Sister's Choice Quilts

Red Sampler Sew Along Week Nine

I feel as if I've been on vacation for two weeks. Today is the day I get back on a schedule though. I plan to make the most of any free time I have during the week and not lose momentum with my projects.

The red and white blocks above are week nine of Lori Holt's Red Sampler sew-along. Those cheerful red fabrics put a smile on my face. The little framed four patch is so cute.

I wanted to share a tool I have been enjoying a lot. It is called "Cute Cuts" and is a block square up trim tool by Lori Holt. You can buy the tools individually or in sets of various sizes.

If you love crisp, accurate blocks you might like this trim tool too. It is great for squaring up small 3 1/2 inch blocks, but I found it indispensable for trimming 3 1/2 inch block units in the 12-inch blocks I was working on recently. Looking at the photo above, you may think "Wow, Nicole was pretty spot on with her 3 1/2 inch unit".  Ahem, thanks, but check this out:

I was pretty close, and maybe it would have been just fine as is without trimming. However, if you love accuracy, you can see that there was a fair amount trimmed away to achieve the exact 3 1/2 inch measurement. My 2011 Designer Mystery blocks came out great, and I credit this trim tool and a lot of fabric starching for my good results.

Quilting Friends Are the Best

I am actually completely thrilled with this photo. I have finished all 12 blocks for the Fat Quarter Shop 2011 Designer Mystery Quilt! Can you imagine? These blocks were just scraps of fabric that languished in a tub for 11 years. Well, no more languishing. They are going to become a quilt.

But there was just one problem. Back in 2011 when I wasn't working on these blocks, the finishing kit was offered for sale by Fat Quarter Shop. And I did not buy it. The finishing kit had all the fabrics for a fabulous setting, alternate stem blocks, borders, and binding. 9 extra yards of fabric to make a quilt that finishes at
76 x 94.

I reasoned to myself that I didn't have to complete the quilt as intended. I would have 12 great blocks and quite a bit of background fabric, which would be enough for a lattice and inner border. For the outer border, I would need a print that coordinated with the blocks. The fabric is by Fig Tree & Co., and their reds are very consistent. So, no problem. I wouldn't end up with such a large quilt, but it would be pretty and it would be finished.

Then the quilting gods smiled upon me. My quilting friend Lisa D. reads my blog. She emailed me to say she had the kit also and had never made it. Sadly, she had lost the love for this quilt and doubted that she would ever make it and therefore planned to sell or donate it. And she had the finishing kit. I offered to buy it from her and she agreed. Can you hear the sound of angels singing? She has mailed the finishing kit to me and as soon as I receive it, you can bet I'll start work on it.

Oh, and here is something else that makes me happy:

Yesterday I used up a big spool of Aurifil thread! I started using it in April 2020. I was thinking it would last me a year, but I did not sew much in 2021, so it has lasted me 20 months!!! Now, that seems like a good deal for $48. $2.40 per month. I wrote 1/22 on the inside of the cone and will be interested to see how long this new spool lasts.

Hope your weekend was great. If you have today off, make the most of it!

My Garden is in Blossom

Another productive sewing day for me yesterday. This has been quite the week for getting my mojo back. I finished the fourth and fifth blocks in my 2011 Designer Mystery BOM. The setting is going to be so cute. I will be making little stem units so it appears that each block is a flower. Hope I have enough green....

That fifth block (the middle right one) was a bear to sew, I can tell you that. It was a bit fussy. But it used all the colors, woo hoo. Of course, I got one tiny unit switched around (not just once but four times) and had to do some unsewing. Ah, those thread-picking interludes are restful for the mind, right?

I am really enjoying these bright fresh colors.

I also can report that I got my Serendipity quilt top all put together, except for the borders.  Maybe I can wrap that up on Sunday afternoon.

Have a great weekend everyone!

What Next?

I tell you, give me a week to spend sewing, and I can get things done. Lately that hasn't been happening though, but due to a Covid outbreak in the family, I have been able to get up in my sewing room for extended periods this week. And look what I found.

This is an ancient fabric collection by Fig Tree & Co. It was called Strawbery Something. Strawberry Fields, Strawberry Rhubarb, Strawberry Shortcake, I can't recall. It was a Block of the Month Designer Mystery sew along sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop from 2011.  Eleven years ago.  Can you believe I dug up a UFO older than my grandchild?

And I never made a single block. Month after month for a year I paid for my monthly block subscription and never sewed a blessed one. 

I had neatly stored all the fabrics in a plastic tub and still had all the patterns. 

I started assembling the fabrics needed for each block and starching them. Yesterday I made three blocks,
and I don't mind saying, they are adorable!

Block number one.

Block number two. This one took a while. And I got two of the corner blocks turned wrong. Fixed it!

Block number three. I think this one is my favorite.

I am having fun working with these larger blocks (12.5 inches unfinished). I have no idea how I will put them together. Probably a simple setting with the white tone on tone polka dot I am using for my background. I will never find a matching border fabric after all these years, but Fig Tree will have a red print that will still match, so I think I will be good.

Did any of you make this quilt back in the day? 


 

Christmas Among the Stars Again Months 1, 2, 3

Another glorious day of sewing yesterday. I have finished the first three months of the Fatquartershop Block of the month sew-along "Among the Stars Again". Now, here's a question for you.

I could make this same block of the month with Fig Tree Halloween fabrics. I have a bundle of Fig Tree Pumpkins and Blossoms in orange, green and black. The book I am using for the pattern instructions for the Christmas sew-along actually shows the quilt blocks in both Christmas and Halloween fabrics.

The question is: Should I make the blocks in the Halloween fabrics while I am already making them in the Christmas fabrics? Then I would have two quilts that were the same, one in Christmas fabric and one in Halloween fabrics

OR

Should I make the Halloween quilt completely different? I have a couple of patterns in mind that would work.  

Have you ever made the same quilt twice? I have thought it might be boring, so I have only done it a couple of times.

Whatever I decide, I know I will end up with two super cute quilts. 

I sure hope you are having a great week. I certainly am.

 

2022 Off to a Great Start

The New Year has gotten off to a great start for me. My goal is to tackle my large number of UFOs and either finish them or let them go. It's probably not surprising that I was drawn right back into the Lori Holt Red Sampler quilt. I had completed only six weeks of the project. The "Sew-Along" ship has sailed, but lucky for me, Lori has kept her sew-along posts on her Bee In My Bonnet blog, so I can refer back to the weekly instructions. Here is a link to all sixteen weeks of this sew-along.

Yesterday I had a lovely day in my sewing room and completed six blocks for Red Sampler Weeks Seven and Eight.

I've also been working on sewing the rows for Serendipity together and trying to catch up with Among the Stars Again block of the month. I'm feeling very good about my organized approach and look forward to showing you some completed tops soon. Or, at least in the next months...

Also, I have gone through my "flimsies" (completed but unquilted tops) and made a pile of some that I want to donate. My charitable organization of choice was Firehouse Quilts in Boulder, CO, which is quilting tops and giving them to victims of the terrible fires that took place in Colorado recently. I have five tops that I plan to mail to them today.

Why do I suddenly have so much time on my hands? Um, well, certain members of my family have come down with a well-publicized contagious virus and are isolating this week.

Hope you are all staying well and getting things done!

 

Top Twelve Books of 2021

2021 was an outstanding reading year for me. I read a total of 125 books! More important than that number, however, is the fact that out of those books, 23 of them earned 5 star ratings from me. Here are my stats:

33 books in Hardback
67 books on my Kindle
25 books on Audio

Here is a brief synopsis and links to the full reviews of my top 12 (because I couldn't stick to 10!).

1) The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. Amor Towles is a genius and I will read anything he ever writes. This is a story of a group of boys who traverse the country on the Lincoln Highway in search of a fresh start. This was also Amazon's pick for Best Book of 2021. Read my Goodreads review here.

2) Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. I listened to the audio version of this book, which was excellently narrated. Ike Randolph and Buddy Lee are two unlikely companions who pair together to avenge their sons' murders. Tough and gritty, but tender as well. This was one breathtaking story. Read my Goodreads review here.

3) Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. This was another audiobook, where the narrator truly made the story come to life. This story made me laugh and cry and want to hug it when it was over. A lone astronaut wakes up from a coma to find himself on a spaceship on a mission to save our solar system and meets up with an ally beyond your wildest imagination. Read my Goodreads review here.

4) Raft of Stars by Andrew J. Graff. Two ten-year-old boys run away when they think they have murdered the abusive father of one of them. This story was both gripping and heartfelt. You will be holding your breath in fear for these kids, and cry with emotion at the end of the book. Read my Goodreads review here.

5) All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle. Another fabulous audiobook, with a terrific narrator. (I am beginning to see a pattern here...) If you enjoy books about elderly curmudgeons, you will love this one. 84-year-old widowed Hubert Bird talks on the phone every week with his daughter in Australia. She is worried about him being alone and he creates a lively account of his friends and social activities, all of which are made up. Then she tells him she is coming for a visit and he scrambles to make some "friends". Charming and poignant. Read my Goodreads review here.

6) The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. Set in Dublin in 1918 during the Spanish Flu epidemic. Julia Power is a nurse in a maternity ward tending to expectant mothers who have come down with the flu. All the action in this book takes place over three days in the confines of this small ward. This book was non-stop enthralling and very timely in terms of our current pandemic. Read my Goodreads review here. 

7) Monogamy by Sue Miller. A book about a marriage, family, happiness, grief, and disappointment. We follow Graham and Annie as they navigate their life together. This is a book that will make you experience a complex range of emotions. Can a lifetime of happiness be ruined by one betrayal? Highly recommend this one. Read my Goodreads review here.

8) When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain. Missing persons detective Anna Hart investigates a case of a missing teenager in Mendocino in the 1980s. This book is an atmospheric page-turning mystery but also delves deep into trauma theory, survival, and redemption. The novel weaves real crime stories into the fictional narrative in a very compelling way. Read my Goodreads review here.

9) The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate. After the end of the Civil War, there were thousands of freed slaves who were desperate to find lost loved ones. This is the story of three very different young women on a quest of their own, who end up compiling a book of letters from former slaves who are hoping to find relatives from whom they have been separated. Very well researched historical fiction. Read my Goodreads review here. 

10) A Little Hope by Ethan Joella. This book has not received nearly enough praise and promotion, but I adored it. Over the course of a year, we follow the residents of a small Northeastern town. We observe many of the same events through the eyes of different individuals. The book is almost, but not quite, in a short story format, with all the chapters and personalities interconnected. It was sweet and tender and ultimately very hopeful. It made me cry, and that is almost a guarantee of a five-star rating from me! Here is my Goodreads review. 

11) A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson. Three different characters come together in a story of a crime, loss, grief, and redemption. Eight-year-old Clara is mourning her missing teenaged sister, her friend Mrs. Orchard next door has gone to the hospital and not returned, and Liam, a single disconnected divorced man moves into Mrs. Orchard's house. What do these three characters have in common? This book will find a place in your heart. Don't miss it. Read my Goodreads review here.

12) Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau. Shy, bookish fourteen-year-old Mary Jane gets a summer job as a nanny to the daughter of a Baltimore psychiatrist. To say the household is a chaotic mess is an understatement. Furthermore, the doctor has cleared his summer schedule to treat a famous rock star and his even more famous movie star wife. Both of whom move into his house. Mary Jane is exposed to many things outside her experience but handles it all with equanimity. This was a fun, fast-paced book. Mary Jane will earn a place in your heart as she straightens out these messed-up characters. Read my Goodreads review here. 

There you have it! Have you read any of these books? Do you have any recommendations you would like to share?