Happy National Zipper Day and Giveaway!

So today, April 29, is the Centennial Anniversary of the Zipper!  It was established because a Swedish-born scientist Gideon Sundback was issued a patented for his "hookless Fastner" on April 29, 1913. 

Here are some fun Zipper Facts:

The U.S. Army was one of the first users of the zipper, applying them to a variety of uniform parts and gear. 

Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha is the world's largest zipper manufacturer. You are likely to see "YKK" engraved on many of your own zippers.

The world's longest zipper can be found at the hotel in Fort Lauderdale's Executive Airport. It measures 6,000 feet long and was commissioned as a publicity stunt for the hotel's nightclub, "Zippers." 

So to recognize National Zipper Day for our readers, we are having a give away: 4 awesome zippers!!!  To enter just leave a comment telling us about your favorite zipper project.  A winner will be drawn and announced on the end of Friday (May 3rd) Our Giveaway is now closed and the winner has been notified. Thanks to everyone who played along!

Our four awesome zippers we're giving away!

And be sure to follow our blog on bloglovin'

Toy Singer Sewing Machine

Veev of Patches and Quiltings asked for a close up of the toy sewing machine from my Sharing My Stash post. The little Singer was hiding on my shelf and she spied it.

This was my mother's from her childhood.  Her toys were passed on to her younger cousin and several years ago that cousin passed them back to me. She had kept them all these years. I have most of the toys in my sewing room and they make me happy to look at them. They are so charming. My favorite is a small red mixer.

I added a bunch of oop twill/Decorator weight fabrics to our etsy store yesterday.

Have a great weekend! Tara

Lighted Fabric Strips Garland

Our friends over at Scrappin Girlfriends in Twin falls made this adorable lighted garland for the Quilt Walk and gifted it to us. Can you see the mirror letters spelling out QUILTS?

I have a few strands of white cord lights and I am going to make myself a few garlands. You simply tie your fabric scraps, 1"X5", along the length of the light strand. They then tied the letters on with baker's twine. Done!

I have big plans for this idea and my bedroom. Thanks Scrappin Girlfriends!

My Love Affair with Orange.

When we first got the Denyse Schmidt book "Modern Quilts Traditional Inspiration" I knew I had to make something from it!  The patterns are classic and traditional with only a twist that Denyse Schmidt could add.  I chose to make the Irish Chain.  But might have to make the Ocean Waves or Corn and Beans pattern.  

Looking at the photograph of this pattern in the book I thought that it would be perfect for my queen sized bed.  However, when I noticed that the quilt finishes 64" X 64" and the orange squares finish at 3/4 of an inch...I decided to not make it any bigger....for now! 

This pattern might look intimidating and tedious, but it was quite fun to do and not nearly as hard as it looks.  Orange is one of my favorite colors and I think it works great in this quilt.  I mean I do have a red headed mom, married to a red head, have two orange kitties, everything in my closet is this color, and about every other quilt I make is orange!

I said I liked orange....especially on my feet!  We are what we sew!

Laura

Don't forget about our National Zipper Day Giveaway. It end Friday

Sharing my Stash

Last week I switched my sewing room with my oldest daughter's room. I have been slowly moving my stuff back in. I am sorting through everything and getting rid of anything I don't need, want, or haven't seen in years. Half finished projects, cheap fabric from when I started quilting, books- it all went in to a donate box.

I have to say that it feels pretty good. This is my fabric shelf, considerably more organized. The second shelf down is my stash fabrics.
Scraps went in to a large bin (not in the picture) and if it was large enough to fold it went on the shelf. I used a piece of card stock to fold over so each piece was the same shape. You would think I like black by the height of its pile but I rarely sew with it.

The top shelf is all my home dec and clothing fabric. The bottom pink milk crate is to be quilted quilts. Other bits and bobs fill out the rest, kits, UFOs (I do have another area for the bigger UFOs), and about 25 Toms flags. My mom wants me to put together a quilt but I am not sure what I am doing yet.
Oh yah, and I have 2 bins of precuts and fat quarter (third shelf right).

I hope it stays this way for a little while.  I have been without a sewing space for a while so I am eager to get back to it.  Is your space organized? Tara

Kim Diehl Paint the Sky Class

Amy and Heather are loving Kim Diehl. This is Amy's second quilt from one of her books. And she used Kim Diehl's fabric, Walk in the Park. I remember Amy first seeing this pattern and getting really excited about the idea of making it. And she did, in one sitting at our Modern Guild's Sewing Night.

Amy is teaching another fantastic Kim Diehl Quilt class!  The Kim Diehl classes have been such a hit and many of you have requested more classes on her quilts...so here it is!  This time the quilt is called Paint the Sky and has a very traditional simplicity to it!

The class few is $30.00 and classes will be held June 8, 15, and 22 (all Saturdays) from 1-4 PM.  You can sign up for this class via our website or in the store!  The pattern book and fabric will need to be purchased prior to the first class.

Amy did such a beautiful job piecing and quilting this quilt.  You can never go wrong with a Kim Diehl pattern!  We hope to see you this summer!

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts. Go check out what other blogger's have been sewing this week

Lone Star Baby Quilt & Class

 

I finally made a lone star quilt. This quilt has been on my to do list for years but I was intimidated by the pattern.
The  solution? Make it much smaller and use a method for strip piecing.  It was much easier than I thought and I made it in one late night sewing session with the barn Chicks.

I drew my quilting lines on with a pink Frixion pen (the lines come off with the heat of my iron. Awesome!) and a yard stick. It was a cinch. If you haven't tried out a Frixion pen yet I highly recommend it. I am working on my applique blocks and I am using one for my needle turn pieces.

After making this quilt I thought, this would make a fun class.  It is May 4 and 11, 10-12. You can sign up at the Quilt Barn or on our website. I would classify this quilt for advanced beginners. It isn't difficult but you do need a prior knowledge of quilting.

I bought the backing a while ago and when I first saw it I got excited thinking it was snails wearing pink crowns. On closer inspection it turned out to be bicycles with flower baskets. Not as exciting as crowned snails but I bought it anyway.  It reminds me of the time I found fabric was vampire slugs on it. And yes I bought it. No idea what for.

Little Twister Class and Comma

When Comma showed up 4 of the 5 of us made a shop sample, 3 quilts and one table topper. We really like this fabric.
Jenele made this table topper with a Comma charm pack (not all the colors were used), solid grey, and a Little Twister ruler.

She will be teaching a class with the Little Twister ruler and you can make this table topper. Information about the class is here.

Our friend Mary made a quilt using the Twister ruler, perfect for layer cakes, with Noteworthy .
This is a neat ruler and you have to see it to believe it.

ADORNit Ruffle Pillow

Heather made this stinkin' cute ruffle pillow from all ADORNit fabric and from their Capri book.
She will be teaching this adorable pillow in a class. I will share the dates when she has everything lined up. 

Zig zags aren't going anywhere!  I think they add a nice variety to all the patterns of the pillow.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish it Up Friday.
Go check out what others have been up to this week.

Scrappy Quilt Class

I have a few more spots left in my Saturday scrappy quilt class.  It is this Saturday, 10-1 PM.
Come and hang out with us and sew up your scraps to make this fast and easy diamond quilt.

This is a new to quilting or been quilting for ever class. Bring a bunch of 2.5X16" scraps. A jelly roll would work good too. You also need thread and a seam ripper.

Let me know if you will need to use one of our sewing machines and I will have it set up and ready.

You can sign up via our website or give us a call, 423-5092

ADORNit Flower Bag

I love finding a new bag pattern. I made the Sassy Flower Everyday Tote from Adorn It's book, Capri

I used a ruffled trim on the handles....SO CUTE!!!

The the print I used on the inside is my favorite....I just love all those colors!

We will be teaching several classes using projects from this book so stay tuned for more information.