Sister's Choice Quilts

A Little Fall, A Little Christmas

I am definitely caught between two seasons.  I got out a few Christmas table toppers and purchased a couple of tiny faux evergreen trees, but I still have my glass pumpkins out and am burning fall-scented candles.  The one in the photo is by Bath and Body Works and is called "Gather".  I really like that one.  It has a cozy apple/vanilla/maple aroma.  I am generally not so crazy about the ones that smell like food, but this one is good.  I bought one called Pumpkin Peanut Brittle, but even though it smelled good at first, before long it smelled like BURNT peanut brittle, which was alarming.

My reading choice is definitely more appropriate for October, as it is S.p.o.o.k.y.  The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware.  A young woman gets a job as a nanny in the middle of the Scottish Highlands.  The husband and wife are always away traveling, leaving her with four difficult children for weeks at a time.  The house is an old Victorian, that has been remodeled to be a "smart house".  Cameras are everywhere and to turn on a light, lock a door, or close the curtains complicated electronics equipment is required.  Doors seem to always be locking themselves and voices come across the loudspeakers, scaring the liver out of everyone. The grounds are super creepy and there is even a walled "poison garden", where, you guessed it, all the plants are poisonous.  Oh, and apparently there is a ghost.  I have to say I am enjoying it!!  

The meal of the week is Chicken Enchiladas.  I made a big pan for Sara and me to split, and enough leftovers for me to have for two or three nights.  Here is a link to the recipe if you like that sort of thing.

Here it is, all made-ahead well before dinner, ready to pop in the oven.

And here it is just out of the oven, garnished with chopped fresh tomatoes and cilantro.  It was yummy!  

Jumping the Gun?

Sara came to my house yesterday, all excited, having purchased this cute lantern Christmas decoration.  Now I have to have one too.  It lights up and there are sparkly swirly "snowflakes".  I love it.  Is it too early?  Well, maybe.  Maybe not.

I didn't tell her, but I am ahead of her with my holiday decor.  I bought two of these gigantic candles from QVC.  $24 for two of them!  Bargain of the century.   They smell like candy canes and are so festive.  Now, I am not actually planning on putting up the tree and burning this candle in the next week or so, but I am considering decorating before Thanksgiving this year.  Thanksgiving isn't until the 28th for goodness' sake, which I think is late.  If I am going to all the trouble to drag out all my holiday decor, I want it up for at least four weeks.  And it can't stay up a minute past Dec. 31. 

And believe it or not, this Lost-Her-Quilting-Mojo GIrl is thinking of doing a Christmas quilt project.  Earlier this summer, 3 SIsters came out with a beautiful red and white collection called Cinnaberry.

How pretty is that?  They have what they call a project sheet called Holly Berries to go with it, to make a super simple quilt out of basically, half-square triangles.  Some quilt shops are selling the project sheet for $2, but it is online for free. Here is a link to the pattern.

You probably already have a collection of reds and backgrounds in your stash, so this could be a "free" quilt if you have the materials on hand.

How easy would that be to stitch up before Christmas?  It is just half-square triangles set on the diagonal with some setting squares.  It finishes at 63" square.

Although the kit (if you can get your hands on one), comes in one of those beautiful Moda project boxes.  Just sayin'.

I tell you, friends, I am getting in the mood... 

What a Difference a Few Days Makes

Have I told you about the crazy tree we have in our backyard?  I think it is a Liquidamber tree, but could be mistaken.  It is very quirky in that it changes color overnight, then two days later, drops all its leaves.

We were so excited to see all the fall colors last week when we went to the mountains.  When we left for the trip, our tree was all green, except for one or two red leaves at the very tip top.  When we came home last Friday, the tree looked as red/orange as could be, as you see in the photo above.  

Then, on Tuesday-

Can you believe that?  

In other garden news, check these out.  Pomegranates!  Aren't they pretty?  The birds have discovered them too.

Look at all those juicy seeds.

I apologize for the lack of posts this week.  First part of the week, I was so busy with lunch dates, pedicure appointments, yoga class, walking dates with friends.  Then on Wednesday I had a house guest.  Today I was so exhausted I did absolutely nothing except read and nap.  I am feeling a touch under the weather, but must rally because....

My family Halloween Party is this weekend!!!

This is my sister Andrea's handmade invitation.  And this is what is inside:

You'd be ghoulish not to join us.  Wear a costume or else.

 

Organizing for Real People

My closet is a mess.  I have too many things and a closet purge was way overdue.  I started the process yesterday and made some pretty good progress.  I am not the person they are thinking of when they want someone to demonstrate a capsule wardrobe or heaven help us, a 10 item wardrobe.  More is more as far as I am concerned.  I want options.  But it was getting out of control.

I pared things down to my fall/winter favorites and packed away the spring-summer items.  I have a couple of bags to donate, and a couple of bins to store away for a while.  If I miss the contents after a year or so then maybe they can come back to my closet.  Typically, however, Out of Sight, Out of Mind rules and I completely forget I ever owned these items, which means they can go.

I used to work in a fairly formal setting, which meant that I needed nice shoes and work-appropriate clothing.  I have finally admitted, after a couple of years of being retired, that those clothes no longer have a place in my life.  Someone, somewhere could use them and look very work appropriate.  The shoes are another story.  I have dozens of pairs of shoes, at least two-thirds of which are heels.  No one wears heels where I live.  I live in a "flip flops in summer/boots in winter" place.  It is casual.  You never see anyone in heels, and if you do, you wonder what on earth is wrong with them and where they are from.  But I have had such a hard time parting with those shoes.  One, they were expensive, two, they are lovely, and three, they represent a time when I felt I dressed in a much more chic fashion.  But you know what?  After eight years of not wearing heels, and aging normally during that time period (as one does), I can no longer walk in heels.  I put them on and feel off balance and awkward.  And they hurt my feet.

 

I managed to cull two garbage bags of clothing to donate, but I still have not tackled the shoe situation.  Maybe one day soon...

Meanwhile, I am enjoying not having my clothes crammed tightly together in the closet, and being able to see what I have at a glance.

My goals this week are to tackle projets one baby step at a time.  Number one is to go through my coats.  I have so many coats that have not been worn for years.  That is a crime, when there are many people who need something warm to wear in the colder seasons of the year, who could truly benefit from these items that I am not using.   Plus, we need room in the hall closet.  Anyone who visits me who wants to hang up their coat has to lay it over a chair at the moment.  Next, I want to spend an hour or so to go through my scarves and cull out the ones that realistically I will never use.  And the pajama drawer is ridiculous.  Do you throw out your old pjs every year or so?  What is the point of hanging on to those things? 

Ok, wish me luck.  I may even attempt to part with some shoes I can no longer wear.

Impromptu Tea Party

I had an impromptu tea party yesterday.  I was inspired to call a couple of lady friends and invite them over to sit on the porch with me and visit.  The weather was so nice, and it just seemed a shame to sit alone.  They both were game to pop over on a moment's notice, and we did indeed have a nice visit.

The fountain was burbling and even though I didn't have much to offer for refreshments (grapes and cookies from the grocery store), my guests seemed to enjoy themselves.  When I was a newlywed, I used to invite neighbors and friends over for tea all the time.  I'm not sure how I got out of the habit, but I think it might be a good idea to resurrect the practice.

I have lots of festive fall decor out on the porch, and it was fun to sit out there and enjoy it with friends.

 

Fall Quilts Around the House

This will be a photo-heavy post.  I have a ton of fall and Halloween quilts that I love to display at this time of the year.  I thought it might be fun for you to take a little tour with me around the house.  In some of the photos, the lighting isn't so great, but you get the effect.  Click on the photos to enlarge and see more detail.

Hall table.

Mantle.  I changed it up this year and am really happy with it.

Detail of arrangement with pheasant.

Nine patch and oak leaf quilt on the table next to my reading chair.

Fun Schnibbles quilt from a few years back.  Glass pumpkin collection on ledge in back.

As you see, I have a lot of these seasonal table toppers...  I can pretty much put one on every table.

Coffee table in the living room.

Even Eva's tv table gets a quilt.

Kitchen island.  Another Miss Rosie Pattern- Little Bits.

Dining room buffet.  If your quilt is too big, you can always drape it down the back and it still looks fine.

Dining room table.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour.  I have Major.Jet.Lag.  For two days I woke up at 2:00 AM raring to go.  Last night I made it to 4:00 AM.  It is killing me.  So tired.

 

 

Taking Pleasure in Small Things

I waited for the longest time, but the hummingbirds knew I was lurking and just wouldn't come to the feeder.  With these last days of summer, in the days before our annual trip to Ireland, I have been enjoying the simpler things in my life.  It has been fairly hectic, trying to prepare for the trip, check off all the "to do's", and sort out what we need to pack.  This past week I haven't had much time to blog, but I have had some time to step back, take a breath, and enjoy some of the simpler things in my life which give me so much pleasure.

Love this furball.  He is always sitting in my favorite chair when I want to sit down and read my book.

This is what I am reading right now.  Remember The Chilbury Ladies' Choir?  So good.  This is the author's "sophomore effort", and it definitely is not as good.  But still, I am enjoying it.  A curmudgeon of a middle-aged lady goes to London to search for her daughter Betty, who has gone missing during the Blitz of WW2.  She finds her daughter and a whole new outlook on life and what is important.

I pick up this memoir by Ruth Reichl when I have a chance, and so enjoy reading about her life.  The book documents her life after she was fired as the editor of Gourmet magazine, and is so interesting.  She pretty much cooked her favorite dishes for a year while she licked her wounds.

Speaking of licking, I am so in the mood for some fall-inspired food.  Last weekend, I seasoned and browned up some boneless pork chops and covered them with a mushroom cream sauce.

Is there anything more heavenly than perfectly browned and caramelized mushrooms?

Except maybe that first cup of coffee in the morning?  My favorite is Cinnabon coffee pods for the Keurig.

Or maybe sitting on the front porch to watch the sunset with a glass of wine?  Oh.  Except the dog is in my spot.

Whatever they are for you, try to enjoy the simpler things that add the most pleasure to your days.

 

 

 

Packing and a Couple of New Favorites

I've been packing for our annual trip to visit our son Ahren in Ireland.  We leave in just over a week, and I am determined not to overpack this time.  I swear the last two years I packed ten outfits and ended up wearing the same three over and over again.  I set up my rolling rack to "audition" clothes.  If you have a rolling rack, it is a wonderful tool for arranging your clothes for a trip.

One thing I have to keep in mind is that Irish people don't typically have clothes dryers.  You would think in a country where it rains 360 days out of the year, a dryer would be a very handy appliance.  Nope.  They tend to be old school and everyone dries things outside (weather permitting, which is five days of the year) or on collapsible clothes racks inside.  Seriously, if the weather is fine, everyone exclaims all day long "Oh, there is a good bit of drying in the day", and they all put their clothes on the line outside, optimistically thinking things will dry.

What usually happens is that you do your laundry, put it on the drying rack in the kitchen and in three days it is still there and still damp.  I'm not kidding.  I will never pack jeans again.  I wore them once, washed them and it took them five days to dry.  Everyone's home is festooned with half-dry clothes draped everywhere.  It is a national problem, and I do not see why something can't be done about it.

Well.  I got off on a little tangent there, didn't I?

At any rate.  What am I packing for just over two weeks in Dublin and five days in London?  My color scheme is mostly black, red and cream.  Nothing needs ironing.  At the moment (and I am hoping to cut these numbers down), I have five pairs of black stretchy leggings and/or knit pants for my bottom layer.  (I will be comfy, yet pulled together looking, and bonus:  they dry pretty fast). For tops I am trying to pair down to six or eight lightweight silk, lightweight cotton, poly or chiffon blouses that will dry overnight if I have to wash them.  They also pack down to nothing and take up virtually no room in the suitcase. One cozy sweatshirt type top to lounge in.  Two pullover sweaters I can wear for warmth or dress up with a scarf.  I can't decide between the red or the black so I have both ready to pack.  One may have to be eliminated...I have two cardigans that look dressy and can top off my blouses and be that "third layer" the fashionistas tell you to have.  I have a red rain jacket, an umbrella, a couple of scarves, a crossbody bag and two pairs of shoes. That should get me through just about all the occasions I anticipate.  I will use packing cubes and fit everything into two carry-on sized bags.

My dresser is a disaster, with stacks of undies, jewelry I am trying to decide between, and various items Ahren wants but can't get in Ireland.  Would you believe you can't get cold medications there without a prescription? No Alka Selzer Plus, no DayQuil, etc.  I always try to stock up on that for him.  If you are curious about what he looks like, click on the photo to enlarge it.  He is sitting with his sister Sara in my kitchen a couple of Christmases ago in that photo.

I won't get lost in the crowd in this cute red rain jacket from Talbots:

This is a new favorite nightgown from Soma.  They are having a great sale right now.  You can pay $52 for one of these long nightshirts, or buy two of them for $60!  They have adorable patterns to choose from, and the fabric is the coolest, silkiest, cotton tee shirt material.  I love to wear something like this when I travel, in case our son wants to pop in our room or I need to wander down to the kitchen for something.  It is modest and presentable looking, yet super comfy to sleep in.

I have some new toiletries and makeup I plan to pack, which I'll share with you in a future post.  Getting organized for a trip is one of my favorite things to do.  I hope I am getting better at it and overcoming my tendency to overpack.

Are you a good packer?  Do you have any tips you can share?

Too Hot To Sew, Reading Instead

Ugh.  It has been so hot here.  Way too hot to go upstairs and sew.  So, I have booted Ozzie out of my favorite chair and have been enjoying the most delicious book.  I got this one at the library, as it is a newer release.  The Summer Country by Lauren Willig.  I have read other books by this author, and they have all been good.  It is historical fiction, set in Barbados in the early and mid-1800s.  The story involves slaves, sugar plantations, secrets, betrayals, and the loveliest romance.  The book is so atmospheric, you will feel like you need a lemonade and a fan while you read it.  Or maybe I felt like that because it's been

A lady from Florida was asking me after yesterday's post if my fabric didn't go bad from the humidity, being stored out in a hot garage.  I had to laugh at that notion.  Take a look at our outside humidity here in the dry foothills of California--it was 12% humidity yesterday.  Usually, we are in the '20s during the summer.    Yes, it gets hot but never humid.  One good thing about that is my laundry dries in about 20 minutes of being hung out!

Hope you all are having a terrific week.  Nothing much happening here.  My only task is to figure out what to read next.

Fabric Bin Organization

Just a quick post to let you all know I am still alive.  The weather cooled down to the high 80s over the weekend, so I took advantage of the cooler temps and went out to the garage to organize my fabric storage.  We picked up some new bins at Walmart and I was able to put away the surplus fabric that had been piling up in my sewing room over the past year.  I have so much fabric from my favorite designers that is left over from projects.  I don't want to discard it, as it usually goes great with future collections these designers release.  Honestly, with each new project, I can be found rummaging in these bins to find things that coordinate with whatever new fabric line I am working with.

My organization method is somewhat haphazard.  Feel free to enlarge the photos to see my labels.   Some bins are for specific designers, if I have substantial leftovers to warrant a separate bin in their name.  Other bins are just fabrics by color:  reds, light greens, yellow & gold etc.  And then we have smaller bins for abandoned postponed projects.  I know i will get back to that Moda Blockheads quilt one of these days.  And those birds I wanted to make from leftover Fig Tree fabric... 

All in good time.  And meanwhile, in these labeled bins, there is a chance I can find those projects again when I am ready.

Temperatures are supposed to be between 102-105 the next few days, so I will be inside with a fan aimed at me.