Sister's Choice Quilts

Provence Baskets

Sticking with my goal to finish one "almost done" project per weekend, I got the borders sewn on to my Provence Baskets quilt.  You may recall that when I was piecing these blocks, I felt that they were very far removed from my usual palette, and had quite a few doubts that this quilt was "me".  Well, I must be reinventing myself, because I have ended up being very fond of this cheerful quilt!  I have a plan to use it in my sewing room once it is quilted, and will re-do the entire decor in that room around its color scheme.  I found a little cracked china mosaic vase this weekend that will be the perfect accent piece. 

This sunny color scheme will brighten the darkest winter day.  Even if I have to sit at the Bernina and stitch 800 half square triangles, the task will go easier with this quilt at my side cheering me on.

Relaxing

   

My plan to sit on the sidelines while my husband and son did all the work in the garden failed miserably.  When my idea of doing a bit of hand sewing in the shade was met with incredulity, I soon found myself up to my elbows in potting soil, wet spagnum moss, and fertilizer.  Three trips to the garden center and many hours later, we could see that things were shaping up rather well.  We planted roses, petuntias, geraniums, marigolds, allysum, lobelia, bacopa, herbs and a few other things whose names escape me.  The hydrangeas will have to wait for another day.   It is my profound hope that the big bag of snail bait we scattered all around will prevent the nasty creatures from eating everything we put into the ground!

My husband and I rewarded ourselves last night with a nice bottle of wine and a cozy fire on the patio.

Glorious Day

Hello friends!  It was 81 degrees in Carmel Valley today, and my DH and I decided it was a perfect afternoon to go to our favorite garden nursery and buy some new plants to freshen up the backyard.  Our garden was hit hard by a bad frost we had this winter, and I have many bare spots to fill and terra cotta pots to replant.  We got plenty of inspiration at the garden center, and DH's credit card is still smokin'.

Here's my garden boy with the two carts I managed to fill with all kinds of pretty annuals.  Tomorrow he will plant everything for me.  I know, I know, I am so lucky.  My style of gardening has always been more theoretical than practical.  Poring over garden magazines and picking out the pretty flowers is what I do best.  Physical labor?  Sweating in the sun?  Oh no, not this girl.

 

Keys

Don't you just love a collection?  I only have five of them, but these big keys make me so happy.  The key, to me is a symbol of opportunity, discovery and mysteries to be solved.  It is a well known symbol of knowledge and power as well.  I found all five of these keys at an antique market in Arezzo, Italy.  The thing that excited me was my fantasies of what amazing places these keys may have unlocked in the past.  My mind positively danced with notions of castles, convents, and villas.  Until I discovered what the key to a castle REALLY looks like.  Trust me,  it makes my keys look like they would open the barn, not the villa.  Still.  I love my keys.

The thing about collecting is that there is always room for more, right?  These skeleton keys and cut glass heart dish were purchased the weekend of my recent quilting retreat at a charming little antique and curiosity shop located right next door to the local quilt shop we visited on our field trip.  Talk about serendipitous shop locations!  These keys remind me of my girlhood, when we lived in Michigan in a house that had been built in the 1920's.  All the doors in the house had locks on them that opened with keys such as the ones shown above.  I remember my mother had a couple of "skeleton" keys that opened any of the doors.  That was a magical concept to me.

Talking about these keys makes me recall something called a "guided fantasy" that was popular in the 80's.  I wonder if anyone else remembers this and how it went?   You start the fantasy by imagining yourself walking through a deep dark forest.  You walk and walk until you find a key.  Describe the key.  You continue your walk along the mossy path, and soon notice a drinking vessel.  Describe this vessel.  Carrying with you the key and the drinking vessel, before too long you arrive at a door. Describe the door.  You go through the door and into a room.  Describe the room.  You pass through the room into another room that has a person or a group of people in it.  Who are they and what is their reaction to you?

You get the idea.  This fantasy went on at some length, having you discover various things along the journey.  If you wrote down the things as you imagined them, it was pretty revealing about what was on your mind or going on in your life at the time.  It all started with a key...

Raise the Roof-Work in Progress

I spent five hours on Sunday working on my Raise the Roof quilt blocks, using the In the Pink fabric line.  I think this one could be a real winner, provided I can get through the challenges I am experiencing with the star blocks.  The quilt top is made up of two different quilt blocks, a traditional log cabin and a star block made up of contrasting lights, mediums and darks.  The star blocks are made up of an hour glass (quarter square triangle center), and flying geese made in two color arrangements.  There are also some solid squares and half square triangles thrown in to make things interesting. The challenge lies in the lay out of the various lights and darks.  As you can see, I have about nine ways I could do this wrong.  My spatial acuity is really getting a work out with this block.

I have a lovely stack of 22 easy log cabin blocks completed, and two, yes that's right, TWO star blocks.  It takes me an inordinate amount of time to lay the nine sections of each block out, check each piece for correct positioning, then stitch it together.  I am determined not to plow ahead and complete 16 blocks before realizing that I have the flying geese oriented improperly.  And my friends, I have 32 of these star blocks to get through.  I should finish this quilt top sometime before 2040, I am sure.  And for goodness sake, don't anybody sneeze or slam the door and get all my pieces mixed up!

Garden Sanctuary

Another one finished!  You have to imagine me doing my friend Darlene's victory dance {"another one bites the dust, another one's done and another one's done and another one bites the dust (boom boom)"}.  My current goal is to complete an unfinished project each weekend until most of my project boxes are empty.  No starting any new projects allowed until at least five boxes are freed up!  On the bed in my sewing room, I have the fabrics "auditioning" for four new quilt projects, so I need to move these things along!

For the quilt pictured above, I used the Sanctuary fabric line from Moda, and a pattern called Elegant Garden from Evelyn Sloppy's book, Forty Fabulous Quick Cut Quilts.  Evelyn's books are terrific, and you will be seeing a lot more of her patterns here on my blog.   You know you have found a great book when there are up to ten projects in it that you can see yourself making.  That is money well spent!

It was a productive weekend for me.  I managed to have fun shopping and lunching with my daughter, and still get some quality time in on the Bernina.  Three bindings sewn on, one binding hand stitched down, borders applied to Elegant Garden, and a good deal of fabric fondling occupied me nicely. 

On Sunday, I spent one of the nicest afternoons possible at my once a month Banish the UFO's group meeting.  This is a group I have been sewing with for going on eight years!  There are few things in life more pleasurable than spending time with friendly like-minded women who enjoy quilting together.  If you aren't a member of a sewing group, I highly recommend starting one.  You will make life long friends, get tons of project ideas, learn new skills and develop a support group that cannot be matched.  We even manage to get some sewing accomplished during our get togethers!  I have a friend whose quilting group "Sister Threads" has been meeting for years, goes on yearly retreats, and last year organized their first quilt show.  Recently, due to blogging, my list of quilting friends has been greatly expanded.  I can't tell you how much fun I have discussing projects, fabric lines, and sewing techniques with my Internet friends!  Even if one lives in the most remote location, access to the Internet provides an opportunity for sharing ideas, projects, inspiration and support with individuals who have shared interests. 

Speaking of quilting friends, my dear pal Lisa just acquired a rare white Singer Featherweight machine!  Stop by her blog and check out the photo of her new arrival.  Congratulations Lisa!  I am SO jealous!

Tea for Two

Sara and I were out and about this weekend in Carmel By the Sea.  Usually we try to avoid the more touristy spots around town, but the notion of having a warming pot of tea by a cozy fire tempted us into the Tuck Box.  A "tuck box" was the little trunk English school boys used to tote their books, toys and food to and from boarding school.  Since the food at boarding school typically didn't warrant much praise, these goodies brought from home sustained many a boy until he could return home at the completion of the term.

This tiny tea room only has six or seven tables inside, and has been a Carmel institution for seven decades.  Doesn't it look like something out of a fairy tale?  The architecture is typical cutesy-Carmel-cottage, but the food is solid English fare.  We selected Welsh Rarebit and Shrimp Salad for our lunches, and finished off the meal with the Tuck Box's version of scones, clotted cream and homemade jams.  The Tuck Box's version of scones is not the typical small dense cake we are used to, but a northern Scottish version, which is much larger and lighter in texture.  The olallieberry jam we slathered on the scones was the best part of the meal!

New Look

My fingers are a little tender after the marathon binding sew-in this weekend, but I did manage to get my new quilt finished and on my bed!  This quilt was a top I finished several years ago, but did not get around to having quilted until now.  Since all the labor on it is a distant memory, I feel as if this quilt was a gift to myself.  With a new quilt practically falling out of the sky, I decided an entire fresh look for my bedroom was in order.  Away with my purple and green color scheme and in with the sage, cranberry and black! 

This is my cozy reading nook, which has been rather neglected since I started blogging.  Who has time to read novels when there are fellow bloggers to befriend, blogsites to check out, and posts of my own to write?  If I bring out my cheerful basket quilt and stack up the new Maeve Binchy and Jennifer Chiaverini books near by, perhaps I will be lured back to my chaise lounge for a good read. 

Buried in Bindings

Yesterday I picked up two more finished quilts from my long arm quilter.  Now I have a total of six quilts that need the binding made and sewn on.  Since one quilt is for Halloween and another for Christmas, I am feeling quite un-guilty about leaving those for another day.  The other four quilts are involved in my Spring and Summer decorating plans, so they must not be put off any longer.  I got the binding cut out for all of them, and my plan for today is to attach them by machine.  My evenings this weekend will be spent sewing miles and miles and miles of bindings.  Usually I enjoy this type of hand work, but I must say, I am asking myself why I let it go until I have so many to do at once!

Here is a little preview of one of the finished quilts.  It was quilted with an all-over floral design in a sage green thread. 

 

Flying Geese

My new project involves a new Miss Rosie pattern called "Raise the Roof" and a yummy brown and pink fabric collection called "In the Pink" by Buggy Barn.  It also involves a gazillion flying geese units.  What I would like to share with you today is a method for flying geese that is accurate, effective and very fast.  Give it a try, you'll love it! 

I first learned of this method through Carrie Nelson's Miss Rosie patterns, as it is a method she favors.  She gives credit to Eleanor Burns, who has shown a similar technique in her books.  There are a couple of flying geese rulers on the market, which incorporate this method as well, in many different finished size selections.

For four 2 x 4" flying geese units you will need one 5 1/4" square of fabric, and four 2 7/8 " squares of contrasting fabric.

Draw lines diagonally across the small squares.

Pin two of the smaller squares as shown, slightly overlapping.  Sew 1/4" from either side of the drawn lines.

Cut in half on drawn line. (Sorry, my camera strap got away from me again).  Press open.

You will have two units as shown above.  Are you wondering when they will start looking like flying geese?

Place two remaining small squares as shown.  Pin in place to control movement.  Sew on drawn lines and cut apart as in previous step.

Press open, trim dog ears,  and you have your four flying geese!