Sister's Choice Quilts

Hardly a Spare Minute

It's been crazy busy around my house this week, because a certain young lady turned 11. Eva is staying with us for a few days and her birthday was yesterday. We packed the day with all sorts of activities. A shopping trip to a bookstore and local toy shop, out to lunch, home to do a craft project, out to a movie, and capped things off with dinner at the local pizza joint and cake back at home. This nana is pretty much done in.

That is a little felt mouse she made in the top photo. The next picture is at the movie theater, where we saw Jurassic World. Man, was that movie ever loud. Very loud.

There has barely been a minute to sew. I've been trying to sew one block for the past three days, and this is as far as I've gotten.

I used my Creative Grids Cat's Cradle trim tool for the Cat's Cradle units. As you can see, they turn out great with that tool.

I wonder if I will be able to complete this block this week?  

Do You Have Project Overload?

Do you have project overload? I've been thinking about how many concurrent quilting projects I have going on at the moment, and it's a lot. I know many of you are disciplined and just take on one quilting project at time. You work on it until it is finished without getting distracted by something new and shiny. Once the top is pieced you probably even prepare your binding and put it somewhere you can find it. I admire your focus, orderliness, and discipline.

I am not that person. I get so excited about new projects that I often can't seem to help but start something even if I have others that I am working on at the moment. At this point in time, I have seven projects I am working on. I have many many more projects that I have not yet started or have started and set aside. I may get to them, maybe I won't. These seven projects are ongoing, and I work on them steadily, some more than others. These projects are (in the order I am paying attention to them):
1) Peace and Healing
2) Midnight Moon
3) Moda BlockHeads 4
4) Cozy Up
5) Flea Market
6) Red Sampler
7) Cider

Peace and Healing is on the larger design wall. I am in the process of sewing the rows together, so I anticipate that one will be a finish fairly soon. To the left is Cozy Up, which is a smaller size quilt and should not take long to wrap up once I get the next round of blocks made. Everything else is in the tall project bin unit from Ikea in the first photo.

Am I overwhelmed? Well, maybe a little. I'd say I am more frustrated that life gets in my way and I don't have as much time to sew as I would like to. But what made me think about the topic of project overload is a terrific YouTube video by the great Pat Sloan. I highly recommend that you take a few minutes and watch it. Pat discusses project overload and has some terrific tips on how to control it, or at least manage your feelings about it. 

She suggests first and foremost, making a list of your current projects. She talks about deadlines (a baby shower or graduation gift for example) and making that a priority. She suggests making some of your larger projects a smaller size- turning a quilt size project into a table topper (which I have done many times!). She even mentions that if you aren't loving something you started as much as you hoped, to set it aside temporarily or forever. Best of all, she has some tips on how to get caught up on the projects you do love and want to finish.

I have been thinking about this a lot over the weekend, and would also add that if a project you are working on is seasonal (say a Halloween or Christmas quilt) and you hope to use it in the near future, that you move that project to the head of the queue.

I'd love to have you readers chime in on this subject. What kind of quilter are you? Disciplined or schizophrenic? If you have multiple projects going on, does it make you feel overwhelmed? How do you prioritize your projects? Please do share your thoughts and tips!

 

 

 

 

 

I Found My Moda BlockHeads 4 Layout!

I am so excited to have gotten the inspiration for the layout I will use for the Moda BlockHeads 4 quilt. The fabric I am using for the quilt is several collections by Linzee McCray. The greys, aquas, yellows, and navy in all the fabrics coordinate beautifully together and the overall feel of the blocks is upbeat, cheerful, and a bit retro.

This is my inspiration layout, by Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts. She published fabric requirements and instructions on her blog post this week.

I had thought I would do a diagonal set, but I like how her layout looks so much that I am switching gears immediately. Her setting appears very complex at first glance, but it really is deceptively simple. The great thing is that it only requires 25 blocks, so at the end of the sew-along I can eliminate a few extras that don't "play as well with the others".  I swear, whenever I make a sampler quilt I end up making extra blocks to replace several that I don't care for. It will be great not to have to do that.

I needed some grey yardage to complete the setting layout, and Fat Quarter Shop had this grey in stock from Linzee's Morning Light collection, one of the groups I have been using for this sew-along.

Some things just have a way of working out! 

I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

Bloglovin Issues

If any of you follow me on Bloglovin' (a platform where readers can read all their favorite blogs in one place), you may be experiencing some frustration. Frustration in that the site doesn't seem to work at all anymore.  For the past few weeks I have not been able to successfully reach the site, getting error messages such as "We will be back shortly" or "This page isn't available right now" blah blah blah.

I don't know what is up with them. My help tickets to customer support are not responded to, I am wondering if they went belly up. 

I suggest if you want to be notified when I post, you "subscribe" to my blog. Up at the top of my page, right under the Sister's Choice Quilts logo, there is a tiny blue "Subscribe" button. Click on that and fill in your name and email address and you will be alerted when I put out fresh content. 

If anyone knows of another platform similar to Bloglovin where a person can follow all their favorite blogs in one place, I'd love to hear about it. I have tried Feedly.com, but you can only list a few blogs before they charge you a fee. Bloglovin was free, which was nice. Except it doesn't work....

Two Midnight Moon Blocks Done

Sadly, I did not accomplish as much yesterday as I had hoped. I wanted to make four blocks and finish up the Midnight Moon blocks and set them aside for a while. Life got in the way and I only finished two. Actually, work got in the way. I am trying to work ahead a bit so that when I am visiting my son in September I won't have any work deadlines distracting me. If I look at my September article deadlines I should be able to work one or two of them into every week in July and August and therefore not have any due in September.  Always thinking....

The two blocks in the photo above are Friendship Star on the left and Rocky Mountain on the right. Both were pretty cinchy, especially with Fat Quarter Shop's piecing papers for the square in a square block units (Friendship Star).

Super hot here, with temperatures in the low 100s. We will get through it. We always do. Some folks in our area lost power for most of the day, but we lucked out and kept ours on all day without interruption.

Hope your week got off to a good start!

 

 

 

 

 

My Plan For the Day and I'm Sticking To It

My plan for the day is to finish up the Midnight Moon sew-along blocks. I believe to get caught up and finish, I need to make four blocks. I can listen to book review podcasts or my audio book and chill out. I am listening to a book by Janelle Brown called "I'll Be You" that is pretty good. It is about identical twins who were child actors. Now all grown up, they are estranged. One of them is suspected of joining a cult and goes missing, and the other steps up to find her sister. 

It is great weather to stay inside, as the temperature was 104 here Saturday and Sunday. Ugh. It is hard to get excited about eating in weather that is so hot, but I have a great suggestion for you.

Do you follow What's Gaby Cooking on Instagram? She is so upbeat and fun, and always has a great smile. She is a proponent of eating fresh food in season and her recipes never disappoint me. She has a couple of cookbooks out and they are equally good. The one in the photo above, Eat What You Want, is on sale right now for $7. You read that right!  For the hardback!

This recipe from the book is "Corn and Poblanos", which I could eat every day and not get tired of it. I served it hot, but it could be served room temperature or even cold over salad greens. The ingredients are poblano peppers, which are a very mild Mexican pepper. I can't seem to find them where I live, so I used pasillo peppers for the same effect. You cook the peppers with red onion, add fresh corn kernels, crumbled bacon, avocado and lots of squeezed fresh lime juice. I had some leftover chicken which was a nice addition too for a more protein rich meal. It was so fresh tasting and delicious for a hot summer day.

Do you have a plan for the day?

A Tip to Speed Up the Block Making Process

As shown in yesterday's post, I have been working on the Granny Square blocks for the Family Reunion sew-along from the Rollin' Along book. For my first block I got up and pressed my seams open for every single seam in those blocks. It took F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

For my second block, I pulled out my old-fashioned little wooden seam presser. I used to it flatten each seam to the side rather than open. I paid attention to the direction my seams went, alternating the direction for each row so that the seams would nest. That little stick did a great job of pressing those seams down.

I used it again to flatten the seams after sewing the block rows together. Honestly, it worked fine. And it was so much better than getting up and going to the ironing station so frequently. The block with opposing seams went together in half the time of the block with the open seams.

After a final press with the iron, to my observation, there was no difference in the flatness of the blocks when comparing open seams to nesting seams. In my book, the time-saving factor of using the little wooden seam press and having the seams nest/oppose wins.

I have had my little seam presser stick for years, and do not recall where I got it. I checked on Fat Quarter Shop and they did not have that exact one, but had some in wood or plastic that would achieve the same results.

Granny Quilt Blocks

There is just something so sweet about a Granny Square isn't there? The latest round of blocks for the Family Reunion sew-along by Moda Bake Shop are these 9-inch Grannies. The center medallion they called a Great Granny block, and it measures around 18" as I recall. The outer round of blocks will be much smaller and look like little X's.

This block is for you if you like to make a block oversized and trim it down to size.

My fabrics are Cozy Up by Corey Yoder. The Family Reunion pattern is in the book Rollin' Along, which has many designs intended for jelly rolls. The book was compiled by Lissa Alexander. I had a fat eighth bundle of the fabric, which is working just fine for me. 

Lots of time for sewing this week. which is great because it's too hot to go outside. The big news this week is that we had a major ant invasion. We had to finally break down and call in the pest control company. We were at the point that we couldn't leave a single thing out on the counter or the little pests would tell their friends and we'd have them everywhere. Ugh. I keep thinking there is one on my arm or leg even though we seem to have gotten rid of them. The man from Clark said they are particularly bad this year. 

Today I think I shall work on sewing the rows and lattices on the red, white, and blue Peace and Healing quilt. That is coming along so nicely.

Mindless Sewing: A New Definition

My favorite stores are all having big sales right now. Nordstrom, Chicos, JJill, Talbots, prices are the lowest of the season as the stores clear out summer inventory to make room for new fall styles. I have become obsessed with Chicos lately. They are known for their no-iron shirts, great-fitting jeans, pizzazzy jewelry, and embellished tops. My cousin Claudia used to work for Chicos and always looked fabulous. Recently I have gotten a couple of their no-iron linen shirts and some of their Girlfriend jeans, which fit me so well. Anyway, they also have a Facebook page, where they show weekly videos on their new collections and how to style and accessorize them. I have fallen into a deep rabbit hole and have become addicted to watching their styling/fashion videos. 

So, I decided to multi-task yesterday and took my laptop up to the sewing room, thinking I would watch some Chicos fashion videos while I sewed. Just do some mindless sewing while I entertained myself. My focus was clearly on watching the video on how to style my white cropped jeans and kelly green linen shirt because I made a real hash of what I was trying to sew. While I dreamed about just what sandals, earrings, and lipstick would perfectly set off my outfit I managed to cut and sew my simple four-patch blocks the wrong size. 

2-inch units Nicole, not 2 1/4 inch. Oh well, at least they can be trimmed down, right?

It was a pretty easy fix, especially with this wonderful Cute Cuts trim tool, which has all sorts of lines that help you get your block centered perfectly. It was an extra step, but I could watch my videos while I did it, right? And I didn't even cut off a finger....

 

 

How Nice It Is To Sew

What a nice week this has been to get caught up on my several sewing projects. The two blocks in the photo above are for the Midnight Moon sew-along.  Nothing like a Halloween quilt to pick up one's spirits. Isn't that apple green color divine? It is the perfect accent to a quilt with black and orange. I still have no idea how I am going to set these blocks or how large the quilt will be.  I will be happy with lap size. I am making only the 6" blocks.

These two blocks are for the Moda Blockheads 4 sew-along. I love these muted spring colors and think a quilt featuring them will be just about perfect come April. The fabrics are from three different collections designed by Linzee Cull McCray for Moda. Who would have thought grey and yellow and aqua would be such a great combination?

Eva and I spent the day together yesterday. We made banana chocolate fudgecicles and went to the pool. The pool was super crowded with loud boisterous teenagers, so she didn't feel like staying too long. Also, her mermaid fins have become too small for her growing feet, which really bummed her out. She sure loved pulling on that mermaid get-up when she went to the pool. She has loved that thing for three years, so we got our money's use out of it. I wonder if I can find one in a larger size? She just isn't done pretending she is a mermaid. Childhood just doesn't last long enough, I tell you.