Sister's Choice Quilts

New Ironing Board Cover

Another thing I did last weekend was to recover my ironing board table surface. The previous fabric I chose was not working out at all. It was a beige toile print that showed every dribble, stain, and goo that came out of my iron. It really looked awful and was frankly depressing to look at. I got the new piece of fabric all cut out to the right size and my husband wielded the staple gun, which is always a challenge for me. I am thrilled with how it turned out.

If you are curious about the ironing table, it is a metal shelf unit we got at Lowe's. My husband cut it down to ironing table height for me. We got a piece of particle board (also from Lowe's) and I covered it with batting and fabric which we stapled down all around. I am now on my second board (the one underneath warped, but I still kept it under the new board). There must be six or seven layers of fabric covering the two boards. 

The fabric is what is called a "Cheater" fabric. It looks like a patchwork quilt, but those nine patches are just printed onto the fabric. It would make a great backing. The fabric is part of the Denim and Daisies collection that Fig Tree recently released for Moda Fabrics. One nice thing about it is that at 60" it is wider than the average 45" fabric we typically get. Which makes it ideal for backing a smaller quilt. I ordered my yardage from the Fat Quarter Shop. 

Did you buy any of this collection? I just loved it and couldn't resist getting the whole bundle. I love those blues and oranges. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it could be a great choice for a sampler sew-along. For now, I will just hoard it, and pet it from time to time. 

If you go to Instagram and check out Susan Vaughan at The Felted Pear, she is using this fabric group to make the Halloween Memories quilt. Her blocks are just stunning. 

If you invested in this fabric bundle as I did, what is your plan for it?

 

Bring On the Fall Decorations

Not much sewing going on this week. I need some medical tests and procedures, so we've been traveling to the Bay Area to see doctors. Hopefully, I can get sorted out quickly and get back to my sewing. At least we found a pet-friendly hotel, so when we stay over Archie can be with us. He is not a fan of being boarded.

Anyway, I decided to cheer myself up and bring out some of the early fall decorations yesterday. The top photo is my dining room table. I love that acorn pattern. It is Acorn Love by Lori Holt.

This is my coffee table, showing Sunflower Duet, a pattern by Kansas Trouble's Lynn Hagemeier. It is a design  I found in a book called The Big Book of Table Toppers.

This little table topper is called the Buffalo Check Table Topper by Carried Away Designs. There is a Christmas one I've been wanting to make in red in green with presents where the pumpkins are. Adorable. Ignore my messy kitchen counters in the background. I had to dust before switching everything out.

This fall leaves table runner was made with batiks in my stash. The runner is from the Maple Leaf pattern by the Pattern Basket. I did change things up and made it a custom size. I like to use it on the dining table at Thanksgiving. Here is a picture from a year or so ago. Isn't the quilting stunning?

A smaller runner works well on my kitchen island.

Sunflowers go especially well with this little topper. The pattern is called Corn and Beans. Can't find the pattern at this point nor recall who designed it. Sorry! It is basically the corn and beans quilt block surrounded by flying geese and a couple of narrow borders. It was fast and easy and ended up about 18" square.


This is a little dried arrangement I made some years ago that I love to bring out in the fall. It's got a little quail sitting in the middle of it, can you spot him?

I've got loads more fall and Halloween runners I can (and will) bring out, but that's it for the time being. 

Hope your week is going better than mine is...

 

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.

Pinetree Block, Archie Gets a Haircut, and Eva Makes Snickerdoodles

This is the Pinetree block from the Mercantile sew-along. See how I got my hour of sewing in? I've been keeping up with this project pretty well I think. The last few blocks will be stitched up in the next week or so, and I will have to trim them all down to the same size before I sew them together. They range in size from 13 1/4" to 14 inches. I hope it won't look odd to have the borders different widths.

Archie got his first proper haircut yesterday. I think he looks quite sharp. Except his tail is so skinny!  His fluffy tail was definitely one of his best features I think. But I guess the groomer thought it would look weird for this shaved down dog to have a big plume of a tail! He also has a bit of a pencil neck, but I won't let him know I said that.

Eva made Snickerdoodles for Baking Day yesterday and Archie was paying rapt attention.

I have a question for my well-traveled readers. For part of our upcoming trip to visit Ahren in Dublin, we plan a side trip first to Edinburgh, then London. We've been to London many times and always know where we want to go and do, but Edinburgh is new to us. I understand they have more bookstores per capita there than anywhere else on the planet. Do any of you have suggestions of cool things to do in Edinburgh? My husband and son will rebel if all I can think of to do is visit bookshops! Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas for me.

Spring Break is Over...

"Spring break" is now over, such as it was. We sure didn't have spring-like weather, but it was nice to have unstructured days and no plans. The good news is, things are supposed to warm up this week and I am all on board for that.

I did get all caught up with my Mercantile blocks. The latest four (for the last two weeks) are in the photo above.

Here are all the blocks so far. There are five more to go and this top will be a finish! I think I am going to have to buy more of the low-volume backgrounds to make the setting triangles and a narrow outer border. I am pleased with the way the blocks stand out on those backgrounds.

One of the main reasons I decided to take on this Mercantile Sew Along was because I wanted to use up my stash of Lori Holt fabrics. As you can see, I have not made the slightest dent in that bin of fabrics. Honestly, I am not buying one more thing until I use up what I already have on hand. 

I do have an idea for using up more of that stash, however. Do any of you remember a Moda Bakeshop sew-along from a couple of years ago called Summer in the Country? It featured an adorable line called Back Porch by Me and My Sister. 


I think I have enough Lori Holt reds, dark blues and light blues to give this quilt a good shot. It would be a wonderful summer quilt. Have any of you made this one? The block patterns are all free on the Moda Bakeshops website. 


I never seem to run out of ideas for new projects. Or fabrics in my stash...

 

 

 

 

 

Irish Soda Bread

We had a lovely family St. Patrick's Day celebration. My son-in-law Ryan and his wife usually invite us over for dinner on that day, and this year was no exception. He prepared the traditional corned beef and cabbage, and boiled potatoes, and I volunteered to bring Irish Soda Bread.

You might think making Irish soda bread is a bit of an ordeal, but it really is an easy process. It is actually a "quick bread", not requiring yeast or prolonged kneading. The recipe I use is from Sally's Baking Addiction, a very reliable baking recipe source. The recipe calls for seven ingredients: buttermilk, one egg, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and butter. Raisins are optional, but I left them out due to family preferences. 

I was able to whip the whole thing together in no time, with very little mess or drama. It tasted absolutely delicious. It is a humble bread, but it is completely worth the minimal effort to make it. I hope you will give it a try. I plan to add raisins next time when I make it just for my husband and me.

It looks like a meteor that fell from space, but I promise you, it is tender and slightly sweet, and totally delicious!

And, PS, Ryan's corned beef was amazing! Here he is in his kitchen, waiting for the corned beef to come out of the oven, with Eva in the foreground, proudly showing off the cupcakes she made for dessert. 

Gratuitous photo of Archie after his latest grooming. Pretty cute, huh?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Eva and I wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day. We had fun decorating some cookies which she will share with her girlfriends at school today. 

Of course, she had to taste one, and said they are A-OK.

After my big Flea Market finish, I wasn't in the mood to tackle anything huge, so I sewed the Mercantile block 5, which turned out pretty cute.

I also made a few more of the square in a square paper pieced blocks for the border of the Apple Sauce quilt I have nearly completed. 

You all remember that one, right? 

My husband took me out to dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day. We went a day early to avoid the rush. Our favorite Italian restaurant closed during COVID but has recently reopened and is better than ever. 

We had the most delicious and romantic dinner and can't wait to go back again for our anniversary in April. 

Hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day with your sweetheart. If you are on your own, I hope you do something special for yourself!

 

Posie Blocks Done!

The posie blocks are finally finished, all 40 of them. I slapped them up on the design wall so you can get an idea of what it will look like. Two narrow borders need to go on first, a dark brown one and a white one. We are getting there.

My Mercantile background fabric arrived yesterday. I want to give a shout-out to Riley Blake for the quality of this fabric. We are always raving about our love of Moda fabrics, and sometimes ignore the fact that other companies are doing a fabulous job as well. This fabric is silky, and an extremely high-quality quilting cotton. I can't wait to work with it.

Additionally, I'd like to recommend shopping with Quilt In A Day in San Marcos, CA. They offer the full line of Mercantile fabric for only $10.40 per yard, and their shipping is FREE. It arrived very quickly by Priority Mail, again let me mention the shipping was free... I will definitely shop with them again in the future.

It has been raining nonstop where I live in California. Plus, the winds have been something fierce. We live on a hill at an elevation of almost 1400 feet, so flooding won't be an issue for us. So many people are without power though, and that is something I always dread. 

We are trying to stay cozy and ride out the "atmospheric river". I read that the Los Angeles area expects that it will receive half a year's rain in just a few days this week. 

Hope your week got off to a good start. I am working on my book reviews for January, so do look for it later this week.

Productive Day

Sorry for the radio silence the past couple of days. Nothing's wrong, I just had a bunch of stuff going on that kept me from sewing or doing much else that was blog-worthy. 

Yesterday my husband was away for the day so I got up into the sewing room and got busy. First I made a list. A long list of all the projects I have a.l.m.o.s.t finished. You know, the ones that still need binding, or a border, or to have the backing pieced so I can send it off to the quilter. That's my mission for the next week or so-to finish up these projects. I must really hate binding because that is a big item on my list.

I did get the binding attached but not sewn down on the little Valentine's runner above. It will be more even-looking when I get it sewn. That is going to be adorable for my February decor. 

I made major strides with the Snowman Gatherings quilt. I have all the narrow borders on. Today I will attach the two pieced side borders and the final narrow border and this will be good to go to be quilted!

Sandy had commented yesterday that she wished she had signed up for this sew-along 8 years ago when it came out. Well, guess what? If you feel the same way, it isn't too late to make one of these quilts for yourself. You can purchase the pattern on Fatquartershop.com. And, how about this? Primitive Gatherings is re-releasing the Snowman Gatherings fabric collection (version 4 I think!) this July. The fabric prints will be slightly different of course, but the color story is the same. You should make this quilt if you have a mind to.

I hope your week is going well. Today is Moda Blockheads pattern release day, so with any luck, I'll have my effort to show you by Friday. 

Trip to Trader Joe's

My husband and I took an excursion yesterday. We traveled about an hour to the nearest Target and the nearest Trader Joe's. Our home is in the Sierra Foothills and the nearest town with any sort of traditional shopping is Modesto, about 50 miles from us. Trader Joe's never disappoints, and we came home with all sorts of yummy fixings to have for upcoming meals. They also have amazing flowers and houseplants. I picked up my traditional January white orchid, priced at TJ's for $17.99. The same plant, only not as nice, was $36 at my local SaveMart. Jeesh. Look at all those stems with buds!

Meanwhile, my January Book of the Month Club order was delivered and I have started one of the books, a thriller called First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston. Lots of buzz on Instagram about this one. It is Reese's January book club selection. The plot setup is that Evie Porter has everything a girl could wish for: a gorgeous boyfriend, fabulous friends, and an amazing house. Only problem is, Evie Porter doesn't exist. She's been sent by a mysterious boss to learn everything about the small town and her boyfriend, who is her "mark". Lots of cat-and-mouse antics and a fast-paced plot. So far, about 50 pages in, it has my attention.

This second book, The Villa by Rachel Hawkins has been on my shelf for a while. I am trying to read those books that I bought a year or more ago which are currently gathering dust. How about that cover, isn't it beautiful? The plot setup for this one is a dual-timeline story of a villa in Italy. In 1974 a villa in Orvieto Italy was rented by a famous rock star, who in turn invited a group of druggie musician friends, one of whom was murdered there. In the present day, a pair of long-time besties rent the same villa and plan to spend the summer there each working on their current novels. Emily, who typically writes cozy mysteries, starts researching the events of the 70s and comes to believe there is more to the story than has been revealed. Instead of writing her typical novel, she switches gears and begins a work that could reveal exactly what occurred at the villa all those years before. It's freezing cold here right now, so a book set in the summer at a villa in Italy may be just what I need to warm my bones. This book is free right now on Kindle Unlimited.