Sister's Choice Quilts

Company's Coming

 

This weekend we are having houseguests and I decided it was high time I got out the rest of the fall decorations.  I changed things up a bit this year-always a good thing to keep the seasonal furnishings feeling fresh.

Hope my guests won't mind carrion crows pecking at the centerpiece.

Anyway, it's always tremendous fun to have folks over to celebrate the season, or any other excuse!  Eva will be one of the guests, and I know she will approve of at least one of the items on the menu--mac and cheese.

Can you even believe it will be October this weekend?  Where on earth did September go?  I love September and it seemed to pass by in a flash.  I think because it was so darn hot all month I spent it inside and missed it.

I did do a bit a sewing on my day off, in between the decorating.  I've been making half square triangles for the Single Wedding Ring Blocks, using a little back up machine I have in the closet.  My regular sewing machine has been in the shop for four weeks, so I decided to call the repair guy to see what the status was.  Apparently, it has been finished and waiting to be picked up for some time now.  And  just how was I to know that, you might ask?  It is up to the customers to check in regularly with the repair shop to see if their machines are ready, don't you know?  They are much too busy to call people who are anxiously waiting to get their equipment back.  It could have been there forever before I got a phone call, I swear.

Deep breath.  I am so glad to get my Bernina back so I can return to my Halloween Bounce borders.

Arrgggh.  If that man put a sticker on my machine, I tell you I will spit tacks.  

 

Some Fall Decor

I must be sick or something, because I have not decorated my house for fall in my usual over the top style yet.  It has been so darn hot I just can't get into it, even though my heart says it's time.  It was 94 here Tuesday.   Seriously?  I have been either sitting in the air conditioned house or out on the porch in the evenings once things cool off a bit.

That is my favorite spot to sit with a wine spritzer and a good book.  We have pretty orange lights strung up everywhere but I could not get a good picture to save my life.

Eva and I are trying to get that Fall Feeling.

Sometimes Easy is Better

Still waiting for my sewing machine to come back from the shop.  I don't want to work on the Halloween Bounce borders until I get it back, so I have not been doing much sewing.  Tuesday I had the day off and didn't want to waste it by not sewing, so I got out my Single Wedding Ring blocks which I thought I could piece on my back-up Janome.

When I first started making these blocks I used triangle papers.  The blocks were coming out ok, but I got really bored with having to rip off those papers and trimming up the half square triangles.  Each of those Single Wedding Ring blocks has sixteen half square triangles, so I was feeling bored and bogged down using the triangle papers.  I decided to switch things up mid-project and got out my Easy Angle Ruler.  I really need to use that more often.

The method is so darn simple, really.  For my blocks I cut 2 1/2 inch strips (two hst fabrics right sides together) and then used the Easy Angle Ruler to cut out my triangles.  

It really is the easiest method of making accurate half square triangles that don't even need to be trimmed, they are so perfect.

I also started pressing my seams open, which made things lie much flatter and go together nicer.  Another technique I need to do more regularly.

Honestly, using the Easy Angle ruler vs using those triangle papers cut the block construction time in half, and the results are better.

 

Fall Fountain

We celebrated Fall by purchasing a Tuscan style fountain for the front porch.  A home and garden shop near Sacramento was having a big sale and we decided to make the trip to check it out.  My husband, Sara, Eva and I piled in the car for a day trip.  I knew it was the one I wanted the moment I saw it.  I have always had a thing for lions, and this one features a lion spewing water into the two troughs of the fountain.  We live so far out in the country, there was no way we could get the store to deliver it to us 75 miles away.  So my husband and I had to go back the next day with our son's little pick up truck to fetch it ourselves.  

The fountain came apart in three pieces (the two feet and the rest of the fountain).  The men at the store got it into our ancient little pick up truck with a fork lift and then my husband and I were on our own.  I was no help whatsoever, and was pretty much just along to keep him company.  This little pick up truck has no air conditioning and it was 75 miles in 100 degree heat until we got home.  The minute I arrived in our driveway I informed my husband I was going to take a shower and disappeared.

Then we found he could not get this 900 pound fountain out of the truck by himself.  As I said, I was no help at all, except to make encouraging remarks.

Luckily our son in law lives a mile away and was able to come and help get the thing out and installed on the porch.  So there you have it.  Our big adventure, which seemed to take up the entire weekend, and our new fountain.  Which I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying.  Eva can't stay out of it, naturally, but with luck, after the novelty wears off she will leave it alone.

Block 5 in the PG Christmas Sew Along

I managed to finish block 5 in the Primitive Gatherings Christmas Sew Along.  I am making both a red version and a green version.  Block 5 was a more successful attempt than Block 4, but I continue to have issues with my sewing machine.  My main Bernina is in the shop and the back up Bernina breaks its thread every time it sews over a seam.  Pretty frustrating I tell you.  I dragged out the Janome, but I may just have to wait to do any serious sewing until I get my machine back from the repair shop.

You can glimpse my Halloween Bounce quilt to the right of the Christmas blocks.  That project is on hold until I have a sewing machine I can trust.  I have my border units pieced but not assembled.

This past weekend the family piled in the car and took a drive to a home and garden shop that was having an end of summer sale.  We ended up purchasing a Tuscan style fountain!  I will try to get some pictures and post them tomorrow.  It is sitting out on our front porch where we like to sit--it is kind of like a second living room.  The sound of the water from the fountain is just lovely!  I know I will really enjoy it.

Is Mars Retrograde?

Are any of you doing the Primitive Gatherings Christmas Sew Along?  Is it just me, or was Block 4 the block from H#%*?  Either the cutting directions were slightly off, I measured wrong, or my stitching is no where near as good as I thought it was.  That was one frustrating, wonky block.  I may end up doing it over.  Not happy with the results.

I am also getting tired of making dime sized flying geese blocks.  I swear if the blocks stay this complicated I will switch out the pattern for Churn Dash or Snowball blocks.  Maybe a 9 patch.

Arrrrggggh.  I am just frustrated.  I had a whole day of sewing available to me yesterday and chose to work on the sew along blocks.  I had planned to finish four blocks (two each of Block 4 and Block 5).  Dream on.  I had nothing but mechanical problems.  My Rowenta steam iron died a week ago and I am using a lesser quality Rowenta which spits and sputters.  I tell you I have bought my last Rowenta iron ever.  If they only last a year, I may as well buy Black and Decker or Sunbeam for $25.  My main Bernina sewing machine is in the shop for repairs, so I am using my back up Bernina.  Now I remember why it is my back up machine.  

That darn machine will not sew over *anything*.  I am not even talking about sewing over pins--this machine is so touchy the thread breaks when I sew over a seam.  On the last block, I swear the thread broke 20 times.  I can't wait to get my main machine back from the shop, and that man had better not slap a sticker on it like he did last time.  Don't mess with me, I'm on a tear.

Hope you all have better luck sewing this weekend than I had today!

UPDATE:  Just wanted to emphasize that it isn't my intent to discourage anyone from participating in this sew along.  My advice is to go slow, check the PG website for any corrections and see how it goes.  If the block seems like it has too many pieces for you or looks way complicated, your should feel free to switch out the block pattern for a simpler design. There are a ton of lovely 6 1/2" unfinished block designs you could swap.  The Farmer's Wife books have some great ideas, as does Judy Hopkins' 501 Rotary Cut Quilt Blocks book.

A red and white quilt is always wonderful, so jump in and make your own version!

 

Thumbelina Christmas

Have you heard about the Sew Along that is going on over at Primitive Gatherings?  Lisa Bongean has organized a fun Christmas sew along that can be made with traditional or modern fabrics.  Her concept is that we will make a red and white quilt, 25 blocks before Christmas.  The patterns are free, so do check it out for some fun free block patterns to make now or later.  After Christmas the patterns will no longer be available for free.

Of course I had to give things my own twist, and decided to use both red and green fabrics, and make two blocks out of each pattern.  I am not at all sure where I am going with this, but hey, if I see this sew along though until the end,  I will end up with 50 blocks, right?  That can't be bad.

So here is the thing---I guess I wasn't reading the fine print when I pitched myself into this project.  You see the blocks are only 6 inches, finished.  Look at my photo above.  Woo hoo, flying geese, right?

Well that's great, but when you compare them to the size of my thumb nail in the second photo, you will see the block units are , well, kinda teeny.

This is what I have made so far.  The block patterns seem to be getting more complicated, which I am not sure is a good thing.  The fourth pattern is out on Lisa's website, and it has quite a lot of teensy weensy pieces.  We shall see how this goes.

Busy week this week.  Not much time for sewing or blogging.  Hope to touch base with you one or two more times!

 

Bounce, Now the Fun Begins...

Now the fun really begins with my Halloween Bounce project.  In my last post I mentioned that I made the star blocks two different sizes.  How is that going to all go together you may be wondering.  Well, it turns out that you trim all the blocks down to the same size!  The blocks are made so that the star kind of floats in the center of the block.  When you trim the blocks down smaller, you can position your ruler so the star is off to the side, floating toward the top or bottom of the block, or even turned totally wonky.  I didn't have it in me to have any wonky blocks--this pattern is crazy enough for me.

You get the idea of where we are gong with this.  So cute and fun.  

Best of all, the blocks don't have seams that have to line up, so sewing the rows together is a total breeze.

I am loving this pattern and the seasonal fabrics I am working with.  Now on to the borders!  Have a terrific weekend everyone.

Halloween Bounce Stars-More on Fabric Selection

I am making my Halloween Bounce Stars scrappy, within each of five color ways.  I have fabrics in black, orange, gold, green and purple.  I found that if I used a selection of lights and darks in each star, the stars seemed to "sparkle" more than if I stuck to fabrics all the exact same tone.  Use of a variety of scale in the prints give the stars more texture and interest as well I think.

I have no idea how many total fabrics I used in these blocks!  I kept going into my color coded stash bins and plucking out "just one more" fabric in each color for the blocks.

Maybe a few more golds?  What to choose, what to choose?

You may also notice that the stars in the two blocks shown in the photo above are two different sizes.  Hmmm, how is that going to work, you may ask.  You'll see!

 

Halloween Bounce

The pattern I am going to use for my beautiful palette of fall colored fabrics is Bounce, a pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  The version on the pattern cover was pieced by Thelma Childers, of "Cupcakes 'n' Daisies" and quilted by Linda Hrcka of "A Quilted Pineapple".  What I love about this pattern (besides the scrappy stars) is the amazing border.

I had over 40 fabrics in my cache of hoarded fabrics, pulled with this particular project in mind.  I have been saving up a black, orange, green, purple and gold color palette for going on two years now.  I thought I would share my thoughts on color selection with you all.

Recently two designers came out with fall color inspired lines (Julie Hendrickson's Sampler II and Renee Nanneman's Pumpkin Spice).  I bought both bundles and added them to the fabrics I had already collected.  What happened when I added Sampler II and Pumpkin Spice into the mix was that my choice of greens changed dramatically.

These are the greens I had originally planned to use:

Sort of muted, light greens.  

Once I had the oranges, purples, golds, and blacks assembled, these greens seemed too wimpy in comparison.

I pulled some other, much stronger greens to see how they worked.

My color choices have always been more instinctual than calculated, but I think you will agree that the darker, bolder greens work better with the stronger pure tones of the other fabrics pulled for the project.

For me, assembling the colors and fabrics for a project is just about the most fun part of making a quilt.  Let me tell you, I was pretty jazzed to start sewing now that I had my fabrics decided upon!  So that is what I did over Labor Day Weekend.