Sister's Choice Quilts

It's Summer

It is 103 degrees where I live right now.  And maybe hotter tomorrow.  Ugh.  The temperatures may be a bit much, but I've been cooling off in the pool when I can.  Eva brought over a little spray bottle of water this past weekend, and would give Denny and I a big shock every once in awhile with a little blast from her bottle.  That's one way to give the old folks a bit of a spring in their step.

I brought out my Sunflower Sisters quilt, which I love for summer.  It is such a nice idea to have some small quilts to use as larger table toppers.  I don't know why I don't make more quilts that are 60" or less.  I love the look on a table, especially for seasonal decor.  Honestly, I have so many full size quilts that I have made over the years, there aren't enough beds amongst all the people I know to use them all up!  I am swearing off full size quilts for the next year or so and going to concentrate more on making smaller ones.

If any of you are interested in the quilt pattern for the sunflower quilt, it is an old Buggy Barn quilt pattern called "Autumn in my Garden".  I am not sure if it is still available.

Hope you all had a great weekend and are enjoying your summer.

 

Summer Check In

Hi there.  Lots going on here!  Plenty of recent changes in my life, and new adventures and challenges to experience in the days to come.  As they say, when one door closes, another one opens.  That has been the case for me this summer for sure!  Everything and everyone is good, and once things fall a bit more into place, I will be sure and share more.  For the summer, my blogging is going to be sporadic, but my schedule will be more settled come August.

Life hasn't been all crazy--we did get away to the lake, and I have been doing a bit of sewing.  Happy first day of summer to all of you!

 

Patriotic Fabric

On Memorial Day I was on my own, and decided to make the most of the free day up in my sewing room.  My daughter Sara has been making some comments on how she needs a table topper in patriotic colors, and I thought what better day to start such an endeavor, but Memorial Day?  

I pulled out a thousand dollar Frivol tin (no it didn't really cost that much, it just seemed like it at the time).  This Frivol tin featured a collection of 7" fabric squares by Minick and Simpson called "Polka Dots and Paisleys".  You can always count on Minick and Simpson for some good red white and blue prints.  I added in some extra reds that played well, as I always can justify the addition of more red in a project.

A couple of hours later I had my first blocks and really liked what I saw.

What a cute block!  I am stretching the fabric in the Frivol tin with the addition of some extra prints so I can make two smaller table toppers than the one larger one instructed in the pattern.   One for Sara and one for me!   I will check in with you in a day or so so you can see the results.  With any luck, Sara will have a new table topper for 4th of July!

August Blooms, Quilted and Bias Bound

Didn't this quilt turn out pretty?  It is August Blooms, an ancient Fig Tree pattern I started probably ten years ago.  It was my first serious machine appliqué project.  I had such a nice stash of Fig Tree fabrics then, and a friend sent me a box full of her Fig Tree scraps, and this quilt just kind of came together.  I remember how proud I was of my first machine appliqué efforts.  

In my year of Finish It, this quilt top was at the top of the pile of quilts that needed to be sent out for quilting.  This Christmas, my goal is that everyone in my family will receive a quilt from me.  The stack of unquilted tops in my sewing room was ridiculous.  Someone needs to be enjoying these things.  I have a big family (25+), so there are a lot of quilts being sent out for quilting.  I've been sending out three at a time, so with luck, I will have enough for everyone by December.  Of course I have to bind all these things, which is another story.

So, speaking of binding, have you ever done Bias Binding?  I have tried it a few times with dismal results.  You have to wrap your mind around a slightly tricky spacial maneuver, which I have a dreadful time with.  Last time I gave it a go, I ended up with a dozen donut shaped strips, and not the nice long continuous strip of bias binding the instructions promised.  This time I used a book and a YouTube video to help me grasp the concept.

This handy little book has served me very well over the years.  If you need to figure out how much yardage you need for backing or what size triangle squares to make for your diagonal set quilt, this is your reference tool.  It also has very clear instruction for making bias binding.

I got 80% of the way along with my binding when I realized I still didn't grasp just how to sew that tube together and where exactly to cut my strips.  Thank goodness for YouTube!  I found a great video that demos the method, and I was able to comprehend the method in a flash.  If you are like me and really need to SEE something to understand it, check out this video: Continuous Binding Parts one and two by Cuddle Time Quilts.

I did it all just the way shown and got great results.  I wanted bias binding for this quilt because I had a cute striped fabric and it is so much more adorable when the stripes are at an angle rather than on the straight of grain.

I got miles of bias binding out of a 29" square of fabric, can you believe it?  Do give it a try if you have been wondering about the method.