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:

 

Made in China

I have been a pretty loyal Rowenta customer for years.  I go through irons really fast, due to keeping them on for hours at a time, and steaming the dickens out of things.  A good iron lasts me a year, maybe two, and then I need to replace it.  My last Rowenta, gosh, I bet I have had it for three years or more now!   As were the other four or five Rowentas I have owned, my current iron was made in Germany.

It has been starting to act up, not steaming as it should anymore, and in fact, fairly frequently, the steam button gets stuck in the down position and won't come back up.  Lately, I have been complaining to anyone who will listen that it is time for me to buy a new iron.  My husband always responds, "A new iron?  Already?  Didn't you just buy one a few years ago?  An iron should last you a life time.  Why, my blessed mother used the same iron for 40 years, and it didn't even have a steam feature.  She used to sprinkle her ironing and put it in a plastic bag overnight in the refrigerator...."  etc, etc, etc.

Well, something must have sunk into his brain, and when he was shopping for new frying pans (don't ask--that is another blog post entirely) at the Macy's in Monterey, he saw they had Rowenta irons on sale.  And he bought me one.

I was pretty excited, as I would rather he pay $89 for new iron, than me have to do it.  Only this didn't cost $89.  It was only $49.  And it isn't made in Germany.  It is made in CHINA.

And it spits like crazy.  I hate it.

Added later:  My husband just sent me an order confirmation from Amazon.com.  He ordered me the Rowenta made in Germany!  Woo Hoo!  I take back all the bad things I said about him.

 

Drat, Foiled Again

My intention was to get this finished for Sara and give it to her for her birthday Sunday, but as you can plainly see, I failed to accomplish that goal.

Several things went wrong.  Mainly, I discovered that I had made seven of the blocks with a pure white fabric.  The other thirteen blocks appear to have been made with a creamier shade of white.  Both shades of white are noticeabley different from each other.  I have no idea what happened.  The pure white is the better choice I think, as it plays best with the pure pinks and reds in the PamKittyMorning fabric line.

Friends, this is what happens when you abandon a project for a year and then go back to it.  Anything can have gone into that project box, and who knows what you were thinking last year?   I must have had a plan, do ya' think?

Bother.  I ended up with just enough of the pure white to put six blocks together for a table topper.  Luckily there was just enough for the lattice.  My other issue was I didn't have enough of any one fabric to use for a border and binding, which I think this project calls for.   I plan to order some of the red floral print for a border and then I will quilt it myself.  Maybe if I give it to her with a big bouquet of red roses, or a snappy red geranium plant she will forgive me for being late with her gift.  I think it will be pretty darn cute, in a fun retro kind of way.

I can't swear to it, but I think this creamier white yardage the block is sitting on is a good amount of Kona Snow, which at one point I bought by the bolt, since I was using it so much.  In good light, with only one layer of fabric spread out, it is a pretty dead on match with what I used in the remaining 13 blocks.  It looks a bit dark in the photo, but it is about 10 layers of fabric, folded.  It makes sense I would have grabbed for this white when I started the project, since I knew I had tons of it.  How that bright white got in the box, I have no clue. 

Tuck my lesson away in your memory banks so this mistake doesn't happen to you. Whites are not all just white.  There are a thousand different shades of white and they are not at all interchangeable.

Now I am thinking to make a few more blocks with the Kona Snow and end up with a small quilt for Eva.  Maybe 20 blocks all together.  It isn't as if making these adorable blocks isn't fun, and I certainly do have plenty of pink and red left...

Channeling Pioneer Woman

I totally channeled the Pioneer Woman this weekend.  Mother's Day and Sara's birthday fell on the same day, so we did a dual celebration.  I have both of Ree Drummond's cookbooks, and have had pretty good success with her recipes.  The celebration dinner was at my house, so I elected to make Ree's recipe for chicken enchiladas for our entree.

I'm going to tell you something, and that is, I do not know how that woman manages to cook in those diaphanous blouses she always wears.  It is a total miracle she does not catch herself right on fire.  Since I was planning my menu around recipes in her second cookbook, I figured I needed to get in the mood and put on a new flowy blouse I had recently got. Flowy blouse, dangly earrings, a statement necklace, coordinating pot holders,  and I looked like PW herself.

 

Cute, right?  Well, I put it on and started in on my chicken enchiladas, and before I knew what was what, my right sleeve was weighted down by about half a pound of sour cream sauce.  And getting anywhere near the stove was a mission wrought with danger.

Happily, I did manage to put my casserole together without a trip to the emergency room.  Here is the chicken enchilada dish a la Pioneer Woman, just before I popped it into the oven.

And it was seriously yummy.

 

PamkittyPower

Remember these?  I had so much fun playing around with the red and pinks in the first "PamkittyMorning" collection designed by Pam Vieria-McGinnis and Holly Holderman for Lakehouse fabrics.  There were dozens of prints in the line, and at least five or six different colorways.  If you liked yellows and greens, you were all set.  If light and medium shades of blue float your boat, they were available.  And of course, the pinks and reds that I chose, are gorgeous, as you can see. Of course if you could afford all the prints in the line, you could get a fat quarter of each and make the cutest scrappy quilt on the planet.

Pam came out with a second collection, "PamkittyLove" which is just as cute as her first design.  All the  fabrics in the second group coordinate beautifully with the fabrics in the first collection. With the addition of some black floral and polka dot prints that are adorable.

The good news?  Pam is coming out with her third collection "PamkittyPicnic", which I cannot wait to get my hands on.  After Quilt Market next week, we fans will have a better idea of what all is in this group.  I am certain however, that the prints will work perfectly with the other Pamkitty fabrics in your collection!  I plan to add to my Pamkitty stash for sure!

Since I have done no sewing this week, I felt I should go down to the studio after work today and rummage around a bit and come up with something to blog about.  Low and behold, I discovered my PamkittyMorning granny square blocks.  I have enough fabric left to make more blocks.  What should I do?  Make a nine block table topper with my favorite blocks or make twelve or sixteen blocks for a small quilt?  I am leaning towards making a table topper because this style of fabric (which I adore) doesn't play so well with my more traditional decorating scheme in the bedrooms.  On my kitchen table though, the sky is the limit.  Can't you just see a table topper made with these blocks on my summer table?  With a big blowsy bouquet of hot pink roses?  And a dish of strawberries? 

 

Conflicted

This weekend I worked on a little of this and a little of that.  I couldn't seem to figure out just what I wanted to do.  I am excited to make more pineapple blocks, so I started six more.  My alternate blocks for the Blogger Girls BOM are on my mind, so I worked on those.  Actually I spent quite a lot of time unsewing those, as I constructed the first round with the stripes going in opposite directions.

Stripes.Must.Go.In.Same.Direction.

How annoying. I constructed 19 blocks that had to be taken apart and redone.  That'll teach me to pay attention.  Consequently, I do not have a lot to show for myself today!

Hope you all  had a terrific weekend.  We had a little Cinco de Mayo celebration, which is always fun.  Eva entertained us all with her antics.  She is starting to put words together in the most entertaining way.  "Where Ah-ee?"  (Where's Ozzie?)  "Av aa?"  (Can I have that?)  Consonants seem to be eluding her for now,  but I can usually get the jist of what she is saying.  She is becoming her own little person, which is fascinating to observe.  

Ananas Rouge

That would be Red Pineapple, my homage to French General fabrics, their reds in particular.  It seems that there are a lot of folks working on Pineapple quilts lately!  I shamelessly copied Cathy (Quilting on Main Street), her colors and her method.  Thelma has been working on a foundation pieced version of her own, but hasn't posted recently on her progress.  A little bird told me she has made 30 blocks however!  Carrie is making an amazing Pineapple quilt, and has around 25 blocks made.  Check out her blog to see a gorgeous scrappy version.  She has some extremely interesting facts about various methods of making the Pineapple block.  Also, her impression of making the blocks is a little different than mine, which makes for interesting reading.  Don't you love it when folks who are doing the same thing have slightly different experiences?  Professional vs Amateur.  lol

I made one sample block a couple of months ago, right after I cut out all my fabrics.  This week I had some sewing time, and decided since Hill Country Baskets is just about done, I could give myself permission to get back to work on my Pineapples. I am using the Pineapple Ruler by Possibilities to make my blocks.

So here is my impression of Pineapple blocks thus far:

They take a TON of fabric.  A  T.O.N.  If you want to reduce your stash, this baby is the answer.

It takes FOREVER to cut out the strips.  Since you are using a ton of fabric, that is probably obvious.  But seriously, this took me a week to cut out the strips.  I like cutting, so I didn't mind too much.

It takes a while to get used to using the Pineapple Ruler.  There is a pdf file that you can download that explains beautifully how to do it, but being a Quilter of Very Little Brain, there was a learning curve for me.  My blocks are coming out mostly the same size, so I think I am doing it right.

Making the blocks takes a very long time.  The six blocks on my design wall took me well over three hours to make.  I chain pieced, but you have to press after every round and then trim.  There are ten rounds of strips that surround the center square.  Carrie seems to be going a lot faster than I am.  Maybe with practice I can speed this process up.

Lastly, there is quite a considerable amount of waste, especially on the last round.  What you see below is what I had trimmed for those six blocks.  If you are trying to use up your stash, this may not bother you one bit.

Bottom line,  I love the way these blocks look.  Everyone should make at least one Pineapple quilt in their life, and once this challenge is tackled, will have something to be very proud of.  No regrets so far!

 

Blogger Girls BOM--Block 5

I loved making these blocks.  They are my favorite in the series so far!  I think they came out quite different from each other, which was my plan.  This project is coming together in a way that is making me super happy, and exceeding my expectations.  I knew I was in for a treat, as any Monique pattern is fun to make, and just challenging enough to be interesting.  Her tools make every block come out super accurate as well, which is such a joy when piecing a top.

These block patterns are all so lovely, the fabrics I chose are pleasing me so  much, and I am really jazzed about my plan to do an alternate block and a diagonal setting.  My fabrics are a collection called Audra's Iris Garden by Jan Patek for Moda.  Beautiful springy greens, yellows, reds, purples and browns with an iris print that is so different and gorgeous.  I have used two of the larger iris prints in the blocks shown above.

This layout gives you an idea of my plan for the alternate block and diagonal set.  I think my quilt will have such an airy and springy feel to it with this variation.

Here are my ten blocks all together on the design wall:

Do go check out the posts on how the other Blogger Girls are progressing!

Sherri from A Quilting Life - aquiltinglife.blogspot.com
Thelma from Cupcakes ‘n Daisies ~ cupcakesndaisies.blogspot.com
Lissa from Moda  Lissa  ~ ModaLissa.blogspot.com
Denise from Quilter’s  Window ~ Quilterswindow.com/blog/ 
Lisa from Stashmaster ~ The-Stashmaster.blogspot.com

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.

Achoo

Oh yeah.  That's me all right.  Spring is here.  Whoopee.  I know I was extolling the virtues of this glorious season in a recent post, but there is one big draw back all right.  How many times can you sneeze in a row and not have your heart stop?  Well, at least 10, I can tell you that.  If I never post again and you wonder what ever happened to me, evidently 11 is the magic number.  It's been nice knowin' ya.



This weekend, in between sneezing fits, I did get some sewing in.  I am working on those alternate blocks I am doing for the Blogger Girls BOM.  I got Hill Country Baskets off the design wall and will be showing you something else on that space later this week.  The final borders need to be attached to Hill Country, but after all those baskets and the interminable lattices, those borders will be a walk in the park.

It was a glorious weekend, weather wise, but I am pooped from my other responsibilities, and will have to sign off for now!  I got some family time in, some cooking, some relaxing, and some sewing done, so I can't complain.  There are just so many hours in a day, and I have to say I think I am using them the best I can.  If only I could stop sneezing.  That could account for at least another hour...