Sister's Choice Quilts

Stars and Baskets, A Finish

This quilt turned out just as pretty as I had hoped it would.  The fabrics are Mill Book Circa 1892 from Collections for a Cause by Moda.    They are reproduction fabrics taken from an actual French fabric mill design book.  The quality of these fabrics was so exceptional; they seemed extra silky and the colors were so rich.  The main colors are ruby red, a deep purple, and a sage green.

Moda's owner and founder Howard Marcus Dunn produces these Collections for a Cause fabric lines and donates the proceeds from the sales to various charitable causes he supports.  I believe the Texas Quilt Museum may have benefited from this collection of fabric.    At any rate, the inspiration for the Stars and Baskets quilt above was an actual quilt from 1890 called Baskets and Stars.  Moda is based in Texas, as many of you are aware, and Mr. Dunn changed up the design of the original quilt's seven pointed star to a Texas Lone Star for this modern version of the quilt.

The quilt was not difficult to make, and, when broken into smaller steps, actually went together fairly quickly without much fuss.  My new Bernina made short work of the appliqué, with very good results.  I used a lightweight double sided fusible called Heat and Bond, which I liked very much.  If you are interested in how to do machine appliqué with this product, Kimberley Jolly of Fatquartershop.com has a wonderful YouTube tutorial with Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.  I watched it several times and got so much information  out of it.

My appliqué stitch was  number 1329 on my Bernina 740.  I used invisible thread for my stitching.  I watched another YouTube video by Heirloom Creations on how to do this stitch with the Bernina.  If you have a 700 Series Bernina, you can learn so much from these videos.  They were ever so much more instructional than the lame class I took from the dealer.

The final size of the quilt is 70 x 70 inches.  I took loads of notes from the instructional videos I watched, so if I have more appliqué in my future (which I hope I will!) I will be up to the challenge and not have to reinvent the wheel.  I tell you, if you want to get up to speed with a new technique such as machine appliqué,  the simple easy shapes required of this quilt are the way to go.  After making Stars and Baskets, I feel as if "I've got this".

Hope you have a great weekend!  I will be starting out a new project for my son.  Can't wait to share my progress with you. 

Sew Alongs Make Me Happy

I am having a ridiculous amount of fun with the sew alongs in which I have been participating.  The block above is week number eight of the ModaBlockHeads Sew Along.  This sew along has actually challenged me, which I have thoroughly enjoyed.  I have been "forced" to do a bit of machine appliqué, which it turns out, I love.  This week's block didn't call for appliqué, but the units were kind of small.  Those little half square triangles in the basket block above are only one inch finished.  A year ago I would have moaned and groaned to make a block with units that tiny.  I have learned I can do it, and with good results.

The trick to good results is to first starch the heck out of the fabrics you are using prior to cutting them.  Really soak them with a can of spray starch.  Let them air dry, then press them.  The result is slightly stiff fabric which is a dream to cut and sew.  The second trick to good results is to use triangle papers.  Or, you could make your half square triangles oversized and trim them down to the correct size.  Nothing is wonky, everything lines up perfectly.

The other sew along I am enjoying is Lisa Bongean's 2017 Triangle Gatherings.  Every week Lisa comes out with a block or two that uses 16 half square triangles to make a different block.  Supposedly she will come up with over 80 variations on how to construct different blocks with just those units.  I especially loved this week's block, #32.  It came out even more on point than usual, every thread right where it should be.  I attribute that to starching and using triangle papers as well.

What am I going to do when I run out of space on my design wall?  Oh No!  I just love seeing my progress on display up there.

Stars and Baskets Progress

My Stars and Baskets quilt is starting to take shape on the design wall.  The star blocks are all finished and trimmed, and I have nearly half the basket blocks completed.  A few more sessions of piecing the basket blocks and these blocks will be ready to be sewn together.  Breaking the components of the blocks into small manageable units really has made the project go smoothly.  

I prepped all the appliqué pieces first, then stitched all the appliqués in place.  Then I did all the block trimming in one session.  The stars were made oversized, which I have no clue why.  They were all done on an 11 inch square, which had to be trimmed down to 10 1/2 inches.  The appliqué did not distort the size of the blocks at all, so I am sure they could have been done right on the 10 1/2 inch squares and I could have saved myself the extra step of trimming.

The basket blocks are another story.  There are so many bias edges with those blocks, it is a miracle they come out square at all!  Luckily there is some leeway with the blocks being slightly oversized, so they can mostly be trimmed down to a nice square 10 1/2 inches. Except for a couple of rebels, which I hope won't fight me too much when I sew the blocks all together.

Thanks for the suggestions on how to deal with a person you know who is going through a serious health issue.  Not wanting to pry, but desiring to be supportive and caring, I have been at a loss how to interact with my cleaning lady.  Who knows, she may be bored staying home and "resting", and would welcome an invitation to meet up for coffee or be treated to lunch.  Asking her how her day is going, rather than the much more loaded question "How are you doing" was such a good idea.  She doesn't have to share any personal details of what she is going through, but she may value knowing that someone cares regardless.  Great ideas guys, thank you!

Baskets!

I had a tremendously productive weekend!  I completed the appliqué on all my star blocks, and completed all the prep and appliqué on my basket handles.  This would be for the Collection for a Cause Stars and Baskets quilt I am working on.  I have started sewing the basket blocks, and for the most part they have been successfully trimmed down to 10 1/2 inches square.  

Except for one contrary little guy, which insists on being wonky, and is in grave danger of being taken apart and re-made.  It just will not cooperate, and I can't figure out where I went wrong.  There are a lot of bias edges in these basket blocks, so the potential for wonkiness is definitely there.

Another task that had me occupied for a number of hours yesterday was cleaning my house.  I worked on it for a couple of hours and got the downstairs done except for the bathrooms.  Today I need to tackle the upstairs and the bathrooms.  I am exhausted and not even half way done.

I have a cleaning lady, or to be more accurate, until recently, I had a cleaning lady.  She is such an attractive, gracious, pizzazzy woman.  I just loved it when she came to clean.  We would visit and catch up on the doings of her kids and mine, vacation plans etc etc.  I have become very attached to her and think of her as a friend, as well as being so grateful that every two weeks she makes my house shine.  In early March, she told me she was having a mammogram. It was the same week I was having my colonoscopy, and we commiserated on the unpleasantness of both those procedures.  Well, the next I heard, the results of her mammogram were not good.  She took a week or so off to schedule medical appointments and so on, and then told me her doctor had advised her not to work for a month.  I have texted her a couple of times because I am thinking of her and hoping she is doing all right.  Not to pry, and certainly not to find out when the heck she will be coming back to clean my house.

It is such a dilemma.  I want her to know I care, but am afraid when I ask how she is doing, she is thinking I am frustrated that my house isn't getting cleaned.  She has responded to me when I have contacted her, but is full of apologies and seems stressed that she is letting me down.  How would you handle such a situation?  I want to respect her privacy, yet show her I care.  My instincts tell me to stay in contact with her, just by sending supportive good wishes.  

I sure appreciate how great she keeps my house, now that I have had to do the cleaning job myself!

Moda Blockheads #7

I have mixed feelings about the Moda BlockHeads block #7.  I love the end look of the block, but I did not care for the construction method.  I actually ended up remaking the block.  Lynn Hagmeier of Kansas Troubles is promoting a "layered piecing" technique for her blocks, and I find it to be not my cup of tea.  I re-did the block using traditional piecing rather than the layered method she advocates in the pattern instructions.

The other thing that is bothering me is that this block is clearly on the diagonal.  If you recall, the other appliqué block we did was very much a straight up design.

So how are these blocks going to work in a quilt layout?  Is the basket block going to be all tipped over on its side if the blocks are straight set?   If the blocks are set diagonally, I will have to re-make the bee hive block because I sure am not having that cute block set on its side.

If, like me, you are troubled by the diagonal/straight set question, Lisa Bongean has once again offered an alternate pieced block for this #7 ModaBlockheads selection.  It is good to have options!  

Have a great weekend everyone.

 

It Was Easter So We Baked a Cake

Eva's daddy Ryan invited us over for Easter dinner, and Eva thought we should bake a cake.  This fun Easter Peep cake could not have been easier to make.  I chose to make a yellow cake from scratch, but you could use a cake mix and it would be great.  I then made buttercream frosting, which I tinted green.  We dyed sweetened coconut in a zip lock bag with a few drops of green food coloring.  Shake it up a bit and you have coconut "grass".  Gently press it on top of the buttercream frosting on the top of the cake only.

Finding the Peeps the afternoon before Easter wasn't that simple.  Our grocery store only had the chicks, which would not be as effective as the little bunny soldiers.  Luckily the drugstore had the bunny Peeps, and we bought loads of them in every color.  I think we ended up just using 21 of them, or maybe it was 18.  Eva is learning about patterns in kindergarten, and her job was to arrange the bunny soldiers around the cake, and not have the pattern get broken.  No two pink bunnies next to each other and all that.  With the tiniest bit of finagling it came out perfectly.  

Peanut M&Ms were the treasure trove of eggs the bunnies are guarding.  Those were gently pressed down into the frosting on top of the cake so they would not roll around.

It was a fun project for Eva and I to make, and it was so simple, my five year old could do a lot of the helping.  I wish the Peeps were a bit more pastel--those neon shades are a bit lurid to my eye, but Eva loved them.  Be warned, this cake is sweet.  Cake, frosting, sweetened coconut, Peeps, M&MS....It was more for the process than to end up with a gourmet dessert.  But, people ate it!

Juggling Projects

Last Wednesday's Moda BlockHeads block was a super cute design by Carrie Nelson.  It even had a bit of appliqué, so I am happy that I am on board with that.  It's a little sunflower.  Adorable addition to the other blocks.

I got all caught up with my 2017 Triangle Gatherings Sew Along, finishing blocks 27, 28, 29 and 30.  You can see both my sew along projects up on my small design wall.

And last, but not least, I got my 24 star blocks all prepped for appliqué. My next sewing day will be Thursday, so we shall see how many of them I can appliqué into place.

Hope your week got off to a good start!

Bloc Loc Flying Geese Ruler

I have been so curious about the Bloc Loc Flying Geese ruler/trim tool since I heard Carrie Nelson recommend it.  I have always used and loved Open Gate's Fit To Be Geese ruler for making flying geese, and still do prefer that method for constructing the oversized geese.  However, this Bloc Loc tool has one thing to recommend it.  It has little grooves on the under side of the ruler that lock in place in the triangular seam allowance.  That little ruler isn't going to slip or go anywhere while you are trimming around it.

Here is my oversized flying geese block and my ruler locked into place before trimming.  For my trim mat, I am using a lazy Susan style rotating mat.  This is important because it enables you to do minimal handling of your block unit while trimming.  In the photo above you can see where I am going to trim my oversized flying geese block around the outside edges of the ruler.  I trim the right hand side and the top first.

So here is the cool part of the process:  flip your mini rotating cutting mat around so the block is now upside down.  Do not touch or move the ruler.  You are just rotating the mat.  Trim the (now) right hand side and top.

The big plus with this tool is three fold.  1)  The ruler locks in place in your seam allowance with its special grooves.  2)  You do not have to move the ruler around to reposition it for your second trim cuts.  3)  This trimming process is super fast.

I believe not having to fiddle around to reposition the ruler saves a ton of time.  I was trimming these geese faster than I ever have before.

Here are the cons:  1)  This little trim tool is for one size flying geese only.  I am making 1 1/2" by 3" flying geese and that is the size of the ruler I purchased.  The trim tools come in every size flying geese unit you can imagine, so whatever size you are making you can get it.  It isn't a one size fits all deal.  If you are making two sizes of flying geese, you would need two trim tools in those sizes.   2)  Which brings me to the major drawback:  This little tiny piece of acrylic is darned expensive!!  Just the one little ruler cost me $22!  

You also really need to have the small rotating cutting mat to make this whole process go quickly.

I have two of the rotating style cutting mats.  The smaller one by Fiskars is my favorite.  It is about eight inches square. 

My other one by Olfa is larger.  The lines that radiate from the center are really handy for helping to position appliqué pieces.

My take on the Bloc Loc Flying Geese trim tool is this:  I like it.  It doesn't move, and trimming is a breeze if you have a rotating mat.  If I had a project that called for a gazillion flying geese, I would not hesitate to purchase the tool in the size the pattern calls for.  The time you save with the quick trim process makes the cost worth it for a big project.

Hope you all had a great Easter weekend!  The Easter bunny came to our house and left an Easter basket for Eva.  She spent the night with us on Saturday and was up by 6:30 AM to see if the Bunny had come.  After she found her basket she started to put her jacket on over her jammies to go outside.  "What are you doing Eva?"  "I have to go outside and find the eggs now".   Ooops.  Luckily her daddy planned to take her to an Easter egg hunt at a local winery later in the day, so I dodged that bullet.

 

 

 

A Little Family Get Away

We have been on a little family vacation.  It has been raining pretty non stop in the area where we live, so we decided to spend Eva's Spring Break in a warm sunny place.!  That would be Palm Desert, one of my favorite vacation spots.  There were desert flowers galore, and plenty of sunshine, so the family soaked it all up happily.

It was Eva's first plane trip, so she was pretty impressed with the whole package.

The pool where we stayed was pretty nice, and I can tell you it was Eva's favorite place to hang out. We actually met the loveliest family from Long Beach who was vacationing there, and we all hit it off so well we hung out together as much as possible.  Eva made forever friends with a nice younger man (he was four) named Finnigan, and they were pretty much inseparable.  He had an inflatable pool float, which was akin to a teenage girl meeting up with a cute guy with a Corvette.  He was adorable and it's safe to say he "made" Eva's trip.

It was so nice to get away and feel the sun on our faces.

Speaking of faces.  Sara and Eva and I did Spa night, and of course we had to have facial masks as a beauty treatment.  We look like burn victims in the photo, but our skin was lovely the next day.

We bought a spa foot wrap for Eva, but she had a tiny cut on her baby toe, and evidently the effect was not soothing. She could not wait to get those things off her feet.  Honestly, you would think we were torturing the poor child.

She was much braver about meeting a dinosaur at The Living Desert.

We had a great time, but I'm glad to be home.  I have my work cut out for me this weekend:  Triangle Gatherings blocks 27 and 28, plus Moda BlockHeads Block Six.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Happy Easter to those of you who observe the holiday.

And Then This Happened.

This is Jan Patek's block number 4 for the Moda BlockHeads Sew Along.  I had decided I didn't want to do it because it is appliqué, and made an alternate pieced block instead.

You all know I have been playing around with a new machine appliqué project on my Bernina 740.  After making some stars and basket handles using Heat and Bond fusible interfacing, I thought to myself:  "Nicole.  Stop being such a wuss and make the darn appliqué block".  I also heard somewhere that Jan is going to come out with six more appliqué blocks for this project, which could be a super cute addition to the quilt. 

One of my hesitations about making this block is that it looked wonky in just about every version of it I had seen.  It is supposed to be part of its primitive charm I suppose.  Only I can't do wonky very well.  My mother would straighten crooked pictures when she was a guest in someone's home, so I guess I come by it honestly.  It was pretty simple to make the pattern pieces symmetrical.  I traced them as they were, folded them exactly in half and cut with my scissors on the drawn line.  Kind of like cutting hearts when you make valentines.  Voila, each piece was symmetrical.  

I cut my gold strips 1 1/4" and sewed them with a  quarter inch seam.  I pressed those seams open.  I layered my three cut out appliqué pieces and fused them to the 6 1/2" background square.  I used invisible thread to do the appliqué, because Heaven help me, I could not match that gold to save my life.  I really like how forgiving the invisible thread is and will use it on the future appliqué blocks in this sew along.

I am super happy with how this little bee skep block turned out.  I am also thinking that maybe machine appliqué will become more a part of my projects, now that I have a machine that knows how to do it.