Sister's Choice Quilts

Cali and Co Month 6

This is the Cali and Co block of the month #6. It is so colorful and fun, I have to say. This quilt sure does use a lot of half square triangles! This is a sew along Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts is doing. Of course it isn't too late to join in, and the patterns are completely free. Corey also has YouTube video tutorials, so you really can't go wrong. 

These are the six blocks I've made since the sew-along began. These fabrics are such a joy to work with. They are a combination of a couple of Corey Yoder's collections, as well as one or two of Sheri and Chelsi's leftovers from the quilt I made for Eva for eighth-grade graduation. Those colors are so joyful. Each block uses half square triangles and/or 2 1/2 inch squares.

This is a mystery quilt, and each month we are instructed to trim off these units after attaching the large print corner squares. What in the world will we do with them at the end? I have accumulated quite a pile of them.

As you see, I am amassing quite a collection of these units. Will they be used in a border? Guess I need to wait and see.

If you are drawn to bright cheerful colors, this is a great quilt to make.

 

Cali & Co Block 2

This is block 2 of the Cali & Co sew along that Corey Yoder of Coriander Quilts is hosting. I am using several collections of fabric for this sew along: some from Coriander Quilts and some scraps from some Sherri & Chelsi projects. They are all bright clear colors that will work great together in a scrap quilt.

Corey has a video tutorial for each of the blocks she offers up, and I was watching it while I sewed this block #2. She mentioned that so many people contact her to say they have so much trouble combining scrappy fabrics in a quilt. She even instructed them how to do a screen shot to see exactly what fabric she was using in each position in her block so people could duplicate it if they were intimidated by choosing their own fabrics.

I was pretty surprised to hear that so many people were so unsure of their own ability to select fabrics that they would want to copy exactly what another quilter had done. 

I never thought I was unique or particularly adept at this, but it seems pretty simple to me. Don't put two of the same color next to each other, and don't put two of the same print next to each other. Look at the overall pattern, and if there are, for example, dark fabrics that really stand out, try to separate them in the block. I don't think this is that difficult a task.

Tell me what you think. Do you struggle with fabric placement in a scrappy quilt? Do you doubt your ability to position different colors and patterns in a pleasing manner?

Two blocks done! I've got the pattern for the third one, so I will crank that one out soon. 

I had a great weekend. I put some things back in their place after the carpet installation, but figure I can work on that for an hour a day and get it done over time. I did meet up with my sister Andrea to celebrate her birthday at a restaurant kind of local to both of us. One of the dishes we tried was the "Mushroom Cigars", which were lick-the-plate-clean good! And, yes, there was something sparkly to drink as well!


Have a great week everyone!

 

 

 

 

Designer Mystery 2022 Quilt

My little photo bomber couldn't resist getting in the picture I promised you of my Designer Mystery 2022 quilt. Go ahead and enlarge the photo so you can see the pretty quilting my longarmer did. And the serious expression on Archie's face. I don't know what was up with him; I guess he felt the occasion was a solemn one.

The binding is about half done and I plan to finish it so it can go on the bed as soon as the carpet installers get my bed put back where it belongs. 

The quilt has such a light airy feel to it. I know I will love using it during the warmer months. I have a couple of other blue and white quilts I plan to get down off the shelves and display around in the room to coordinate with it. I love doing that. It makes the room look decorated and kind of "finished". 

I am getting nervous and excited about the carpet installation. I hope they don't damage anything when they are taking apart the beds and moving the dressers around. I am also really apprehensive about getting my sewing table set back up with the machine and my special lamp. My husband had an elaborate system underneath the sewing table where he had the wires all rigged up on little cup hooks so they didn't show. There is no way he could get upstairs, much less under a table, to hook anything back up for me. Yikes. I feel like such an adult, having to do everything myself. 

Hope your week got off to a good start. I am leaving soon to have my teeth cleaned, which is not high on my list of things I enjoy doing. 

Happy April to all the Fools out there!

Block One Cali & Co BOM

Don't ask me how I did it, but in between the Great Closet Clean Out activity, I got all my fabrics cut out for the Cali & Co BOM! Woohoo, look at me go. 

I have always enjoyed the cutting process and don't find it boring at all. I get in the zone and just have at it, getting my pieces all cut and lined up and ready to sew.

Background strips are all cut as well, and will be subcut later depending on block instructions.

And here is Block One. It was easy construction and fun to play with those bright colors. Kind of like choosing your Crayolas out of the box. 

I will caution any of you making the blocks, that you do need to take care when sewing those colorful outer sew and flip pieces on. It is easy to be over just a thread and you've cut off the point of the outer square. I had to redo the stitching on two of those corners so I didn't lose my points. I will get a technique going for the future blocks, all of which have those outer sew and flip squares/triangles.

I am mostly using a fat eighth bundle of Cali & Co, but also have scraps left over from a couple of other of Corey Yoder's collections. I am really enjoying working with these bright cheerful colors. It seems just right for a spring and summer project. 

Are any of you doing this sew-along? What fabrics are you using?

 

 

New Project: A Quilting Life 2025 BOM

"Whaaat? Another project, you say? And a Block of the Month? Seriously, Nicole, I thought you swore off these things for 2025?"  No, no, no. The project I have in mind is technically a Block of the Month hosted by Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life. But I don't have a year to get it done. It needs to be finished, quilted, and bound by the end of May, and Sherri's BOM goes through December. I don't have time for that. But she has given me a brilliant idea for a quilt I hope to crack out in a few weeks. Thank you Sherri!

OK, here's the deal. Sherri does a wonderful BOM every year. The patterns are free during the year the BOM takes place, and then you have to buy them if you didn't download the free patterns when you had the chance. This year, each month has a six-inch block that is surrounded by a log cabin setting. Each block finishes at 18"!  That's big. Anyway, by the time you complete 12 blocks you have a really big quilt. You know going into the BOM, you will end up with 12 log cabin blocks with a different cute 6" block in the center.

So here is how I am going rogue with this project. I will not be making Sherri's center 6" block for each month. Instead, for each month, I am going to do my own themed center block that has to do with whatever season/holiday/motif is associated with that month. A heart block for February, a shamrock block for March, an acorn block for September etc etc. The six-inch center heart block above was a Lissa Alexander free pattern  "Zest" in the Moda Blockheads 3 sew-along. The shamrock came from a pattern I ordered off of Etsy.

I don't have time to wait for Sherri to come out with her monthly center block. I will forge ahead and find my own 6-inch seasonal blocks for the center of my 12 monthly themed log cabin blocks. My goal is to complete these easy blocks, send them off to my quilter, and get the quilt back in time to give to Eva as an eighth-grade graduation present by the end of May. How fun is that? Her whole life, we have done seasonal crafts, seasonal cooking projects, and seasonal decorating. Now, she can have a commemorative quilt that will celebrate all those months of the year when we spent time together creating amazing things.

The fabric I am using is Sherri and Chelsi's Laguna Sunrise and Raspberry Summer. I bought a layer cake and a jelly roll in each of those collections. Both lines are cheerful, fun, colorful, and perfect for a young teen's quilt. There are shades of red, blue, green, peach, aqua, citron and more. Each block will pull from one color and be in keeping with a theme associated with the month in question. The background fabric I chose is just amazing, and I recommend that you snap some up before it is sold out. It is a white tone-on-tone (with subtle tiny ditsy flowers) from the Laguna Sunrise collection. This is a great background and would be amazing in so many quilts that need a solid-reading fabric as a background.

Can you tell I am excited about this new project? I get to work with fun colorful fabric and give the quilt to someone I love when it's finished. Win, win, all around! 

 

 

Strawberry Garden

Have you heard of the Strawberry Garden sew-along? It is based on a book by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Co. I bought the book and the fabric required to make this project last year. The sew-along has been going on for at least 9 months, but I have yet to make any blocks. I thought it would be a fun project to work on during the Spring and Summer, so I dived in and made my first blocks over the weekend.


The fabrics are so pretty for this project. The fabrics I have used are mostly from the Jelly & Jam collection by Fig Tree, but there are others from my stash tossed in there as well. Each block has a fabric chart, which is helpful if you are using the exact fabrics shown or want to use your stash to re-create the look of the actual quilt. My fabrics have all been starched and ready to go for months!

These are my month one blocks all done. And look at me; I actually got the fabric placement of the "geese" and "sky" in the right places. Nothing like actually paying attention to what you are doing when you are sewing. Month two will be three blocks that look like strawberries--so darn cute, even though they kind of look more like pineapples!

The book is available at Fat Quarter Shop. The program is a sew-along, but I'm not doing any of those this year (right?). I am just dabbling along at my own pace as the spirit moves me.  

Designer Mystery 2012 Progress

I did finish the ninth block for the Designer Mystery 2012 BOM. I sure did make a hash of it while I was sewing it the first time around. My mind was distracted, and I repeatedly sewed the units together wrong. In my defense, this block is put together kind of wacky. If I were to make it again, I would have had all four corners be red half-square triangles. Adding in green ones on two opposing corners makes no sense to me. 

I'll leave it for now I guess. What do you think?

Several of you have asked me for an update on how my husband Dennis is recovering from Guillain Barre Syndrome. The answer is, it is very slow going. He does make some small improvements each week: his balance is getting better, he is using the walker a bit more, he has much less pain and numbness, and he is really trying to do more things independently. He now can dress himself for the most part, for instance. He needs help in the shower and with other things that require balance. He is a real fall risk.

We are hoping to make a couple of small trips in the near future. One in April and another in May. This could be challenging as we will have to take the wheelchair, the walker, and some other medical equipment. Both times we plan to stay in apartment-style units that should be comfortable for him. Going out and about is a real question though. He is pretty much home-bound at this time, so my fingers are crossed that he will be up for a few outings in two months' time. I am content to stay in and read my books and look out the window at the view, but I know he is hankering to get out and about.

If any of you readers have experience traveling with a disabled loved one, I'd love to hear your tips and suggestions.

Catching Up on Piece and Quilt Blocks and Red Sampler Quilted

I thought it was time to get back to my August Piece and Quilt blocks while it is still August. I am quite happy with these two blocks. The red one is Maple Leaf and the blue and grey one is Texas Puzzle.

I've laid the blocks out as they will be positioned in the quilt top. The top two rows could even be sewn together now. However, I do not care for what is happening on the right-hand side of this top. Too many messy prints all close together. I am going to have to remake all of those with the busy-looking prints. The fabrics that read "solid" are much much better in this project. 

This is a tricky quilt to make because as you make the blocks you have to consider the colors and prints you are using and what they will be next to. I've been mindful in my placement of the red and blue colored blocks, but those busy prints are going to have to go.


In better news, I got my Red Sampler quilt back from my quilter! I love this quilt. She used a design called Ginger Snap, which I have used many times.


Here is a close up of the quilting. I worked on this quilt for many months and I am so happy to have it quilted. Now for the binding. Wonder how long I can put off doing that?

In other news, Sara and I have a new book podcast episode up. Just click on the top Reeding Between the Lines emblem to the right and you will be taken to Apple Podcasts. The episode is called "Dark Academia Books You Just Gotta Read".

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Spooky and Sweet Witchy Little Ghost

Isn't she cute? This is the first block in the Spooky and Sweet Halloween Mystery sew along Fat Quarter Shop did a month or so ago. I like to know how my mystery projects end up before I plunge in and I thought this was a pretty fun Halloween project. 

I have to tell you though, I made this little block a heck of a lot harder than the FQS version. In their block, the head is a square, the shoulders aren't rounded, the eyes are plain rectangles and there are no pink cheeks. To achieve the effect I did, which I think is way cuter, you have to add flip and sew squares (really tiny ones) to the head, shoulders, eyes, mouth and cheeks. It was very fiddly, and took a l.o.n.g time. 

Plus when I thought I was finished I realized I hadn't added the little orange fingers or the shoulders. So I had to take it apart and add those. It took me hours. 

The idea to soften up those sharp angles wasn't mine. I got it from an Instagrammer Lisa @LUV2quilt4U
The fabric is Hey Boo by Lella Boutique, probably the most adorable Halloween fabric ever. I bought a lot of it, so you will be seeing at least one other project where I use it. That will be a one block quilt from Susan Ache's new book Halloween Memories. They are calling it Moonlight Quilt. More info is on the Fat Quarter Shop.

It was a day for puttering yesterday. I am on a roll with the Designer Mystery 2012 blocks and got Block 3 made. These blocks aren't hard and the pieces are big, so they go together fast. How funny is this? My friend Lisa said she just bought the kit from a friend who had never started it and she will be working on the blocks too. Twelve years later and Lisa and I still are on the same wave length! I have no idea how I'll set my blocks, so I will be following her closely.


You must admit those colors are gorgeous. Oh my gosh, that red. 

Hope your week got off to a great start!

 

 

Designer Mystery 2023 Finished---On To Something Else!

Designer Mystery 2023 is finished. Honestly, it took hours to get all the borders on this quilt, and I felt like I was wrestling with a circus tent the whole time, but I got it done. I think those large blue areas will be pretty when they are quilted. I have the quilt turned sideways so there is more of an overhang on the sides, which works best in my opinion. 

Now I just want to put it away and not think about it for a while. I am so happy to move on to some other project! Definitely not one this big!

I am thinking of making the Fat Quarter Shop Spooky and Sweet Halloween mystery wall hanging/table topper. My fabric is all starched and ready to go. I plan on making a few modifications to the pattern, which I will share as I get to them. I actually may need your advice on how to go about them. I want to round out the shape of the characters' eyes and heads, which I should be able to do with easy flip and sew corners, right?


This weekend I was on a step stool rummaging in a closet and found a tub with the Designer Mystery block of the month quilt from 2012 if you can believe it. I had made two blocks, but that was back in the day when I didn't starch my fabric, so the blocks seem flimsy and floppy and not very well made.  Being a FQS project, there is plenty of fabric to remake the blocks, so I remade one of them. If I do make these 12 blocks, I will set them simply (I didn't buy the finishing kit apparently), so the quilt shouldn't be too large. 

The fabric is an ancient Bonnie and Camille collection called Vintage Modern. The blocks are sweet and very cheerful. I can't believe all the money I have spent on these block-of-the-month kits which I have not finished. It is pretty ridiculous, really. I aspire to do better. 

Blocks one and two. I remade #2.

Hope you all had a a great weekend!