Sister's Choice Quilts

Fun Weekend Sewing

I have needed a new mat for my laptop computer for the longest time. I've made do with doilies or old table mats, but I got the notion to make myself something cute this weekend. 

I've been watching some of Lori Holt's YouTube videos on scrap busting and that led to me browsing through a few of her excellent quilting books, which are chock full of cute quilt block patterns. I literally pulled scraps from my stash bins and picked out three of her adorable block patterns and started sewing. I love how the apple and apple core mat turned out. It is a shame to cover it up with my computer!

Here's a closer look. You can tell I did the quilting myself. It is so strange how the results seem better when the quilting is a lot closer together. Maybe the lines are easier to follow or something. I don't know, but it turned out pretty well.

The little dahlia mug rug is cute too, but I was really rushing to finish this one. My piecing is ok, but I should have slowed down when I was sewing down the binding. Oh well, it makes a cute set on my desk and I will enjoy using them over the next while.

My progress on the Red Sampler Blocks has slowed down because I realized that I need a heck of a lot more background fabric and have to wait for it to come in the mail. It turns out all those red sampler blocks have to be framed in background fabric. Yikes. Luckily I found what I needed online. While I'm at it I should buy the border fabric before it is all sold out! Thank goodness you can order just about anything online. Remember in the old days if your local quilt shop didn't have it anymore you were out of luck? Now you can hardly even find a local quilt shop.

Hope you had a good weekend. I finished a couple of books and should do a review of what I have read lately for you this week. 

What's On Your Bed?

What's on your bed this February? It has been cold and not particularly spring-like here where I live, and I have been craving some brighter and more cheerful colors. This is the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery quilt for 2011. The fabrics are various Fig Tree prints with a strawberry theme. What caused me to lose my enthusiasm for the quilt was that I did not care for the setting at all. I got creative and ended up using the setting for the Designer Mystery 2020 quilt, and love how it turned out. I like it so much better than the original concept.

The quilting shows up nicely in this photo. This is such a happy quilt. I toyed with the idea of giving it away, as I thought perhaps the style was too feminine or too juvenile, too something. I ended up keeping it and am so glad I did. I am usually not that fond of large quilt blocks, but I feel quite differently about these. The blocks are 12 inches square, but the proportion is perfect for this setting.

If you are like me, and have UFOs of past block of the month programs and have faint hope of finishing them, listen up. Take those blocks out of storage and take a fresh look at them. Maybe you missed out on purchasing the finishing kit, maybe you just kind of lost the love for the fabrics, or like me, you hate the proposed setting. Consider looking for ideas for a different type of setting, or even making the quilt smaller than originally planned. You may be really glad you gave that UFO a second chance!

And thank goodness for my friend Lisa D., who ended up letting me buy her extra fabrics from the finishing kit so I had enough to complete the quilt!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Is Santa having some trouble figuring out what to put in your family's Christmas stockings? Never fear, help is here. Carol in Texas gave me the bright idea to share some possibilities with you. I have some ideas for men, women, and tween girls that could help you out. I got most of my stocking stuffer ideas from doing online searches for suggestions, and I am happy to pass them on to you. Let's start with the guys since they tend to be trickier. 

A digital meat thermometer is great for the guy who grills. This is also a great stocking stuffer for women who cook as well. It is by Thermoworks. It is fairly pricey, but there are many lower-priced versions on Amazon.

I discovered these little key fobs when I bought the digital thermometers. They weren't expensive at all and I thought they were fun.

This manly Dr. Squatch soap is always a hit with the guys in my family. 

Do you have an insomniac in your family? This Dodow sleep aid device sounds so clever. It projects a blue light on the ceiling over your head. You look at the light and breathe in a recommended pattern and hey presto, supposedly you fall asleep in a jiffy.

Here is another stocking stuffer that is uni-sex. It is a Tuff Mutt hands-free dog leash. Do you have a dog walker who likes to carry their morning Yeti cup of coffee while they walk FIdo? It's so nice to have your hands free while you do this daily chore.

Isn't this Sage Owl grill scraper clever? It has little indentations guaranteed to fit whatever kind of grill your guy has.

This little leather tidbit is a cord organizer. Perfect to fit in a stocking for Christmas and so practical. Who couldn't use one of these?

The girls in your family are going to be much easier to buy for, I promise. I won't provide pictures or links for most of these items because you can go to Ulta or Sephora or even Target and pick up most of them.

Lip balms
Hair clips or scrunchies
Mascara
Any makeup product really: blush, powder compact, eyeshadow palette
Tubes of hand cream
Mini sizes of salon hair care products
Hand soap

Wooden spoons or spatulas are always fun to stick in a stocking and always appreciated.

A nail care repair set is a great idea for the gal whose nails could use some love.

Tweezerman tweezers are the best tweezers on the planet. Period. Everyone needs a pair. Get one for yourself while you're at it.

Mug warmers are all the rage right now. They keep your coffee, tea or whatever at just the right temperature. I often get sidetracked and let my hot drink go cold while I am working. This solves that problem.

Do you have a rechargeable lighter? These don't have lighter fluid, they have a rechargeable battery. They are brilliant for lighting candles. This is another useful and very affordable item that you need for yourself as well. There are hundreds to choose from on Amazon. The woman in your life who has scented candles burning all the time will love you for getting her this.

Barefoot Dreams cozy socks are a godsend for chilly days or nights. I wear mine to bed and my toes never get cold during the night. The soft knit yarn has to be felt to be believed. It is the softest thing ever.

Do you have a Tween girl in your family? That would be a young lady between 11-13 who is a bit past playing with dolls (or maybe not) and appreciates some more grown-up gifts in her stocking.

Lip balm
Fruity or floral deodorant
Cozy socks
Hair do-dads
Earrings
A sketch pad and marker
A journal
Any craft-making item (beading, weaving, pom-pom making)

Tween girls love to make things. This air dry clay kit will provide hours of fun for her to make little charms. The package is small and easily fits in a stocking.

Have you heard of Squishmallows? Well, I was out of the loop too. Squishmallows come in all sizes from little toys to good-sized pillows. They are cute and they are squishy, and tween girls love them. This little guy is just 4 or 5 inches tall. There are tons to choose from, mostly cute animals.

Is your tween girl a bookworm who likes to stay up late reading? This clip-on book light will allow her to do that in style.

Hopefully, these ideas will give you a start if you are stymied for stocking stuffer ideas. Most can be ordered on Amazon for speedy delivery, but don't wait because time is short at this point. Good luck and ho ho ho!

Thoughtfully Appointed Guestrooms

Thanks so much for all the great ideas on how to set up a guest room to be extra welcoming and comfortable for folks who are visiting you during the holidays (or any time!)

I put together a couple of goodie baskets based on your recommendations. The first is a food basket with bottled water, chocolate bars and bags of snacky things such as banana chips, trail mix, corn nuts, and salted peanuts. I plan to feed him extra well while he's here, but he's on vacation after all.

I put this basket on the bathroom counter. It has all the toiletries I could think of that he might use while here. Tooth care items, a shower sponge, bath wash, shaving cream, deodorant, and Advil. 

I plan to put out extra towels and of course tissue and toilet paper. I ordered a luggage rack so he can conveniently leave his suitcase open. I cleaned everything from top to bottom and think the space will be as welcoming as can be when he gets here.

The weather in Dublin is clear, as it is in San Francisco, so hopefully, there won't be any issues with the flight.

Let's get this party started!!!

What's On Your Bed?

What's on your beds this holiday season? I have a slew of Christmas quilts, but most of them are not a full queen bed size, which is awkward. I put my thinking cap on and came up with a solution that is working out surprisingly well on a couple of different fronts.

First of all, lately it has been super cold where I live. I know many of you are inundated with snow, but I'm a Californian, and anything below 40 is CHILLY. It has gotten down to freezing in our Sierra Foothills the past week or so and I have been piling all sorts of random bedding over myself in order to keep warm at night. I even had my knit beanie cap on the other night. 

My bright idea was to send my husband out into the wilderness of storage cupboards in our garage and rummage around until he found the down comforters I had stored out there. We tried using them when we lived in the Monterey area but found them way too hot. But for where we live now, they just might be a welcome addition to our winter beds. 

They had been packed up for over ten years, so I figured a trip to the local laundromat was in order. We got them washed and dried in the large machines there and they looked like new. Well, they practically were new, since we had only used them a couple of times. It's been decades since either of us had been to a laundromat and we did have a little mishap. By the way, it costs a bloody fortune to use the machines these days. $10.50 to wash something and $.25 for 4 minutes to dry anything. That adds up. Our mishap was feeding all our quarters into the dryer below the one we were using. And, no, you can't open the door back up once you hit "start". 

Anyway, I digress. We got the down comforters home and fluffed up and put them on the bed in the master bedroom and in the guest room. Then I folded my not-quite-queen-sized Christmas quilts over the foot of the beds. I am very pleased with how it looks. Festive, cozy, and not too skimpy. 

My guest room is all ready for our son to use when he gets here on Friday! We can't wait to see him. 

Speaking of guest rooms, do any of you have some good suggestions of things to leave in the guest room to make your visitors especially comfy?

Red and White Sampler Quilt

Have you made a red and white quilt? I have made a few of them, and never get tired of that color scheme. The one above is a sampler quilt I did as a sew along a number of years ago. I do recall that I got the idea for the setting from something Carrie Nelson did.

What I can tell you without any hesitation is that I sure wish I had added a border to this quilt. It came out an awkward size, which would have been mitigated if I had put on some borders. It works well as a hanging quilt, but I sure wish I could use it on a bed during the holidays. It would be such a cozy, festive touch.

If you want to take part in a sampler quilt sew along at some point, don't be afraid to tackle a two-color quilt. It would be beautiful in red and white as I have done, or perhaps blue and white, for another classic color combo. What a fantastic scrap-buster this quilt was. 

I have lots of wrapping done, and just a few more things to go. My shopping is all finished except for a couple of stocking stuffers. Still waiting on a couple of deliveries, which of course means more wrapping. 

Our son Ahren is arriving this week from Ireland! We are so excited to see him. They are having some super cold and even snowy weather in Dublin lately, which can throw a monkey wrench into travel plans. Ireland doesn't get snow often, and when it happens, things tend to shut down. So I won't relax until he is safely here!

My posting may be spotty over the next couple of weeks, with a house guest, some entertaining, and last-minute holiday tasks. I'll do my best to keep you updated on our doings. Hope things are going well for you and your holiday preparations. If you travel, be safe!

Lots of Wrapping Going On and Another Christmas Book

Well, we got started on our Christmas present wrapping. How novel, not to wait until the last minute. In the past, we have always wrapped gifts in our master bedroom, which created chaos and left the room a total disaster for days on end. I do not know why we never thought to set up a folding table in the middle of our front room, which is a library/office space. 

That's what we did yesterday and it was brilliant. Sara came over and spent the night with Eva and we plowed through so many packages. It was such a better setup than trying to do it in the bedroom. Our wrapping station isn't in the way of anything else, since we watch tv and "live" in another room.

If you enjoy reading a book set during the holidays during Christmas season, I have another recommendation for you. Christmas By the Book by Anne Marie Ryan is a charming choice. It is about a bookstore in a Cotswolds village, and how it affects the people in the community. I am loving it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Home Alone

This weekend I felt a bit like the kid in the movie Home Alone. My husband, daughter, and granddaughter all went to Disneyland without me. Actually, Sara had planned to drive down alone to the park in Southern California with Eva, but my husband decided that wasn't a great idea. He offered to drive them down and accompany the two of them to the park, and they accepted his offer. I suppose I could have gone too, but the weather was horrible at home and I did have Ozzie to look after. It was simpler for me to hold down the fort.

I did some sewing, a lot of reading, and watched two Hallmark movies and the new Three Pines series on Amazon Prime. I made cranberry coffee cake and drank boozy coffee (as you can see above). Boozy coffee is a Keurig pod of Cinnabon-flavored coffee and a splash of Frangelico liqueur. My diet was terrible, but I slept like a log and Ozzie and I got along all right. It was pouring rain all weekend, so taking him out to do his business was a bit of a production, but we got through it. That dog sure does hate to get wet. 

Someone is bound to ask, so the two Hallmark Christmas movies were "A Midnight Kiss" and "My Big Fat Family Christmas", both of which were really good. Midnight Kiss was about an event planner and My Big Fat Family Christmas was about a Chinese American family who lives in San Francisco and throws a big party every Christmas. They were light, fun, and cute. Where do they find such attractive people to star in those movies?

The new Three Pines tv series, which is based on the Louise Penny novels was very enjoyable. I look forward to more episodes. I think Alfred Molina was very well cast as Inspector Gamache.

I finished the book "Gingerdead Man" and give it 3 stars. I started another Christmas-themed novel called "The Twelve Slays of Christmas" which I liked a lot better. It is set on a family-owned Christmas tree farm that is not just for cutting down holiday trees, but serves food and has all sorts of Christmas-themed entertainment. A town busy body ends up dead and everyone is a suspect. It is a fun and very atmospheric holiday book if you like that sort of thing. I finished it yesterday evening and give it 5 stars. If you are looking for a great book to read during the holidays, this could be it!

All in all, it was a great weekend. I got a teensy bit lonely, but the junk food and tv helped....

The family brought me back a Mickey gingerbread boy, so I guess my diet will have to wait.

All the Christmas Things

I am so enjoying my house this holiday season. As I write this post, I have the entire place to myself and I am relishing the quiet and peace. That is my little reading nook in the photo above. I spent some time in that chair finishing "Hester", the book I described in yesterday's post. It was really good. The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but I was quite satisfied with the book overall.

I have the house to myself because my husband, daughter Sara, and granddaughter Eva drove down to Disneyland! Sara was planning on taking Eva on her own, but my husband didn't think that was the best idea, so he offered to go along and drive and pay for things. That was an offer she couldn't refuse. So Ozzie and I are holding down the fort and quite content with the arrangement. 

I didn't spend much time sewing yesterday because I felt more like reading to tell you the truth. These little blocks take a minute to put together because of the center star block unit being so tiny. Somehow since 2018 I have managed to amass scads of them in spite of that.

I have well over 180 at this point. Supposedly, my goal is 240. The blocks are 6" finished, so that would be a darned big quilt. I need to figure out when I can stop making these blasted things.

Ozzie and I are living the life of Reilly. I made biscuits and gravy for dinner (an unhealthy meal my husband wouldn't touch if he were here) and watched a Hallmark Christmas movie (which would have put my husband to sleep in two minutes). The weather has been rainy and blustery all day long, and we are ready to turn into our cozy beds now.

Happy Friday!

 

Decorating Frenzy

Sorry for my spotty posting schedule this week. I have been in a decorating frenzy over here. Luckily I have had lots of help getting things out from my personal Christmas Elf, Eva. The runner on my dining room table is called Christmas Pines, by Pattern Basket. I probably altered the pattern to fit my table. As I recall, I bought the pattern just for the tree block and then took it from there to make what I wanted.

We put up several trees during the holiday season. This one is in my front room/library next to the chair where I like to read. We have a collection of Waterford crystal ornaments that I put on it. They are best seen close up, because they are clear.

We are having our first winter storm, and it has knocked all the remaining leaves off the trees. This is so cool: when I went outside to take this picture a little hummingbird flew right up into my face to see what I was up to. You can just see him in the lower right part of the picture. 

This is our main Christmas tree, in the living room. My husband's precious collection of glass ornaments is on it. That took awhile to get decorated, I tell you. 

Today my plan is to sew for a bit, and do lots of reading. 

This is the book I am currently enjoying. Hester by Laurie Lico Albanesse. It is described as "a hauntingly beautiful- and imagined- origin story to The Scarlet Letter" by Nathanial Hawthorne. The main character is a highly talented embroiderer, which could resonate with many of you. Isn't that cover gorgeous?

Hope to return tomorrow with some sewing to show you!