Follow Your Heart: Springfield

Hey everyone, how is your week going? We have been dealing with the flu and renos in our house for the last little while. Our flu session started at the beginning of the month and is slowly making its way through each of us one by one. The renos began last week as we remove a wall on our main floor to make it a more open and family friendly place to be, the reno is going quickly and smoothly so far, now if only the flu would hurry up and exit.
This week for our Follow Your Heart Quilt we are working on the block called Springfield, which is on pages 14 and 15 of your book.
 This block came together quite quick for me, even though I did have to start over halfway through step D because I cut my little squares an inch to big, leaving me with some very skinny arrows, whoops!
The pressing is quite important in this block. If you press how the instructions tell you to, the block will go together with nice nesting seams, if not you will have some bulk on each of those points, which can cause your fabric to slip or bunch and leave you with not so nice points.
Don't forget to add the border strips as mentioned on page 15, adding these now will ensure your block is ready to go when we assemble the quilt. The borders are a little oversized so be sure to trim when you are finished adding them.

I chose to go with 5 different colors of fabrics for my block, and stuck with the same dark grey for my background.

Carrie also did hers in 5 colors, and chose to lay them out with an ombre effect from dark red to white. She also used an assortment of background fabrics.
Have fun making this weeks block!
As a heads up, for the next block you will need a 60 degree triangle ruler.
Kayla

New Fabric

It has been quite awhile since I have shared some of the new fabrics that have come into our shop.
We have had several new Moda collections come in over the past few weeks.
I am so in love with Harvest Road by Lella Boutique, this collection is made up of blues, greens, browns and creams. I
have made a quilt for my sister out of it already, but I am thinking I may need to make one more yet as I feel I haven't played with it enough yet. There is also a throw size panel available with this collection, that would be great simply quilted and bound, or add some borders and make it larger.

Sugar Creek by Corey Yoder also is here. It is so fresh and airy looking and has me longing for warmer days full of sunshine.

Gingiber's latest collection Bramble has also arrived, and she once again has put together a great collection with some super cute forest critters, and prints in red, white, black and grey. I have a quilt made up, and as soon as I get the pattern written, kits will be available.

If you like the ombre fabrics you will need to check out the latest from VandCo, this time around she has a full set of colors that go dark to light and back to dark again and there is little blooms printed on the fabric for some added fun.

From Primitive Gatherings we have a collection called Urban Farmhouse Gatherings. This group is made up of greys, whites and blacks, and there is also a book of patterns to accompany the collection, and it has some really nice patterns in it.






We have two new collections of Batiks in as well.

Oasis by McKenna Ryan is pretty amazing and has 20 prints that all coordinate beautifully.
We also have a collection of Christmas Batiks called Northwoods, some of these bolts are already empty or getting quite low, so if you like it you better come in soon to get some.








We also have a really cool Cat Fabric Line in, and I am referring to the heavy machinery not the animal. It comes with 2 panels (a Dump Truck, and an Excavator) as well as coordinating prints. This collection has been quite popular already too!

One last collection that I just adore is this one called Bear Hug. It is made up of black, white, pink, lavender and mint. I took it home today to make up a sample.


 Come in store to see what else is new. This week Friday (November 22) we will be open until 7pm, Christmas Yardage will be 20% off, and we will have felt ornament making from 4:30 until 7pm in our classroom.


Have a great week,
 Kayla

Follow Your Heart: London Roads

How was the long weekend for everyone? I was at the hockey rink for most of it, and yesterday I spent some time working on a new quilt.
This week we are working on the third block in our Follow Your Heart QAL. It is called London Roads and after the border is added will be 12.5" by 14" unfinished. The instructions are on pages 12 and 13 of your book.
Now for the cutting it says to use the Companion Angle Ruler and the Easy Angle ruler. If you don't have these there are a couple options.
I used the Non-Slip Multi Size 6" Flying Geese & 45/90 Degree Triangle Ruler, that is one ruler it just has a very long name, and is oddly shaped, but is cuts 45 degree triangles and 90 degree triangles which is what we need. I followed the cutting instructions as in the book, just used this ruler instead.

Carrie's way is probably the easiest.
From the dark and the bright prints she cut a 5.5" square and made Half Square Triangles. Than she cut a 5" square of her background print and layered it right sides together with the one of the previous HST and sewed another half square triangle set (make sure you sew across the previous stitch line). This leaves you with some extra half square triangle blocks but is probably the easiest method, and involves the fewest bias edges.

Whichever method you choose you will want to be sure to make sure the dark print is always on the same side or your arrows will not follow each other.
For the cutting and piecing of the rectangle strip I followed the books instructions.
Don't forget to add the border strip on the bottom, so that when we got to assemble it will all fit together properly.

I used the same dark background as the previous blocks, one coral print for the bright fabric, and 4 assorted greens for the darks.


Carrie used assorted blacks for her background, a white print for her bright fabric and 4 different taupes for the dark.
I can't wait to see all your blocks!
Kayla

Sew Sweet Treat Nights

Hey everyone, this is Jenn and I’m taking over Chicken Feed Quilts blog tonight to share with you a new quilt a row-along. I’m SO excited about this, and I hope you are too! I’ve been wanting to make up one of Lori Holts quilts for awhile now, we’ve had some Lori Holt Fabrics in our fabric vault downstairs just waiting for me to get my hands on, so when I saw this pattern book I knew immediately it was the quilt I wanted to make! I asked Esther if this sew a row-along would be a good idea, and she decided to participate too! (or I volunteered her-I can’t remember HA!). I am sewing up this quilt in Lori Holt’s fabrics, and Esther is sewing up the same version in Kansas Trouble fabrics – I think both versions are going to turn out beautifully and we want you to join along! I am making up kits (in both fabric ways) – I’m doing all the quilty math for you in these kits, so you are getting the fabric requirements and aren’t stuck with a bunch of fabric at the end. To make it even better, I’ve decided that the kit for the month will be ready on the 3rd Thursday of each month-come in the evening (drop in between 7-8:30pm), take a look at the row, ask questions, or I might show you a product that will help you construct these rows with ease, pick up your row kit & have a dessert! That’s right, you get a yummy dessert as well! It will be such a fun evening out. We decided to call this sew along ‘Sew Sweet Treats Night’.

Now I’m guessing you’d like some details. You will need the ‘Sew By Row’ Lori Holt book. These are $25.00 and are available at the shop, and then EACH kit will cost $25.00 per month. We will be running this Sew Sweet Treats Night for 7 months starting in just a couple weeks on November 21st ,and then December 19th, January 16th, February 20th, March 19th, April 16th, May 21st. (The last months kit will include a finishing kit that will include all your sashing, borders & binding). 
You can sign up here or in store, sign up is free, and than there will be a monthly fee of $25 for the kits.
Who’s looking forward to this fun Sweet Treats Night? We can’t wait to see you all on November 21st!

 Here is a sneak peek at this months kit!
Jenn

Follow Your Heart: Red Arrow Highway

Welcome to block 2 of our Quilt Along. This week we are making the block named Red Arrow Highway, it will end up being 9" finished. The instructions for this block are found on page 11 and 12 of your pattern book. I am loving the little anecdotes that are in the book with each block, it makes me want to go explore all these different places.
This block is not too difficult to make, and is fairly quick as well which is a great bonus. You can choose to do scrappy backgrounds as they did in the book, which Carrie decided to do, or go with one background color which I did. Than choose a print to go with and Voila ready to cut and sew. Carrie went with a red and white print for her block and I chose a yellow tone on tone print.
The instructions are great for this block and Terry has a great pressing tip on pg 12 for when working with those bias edges.
When trimming the block in Step C, I placed my 4.5" square ruler on the block, with the diagonal line right on top of the larger seam we just made, and trimmed it down that way.

 Here are my two blocks together, I can't wait to see yours.

 If you are just joining in you can find the information for the 1st block here
and the introduction here


Do you have any big plans for this week or is it just a normal week for you?
I will be "teaching" the Percival Laptop Bag in our Bag Club this week, and my oldest turns 8 on Friday, so we have a birthday dinner that evening and a party with a few friends on Saturday.
 Kayla

Upcoming Events: November is looking busy!

It is time again to share the events that are coming up in our Shop in the next few weeks.

This Friday is already the last Friday of the month, which means it is also Fat Quarter Friday, we will have a basket of assorted fat quarters, and each one in the basket will be $2.50, or pick 12 from the basket for only $25! If you like to make little Christmas Gifts, there are a lot of patterns out there that use Fat Quarters and to get them for only $2.50 each is a great deal. Remember the deal only applies to the basket, and goes from 10am-5pm Friday, October 25.

Friday, October 25 is also the first session of PhD Club. This club is great in that you get to come to our classroom and work for a full day on whatever project you choose. At the end of the day you set a homework goal for the next month, and if you finish your homework you get $10 of your commitment fee back, if not you forfeit the cash. It is a great motivator to finish some projects and without the distractions of housework, laundry and cooking you can accomplish a lot. You can sign up for this fun relaxed club here.
Esther leaves soon for Florida and will be gone the full month of November. For the full month of November any purchases over $25 will receive a bonus gift of a mini charm pack, while supplies last.

Also in November we are going to be doing our Pillowcase Challenge again. We did this last year and it was a great success and we donated over 300 pillowcases the the Pediatrics Ward of the Chinook Regional Hospital. This year we would like your help to sew 500 pillowcases, which we will than donate to the Coaldale Food Bank for their Christmas Food Hampers and again to the Hospital.
So how does this Challenge work? We are busy cutting kits for the pillowcases and we ask that you sew them for us. Their is no charge to participate, we will just record your name, phone number and how many kits you have signed out. When you return the finished pillowcase(s) we will make note of that as well, any kits not returned by Saturday, November 30 will be getting a phone call on Monday December 2. There are a number of tutorials to sew the pillowcases, and we do not mind which method you use, as long as they are neatly finished. The kits all contain a Main Fabric, a cuff and a little zinger piece as we like to call it, that goes between the cuff and the main fabric. Some of the fabrics may need to be squared off before sewing. You can sign out as many as you like as long as you get them finished. We encourage you to challenge your friends and or guilds to join as well.
This Challenge will start on November 1 and we ask that all pillowcases be returned by November 30. We want this to remain a 1 month challenge so no kits will be handed out before November 1. Let's see if we can hit our goal of 500!

Just as Jelly Roll Day occurred in September, we will be doing a Charm Pack day in November. This will take place on Saturday, November 16. During the week leading up to it, I will post inspiration photos on Instagram and Facebook. On November 16, Moda Charm Packs will be 25% off for the day, we will have a couple different free patterns available in store, as well as purchase patterns.

On December 4 at 7pm we will be hosting a Christmas Party. There is a $5 registration fee to attend which will be donated to the Coaldale and District Emergency Services. We will have snacks and drinks, and we ask that everyone brings a $10 gift to exchange, it can be quilty themed or not. You can sign up for this party here. Please note there will be no shopping available that evening, it is just a party, and Carrie, Esther and I will be joining in as well. There is limited spots available so sign up soon.
Have a Great Week, next Tuesday the second block for the Follow Your Heart QAL will be posted.
Kayla

Zipper Pouches

Zipper Pouches, I love them for so many reasons. They are quick and cheap to make and they are great for gifts especially at Christmas time. I love them to organize all my things everywhere.

I made a few NoodleHead pencil pouches the other night as Teacher Gifts for Christmas this year. I added the Teacher's initial to each one to make it a little more personal, and will get some chocolates to fill it, and Voila a super great, quick gift. You can find the tutorial here. 

Another great pouch pattern is this one by Minki Kim. It too goes together really quick and with the boxed bottom you get a great sized pouch the stands up nicely. It is great for wrangling all those little items in your purse that you always need handy but seem to get lost, like Kleenex, Lipstick, and hand lotion. This pouch filled with some of these items would be a great gift for a friend, and the handmade pouch adds a little love to the gift in my opinion.

I have four little boys and they always seem to be dragging something around with them to Grandma's, school, the quilt shop, or all those dentist and doctor appointments. Zipper pouches are a great way to keep all those little cars, crayons, legos, gameboys, and animals organized and easy to carry. They love getting a new pouch filled with goodies!
There are so many tutorials and purchase patterns available for zipper pouches, and they come in all shapes and sizes. The pouches generally take a fat quarter or less for the outside and one for the inside so they are quite cheap to make as well. Do you like to make zipper pouches? Whats your favorite pattern to use?
Due to the craziness in my house with kids in school, homework, hockey season starting up again and general life, I have decided to go down to one blog post a week. So from now on I will just post on Tuesday evenings.
Kayla