Sister's Choice Quilts

Pretty in Pink

Speaking of baby quilts, my student has started her third charity quilt.  We had some nice pastel fabrics donated to us, so we are using these this time, rather than going shopping and spending money.  My student is very fond of the Friendship Star block, as she made her mom four mug coasters featuring that design for Christmas.  She loved the idea of making an entire quilt using that block.  I think her first star is lovely, in that fresh feminine pink.

We made half square triangles the old fashioned way, where you draw a line diagonally on a square and sew on each side of the line.  She did not care for cutting a 7/8th measurement, but got through it without any mis-cuts.  She liked the drawing the line part, and it was a great lesson in how important an accurate 1/4 inch seam allowance is when sewing on either side of it.  She really is a careful sewer, and I certainly love how she obeys my instructions.  Wish more other folks did that for me.  (In my dreams...)

The book to the left of her quilt block is Quilts for Baby, Easy as ABC by Ursula Reikes.  Ursula has written at least three Quilts for Baby books, and all of them are great for beginning sewers.  All of my student's quilts have come from two of these books.

Her quilts need to all be done by mid April, as her final presentation of her Senior Project takes place at the end of April.  She has told me that she is going to see if I might attend her presentation, which would please me no end.

I have enjoyed sewing with this young lady so much.  Evidently she has enjoyed the experience as well, as she has asked me if she might continue to meet with me for help with future projects she wants to  make just for fun.  Another recruit to the world of quilting!

 

Wait, What? What on Earth?

There is no room in the studio for a new project.  No room.  So where did these strips end up?  Why, on the arm of the rocking chair of course.  Strips?  What strips?  The only strips you should be working with are the red French General strips for your Pineapple blocks.

Ok, so those are very cute strips.  But what are they for?  What are you doing?  You have six projects going on that you need to focus on and finish.  What on earth is up with this?  What happened to your vow and resolution to FOCUS?  One thing at a time and all that?

Oh for heaven's sake shut up.  Yeah.  I know.  Pretty cute, aren't they?  Everyone in Blogdom is making a scrappy trip around the world quilt.  Why would I want to miss out?

Seriously, I had about two hours today and I made those two blocks.  Oh, and then I started messing with these...

There is certainly more to this story.  That Devil Angel on my shoulder is sure a pain.

Jane's Quilt

Today I am pleased to share with you a quilt made by Jane, who reads this blog.  She has been following along with my progress on Message in a Bottle, and thought I might enjoy seeing a quilt she made using some of the same blue and brown fabrics that are in my quilt.

Isn't that quilt one of the prettiest things you ever saw?  I asked Jane if I could share her quilt with you all, and she agreed.  This is what she had to say about her lovely quilt:

"I am so glad you like what I call my Vicksburg Civil War Quilt since most of the fabrics are from Judie Rothermel's Vicksburg Civil War Fabric Collection for Marcus Fabrics.  Yes, you have my permission to post the quilt's photo on your blog, but be sure to acknowledge that the pattern is Bonnie Hunter's Pineapple Blossom & that most of the fabric is from Judie Rothermel's Vicksburg Fabric Collection".

Isn't that a beautiful thing?  Don't you all wish you had a red barn in the background when you photograph your quilts?  It just brings things up to another level entirely.  lol

Thank you so much Jane!

Tumbler Quilt, Finished

You didn't even know I had started this one, did you?  I made it in just a couple of hours.  Amazing, isn't it?  I could start my own Quilt In A Day show.

Want to know my secret?

The entire quilt center is about the size of a piece of printer paper. Did I fool you?

This was so much fun.  I never thought much of miniature quilts, but that opinion has definitely changed.  A friend sent me 120 precut teensy tumbler pieces, all cut out and ready to sew. So, first off, I didn't even need to cut anything.  The little tumbler blocks are seriously tiny, but how cute they are.

On Wednesday afternoon while my student did some strip piecing for her next project, I started sewing these little cuties together.  I paid no attention to what was next to what (which may be obvious, ahem).  I just sewed.  In no time flat I had the pieces all connected.  I could have made the piece ten blocks by twelve rows, but preferred the symmetry of ten blocks by eleven rows better.

I added a three quarter inch containment border and a two inch finished outer border.  I love it!

I have even machine quilted it, which took no time at all.  My gosh, if you aren't that proud of your machine quilting, just try quilting on a black print.  I am not kidding, the detail does not show at all.  In the photo above, the black fabric is all quilted with loops just like the tumblers.   Can you see it?  Nope!  It will be all puckery when I wash it and no one will be able to see my wobbly stitches. 

By the time you read this, I will have the binding sewn on, and will be using this little quilt under a candle or something.  Fastest quilt I ever made.

 

 

 

I Love This Quilt

Really.  I really really really really LOVE this quilt.  I haven't had so much fun making a quilt in years.  It took the fun level up to previously unexplored levels.  If you have had an idea that you might want to make this quilt, just go for it.  You will love it too.  Just make sure you make all your half square triangles the right size so you don't have to do them twice.  Just saying.

As you see, I got the blocks all sewn together.  This quilt is E.N.O.R.M.O.U.S.  Actually, it may be too large to live in a house.  Maybe a circus tent or a humongous office building with 50 foot ceilings?

You may notice that my quilt is missing its piano key border.  Yes, well, I did my best.  Grandpa fell over the weekend, and I have been checking in on him two or three times a day, and then I had my student over for a sewing lesson, and I just didn't finish that border. Grandpa is ok, and my student is terrific, but there are just so many hours in the day, and I decided I was done at this point yesterday.

Now, my friend Thelma at Cupcakes 'n' Daisies had no such issues with last minute deadlines.  Her Halloween 1904 quilt has been done for a week or more.  No waiting about for the eleventh hour for that girl.  Go check out her post today to see her version.  With borders.  Thanks Thelma for the experience of sewing along with you.  Always a treat!

As several of my dear readers have pointed out, I now have a heck of a good start on a quilt for NEXT Halloween.

This little sweetie is all pieced and ready to be quilted.  I considered briefly staying up through the wee hours and finishing it, but I just ran out of steam.  Another one for next year, for sure.  Don't you love that lime green?  This is Darcy by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

Tonight is the big night around here.  Grandpa and I have a full day, with doctor appointments, a lunch date, and an afternoon of soup making and then our evening of passing out candy.  I will be so wiped out by the time Thursday gets here that chasing after Eva will seem like a rest on the chaise lounge.  Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween, Anyone?

Welcome, August.  Summer is on it's way out in many places, where days are noticablely shorter already and folks' thoughts are turning to fall.  Well, here where I live, it is going to be an average of 90 degrees most days until the end of October, but I know it isn't too soon to be thinking about a little Halloween project.  We've got Christmas in July all over Blogland, how about a little Halloween in August?

In the photo above, you see some cute Halloween fabrics I've been collecting.  Just waiting for the right project.  Now, I have a couple of Halloween quilts, and also a couple of Fall themed table toppers.  You could rightly say that maybe I have that niche filled in my linen closet.

Nuh uh.  There is always, ALWAYS room for another Halloween or Fall project in the decor.  So here's what I'm thinking--

Who says magazines don't have good projects anymore?  Granted, this is an issue that is a year old, but still.  Don't you think it will be an adorable table topper?

After I finish Spools, this is up next.  I think it will be a quickie.

Added later:  I found a link to the pattern!

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=candy+corn+quilt+block+pattern&view=detail&id=BAFB27124043969E63A0C53B13FA25352199D80A&first=1

Besame Mucho

Besame mucho means Kiss Me A Lot.  And lots of kissing is what I feel like doing now that this adorable quilt is finished!

Pattern is Kiss Me by Fig Tree Quilts, fabric is Strawberry Fields, also by Fig Tree for Moda.  Joanna Figueroa is the designer.  Aside from some tricky cutting (made easier if you use the proper ruler), and needing to  change up the method for making the flying geese units, this was a wonderful pattern.  Everything went together like a dream.

Love these summery fabrics, and cheerful colors.  The only thing I would change is the use of the polka dot fabric in the inner border.  I think I'd like the overall look better if I had just used the cream background I used in the blocks.  I do enjoy a fancy border on my quilts, and the flying geese add just the right touch.  To make the geese units, I used Monique Dillard's Fit To Be Geese ruler, which calls for making the units a scosh larger and trimming them down to the perfect size.  Let me tell you, that flying geese border fit *perfectly* with no need for any fiddling or faddling.  Thank you Monique for a brilliant tool.

Has anyone else made this quilt?  If so, send me a photo and I would love to share a picture of it on my blog.

Also, be sure to come by tomorrow, as I will be talking about our Spools Sew Along.

Memory, A Finish

I am so excited to show you a proper finish!  This is a pattern called "Memory" by Monique Dillard of Open Gate Quilts.  Back in March I participated in a book launch for her latest book Traditional Fat Quarter Quilts:  11 Traditional Quilt Projects from Open Gate Quilts.  We were all asked to choose a pattern from the book and make it, or our own variation of it, for the book launch.  I had a fabulous collection of fat quarters from the Cocheco Mills II group in my stash, that I thought would lend themselves perfectly to this pattern.

Here it is, finally finished, and draped over my blue garden bench outside the studio.

With one thing and another going on, I never got around to attaching the borders on this pretty quilt.  Until this past Sunday, when I put in a marathon day of sewing.

Now, this tradtional style red, white, and blue quilt is ready for quilting!

Gosh I love it when I get something done.

Uptight Much?

There is nothing more effective for making you realize how tense you are than machine quilting.

I got a notion to practice my machine quilting this week, and it was quite an eye opener.  I had two pieces of wonky strips I had stitched together awhile back, and thought they would make cute table runners.  I spray basted them to batting and backing and thought they would be perfect vehicles for machine quilting practice.

Cute, huh?  This is an old Sandy Gervais group (I think), correct me if I am wrong.  I had a jelly roll, and after seeing how adorable Sara's Pickety Sticks quilt was, I started playing around with sewing strips in a wonky manner on a piece of muslin.  (Pickety Sticks is a Heather Mulder Petersen pattern).  This is another sign of how uptight I am--my wonky strips are practically straight.  Trust me, it is a much cuter look if the the strips are much wonkier.

So, about mid way though quilting the first runner, I realized I wasn't breathing, my shoulders were totally hunched and tense, and my little squiggles were teeny tiny tight loops.  I also ran out of bobbin thread TWICE while quilting this small piece. 

I managed to get through the quilting on the first runner, and took a couple of walks around the yard, breathing deeply.  My next try was more successful.  I concentrated on keeping my loops larger, and remembered to breathe and not sit all cringed over the machine.  At one point I even had a fly pestering me, which landed on my nose.  But did I stop quilting and bat it away?  Heaven's no.  I certainly did not want to lose my rhythm.  I maintained a Zen state of mind regardless of the circumstances.  This runner turned out better than the first one, and I only ran out of bobbin thread right at the end.  I was going to show you some photos of the back, but my ego isn't quite ready for that yet.  My nerves are only a little shot from the whole fly episode.  Ick.

Do any of you struggle with machine quilting?  Does it get better with time and practice?  How much time?  lol

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BTW, thanks to all of you for your helpful suggestions regarding my Fig Tree cream fabric.  I tried to email Cheryl of Fig Tree Studio, who was so kind to write me with a suggested Bella Solid dupe, but my email bounced back!  So, thanks ever so much Cheryl, your advice was much appreciated!

 

Another Great Book by Monique Dillard

I am so excited to be participating in a Blog Hop this week to celebrate the launch of a new book by Monique Dillard, the talented quilter, author, and creator of the Fit To Be rulers!  Her previous book "Fat Quarter Winners" was a big success last year, and this new release by C & T Publishing promises to be just as fabulous.

You are invited to follow along this week and see the inspiring projects created from patterns in this book by some of your favorite bloggers!  Here is the schedule:

Monday - Thelma  (Cupcakes n' Daisies)  
Tuesday - Lisa  (Stashmaster)  
Wednesday - Denise   (Quilters Window) and Monique (Open Gate Quilts)  
Thursday - Sherri (A Quilting Life) 
Friday - Carrie  (La Vie En Rosie) and Nicole (Sister's Choice)

Be sure to stop by and comment on everyone's blogs on their scheduled day.  Besides seeing what we all have made from Monique's book, we are giving away prizes!

So, don't wait another minute!  Go see what Thelma made from the book!  Be sure to comment for a chance to win some great prizes.