Sister's Choice Quilts

Red Blocks

Red block quarter units are all stitched.

And trimmed!

This is a huge step towards my finish.  Now to tear off the piecing papers, sew the folded corners and construct nine blocks.

Do you see that light at the end of the tunnel?

Ozzie update:  Thanks so much for your kind words of support and good wishes.  Ozzie is doing just fine.  His wrappings and the cone are off and he just has a tiny scab on the tip of his right ear.  I've been watching him carefully when he is out in the yard to be sure there isn't anything on the other side of the fence where it shouldn't be.  Remy is keeping him company this week.

Goodbye January.  Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Let's Just Get This Done

I am determined to get this quilt top together this week!  The blocks are taking me forever to make, as there are umpteen steps involved in the construction.  I have nine red blocks to make (18 strip sets and 36 smaller block units).  My strip sets are done.  Today I will press the strip sets and cut out the triangles for the block units.  Would you believe I only get 4 triangles out of one strip set?  That is enough for two quarter block units.

Here is one strip set.

This is what you get from one strip set.  Four triangle units.  You need two of the to make a block unit, and  eight of them to make one full block.

This is what you get from one strip set.  Half of a block. About that same amount of fabric went into the trash.  And don't forget you still need to sew a flip and fold corner to each of these units.

I guess you can see how much is involved in making one block.    I can see why a lot of strip pieced quilts are small! If I ever do another one, it is going to be a candle mat.

It is a bit repetitive to say the least.  I am wishing for a sampler project or a Block of the Month about now for some variety!  But the end is in sight and the quilt will be adorable when it's finished.

Speaking of things that are going on f.o.r.e.v.e.r, is anyone else glad to see the end of January?

What's Going On At My House

I know.  Is that pathetic or what?  Ozzie has been through a bit of "stuff" lately.  I am about to rant and rave a bit, so if that's not your thing, stop reading now.

He had a little growth on his lower left eyelid, which was successfully removed just over a week ago.  You can see how they shaved around his lower eye area, giving him a peculiar piratey look.  He got through that procedure with flying colors.  By all appearances he was completely unaffected.  He had great energy, his usual enthusiastic appetite and was just as mischievous as ever.  No eye patch, no "cone of shame", just some eye ointment.  I was prematurely congratulating myself on how we had sailed through that experience.

And then Friday rolled along.

There is someone in our neighborhood who uses his home near us as a vacation home.  He and his family use it maybe once a month for a weekend, if that.  The problem is, he brings his gigantic 160 pound Newfoundland, who resembles a bear more than a dog.  He named his dog Rover.  Seriously.  So, on the infrequent occurrences that they are staying at their house, this neighbor allows Rover to roam all over the neighborhood off leash.  The houses in our neighborhood don't have fences typically, so he goes in and out of folk's yards.  We do have a fence to keep Ozzie in and other critters out, but we are the exception.

Rover is calm and friendly and seems as dumb as a bucket of nails.  He doesn't do anything while wandering around.  He just strolls wherever he pleases, unsupervised and off leash.  And that's ok because he's a "good" dog, right?  No one is accompanying him, so anything he leaves behind is going to stay where it drops.

Well, Ozzie hates him.  Whenever he sees Rover on the other side of our fence (which is a split rail style covered with chicken wire) he becomes hysterical.  Never mind that Ozzie weighs 24 pounds to Rover's 160, Ozzie thinks he is a threat.  Because the fence isn't solid, Ozzie can see Rover just fine and runs up and down the length of it barking his head off in a complete frenzy.  Ozzie doesn't spend much time out in the back yard, but I do let him out at least four times a day to do his business and get fresh air.  If I know the people are at their house with Rover, I don't let Ozzie out.  But this time, I had no idea the people had come for the weekend and that their dumb dog was wandering along our fence.

However, Ozzie figured it out right away.  Ozzie saw Rover and started barking and running up and down the fence.  Before I could get to him to put a stop to it, Ozzie pitched himself at the wire fence in his hysteria, and caught his ear on something and tore the tip of it off.

It was a mess.  There was blood all over his head and face, and I couldn't tell at first where he had hurt himself.  I managed to get him into the car and take him over to our veterinarian, who luckily was still open.  It was around 5:10 on Friday afternoon.  He was still bleeding profusely and we caused quite a sensation when we arrived.  The doctor determined the cut was on the end of his ear and cleaned and patched him up.  Because of the location of the wound, he required a head wrap and the plastic cone.  $118, and over an hour later, I was back home with Ozzie who was now trembling and shivering with the ordeal of having his damaged ear folded back, a tight wrapping around his head and neck and the plastic cone flapping around his face.

We had our grand dog Remy with us for the weekend, and as you see by his expression, he is deeply concerned for Ozzie.  I was totally shook up with the ordeal and didn't calm down for ages either.

We keep our dog in a fenced back yard.  When I take him out front for a walk, he is on a leash.  We pick up (and dispose of properly) any excrement he may produce.  The only trouble we have ever had during the twelve years we have had Ozzie is with neighborhood dogs who are allowed to wander around unleashed.  Frankly, I am really tired of the thoughtless mentality that just because someone owns a "good" dog who they trust not to run off or be aggressive, that keeping them off leash is ok.   They may think they know how their dog will behave, but they sure don't know how other dogs may respond.

Ok, I'm done.

String Along Blue Blocks

Yellow blocks:  done.
Green blocks:  done.
Blue blocks:  done.
Red blocks: coming up!

My assembly line process is going great.  I am not so focused on making one block at a time.  I make my strip sets and cut them into triangles.  I paper piece the triangles onto my quarter block units.  I attach my sew and flip squares and put the four block units together to make the complete block.  It is going much faster to do it this way.  

I am going to try to finish up those red blocks in the next couple of days and get this top together.  I am so ready to move on to a new project.

The Moda String Along has been a very fun project and was a challenge to me as I had not worked much with foundation papers before.  The colorful fabrics are very cheerful, but not quite my usual colors.  I am itching to get started on a Jo Morton quilt, with those fall colors that are my favorites!

Update on the audio book I am listening to:  Clock Dance by Anne Tyler.  Sigh.  I have spent about seven hours (so far) with the most annoying and tiresome characters.  The protagonist is such a wimpy milktoast of a woman that I want to pinch her.  My sympathies are starting to lie with her totally obnoxious and condescending husband, who in real life I would put up with for about five minutes before I showed him the door.  Honestly, there is not one single character in this book who is not irritating.  This is not Anne Tyler's best effort in my opinion.

Hope you are all having a grand week.

Tools on Tuesday

I had posted a few photos of my string blocks on Instagram, and my daughter was asking me to post a photo that would show the size of the block.  The blocks are made up of four 5 inch smaller blocks, that when sewn together, finish at one 10 inch block.

I have thrown myself into making the blue blocks and wanted to show you a ruler I have been using that I really like.

This is the Simple Folded Corner ruler by Doug Leko.  I purchased it in a larger size when it first came out, but honestly when I make folded corner squares, they are usually tiny.  When this smaller version of the ruler came out I bought one and use it more than the larger size.

I was getting so tired of drawing lines on those darn little squares, when I remembered "Oh right.  I have that ruler..."

This is what it looks like, and here is how you use it:

Take one block unit and one folded corner square.

Place your folded corner square precisely on the corner of the block unit.

Position the ruler on top of the corner square, lining every edge up with the marks on the rulers.  Notice the dark solid diagonal line on the ruler, a quarter inch in from the edge of the ruler?  That solid line is going to be your stitching line, but nothing needs to be marked.  It is an exact quarter inch from the edge.

Cut on that outside edge of the ruler.  Say "Thank you for coming" to the little yellow triangle you just cut off and throw it away.

Sew as usual, using your quarter inch presser foot.

And there you go.  Now for the "folded corner" thing.

Fold it over and press.

That took longer to explain than to actually do.  I have to say, I get more accurate results with the ruler than I do with drawing those darn lines and stitching on them.

Hope your week got off to a good start!

String Along Green Blocks

Just a quick update that my green string blocks are all done.  This is how the blocks will be arranged in the quilt top.  A center red block with surrounds of yellow blocks, then green blocks, then blue blocks, then more red blocks.

I am well into finishing the blue blocks and then will start on the mammoth task of making all the red ones.  I am getting just a teensy bit bored with this project, so I want to continue on and get it all wrapped up.  It is a good project for listening to an engrossing audio book, I will say that.

I have been listening to Anne Tyler's Clock Dance.

The story is Anne Tyler's typical style.  A private glimpse into a person's domestic life, warts and all.  So far, Willa, the main character seems to be sleep walking through her life despite some significant dramas.  I am pretty sure any minute now something significant must happen to wake her up....

Hope you all enjoyed a nice weekend.  It is a three day holiday for us here in the US, as we honor Martin Luther King's birthday.

Another Approach

I was complaining yesterday about how long it is taking me to make these string blocks.  Each full block consists of four quarter block units.

 

You need four of these to make one full block as shown in the photo below:

So I decided not to be so block focused and instead work on the block elements in an assembly line style.  Yesterday I started in on the 16 green strip sets I need to make my 32 green block quarter units.  After pressing my strip sets, I got my 64 green strip set triangles all cut out.

Once the green units were ready to go, I started in on the 24 blue strip sets I need for my 48 blue quarter block units.

After that is the massive red strip set job.  I need 34 red strip sets to make 68 red quarter block units.  

Once all the strip sets are cut up into triangle units I will get going on actually making blocks.  I think with this quilt, a systematic approach is the only way I won't feel overwhelmed. 

I'll check in tomorrow and let you know how this is working for me!

I also wanted to make a correction:  The name of the pattern I am using is "Signs of String".  I kept thinking it was called "String Along", but that was wrong.

 

String Quilt-Yellow Blocks

Enough with the reviews and re-caps already, right?  lol  Back to sewing.  As those of you who follow this blog know, I am participating in The Moda String Along.  I am using a pattern called "String Along" by Clark Street Quilts to make my blocks.  There will be yellow blocks, blue blocks, green blocks and red blocks.  

I have to say, these are taking f.o.r.e.v.e.r to make.  Those four blocks took all day to make.  It is deceiving looking, as each "block" is actually made up of four string quilted mini blocks with a folded corner unit on one end.  So the block is actually four blocks.  What you see in the photo is sixteen yellow blocks.  Each one measures 5" square.

I only have four yellow blocks to make.  Next us is eight green blocks, then twelve blue blocks, and then sixteen red blocks.  Here's what I have accomplished so far:

Have you noticed how much fabric string quilts eat up?  My gosh, no wonder they recommend string projects as a method to use up scraps!  I could make two more quilts with the trimmings I am cutting off.

Best Audible Books of 2018

One way I was able to get so many books "read" during 2018 is that a number of them were audio versions of a book.  I belong to Audible.com and have been a member for at least ten years.  When I first joined, they would send you a CD in the mail that you would send back after you listened to the book on your portable CD player!  Now of course everything is downloaded in seconds to your device.  I use my iPhone and little ear buds or play the audio through my car speaker using Bluetooth.  I love to listen to audio books while I sew and sometimes when I take long walks or car trips.  They are a must for long car trips!

Some of the best reads of my year were audio books.  Here are the ones I enjoyed the most.  Click the link for a description of the book and to listen to a sample:

Heft by Liz Moore
Educated by Tara Westover
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain
The Address by Fiona Davis
The Love Letter by Lucinda Riley
The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley
Ember Island by Kimberley Freeman
Letters to the Lost by Iona Grey

This past year I read a bit of  "women's fiction" through my Audible.com subscription.  In 2019 I want to listen to more memoirs, as they are often read by the author and have so much more feeling than when read by an actor.

One nice thing about Audible.com is that if you start a book and find that you are not enjoying it, you can return it for a new credit!  I am not kidding, that is just the best service.

In the comments, please do share what audio books you have enjoyed.  We are always on the look out for more good recommendations!

Reading Duds

I read a lot of books in 2018, but I also encountered some that "just weren't for me".  In other words, books I disliked.  What is your philosophy on finishing a book you are not enjoying?  I used to think I should try to stick it out until the end.  After all, 1) I'd paid good money for it, 2) I'm not a quitter, 3) I'd already put X amount of time into it, 4) Maybe it would get better?.

At some point I decided that was nuts.  If you are not "into" a book, you tend to slow down your reading pace and it takes longer than ever to finish because you just aren't picking it up.  Reading a book you are not enjoying takes time away from reading something you would love.  Modern Mrs. Darcy addressed this issue in an interesting blog post.  She says quitting a book she doesn't like is the best thing she ever did for her reading life!  Check out her blog post and see if you agree.

Anyway, on to the books I finished and was disappointed by, or that I flat out DNF'd.  (Did Not Finish).  Some of these books have gotten great reviews, but just were not right for me.  If you read any of these books and loved them, please weigh in with a comment describing why.

My biggest book disappointment of the year was 

Oh boy, was I ever looking forward to reading this book.  I love Kate Morton and own a hardback copy of everything she has ever written.  I wanted The Clockmaker's Daughter so much that I tried to persuade my husband to let me buy it when we were in London, since it came out there a couple of months before the US release date.  Thank goodness he nixed the idea of me packing a five hundred page book into my luggage.  When I finally got a copy I dived in to find there were way way too many characters, a confusing time line, a very hard to follow plot and was just plain drudgery to get through.  I did finish it, but it took forever because I made every excuse I could think of not to pick it up.

Let me say that loads of folks loved this book.  Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is a popular book club selection and was nominated for the National Book Award.  It has over a four star rating on Goodreads. This book is a family saga (normally a favorite genre for me) that follows a Korean family though four generations of life in both Korea and Japan.  What I found annoying was that the book would devote chapters and chapters to one character, and go into great detail in both descriptions and character development, then jump ahead to some other character and breeze through decades in a few pages.  We got to know a couple of the characters, but the rest just seemed undeveloped.  I found the book uneven to say the least, and extremely slow going.  I finished this one too, but could have read five other books in the time it took me to slog through it.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a critically acclaimed book that I hated.  The four Gold children see a fortune teller who tells them all the date that they will die.  We follow the teenagers over the next four decades and see what happens to them.  The premise of the book seems to be the philosophical debate over the fate that is determined for us and whether we have a choice in the matter.  The characters were all so loathsome I began to wish for their demise.  I finished this book too and wish that I hadn't.  

David Sedaris is a humorist who has a big following of fans.  I will not be one of them. Calypso is a series of "humorous" essays that follow events that supposedly happened to him.  His humor is occasionally witty, but for the most part is juvenile, vulgar, and mean spirited.  He makes fun of old people who have diarrhea accidents, he makes degrading remarks at the expense of disabled people, and there is one episode involving a turtle that is so disgusting I won't describe it. I got about two thirds of the way through this book and actually threw it in the trash. 

So there you have it, my Worst Books of 2018.  I'd love to hear from you as to how you feel about "having" to finish a book you aren't enjoying, and also what books you may have on your "most disappointing" list.