Sister's Choice Quilts

Dining Alfresco

The Europeans have a great idea when it comes to dining alfresco.  They do it every chance they get.  When I have traveled in Europe, one of my favorite things was to notice how many ways people ate their meals outside.  An Italian family, spied from the balcony of my hotel room in Pienza--in their backyard, table cloth covered table laden with carafes of wine and platters of pasta.  French workers sitting along the roadside, taking a two hour lunch break from their labors.  Sophisticated young people enjoying cocktails on the Piazza Navona in Rome at sunset.  Irish girls sitting at a sidewalk cafe with their cappuccinos on a sunny day in Dublin.  (Irish lads with their Guinness).

When the sun shines, the Europeans are out in droves having a meal or at least a coffee in it.  The food can be simple, the clean up is easy and the fresh air is invigorating (and probably good for the digestion).  We Californians are a close runner up when it comes to being outside as much as possible, and most people I know have devoted space to outdoor dining.

At the moment, all my patio furniture is covered up with tarps for the winter, so unless I spread a blanket on the patio itself, there is no place to sit.  Yesterday, the sun peeked out for an hour or so and I made an effort to get out in it.  I put Sophie on a leash and we went for a leisurely walk around the neighborhood.  It did us both good. 

My fantasy is to have a covered porch.  With a little bistro table that is never covered up, rain or shine.  A place where I can sit and enjoy a drink or a meal no matter what the time of year or what the weather.  A view of water wouldn't hurt either.

Ah yes.  I can dream, can't I?

Have a great weekend Friends!  And dine outside if you can!

Could I Be Any Lazier?

I don't know what is up with me this week.  I feel so lazy it is embarrassing.  Go to work?  I don't wanna.  Sew?  I don't wanna.  Read a book?  Maybe, if I can lie down and prop it up on a pillow.  And maybe have someone turn the pages for me.

Maybe I have Seasonal Affective Disorder? 

Symptoms:

• Afternoon slumps with decreased energy and concentration
• Carbohydrate cravings
• Decreased interest in work or other activities
• Depression that starts in fall or winter
• Increased appetite with weight gain
• Increased sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness
• Lack of energy
• Slow, sluggish, lethargic movement
• Social withdrawal

OMG.  I think I have this.  I have had a craving for naps, ice cream, carbs, and a decreased interest in socializing, working or doing anything else that might be useful.

The cure?  Sunshine. 

Which there isn't any of in the forecast.  And I live in California.  How much worse this must be for people who live in wintery climates where outdoor living won't be happening for another two or three months.  How do you cope?

I am being sort of facetious, but seriously, how do you all get through your cold winters?  What perks you up?  What motivates you to get going and accomplish something?   Let us know.  Your suggestions could really help!

Morris Garden

Ever since the quilt historian/fabric designer Barbara Brackman came out with her two William Morris inspired fabric collections, I have been unable to come up with a good idea as to how to use them.  I know, how pathetic.  But no matter how I toyed with ideas in my mind, nothing seemed to grab me.  The two collections I have are A Morris Garden and A Morris Workshop. 

I think the problem I was having is that I wanted to use all the colors in both lines in one quilt.  Chocolate, red, pink, rust, sage green, light blue, navy blue.  And those colors don't necessary blend all that well together.   There is also a mustard yellow, but despite my best efforts, there is no way I can add that color into the mix.   I would take the fabrics out of their storage container and lay them out, fondle them, put my favorite combinations together, and then put them all away again.

Kim, of Magnolia Bay blog has come out with a really fabulous new book called Scrap Basket Surprises, which I have mentioned here before.  Everywhere I go, I see someone making a quilt out of her new book.  This book is hot, people!  I was at my favorite quilt shop last week, and saw a gal making this pattern:

The fabrics used in the quilt in the book are batiks, but the woman whose quilt I was admiring had been using Civil War reproduction fabrics for a stunning result.  I am telling you, you can take any pattern in this book and use whatever your choice of fabric is, and get an amazing quilt, just to your own taste, style and preference.

I have been carrying Scrap Basket Surprises around with me, pouring over the pictures in the book, and kept being drawn back to a design called Kitchen Sink.

 

I found the answer to my dilemma in regard to the Morris inspired fabrics.  Keep it scrappy.  That way I can use all those pretty prints and they will all work together.  Except for the mustard.  No mustard in my quilt.

This past weekend, I cut out all my little rectangles, and made a couple of the simple blocks.  I love what I see, and making the blocks is easy and fun.  I will probably end up making the quilt larger than shown in the book.  I must have bought half yard cuts of most of these fabrics, and have enough to experiment with!

I have been inspired by so many new ideas lately, and must have cut fabrics out for four or five new quilts.  It is such a wonderful feeling to be so excited about launching into these projects!  I will keep you posted as to my progress!

The Girls Had Fun

My daughter Sara is going on vacation to Hawaii in a few weeks.  The purpose of the trip is for her and her husband to attend the wedding of some very dear friends, but if anyone I know needs a vacation, it is Sara.  I won't go into all the details, but suffice to say, a relaxing trip to a tropical destination is just the Rx that girl should be prescribed.

The challenge is, she needs vacation clothes, and is on a budget.  I still had some Talbots bucks leftover from my stint there, and went shopping for some fun basic bottoms for her---black capris, white capris, roll up cuff jeans, a denim skirt.  Then we shopped my closet, which often leads to interesting finds--a cute blouse, a couple of light weight cardigans, a perfect little black and white cotton jacket.  I am so good at basics.

Sara arrived Saturday night, and we had a mini shopping spree/try on in my bedroom.  Everything I had purchased worked!  However, the pizzazz factor was missing.  The next day, Sunday, we headed off to the mall in Monterey for pops of color to make these basic pieces come alive.  All the young, fun pieces a girl her age needs.

The top shown below goes with the black or the white capris, can be topped with a black or aqua cardigan, and worn with either the black or silver flats.  Love it.  Basics give you options girls.  Add in a fun trendy piece to your basics and you are good to go.

 

We had SO much fun shopping.  She got a few tops and a couple of pairs of flats, and now has her vacation/Spring/Summer wardrobe.  She will be starting a new job next week and since the environment is casual, she will be all set for work as well.  I missed my calling.  I want to be a personal shopping consultant.

My schedule is back to normal this week, so I should be able to venture into my messy sewing room and show you a few things I have been working on.  Hope you all had a great weekend!

Martinique For Real

I picked this pattern up recently, both because I liked the look of it, and because it is jelly roll friendly.  Then I realized that the designer had featured the new fabric collection Martinique by 3 Sisters for Moda!

Every season 3 Sisters reliably comes out with a great new collection.  Martinique is their Spring offering and some stores have pre-cuts for sale already.  The fabric on the bolt is expected in stores by March.  You can pre-order on Fatquartershop.com.  Check out my link to United Notions (Moda) and see the entire collection.  Beautiful.

This fabric collection reminds me somewhat of Sea Side Rose also by 3 Sisters (from a couple of years ago), which  has a similar beachy look.  If you took out the red and the brown, and just used the aquas, pinks, and creams, you could totally recreate this quilt I made awhile back.

 

Or, if you just used the red and brownish grey fabrics, you could make a quilt that would coordinate with Rouenneries beautifully.  Now, isn't that a good idea?  I love having similar color family quilts together in a room for a real decorator touch.

Now, I have to show the photo I had up yesterday again.

 

Notice this book?  This book is the hottest thing out there right now.  Fabric shops are sponsoring groups to make the quilts in the book, Fatquartershop has a club where you can join in and make four quilts a year featuring new fabric collections and patterns from the book.  Scrap Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett, a fellow blogger!  Magnolia Bay Quilts.  Go say hi and congratulations to Kim!  She's one of us, only more brilliant and entrepreneurial.   Her book is full of wonderful ideas for 2 1/2" strips.  I have a rule that before I will buy a book there have to be two or three patterns in it *at least* that I want to make someday.  No problem with Scrap Basket Surprises.  I am having difficulty deciding on which quilt to make first.

Go check out Quilt Hollow and see the amazing quilt Mary made from the book.  It is called Kitchen Sink, and when you see it, you will want to make one too.  I have been trying to figure out what to do with my Morris Garden and Morris Workshop fabrics for over a year now, and this may be the answer....

Martinique and Chicken Korma

Good morning everyone!  I am a bit off my blogging schedule this week, due to the holiday weekend and recovering from my little sinus procedure.  Hope to get back to my earlybird hours tomorrow.

I visited my doctor yesterday for my post op checkup.  He seemed very pleased with his work, and told me that I had literally no air in my sinus cavities prior to the surgery.  He says I should be dramatically improved now.  Then, magician like, he proceded to remove something the size of a dove or rabbit from each of my nostrils--"the packing", he called it.  Well, my gosh.  All I can say is there must be room inside my head now.

Seriously, I was just euphoric all the way home.  I didn't listen to the radio or anything--just smiled and smiled and practiced breathing through my nose.  The things we take for granted, I tell you.  Not anymore!  I am going to be grateful every single day to be able to breathe normally.

Ahren has been home from school for the long weekend.  We had a cozy evening cooking together last night.  His Irish lass loves something called Chicken Korma (quite popular in Ireland and England).  For Christmas, I bought everyone the latest Jamie Oliver cookbook called "Jamie's Food Revolution".  In this book, Jamie's premise is that everyone can cook decent meals for their families on a regular basis.  Like every day.  The book is full of simple recipes that are extremely family friendly.  I have made several of the offerings--a couple of roasts and a soup or two, and this delicious Chicken Korma.

Ahren was snapping pictures like Pioneer Woman as we cooked together.  You see, his idea was that he would provide himself a visual map of what he had done so he could re-create the dish for his girl when he visits her in Ireland in March.  He had gone out in search of a special curry paste, coconut milk and other ingredients during the day while I was at the docs, and had his mise en place en place.

The dish was delicious--a bit mild for me, even after adding in a jalapeno pepper.  Next time, I will use a curry paste with a little more kick.  Otherwise, this dish was a complete winner.

What does this post have to do with the new fabric group Martinique?  Nothing at all.  Sometimes that happens.  I start out all set to talk about one thing and get off on a tangent.  I will give you my thoughts on Martinique tomorrow!
 
 

Perfect Spring Weekend

I hope you all had a lovely long weekend!  Wow, both Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day--will riches never cease?

Thank you all so much for your good wishes on my speedy recovery from sinus surgery.  I was pretty miserable the first two days, but after that I was on the mend.  My husband kept referring to referring to the gauze packing on my nose as my "baffle", whatever that is, and seemed ever so slightly self conscious to be seen in public with me, but out in public we went on Sunday.  After having my eye swollen shut a couple of weeks ago, a big gauze beak over my nose didn't seem like a big deal to me.  "Mommie, oh Mommie!  That lady has a big boo boo on her nose!"  was the worst of it. 

And yesterday?  No more gauze needed at all.  My nose has settled down and is behaving, and my husband and I headed off for a lovely drive in the country.  The golden hills of California are velvety green, and the flowering almonds and plum trees are in full bloom.  I love this time of year!  We had the warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures nearly in the 70s.  Blue skies, fluffy clouds, happy cows, and Ozzie by our side.   Oh, we will get more rain, but yesterday reminded us of why we live in California.

I did get some sewing in on Saturday and Sunday.  I worked on more of my RCBBs (Ridiculously Cute Basket Blocks) and also the Mocha Trails blocks.

 

These blocks from the pattern Mocha Trails by A Graceful Stitch are really fun to make in different combinations of fabrics.  My favorite sort of quilt, with each block a new trio of fabrics in the same color palette.  These neutrals are so soothing.  If you haven't made a neutral colored quilt, give it some consideration.

Today I am back to my doctor, to have my inner sinus packing removed.  That sounds dreadful, but it will be good to get the last of the foreign materials out of my head so I can get back to normal breathing, smelling and tasting! 

Thanks For All the Good Wishes

Thanks so much for all the good wishes on my surgery yesterday.  I feel very blessed to have such wonderful friends in Blogland!

The doctor says the surgery went very well.  A great success.

I say maybe so, but my gosh, my entire face, including my teeth hurt.  Good thing for vicodin.  This should just last for the first 24 hours they tell me.  I sure hope so!

Happy Valentine's Day Friends, and I will talk to you Monday.

Deer Valley, Joel Dewberry, Chinese Plates and Thelma

Did you all see Thelma's blog earlier this week?  She showed some photos of a gorgeous Oriental Plate quilt that she had made.  It was only her third quilt, and she used her imagination and math skills to figure out a wonderful border and a different setting than the pattern had dictated.  When I saw Thelma's quilt, I realized that I had the basic instructions for the block in the Gai Perry book "24 Quilted Gems", and couldn't wait to get home and dig it out.  Sure enough, I found the book, and had the perfect idea of how to use the block pattern.

You see, my daughter Sara has a decorating scheme planned for the living room of her new house in Angels Camp.  Her inspiration is a framed poster she found--it is very retro and the theme is "travel to somewhere tropical", if my memory serves me right.  The colors are red, aqua, dark brown and cream.  It is so 50's looking, complete with airplane taking off in the sunset. A very Camille Roskelley color scheme if I ever saw one.  Young, hip, modern, fun, cheerful, beautiful.  These are the colors in the poster.  I wish I had a picture of the poster to show you, but I don't.  Yet.

When I saw Sara's poster, I knew the exact fabric collection that would work for a quilt to coordinate with it to complete the look of the living room.  In my mind's eye, I could just see the quilt tossed over the back of her chocolate brown leather couch.

I had picked up 13 fatquarters that Joel Dewberry designed called "Deer Valley", and one of the colorways is red, aqua, brown, and cream.  I thought it would be wonderful for the quilt, but didn't have an idea for a pattern.  Until I saw what Thelma had done with her Oriental Plates quilt.

Deer Valley Celadon Damask
I couldn't wait to make up a couple of test blocks, and found that I needed to change up the pattern a bit as well.  The original block pattern involved an octagonal template for the center of the "plate".  Ooooh, Dearie, I just don't do templates unless I really really have to.  My changes were pretty simple, and the components of my plate blocks were a 5 1/2" square for the center, four 2 1/8" squares which I sewed corner to corner to get the octagon effect.  Surround the center with four 3 x 5 1/2" rectangles and four 3" half square triangles, and there you are.  I used my Easy Angle ruler for the half square triangles.

The size of the quilt doesn't have to be large.  Just the size you would want to cuddle under while watching tv or reading a book.  I am thinking I need to make at least 12 blocks, maybe 16.  The center of each plate is supposed to be a plain solid color, but I think it will be more fun to combine two different prints in each plate.  Keep your fingers crossed that I have enough fabric!  I think I know where I can find some more of it if I need to, but the selection will be limited since this group has been out for a year.

Wish me luck, I seem to have a lot of irons in the fire, project-wise, these days!

Hippy Dippy Camping Trip

The term "hippy dippy" has a derogatory sound to it, but I have to disagree with the popular slang definition.  To me, Hippy Dippy implies something that is idealistic, naive and loving.  Peace, Flower Power.  Volkswagen camper vans with daisies painted on the sides.  All good things.

I remember being a teenager in the 60's and being dragged along on an All American Camping trip by my parents.  The seven of us piled in the station wagon, tents strapped to the roof of the car, and headed for Yosemite.  My chief role was that of baby sitter for my four younger siblings.  I still remember how cold the water was in the creek near our campsite, and how good the coffee smelled first thing in the morning.  And how, to this day, I am certain I heard a bear rummaging around right outside my tent during the night.  My sisters and I sat on boulders making daisy chains during the day, while our parents sat in plastic webbed lawn chairs drinking 60's cocktails and visiting with their friends.  It was peaceful, and there were flowers, and my memories of the experience certainly do evoke a simpler, more naive time.

This fun collection by American Jane for Moda is called Happy Campers.  The prints and colors remind me so much of that old fashioned camping trip taken by my family over 45 years ago.  Shown in the photo above are two honey buns (1 1/2" strips) that were sent to me by a quilt designer friend, with the request that I do something with them for her.  I can't show you exactly what I am working on, due to it being a secret until published, but as you can see, I am all ready to go!

 

Wish me luck, I am going in for my endoscopic sinus surgery today.  Woo Hoo!  I hope to be breathing through my nose again within the week.