Sister's Choice Quilts

October and Pumpkin Bread

I plugged away at making the Sampler Spree block quadrants today and will update you tomorrow on how that is going. My main accomplishment today was making a batch of Trader Joe's pumpkin bread with Eva. Trader Joe's is so awesome. Each fall, in particular, they come out with so many seasonal products that are just exceptional. I highly recommend their pumpkin bread mix, it turned out great for us. If you are like us, and have no Trader Joe's near you, you can get this on Amazon.

Eva loves to decorate for whatever season or holiday is approaching, but because of her schedule, I went ahead and put our main Halloween decor out without her help. Her favorite (and mine too) is this Haunted house and the little figurines we pose around it. The candle is from Bath and Body Works and is awesome!

 I bought this cute Halloween bracelet for Eva from Sharon Yeager of Daisy Cottage Quilts. She used to have an Etsy shop,  but I don't know if she does anymore. I searched for it, but couldn't find it. If anyone has a link, put it in the comments. I know she is going through a hard time and could probably use the business. 

Have you got your October decor in place? It is one of my favorite times of year to decorate!

My Task This Week and Halloween Figs BOM

The next step in the Sampler Spree Quilt project is to sew each group of four blocks into a larger 13 1/2" block with lattices. Here are my first two blocks. 23 more to go! Next, these four block quadrants will be separated by another lattice of cream and brown Grunge fabric. This has been a very fun quilt to piece, and normally I am pretty bored with lattices and all the finishing touches, but I am still maintaining an avid interest in seeing how this comes together. 

My Month 4 Halloween Figs block of the month pattern and fabric arrived last week from The Quilt Spot. I made the large block you see above plus the three smaller simple stars. Here are all the blocks I have made so far. 

Maybe because it is October, I want to get moving with this project and get more blocks done. Hope I don't lose interest once we move into winter and spring. That being said, the fabrics are pretty and I think the finished quilt will be gorgeous. I sure had trouble wrapping my head around those simple 4" stars though. I got the "geese" and the "sky" fabrics mixed up with both blocks and then even was confused as to which actual fabrics I was meant to be using. I wasted a fair bit of fabric, but hope it will work out in the end. 

Did you have a good weekend? I spent it sewing, reading, and doing errands and housework. Not too exciting But I did try a new crock pot recipe that was a winner. Crock Pot Chicken and Stuffing was pretty darn good. I did not add the green beans as in the recipe. The stuffing was moist, the chicken wasn't dry (I used thighs), and the flavors were great. I had enough for two nights of meals for my husband and me. I made up some chicken gravy from a packet and topped our servings with it. 

Happy October everyone!

Project Discovery

I was rummaging in my sewing room closet the other day and discovered an old project I had started, who knows how long ago. The project box was labeled "One Block Quilt". Upon further investigation, I learned that I had made over 150 of these little 4-inch blocks. There was no pattern in the box, but I did find my handwritten instructions on how to cut and assemble the blocks. I have no idea where the idea came from, but a niggling memory keeps coming up with the idea that it may have been a Carrie Nelson project.

ADDED LATER:  I searched my blog and found the description of where the idea for this project came from. It is a project that Temecula Quilts came up with. They were doing something called "One Block Wednesday" and this was apparently one of their offerings.

Luckily I also rediscovered that the pressing directions are important, so I will have to go back and press again!

Whew, that box is pretty dusty! The instructions say to use 2-inch strips of fabric, making it a great jelly roll project. I evidently used starched strips from fat quarter pieces because I have two matching strips for each two blocks, rather than one strip cut WOF. I must have dug into my Civil War Repro stash, as that is the theme of the fabric I chose. That is always a favorite for me. 

150 blocks already made seems like quite a lot, but the instructions say I need 357 to make whatever size quilt top I am supposed to end up with. It's a mystery. I will try to keep making these fun little blocks when I have a minute or two and see where I get.

Honestly, you just never know what may turn up when you start rummaging around in your sewing room.

Happy weekend everyone!

Moda Blockheads 5, Week 3

Wednesdays are Moda Blockheads days, and they have not disappointed. This is my Week 3 block, "Stellar Elegance" by Brigitte Heitland of ZenChic. And, guess what? This is a first for Blockheads: a paper-pieced block! It was super fun to make, especially after watching the instructional video that was provided by Anna Dineen. Do you avoid paper-piecing? No worries, a couple of designers provided alternate block options that do not use that method. 


The blocks have been first-rate so far, and I've enjoyed making them. It isn't too late to join in, and the weekly patterns are free. All are designed by Moda designers and there will be a number of setting ideas provided. You can make the blocks in 6-inch or 12-inch sizes, or even both if you like. Fig Tree will be providing a setting using both sizes of blocks. There is also an option to make a smaller-sized quilt or table topper with a holiday theme (Xmas, Halloween), and a second larger quilt with the remaining blocks in another fabric collection. The sky is the limit with this sew-along, and there is plenty of opportunity to exercise personal choices. 

There are so many options to making this quilt, and I get lots of inspiration from seeing what other people are doing. I wanted my block to be slightly more simple looking than the one pictured on the pattern sheet, which I accomplished by focusing on the star shape and using more background fabric to make it stand out. 

I think this is a great sew-along. If you have been thinking of sitting it out, it isn't too late to change your mind or do a smaller project out of it.

 

Frustrating Sewing Day

I have a ton of BasicGrey fabric leftover from my Sampler Spree project and wanted a pattern that would use some more of it up. I have a pattern in mind, created by BasicGrey, called Apple Sauce.
I think the block that is featured is really unusual and wanted to test it out before I launch into making 25 of them.


That block is so interesting, don't you think? So I made one up and it came out just awful!

So, this is just unacceptable. Nearly every single point of the dark blue flying geese units is cut off! Then I tried a second block, and a third one, following the cutting and sewing instructions to the letter. Every one of them turned out the same!

I got out my never-fail 501 Rotary Cut Quilt Block book by Judy Hopkins to see if I could find that block or one that was similar. Sure enough, I did. I compared the cutting directions and sure enough again, the measurements to make the block in the 8-inch size were slightly different than in the BasicGrey pattern.  Specifically, the measurements to make the solid flying geese "sky" triangles were different. (Units D/E in the book illustration).

This is basically the same block as Apple Sauce, but you just need to flip the direction of the flying geese unit around and add corner squares to the center unit "B". I made it according to the book's instructions, and my fourth test block came out without cut-off points. 

I didn't bother to square this block up nicely since I won't be using it, but look: all the solid red points are good and won't be lost in the seam allowance.

I sent BasicGrey an email asking for tips or if they had pattern corrections, but who knows if anyone will answer me? 

Have any of you made this BasicGrey Apple Sauce pattern? Is there some trick to not cutting off those points in the block? I have found a workaround for the problem by using the instructions in my Judy Hopkins book, but man, it is frustrating to spend $10-12 on a quilt pattern and have the block instructions not be right.

Flea Market and Helping Out at the Winery

Everyone must be thoroughly sick of my posting on the endless Sampler Spree blocks, so I will give you all a break from that topic while I wait for my lattice fabric to arrive. In the meantime, I have the blocks all up on my design wall and keep seeing blocks I want to re-make in more effective colors. It is driving me nuts to tell you the truth. I need to leave it alone.

The photo above is the center part of the Flea Market quilt. It has at least two more rounds of blocks to surround the center section, but I think I may only add one more round. I have it all sewn together up to this point and believe I will put it away until closer to spring. The mood of this quilt is rather light-hearted and lends itself more to that time of year in my opinion.

For those of you who don't know, my son-in-law is a winemaker. Right now, it's harvest, and everyone who is able lends a hand to get the grapes processed and turned into wine. That is my granddaughter Eva in the photo above doing something called "punch downs". The grapes have been put into large bins to start the fermentation process, and are releasing lots of juice. The skins and stems of the grapes rise to the surface due to the carbon dioxide produced by fermentation. This cap of material needs to be "punched down" back into the juice to complete the fermentation process.

Yes, it is hard work! But before you contact Child Protective Services, take a look at the smile on our girl's face. She loves helping her daddy. Agribusiness is a family affair. 

 

 

Sampler Spree Blocks are Done!

My 100 Sampler Spree blocks are all done. I actually have probably made 120 blocks, but not all of them made the cut. I put the ones I like best on the design wall, but they will need to be arranged somewhat more. Those two lightning bolt/zig zag blocks on the bottom two rows are way too close together, for instance.

It is amazing how effective taking a photo of your quilt blocks is to show you what needs to be positioned elsewhere!

I showed my husband the photo and his reaction was "Well, that's rather busy". I guess it is, but I think the setting will calm things down a bit. There will be a separation strip of the cream background fabric in between each block, and then the blocks will be latticed in groups of four, which will provide more separation.

It's been a very fun project to work on and I think I will enjoy the finished quilt. I need to order more fabric for the lattices, so I am stalled until that arrives. 

How was your weekend?