Sister's Choice Quilts

Bats and Boos

A year or so ago the Fatquarter Shop did a Halloween Mystery Quilt sew-along they called Bats and Boos. The pattern is completely free on their website.

I didn't get a chance to make it at the time the sew-along took place, but I have kept it in the back of my mind as a "someday" project. The quilt obviously isn't a mystery anymore, but I'd rather know what my end result is going to be anyway. It's a small wall hanging or table topper finishing at around 40" square.

I was actually able to find the exact fabric on Etsy! It is a Moda collection from last year designed by Stacy Iest Hsu called Holiday Essentials Halloween. You could use any three black fabrics, an orange fabric, a white background and a border print in a Halloween theme. The yardage needed is on the project sheet.

The first step is to make four bat blocks. The pieces are large (for 10 1/2" blocks), and the construction is super easy.

How cute is that little bat?

This isn't how the blocks will fit together in the quilt top, but don't they make a great design when combined this way? It could be an interesting center medallion for a Halloween quilt.

If you are like me and enjoy working on a seasonal project, this little table topper might be for you too. The next step is to make four pumpkin blocks, the third step is the center star block, and then you put the blocks together and there's your little quilt! 

Hope you had a lovely October weekend. We had a house guest and were out and about for the most part, but I was able to starch and cut out my fabric, and make these four bat blocks in a couple of hours Sunday afternoon.

Moda Blockheads Block 5 and Archie Graduates from Puppy School

Thanks for all your comments on the patio cushion covers I made for my son-in-law this week. Many of you asked for a tutorial. I followed the directions on this YouTube video exactly and my covers came out great. Just be sure you measure accurately and follow the math formula. 

Wednesday was Moda Blockheads day, which is always fun for me. The blocks are published pretty early in the morning, so when I get up, the first thing I do is to check it out. Unfortunately, this week's block wasn't my cup of tea. That is never a problem, though, because finding a great six-inch block to substitute is a cinch.

Instead of going through my own collection of block patterns from past sew-alongs, or using a reference book, I went to the Moda website to do some searching. Moda has done many sew-alongs over the years, and their website is full of great free block patterns. 

In 2019 Moda hosted a sew-along called "Countdown to Christmas", that had all sorts of holiday-themed blocks in both a six-inch and a twelve-inch size. The block I chose to make was published on Dec. 8, 2019, and is called Christmas Flower. 

The blocks for Moda Blockheads 5 all have a star theme, but I think this block is starry-looking and works well with the others I have made so far. 

If you ever are in the need for a quilt block idea, I highly recommend the Moda Fabrics website for ideas. Go to the Moda website, and click on "Inspiration and Resources". Finally, click on "Quilt Alongs" and there will be lots of choices under "Popular Choices". You may have to do some digging, but there are loads of blocks and entire projects to inspire you.

This Countdown to Christmas 2019 project is one I may have to look into more closely!

In other news, Archie graduated from his first session of puppy school!

Fun Non-Quilting Project

When it is a known fact that one can sew, one often gets requests to make alterations or DIY home projects involving fabric. About 35 years ago, my husband and I bought a wrought iron patio set consisting of a loveseat, chair, and coffee table. We enjoyed it for years and I must have recovered the cushions at least twice, if not three times. 

Eventually, we gave the patio set to my daughter and son-in-law. I recovered the cushions for Ryan about six or seven years ago in the starfish and anchor fabric you see above. There are six cushions in all (and a couple of pillows) and the fabric was literally ripping apart at the seams. My son-in-law bought enough upholstery fabric to recover the patio furniture for everyone in the housing development and asked me if I would once again recover these cushions. 

The fabric he chose is this colorful awning stripe. I love his selection and think it will look great on the patio furniture, which is painted blue. 

But. It is striped. And any of you who sew, know that stripes bring their own unique challenges to a project! Obviously, the stripes have to match. And ideally, each cushion will be identical to the others. It took me all day Tuesday to figure out the measurements and make the first cushion. After I got my system down, on Wednesday, it was taking me about a half hour to construct each cushion cover, including zippers. 

This was a fun project and a nice change to quilting. I made some improvements to the method I had used in the past, which I think will add to the look and convenience of the cushions.

Can you believe in the history of making cushion covers repeatedly for this patio set, I never put in zippers, but always sewed the openings closed by hand? What on earth was I thinking? Well, no more. I went to Joann Fabric and bought six polyester zippers and every single cushion and pillow has a zipper for easy removal and laundering. 

Here is the happy pile of them all ready to go home. You can see all the leftover fabric in the background.


All settled in on Ryan's patio!

I guess it's a good thing there is so much extra fabric. He has just asked me to use it to make 16 seat cushions for the chairs in his tasting room....

 

 

Apple Sauce Quilt Project

Woo hoo, a new project and it isn't a sew-along.  These are the Apple Sauce quilt blocks I've made so far. I had so much BasicGrey fabric leftover from the Sampler Spree project that I decided to try to use it up by making a "companion" quilt to Sampler Spree.

I love this pattern, but sad to say, I do not find that it is well written. When I made the block several times following the instructions in the pattern, it did not come out well at all. The points were cut off every time, making me think the measurements were off. I contacted the pattern designer but did not get a response. 

I found a very similar block called Aunt Addie's Album in my Judy Hopkins 500 Quilt Blocks book. With a few modifications, I was able to construct the block, making the flying geese units oversized. When trimmed down to 2 1/2" x 4 1/2", the points were not cut off and the block looks as it should. 

These blocks are actually kind of fun to make, now that I have my system down.

It took me a while to figure out how to cut my fabrics that have a directional print. Even though this same fabric was used in the pattern sample, there was no mention of the fact that if you want your block to look like the one in the sample, you have to carefully cut directional prints on the diagonal. See the navy and brown blocks on the left? That's what happens when you don't cut the directional print diagonally.  Oh well, live and learn. I've been sewing long enough, thank goodness I figured it out after a few false starts. Also, lucky that I have loads of fabric.

I'll have some bonus blocks for the back, I guess...

My Sampler Spree Quilt Top is Finished!

I'm so proud to have finished this Sampler Spree quilt top! It consists of 100 blocks from the book Sampler Spree by Susan Ache. It was a sew-along a couple of years ago, but my time wasn't so free then, so I didn't make much progress with it. I absolutely love the setting, which I think both separates and showcases the blocks. This one is going out for quilting ASAP.

This was a very fun quilt to make, and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a new project. The blocks are all 6 inches finished, so if some of the blocks in the book aren't your cup of tea, you can easily substitute one you like better from a Sewcialites, Moda Block Heads sew-along, or quilt block book you have on hand. 

I know I've mentioned this before, but if I don't, someone will ask. The fabrics are three different collections by BasicGrey: Persimmon, Cider, and Nutmeg. The solids are all from the  BasicGrey Grunge line. 

Now on to the next project!

Sampler Spree Almost a Finish!

My Sampler Spree Quilt is almost finished! I have completed four out of the five quilt rows and sewn them together. Today I will get the last row on and send it off to be quilted. You can see the last row of blocks peeking out from underneath the quilt top. This quilt is a monster! It will cover and drape down over a queen-sized bed easily. 

Don't the blocks stand out and shine now that they are separated into quadrants and framed by the cream and brown lattice? I think the setting brilliantly highlights the variety of all those 100 blocks. For those of you who may not remember, the quilt is from a book called "Sampler Spree" by Susan Ache. I used three different collections from Moda designer BasicGrey: Persimmon, Cider, and Nutmeg.

Whew, I am pooped after wrestling with that big thing all afternoon!

Archie Went to the Groomer

Archie went to the groomer on Tuesday. No hair cut, but he did get a bath, a brushing, and a nail trim. According to the groomer, he was a good boy. He is super fluffy right now and looks like a stuffed toy.

He is full of mischief, mostly jumping up on things and not listening to us. He is nowhere near as destructive as Ozzie was, but that is because we don't allow him much freedom in the house. As the weather becomes more inclement, that will have to change. He is a picky eater, and only barks when he hears the dog next door yapping. We've been going to puppy training classes once a week and he has learned a lot of commands. He does great with "sit" and "stay", and "wait". He still pulls on the leash, and when we are on our walks, he often will just stop in his tracks to stare at gardeners, people passing by, or anything else he is curious about. He is very high-energy and often goes crazy without much reason, running around the yard with the "zoomies". Everything is a game to him. The main behaviour I'd like to work on is his jumping up. Sometimes he comes at me like a wrecking ball and it takes me by surprise. 

I've been sewing my block quadrants for Sampler Spree together and now have 15 done. 10 more to go. Sewing four blocks together with lattice goes pretty quickly. The next step is to make another lattice in brown and cream that will separate the block quadrants and give them more separation. A lot of effort has gone into making this quilt!

Eva has had minimum days all week so we've seen a bit more of her. She goes back to her regular schedule next week with her after-school sports activities keeping her busy until 4:30 each day!

Hope your week got off to a good start. 

 

 

October and Pumpkin Bread

I plugged away at making the Sampler Spree block quadrants today and will update you tomorrow on how that is going. My main accomplishment today was making a batch of Trader Joe's pumpkin bread with Eva. Trader Joe's is so awesome. Each fall, in particular, they come out with so many seasonal products that are just exceptional. I highly recommend their pumpkin bread mix, it turned out great for us. If you are like us, and have no Trader Joe's near you, you can get this on Amazon.

Eva loves to decorate for whatever season or holiday is approaching, but because of her schedule, I went ahead and put our main Halloween decor out without her help. Her favorite (and mine too) is this Haunted house and the little figurines we pose around it. The candle is from Bath and Body Works and is awesome!

 I bought this cute Halloween bracelet for Eva from Sharon Yeager of Daisy Cottage Quilts. She used to have an Etsy shop,  but I don't know if she does anymore. I searched for it, but couldn't find it. If anyone has a link, put it in the comments. I know she is going through a hard time and could probably use the business. 

Have you got your October decor in place? It is one of my favorite times of year to decorate!

My Task This Week and Halloween Figs BOM

The next step in the Sampler Spree Quilt project is to sew each group of four blocks into a larger 13 1/2" block with lattices. Here are my first two blocks. 23 more to go! Next, these four block quadrants will be separated by another lattice of cream and brown Grunge fabric. This has been a very fun quilt to piece, and normally I am pretty bored with lattices and all the finishing touches, but I am still maintaining an avid interest in seeing how this comes together. 

My Month 4 Halloween Figs block of the month pattern and fabric arrived last week from The Quilt Spot. I made the large block you see above plus the three smaller simple stars. Here are all the blocks I have made so far. 

Maybe because it is October, I want to get moving with this project and get more blocks done. Hope I don't lose interest once we move into winter and spring. That being said, the fabrics are pretty and I think the finished quilt will be gorgeous. I sure had trouble wrapping my head around those simple 4" stars though. I got the "geese" and the "sky" fabrics mixed up with both blocks and then even was confused as to which actual fabrics I was meant to be using. I wasted a fair bit of fabric, but hope it will work out in the end. 

Did you have a good weekend? I spent it sewing, reading, and doing errands and housework. Not too exciting But I did try a new crock pot recipe that was a winner. Crock Pot Chicken and Stuffing was pretty darn good. I did not add the green beans as in the recipe. The stuffing was moist, the chicken wasn't dry (I used thighs), and the flavors were great. I had enough for two nights of meals for my husband and me. I made up some chicken gravy from a packet and topped our servings with it. 

Happy October everyone!