Sister's Choice Quilts

Steam Punk Finish Ahead

Two more blocks and it's a wrap!  I have so enjoyed making these blocks.  Now, I am nowhere near completely finished with this quilt, but I have only two more blocks to finish.  Then, lots of rearranging to get the color placement just right, then I need to cut out the scrappy setting triangles.  Oh, and something I have been ignoring:  I need to machine appliqué all those center circles. A ways to go, but I am getting there.

I am actually thinking of putting on a containment border, then adding an outer border of a pizazzy Denyse Schmidt floral.  

I have no clue where this quilt is going to end up, but it has been a fun journey to make the top.

Stars In A Time Warp Check In

Remember these?  I haven't counted them, but I have made a lot of star blocks for Barbara Brackman's Stars in a Time Warp sew along.  I had them all up on my design wall, set diagonally, but took them down to make room for Steampunk.  (Should have taken a picture...)  Anyway, they look really good, but are SO randomly scrappy.   For now, I just laid them out willy nilly on the floor so you can see.

I am trying really hard to get over my aversion to the complete lack of any kind of color scheme!  I know Steampunk is very scrappy too, but somehow it looks more cohesive.   These blocks just seem kind of all over the place.  Or is that the point?   It is like they are having a crazy keg party while the parents are away and invited everyone on the block to attend.  Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

Barbara Brackman's lesson with this particular quilt is for it to be representative of all the different sorts of Civil War Reproduction fabrics there are--cheddars, turkey red, poison green, Prussian blue, pink on pink, purples, plaids.  But honestly,  those all sure don't blend so great together!  I am so tempted to take out the blocks that clash loudest and keep those that play better.  It feels like cheating though.

On the other hand, if I had a different setting, the blocks would be a bit separated from one another and it might be a more pleasing look.  Perhaps with every other block a scrappy background print.  Here are a couple of photos with some separation between the blocks:

The bit of separation between the blocks makes things a bit less hectic, don't you think?  I am leaning towards the bottom photo with a lattice because i really like this block set on the diagonal.

Is anyone else out there working on this same project?  How is it going for you?

 

 

Steaming Along

So, there we are.  Steam Punk blocks about half done.  And I have to say, they are super fun to make.  Each one has four different fabrics, and I am trying to keep it scrappy.  I have my combinations cut out and ready to sew for about 20 more blocks.  I usually make more blocks than I actually need, because I end up switching some things out because of color placement.

The pattern shows setting triangles actually made of chopped up blocks, but I am not going to do that.  I will use scrappy white backgrounds for my setting triangles for this quilt.  I am not chopping up any of my blocks for setting triangles.  Oh no.

I can't decide what these blocks remind me of.  I was thinking propellors, but my husband called them "pinwheels", which I don't think is quite accurate.  Now when I look at them, they kind of look like iron crosses.  Did you know the Iron Cross was first awarded to soldiers fighting in the War of Liberation against Napoleon?  Well, there you go.  

I am going to deserve an award when I finish all these blocks!  I tell you, they aren't for sissies.  Rewarding though, when I look at them all lined up on the design wall.  Each one takes me well over a half hour to put together.

Hope you all have had a splendid weekend.  My husband moved tons of white rock and we now have a lovely garden path, as well as a newly carved out sitting area under some oak trees.  And the pile of rocks in the driveway looks about the same as it did the day the truck dumped it there.  Guess we bought about twice what we needed...

Shaggy Ozzie is pooped out just watching my husband work, and is resting in a patch of late afternoon sun.

Hi Ho Hi Ho, It's Off To Be Quilted We Go

How about that?  Three quilts off to the quilters!  

Took me about three hours to cut, sew and press all three backings.  I always put that step off as long as I can for some reason.  That is boring sewing, for sure.

Do you piece your backings?  I didn't used to.  I liked finding matching fabric and buying 7 or more yards of it for the back.  It is just too expensive to do that anymore.  These days, I usually will buy around 4 1/2 yards of coordinating fabric for the back, and then adding in pieces of other smaller cuts until I get the size backing I need.  Also, if I can, I wait until I can find coordinating backing fabric on sale somewhere.  The internet is great for searching for various collections that are not current and have been discounted.

Some people get super creative with piecing their backings--me, not so much.  If I have to piece, I typically just add a strip of other fabric right down the center of two backing pieces.  And I always, always raid my stash for the extra fabric I need.

One of my quilts measured 74 x 86, meaning that I needed a piece of backing that was at least 82 x 94.  Luckily I had two 82" lengths of the plaid fabric, but sewn together they would have been only 82 x 82.  So, I knew I had to piece the back to get that 94+ inches that I needed.

The center strip of tannish gold fabric is around 14 inches wide and 82 inches long.  My two side pieces are each 41 inches wide, so the addition of the center strip gives me a piece of fabric that is now 96 inches wide.  The center strip is also pieced--I cut a piece of the gold fabric 41 inches long, cut it in half so I had two pieces 20 x 41 and stitched them together so they made a long strip 20 x 82 to go down the middle of my two 41 x 82 inch long pieces.  The 20 inches was actually a bit too generous, so I trimmed it down to be 14 inches wide.  Finished backing size is 82 x 96, which gives my quilter plenty of room to "load" the quilt on her quilting machine.  Clear as mud?  

So, tell me, do you piece your backings too?  Or do you just bite the bullet and buy the right amount of yardage that is required?

 

The Patio Set, Fifth Reincarnation

I told you I would share a photo of the patio cushions in their new location.  My son in law is very happy with the look of his back deck now.  You can just see it at the top of the photo---he has put up a triangular shaped blue canvas cover over the deck, which will protect things from the sun and other elements.  Hopefully the cushions will last longer in their present incarnation.  I also love his string of lights above.  

It looks so inviting, doesn't it?

It is so nice to do something for someone who really appreciates it. He has thanked me a dozen times and I know he is going to thoroughly enjoy using his deck with the spiffy new cushions.  Any time, my dear, just ask.

The Garden

We have a couple of raised planter beds out in the back of the garden, which we used last year, but not with much success.  This year we added a lot of soil amendment and fertilizer, and I am hopeful that things will grow much better this time.  We are trying to conserve water, and I am saving every bit I can to water these plants.  We are in a drought situation, and letting water run down the drain while you bring it up to a warm temperature (to wash dishes etc) just isn't done.  You catch it in a big pan and use it for something else, like watering plants.

As you can see if you enlarge the photo, I mixed in flowers with the vegetables.  In the bed in the foreground, we have tomato plants, marigolds, carnations, pinks, basil, and coreopsis.  In the rear bed we have lots of herbs:  parsley, cilantro, sage, rosemary, oregano, chives.  Also peppers, african daisies, salvia, cosmos, and zinnias.  It will be colorful!

In the mornings, I love to wander out there with my coffee and check to see if things grew overnight.  The tomatoes actually show signs of growing, which is strange, because everyone told us we were planting too early.  You are supposed to wait until night time temperatures are above 50, which isn't quite where we are just yet.  The days have been nice and warm though, and things look happy.

The garden path is supposed to have white pea gravel all along it, which is a very nice look.  Our white rock has been in a big heap in our driveway for the past two weeks.  My husband probably has some explanation for that, but if I ask he will think I am nagging.  I will give it until this coming weekend, then ask him if he thinks the rock is going to spread itself.  

 

Three More

I have a feeling there won't be a lot of sewing going on until the end of the week.  It was a busy weekend, with time spent in the garden as well as visiting relatives.  I managed to squeeze out three more Steam Punk blocks, but that is it.  I think it may be a light blogging week, because I don't have a heck of a lot to share!

These blocks are such fun to make.  Several of you have asked me if I am using templates, and the answer is yes.  I got mine from SunsetSeams on Etsy.  I highly recommend this vendor.  The templates cost $16.03 and shipped from Melbourne, Australia.  This shop ships worldwide, and it took no time at all for them to arrive.  They are sturdy acrylic plastic, and have been extremely accurate and easy to use.  I ordered clear plastic, but there are colored plastic options as well.  I kind of wish I had gotten colored ones, as the clear ones tend to disappear on my cluttered cutting table.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

 

 

Bet You Can't Make Just One...

 

 

 

 

I thought, "Let's just make one of these Steam Punk blocks and see how it goes".

As you can see, it is going very well indeed.  Have you ever seen such fun block?  It's different, the level of difficulty is somewhat challenging, and the results are awesome.  I was having so much fun making these that hours went by before I realized it.  They are most addicting.

Jenn Kingwell.  I want you to remember that name.  She is an Australian designer and you are going to be hearing a lot more about her in the months to come.  She started out making patterns, of which Steam Punk is one.   She has a bunch of other designs that are equally interesting, you might want to check them out.  Moda persuaded her to design a line of fabric for them, which is due out this month.  It is called Gardenvale, and I am pretty sure you will want some.  

Her patterns are innovative, her fabric designs are fresh and different.  She said in a Fatquarter Shop interview that she believes, as does the well known quilter Freddy Moran, that 10 fabrics are not scrappy enough--110 are better.  I love the way she thinks!  She is the Queen of Scrappy.

I am using a bin of black and white fabrics from my stash as well as my collection of Denyse Schmidt designs for this quilt--Hope Valley, Ansonia, Flea Market Fancy, Florence, Chicopee, Hadley and more .  I have been saving her fabric forever and decided It Is Time To Use It.  Those nine blocks in the photo took the better part of one day to make, and used 38 different fabrics.  I know I will have to repeat some of the backgrounds, but I have stacks of colorful prints to add into this mix.

I haven't been so excited about a new project in ages, and that is saying something, because I love just about everything I work on.  This one is special.

Second Hand Clothes, A Finish

I am so pleased with this quilt.  Every single bit of it, I love.  The pattern is Second Hand Clothes by Bonnie Blue/Red Crinoline, and the fabrics mostly Kim Diehl designs over the past year or two.  There is a vibrancy to the quilt that makes my eye dance over its surface.  There is liveliness, optimism, and hopefulness that just jumps out at me when I look at it.  This quilt just says "Yes".

This quilt is destined for someone I dearly love, and I tell you, I said a prayer with every stitch I made.

 

Jeff's Quilt

This is Past and Present, a quilt made from Kim Brackett's book Scrap Basket Surprises.  I finally got the borders on it and it is now ready to ship off to be quilted.

I am quite pleased with how it turned out, and hope my daughter's friend Jeff will be happy with it.  There is a richness to the colors and patterns created by the scrappy backgrounds that is so pleasing to my eye.  The fabrics are mostly by Kansas Troubles, by Lynn Hagemeier, a designer I haven't used in some time.  Most of the fabrics came from a collection called Sweet Pea, but there are pieces from some of her other collections in there as well.  I find that when I use Kansas Troubles fabrics, I have to be sure and include some brighter yellows, golds or oranges or the effect is too murky for my taste.

I recommend all of Kim's books, which are chock full of great patterns.  This one was a bit fiddly, as you have to make sure all the points come together perfectly. I quickly became an expert at getting my pins in just the right spot so most of the point intersections were right on target.  I did expand the size of my quilt from the instructions in her pattern.  Easily done by simply adding more rows of blocks.

I seem to be on a roll with finishes this week!