Sister's Choice Quilts

What a Day

I haven't had quite as much time to sew as I had expected, due to my poor grand dog Remy's anxiety issues.  Since we are taking care of him for a few days while his family is on vacation, we have witnessed how severe his anxiety issues are. He will go to the veterinarian on Thursday, but in the meantime, we are trying to deal with his issues and make him as comfortable as we can.

I thought at first that the poor little guy's anxiety attacks happened at dusk, but it turns out he has them any time during the day. Yesterday he began shaking and trembling and panting at 9:15 and did not stop until 2:30. It was awful. We tried to distract him with sips of water, treats, peanut butter (what dog can resist that?), and holding him securely. Nothing worked. He just had to get through it, but it took a long time. I hope when my son-in-law takes him to the vet, some solution will be offered.

The photo above is Week 3 of the Red Sampler Sew Along Lori Holt is sponsoring.  I love how these blocks are turning out, but those little ones with the 3" blocks sewn in a quadrant are a real challenge!

Hope your week is going well. 

I fixed it:

Doggie Dementia

Have any of you heard of canine dementia? I am curious. I know a bit about dementia in humans, having had friends and relatives succumb to it. There is a symptom that is particularly interesting that is called "Sundowner Syndrome" which apparently affects not only us humans with dementia, but dogs as well.

This little guy is my daughter's dog Remy. He is a West Highland Terrier who is going on 14 years of age in December. He has some issues with arthritis in his hips, (or some other deteriorating condition of his hip joints). Other than that, he has seemed to carry on fairly well with his aging issues. Recently, however, in the late afternoon and early evening, he has started behaving strangely. He paces around in circles, seems anxious, has his tongue hanging out, and appears not at all comfortable or happy. It is as if he feels something needs to happen, but he isn't sure what that might be or how it will affect him.

It turns out that in both humans and dogs, the approach of sundown can trigger emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes. In both humans and canines with dementia, the approach of darkness can trigger fears that they need to be somewhere (go home), or do something to wind up the day. He definitely appears to be anxious and insecure at that time.

I found that getting Remy snuggled into a warm comfortable spot seems to help. He likes being on the couch, surrounded by pillows or with me at his side cuddling up to him. It is as if he is getting the signal that we are done with our day, we are in a cozy spot, and can settle in. Most of the time it works, but at other times he just can't settle in and continues to pace around anxiously.

Here the poor little guy is. We try to hold him and comfort him, but he trembles and shakes and seems terrified. Ozzie sits at my husband's feet, worrying about his buddy. You can see out the window that it is just at sunset.

Have any of you experienced this strange symptom in your loved ones? Human or canine? Have you come up with any techniques to manage it?

Mushroom Leek Tart

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine started last Thursday and lasted through Sunday. It was my birthday yesterday and I seemed to have started the celebration early. My daughter and her husband came over yesterday for a barbeque and I rounded out the meal with a mushroom leek tart. It was so easy and good I have to share how it's made. Here is the link to the recipe that inspired my version.

The original recipe calls for asparagus with the leeks, but I am not a fan, so I substituted mushrooms. This is the third time I have made this recipe and I am getting my technique down better. This time I cut the recipe in half and it was great. I have actually posted on making this tart before. Here is a link to my first effort if you would like to read that. I share more photos of the process in that post.

Here's what I did in a nutshell. I used one refrigerated pie crust, topped it with 1 cup of shredded fontina cheese. I topped the cheese with one leek and 5 or 6 mushrooms I had sauteed in 2 T. butter. I put a few dabs of ricotta cheese on top of the veggies (you could use soft mozzarella too I think). I sprinkled some thyme on top, just a little. Lastly I crimped the pie dough up and all around the filling as you would for a rustic tart. Brush the crust with egg wash. I baked it on a hot pizza stone at 450 for 18 minutes.

Refer to the recipe for detailed instructions for a tart that is double the size of mine. You could use any veggies you like and use a different cheese if you prefer. Make sure your filling isn't too "wet".  The first two times I made this my bottom crust was a bit soggy, but that hot pizza stone solved that issue.

Eva is off camping this week, so I plan to get in some sewing and reading. Summer seems to be in full swing all of a sudden!

Red Sampler Blocks Underway

New Project! Woo hoo! I am so excited to show you my first two weeks of Lori Holt's Red Sampler Sew Along. Each week it seems we will make one 12 inch block and two 6 inch blocks. The block patterns come from three or four of her published books, so it sure helps if you have them on hand. Luckily I have collected them over time. Two weeks done and seven more to go to catch up.

The most challenging block was the one on the bottom left that consists of four 3 1/2" Churn Dash blocks. That is an easy block, but try making it in a 3 1/2" size and you might re-evaluate that opinion. There will be a number of blocks in that style throughout the quilt. Easy blocks, but made super small and connected in a quadrant. It is a fun look and I am excited to see where we are going with it.

While I made the blocks yesterday, I listened to the end of the audiobook I have been so enjoying. The Hail Mary Project by Andy Weil.  Ok, this is a surprise. It is science fiction and I loved it. As a matter of fact, I like it the best of any book I have read this entire year. It will be in my top five favorites without a doubt. I URGE you to read this book. I laughed, I cried, and in the end, I was left with the happiest best feelings. I loved this book so so much. It is a book about heroism, unlikely friendships, and features a character who is the most unusual I have ever encountered in a book. Not going to spoil it for you. Just read it. Or listen to the audiobook. The narrator could not have been more perfect. And then tell me how much you loved it. You are welcome!

Sewcialites- Almost Done

Well. Sewcialites is just about a finish for me. There are a couple more weeks in the sew-along, but I really want to put a cap on this project and finish it up. I made a couple of extra 6-inch blocks to fill in the blanks and figured out my setting. The setting I chose is similar to the Fatquartershop setting, but I wanted more of a star look than they showed, so I switched out the position of a couple of half-square triangles to get that look.

My overall review of the project is that I enjoyed it for the most part. I particularly liked Kimberly's weekly chatty tutorials. Any sew along tends to be a skill builder, and this one was pretty good at that, especially for people new to quilting. The blocks are not as cohesive in style as other sew-alongs I have done. Perhaps there were just too many designers for this project. 

I am happy with my finish, and will get these blocks together this week. It is a fairly small quilt, around 54" square. A nice lap quilt, porch quilt, or display quilt. 

I am ready to move on to a new project, how about you? Lori Holt's Red Sampler quilt is calling to me. So, this illustrates a contrast in sew-alongs for you. Lori's Red Sampler project has multiple block designs, but all by one designer. A two-color scheme, but scrappy within the color constraints. Block designs for different abilities, so there will be challenges for some. I think the resulting quilt will be cohesive and pleasing. My fabrics are prepared and I am ready to dive in!

Lori's Red Sampler sew-along has been going on for nine weeks, so I will have some catching up to do!

Hope to have some May book reviews for you this week. Right now I am listening to the best.book.ever. The Hail Mary Project by Andy Weil, who is the author of the Martian. Did you see the movie with Matt Damon? This newest book is even better. I never read science fiction, so if I love this, it has to be amazing. So so good.

Simple Folded Corner Ruler

My big news is that I have only two more vertical rows to sew for my Moda BlockHeads 3 quilt! That quilt is just humongous. King-sized for sure. As I was sewing a row together over the weekend, I noticed one of my twelve-inch blocks was just a mess. I do not know what happened, but when I looked at it close up and personal I was not happy. I decided to replace it with something else and so made my final block for this sew-along. There you have it above. It is called Autumn Star and is from one of Lori Holt's books.

I have been finding that more often than not lately, I have been reaching for Doug Leko's Simple Folded Corner Tool when I have to make those "draw a line diagonally, stitch a quarter inch away, and trim" kind of instructions. There are so many lines to line up the tool on your fabric that you basically cannot go wrong and end up with a wonky block unit. 

I had to make eight of the rectangular units and sew them together into four block segments. Only, I managed to sew them together incorrectly. I did an outstanding job of matching up my points, but unfortunately, this is not how the unit is supposed to look.

This is what the units were supposed to look like. Luckily, thanks to the tool, even after unsewing all the pieces, the final results turned out great.

Do press your seams open for the best results.

In other news, my son-in-law and his new wife celebrated their first year of marriage with a spectacular sushi party in their backyard. Now that most of us have been vaccinated, small gatherings are starting up again. It was so lovely to get together with friends to celebrate something together! The sushi chef is above explaining all the fabulous dishes he will be coming out with over the course of the evening. It was loads of fun, and the food was both unusual and delicious.

Hope you had something to celebrate this weekend!

Red Sampler Sew Along

Uh oh, you know what that means. I have been going through cans of starch like nobody's business lately. These yummy fabrics are mostly from Riley Blake, getting prepped for a sew-along Lori Holt is hosting, called the Red Sampler Sew Along. As I said, the fabrics are Lori's from various collections she has done for Riley Blake, and the block patterns all come from Lori's books. The sew-along has been going on for eight weeks, so I have some catching up to do!

Here are the reds all pressed and folded. The reds have a coral cast to them, which is very fresh and pretty. The reds that Bonnie and Camille use are similar in tone I think. I pulled a couple B&C reds from my stash and they go perfectly. There are a few darker tone reds on the bottom of the stack on the left. They will add a nice change from the lighter ones I think.

And the backgrounds.

I have fat quarter cuts of most of the reds and one-yard cuts of the backgrounds and the red gingham, which appears often in the blocks.

I have not used Riley Blake fabrics much before this. The quality feels just as nice as Moda. I was a bit worried about the reds bleeding but saw no sign of it while starching heavily. What is your experience? Have you used much Riley Blake fabric?

What is it about red and white quilts? They are so hard to resist.

The patterns Lori uses for the sew-along come primarily from her two Farm Girl Vintage books, her Christmas Vintage book, and her Granny Square book. She has been doing three blocks each week in 12" and 6" sizes. I will link to Week Eight of her sew-along, where she has all the blocks done so far pictured. Obviously, you need her books for the patterns.

As soon as I get my Moda BlockHeads behemoth off the design board I will make a few of these pretty red blocks as a reward. 

Hope you all have a terrific weekend!