Sister's Choice Quilts

Pick Me, No Me, No ME!

I have managed to squeeze in some sewing time this week.   (Thank you Eva, for taking long naps).  My Hill Country Basket blocks are coming along slowly.  I like the block pattern, but the fabrics are a bit dark now that I am living with them.  There will be a lattice separating the blocks, which I think will lighten things up a bit.  And you know what?  If after making a few dozen blocks I am not feeling the love, I will make this quilt a bit smaller.

But do you see that block to the right of the basket blocks?  That would be a Shiloh block.  Shiloh is a project I have been working on since December 2010.  Over the months I have made quite a few of the blocks for this quilt and love it to pieces.  Due to various circumstances, it always got put back in the project box and left to languish.

Well, yesterday when I was listening to the Dark Angel of Quilt Block Discontent whisper in my ear that the Hill Country Baskets colors were too dark, I heard another voice pipe up.  "Remember me?  Shiloh?  You always loved working on me, and said my colors were perfect.  Maybe you should pull me out of the box and work on ME for awhile.  Life's too short not have your heart sing when you sew".

So I did.

So Have A Party

Things not going as well as you could wish?  Well then, have a party!

I had a few lady friends over last night and we celebrated life (such as it is) and each other with some very good wine and simple refreshments.  Nothing a little Pinot Grigio and cupcakes can't fix.

In my little town of Murphy's, CA, there is a cup cake shop called Lila and Sage.  This isn't just any old cupcake shop.  The owner just recently won first place on the tv show "Cupcake Wars".  Seriously, that is some cupcake to do that.

My ladies and I had a lovely evening.  Just the thing to take away a case of the blues.  Or make one forget about it temporarily anyway.

I Got the Blues

Honestly, friends, I got nothin' here.  I am so sorry to be inconsistent in my blog posting, as I know many of you look for my morning news flash.  I have to admit, I am in a bit of a dry patch.  Lots happening on a personal level, maybe I will share, maybe I will keep it to myself.  Nothing major, just enough so no sewing is happening and my mind is a mush pot.

I did get a lovely email from a reader this week, which gave me an idea for a blog post topic.  Krista asked me for some advice regarding a quilt I made called Flowers for Clara.  You may remember it.  A Bonnie Blue pattern I made in 2010, which is one of my all time favorite quilts.

Krista asked me if I had used one consistent background fabric for the blocks and border.  I did do this in my quilt.  She wondered if a scrappy neutral approach would work for block backgrounds and border as an alternative choice.

I had to think on this for a minute, and decided that for me, with the scrappy blocks and the applique going on in the border, that one uniform background/border fabric would be my choice if I had to do it again.  However, that being said, if Krista has a great stash of civil war reproduction neutrals, and that busier look is what she is going for, she should follow her instincts.  My advice to her though, was to look for a caramel tone on tone and use that for both blocks and border.  I suggested this Kansas Troubles fabric:

   

She also asked if a solid might be a viable option to use as a background fabric for this project, and I advised her strongly against it.  In my opinion, a solid would be too flat, too boring, one dimensional, and not really typical of a quilt from the 1800's.  I think you need the warmth and the texture of a tone on tone print.

What do you all think?  Did I steer her in the right direction?  I'd love it if you weighed in, especially if you have differing opinions to mine.  Krista reads my blog and hopefully will see your comments.

 

Hill Country Baskets Blocks and a Recommendation

I have made some progress on my Hill Country Baskets blocks.  Aren't they sweet?  As I make them I am just tossing them up on the design wall, but when they are set into the quilt top properly, there will be a lattice separating the blocks.

For this block, you need to make four half square triangles for each one.  The method I am using is the Star Singles papers.

I've blogged about these before, and think that they are a great product. In the Paula Barnes class I took, I picked up a few tips to make using them even better.

You put your two fabrics right sides together and pin.  One pin is plenty.  Don't go crazy.  Sew on the dotted lines, and cut on the solid ones.

Tip #1.  Shorten up your stitch length.  Really shorten it.  This makes tearing off the paper a breeze and not the horrible chore it can be when you use a normal stitch length.

After stitching, trim the sides off first.  In the photo above, I have trimmed away three of the four sides.

Tip #2.  Not a biggie, but do you see that the horizontal and vertical cutting lines are not the same?  One is totally solid and the other is broken due to the printing on the paper?  I am pointing to the broken line.  After trimming the sides off, cut on that dotted line first, as it easier to keep your ruler straight when you have the entire square to look at.

Tip #3--best one ever.  I love shortcuts and here is a good one.  Stack those squares up with the cutting line going down the middle.  You can stagger the squares as I did in the picture, or just stack 'em up evenly.  Just make sure the cutting line is going down the middle, and cut ONCE instead of four times.

Rip off those papers, open your half square triangles, press and trim.  Eight perfect little half square triangles, enough for two of my Hill Country Baskets blocks.

 

More Spools to Share

Here is Sally's (Chocolate Chip Addict blog) Spools quilt top, another scrappy one.  She has a very fun plan to appliqué a needle and thread on it.  The thread will be red and will connect to the red spool on the lower right.  Don't you love it when people take a project and make it their own?

I love her background fabric--can you see that it looks like it is already stipple quilted?  And if you look close, you can see that her border print has little buttons on it.  Adorable!

Spools All Done

Here it is!  My Civil War Reproduction version of Spools!

I was so happy to get this put together this weekend.  I varied the pattern slightly by making some of the "thread" strips thinner, so I could get to use more fabrics from my stash and make things a bit scrappier looking.  The pattern calls for three "thread" strips in each Spool, each measuring 2 1/2 x 6".  I made some of the strips 1 1/2", which finished at 2 1/2'.

I so wanted to complete this before I left on my trip to Ireland, but time just wasn't on my side.  I am also working on a larger version of the Spools quilt, done in Marmalade (and a few other Bonnie & Camille prints), but have decided to put those blocks aside for now.  Come Spring, I will be in the mood to finish up those blocks in their cheerful pink, green, orange, blue and red colors.

Right now, I am anxious to work on my projects from the Buggy Barn classes.  Hill Country Baskets is my first choice, especially after a little birdie told me that Thelma has finished hers already!  That is one gorgeous pattern by Red Crinoline Quilts.

How have the rest of you fared with your Spools projects?  If anyone would like to share their pictures with me, I will be happy to post them here on my blog.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  Me?  I managed to come down with a cold.  Have you noticed how often that happens after an airplane trip? 

In other momentous news, Baby E has taken her first steps!  She can walk!  And is she ever practicing.  She went from standing up, to putting one foot out and falling down, to taking three, four or five steps at a time before she falls or sits down.  Of course she managed to fall and conk her head on my coffee table on Saturday.  I suppose there will be more mishaps such as that to come.  She will become more and more proficient by the day though.  Won't be long and I will be chasing after her non stop. I will try to get a picture of her this week to share.

 

Irish Woolen Mill

While visiting Ireland last week, we made a point to travel to County Wicklow to see the woolen mill at Avoca.

This mill is the oldest mill in Ireland and is located in a village so picturesque it has been used for a location in many films--you may have heard of the tv series Ballykissangel, which was filmed there.

Aren't these colors amazing?

And you think we have troubles trying to keep our sewing machines lint free?  Check this out--and no, my focus isn't blurry, that's all lint!

The looms weave all those spools of thread into colorful bolts of fabric.  Later these bolts can be cut down into individual throws and shawls. 

This mill's products are hugely popular amongst the Irish as well as the tourists.  In fact, there is a very posh retail shop with several branches throughout the country, called "Avoca".  The shops sell the woolen products of course, but also have very trendy clothing and accessories.  The vibe of the shop put me in mind of the US chain "Anthropology".

I have to say, in my trips around the Irish countryside and my excursions to Dublin's main shopping district, I saw no sign of any quilt shops or even dressmaking fabric shops.  I think if I lived in Ireland, I might be the only quilter in the country?  Are there any Irish quilters out there?  (Sound of crickets chirping....) You must be very lonely!

Jet lag may be a bit better.  Still waking up at ridiculous times of the night, but am managing to fall back to sleep.  Would you believe I haven't been down to the studio at all since I got back?  Today is the day.  My plan is to tackle my Spools projects and wrap them up.  Hope to have some progress to share with you on Monday. 

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

My Next Home

No, not really, but isn't it cool?  It is a tower on the Powerscourt estate in Ireland.  One day, the Richer Than God, Lord Powerscourt sat at his breakfast table trying to figure out how to spend more of his money and how to exploit the locals.  "Hmmm", thought he.  He idly picked up his pepper mill and asked his wife if she thought it would be amusing to construct a tower in the gardens based on its design.  Before you can say "Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland", Lord P got going on this project.  This is the result--The Pepper Pot Tower.

It actually is very beautiful, as are the gardens at Powerscourt in County Wicklow.  Here is a photo Ahren took of an angel making a floral arrangement.

Powerscourt is a must if you plan to visit Ireland.  The grounds are just exquisite.  You can wander all around the Japanese garden, the Rose garden, the reflecting pool and fountains, and be sure not to miss the pet cemetary.

I had a fabulous time visiting Ireland, and seeing Ahren and Mary Ann in their home turf.  Beautiful country.  The two of them showed Sara and I a first class time, and I left feeling grateful that I have gained another daughter and that Sara has the sister she always wished for.  Isn't it awesome when your kids pick partners that you adore?

Right now I am a bit jet lagged, but hope to get back to normal by the beginning of next week.  They say it takes a day to recover for every hour you were off your normal time zone.  That would be eight for California to Dublin.  Ugh.  Last night I woke up feeling as if I had had a full night's sleep and was wide eyed and bushy tailed---at 1:30 AM.

Thanks for reading my posts while I was away.  I always appreciate your comments.  Truly, it is what makes blogging worth while.

(Click and zoom to see my fabulous kids).

Lovely Blog, Lovely Person

You just meet the nicest people through blogging!  During my most recent stash sale, I was contacted by a lovely woman who lives in England about something I had for sale.  Typically my heart sinks when I am asked to ship anything internationally, due to the high cost of postage.  My customer "Gertie" and I put our heads together and figured out that if we packaged the items just right, we could squeeze them into a small Flat Rate mailing envelope for the cost of $16.95 instead of $48.95 for the box.  Fine minds think alike!  Her fabric arrived safely, as she pictured above, and the two of us exchanged a few emails.

Gertie has recently started a blog of her own, which I invite you to check out.  It is called "Quilting For England".  In her most recent email to me, she suggested I have a look at something she had written called "Things I Learned From Nicole", which both honored and tickled me.  She has been a blog follower of mine for years, and did a little compilation of some of my posts that she found instructional. 

One post that brought back a lot of memories was the one describing my disappointment in my pink and brown blocks for Miss Rosie pattern called Raise the Roof.  My fabrics did not provide enough contrast and despite a ton of time and effort, I abandoned this project.

Bad block:

Good block:

I am actually thrilled to have been reminded of this quilting mishap, because I have since pulled together some awesome blues and browns that will give me the contrast effect I need.  I will finish this quilt!

Oh yes!  This will work!

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While I adore getting your comments and answering them, I am away at the present time and won't be able to respond as usual.

 

The Quilt Show

The Buggy Barn hosts an annual two day quilt show that draws folks from all over the place.  The building in the photo above is their little shop.  Not only is it chock full of quilts and fabrics on the inside, on the days of the quilt show, they have quilts displayed on every available outside surface as well!

lol  Couldn't resist this quilt, for obvious reasons!  I never can pass by a Sister's Choice quilt.

You have got to click on the image below to zoom in on the amazing stitchery.  I met the woman who made this gorgeous quilt, and she was so humble about her acomplishment.  I think it is astonishingly beautiful!

Not only are quilts hung on the barns for this quilt show, they are also draped over fences and hung on clothes lines.  It is a huge endeavor to get them all up before the show.  Janet and Pam and all their family and friends gather on the farm at dawn the day of the show and get them all hung.  Obviously some advance planning goes into figuring out where to put them all, but somehow it all gets done by 9:00 AM the day of the show.  And get this---they take them all down Saturday evening and put them all back in place by 9:00 AM Sunday!

This is a quilt that is definitely in my future!  I have started to collect browns, blacks, reds and golds and am planning a fabric swap with my friends Thelma and Lisa.

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While I adore getting your comments and answering them, I am away at the present time and won't be able to respond as usual.