Sister's Choice Quilts

Moda Blockheads is a Near Finish

I got busy yesterday and decided that I am done with Moda Blockheads. I finished all but one 12 inch block, which I will do today. I have my setting all planned out.

I need to cut out my setting pieces, but the fabric is all starched and ready to cut, so I am good to go. It is just a matter of laying things out and sewing the sections together. I haven't finished Jubilee yet, so that project may have to come off the design wall and go back up next week.

I have a bee in my bonnet to get this one done!

If you haven't been living under a rock, you have probably heard some buzz about Lella Boutique's new Halloween collection "Hey Boo". It is absolutely adorable and has a twist I haven't seen in a Halloween collection. That would be the addition of the color pink!

Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique has the Midas touch when it comes to fabulous fabric collections, and her latest group "Hey Boo" is no exception. It has all the expected Halloween colors, black, orange, cream, a touch of green...and then she threw in some hot pink. The result is adorable, fun, and completely new. I can't wait to do something with this beautiful fabric. I even bought a coordinating background to go with it!

I hope you all have a great weekend. Come back Monday, and fingers crossed, my Moda Blockheads 5 will be all sewn together!

Moda Blockheads 5 Late May Catch Up

I think it is time for a Moda Blockheads 5 catch-up. For the setting I am going to do, I need 5 twelve-inch blocks, 16 six-inch blocks, and 8 six-inch blocks with a darker outside edge.

Right now, I have 4 twelve-inch blocks, 14 six-inch blocks, and 6 six-inch blocks with a darker outside edge, Not too many more to go,

And, you know what? I am pretty much done with this project. Of all the Moda Blockheads sew-alongs, I think this one has been my least favorite for two reasons. One, I did not care for how the sew-along started, with us making a dozen blocks and "you can keep them in your project or use them for something else", and then the sew-along seemingly started over. Two, I found a number of the block offerings to be incompatible with the blocks made thus far. They were either too simple or diverged greatly in style from the others we had made. So, I will pick the best of the lot (to my taste) and make it work. The jury is out as to whether or not I will participate in another Moda Blockheads sew-along. 

Here is a close-up of my darker-edged blocks:

I just need to come up with two more of these. 

Have you been doing this sew-along? What are your thoughts?

Jubilee Quilt and Baked Beans

It was a lovely and relaxing weekend. My Jubilee blocks are up on the design wall and I've started to add the lattice and will sew the rows together this week. One thing I really enjoy about Margot Languedoc's Pattern Basket patterns is the way they reliably show off whatever fabric collection you are working with. I love the clear jewel-like colors in these two fabric collections. I used Summer Sweet by Sheri and Chelsi and Canning Day by Coriander Quilts. I think it is fabulous the way the two collections work together. 

It wouldn't be Memorial Day without a barbeque and Eva's daddy Ryan had us over for burgers. I made crockpot baked beans, which are usually a hit at a potluck.

Our neighborhood had it's annual community garage sale, and I tell you, the joint was jumping. The folks behind us own a couple of surf shops in Santa Cruz and had a gigantic inventory sale in their driveway, which is just on the other side of our fence. Our neighbor told me they brought up 70 tubs of merchandise from their warehouse. Typically it is as quiet as a graveyard in our neighborhood, but Saturday we had hundreds of people a stone's throw from our back porch. It was a circus, complete with tents.

"You should come over and pick something out for yourself", our neighbor insisted. "You know, to make up for the commotion". So, I took Eva over and she picked out some flip flops, two pairs of shorts, and a cute blue and white sundress. $83 later I was wondering what happened to the "pick something out for yourself" part of the invitation...

Hope you all had a nice weekend, wherever you are! By the way, Sara and I recorded another book review podcast on May 24. Just click the Reeding Between the Lines symbol on the top right to listen on Apple podcasts. 

Checkout Our Book Review Podcast/YouTube Channel

Sara and I have a new podcast up! You can hear all about my visits to favorite bookstores in Dublin, Edinburgh and London, as well as some of our book reviews from May. Listen to it on Apple podcasts.

Or, and this is a new thing, if you prefer a live video version, watch us on YouTube! Here is a link to our broadcast. I promise in the future I won't wave my hands around so much. 

Sara thinks we only have one listener, so please subscribe!

Sara also did an interview on YouTube with her brother Ahren, so if you'd be interested in seeing him and hearing about his love of science fiction, be sure to tune in. He is very energetic and full of great enthusiasm for his subject. After I watched the two of them together I was so proud. I told my husband "I did that! I made them! I created two book lovers! My mission in life is complete."

This is my stack of books purchased while we were on vacation. I was lucky to find a couple of author-signed copies!


Over the weekend, I got my Mercantile blocks trimmed and I am ready to sew the Jubilee blocks together. We had a very relaxing weekend and think we have recovered both from jet lag and the colds we brought home with us. Hope you had a lovely weekend as well. 

 

Summer in the Country: Would you like to sew along?

This is a snippet of the Moda Bakeshop quilt Summer in the Country, which they did as a sew along back in the summer of 2020. I loved the quilt then, but in the middle of the pandemic, I just never got around to joining in. I recall how much I adored the fabric collection that was featured, Me and My Sister's "Backporch". You can't find that fabric line anymore, but this quilt would work so well in any blue, red and cream group.

Let's talk about fabric first. Here are some suggestions that would be beautiful in this quilt:

Lella Boutique's Old Glory

Just about any Minick and Simpson collection ever. 

Linzee McCray's Feedsacks True Blue.


Lori Holt has come out with fantastic reds and blues over the years. I bet you have some in your collection that would be perfect for this quilt.

How. much fabric? The Moda Bakeshop FAQ sheet has all the information. Bookmark it, because you will refer to it often. Basically, they recommend 20-30 fatquarters of your prints and around 4 yards or so of your background. I have plenty of background, but I will be working with an assortment of smaller pieces of fabric for my quilt. I have a layer cake of Backporch, a fat eighth bundle of True Blue, lots of Lori Holt reds and blues, and various Minick and Simpson leftovers from other projects. In other words, I plan to wing it. And if I don't have enough fabric? Then I will make my quilt smaller like Jessica Dayon did. 

The point is to work with patriotic colors for summer and to have fun. You don't have to do what I do, but it would be fun to have a few of you sew along with me over the next few months. My goal is to make two blocks a week and see what happens. The block patterns are all at the bottom of the FAQ sheet, which I have printed out and put in a binder. There are even a couple of bonus blocks if you want to sub out one or two in the main quilt. The blocks all finish at 12". A couple of setting options are provided by Moda Bakeshop, but I may come up with something on my own.


I've got my fabric starched, except for the background. I plan to start my blocks the weekend of June 1.

If any of you are up for a sew-along, I'd love to have you join me! We can be a resource for each other and see how it goes!

 

 

New Project: Window Garden

One of my new summer projects is going to be this pattern by Carried Away, called Window Garden. I have always loved the Cat's Cradle block and this will really show off a pretty fabric collection I plan to use.

Years ago I bought this Moda kit using a Lella Boutique collection called Farmer's Daughter. I have never made the kit, mainly because i just wasn't feeling the House block design. When I saw the Carried Away Window Garden pattern, I knew it would be just right for this fabric collection.

Don't you agree? I love the yellows, pinks, greens, and blacks. What I haven't decided is whether or not to use the XL Cat's Cradle tool to make the blocks. Each unit is 5", and I know they will come out great with the tool. I may have to experiment to be sure I have enough fabric first. With these trim tools, you get great accuracy but sometimes have a bit more waste from trimming. 

Next up will be to get all that fabric starched and ready to go.

Finally, I have one last summery project that I hope to convince a few of you to sew along with me. In my next post, I will tell you more about it. It involves fabrics in reds, dark blues, and light blues, and is based on the Moda Bakeshop sew-along Summer In the Country, which happened a few years back. I always wanted to make that quilt, and think now may be the time for it. Click the link to read the Moda Bakeshop FAQ sheet and see all the free block patterns.

Back in the Saddle...Again

I got back up in the sewing room and let me tell you:  I have plans.

Mercantile blocks need to be trimmed and sewn together. That project is on hold until I receive the additional backing fabric required for my setting triangles.

So I decided to work on the first of my three summery projects, which is to finish up the Jubilee blocks I started a few months back. I love these bright happy colors, which are from a couple of older fabric collections I have had laying around. I have 15 of the 20 blocks finished, so this will be an easy finish.

I am a tiny bit short of fabric for these blocks because I am using a layer cake, which I starched. Layer cakes will shrink a bit in one direction when you starch them, and I needed 3 five-inch squares and one four-inch square to make these blocks. I figured out a way to do it with the fabric I have on hand, but it was like re-inventing the wheel when I had to make a block after setting the project aside for months. That will teach me. Or not. 

For the Hourglass units, I am using my Lori Holt 4" Cute Cuts trim tool, which is working brilliantly.

Archie is settling back into being home after two weeks of boarding at our local veterinary hospital. I can't say the episode sat very well with him. He wouldn't eat while there and consequently lost weight. You can click on the photo to enlarge it to see. He had diarrhea from stress and was quite mopey and sad. When we picked him up, instead of being overjoyed to see us, like Ozzie always was, he acted trembly and afraid as if he were being punished. He was kind of grubby, so we got him to see our dog groomer for an "emergency bath". They promised to give him lots of love and attention. He has been sticking right by my side at all times. I think it will take a while for him to get over the experience. At least his appetite is back to normal now that he is home—poor guy. Next time we go away we will figure out something else so he doesn't feel like he has been abandoned. 

Jet Lag: the Myth is Real

Oh my goodness. I am suffering from the worst jet lag ever. I don't mind waking up at 3:30 in the morning so much, it is falling asleep all throughout the day that is killing me. I cannot keep my eyes open. I.am.so.sleepy.

I have probably jinxed myself because I have completely succumbed to the sleepiness, and fallen asleep at least twice during the day for a couple of hours. Tonight I probably will be staring at the ceiling for hours. I am really messed up!

However, we had a marvelous time on our trip. I particularly fell in love with Edinburgh. It was amazing to spend time with our son, and we spent many memorable hours cooking together in the evenings.

But I am glad to be home. The laundry is now done. Lots and lots of laundry. The suitcases are unpacked and my husband swears he will put them away tomorrow. I went to the grocery store and actually made a nice dinner. A stuffed tri-tip and homemade baked beans. Except now all I want to do is go to bed. Eating is not on my list of things I want to do. 

Eva watered our plants while we were gone, so everything in the yard looks so nice. The weather is finally full-fledged spring, with blue skies and temperatures in the 80s. It is wonderful to be home to a good hot shower, a washer AND a dryer, and a grocery store that has all the things I want without any confusion. You should have seen me try to explain to a butcher what andouille sausage is. I should have known better. It turns out there is some kind of weird spreadable pork product called N'duja that everyone tried to push on me. Not the same at all. FYI jambalaya is a dish best made at home in the US. Ahren was hungry for it, so I thought I'd give it a try. If you try it overseas, spicy chorizo is as close as you are going to get.

I've been thinking about sewing, and have three colorful summery quilting projects to share with you all in the next week. Just what we need, right? Never too many projects. Well, maybe you can use up some of your stash and sew along with me! More on that after my nap.

Homeward Bound

This has been a wonderful trip to see our son. Discovering the delights of Edinburgh has definitely been a highlight of the trip. The city is elegant, full of history, interesting things to do, and lovely people. As I mentioned previously, the bookstores are out of this world, and the food was delicious as well. In the photo above I am standing in the Palace Gardens of an old castle in the town of St. Andrews. I think that is a cherry tree blooming behind me. Everything about Scotland was delightful, particularly the convenience of the light rail tram that runs directly through town. You can buy a day pass and hop on and off wherever you please. Edinburgh is surprisingly hilly, so anything that allows me to avoid them is great.

Visting our son in Ireland has been such a treat. We've done loads of cooking each night after our "adventure of the day". Yesterday my husband, son and I took the train from Dublin to the seaside town of Howth. Our mission was to purchase some fresh seafood to take home and make for our dinner. It was a typical Irish day, overcast with the sun peeking out once in a while, but no rain.

Ireland is an island, and there is no shortage of fresh fish to be found. Produce is also excellent, and these tomatoes probably came from Spain or a nearby warmer clime.

Europeans also take their bread very seriously. You don't see a lot of mushy white bread sold in plastic wrap.

It's been a wonderful trip, but home is beckoning to me. I am looking forward to sitting on my porch in the early evening with Archie. And I need to do laundry! I do miss having clean clothes!

I couldn't resist buying books, so wish me luck figuring out how to get them home.

 

Light Reading for Summer

Since I have been reading some rather heavy books recently, I am looking forward to lightening things up in my upcoming reading choices. For some reason, when the weather starts to warm up, my taste turns to lighter fare, and that often means romance!

When I say "romance", I tend to lean toward more of a rom-com type of book than a "bodice ripper". Think When Harry Met Sally or You've Got Mail, Four Weddings and Funeral, etc. I prefer a lower level of "spice" if you get my drift. Lots of amusing banter, no "open door" sex scenes, and plenty of fun that I can read fast. 

Abby Jimenez is an author who I have enjoyed in the past, in particular "Part of Your World" and "The Happy Ever After Playlist". In "Just For the Summer", Justin and Emma both feel like their love lives are cursed and when they compare notes, they decide to date each other just for the summer. What do you know, things happen and they end up navigating some unexpected situations and begin to have real feelings for one another. Sounds like my cup of tea. 

Emily Henry reliably comes out with an outstanding rom-com every summer and I have loved her previous books. "Beach Read", "Book Lovers", and "People We Meet On Vacation" were all great. Her new book "Funny Story" uses the opposites attract and friends to lovers tropes and I am on board for it. 

How about you? Do you gravitate to lighter reading in the summer? Do you read romances? Got any good ones to recommend?