Sister's Choice Quilts

Forsythia

Just a quickie post.  This gorgeous forsythia bush is growing along my front walkway.  I remember being just a kid and seeing the yellow forsythia blooming along our driveway, always the first sign of spring.  Sometimes there was even snow still on the ground!  I love the cheerful yellow blooms on this bush, and the pleasant memories I have of it growing between our house and my grandma's..

I have been visiting my father this past week, and am happy to say that he is able to get along all right on his own now.  He has been thoroughly enjoying the attention, company and home cooked meals provided by his daughters for the past month, that goes without saying.  Now if he really will get out of his chair and make his own sandwich...

I am looking forward to getting back to my normal routine starting tomorrow.  More quilting related posts are coming up.  Or at least a fabric shopping post.

On another subject--did you ever see a worst Oscars?  Whew.  Had a real hard time sitting through it.  In fact I failed.  

Hope you all had  great weekend!

Fabric Baskets for Toy Storage

Have you all tried making fabric baskets?  They are so convenient for sewing accessories, children's small toys and all sorts of other odds and ends.  

For Valentine's Day, I gave Eva a Dog Washing Barbie, that came with all sorts of little puppies and dog washing paraphernalia.  Tons of little pieces that were bound to be spread all through the house and lost.  I had a piece of Frozen themed fabric her uncle and auntie had sent her from Denmark, and thought with some fussy cutting, it would be just the thing to use for making a little basket to contain her toys.  

There are a slew of fabric basket patterns on the internet that are free downloads.  If you just Google "fabric baskets" you will get loads of results. I did download a pattern called 123 Basket, which I kind of sort of followed.  My fabric pieces were cut 9 inches by 14 inches.  I lined both the outer pieces and the lining with fusible batting to give it shape and make it firm enough to stand up.  It was what I had on hand, and it worked fine.  

I think I got the handles positioned wrong, but Eva doesn't seem to care.  They kind of flop down like sad bunny ears and they should be more horizontal and stick out from the sides of the basket more.  Oh well.  The basket works great for containing all the little pieces that go with this toy set, and is in a fabric that pleases her.

You can whip these up in an hour and I know you could find all sorts of uses for them.  How about the next time you need a little gift for someone?  You could whip up a basket and fill it with a cute tea mug and some assorted teas.  Or soaps and a little bath mitt.    Or a gourmet muffin mix and a cute spatula?  Or an Easter basket for the special kid in your life?

Valentine's Love

It is a bit late, but I neglected to share my Valentine's Day with you.  With all my running around these days I have barely been home to enjoy my pretty cards and flowers.  

The little table topper is Mon Ami, a Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  I made it smaller than the pattern called for and bring it out every Valentines Day.  The three pink and red candle holders I picked up at an upscale grocery store near my dad's house.  Love the three shades of reds and pink.  The flowers are from my husband.  He couldn't decide between the red and the white roses, so he got both!   They must have been super fresh, because they are still going strong, almost 10 days later.

One of my sisters is especially thoughtful when it comes to sending cards.  Look at this beautiful Valentine card she sent me, along with a vintage crocheted handkerchief from Europe.  Isn't that exquisite?  I have quite a collection of vintage hankies, and really need to use them more.  Or at least tuck one in my handbag just in case.

Happy belated Valentine's Day to all of you!

 

Kim Diehl Five and Dime

This month is just flying by.  Between working, taking care of Eva and going to my dad's house to care for him three days a week, I don't know if I am coming or going.  My father really doesn't need much attention, since he is pretty much recovered from his broken leg.  In the down time while I am visiting him, I started a new mini quilt project.  This pattern is by Kim Diehl and is called Five and Dime, and was part of the Simple What Nots program through Fatquartershop.com.  

How about that dining room table?  We have a big family and my mom had the table custom made decades ago so we could all fit at one table for our regular Sunday night dinners.  It makes a terrific sewing surface, where I can really spread out.  In fact, we could fit four or five people sewing around that table, and have done so in the past.

It didn't take long to piece together the main body of this little quilt, and I just have the borders left to do.  There is a black containment border, a border of colored squares, and an outer black border.  I changed up the size of the quilt a bit, making it rectangular rather than square as the pattern dictates.  That shape works better for me for my tables at home.

Hope you all had a good weekend!  I feel Spring in the air, which always brightens my mood.  That is one great thing about living in California--in February the trees start blossoming and the daffodils are coming up.

Log Cabin Layout Decision

This is the Log Cabin quilt layout that Sara has chosen for her quilt.  #6, Four Squares. 

The first person to correctly guess what Sara's choice was is Cathy Burk.  Cathy, send me your address and I will mail out your giveaway prize.  I decided to giveaway a second prize to the next person to guess right, and that was Rebecca.  Rebecca has sent me her address already and I have popped a little something in the mail to her.

The voting was super interesting!  The layout which got the most votes was #5 Barnraising.  Second most popular was Layout #2, where the pattern formed sort of a frame around the outside of the quilt perimeter.  Third most popular was Layout #6, Four Squares, shown above.  Least popular was Layout #9, which featured a star in the center.  That one only got one vote!

Thanks so much for playing along with me everyone.  I really appreciate all the comments.

Have a great weekend!

Voting Day

So, today I will post photos of the nine quilt layouts I experimented with for Sara's Log Cabin quilt.  I would love it if you all would vote on your best guess as to which layout Sara should choose for her quilt.  On Friday, I will post the name of the person who first chimed in correctly with the layout that Sara likes best.  I will have a little giveaway prize to send to that person.

The layout # and name will be below the photo.  Here we go:

Layout #1  Squares

Layout #2 Squares with Frame

Layout #3 Chevrons

Layout #4 Straight Furrows

Layout #5 Barn Raising

Layout #6 Four Squares

Layout #7  Snail's Trail

Layout #8  Radiating Star

Layout #9 Framed Star

 

Log Cabin Layouts #7, 8 and 9

Snail's Trail #7.  I thought I was going to like this layout the best, but I am not sure.  I had high hopes for it being graphic and contemporary.  

Radiating Star #8.  I must have some blocks turned the wrong way.  This layout looks like a big mess to me.  I get nothin'.

Framed Star #9.  I thought I was going to like this one more than I actually did too.  Once I got it arranged, I could only see the design if I looked through my camera lens at it.  Seen up close, this layout was sort of a jumble as well.

If I have to stand back from across the room and squinch my eyes almost closed to see the design, I don't think that is going to work for me.  Which is what I had to do with the last two layouts.

I think those are all the layouts I have in me, unless someone wants to direct me to one or two more.  Tomorrow I will share the nine layouts all in one post and at that time will take a vote on which one you all like best.  Sara will now have to choose, and I will award a little giveaway prize to the person who first correctly chimes in with what you think her choice will be.  

Log Cabin Layout #6

Here is Log Cabin Layout #6.  I think it is pretty cool.  But then, I tend to like any layout where I don't have a block turned the wrong way.  And I swear I cannot tell by just looking at the blocks.  I have to take a photo and study that to find the wrong way blocks.  My husband says he likes this layout # 6 the best so far.

I won't be able to post tomorrow, but on Monday I will show my last two layouts and hopefully get a final vote on what everyone likes.  So far, Sara seems drawn to the Layout #2 and to the Chevron one, Layout #3.  She was really on the fence though, and said it was going to be really hard to choose.  

The last two layouts are really nice--a star and a kind of snails trail design.  Check in Monday and we will have the final two choices and then on Tuesday a parade of all the layouts and a vote.

Log Cabin Layouts #4 and #5

I think this layout #4 is called Straight Furrows.  The dark blocks arranged this way form a strong diagonal pattern, contrasting with the lights.

I do like the symmetry of layout #5.  This one may be called Barn Raising, and is a very popular choice for Log Cabin quilts.  Good grief, this took forever for me to arrange.  Each quadrant has blocks that are turned in a different pattern and I kept getting all mixed up.  There still could be something turned the wrong way, but you get the general effect, which I like very much.

When we pick the layout we are going to go with, I tell you, I will post a picture for you all to examine before I start sewing any blocks together.  I am going to need a lot of help to be sure I don't have any blocks going the wrong way!

Log Cabin Block Layouts, Part 1

Now that my 64 Log Cabin Blocks are finished, I have been playing around with some various  layouts.  The first one pictured above is how I have been arranging them up on the design wall as they were sewn.  I was making the blocks four at a time, and laying them out this way helped me keep track of how many blocks I had left to sew.  Sorry for the blurry picture, there was something dirty on my camera lens.

This second layout doesn't look much different, but notice how the light sections are highlighted more than the dark by placing four light sections together.  I do like the way the dark strips form kind of a border on the outer edge of the quilt top.

Now we have something completely different.  This chevron design is kind of interesting.  I like it probably because it is such a nice change from the four block quadrant layout.

I'll have some more layouts in the next few days.  Feel free to weigh in on what layouts you think are most effective or pleasing.