one print of several of the same panels this is a fun to make quilt that looks different each time. This class is available as a full day class or as two evening classes. The full day class is on Wednesday, October 16 and runs from 10am-4pm. The evening class takes place on Wednesday's, October 9, and 16 from 7-9pm.



Finally we have a class that is a more of a get to know your ruler better than a look at what I made class. I will be doing a session on The Creative Grids Stripology Ruler that will show you how to get more from your ruler. You probably know it is wonderful for cutting strips and squares, but it can do so much more for you.
 The supply lists for each class will be listed on the website under the specific classes, if not yet than they will be up in the next few days.
The majority of the bags we are making in Bag Club will also be available for anyone to attend, although there will be a $25 fee for any of the single day classes and a $40 fee for any of the two day classes, if you wish to attend any please let us know. The first open classes fer these are the Adventure Time Backpack by Andrie Designs, this Backpack does require previous bag making experience. it is a two day class taking place on October 10 and 11 from 10am-4pm both days. 
The second open bag class is the Hippo Hobo Bag by Emkie Designs, this class will take place on Saturday, October 19 from 10am-4pm.
 Supply lists for the bags will be sent out via email a week or two prior to the class date, but are generally whatever the patterns call for.

We have a few different classes taking place in November yet which I will post at a later date, but are there any other classes you wish to see?

Kayla

More Clubs

Our family is back home from our camping trip. We had a great time, and it was wonderful to spend another week away with my kiddos before they head back to school next week.
As mentioned prior to my vacation I have a couple more clubs to share with you that we will be running starting this fall.
Starting in September and running through May we have our Accuquilt GO! Club. In this club you will learn how to get the most out of your Accuquilt machine and the dies. There will be new inspiration each month with some seasonal projects included. This club has a commitment fee of $90, and each class that you attend you will receive a $10 Chicken Feed Cash Coupon. The classes run from 9am-noon on the second Tuesday of each month.
In October we have two other clubs starting the first is PhD Club and the second is Sampler Club.

PhD Club is a club in which you come and use our sewing room for the day and work on any quilting or bag project that you currently have on the go. At the end of the day you need to set a homework goal for yourself to have finished by the next month. If you come to the class and have your homework finished you will get $10 of your $60 commitment fee returned to you as Chicken Feed Quilts cash, if you do not come or your homework is not finished the cash coupon will go into a pot for someone to win at the end of the year. This club is a great way to get projects finished and sew for a full day with none of the usual interruptions like housework, laundry and cooking.

Sampler Club is another club where you come and sew for the day, although we will be working specifically on Sampler Quilts. We have several different options to choose from for this club.

• Sunday Best Sampler which requires the Book Sunday Best by Corey Yoder and Sherri McConnell. 
• Summer Moon which requires the book Summer Moon by Carrie Nelson
• Moda Blockheads, which requires the Moda Blockheads Book. 
• Moda Bakeshop: At The Seashore, this quilt has several lay out options and a variety of block patterns to choose from. 
• Moda Bakeshop: Camp Oda May, this quilt is a medallion style quilt with two different options for each round. 
• Moda Bakeshop: Countdown to Christmas (2018), this quilt is made up of a variety of Christmas themed blocks. 
• Threadology: this quilt is s a sampler that forms the shape of a spool. 

The Moda Bakeshop and Threadology quilts are free downloads and you can print them yourself or if you are a member of the club we can get it printed and spiral bound for you for a fee of $12. 

To sign up for any of these clubs or the bag clubs just click here or come in store. 

Shop Hop is only a month away and early sign up ends soon so if you were planning on attending make sure you have your passport. 

The Modern Blended Quilts Workshop is also right around the corner and registration for that ends on September 7, to read more about this event click here.  

I am off to make some supper for my family and than I have a couple of pencil cases to stitch up for my two boys that head off to school next week, the oldest wants one from the Toronto Raptors fabric, and his brother wants his made out of a new basketball collection that came into the shop last week.

What are your plans for the week?

Kayla

Summer Make and Takes

First up, thank you to everyone who came out to the show and stopped by our booth and thank you to those who came out to our shop over the weekend.
There have been several requests for some classes during the summer. So Esther and I came up with 4 different projects to do as make and takes. For each project there will be a morning option and an evening option, all of them will be on a Tuesday. The morning classes will run from 10am until noon and the evening classes will run from 7pm until 9pm. If you register on online be sure to select the time frame you would like.
For all the projects the supplies and patterns needed are included in the price. You can come choose your fabrics from our shop, and we will either set them aside for you until the class, or you can bring them home and take them back on class day.
Because these are free classes, and we are only charging for the supplies we ask that you purchase the fabrics from our shop.

The first class is a 3D Spinner Table Topper. This table topper is a great way to freshen up your table for summer. The pattern is from a Missouri Star Block Book. This class will take place on Tuesday July 9. This one is $22, and the book that is included has an additional 9 precut friendly patterns.

On July 23 we will be making casserole totes. These neat little totes come in 3 sizes, loaf pan size, square 9x9 casserole and the standard 9x13 casserole, and each has a wire frame around the top to keep it sturdy. They are perfect for carrying your casserole in especially too and from potlucks and summer barbecues. These would also make fantastic gifts for those about to get married, and since they don't need to be for casseroles, you could also fill it up with baby items for a new mom, or fresh toiletries for a housewarming gift or a college student headed out for a new season of school. You can sign up to make 1 of the totes, or choose all three and get the supplies for one of each. The two smaller sizes are both $35, the 9x13 is $40 and for all three it is $95. On the online registration page there is several options for the casserole tote, be sure to select the correct size and time that you would like.
There is an option to make your casserole totes wipeable with a product called Odicoat, if you wish to do this you will need to do it ahead of time so it has time to dry. This is not included in the prices listed.

In August we will do two more classes.
The first is on August 6 with Carrie. She has made 10 or so of the Wax and Wool Totes, a pattern by Noodlehead. These tote bags are perfect for throwing everything in and leaving the house. I have two, one that I use for a diaper bag for my son, and the other that I use for going to work, on fieldtrips, or going to appointments. They easily hold a water bottle, notebook, Ipad or eReader, wallet and some snacks. Carrie uses hers as a bookbag for school right now. It would also be a great library bag for the kids. Whatever you choose, it is a fun versatile bag. Cost for this one is $66.

The final make and take of the summer is on August 20. This one is to make silicon pot holders. The pot holders work great to hold hot pots on the counter or table, and there is a little sleeve for your hand so you can grab dishes out of the oven with it as well. $26 is the price for this one.

For all the classes you will need a sewing machine in good working order, fresh needles, thread (most of the projects have some topstitching involved so you may want to get a spool that matches when choosing your fabrics), clips or pins and scissors. We do have Oliso irons, as well as rotary cutters, mats and rulers available to use but if you prefer your own you may bring them along.

You can register for any of the above classes by clicking here.

Kayla.

 As a sidenote for anyone that took a picture with Mrs Peck at the show and posted it to social media, can you also tag @chickenfeedquilts in your photo, if you used the hashtag #mrspecksadventures but are a private account I am unable to see the photos, but if you tag our shop in the photo, I should be able to. I will choose a winner on Friday. Have a fantastic week!

January Classes

January is right around the corner, and with it a new class list. Many of these classes we have held before, but there have been several requests to run them again.

On Saturday January 12, Esther will be teaching a Tuffet class, we have not done this class in quite some time, but several people have asked u to teach it again. The Tuffet is a cute little stool, and we use a 15 degree ruler to cut the wedges. Layout of color and the fabrics chosen make each tuffet truly unique. The class will run from 10am-2pm. The fee is $125, which also includes the hardware kit (foam, legs, wood base). The fabric, ruler and pattern are an additional cost. 

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We are also doing the Jelly Roll Rug Class again. This time around we will do it over two evenings with some homework in between, rather than one long day of sewing. The dates are January 15 and 29 from 7-9pm. The class fee is $40, and the pattern, fabric and batting are extra. We just received the Colossal Round Rug Pattern which uses two jelly rolls, and measures 54" in diameter. You may use this pattern instead of the Original Jelly Roll Rug, but you may not finish it in the allotted class time. 

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Laura has fallen in love with English Paper Piecing (EPP) and will be teaching a class so you cn learn to love it as well. She will be teaching the Sunflower Pattern by Violet Craft. The project finishes at 40" square, and would be a great for the coming spring. The class fee is $60 an we will have kits available for $115. The class will include 3 sessions of instruction and sewing which will take place from 7-9pm on January 22, February 5, and February 19.

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Esther will also be teaching two Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP) classes. The class fee of $50 includes the pattern and fabrics to make either a Valentine or Spring Table Topper. This is a great beginner class for those that have never done FPP but would like to give it a try, or a great refresher course for those wanting to get back into it. She will teach one evening class, which will take place over two sessions, January 17 and 24 from 7-9pm, and a day course that runs 10am-2pm on January 24. 

If any of these classes interest you, sign up in store, or by email or phone. 

Our Holiday Hours for the next two weeks are listed below:

December 24: 10am-1pm

December 25 and 26: Closed

December 27 and 28: 10am-5pm

December 29: 10am-4pm

December 30: Closed

December 31: 10am-1pm

January 1 and 2: Closed

January 3: Regular Hours Resume

This will be the last blog post until January 4th as my family will be going to Mexico for a Christmas Vacation.

On the behalf of all the Chicken Feed Quilts Staff I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

Thank you again for your continued support in all our endeavors and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2019.

Kayla

Fall Events

For the past few weeks Esther and I have been finalizing the details on the fall events, clubs and classes that will be taking place in our shop this fall. We will send out a couple emails with them all listed for you later today, if you have signed up for emails but haven't been getting them check your spam, as we have heard from some people that this is where they found theirs.

MLXLS​​

 The first class on the calendar is the Mini Pineapple make and take on August 30, there is still a few spots left in this class. We have kits available for the class, and it finishes up at 22" square.

The next class is a Laura Heine Collage Class on September 8. I have taught this class several times in the past year, and it is always fun and productive. You can do any of the Laura Heine patterns and learn a few tips and tricks along the way. There is seats open, and we need to have at least one more person register by August 31, or we will have to re-schedule this. Some prep work required, so if you are interested sign up soon. Class fee is $40 and supplies are an additional cost.

Esther's Violet Craft Paper Piecing Class is a four week session that begins on Wednesday, September 12 and takes place in the evenings. In this class you are free to do any of the Violet Craft Paper Pieced patterns, and Esther will share with you some tips and tricks to help you create your own masterpiece! Cost is $80 plus supplies.

We have three different clubs taking place this year.

GO Club which has been an ongoing club in the shop for several years will once again take place the second Tuesday of every month. The fee for this one is $80 and it runs from September through May. In this club you can share tips with each other and use a variety of GO dies over the season.

The PhD Club is a new club that has been designed to motivate you to finish off some of those projects that are half done. There is a weekday and a Saturday session available to join. Each sew day you will bring a project of yours that is incomplete, work on it for the day and set a goal for yourself to have done by the next months sew day, whether it a a few more blocks, the whole top, or binding it that is up you. I will record your goal, if your homework is not done you will pay a penalty of $10, if you are done you will get an entry into the bucket for the jackpot at the end of the year. There is no class fee, and you are able to join just one session or both of them. The more people that join the more fun it will be! This club runs September-May, but we will skip December.

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The third club is also a new one, it is the Bag of the Month Club, which I have mentioned several times over the summer. We still have some spots available in both the Tuesday and Saturday sessions and would love to have more people join us to make this club even more fun. Esther finished up one of the September projects this week, an ID lanyard, which turned out really cute and is already being put to good use by Carrie. Each month we will share tips and tricks on various parts of bag making, interfacing, different fabric choices, hardware, and accenting. This club is great for beginner bag sewists and will be fun for experienced bagineers!

MLXLS​​

If you have checked out our events page recently, you will have seen that there is several different ones happening this fall.

First up is National Sew a Jelly Roll Day, on Saturday, September 15.  The purpose of this day is for you to sew a jelly roll, it doesn't matter what you make, just that you pull out a jelly roll and sew with it. We will be having a Jelly Roll Race in store that day, and stitch off is at 10:30am. We will also have jelly roll patterns, and jelly rolls on sale that day. There will also be giveaways, draws and freebies so come in store for this fun event, and be sure to register yourself for the race! Watch our Instagram page next week for some Jelly Roll Inspiration. Also start going through your Moda Jelly Roll stash and pull out the oldest one you own. We will be having a fun little contest with this as well.

Our Accuquilt Travelling Trunk show arrives on Monday September, 24. There will be projects made with the Accuquilt Dies and we will be doing demos all week on this amazing cutting system!

Later that week is the Annual Harvest Hop, pre-registration has already started for this, and ends on September 15. Our prizes from our distributors have started trickling in, and we have our gifts for getting your passport stamped all ready to go. The Hop runs September 27-29. 

Tuesday, October 2 we will be having an Aurifil Information Session in our store. The President of Aurifil as well as the Director of Marketing will be coming to our store to do a presentation on all things Aurifil, as well as hand out some swag! There are two time slots available, one at 3pm and the second at 7pm. There is a $5 fee to hold your place for this presentation, which will be given back to you after the event as Chicken Feed Cash to spend that day.

I have frequently mentioned the Bag Workshop and Trunk show which is taking place October 18-20. We would love to have a few more people join us for this. The workshop is beginner friendly, so don't be intimidated if you have never made a bag before. We will help you through the process! The workshop and the trunk show are two separate events and you may attend both or either if them. Even if you don't sew bag the Trunk show would still be a fun evening out with friends!

SXLLM​​

 For our final event of the year we will be hosting a Zen Chic travelling Trunk show in partnership with Trend Tex fabrics. This will take place December 3-8. We will have a games evening on December 4, focusing on  Zen Chic. There will also be a contest to enter your projects made with Zen Chic fabrics. The projects must be brought in store by November 30, contain at least 75% Zen Chic fabric, and can be a quilt, wall hanging, topper or bag. We have had some representatives from Trend Tex offer to judge the entries, but don't be intimated as they are not quilters and are not critical at all! 

If you need some days set aside to make your Zen Chic project feel free to join the PhD club to finish one off, or join the Go or Bag Club to make a new project using Zen Chic!

These classes, clubs and events all have limited spaces available (aside from Shop Hop) and you need to be registered ahead of time to attend. To sign up, call the store, send us an email, or better yet come in store and see all the new fabric that arrives every week!

Kayla

Updates

MXLLS​​Today I have got a little bit of information about several different things to share with you.

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SXLLM​​First up we received some beautiful fabric this week. We have 4 new Call of The Wild Digital Panels by Hoffman in store. These panels feature various wild animals and the detail in each print is breathtaking! Added to our growing collection this week was a cougar, moose, eagle and a new bear and cubs print. We also got in the second edition of High Adventure, this line is so fun, and perfect for either gender and any age! Sparkle and Fade was a popular line both with the first and second release, and this time around it is even more incredible, the designer has added a little gold to the mix and switched up the prints. This fabric would make a very rich looking quilt or a very classy bag and wallet combination.

Speaking of bags, our Bag Workshop and Trunkshow in October is filling up, so if you are hoping to join in on the fun sign up quickly! There is also a few spots left in the bag of the month club, and if you sign up for both by August 1, you are eligible for the discount.

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For the Retreat Bag portion of the Workshop we have found several different patterns that use the same Bag Frame and so there will be some different options to choose from. Esther and I have been deciding on patterns and sewing up the bags for the Bag of The Month Club, and there are a couple already in the store to see.

We have two more events in the plans for October and November and a new club starting in September so stay tuned for more details on those.

MXLLS​​

I taught a Collage Class this week and it went really well. We had three cows, two dress forms and a pincushion this time around and everyone's collages were truly unique! These classes are always a blast, and very few people leave without making plans for their next collage.​

With Settler Days in Coaldale this weekend, we have decided to have a quilt sale in our parking lot. We have nearly 100 quilts for sale, and some bags too. We will set them up outside (if it's not too windy) and have more in our classroom. The quilts range in size from Baby to Queen size and prices start at $40. Quilts make great gifts and if you have friends or family members that don't quilt, let them know about our sale and bring them by to browse through the selection, and to check out all the new fabrics in the store.

 Kayla