This Week...

Today I am sharing a wee recap of what I did this week. I am joining Old Red Barn's link up "This Week..."

Jenele brought in her adorable Pup for a shop display. She used Briar Rose for the ears and Ric Rac's wonderful pattern. We picked up several of her patterns at Quilt Market this Spring and I can't wait to be able to carry them in our Etys shop and in store.

This is the last week of summer break. We had our Back to School Night and the girls got to meet their teachers, see their classroom, and drop off their supplies

The girls got to use chalk and draw on cement. We live in the country and have gravel driveways and paths so this was something new and fun. Ava drew our pug as an angel

I sewed up a quick little doll quilt, pillow, and pillowcase for a friend's birthday

I debated on borders for my Plus Quilt. I am so close. I just have to sew them on. It will be a Queen size and just for me!

We went to our Country Fair, rode a few rides, ate a funnel cake, toured the rabbits and chickens, and had a look at the old farm equipment and engines. One of my favorite parts of the Fair is walking by the puffing and popping  antique farm equipment.

The pink tractor isn't to bad either. I have 2 acres so it's totally justifiable right?

What did you do this week? You can also pop over to Old Red Barn and link your week up too.

Burlap Mini Charm Flag Bunting Tutorial

I am assembling our latest window and, as usual, I wanted to make bunting.  I had a few yards of burlap upholstery webbing and had a light bulb moment, mini flags. But how to jazz them up?
I looked around my sewing disaster room and saw the leftover strips from my Baby Jane Layer Cake.
And perfect use for those Moda mini charm packs! I am always looking for new uses for mini charms.


What You Need

-Fabric strips 2.5 X 7.5 (I used 14 for a very long bunting. This would be great to use with scrap jelly roll pieces)

-14 Moda candy pieces or 2.5" squares

-Jute/Burlap upholstery webbing cut in to 6.5" lengths (again, I used 14 for a very long bunting)

-twill tape (or ribbon, etc) cut the the length you need plus extra for tying

-sewing machine, thread


What You Do

-fold the jute rectangle in half right sides together and cut a notch in the bottom creating the swallow tail
-do the same for your fabric rectangles
-measure 2.5" from the top of the webbing and lay one 2.5" square on top of  one jute flag. Center the square using the red lines as a guide. Sew close to the edge.
-starting in the center of your twill tape sew a burlap flag to the front.
-measure 2 " over front of  the burlap flag, fold the top of the fabric flag over 1/2" and sew across the top.
-continue sewing the flags to the twill tape alternating burlap and fabric flags


TaDa!

What would you do with this fabric?

A Year to Crow About by Jacqueline Paton

I love Jacqueline Paton's style and her "A Year To Crow About" line is being featured as our

FABRIC OF THE MONTH!

Pine Tree Country Quilts designed this fantastic Block of the Month, also available as a kit in our ETSY Store and in our shop.  The full kit is being featured at 40% off.  Regularly $299, on sale for $179!

Here's how it works...  "A Year to Crow About" yardage is just $7.99 until August 31st or until we are out.  We want to know what you are going to do with your fabric!  So, if you bring in your pattern and purchase fabric for the top, we will give you the backing for only $10!  We would love to suggest a pattern or feel free to browse MODA BAKE SHOP where there are hundreds of patterns that would be amazing with this line of fabric.  The fall colors would lend well to an autumn themed quilt!

Buy yardage in our ETSY Store - no coupon code required.

See you soon!

Heather & the Quilt Barn Chicks

241 Main Street N.

Kimberly, ID 83341

(208) 423-5092

idahoquiltbarn@q.com

Mini Ironing Table Tutorial

I finally made myself a mini ironing table. I wanted something I could put beside my sewing machine and not get up every time I needed to press a small seam. It was super easy to make.

What you need:

-20 charm squares or 5" squares (I used a Happy Go Lucky charm pack) You may need more if you      have a different size table than the one I used
-Staple gun and staples
-Insulbright batting (batting made for ironing or hot pads) 2 inches bigger on each side as your table top measurements
-wood TV tray
-Sewing machine and thread
-Optional:  spray paint for table legs, 505 spray baste, safety pins (I like the bent ones), Frixon pen

What You Do

-if you want to spray paint your table do it first. I laid mine upside down on a piece of cardboard on my gravel driveway and sprayed a couple of coats on. No need to spray the top.

-lay your 5" squares out in 4 rows with 5 squares in each row
-sew the squares together in each row and press the seams to one side. You can press the seams of the next row of squares in the opposite direction if you want your seams to nest and "lock".
-sew your rows together

-baste your top and your Insulbright together using your preferred method of basting. I like a little 505 Spray and a few pins.
-quilt the 2 pieces together. I marked a diagonal line through my squares using a Frixon pen (the ink disappears with your iron heat!). You could also do some free motion quilting or stitch in the ditch

Lay your quilted top right side down on the ground and place your table on top. Line up the edges so all sides are even.
-start in the center of one side and attach the fabric to the wood with one staple. Do the opposite side  and with one staple in the middle of the other 2 sides. This helps prevent your top from slipping. Fill in the sides with staples
-for the corners pull (gently) the corner diagonally and staple. Gather the fabric around the corner on each side and staple.
-you could serge the edges first if a raw edge bothers you or trim the extra but I left it since I wouldn't be able to see it when the table was upright.


Ta-Da! One little table that can fold up when you don't need it. It would also be good to take to classes or retreats.

Speaking of retreats...you still have time to enter for a $100 gift certificate to either or shop or our Etsy shop. Click on this link to take you to our Name Our Retreat blog post for more details.

Briar Rose Pajama Pants

When I saw the Briar Rose strawberries I knew I wanted to make one of my girls a pair of pj pants.

Our friend KZ has a free pj pant pattern. It has 2 pieces and these pants (size 6) only needed 30" of fabric.  Her pattern does not include the cuff. I cut 6" of the contrast fabric to add the folded cuff at the bottom.

My girl probably could have used a bigger size. I am stuck on her being 6 (she will be 8 this year). I don't want my last baby to grow up

I made her a matching pj top by using a white t-shirt we had and freehand cut a strawberry and green top. I used Steam a Seam and stitched it down close to the edge.

KZ's pattern will print out on 8 pieces of paper and all you have to do is tape them together, no overlapping. Easy peasy.

I laid the taped pattern out on my fabric and cut exactly what I needed. Plus the contrast cuff. That I sewed right sided together and folded down half of the fabric (to match the hem) and top stitched along the top of the cuff. I hemmed as usual.

Now all I need to do is bind my Briar Rose quilt and then I can dress our newest window with Briar Rose

National Book Lovers Day - Quilting Books

Welcome to Moda Bakeshop's National Book Lover's Day Blog Hop.

I am a huge book lover and quilting books certainly factor in to my weekly reads.

I caught the quilting bug by seeing a quilting magazine and saying "I need to make that". I didn't do too bad with that magazine pattern but I needed a little more. I went to my local book store and found the Complete Guide to Quilting.  It was a very thorough encyclopedia of knowledge and I still have this book on my shelf for handy reference.

My latest quilting book read is Simply Retro by Camille Roskelley.

I gave away most of the books I got at the spring Quilt Market in our Book a Week Giveaway, including this one. Now I am eyeing it in our store and regretting a little that it is gone.

There is one in there that I am putting on my we-need-this-as-shop-sample list.
I may end up buying a book I gave away.

What is your favorite quilting book? Also non-quilting book? I am always wanting great book suggestions

Check out the other participating blogs and enter to win 6 new books

Be sure to check out our "Name Our Retreat Center" for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to our shop or Etsy store

#Contest - Name our New Retreat Center!

Our new retreat center is open and has already been enjoyed by several groups!  We've had so many requests for pictures and info, I thought I'd share...

First things first... we toyed with the idea of calling this one "The Coop", since our first retreat center is "The Hen House".  I'm not sure I love it.  Maybe since coop rhymes with chicken poop - I don't know.  So, what better way to finalize the name of our new retreat center than with a #CONTEST and #GIVEAWAY!!!

Submit a your name idea via blog comment, instagram @thequiltbarn or twitter @quiltbarnidaho
If we choose your name, you win a $100 Gift Certificate to our store (Store, Online, or Etsy)  Here are some photos to help you out...

The kitchen is my favorite room, hands down.  It makes me want to give my own kitchen a giant makeover.  One of these days (hopefully the near future) there will be gorgeous aqua and grey glass tile back splash behind that gorgeous farmhouse sink! 

Plenty of seating in the dining room...

Four bedrooms with 3 twin size beds each.  Four fun fabric themes.  Four fun wall colors.  Here are 2 of them... By the time your group gets here, they will have decorations on the walls and fun window dressings.  :-)

Each set of rooms is connected by this fabulous "Jack 'n Jill" bathroom.  So each bedroom has it's own Tub/Shower/toilet and this vanity to share.

We call this room our "Designer Suite".  When we bring in a designer to teach a weekend class, this is her "pad".  When you put together a retreat for your group, doesn't only make sense that the coordinator gets this room?  :-)  It has a private bathroom and is wheelchair accessible.

Our giant workroom is AMAZING!  We really like to think we thought of everything.  Fantastic lighting, ergonomic sewing chairs, huge sturdy tables, outlets on the ceiling with powerstrips that drop right onto your table (no cords to trip on), 3 huge design walls, buffet counter with mini fridge, TV with DVDs and streaming capability for Hulu, Amazon, and Netflix,  ironing station with lots of extra portable ironing boards, 2 cutting stations with giant cutting mats, and unlimited use of our Accuquilt Studio Die Cut Machine with 50 die cuts!  The groups that have already been here are torn with the idea of laying carpet in this big room, or painting the cement.  I'd love to hear your thoughts!

While you are here, everyone in your group enjoys 20% off all regularly priced merchandise in our Store.  The Quilt Barn is over 6500 square feet of textile deliciousness housed in a 105 year old Historical Building with original hardwood floors and intricate tin ceilings...

Give us advanced notice and we will machine quilt your quilt tops while you are here with one of our computerized Gammill Long Arms.

We offer a large selection of reasonably priced classes, mini-classes, and demos and would love to put together customized project kits for your group.

So, what are you waiting for?  Treat yourself!  Prices are amazing - now booking 2014.  Aug - Oct 2013 FULL.  Limited availability in November/December 2013.

Pricing for 2014:

Groups of 6 or less:  $300/night - minimum 2 nights
Groups of 6-12:       $600/night - minimum 2 nights
Groups of 12 +        $800/night - minimum 2 nights


Food packages available:

Lunch/Dinner  $25 per person per day
All Meals        $35 per person per day

Located in Kimberly, Idaho
241 Main Street N. 
(208) 423-5092

  

See you soon!
Heather

Tula Pink Sampler Sewing Bee

One of the high lights of our Quilt Market trip was meeting Tula Pink (me for the first time!) and getting a signed copy of her newest book, 100 Modern Quilt Blocks, a City Sampler. The book is beautifuly laid out and blocks are organized in chapters.

I decided to go chapter by chapter so I am making cross blocks. They are 6.5 unfinished.
Three down, 97 to go.

I was thinking I could make 10 a month and be done in 10 months. The I was thinking I should start a Sewing Bee and other City Sampler sewers could meet once a month. We would sew for a bit and show off our blocks. I am going to try and use Tula Pink's fabrics (one of the above ones is a Anna Maria Horner) and if anyone else was using her fabrics we could swap. Some of the blocks take very little fabric.

Anyone interested? We have the books here in the shop and you could take a look and see what you think. I will post more info, dates, times, etc if this is something anyone wants to do with me.