Sister's Choice Quilts

Tidbit

This is Tidbit, a Little Bites pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.  I just had to make it.  Had to.

The pattern has three versions, all very cute.  I made the smallest one, which measures 16.5" by 19.5".  I seem to really be into these small projects lately.  I love to use them with seasonal fabric offerings.  I can just get a couple of charm packs and get my fabric fix taken care of, and have a cute little topper to use.  The fabric collection I used was a charm pack of Sweetwater's Boo Crew.  

The reason I "had" to make it was to get the bad taste out of my mouth from a complete and utter failure of a project.  I needed to succeed at something in the worst way.  Here's what happened.

I had gotten this Kim Diehl Simple Whatnots club offering recently.  I have been feeling guilty that I haven't kept up with this club, so I figured I could make up a small project and kill a couple of birds with one stone.  I'd get my small project to use in the Fall and at the same time keep up with the Club.  This is how the project ended up:

And I will tell you why.  I usually make my block units a bit larger than called for and them trim them down to the proper size.  I get much more accurate piecing results when I follow that rule.  Kim's patterns do not call for doing that.  This pattern called for 1 1/2 inch half square triangles made from 1 7/8" squares.  I should have cut 2 inch squares and trimmed them down, but no, I blindly followed the pattern instructions and ended up with wonky, inaccurate results.  I was so frustrated I tossed the whole mess into the trash.  It totally serves me right for being too much in a hurry.  I thought I could be super careful and save myself the extra step of trimming.  Mistake.

So, I needed to make something right away and have it turn out perfect.  Carrie Nelson's patterns (Miss Rosie) always give glorious results because she has you make your block units a tiny bit oversized and them trim them down.  "Tidbit" was a breeze to make, and went together like a dream.  Every seam lined up, every point was sharp, and every half square triangle was a perfect 2 inches.  

You can see that I have stalled out a bit with Viola, but hope to get back to it this week.  Eva is helping me by pinning leftover scraps of Halloween fabric to the Viola squares.

In this photo you can see my little Tidbit has a cream colored outer border.

It's Fall Y'all

I tell you, I have been busy lately, but not too busy to get out the fall decorations!  I enjoy sharing photos around the house with you, but mainly I like having a record of what I did so I can replicate it the following year.  I make some changes here and there, but when something works, I like to repeat it.

The arrangement above is new this year.  I am really enjoying it and may keep it out all year.  They are "my colors".

This is new this year too.  I made the little diamond pieced table topper, and found these little velvet pumpkins at my local Ace Hardware store, if you can believe it.  They were dangling from a little stem, and I cut them apart.  Two stems at $3.96 each, with about 10 little pumpkins.  You just never know when you are going to find something fun.

I am sticking with my same arrangement for the fireplace this year.  I like it a lot, with the orange books and wrought iron crows.  The pumpkins at the lower left are new, also from Ace Hardware.  My local Ace sure has fun with holiday decor.  These little pumpkins are faux suede, which I thought was different.

My favorite new Fall decoration?  That's easy.  

Custom made by Miss Eva.  "For the whole family" she said.

Getting It Done

I know, how sad and pathetic is this?  A portable potty, a shower stool, a walker and a four footed cane.

At long last, we sold the house we had Grandpa Larry living in.  It was on the market for over a year.  Most of the furniture and odds and ends had already been disposed of, but as you can see there were some miscellaneous objects still to deal with.  That somehow I have to deal with...

So, that being said, I am super busy this week.  Escrow closes the end of the month and things need to be sold off and cleared out pronto.  Things are going pretty well, but at some point, my largely missing in action husband is going to have to show up and do the heavy stuff.

And for those of you who remember me writing about my 95 year old father in law, Grandpa Larry--he is doing ok.  He now lives in what they euphemistically call "a memory care facility".  He has lost a lot of weight and is very small and frail looking.  He doesn't remember me, but smiles at me as if he knows I am someone he is supposed to love.  He remembers my husband most of the time, but not always.  Sometimes he thinks he is his brother.  He can't speak, but always has a sweet smile for everyone.  There is a woman patient in the facility who has taken a fancy to Larry.  She pushes him in his wheel chair and is by his side as much as she is allowed.  One day my husband was visiting Larry, and she inquired "Now, just who are you?"  My husband replied "Why, I am Larry's son".  There was a moment of silence and the woman said, "Well I am his wife and I certainly don't remember you".  Much confusion ensued, but was soon forgotten.

The fire drama is over, skies are blue and the air is clear.  Lots of people lost their homes.  Over five hundred residences destroyed I believe.  I gave away two boxes of miscellaneous kitchen equipment to an elderly couple who had lost everything to the fire.  What can one do?  Just help out as best one can I suppose.

Please excuse the lack of quilty or interesting posts this week.  Hope to back on schedule next week.

Hen Pecked

Just look at this teeny tiny, just bigger than a coffee cup cozy, quilt.  It measures 10.5 by 11.5 inches and went together in no time flat.  Those half square triangle squares measure one inch!   It is called Hen Pecked and is one of the Kim Diehl Simple What Nots offerings.  Seriously, I joined that monthly quilt club and have kept up with about half of them.  It is expensive, nearly $50 per month, but I have to say, you get enough fabric to make two, if not three of the projects per month.  

This project could be made in a day, easily.  I made it over two days, including time to machine quilt it.  Honestly, this would be a lovely gift for someone.  I am keeping it though.  Time for some Fall decor around here.

I need to take advantage of that surplus fabric and start making doubles.  Come Christmas,  I will be very happy I  thought to do that.

Things continue to improve in my area as to the fire.  We have even had some blue sky, which I had nearly forgotten about with all the smoke!

 

Stir Crazy Projects

Things have been pretty rough around here for the past week, as you all know.  Most of my time has been spent scavenging for news of the fire on my laptop.  I have not been able to concentrate very well on Viola, which really deserves my full attention.  I picked it up and messed about for a couple of hours, but I knew I wasn't going to do it justice.

Then, Tuesday morning, I saw a Carrie Nelson post on Moda, The Cutting Table.  She was making some adorable zippy bags using diamond shaped pieces.  I have never really worked with diamond shapes before, and was up for seeing what I could do.  Since the project starts with sewing strips together, then cutting the units with the 60 degree mark on a ruler, I figured I had the mental stamina to figure it out.  Since I wasn't sure if my project was going to be a success, I pulled out a jelly roll of an old Sandy Gervais collection called "Fall Back In Time".  I had already used quite a lot of the yardage of that group to make some other projects, so I figured if I ruined this jelly roll it would not be a huge loss.

Carrie was using two inch strips for her zippy bag, which seems a good proportion.  My two inch effort is on the right.  I think it is just right for bags.  I made enough strips and diamond shaped units to make one bag (with two inch strips) and three table runners with 2 1/2 inch strips/units.  I wanted to get the most mileage out of the jelly roll strips and didn't want to waste time trimming them down to two inches.

I completed one side of a bag, and two table toppers on Tuesday.  I quilted and bound one of the table toppers up and gave it to my son in law, who appreciates these things.  I will finish another for my Dad's house and maybe keep one for me.  Cute for fall, right?   I am stuck with the bag though, because I have no coordinating fabric for the top and bottom pieces that go above and below the diamond pieced panel.  I know I can match the cream, but that isn't terribly practical.  I do love the smaller proportions of the smaller diamonds.

Anyway, check out Carrie's post and the links to the bag tutorial.  It's a fun project, and the zipper instructions are a little different, which is good.

Did I tell you we were supposed to take Eva to Disneyland this week on vacation?  We cancelled due to the fire.  My loss is insignificant compared to those of others.  But still.  Blah.  Bad fire.

Things Are Getting Back to Normal For Some of Us

There is a remarkable photographer in our area, named John Slot, who has gone into the fire zone every day since the conflagration began.  He has made a photographic documentation of what he has seen, and reported it every day on Facebook.  His news, both good and bad, has been such a relief to people who are evacuated and wondering if their home survived the fire.  The photo above is awesome, isn't it?  To find beauty amidst such devastation is incredible.  Check out his Facebook page to see some more of his work.

Today John reported that he visited a site where the house had burned down, yet the cars were untouched by fire, and the family cat was wandering around starving and scared.  He tried to rescue the cat, but you know how they can be, and was unsuccessful.  He did leave food and water for the cat and took a photo of the gate to the property so the owners would be informed of the status.  The damage assessment crews are doing their best to report things but there is so much.  

The estimate as I write this is that 166 homes were destroyed and 116 outbuildings (barns, businesses etc).  The addition of bulldozers (we went from 8 on Thursday to 117 today, has been a huge help.  They are useful for creating fire breaks to stop the fire's progress.  Would you believe there are now almost 4700 firefighters fighting the blaze?  We had just over 300 when the fire began.  What an amazing outpouring of help from other communities.  I tell you, those firemen have an impressive brotherhood.

We are pretty much out of danger I think.  There are other areas where things are still dicey, but the main drama is over for us in my neighborhood.  I am going back to work tomorrow.  The shop was closed for three days due to the fire evacuations.  My colleague at the shop told me that business was practically non-existent today when she worked.  She had to return phone messages from people who evidently live under rocks who had called wondering what kind of business we were not to answer our phone during business hours.  Seriously?  Guess we should have changed the message on the answering machine, but it isn't what you are thinking to do when the sheriff is saying you need to leave now.

Believe me, there are a lot of very sad people you see in town.  My heart is so sore for those who have lost their homes, livestock, pets and businesses.  Hopefully many of them will be able to rebuild.  Part of the area really badly affected by this fire was very remote and out of the way of regular civilization.  A lot of people who, for various reasons, did not do well in or want to live in a normal populated society have been displaced.  Many of these people are disadvantaged mentally or physically (and certainly financially) and now that they have been displaced, I wonder what the future holds for them?  It isn't like they can call State Farm and file a claim.  So many ramifications to this fire, and new ones crop up every day.

Here's a doozy for you.  When my daughter volunteered at the fairgrounds Base Camp this week, she heard some tales that would curl your hair.  The fairgrounds is where the large animals and livestock who were lucky enough to be transported out of danger are being housed until they can go back home.  Crooks are turning up trying to claim horses that are not their own.  Can you believe it?  I had to admit I was wondering how they would sort out all those animals and get them back to the right people.  Can you imagine?  I guess if you own a horse you could pick it out of a crowd, but those sheep and cattle all look alike to me.  It turns out, when they take in an animal they spray a code number on each one to identify it.  I think they use some sort of dye that stays on for some time at least.  So good records are being kept and bad guys can't turn up and say "that brown horse over there is mine".  

I've been going a bit stir crazy this week, so I will share something quilty with you tomorrow.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers, good wishes and comments.  This has been some summer, hasn't it?  Time for FALL!  Eva thinks so too, but wants to express her appreciation.

 

 

Heroes Come In All Shapes and Sizes

I have to share this amazing story with you all.  My husband went in to work Monday to check on things and one of his employees had an incredible story to tell.

Her father has a ranch in the fire zone, and on Friday night they were evacuating their livestock to safety.  Obviously you can't do it all in one trip so they worked all night long transporting cattle and horses.  When they returned to Mountain Ranch for her uncle's 400 head of goats and two sheep dogs, they were no where to be found.  The herd of goats and dogs had vanished.  And believe me, 400 goats are not easy to hide.  The family had to leave in a hurry due to the encroaching fire and had no time to search for the animals.  

They were very fortunate that their three homes and barns were passed by the fire and saved.  When they were able to finally return to their property, guess what showed up?  The two sheep dogs, leading in the 400 head of goats back home.  The dogs had led the goats to high ground and safety, and kept them there until they thought it was safe to bring them back home.  True story.

Here is a photo of some other heroes.  Angels don't always have wings.

 

Where To Begin

It feels like our world is burning up.   There are some terrible fires going on in California, and one of them is right near where I live.  We have been under "advisory evacuation" notice for a few days, and actually have our suitcases packed with valuables, medications and important papers should we need to leave on a moment's notice.  I have a plan to wrap some of our art work in quilts and save both in one fell swoop.  We know lots of people who have been manditorily evacuated from their homes, and in fact, we are putting up a family who has been displaced and believes they may have lost their home in the blaze.  Most everyone is trying to help others who have been touched by this fire.

The photo above is not one I took, but was on Facebook, taken by a person who lives in the area and posted by Jill DeMasters.

This photo was taken by a remarkable local photographer, John Slot.  Firefighters are coming into our town from all over the state and even from nearby states.  One just wants to cheer when you see these long caravans of firefighters coming to our aid. I tell you, it gave me a lump in my throat to see tired, dirty firefighters at my grocery store stocking up on water and food.  The gratitude we feel towards them for risking their own safety to protect our property and lives cannot adequately be expressed in words.

The devastation is incredible.  At this writing 85 homes and 51 outbuildings (that is barns, stables, tasting rooms, businesses etc) have been burned up.  The damage assessment folks are not able to get right into the affected areas to do an accurate count because the fire is still going on.  The totals of homes and buildings lost will be much higher.  Hundreds of people have no idea if their homes have been lost or not.  We do know a grower who lost his entire vineyard.  Harvest is effectively over for grapes in our area.  The grapes still left on the vines waiting to be picked will be spoiled from the smoke.

The following photos I did take from my front porch when the fire first began:

The sky on Thursday evening.

Smoke in the sky on Friday morning.

Sun in the sky on Friday afternoon.

You can imagine the quality of the air is simply terrible.  The smoke is so thick it is like dense fog.  You can't be outside for very long without coughing.  I can't imagine what it is like for the firemen.  There are ashes and soot raining down on us something awful, and the black ickiness gets everywhere.  Businesses and schools are closed until further notice.  The economic repercussions of this event are enormous.

There are people who have lost everything.  They grabbed their kids and whatever pet they could catch and ran.  On Friday there were caravans of people in horse trailers trying to save livestock and transport it to the fairgrounds outside the danger area, but many many animals had to be left behind-horses, cattle, sheep, goats, chickens.  And of course the wild creatures who live in the woods and fields...

 

 

The fear and bewilderment these animals are experiencing is heartbreaking.  The photographer said that this poor left behind horse was trembling and shaking in terror.  He had no way to save it, but did post the photo on Facebook.  The owner of the horse has been found, but there is now no way to know if the horse survived.

I apologize for thee length of this post.  If anyone wants to help those affected by the fire, The Resource Connection in San Andreas, CA is looking for donations.  Resource Connection, P.O. Box 919, San Andreas, CA  95349.  (209) 754-1257.  

 

 

New Project I Could Not Resist

My work schedule has been tough this week, and I have not made much progress on Viola.  Over the weekend, however, I did succumb to making a table topper in fabrics that are End of Summer/Early Fall in feeling.  I figured once I had those little half square triangles made up I had better get them sewn together.  You know how my husband is with setting up fans everywhere.  It has been warm this week and I could just see him blowing those little blocks to Kingdom Come.

This came together in a jiffy and turned out really cute, I think.  The color of that top border strip did not come out accurately in the picture.  It really does "go" with the others!

 It is one of the monthly Kim Diehl Simple What Nots projects I signed up to make through Fatquarter Shop. This was the tiniest one I have made yet.  You can see the scale of the project by comparing it to the match stick.  It measures 10 1/2" by 11 1/2" .  Also, this picture shows the true color of that top border strip.  Looks much better.

I will get this quilted up so I can use it ASAP.  And trust me, I promise to get back to Viola and show you some progress in a few days.

Throw Back Thursday

One of my sisters has been going through her photographs and found this one of me.  I believe it is about 30 years old.  Maybe 1985 or 1986.  We were on a family vacation at Lake Tahoe, and I had brought along this project to hand quilt. I had pieced the quilt for my grandmother (Grandma Agnes), and planned to give it to her for her birthday in January.  I am pretty sure it was November when the picture was taken, because my mother loved to plan Thanksgiving at Lake Tahoe for fifty people.  Well, maybe not that many, but for a big crowd.

Grandma loved that quilt for a long time and had it on the bed in her guest room.  The colors seem so 80's to me.  I bought the best fabric I could find at the time, at a local quilt shop, the first quilt shop I had ever discovered.  Over time, the fabrics have faded a bit, not much.  When Grandma died, my aunt Gerry made sure I got the quilt back, so it is in my possession.

This wasn't the first quilt I had ever finished, but was certainly one of my first five completed quilts.   My points aren't too bad.  The edges are kind of wobbly and my binding is so wide!  I can see that I have made some progress in my skills over the decades, and that there was a good reason hand quilting never became "my thing".  I loved making the quilt and my grandma loved it truly, so I consider it an effort well spent.