Sister's Choice Quilts

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Great Scrap Project

Have you heard of Anne Sutton's (Bunny Hill blog) Scrappy Plate Club?  Oh my gosh, you should check it out.  Anne is sponsoring a free tutorial on how to make a Dresden Plate Quilt, from beginning to end.  Her instructions are so clear and understandable, a beginning level quilter could master the project.  And the Flickr group she started where folks can share photos of their little Dresden Plates is such fun and inspiration to look at.

Well, you have all heard me moan and whine recently that I have way too much stuff in the stash.  I thought this might be just the thing to reduce said stash and end up with a beautiful "free quilt".  Turns out that this project has not put a noticable dent in the likes of my stash, but don't you let that stop you.  It is well worth your time and scraps.  My Fig Tree stash was beginning to look rather alarming, so I chose that to work with. 

I printed out Part One of the instructions and got started.  Anne recommends a ruller called "Easy Dresden" designed by Darlene Zimmerman.  I think you can cut out the units using a regular ruler as well, but I thought I'd go with the proper tool for the job.  I got my Fig Tree fabrics cut out in no time flat using this handy little device.  You can get the idea how it is used from the photo above.  You cut a strip the length of the unit you want (mine is 4 inches) and flip flop the ruler along the strip to cut your units.

Here are my 250+ pieces for a total of 20 blocks.

Lay out the units until you get a color pattern that pleases you.  Follow Anne's instructions on stitching the small units and connecting them all together.

In Part 2 and 3 of the Dresden Plate instructions, we will be appliquing a circle to the center of the plate and appliquing the entire plate unit to a background square.  Finally, we will connect the blocks and do a final layout for the quilt top. 

Even though this scrappy project didn't make much of a dent in my stash, I am very pleased that it did not cost me anything.  I had all the scraps, background and backing on hand.  What a pretty project for spring and summer.

 

This Quilt Is Moving to Ireland

One of the things we did while Ahren and Mary Ann are here visiting, is to celebrate Christmas.  They had originally planned to be here for the holidays, but left buying their tickets a bit late.  By the time they were ready to book their flights, prices were through the roof.  So they decided to put off their trip to California until now.

One of their gifts from me was this Morris fabrics quilt.  The fabrics are William Morris inspired reproduction fabrics designed by Barbara Brackman.  They are from several of her various past collections.  The pattern is "Kitchen Sink" from Kim Brackett's book "Scrap Basket Surprises".  (The book has a five star rating on Amazon. com-if you don't own it, you may want to check it out).  I finished the quilt last spring before I moved, and got it back from being quilted in December.  It was beautifully quilted by the gracious Debbie at Prairie Queens.

I am really happy with the soothing quality of the colors, and thrilled that Ahren and Mary Ann like it as well.  It is going to fly home with them and live in Dublin, Ireland!

Birdie Stitches March Block & Info on the Red and White Quilt

Thanks for all your supportive comments regarding my experience taking Grandpa with me to the quilt show.  I sure did think of a lot of things I might have said to that horrid woman who swiped his chair as he was preparing to sit in it--unfortunately I had a delayed reaction and stood stunned with my jaw dropped to my chest when it happened!  I will say that the expression on the face of the woman who had offered him the chair next to her was priceless.  "What just happened here?"

I did find out (though my readers' helpful and knowledgeable comments) that the red and white quilt in yesterday's post is called "Nearly Insane".  There is a book by the same name written by Liz Lois that is for sale on amazon.com.  It has one review, which is pretty bad.  I have not seen the book, but the reviewer had plenty to criticize.  Check it out.   Evidently, (according to the reviewer), the author gives no instruction on how to construct the blocks, nor does she name the blocks!  Now, that is a problem!  It does sound like if you buy the book, you had better get one of those block encyclopedias that tell you how to make 100 blocks in various sizes! If any of you have bought this book, or made the quilt, please comment on your experience.  We would all love to know how you fared. 

UPDATE:  Please read the comments below for a link to another red and white Nearly Insane quilt and some dissenting opinions on the book.  Check out Ranette's quilt.    Good gravy, go to Tazzie's blog and look at her Nearly Insane quilt!  And Floribunda's NI quilt.  Thanks to you readers who responded!  What awesome quilts.

Several people commented that the Farmer's Wife quilt would be incredible if done in a two color scheme.  Can you imagine it in red and white?  Now why didn't I think to do that?

I finished the third block in the Birdie Stitches project while I was away last week.  I felt there should be a little something the end of the rainbow, and copied an idea I found on the Birdie Stitches Flickr Group.  My shamrocks are a little wonky, but so is everything else in my block, so I guess they can stay.

When I was tearing through the Road to California quilt show last week, I stopped briefly at the Bird Brain Designs booth and purchased a pattern.  And took a minute to look at the amazing work on their samples.  They seem to favor using perle cotton thread, which gives a nice bold look, without the bulk of using more than three strands of regular embroidery thread.  One of my readers, Connie H. suggested that I might like to do this with my Birdie Stitches blocks. 

These little stitchery designs were impossible to pass up!  I see them in the centers of some red and white quilt blocks....  Hopefully I will be proficient enough to make these after finishing 12 Birdie blocks.

Tomorrow I will share with you my major purchase at the show.  I scored Big Time!  Something I never thought I would find in a million years.

 

Birdie Stitches

Along with the optimism I feel for the new year, I have a gazillion ideas for new projects dancing around in my head.  Sara had purchased the jelly roll in the photo above a couple of years ago, with the thought of making a quilt.  Life got in the way and she never made it and passed the fabric strips on to me.  It is an adorable collection by American Jane (Sandy Klop, designer for Moda) called Look and Learn.  What am I going to do with it, you ask?

Well, I discovered a new blog called Little Miss Shabby (through Mary at Lake Pulaski), and are there ever a lot of ideas for projects there!  Last year in January of 2011, Little Miss Shabby (Corey Yoder) started a free BOM that features scrappy patchwork surrounding twelve embroidered blocks.  The project is called Birdie Stitches since every block has an adorable little bird or two in it.  Obviously I am late to the party (again), but now all the blocks are up on her blog and I can print them out and get started with my stitchery.

See how darling they are?  I wasn't kidding.

This is the last block Mary on Lake Pulaski completed, which she posted on her blog this week.  I hope with this practice, my stitching will become as even as Mary's!  I love her choice of fabrics, and the modern cheerful feel her block has.

Corey also started a Flickr group, which you can check out to see the blocks other participants have created.

Once I picked out the fabric I was going to use, I had to go purchase some embroidery floss to coordinate with it.  That is the beauty of this project, you can customize your birdies to go with whatever fabric you choose to use.  While I was at JoAnn's this handy little item caught my attention:

Isn't that cool?  You can wind your floss around little cardboard "bobbins" and keep them tucked into the little pockets within the pages of the plastic sheet protectors.  Put the sheet protectors full of floss into a 3 ring binder, and you can easily see at a glance what colors you have on hand for your stitchery projects.  It was totally cheap too--under $4.00.  In fact, all the floss I bought plus these sheet protectors and cardboard bobbins totalled around $9.00.  Oh, and since the bobbins are cardboard, you can write the number of your floss color on it in case you run out and need to get more.

So, there you go!  A fun little stitchery project for these wintery days.  By spring, you could have an adorable quilt for yourself or someone you love.

Getting Ready for Some Sewing!

 
Woo hoo!  In about a week I am going to be getting together with some friends and do some sewing!  Mostly I am excited to see my friends, but also I wanted to get a seriously wonderful project ready to work on during the time that we will be sewing together.

I am working on a really lovely pattern called Shiloh, by Bonnie Blue Quilt Company.  I started these blocks a number of months back, BM.  That would be Before the Move.  Quilt projects come and go, but I have to say, this one really got my pulse racing.  Love these blocks.

 
Here are a few of them laid out on the floor of The Studio-That-Isn't.  The jury is still out on whether or not the red blocks get to stay, but for now, I am thinking they are ok. 

I started out using a kit, and ended up using a few of the fabrics from the kit, and supplementing most of the others with scraps from my stash.  Then I discovered a layer cake of a collection called Arnold's Attic and went to town using that.  Why do I buy kits anyway?  I always end up changing them up completely.

 

See what I mean?  Aren't those just too wonderful to not include in my quilt?

 
This quilt has a L.O.T. of flying geese units in it, and I wanted to get all my units lined up and ready to go for my block construction.  No cutting for me while I am on retreat.  That never goes well.  I tend to get distracted and cut my 6 1/2" squares all 6 1/4" or something equally tragic.

What I will be doing is using my Fit To Be Geese ruler to trim my flying geese units to precisely the right size.  If you haven't tried this tool, you simply must. 

 Best tool ever for making perfect flying geese!

Not Up To Much

 
I have been a lazy blogger this week.  There isn't much going on in my life at the moment.  Just enjoying the last lazy days of summer.  Can you believe it is September already?  Good grief, this summer has flown by.

My desire to practice my machine quilting is still very much with me, and I have started working on another small Schnibble that I pieced well over a year ago, when I dabbled in "A Year of Schnibbles".  To tell you the truth, I do not recall the name of this pattern, nor do I remember the focus fabrics I used.  That border fabric, and the paisley were part of the same group, the rest were scraps from stash.  I finished the straight line quilting in one direction, and plan to quilt in the opposite direction as well, creating that fun cross hatch pattern that I like.  For the border, I think I will do stippling with black thread.

 
Here is another little top that I pulled out of a box of flimsies.  This could another good option for cross hatch quilting.  And we absolutely need one more baby quilt.  For sure.

Happy September everyone!

A Little Table Topper

 
I had some leftover blocks from my Simple Abundance/MoJo quilt, which I called the Ridiculously Cute Basket Quilt.  Sara thought they would make an adorable little table topper, and combined them with some of my leftover scraps.  How cute is this?

No waste=a free table topper!

She let me practice my machine quilting on it, which I appreciated, since I have a topper of my own I would like to get quilted.   I need to remind myself over and over again to S.L.O.W D.O.W.N when I am machine quilting.  I feel so out of control when I rush! 

I did Stitch in the Ditch around the baskets, and a free motion loopy design for the borders.  Going too fast when stitching in the ditch results in stitching that is not in the ditch, but rather in the general vicinity of the ditch, which is not satisfactory  Going too fast when making loops results in weird shaped loops with varying stitch lengths.   I managed to hit just about every example of what not to do in this project, but I also managed to get it right some of the time.  Guess I need more practice...

My next machine quilting project will involve straight line stitching.  No ditches, no free motion.  I just need to follow diagonal lines across the quilt top.  I can do that, right?  This sort of machine quilting is supposed to be right up a beginner's alley, so wish me luck.

By the way, if you would like to see an amazing project, go over to Thelma's blog Cupcakes 'n' Daisies and have a look at her Red and White Tribute Quilt.  You will not believe how creative and imaginative she is.  Thelma managed to make a quilt that evokes the experience of being at the recent Infinite Variety Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts Show in New York City.  Truly, this quilt deserves to be in magazines.  It is one of the most stunningly innovative and inspired quilts I have ever seen.

The Rewards of Quilting

One of the joys of quilting is giving something I made to a loved one who I know will appreciate it.  I presented this quilt to my young cousin Stephanie on her 25th birthday this week.

I think she liked it!  This quilt is from the Bennington pattern in Carrie Nelson's book Schnibbles Times Two.  The fabrics are Objects of Desire by Sandy Gervais.  I have been saving this quilt to give to my cousin for awhile.  The pizazzy colors and fun design just seem to suit her bright personality.  The fabric is printed with tiny little shoes and purses, and the quilting design has hand bags and rings and other girly things that compliment the fabric perfectly.

The women in my family all made the drive up to Angels Camp to visit me (no that's a lie, they came to see Evangeline!) on Wednesday.  We spent about ten minutes at my house, then since everyone had their purses on their shoulders and were tapping their toes in anticipation, we trekked over to Sara's house to meet Baby E.

Can you kind of tell everyone is entranced?  That baby just stole the show.  Just look at my cousin Claudia in the mirror.  I don't think she could smile any bigger! 

Evangeline has been born into a family of strong supportive women.  Besides her mother and grandmothers, she will always have her aunties and cousins to rely on as she grows into adulthood.  We are a family of sisters.  She will learn that "the ties that bind her to her Sisters are not wrapped around her wrists, but rather are fastened to her heart".