Sister's Choice Quilts

Patriotic Block-Machine Applique

If you have't yet gotten in the mood for 4th of July, making this little block ought to do the trick!  It is the 16th block in the ModaBlockheads Sew Along, designed by Jan Patek.

I knew I had some patriotic fabric stashed away somewhere, and after a good amount of rummaging, I located it.  I used Heat and Bond fusible appliqué paper to make the block, and it was easy peasy.  In the past, I have used a fusible product called Steam a Seam 2, which works in a similar manner.  I prefer the Heat n Bond because is it stiffer and the second layer of paper stays in place until you want it to come off.

I have done a number of posts on machine appliqué over the years.  If you are interested in seeing how my technique has evolved, check here, here, and here.  I began with super simple shapes and have moved on to smaller and more layered appliqué pieces.  I enjoy the process and find it faster than hand appliqué.  

Happy Mail is Starting to Arrive

I had a birthday recently, and got some gift certificates to Fat Quarter Shop and to Amazon.  I have an Amazon wish list four pages long, so I have been ordering some books that I have been wanting.  I redeemed some of my gift cards for four quilting books, all of which look super good.  I got The Big Book of Table Toppers and Simple Friendships by Jo Morton and Kim Diehl, pictured above.  I want to make more small quilts, and these books are full of table topper ideas.

The other two quilting books are both by Jo Morton.  Jo's Little Favorties, and Jo's Little Favorites II.  I am hugely excited for these two books, as the patterns and fabric inspiration are right up my alley.

This is Liberty Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings.  I swear, if they come out with a new collection, I have to have it.

I have more fabric and some rulers coming from FQS, and some novels from various used book vendors that sell through Amazon.  I have been buying used books more and more lately, and have been quite pleased with the condition and quality of them.   To get a nice hardback book that is in "like new" condition for under $10 is pretty cool.  I can always donate them to my local library when I finish them if I decide I don't wish to keep them.  It is cheaper than a Kindle download in some cases!

Can you tell I pulled out my Fourth of July decorations this weekend?  I should have done so before Memorial Day and gone with the red white and blue theme all summer, but I am late this year.  Have you decorated for the 4th?  Do you enjoy putting out seasonal decorations?

Borders, Backings and Bindings=Boring

I spent the entire day yesterday adding the borders and piecing the backing for Ahren's 1000 Pyramids quilt.  Whew, I haven't spent such a tedious sewing day in ages.  That is probably why I have been procrastinating getting those final steps done.  However, this quilt has to get to my fabulous quilter so we can take it to Ahren when we visit him in Ireland this August.

Ahren had purchased some very pretty backing material from Deb Strain's first "Bee" themed collection "Bee Creative".  It is the black floral in the upper right of the photo above.  However, I ended up making the quilt larger than we had first discussed and there wasn't enough backing fabric.  I am so lucky to have a great stash on hand, and had a black fabric with little gold seeds on it that I think goes ok with the other fabrics in the quilt.  So, I pieced the backing, both lengthwise and widthwise.  It took f.o.r.e.v.e.r.  I managed to do it so the seed fabric forms a big plus sign in the middle of the floral backing.

The quilt is huge.  It measured 84 x 87 once I got the borders on.  So, that backing had to be bigger, and ended up 92 x 96 or so.  We are talking circus tent size.  I am so glad I got that project done and out the door.  

So, how do you all feel about 108" backing fabric?  I have to say, I am a fan.  Because I am too lazy to do all this tiresome piecing.  I like glamour sewing, not this boring stuff. Although it is nice when your quilt is backed by silky Moda quality fabric that is part of the collection you used.  The 108" wide backing fabrics used to be stiffer and not so nice as the regular fabric, but I think they have improved over the past few years.  What do you think?

MODA Blockheads #16

This was week number 16 in the ModaBlockheads Sew Along.  The block of the week was an appliqué block by Jan Patek featuring two tiny American flags.  The block called for a red and white striped fabric for the flags, which I did not have, to my surprise.  I rummaged around in my 150 degree garage in my tub of red scraps to no avail.  I could have ordered some red and white striped fabric, but I didn't want to get behind with this project, and was determined to come up with a block.

Fortunately, Lisa Bongean, one of the designers organizing the sew along, has come up with an alternate block for each block that features appliqué.  Many people just don't do appliqué, and I think it is a thoughtful gesture that she provides another choice.  So far, she has shared four alternate blocks to substitute for the featured appliqué blocks.

The block above was her offering for week #7, which I think is a wonderful block to take the place of the flag appliqué.

The half square triangles are one inch finished, and that center star is 2" finished.  I have found that not only have I come to enjoy working with these tiny pieces, but I am actually getting better at getting accurate results.  The block in the photo is 6  1/2".

This sew along has been challenging, and definitely skill improving.

Hope to have more to share with you next week.  My background fabric for Larkspur/Into the Wind arrived already, so I plan to tackle that as well as finsh up the borders on Ahrens 1000 Pyramid quilt.  It has just been too hot to sew! 

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Mid Week Sweltering Check In

I can't sew, I can't go outside.  All I can do is sit in front of the fan and dream of cooler days.  We are having a heck of a heat wave.  You can see my reflection in the photo above, balefully peering into our home thermometer.  104 outside, 79 inside.  Ugh.

I lied, I have been doing a bit of sewing in the morning before my upstairs gets too warm.  I had planned to have my 3 Sisters Larkspur/Into the Wind  quilt put together by now, but have had one issue after another.

First of all, the darn thing is humongous.  It didn't fit on my design wall, hence things kind of came apart on the lower right side, where I couldn't plan out my fabrics so well.  I am going to have to replace one of those pink flying geese blocks because I am not having three of them in a row.  I didn't realize it until I moved the furniture in my front sitting room where I had enough space to lay it out on the floor.

Then, I ran out of my background fabric, which is why you see three big gaping triangle shapes on the right side and bottom.  I managed to find some more of it, from probably the last shop in America who has any left.  So, for now, I have folded up the project and have it draped over my stair railing until the missing fabric arrives.

I have to say that I have found this project to be a lot fussier than I anticipated.  I had more issues with color placement and layout than I have for a long while.  The pattern is Into the Wind, a Miss Rosie pattern.  A couple of years ago, Carrie Nelson (Miss Rosie) joined forces with Moda fabrics, and they are now producing her patterns.  Moda isn't going to listen to little old me, but if I had a suggestion, it would be this:

One of the things that folks loved about Miss Rosie quilt patterns is the abundance of chatty instructions included by the designer, Carrie Nelson.  Carrie is very amusing in her writing, but also extremely informative.  She explains EVERYTHING in complete detail.  In the effort of saving space, or editing, or who knows what, Moda has cut down considerably a lot of Carrie's explanations in their version of her patterns.  The patterns still have the Miss Rosie "vibe", just not as much conversation between Carrie and the quilter.   I miss that!

Now, I am a person who uses 50 words when 25 would suffice, so perhaps that is why I liked Carrie's chatty patterns so much.  
Moda's versions of Miss Rosie patterns are all right, but I wonder if I would have had less issues with Into the Wind if Carrie had been given free reign to express herself more fully.

 

 

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Catching Up

We got home from 36 degree temperatures and snow to a heat wave!  Temperatures at home are expected to be in the triple digits through next week.  What a crazy world we live in.  Despite the chilly weather, my husband and I enjoyed ourselves on our little get away.  It is always nice to take a break from the routine and explore something new.

My first free day this week, I buckled down to catching up on the two Block of the Week Sew Alongs in which I am participating.  The block above is the Moda BlockHeads Block 15.  It is supposed to be a T block, but I switched the color placement around a bit to play up the star shape.

I also remade last week's block--the third time is the charm, right?  I didn't think the block on the left had enough contrast, so I made another one that does.  The block on the left is ok, but the large prints make the edges of the pieces indistinct.

It was so funny.  When I was making the flying geese units for Block 15 (at the top of this post), I must not have been concentrating, and made them three times bigger than they were supposed to be!  I had to laugh, as it really doesn't matter how big you make a flying geese unit, you can always trim it down to size easily.  I got out my Fit To Be Geese ruler by Open Gate, and trimmed those big boys right down to size.  With the big size difference between the two units, it doesn't seem like you could, but it works just fine.

I have a couple of finishes that are pretty close, which I hope to work on this weekend.  My border fabric for Ahren's 1000 Pyramids quilt arrived, so I need to get that on.  And my extra yellow Larkspur fabric for the Into the Wind blocks came while we were on vacation, so I need to get cracking on the setting triangles, then get those rows sewn together.

I also hope to do some online shopping this weekend at Fatquartershop.com.  I had a birthday, and my sweet kids both gave me gift certificates, so I will be making some fun new purchases.  Can't wait to show you what I choose.

Here is some extra cuteness that I just had to share.  Those faces, I tell you.  They make me smile all day long.

Have a great weekend everyone, and I hope the fathers in your lives have a Happy Father's Day.

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Feathers and Nippy Weather

I made another Feathers block, and fixed the first one I had put together incorrectly. Hopefully by the time I make a half dozen or so of these little blocks I will have the hang of it and not have to do so much un-sewing!

Not much sewing for me this past weekend, as my husband and I took a little get away trip.  The weather was pretty nippy!

Snow.  In June.  In California.

We don't care.  We had to scrap our plans to sit on the beach and read our books, but managed to figure out some other fun activities. I should be home and back in the swing of things by Wednesday!

In Case You Were Wondering...

With all the projects I have going on right now, you may be wondering if Nicole is a big old Starter, but not a Finisher.  

Over a year ago I started a project called Into the Wind, a Miss Rosie pattern featuring one million flying geese.  Well, maybe not that many, but a lot.  I ended up putting this project away because the color placement was driving me nuts.  You all have heard me say that it makes me twitchy to have the same fabrics touching in a quilt, and no matter how I tried, I was having a lot of that happen in this quilt top.  

Furthermore, I just could not wrap my head around the color placement of the blocks themselves.  I just had to put it away.  Every time I worked on it I had a head ache.

This is a photo of the blocks I had made up to the end of April 2016.  As I completed each one, I was laying the blocks out straight, just to get them up on the design wall.   In the pattern directions, there is a very complex (to me) diagonal layout.  Every time I looked at that diagonal layout, my brain shut down.  I think if you are making this quilt and are feeling confused and bogged down, you could absolutely go with a straight set as in my photo above and have a wonderful looking quilt.  It looks ok, right?

The diagonal layout, as called for in the pattern, is definitely a mind bender, but I think it will be visually so interesting and complex when sewn together, that I will be glad I stuck with it.  So I dragged out the UFO box and gave it another look.

Over the past weekend, I finished the full blocks, the side blocks and the corner blocks.  You see, when you set this quilt diagonally, you actually have three different blocks that you are laying out, plus pieced setting triangles.  I told you it was complex.

I resurrected this UFO, and spent many hours on Sunday concentrating on how to lay out the blocks for optimum color placement.  I did a good amount of un-sewing to get the look I wanted.  

I think this is going to be a winner when I get the top stitched together.  I have four of the seven diagonal rows sewn and am happy with what I see.  I am at a stopping point though, as I was short of some of the yellow fabrics I needed for the pieced setting triangles.  The extra yellows have been ordered and when they arrive, I will make those setting triangles and get this bad boy finished!

Stay tuned, I think this one may be a surprise finish.

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I Just Had To

When I saw this Feathers pattern by The Pattern Basket, I knew I had to make it.  Eva loves birds and these scrappy little cutie pies will be adorable on a quilt in her bedroom.  This is not going to be a weekend project, I can tell you that right up front.  I think each block has something like 28 pieces, and it is going to take me some time to make 30 of them.

This is a pattern where you need to be super organized.  My Alphabittie labels are going to be a life saver in helping me keep all these units straight.  If it wasn't confusing enough with all the gazillion pieces/units, there are right facing birds and left facing birds, and of course the construction of each variety is different.  This will not be a project to work on when I am tired or distracted.

My first birdie block took me a fair amount of time to construct, mainly because there are an infinite number of ways you can sew these little pieces together incorrectly.  I discovered a couple of them right out of the gate.

I noticed the fabric the designer used in the sample quilt is a Fig Trees collection that was out last summer.  Strawberry Fields, Revisited was the name of the collection.   I have a lot of Fig Tree scraps, so I thought I could put something together that would look similar to the quilt on the pattern cover.  

But hold the phone.

Did any of you join up to make the 2011 Designer Mystery Block of the Month hosted by Fat Quarter Shop?  Yeah?  You did?  Well, so did I.  I made three or four blocks, lost interest and figured maybe I would catch up at some point.  Never did. And what was the fabric collection featured in that BOM program?  The original Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree!  If you are like me, and have that block of the month program sitting unfinished in a project box, I think you will see that there is plenty of fabric to make the Feathers blocks.  Including the cream background! 

How about that?  I re-purposed a six year old Block of the Month program I thought I had wasted a boatload of money on!

But that's not all.  I also have the Number 6 Frivols tin, that features the Strawberry Fields Revisited fabric.  So I have enough of this cute fabric to make three Feathers Quilts.  Which is not going to happen.  At any rate, shop at home my friends.  I have plenty of fabric to choose from when I put these cute little birds together.  

Don't you just love it when that happens?

Quilting Accessories

I thought I would share a few things I have been enjoying lately that are quilting related.  Just this week I found the organizer box above at Home Goods.  The box is solid wood, and is divided into five compartments-two wide and three small.  This box is meant to be a desk organizer but I find it perfect for holding the rulers I grab most often, rotary cutters, markers etc.  This came in several color options.  I saw sage green, white, black, bright pink, and the grey I chose.  Best of all?  It cost only $19.99!

This is the second Bloc Loc ruler I have purchased.  My first was a 1 1/2" x 3" flying geese ruler.  I love using it so much that I bought a larger size as well.  The one in the photo above is 2" x 4 1/2".  I think those two sizes are the most common sizes that I make in my quilts.  I love the snug way the grooves in the ruler fit up against the seam line.  And the best feature is, it makes cutting go really fast.  After cutting the top and right side, you leave the ruler in place and just flip your mini cutting mat around and trim the bottom and other side.  No repositioning the ruler and moving your unit all over the place.  I cannot believe how fast I can crank out perfect flying geese units.  These little rulers are expensive (well over $20), but I am so enjoying using them that I am considering purchasing a couple of half square triangle rulers as well. 

Recently I caved in and bought a pack of these cute little "Alphabitties" at Fatquartershop.com.  If you are doing a project with multiple pieces, they are essential for keeping you organized.  I didn't think I needed them, but have really been putting them to use.  They are great for my Moda BlockHeads blocks, as well as a new project I started.  (More on that later!)

Triangle papers.  A must for projects with tiny half square triangle units.  Two different brands are shown in the photo above, both of them for 1" half square triangle units.  The one on the left is by Primitive Gatherings, and as you see, you stitch on the diagonal line all along the strip.  You do have to stop and reposition your needle after each diagonal line of stitching.  The one on the right is by Star Singles.  I like using those because you can stitch continuously all around the square, getting eight finished half square triangles when you cut apart on the solid lines.  Perfect tiny little HSTs every time.

A pin is not just a pin.  If you haven't tried Little House pins, you might want to try a box of them.  I bet you will become a convert.  They are finer, shorter and way sharper than regular quilting pins.  If you are a stickler for accurate piecing, these little guys will help you get your points and seams to match up beautifully.  100 pins comes in this cute little metal tin (which I find is super cute, but I have no use for).  Love love love these pins.

Last, but not least, I purchased a new iron awhile back, and I love it.  I go through irons awfully quickly, with most of them lasting me less than a year.  I have always liked the Rowenta irons, but at over $100 for the German made ones, it was getting too expensive.  And those pricey irons did not last any longer than the cheaper Shark or Black and Deckers I have tried.  I read about the TFal iron online and ordered one for under $40 on Amazon.  The sole plate has tons of steam vents and has a non stick surface.  It gives me plenty of steam, glides over my fabric and doesn't spit or leak.  At $40 if it only lasts me a year, I will cheerfully repurchase.

How about you?  What notions or accessories are you liking right now?

 

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