Back to the Basics

Who doesn't love to by the latest and greatest fabrics available?  The fun and trendy prints catch our eye, but sometimes we just need some "basics" to accompany our trendy fabrics to make the perfect project.  Not to mention fill our stashes!  Pine Needles carries many different "BASIC" FABRIC LINES, and we want to show you how easy it is to get BACK TO THE BASICS!  Take a look at a few of our favorite basic fabric lines....

Pearl Bracelets by Lizzie House for Andover 



Chevrons by Riley Blake Designs (available in 3 sizes)

Essential Dots by Moda

Polka Dots by Riley Blake Designs (available in 3 sizes)

Ta Dots by Michael Miller Fabrics

Stitch Circles by Michael Miller Fabrics (Stitch Squares also available)



Diamonds by Michael Miller Fabrics



 

A New Block of the Month

We currently have THREE different blocks of the month going;

- THE LOCAL QUILT by Carolyn Friedlander, a paper pieced block of the month

The Local Quilt blocks #1 and #3

-MERRY CHRISTMAS by Heart to Hand, a wool applique block of the month


Merry Christmas blocks #5 and #7

-LITTLE BITS QUILTING BEE by Kathreen Ricketson, a raw edge applique block of the month. 


Little Bits Quilt Bee blocks #1 and #4

AND NOW WE ARE ADDING A FOURTH!!!!

 

Green Tea & Sweet Beans quilt by Jen Kingwell

Cecilia has been busy working on our next block of the month, which is a needle-turn applique quilt.  This quilt comes from the book GREEN TEA AND SWEET BEANS by the extremely talented Jen Kingwell from Australia.  Sandy and I saw the quilt in Jen Kingwell's booth last year at Fall Quilt Market in Houston.  It was love at first sight!  We took lots of photos and purchased multiple copies of the book, as well as her other designs, to bring home with us.  The ladies at Pine Needles fell in love with this fabulous new designer too!  Green Tea and Sweet Beans is a GORGEOUS quilt with an eclectic flair due to the variety of fabrics.  Our fabrics have been hand selected by Cecilia and are DELIGHTFUL!!!!!  You must sign up to guarantee there will be a kit for you.  WE ARE TAKING SIGN UPS NOW.  The first kit will be ready for pick up on Saturday, May 18th. Then each of the subsequent blocks will be ready to pick up the 3rd Saturday of each month.  Here is a look at the first two blocks...



Green Tea & Sweet Beans block #1



There is a limited number of kits for each block, so if you are interested DO NOT DELAY, come in NOW to sign up!!



Pine Needles on Studio 5

Welcome KSL's Studio 5 viewers!  On today's show Holly showed a couple of fun and easy projects to decorate your home.  With Easter so early this year, our homes are lacking decorations that usually last us through April.  But we can help with that, so without further fuss lets get to our tutorials.  Up first a springtime mini bunting...

SUPPLIES:

• a variety of spring fabric scraps
• 1 fat eighth of white wool/felt
• 1 yard 3/4" pink ric rac
• 2 - 7/8" yellow buttons

Note: We have used the Big Shot die cut machine and Sizzix Heart Layers die which is available at Pine Needles. If you do not have access to this we have pre-cut wool/felt shapes available for purchase. A template is also included at the end of this tutorial. 

Step 1. Using the Big Shot and your Heart Layers die cut out 7 wool/felt scalloped hearts. Using your rotary cutter remove the top of each heart just below the cleavage. Yes, I said it, cleavage :)

Step 2. Again using your big shot and die cut out 7 print hearts from a variety of spring fabrics. Using your rotary cutter again remove off the top of each heart.

Step 3. Sew print each print fabric to wool/felt piece.

Step 4. Beginning approximately 6" from end of ric rac, lay the ric rac on top of the first bunting piece and sew through the center of the ric rac.  Line up the next bunting piece so that the corner touches that of the previous bunting, and sew ric rac to the top of the 2nd bunting piece.  Continue until all of your bunting pieces are sewn in place.

Wah-lah! You are finished with our first project!


Now for our second project, a yo-yo topiary. 
 

SUPPLIES:

30mm Clover Yo Yo maker

40-45 green fabric scraps

thread for making yo yo's

Fabri-Tac permanent adhesive

Styrofoam ball (mine measured 4" across or 12" around)

approx 35 pink buttons

metal or clay pot

STEP 1:

Using green fabric scraps make 40 - 45 yo yo's
(this is a GREAT mindless project to do while watching your favorite movie or TV show!)

 STEP 2:

Using Fabri-Tac glue yo yo's around the mid line of the Styrofoam ball.

Continue gluing yo yo's above this row until the entire top of the ball is covered with yo yo's.

STEP 3:

Glue assorted buttons in center of some of most of the yo yo's

STEP 4:

Place a thick line of Fabri-Tac on Styrofoam ball below line of yo yo's and place in pot.Tie ribbon around pot. Put a pin through center of bow going into the Styrofoam ball to hold ribbon in place. ENJOY!

Thank you for visiting our blog, we hope you enjoy both of our tutorials!

What's New Wednesday

Little Red Riding Hood by Riley Blake Designs

There have been daily deliveries in the shop, unlike my deliveries on the blog  ;-)

Here is a look at a few things that have arrived....

a new embroidery design by Meags & Me

Maritime Modern by Riley Blake Designs

Comma by Moda



2wenty Thr3e by Moda

I'm a Wiener baby quilt

All of these are in stock and just waiting for you to take them home and add them to your collection!

It's April Already?!?!?!

Where does the time go? It feels like I just dropped Karla off at the airport, and yet more than a week has gone by! It must be the Spring Fever I am suffering from, it has to be fogging up my brain ;-)

We had such a great time at the Sweet Retreat! Karla was a delight to have, our attendees were so much fun, the Trunk Show & Dinner was scrumptious, and the projects are finished!! Well almost anyway, I still have to finish my wall hanging, but it's not a race, right? Here are just a few pictures from the retreat.....

She's Here, She's Here!!!!!

Karla Eisenach arrived this afternoon to prepare for our
S-W-E-E-T   R-E-T-R-E-A-T!!  Sandy and I picked her up at the airport this afternoon, then took her for a tour of the shop, and for some shopping in Gardner Village.  Then onto dinner at a favorite local Mexican restaurant where we talked, laughed and ate some great chips & salsa!

Sandy and I have been busy at our sewing machines creating little 'swag' gifts for each of the attendees, here's a little peek at one of the creations...

monogrammed mug rug

We feel like we have made a fun and lasting friendship with Karla, and know our attendees will feel the same way.  We can't wait to get this retreat started!

Oh and this retreat has been so much fun preparing for, that we are already planning our next retreat.  So if you couldn't make it to this one, watch for details on our next retreat!

We've Got Class part 2

Back for another installment of "We've Got Class" featuring our BEGINNING QUILTING CLASS.

The class is being taught by the very talented LeAnn Clark.  LeAnn has been quilting for many years, she has a great eye for color, print, etc.,  and most importantly, she is a wonderful teacher :-) 

 

The pattern being used for the beginning quilting class is Fantasy Row.  As you can see from the pictures, the pattern is versatile and can be done in a variety of fabrics.  Choose an already assembled kit, or come in and we can help you put one together prior to class. 

The Beginning Quilting class is a 3 part class.

Saturday, April 20th   10am-12:30pm
Saturday, May 4th      10am-12:30pm
Saturday, May 18th    10am-12:30pm

The class begins with the basics of rotary cutting and takes you through the process of making your first quilt. 

Call 801-233-0551 or come in today to sign up!