Sister's Choice Quilts

Peace Has Been Restored

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My husband is home from his trip and order has been restored at our house.  The dogs are on their best behavior in his presence.  I definitely am not anywhere on the alpha chain.  We have a call in to a professional dog trainer to see if she can help us with our canine discord.

Ozzie is totally back to normal and full of fun.   Wounds all healed, no sign of infection, no pain.  Sophie is calm and sweet and for the moment all is well.  We are keeping them apart for most of the time just in case. 

I spent most of yesterday at the mall enjoying some retail therapy to shake the experience of last week out of my mind.  One excellent thing that came of the Week From Hell was that I lost 6 pounds!!!  No kidding.  Got to stick with it so it stays off!  Sure had fun trying on clothes.

My DH and son had a super time on their trip to Palm Desert.  But they are not going back anytime soon and leaving me with these dogs.  No way.

I want to sincerely thank all of you who made such thoughtful and supportive comments during my crisis with the dogs.  You gave such good advice and just hearing your own stories helped me put my situation into perspective.  My goodness, blogging has provided me with some wonderful friends.

Tomorrow is Shopping Tuesday on my blog, and I have quite a bit that I plan to list.  I am finding that I am just scraping the tip of the iceberg in my stash closet!  My post is set to post at 8:00 AM tomorrow, Pacific Daylight Time.

Ozzie Update

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your supportive and heart felt responses to my post yesterday.  You are all just the best friends anyone could ever wish for.  I plan to answer each and every one of your emails tomorrow.

Ozzie is doing much better today.  It is like day and night to spend time without Sophie.  He is his relaxed, goof ball, affectionate self.  His shoulder still hurts him, but the pain meds and the antibiotics seem to be doing their job.  We have just gotten back from a walk in the neighborhood and his enjoyment of it seemed almost normal.

My husband gets home tomorrow and we have some serious talking to do.

Again, you are the best.  Thank you all.

The Real Deal

My mailbox was certainly full of treasures this week!  Remember my tantrum about a certain shop that sent me a collection of fat quarters that were supposed to be raspberry pink, but turned out to be purple, blue and everything but raspberry?  Well, Allyson in Alaska read my rant and sent me a collection of true raspberry batiks that are so beautiful I cannot wait to turn them into a quilt.

Honestly some people are so generous!  These fabrics are so unbelievably yummy, my photo doesn't really do them justice.  Look how she folded and tied them!  Isn't that appealing?  So much better than the wadded up presentation the shop sent.  These are almost too pretty to unwrap.  Almost.....

Another generous friend, Lisa, sent me a collection of raspberry batiks she had leftover from a recent project, so as far as fabric goes, I think I am all set.  All I need to do now is to choose a pattern.  Any suggestions?

Five Pounds Makes a Difference

My husband and son are off on vacation together this week in Palm Desert.  Since I have no one to cook for,  I am making the most of the week by going on a diet.  Five pounds is all I ask.  Yes, ten would be better, and fifteen a complete miracle.  But I will settle for five. 

Five pounds makes a difference in how one's clothes fit.  Truly.  Waist bands that ride comfortably start to pinch and little rolls of flesh appear out of nowhere.  And what on earth is happening on my back?  Those rolls of flab above and below the bra band cannot have been there five pounds ago. 

So the five pounds must go.  It is my Spring Gift to myself.  After I eat my way though all the Weight Watchers frozen food this week, I will go back to my normal Weight Watchers Point counting regime.  That program isn't quick, but it works.  As a major bonus, if you learn any good habits on the program, which you SHOULD, the weight does not come back.  Except for that five pounds when you aren't paying attention.

I lost 30 pounds on Weight Watchers three years ago, and have kept off 25.  The thing is, I stopped the program when I was about 10 pounds short of my goal.  So, I figure now, I need to lose fifteen pounds.  That isn't such a big number.  Not nearly as scary as 30 was!  I know I can do it.  I will take it in five pound increments.  This week is my start.

Wish me luck!

Focus On What You Love

Those are 6 1/2 inch star blocks for a quilt I am making out of some Allspice Tapestry fabric by Fig Tree for Moda.  I started this project months ago and it has been sitting in a box all this time.  It's a shame too, because I really like this fabric and the pattern.  It makes me happy and deserves to be finished.  Why did I set it aside?  Because I got distracted by the latest new fabric groups and buying a gazillion jelly rolls and layer cakes.  Because I can't seem to concentrate on finishing something I have started, and set it aside to start three new projects.  The number of quilts in progress in my possession is frightening.  Lately they have been multiplying exponentially.

I have decided to focus more on the patterns and fabrics that really move me.  No more purchases made on a whim, no more trying to use fabric and patterns up just because they are sitting around.  I want to spend my money and my time on things that make me full of joy.  My buying is going to be a lot more circumspect and thoughtful from now on.  Impulse buying is a thing of the past.   I can hear my sister Kate laughing right now.  "Sure Nicki, I'll believe that when I see it".  But seriously, I am going to try.

This weekend, I organized my sewing room, partly because it was a total mess, and partly because I wanted to get a sense of what all is IN there taking up shelf space.  The main inspiration for this major tidying is because I am going to embark on a piecing project for a well known Quilting Diva, but I can't tell you too much about that just yet.  I had to clear the clutter, stow the books, box up the unfinished projects and fabric being auditioned for even more projects, and get ready to Concentrate.  This is a big deal to me and I want no distractions interfering with my stunt sewing.

After a number of hours poking around in the closet, drawers and bins, my discovery was that I own an awful lot of very nice fabric, bundles, BOMs, and kits that I won't be able to use if I do nothing but sew for the next 50 years.  Some of it I have lost the love for, but other things I just know in my heart that I won't get to. 

So here's the thing.  Every Tuesday for the next little while is going to be Shopping Day at Sister's Choice Quilts.   I will be offering kits, bundles, jelly rolls, fat quarter collections and more.  I will give good prices and hope that some of you friends out there may find something you love or that you can't find in the stores any more.  

I'm looking forward to providing some things that may stir your heart, and simplifying my quilting life at the same time. 

Excess Stuff Giveaway Winners

Happy Friday everyone!  I am delighted to announce the winners of my Excess Stuff Giveaway today.  Rachel (Southern Knit Wit) won the layer cake pictured above.  Wildflower Serenade by Kansas Troubles.

I just checked out your blog Girlfriend, and you are one lucky gal.  It looks like you win stuff all the time!  Or else you must enter every giveaway out there!  Anyway sincere congratulations to you on your win.  Please send me your address and this layer cake will be on its way to you!

The next winner is Kathy J, who gets the jelly roll.  This pretty collection is called Winter by Minick and Simpson.  It looks Christmassy, but due to the large number of light strips I think you could make something very interesting out of it!  Here is a picture of the lights on the other side of the roll-

Thanks for letting me know your address Kathy!  I will pop this in the mail today.

And lastly, Allyson in Alaska won two charm packs! 

This is 1974 by a pizzazzy designer called Urban Chicks.  Thanks for providing me your address Allyson-  this will go out to you today.

How were the winners selected?  Well, I'll tell you.  I didn't want to do the doggie selection method, and my aim with darts is pretty bad, so I checked out something called Random Number Generator.  Go ahead and Google it, it is very cool.  I put in the number of comments to the post and had it generate three random numbers.  Up came three numbers reflecting the order of commenting for Kathy J, Allyson and Rachel!  Easy way to go for sure.  Try it next time you do a giveaway, you'll like it.

I loved doing this giveaway, and I think I need to do more of them.  I have way too much stuff and if I live to be 125 years old, I will never be able to use it all up.  So friends, look here for more giveaways in the near future.

I also plan to offer for sale some kits and bundles that I don't think I will get to, so if you are interested, check back next week.

Have a fabulous and "pieceful" weekend all of you! 

Extreme Clutter

 

Is anyone watching the Oprah series on Uncluttering Your Home?  She has put together a squad of people who travel all over in Volkswagen Bugs knocking on the doors of unsuspecting slobs, barge in and shame them in front of the entire world about how cluttered and messy their homes are.  It is either your worst nightmare or your salvation.  The point is that clutter costs you money, distracts your mind and is often unhygienic. 

Like watching a train wreck, I am unable to turn my eyes away from this program.  Yesterday the Squad turned up at a fraternity house at a university in Georgia, barged into the three room mates dorm room at 6:00 AM *with the boys MOTHERS*.  Talk about embarrassing.  Luckily they were caught just sleeping, not doing anything illegal or immoral.  The squalor those three boys lived in was pretty unbelievable. With the help of the Clutter Squad and some items from the Container Store these fellows were sorted out quite nicely in a day or so.  At the end they even had desk space to do their studies.  Their mothers approved, and the guys vowed they were going to keep things neat and tidy from now on.

Then unbeknownst to a woman in her audience, Oprah had the woman's van towed all the way to Chicago so everyone could see right on the stage what a pig sty the woman drove around in.  Now this really was pretty impressive.  In the entire van, there was only room for two of her three kids because of all the crap packed into the vehicle.  The back storage area was like an archaeological dig, with items packed as tight as possible from the floor up to the ceiling.  She could not possibly been able to see out of that car.  Oprah gave her an hour to go work with the Clutter Bugs and clean up that messy van.  You would not believe what they found in there.  Gifts she had planned to give to her children or her nephews from over three years back.  Clothing that no longer fit the intended recipients.  Shoes, lots of trash, sports equipment, old food (really old food), baby bottles from her children who were now 3, 5 and 6.  The pile of debris was incredible.  How anyone could live like that is beyond me.

The show did make me look around my own house though.  Things have gotten a bit out of hand around here.  I wanted to give you an example of the mess things are in my house, but could not bear to shame myself to that degree.  I chose a not so bad spot to begin with.  That is my cluttered bedside stand you see above.  Well, you can guess I am an avid reader with a sinus problem. 

The premise of the Chief Clutter Bug is that you must start by uncluttering your surfaces.  Make piles of like objects to put away.  Makes piles of things to keep, to throw away or to donate.  Get rid of stuff.  Every time you get something new, get rid of something old.  Get containers to hold like things together.  Keep ever vigilant or the clutter will come right back.  There were testimonials from people who claimed that de-cluttering changed their lives for the better.  One woman was uncluttering her office and discovered a refund check for $1400 that was due to expire in a week.

I don't know about you, but I am up for a bit of de-cluttering!  Let's see what changes I can make around here.

Not Feeling the Love

I have been procrastinating a lot lately.  There are several potentially really beautiful projects I have started, and then left off working on.  What is my problem?  I think it is that I have so many unquilted tops sitting around my house that it seems a shame to start another one.  There is quite a pile accumulating.  How will I ever afford to have them all quilted?  At this moment I have a quilt in hock at my favorite quilters, that I can't afford to pay for.

I feel like a cat that should have been spayed.  I keep giving birth to these quilt tops I can't take care of.

My thought process has been that I need to work on smaller projects, like table toppers, wall hangings and baby quilts, that I can machine quilt myself.  I did that this past weekend, and managed to complete two table runners.  Respectable looking even.

I have turned to layer cakes and jelly rolls in order to save the money I would have normally spent on an entire bundle of fabric.  That has turned out to be a false economy for sure.  Instead of buying the one fabric bundle that I truly LOVE and can't live with out, I will buy three layer cakes of fabric groups that I have varying levels of passion for.  Bundle of Love= $100;  Three Layer Cakes= $115.  See what I mean?

The project I started last Friday you see pictured above.  It is a Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company called Four Corners.  Fun easy little block.  The problem is, I used a layer cake called Portugal that I cannot even believe that I bought, just because I had it laying around and felt I needed to use up.  Do I love it?  Absolutely not.  Does it go with anything in my house?  Not at all.  Do I feel any amount of love for this fabric collection?  Sorry, no.

My time would have been much better used if I had picked up one of the projects I already have going and have posted on lately.  Flowers for Clara, Moor is Moor, my purple batik.  They are all there, staring at me reproachfully, wondering why they have been abandoned for these quick weekend flings.

You heard it here first----From now on I am only going to work on projects that excite me.  Projects I will see through to the finish.  Using fabrics that mean something to me.  I have been promiscuous in my fabric buying friends, and I am turning over a new leaf.

So what will I do with the layer cakes and jelly rolls I have sitting around that I know I will never use?  I am going to have a little give away!  Comment on this post and there will be three winners this Friday.  One winner will receive a layer cake, one will receive a jelly roll, and one will receive two charm packs.

Weekend Table Runners

Did you have a good weekend?  Get any sewing done?  The weather was damp and dreary here, and it seemed like a much better idea to stay inside and sew rather than clean up the yard.  Spending time organizing my closets and tossing out some old clothes would have probably been more productive, but I am procrastinating on that particular chore.  My husband will be delighted when I finish that, because our bedroom is strewn with clothing that I can't decide to keep or set free.  It is such a good feeling when the seasons change to sort through things and eliminate the stuff you don't really need anymore.

And that goes for fabric too!

I had a jelly roll of Northern Sanctuary by Holly Taylor for Moda sitting around gathering dust, so I thought I would take action and make something out of it.  The fabric strips were brown, burgundy, green, blue, yellow, pink and cream.  I probably had enough to make three table runners, but I contented myself with two.  I used the yellow in one and the cream in the other.  Never did use the pink. 

The activity was productive in one sense--I got to practice my machine quilting.  I am so lousy at it.  I never do progress beyond "stitch in the ditch" and even that is clumsy looking.  With my income drastically reduced such as it is, I have to sharpen my machine quilting skills in order to economize somehow.  I used invisible thread on top and thread that matched the backing underneath.  My friend Lisa told me about a thread called King Tut, that she likes for machine quilting, but I don't know about it.  What do you all use?

I plan to give one runner to my dad and the other to a family friend to whom I owe a belated birthday gift.  The pattern is Heather Mulder Petersen's "Box Lunch" from her book, On A Roll Again. 

Maybe the closets didn't get sorted out, but I found a use for this fabric!

Slug A-bed

This little Princess and the Pea would be my Sophie, posing delicately while she catches a few zzzz's.

She has taken to climbing into bed with me after her morning walk with my husband and Ozzie.  After leaping onto me and licking my face thoroughly, she curls up against my tummy and we make like spoons for an hour or so before I have to get up and get ready for work.  I love these precious moments that give my every day a loving beginning.

Wondering about the quilt she is lolling on?  That would be Stella Blue, one of my all time favorite Miss Rosie's Quilt Company patterns.  This was a shameless copy of hers, right down to the same fabric she used.  She gave hers to her brother though, according to the pattern.  I kept mine for myself!

 

Trust me, you will be an expert at making Flying Geese if you tackle this pattern!