Sister's Choice Quilts

Spools Blocks

I am coming along with my Gentle Arts spools blocks.  Still waiting for the baby monitor to arrive, so my sewing is happening on the kitchen table with Eva trying to help me out.  They come together really fast, so I will finish them in no time. 

Most readers have referred to this block as a Spools Block, and a few others insist it is a Bowtie Block.  I did a little online research and here are some pictures to clarify things.

Bowties. This block has a strong diagonal design.

 

Spools.  This block is definitely upright.

Spools quilt.  Typically Spools blocks are flip flopped alternately one upright and the adjacent one on the side, as shown in the quilt above. As we are doing with our Gentle Arts blocks.

Bowtie quilt.  Often Bowtie blocks are set as shown, but they can be flip flopped around as well, to form other designs.

How cool is this one:

 

Hat Trick

Hello beautiful.  This is Hat Trick, a Schnibbles pattern by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, and the Schnibbles of the Month chosen by Sherri and Sinta for the Another Year of Schnibbles Program.

I loved making this little table topper in the summery fabrics called Noteworthy, designed by Sweetwater for Moda.  The fabrics go great with my summer dishes, and I know I will enjoy using it all Spring and Summer.  My roses look wonderful with those colors too!  I did alter the pattern slightly, and added borders on the sides to make a square table topper.  That shape just works best on my round table.

The Noteworthy fabrics are so adorable.  You can't see in my photo, but some of the prints are birds on a wire, which are so sweet.  There is also a darling print with words all over it--I am blanking on what those are called--  They are so popular right now.

Those Sweetwater girls seem to hit it out of the park with each collection they come out with!

I can't wait to see what is up next for Another Year of Schnibbles.

Sneak Peek

This past weekend, on my full day of sewing, I was able to start and finish the Schnibbles project for this month!  Hat Trick by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.  I will show you the full top on the last day of the month when everyone does their reveal.  Maybe with luck, by then I will even have mine quilted.

This little project went together so quickly!  If you want to make one too, you can get the PDF download pattern in an instant here.  The fabrics I used were a layer cake of Noteworthy by Sweetwater, and some of the background fabric from the line.  In the pattern, the setting triangles are pieced, but if you want to use one fabric and not piece the triangles, cut your setting triangles from 6 1/2 inch squares and cut in half once diagonally.  Corner squares are 5 inch squares cut in half once diagonally.  That is what I did anyway, and it worked for me.

I am excited to get this on my kitchen table, as the fabrics should look nice with my summer dishes. 

Nothing But Plans

I've been having a busy week, that's for sure.  No sewing until today, and I have to tell you I am beginning to panic, I have so many deadlines!  I am spending a few minutes this morning trying to organize my thoughts and get an action plan in motion.

Did you know the Another Year of Schnibbles girls, Sinta and Sherri, are back?  This time their theme is Vintage Schnibbles, which I am thrilled about because there are dozens of Schnibbles I haven't made yet!  This month's choice is Hat Trick, which has universal appeal, because after all, who doesn't love a nine patch?  You can get a pdf of the pattern in an instant here.   I am making mine with a new Sweetwater collection "Noteworthy".  It has all the fresh colors in my spring dishes, so I will have a nice seasonal table topper by the end of the month.

Next on my list is the lattice for Hill Country Baskets.  This is as far as I have gotten, but I do have a plan for cutting.

Next up are five more burp cloths for my niece's baby to be.  That baby is going to be here before we know it, as that girl looks about ready to pop.  I need to get these done and in the mail to her pronto.

Last, and most critical deadline is to get my student's third charity quilt quilted and bound.  Her presentation is coming up like a speeding freight train, and I need to get my part done.  This will be first and foremost on my To Do list.  If I have to burn the midnight oil on this one, so be it.

Now, someone around here is actually getting some work done, and it sure isn't me.  My student was keen to start something new now that her senior project is complete, and we found the perfect thing.  A friend of mine who is "in the business" gifted me with a fat eighth bundle of Urban Chicks new line "Boho", which suits my young friend to a T.   She couldn't wait to get the fabric cut out and get started on her very first quilt for herself!  The pattern is from Camille Roskelley's first book "Simplify", and is called Square One.

Ok, time to stop blogging and get some work done!  Hope your day is as productive as I plan on mine being!

 

 

 

 

Joys of the Little Black Dress

So happy with my elegant Easter tablescape!  I finished Joy Luck (pattern by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company), made from the beautiful Little Black Dress fabric collection by Basic Grey for Moda.  I quilted it with the wiggle stitch on my Bernina, and am pleased as can be with the results.  I had some issue with shorter side borders not fitting after I switched the pattern to a rectangle from a square, but it was an easy fix.

I just removed one strip from one of the vertical Rail Fence border blocks.  Can you spy the one with only two strips?

Here is the other side, where I did the same thing:

You don't even notice that missing strip.  A man going by on a bus would never notice, as Grandma Higgins used to say.  It sure doesn't bother me.

I keep wandering by my little table setting and pausing to admire it.  This makes me so happy.  It goes with my dishes too.

Here we are, all ready for dinner.  And just so I don't forget, I am Number One. 

Little Black Dress A.B.D.

A.B.D.  All But Done.  Not quite finished with my Little Black Dress/Joy Luck table runner.  I got most of it quilted yesterday, all except two borders.  I really do love that little wiggle stitch.  My mission today is to finish that up, get the binding on and maybe make a little tablescape on the dining room table.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have something pretty to share.  I have a full sewing day ahead of me and hope to make major strides on several fronts.

The issue with the two shorter borders not fitting was a very simple fix, as I had thought.  I removed one little strip from each border and things then fit perfectly.  Not a bit of fudging was necessary.  You don't even notice where I removed the strips.  You'll see when I get my next picture.

Hope you are having a nice week, and that spring is in the air wherever you are!

 

 

 

What Are You Doing NOW?

I just can't help it.  With Another Year of Schnibbles on hiatus, I am really missing the nudge from Sinta and Sherri to make another Schnibbles table topper.  Besides, I need small projects on which to keep practicing my machine quilting so I don't get rusty.  I have a feeling machine quilting is not like riding a bike.  You must keep up using your skills so you don't fall on your face.

I recently acquired some of the collection "Little Black Dress" by Basic Grey for Moda.  Such lovely gentle neutral tones, in black, grey, cream, and gold.  Love it.  My dining room table has been asking nicely for a new runner, so I thought I would comply with its request.  My choice of pattern was the Schnibble "Joy Luck", designed by the fabulous Miss Carrie Nelson, genius creator of many super patterns for small and large quilts.

The pattern gives instructions for a square quilt, and normally that works for me on my kitchen table.  However, the dining room table is a long oval, so I needed to change things up a bit.  Instead of five rows of twelve units, I made three rows of fifteen.

I got the long side borders on and then realized that my shorter side borders didn't fit.  I have no clue why not.  Some mathematical calculation that is beyond my comprehension I suppose.  It was late afternoon on Sunday, and I knew I had folks expecting some sort of dinner, so I left the project on the floor of the studio, as you see it. 

My plan is to remove one strip of fabric from somewhere near the middle of each side and see if it fits then.  If not, maybe I will need to remove two strips from each side.  I am going to make this work!

This is going to look elegant with my black and yellow dishes, and lots of crystal on the table.  Yellow daffodils or tulips, for sure.  Just you wait.

 

Mini Cherry Baskets

This is my little homage to Thelma's Door County Cherry Basket Quilt.  I used some of her leftover black and brown triangles, and some of my beautiful red charm squares from Primitive Gatherings.  The patterns for the basket blocks came from Miss Rosie's "Picnic" Schnibbles pattern.  The blocks are 6 inch finished. 

My offering is a far cry from the masterpiece Thelma's original is, but in two afternoons, I think I  managed to at least capture the feeling of her beautiful quilt.  I will enjoy this little table topper (about 25 inches square) for years to come.

And you know something?  Everytime I finish one of these mini projects, I can see that my machine quilting is improving!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  I was in the company of my dear little Eva, and we celebrated the lovely day by getting a certain someone new shoes.  With polkadots and owls on them.   If I am able to teach this child anything, it will be to love pretty shoes.

Doing It My Way

You will be seeing this quilt on a couple of blogs today.  This is Thelma's (Cupcakes 'n' Daisies) Door County Cherry Baskets quilt.  It was a pattern designed by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.  Ever since Thelma started this quilt I have wanted one too.  Primitive Gatherings was offering the quilt as a kit, which I had in my imaginary shopping cart on and off until it was no longer available.  The $225 price tag was making me hesitate, and then it was too late.  Thelma did not use a kit, she used fabrics from her stash.  Thelma's quilt was masterfully quilted by Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple.  Check out both Linda and Thelma's blogs for more pictures!

So.  How am I going to get a quilt like this one?

Being the fine friend that she is, Thelma sent me her leftover black and brown triangles for the basket blocks.  She did this ages ago and the pieces have been sitting around in my cupboard until yesterday.

That's a lot of brown and black triangles.  Enough for lots of baskets.

When I was at Road to California, I purchased two of these gorgeous charm packs from The Primitive Gatherings booth.  Each pack has 30 pairs of red prints--60 pieces in all.  And I have two packs.  Plenty for lots of baskets!

Now, I did not think I would be able to replicate the exact pattern that Lisa designed and that Thelma executed.  But I was determined to use the leftover dark triangles and these gorgeous red charms to make some basket blocks and see what I might come up with.  So I started playing around.

In Carrie Nelson's Picnic Schnibbles pattern, she shows how she made eight half square triangles out of two five inch charm squares.  I remembered that, and pulled out the Picnic pattern, which as you can see is a basket quilt with four or five variations of basket blocks.

I did have to trim down the smaller dark triangle units to 2 inches, but every one of them is going to be usable.  And the large triangles are exactly the right size, at 3 1/2 inches.

At this point, I have not decided if I am going to go with Carrie's basket blocks set on the diagonal with alternate red blocks, or if I am going to try for a smaller version of Lisa Bongean's Cherry Basket quilt.  Today I am going to play around and see if I actually can make a version of the block in Thelma's quilt. Either way, I think I can replicate the feel of the original Door County Cherry Baskets quilt.  You will have to stay tuned for this one!

 

 

A Valentine to Myself

This is a little Valentine to myself.  It is a Little Bites pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, and is called "Drop".  The quilt  measures 20 inches square, and is made from Chateau Rouge fabrics by French General for Moda.  The pattern has three versions for the quilt, and I chose to make the largest.

I started this just before Christmas and made perhaps seven little blocks.  The project got put away during the holiday as things do,  due to house guests, major tidying, and no time to sew anyway.  I pulled it out last weekend and finished up the remaining blocks in no time.  This project is made entirely of two inch squares (except for the lattice and borders).  I had a mini charm pack or two, which I made use of for this little table topper.  The fabrics for my lattice, borders and backing were all in my French General stash.  I think the fabric for the border is from their Maison de Garance collection, so you can see their stuff all "goes" with each other from season to season.

Here is a close up, which I am not ashamed to show you.  Dare I say it?  My machine quilting is getting noticably better!

This is the first Little Bites project I have completed, and certainly will not be the last.  I think the mini quilt bug has bitten me hard.

For those of you who have been inquiring about Ozzie, he is alive and well.  If you look closely in the top photo he is lounging in the chair in front of his observation window.  For once being good and not teasing the life out of me.