Sister's Choice Quilts

Just Playing Around

These little Sweet Clover blocks turned out to be just what the doctor ordered to give me a shot of Spring.  I made ten blocks and turned them into a table runner, which I plan to send out to be quilted as soon as possible.

I can see it with some sage green candles and I am good to go for Easter.

One thing led to another, as it often does, and I found myself on a chair pulling old unfinished project boxes off the shelf in the closet.  I found three boxes that contained unfinished or un-started Fig Tree projects from years ago.

One was Jelly Ohs, a jelly roll project.  I had everything I needed in the box, except the three different light background fabrics the pattern called for.  I may search online for something that would work, but I definitely will not be finding this particular collection, which is so old it isn't even on the Moda website anymore. 

I made a block, which is kind of cute, but seems so big after all the small projects I have done recently.  I am also kind of over that butterscotch color, but it does go well with my decor.  

I have some other projects that really do command my attention, but I just seem to be in a flighty mood lately.  At least I am in my sewing room, right?  It doesn't really matter what I am working on, just so I am sewing!

Goodbye February!  You didn't last long, but after interminable January, that's ok.  Helloooo March, and warmer weather, sunshine, sitting on the porch and barbecuing outside.  By the end of the month, right?

Shop at Home

Since I am desperate for a touch of Spring, I've been in a mood to make some small quilts in a lighter color palette.  My favorite dark reds, golds and browns seem so heavy right now when my soul is craving lighter more delicate tones.  Pale green in particular.

I recently rediscovered a tub of Fig Tree fabrics that I had packed away.  I used to do a lot with Fig Tree fabrics, and then for some reason, fell away from it.   Lately, I have been paying attention to the Fig Tree Christmas and Halloween collections and it made me recall my stash.  In the tub I had some very pretty light greens that paired well with some butterscotch tones which were also on hand.  

Along with the stash of vintage Fig Tree fabric, I also had a number of Fig Tree patterns.  The one I pulled out to use for this project is called Sweet Clover.   I doubt if stores still carry it, but I did see a couple of patterns for sale on eBay.  What I thought was in keeping with my Spring theme, was that the block forms a sweet flower design.  It is basically four inch half square triangles with sew and flip corner squares to give the block unit a rounded petal shape.  I will have to machine applique the center circle, but that is not a big deal.  This pattern is giving my Doug Leko Folded Corner ruler a real work out.  I have used that little ruler in so many projects lately.

I've really enjoyed working with these pretty fabrics and think I may order some future Fig Tree lines.  Their "Christmas Figs" collection was wonderful and they are releasing a Halloween themed group  "All Hallow Eve" in June.   

How about you?  Are you fighting the Winter doldrums as well?  What springy projects are you planning to counter act the gloom of Winter?

Comparing Pineapple Rulers

I've spent several days comparing two pineapple rulers.  One, the Creative Grids Pineapple Ruler, I have used before and really liked.  It recently came to my attention that Bloc Loc makes a Pineapple Ruler as well, and on impulse I ordered one.  I'll give you my opinions in this post, which is very photo heavy.

Both rulers have YouTube tutorials, but the Bloc Loc lady is left handed which I found very confusing when she did her video.  The Creative Grids video is clear as can be.

You can see that they differ considerably in appearance.  

With the Creative Grids ruler, you trim the even numbered rows like this:

The ruler has little squares for each even round.  You place the square for the round you are on over the center square, taking care to line up the dotted lines that appear throughout the ruler with your seam lines.  There is also a white diagonal line that helps you be sure your center square is square and not tilted.  You can trim two sides at once with the ruler in one position.  Flip it and trim the other two sides.

When trimming the odd numbered rounds (in this case, the white strips), you do have to trim each side individually.  You don't worry about lining up the squares now, but pay attention to the dotted lines and a 45 degree line at the top of the ruler.

You add squares to the corners when the block is as big as you want it (4", 5" and 6" are your options with this ruler).  Use the ruler to square up your block perfectly.

I was pleased with how the blocks came out, with only the most minuscule distortion.  

With the Bloc Loc ruler, there seems to be a lot more trimming.  The ruler "locks" in place along your seam line, and you just need to line your center square in a square unit up with the 90 degree angle lines that are marked on the ruler.  My seam ripper is pointing to one of these lines.  There is another one running down the left side of the white square in a square block.  You trim the excess fabric on the top right.  You have to do this with all four sides of the block.  So, four cuts.

Then you have to trim your strips down, all four sides.  Four more cuts.  And good grief if you forget this step (which I did every now and then), you will be doing some un-sewing.

So far, I am thinking there is a lot more passes with the rotary cutter to get each round to size with the Bloc Loc compared to the Creative Grids.  Creative Grids:  4 trims per round.  Bloc Loc: 8 trims per round.

Now let's talk about block size.  There are two Creative Grids Pineapple rulers available.  I have the smaller one, which gives you blocks that are 4", 5" or 6".  All my fabric strips were cut to 1 1/4".  There is a larger size for making 6", 8", or 10" blocks.  For the larger blocks you would cut your strips a bit larger.

For the Bloc Loc ruler, you choose your tool based on the width of the strip you want to end up with.  I chose a ruler that gave me the option of having one inch strips or 1/2" strips.  If you want strips of a different size you must purchase more rulers.  

With the Creative Grids  tool, all strips are the same width (1/2") for the three block size options.  If you opt for the larger size choice, I believe your finished strips are 1".  With the Bloc Loc, you can use strips of any size wider than 1 1/4".  Since you have to trim down the strips in each round anyway, it is a great use of leftover strips from other projects.

The plus with the Bloc Loc ruler is that you can make your pineapple block as big as you want to.  You are not limited to a size.  If you want a big pineapple block, just keep adding strips.  You might think the ruler is too short to make a big block, but all you have to do is slide the ruler along the seam line to get to the end of your cut.

I made a nice big block, and as you can see, there is a fair amount of distortion.  The block is askew.  I was dismayed by this and thought I should try again and be more careful as I trimmed.  I made a second big block, and it was just as crooked.  I am thinking maybe it wouldn't be so noticeable if I had made a smaller block.

My final opinion is that I preferred the Creative Grids Pineapple ruler over the Bloc Loc.  My reasons for liking it better is that 1) there isn't as much trimming per round and 2) the block came out straighter, 3)  there are more lines on the Creative Grids tool for squaring up the block for better accuracy.

Stars and Baskets Off to be Quilted

Remember my Stars and Baskets Quilt?  I had not gotten around to having it quilted, and when I decided that it would be next in the queue, I had second thoughts about its size.  Without borders it was coverlet size, about 76" square.  I really wanted something that would cover the entire top of the mattress, plus drape over a bit.

My problem was that the fabric collection I used for the quilt "Collection for a Cause Mill Brook 1892" was released back in 2015.  Four years ago.  I really wanted to match one of the prints in the line in the border for some cohesiveness.  I did a Google search, and I was thrilled to see that several people were selling pieces from the line on Etsy.  In the past I have had really good luck finding older fabric lines from that source.

I ordered my border fabric and got it sewn on this week, and mailed off to my quilter yesterday.

Next question is how should this be quilted?  I can't afford custom quilting, so it has to be an all over design.  Any of you long arm quilters out there have a suggestion?  If I chose some sort of quilting design that had stars in it, do you think that would be too much?  I was thinking something swirly, with a star every now and then.

I have been obsessed with sewing this week, so expect some quilty posts coming up.  I am trying out and comparing a couple of different Pineapple Block rulers, so stay tuned.

On another subject, readers have reminded me recently of several really good recipes that I had posted over the past number of years, that I had completely forgotten about.  I am going to be adding a "Recipes" search button on the sidebar, to make finding my shared recipes a bit easier.  I don't know if I can add in past recipes, but you can count on all future recipes to be searchable.  Next week I have a couple of cake recipes to share, which I know you will love.

Chicken Noodle Casserole

When I posted my Twelfth Anniversary post last week, a sweet reader named Jody emailed me that she has been following me for years and that my recipe for Chicken Noodle Casserole was a big hit with her family and that she is still making it.

I stared at her email for about five minutes trying to recall a recipe I had for Chicken Noodle Casserole.  It was vaguely familiar, but I was at a loss.  How could I have forgotten anything so delicious?  So important?  I had no clue where that recipe was.  And it sounded really good.  And I wanted to make it right now.

I even had a follow up email from Barbara Anne, asking could she have that recipe.  Now I was on the hot seat.  And I really wanted that recipe so I could make it.  I started searching through my cookbooks, and searching through my recipe cards to no avail.  Years ago I had a little binder with recipes in it, going way back.  Like back to the 70s.  The binder fell apart, and it got tossed.  I thought I re-coped all my best recipes from it, but apparently some may have been left out.

I did some online research and found this recipe from Taste of Home that sounded like something I would make.  I have honestly never had one of their recipes fail.  I printed it out and made the casserole, and I have to tell you...it was good! 

Now, only Jody can tell us if this is similar to the original recipe I posted years back.  But even if it is completely different, I think it is a keeper.

Thank You

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who commented on my Twelfth Anniversary post.  It has been so rewarding to have you follow along on my journey these past years and I hope we can continue our relationship for many more.  I love sharing my love of quilting, family tidbits, decorating, books and recipes with you.

Speaking of which, I have a recipe that I hope you might enjoy.  It has been so rainy, stormy and windy this month that I have turned  more often than not to filling, nourishing soups and stews that leave me feeling all cozy inside.  This recipe for Beef Barley soup is one of them.  Bon appetit!

Beef Barley Soup

1 pound beef stew meat, cut into small chunks, and dredged in flour and Lawry's Seasoning Salt
olive oil 
1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
1/2 half onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 32 oz box Swanson's Beef Broth, low sodium
1/2 c uncooked barley
1 tsp fresh thyme, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Season beef in flour and Lawry's Seasoning Salt.  Brown in 1 T. olive oil.  When nicely browned, remove from pan.  In remaining oil, add mushrooms, onion, carrots and saute until softened.  Add more olive oil if necessary.  Sprinkle with a bit more flour if desired, to thicken ( no more than 1 T.).  When veggies are softened, add box of broth, reserved beef, barley and thyme.  Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes, until thickened and barley is cooked through.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add more broth if you like.  Serves 4 generously.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Dreaming of drier and warmer days here.

Crosshatch Quilt

I have launched myself into making the block units for the American Pie quilt, which I have decided to call Crosshatch.  The photo above shows what the quilt will look like when finished, only of course I chose Jo Morton fabrics in autumnal colors for this version.  I have actually made this quilt once before, years ago, for my daughter Sara.  At that time I used lavender 30's prints.  I rarely, if ever, make a quilt twice, but I think this one might be worth repeating.

This is the book where you can find the pattern:

And here is my progress so far.  Each block is made up of four units, and I decided to mass produce all the units, and then put them into blocks.  It is going to take awhile to press all of those units...

This project has the end result of loads of half square triangles being produced as a by-product of trimming the blocks.  These are really starting to pile up and I have in mind some sort of pinwheel block project to use them up.

The stitching and trimming is pretty mindless, and I am enjoying listening to podcasts and audio books while I putter.  I just finished listening to The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz, which was pretty good.

Hope your week is going splendidly.  We had a terrible rain/wind storm last night which left one of the awnings over our side porch in tatters.  Hope I can find someone to replace it out here in the boonies.  We sure have been having some weather this winter.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

Twelve Years

February 12 was the anniversary of my very first blog post.  A kind reader, Pam, pointed it out to me and I thought at first that she must be wrong.  No, it could not be possible that I have been blogging for that long.  Maybe ten years, but certainly not....And then I checked, and sure enough friends, Sister's Choice Quilts was launched on February 12, 2007.

I started this blog for several reasons, mainly because I love to write, and second because I wanted a record of my quilting journey, and third, because I was in the hope of meeting more like minded people with whom I could share my love of quilting.  

The quilt pictured above was featured in my very first post.  It was made on a quilting retreat and I named it Blogging Friendship.  It was my first and last Mystery Quilt! I featured the quilt in a giveaway in 2008, and  Susan from Blackberry Creek Home Arts was the winner.  Susan is still blogging as well, so you should go say hi.  I know she'd love that.

So many things have changed since that first post twelve years ago.  Blogging was in it's heyday back then, and I had been inspired by several bloggers who unfortunately, no longer post.  I had several cyber friends with whom I would exchange long quilt/fabric related emails.  We provided mutual support and also joked that we were "enablers" who caused one another to buy way more fabric than was necessary. We even met up in person on several occasions!  That was such fun.  People do Instagram more now I guess, and blogs seem to be out of fashion.  Quilt shops and quilt shop hops were a big deal in those days as well, and there were many opportunities to shop in person and even get together at shops and sew with friends. Now quilt shops seem to be few and far between, victims of the economy and the ease of internet shopping. The shop that sponsored the retreat where I made the Mystery Quilt is no longer in business. 

When I introduced myself in that first post, I explained that I had named my blog Sister's Choice Quilts in honor of my four sisters.  Now, sadly, I only have three sisters.  I also said in my first post that I hoped to meet more quilters and make some new friends.  That goal has been met in a way that has far exceeded my expectations.  People have come and gone over the years, but I still get comments and appreciate every single one of them.  The greatest blessing in this twelve year adventure has been the interaction I have had with lovely, quilt loving women.

Whether you are a long time follower of this blog, or if you just discovered me by accident recently, I thank you with all my heart for visiting and giving me a chance to express myself.

Red Ohio Star/Threadology Runner

I posted about the Fatquarter Shop Threadology Sew Along here a week or so ago.  Check out that post for all the details regarding the sew along.  Every time a goal is reached, a new setting alternative is released.  I wasn't super interested in making the entire quilt, but when I saw this table runner pattern featuring five of the blocks I knew I had to make it.

I had some red Fig Tree fabrics in my stash, which I thought would be very pretty in a table runner, especially for February.  I was short the tone on tone red fabric for the sashing and border, so I needed to see if I could find some on the Internet.  I was able to locate some and got the runner together at the end of last week.

The basic block is the Ohio Star, with the background in a print and the star in a solid.  I love how the use of the print in the background of the block really showcases the pretty fabrics.  I also like the blended effect you get when the blocks are positioned next to one another.  It is hard to see where one fabric stops and the adjacent one begins.

Monday was a school holiday here, so I had Eva keeping me company all day.  She spent part of the day making a Valentine's box which she will take to school on Wednesday.  They were selling the plain white boxes at Hobby Lobby for under $4 if you can believe it.  Cuter and so much more convenient than trying to cut up a shoe box and cover it with wrapping paper!  She was very happy with it and said  "If we do this at school next year, I am keeping this box and using it again".

Hope your week got off to a good start.  Our snow is nearly melted away and for now the sky is blue.  It is pretty chilly for us, as 35, so I am staying cozy inside and making my Aunt Gerry's Oatmeal Cake, and a beef barley soup.

Snowed In

I woke up to a winter wonderland Sunday morning.  It had quietly snowed all night long, and our power had been out from midnight to about 6:00 AM.

This was the view out my bedroom door.  The trees were so beautiful with their branches all decorated with snow.

But our driveway was somewhere under all that whiteness.  And it is a hill.  My husband with his two knee replacements, was keen to start shoveling it, but I had grave misgivings about the wisdom of that plan.  

Luckily, my daughter and her husband, who live in the mountains and have a big truck with special snow tires, drove down and helped us out.  That is my son in law at the top of the driveway with a snow shovel, taking care of it for us.

We just are not used to this kind of weather.  It's California for goodness sake, and in February I am expecting to see the daffodils coming up and the cherry blossoms coming out on the trees.

However, some members of the family thoroughly enjoyed the novelty that the snow storm brought.