Sew Hometown: November, December and Finishing

I don't know about you but I love having deadlines to get things finished. As promised I was able to finish my quilt top for the Sew Hometown QAL along this weekend, and it feels great to have this year long project finished!
The blocks for November are Fir Trees, and we are making 4 of them, each finishing at 12". There is a couple printing errors for this block. The first one is in the Background cutting, you want to cut that first square at 8" instead of 7". The second error is in step 3, you want to trim your blocks to 7.5" square not the 6.5" that is listed.
I did not go too scrappy with my blocks, I chose 4 fabrics and used each one in a different spot in each block. To do this I stacked all four and cut from them all the pieces listed under the green, yellow, dark green, and blue fabrics, than used one of each in each block. This saved a lot of time both in choosing fabrics and in cutting.
When trimming in step 5 be sure you have at least a 1/4" at the top of the block so you don't lose your point later on. I actually measured 1/4"  to the bottom from the bottom of each tree point (where your trunk fabric sits in between) and trimmed that piece first, I add a little more than a 1/4" at the top than but it did allow my trunk seams to line up nicely.
There is a video for this block, if you would like to watch just click below.
https://inspiring-stitches.com/2019/11/sew-hometown-fir-tree-block/

For December we are making 5 Geranium Blocks that each finish at 6". This is such a fun block to make for the last block of the quilt. The unit from step 2 is supposed to be bigger than  your strip set, so don't panic, just line up the centers of each and stitch together. Having a 4.5" square ruler to trim the block in step 3 is really helpful, as you can lay it on top and just cut around all four sides quickly and easily.
There is a video for this block as well: https://inspiring-stitches.com/2019/12/sew-hometown-geranium-block/

Finishing: Take all the blocks you have made and lay them out as pictured on the final page of your calendar pattern. You can switch out blocks or sections of the same size to help with color placement if needed. I was able to just lay mine out as shown in the pattern, and I found the color balance to be good for me. The sections are outline in black so complete each mini section then combine each section to complete the center of the quilt top. Add your borders as instructed and yay your quilt top is done.


I had so much fun pulling this project out each month and constructing a new set of blocks and though the colors I chose are completely out of my usual comfort zone, I am loving how it turned out.
Kayla

Sew Hometown: October

This month we are making 5 Finch Blocks for our Sew Hometown Quilt. These blocks finish at 6 inches and are quite fun to construct. The tutorial from the gals at Inspiring Stitches has not been posted yet, but if you check their website over the next few days, they should post their little video soon. 

They tried to fit a lot of instructions for this little bird on one page so some of it may be a little confusing but it all comes together in the end. 

As usual we start with choosing fabrics and cutting them out according to the list. I went opposite the pattern and did dark for the body and light for the wing and beak portions of the bird. (Even though I switched the dark and lights I will still write this post as if I did not, so that it is the same as the pattern.) 

I cut all 5 of my Finches at one time to make it quicker. 

Making the beak unit is up first. I used a piece of chalk to mark the two positioning points on the background fabric than placed my beak fabric on top of that, sewed 1/4" from the edge and trimmed accordingly. After pressing it, I trimmed it to the size mentioned in step 1 of the pattern.

Step 2 in the pattern is for assembling the body. The pattern doesn't tell you which pieces to use, just tells you to look at the picture. We are going to use our largest background rectangle, the 6.5" light pink rectangle, the 6.5" dark pink rectangle and the 5.5" rectangle. Sew these all together, press the seams and trim into the rectangle. I had a 3.5" ruler handy so I used that to trim, with the 4.5" marking as the left corner. 

Step 3 has a typo in my pattern, there is no 3.5" light pink rectangle, so use your 4.5" one here instead. 

Finally we need to assemble the block, the picture in my pattern seems to have a couple extra pieces in it, so here are photos of my block in the various stages. 

I again put all my blocks on to the design wall to see how its looking, and I am loving how the colors just seem to pop off the chocolate background fabric. 

There is only two months left in this Block of the Month, and a total of 9 blocks yet to make, than we get to actually assemble the whole quilt top. 

Kayla

Sew Hometown: August

Another month, another set of blocks. This month we are making the Butterfly Blocks in the quilt. These blocks finish at 9" and we need to make 6 of them.
Once again there is some Improvisational Piecing involved. This type of piecing is perfect for using up scraps of all shapes. I didn't have many scraps left so I ended up cutting some 2" strips off my Fat Quarters and using them to do my improv on three of the blocks. The other three I decided to use just one piece of fabric rather than doing the improv.
Once you have the wing centers pieced the blocks assemble quite quickly. We just need to add the squares to all four corners of each wing, put the body between two and add the top border.
As with previous blocks, I used my folded corner clipper ruler from Creative Grids to trim the squares before sewing rather than drawing the lines.
If you wish to watch a video tutorial for this block, head over to the Inspiring Stitches website.
Here are all my blocks so far, only four more sets of blocks to go.

As a reminder the Fall Class and Club reveal is tomorrow evening, Wednesday, August 14 from 7pm-9pm, I hope to see you there.
Kayla

Sew Hometown: July

Last week I spent some time in Montana doing some camping with my husband and our four boys, my husband's parents and some family friends.  Now that we are back, and the laundry is finished and the trailer cleaned and ready for the next trip it is time to get back to quilting. 

Last night I made my July blocks for the Sew Hometown Quilt. These Improv Star Blocks were fun to make and introduce a new technique that we haven't done yet in this quilt along, Improvisational  Piecing.

Prior to this block I had done very little Improv Piecing, and it took a few pieces to get accustomed to the fact that the strips don't need to fit together, but once I started playing I really enjoyed it.  The great part is that you can use up some of those odd scraps that you have laying around. I first pulled out all the scraps that I had from this quilt already, than I chose one of my larger triangles to start with and added strips and triangles on to it, trimming sections off and adding more as needed to get to the required size. 

For the star points I decided to go scrappy as well and cut one square from all my fabrics. I used the Creative Grids Folded Corner Clipper to trim before sewing to avoid drawing the lines on the back of each square. 

The general guidelines for the improv piecing are at the beginning of the calendar and if you click here you can see a quick video on the construction start to finish. 

If you don't want to do the Improv center, you can always substitute a solid piece of fabric into the center. 

I am thrilled with how this quilt is coming along, and I am in love with the dark background, the colors really pop off of it. 

Now I need to go catch up on my Moda Bakeshop Summer Camp quilt, I fell behind while on holidays. What are your sewing plans for the week?

 Kayla

Sew Hometown: June

This month marks the halfway point of our Sew Hometown Quilt Along. We are making the Simple Star block this month, which finishes at 12", and we are making three of them.
 When choosing fabrics be aware that one of the pieces being cut from the light fabric is quite large, so double check your sizes and make sure you have enough of it before cutting.
The block itself is quite straightforward.
I used my Folded Corner Clipper for the 4 flying geese units, by using the ruler I was able to cut out the drawing lines steps.

For step 3 in the instructions be sure to make 2 units with the dark square on the left and 2 units with the dark square on the right, so opposite, otherwise when you go to put the block together your units won't all work properly.

I am loving how these blocks are all coming together, and that we make a varying size and amount each month, it keeps it fun and interesting. Have you been sewing along? It is not too late to join we still have the patterns for sale in our shop and if you are from out of town, you can click here to purchase it from our online shop.

Kayla

Sew Hometown: March

This month we are making the Crosswalk Block for our quilt, and we need to make a total of 5 of them. They are pretty straight forward blocks and is made up of half square triangles and some pieced units that go together quite simply.
I chose to go with a different color for each Crosswalk and to do all the backgrounds in dark brown.
To speed up the cutting, I stacked all 5 contrasting colors on top of each other and cut my strips and squares all at the same time. Than I cut for 5 blocks from the background rather than 1 at a time.
I trimmed my Half Square Triangles using my 4-in-1 Half Square Triangle Ruler from Creative Grids. I love this ruler for trimming these blocks, and we have a tutorial on our Facebook Page demonstrating one of the methods to trim HST's with it.
I am so happy the pattern designers chose to make the "crosswalks" with strip sets, it really speeds up the process, and cuts down on the number of small pieces to cut at the beginning. Be sure to be gentle when pressing the strip sets, it can be easy to distort longer strips when pressing. I like to give it a quick finger press before applying heat.
On the bottom left of the pattern there is a small picture with arrows showing which way to press your seams in the final construction. I actually pressed mine opposite of what is shown, mostly because that is which way my seams wanted to go.
I am having a lot of fun pulling this out once a month and making a few more blocks to add to the stack. I also really like the fact that we are making more than one block each month unlike many Block of The Month programs where the pattern calls for just one block a month. I must confess though that I am almost finished my quilt, because I would like to get it hanging in the store as a sample for the pattern and fabrics.
Have you been working ahead, or are you going month by month?
Come back on Tuesday to see some of the latest fabric arrivals in our store. There will be no blog post next week Friday (March 15) as it is my little sisters wedding that day.
Kayla

Sew Hometown: February

This month we are making 4 Birdhouse Blocks for our Sew Hometown Quilt. These blocks are very straight forward to make, and if you have a scrap bin if strips narrower than 2" you will be able to use a good amount of them.
You can go very coordinated with these blocks or super scrappy, whatever suits or fancy, or even a couple each way.
I chose coordinated and made the centers of each one of my birdhouses a solid color and than did a light and dark of two colors for each set of strips, choosing a third color for the roof and base of each birdhouse.
When adding the strips be sure to add to both sides and than top and bottom, in a courthouse steps fashion rather around the block like a typical log cabin.
Also be careful when pressing not to distort those fabrics, but still getting a nice crisp press.
I absolutely love my wool mat for this. The wool mat holds the heat from your iron (without getting too hot, so you can still use it on your table), so it is like pressing your block from both sides at once. I honestly would not press with out my wool mat anymore I love it so much. They come in a variety of sizes from small squares to a large mat that measures 22"x60". I love my monster mat, but aside from that one the Mega Mat which measure 14"x24" would be my preferred size. We do have the Mega Mat in stock and the smaller ones are on order and should be here around the end of the month.

Be sure to tag us, chickenfeedquilts, in your photos so we can see your blocks and tag Inspiring Stitches as well so they can see your progress too.

Kayla

Sew Hometown: January

The first blocks we are making for the Sew Hometown Quilt are the Cabin blocks. These blocks finish at 12" and we need to make 4 of them in total.
I chose the fabrics for all 4 blocks, took a quick photo and than stacked all the roof fabrics together and cut them all at the same time, repeating for all the pieces. This made cutting go quick, and I had a picture to look back at if I forgot which house fabric went with each roof. I also just chose 4 greens and cut one of each size strip from each to make the 4 blocks.
Creative Grids recently produced a ruler that is called Simple Folded Corners. It is great for stitch and flip blocks, like we do here on the roof. To use just put the two pieces right sides together, and than instead of drawing a line on the diagonal and stitching and than trimming, just align the ruler on the fabric, use your rotary cutter to trim the excess and than stitch. It includes the 1/4" seam allowance for you.
Rather than throwing the scraps from these corners into a scrap bin or the garbage, I like to stitch them into half square triangles. I just chain stitch them quick, give them a press and set them aside. I will keep all the ones from this quilt together and in the end I should have enough to make a small project, with the bonus of all the HSTs being premade.
The pattern gives the option to make the blocks with the house on the right side or to switch it up and place it on the left side. I ended up making them all with the house on the right side (mostly because I was chain piecing and not really paying that much attention). If you want the house on the left simply add the background on the other side, this is such a simple way to change up a block, without .
changing any measurements.
The gals from Inspiring Stitches have not yet published their post for this month's blog, but as soon as they do I will publish the link to it on our Facebook Page.
Have fun making your blocks and tag Chicken Feed Quilts in your pictures so we can see them too.

Kayla

Block instructions can be found in the Inspiring Stitches 2019 Calendar: Sew Hometown

Sew Hometown: Introduction

Sew Hometown is the 2019 Block Of The Month put together by Amy Ellis and Heather Valentine from Inspiring Stitches. It is a fun quilt made up of whimsical blocks. I will be doing this quilt through the bog, posting tips or motivation each month as will as a link to the blog posts by Amy and Heather who will also be doing some videos for instruction as well.

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During this BOM we will be making a new block each month, each block occurs 3-6 times in the quilt so some months will be busier than others. This quilt also features some improv piecing which is great for those small scraps, and a fun way to learn some new skills. 

The designers suggest choosing either one favorite print and using that as a starting point to choosing fabrics or to pick 3 focal colors that work well together and choosing colors that will coordinate well thinking about the size of print, the color saturation (deep jewel tones versus pastels) and color family. They also suggest sorting the fabric choices into like colors to make them easy to select while piecing. They did a great little write up in the beginning of the pattern to help you out in your choices whether you are shopping from our store or from your stash. 

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I have decided to use a fat quarter bundle that was designed by Amy Ellis. It is called Wanderlust and is mainly green, yellow and a fun coral color, with some dark brown, and lots of white prints. Because the white prints make up a large portion of the bundle and there is only a little of the brown, I am going to use the brown as my background. Now if you know me, you will know that I almost never use brown or green, so I am going to be stepping out of my box on this project.

There is no real fabric requirement for the main fabrics as it is written for scraps but you will need at least 25 fat quarters though fat eighths will also work well. You do need a total of 4.5 yards of background fabric which can be all one fabric or several. This measurement also includes the border. 

The quilt finishes at 67"x79", which is a great size.

This Block of the Month will begin on January 4th which is 3 weeks away. We have the pattern available in store. The pattern is actually put together in the form of a desk calendar so it would also make a great gift. 

Speaking of gifts and January being only 3 weeks away, do you have many Christmas and yer end parties to attend this year? Have they already started? We have our first one tomorrow evening at Esther's house. 

Kayla;

Next Quilt Along

I had so much fun doing my Be My Neighbor Quilts during the Quilt Along here on the blog that I have decided to do another one or two starting in January.

I have gone through books and patterns and have narrowed it down to four different projects. I thought I would go over them all tonight, and get some feedback from you with which one you would want to join me in doing. 

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The Gypsy Wife is a quilt pattern by Jen Kingwell that I have wanted to do for awhile now, but it keeps getting put onto the back burner. It is composed of 9 main blocks, some filler blocks, and has vertical strips of fabric that run through the quilt. Techniques for this include stitch and flip and some y-seams, which are not as scary as they sound. The pattern calls for a wide variety of fabrics, and would be a great stash buster. 

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In the last Christmas post I shared a new desk calendar by Inspiring stitches. This one is a fun block of the month that is great for scraps. It is also a skill building quilt. 

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SXLLM​​The Moda All Stars All In A Row book is one that has been on my shelf, I think since it released, but I haven't made any of the rows yet. The books includes 24 row by row patterns created by 24 Moda Designers, as well as 9 rows to tie them all together. The rows are divided into three categories, Classic Patchwork, Well Seasoned and A Bit of Whimsy. I thought this one would be fun to choose a new row each month and make an individual seasonal project, or combine them all to make a fun quilt. This book would also work well to bust scraps.

The final project I chose is another one written by Moda Designers. This one is all Mini Quilts, and the book is called Mini Marvels. This book is a great way to learn new techniques and expand upon skills. The techniques included are traditional piecing, paper piecing, applique and even some embroidery. Because each project is mini, it is a good way to try a new technique without committing to a large project with a lot of fabric. 

The two Moda projects would be done one row or mini per month, the Inspiring Stitches would be a set of blocks each month, while the Gypsy Wife I would like to do every two weeks as I did with the Be My Neighbor Quilt. I will put a poll on our Facebook Page to vote for your choice of Quilt Along. 

I find that joining clubs or quilt alongs is a great way to jump out of your box, and try new fabric choices, and techniques that you would normally shy away from. And the encouragement, support and inspiration that comes with being a member of a group is incredible. 

My husband and I are off to Cirque Du Soleil this evening, and tomorrow I am teaching the November session of our Bag Club. Do you have any fun plans or is it a normal weekend for you?

Kayla

Christmas Part 3

his evening's post is the final in our 3 part Christmas Series. Today I want to give you some ideas of what to buy for your quilty friends, or give you some ideas of what to put on your own list. Some of these gifts are useful notions and some are just fun.

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First up useful notions. I have put these all to the test and I highly recommend them all. The stash and store is a perfect organization tool to hold all those small things that always get lost under our piles, think scissors, marking pencils and the seam ripper, we have two colors in stock right now, but there are a few more colors on order. The ruler pad holds those small trimming rulers and cutting mats, getting them off your table but still easily accessible. We also got a new shipment of the Ruler Roundups today. I have one on my cutting table and it conveniently holds all the rulers I use everyday. These always sell out quick so if you want one come in store soon. The Alphabitties and Wonderclips make a great team, use them to keep your pieces organized and together throughout the cutting and sewing process. 

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The Moda Clipboards are great for planning projects and making lists, in addition to the board itself they come with a large pad of grid paper, six pencils and six binder clips. Esther is on her second as my sister-in-law adopted the first one a couple weeks ago, she loves it and she is not even a quilter. 

Esther ordered in these super fun Advent Calendar which contains 24 different notions. I think this is such a fun idea and they are priced at only $36, and I can guarantee that the gifts inside are of a much higher value than that. 

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Speaking of Calendars we also got the newest Inspiring Stitches Desk Calendar in today. Not only is a super cute calendar, it is also a block of the month, what a great two for one deal!

So aside from useful gifts that we don't usually buy for ourselves we also have the super fun treat ideas. 

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You know we carry socks which are always a big hit, but we also ordered in some more fun things with Christmas in mind. Everyone drinks some kind of beverage whether it be coffee, tea, hot chocolate, wine or water, and the new mugs and glasses that have come in will make those drinks seem a lot better. 

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These Riley Blake Bandages are perfect to prevent blood from getting on any of your projects, plus they are super adorable, and I have it on good authority that they stay on really well. 

If you are still stumped we also sell gift cards. 

I must say that December is one of my favorite months to work, and even though it is a full month away I am looking forward to it already. We have so many husbands, and non-quilters come in the store saying they are looking for something for so and so. I love helping them find something to suit you. And I love knowing what you are getting for Christmas. 

If you would love something from this list or anything else specific in our store, but when you start talking quilting and your families eyes glaze over, make a wish list at our store and leave it with us and just tell your family that you are registered at Chicken Feed and we will help with the rest. 

Tomorrow is our Saturday PhD Club session, yesterday we had three ladies pay the $10 fee for not completing their homework (one of them was me, oops), but we also had a couple that finished their goals which is so awesome. During yesterday's session I finished up one of my Be My Neighbor Quilt Tops and I hope to finish the second one tomorrow. The final post for that will be on Tuesday, so it is time to start planning our next Quilt Along. I picked some out today and will do a poll on our Facebook Page sometime in the next week to see where your interest lies. So far I have a quilt pattern, a row quilt that can be done as individual projects or combined into one quilt and a book of minis picked out, so think about what you would like to do and be sure to vote when the poll comes up. 

Next week is Quilt Market, we are missing this year for a couple of reasons. Esther leaves this Monday for her vacation so she can't make it, and my sons 7th birthday is next week, and though I love working at the quilt store and everything that goes along with it, my family still comes first and I cannot skip out on his birthday.  

Kayla