Sister's Choice Quilts

April Mug Rugs in Progress

I will be slipping just under the wire with my April mug rugs. I gifted my daughter and three friends with the "Mug Rug of the Month" at Christmas. I have actually given them October through March so far. I thought these little baskets would be cute for Easter month. They could also work for May baskets too, but I guess it would be cheating to double up.

These are taking a fair amount of time to piece as you can imagine. They are turning out super adorable though. Hope to get them quilted and bound over the next couple of days.

The pattern is Pretty Little Baskets from The Pattern Basket Co. The fabric is a real throwback. Years ago Carrie Nelson (Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.) designed a couple of lines of fabric for the Henry Glass Company, and this is one of them. I am pretty sure it is called Nine Dots and is from around 2010. It has perfect Eastery colors and I am so glad I have a project that suits it at last. 

I like it so much, as a matter of fact, that I am going to make four more blocks and make a mini table topper for my counter for Easter. Fingers crossed for Wednesday for that project.

I spent a nice couple of days this weekend with my father, who was in fine fettle. He is always so appreciative of any attention from his daughters. We had a lovely salmon salad for dinner on Friday night, and Potato Ham Soup on Saturday. I avoid any big cooking projects when I am at his house because his appetite is so light and he doesn't much care for leftovers. During the week I try to make a hearty soup, stew, or casserole for my husband and I. It is easy to take out a couple of portions and take them to my dad's for one of our meals. 

Hope you all had a great weekend. The weather has been great here, and what a pleasure it has been not to have to bundle up in sweaters to keep warm. Finally I can wear some of those cute new lightweight spring tops I recently purchased. I really want to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather, but my husband is having the worst allergy attacks this spring than ever before in his life. He's willing to try, but he is so miserable with sneezing and itchy eyes afterward I can't put him through it.

It seems crazy that we are at the end of March already. January seemed to have 104 days, but February and March have just flown by! Does it seem that way to you too?

 

Going In a New Direction

I am taking my Designer Mystery Quilt 2011 in a different direction. I decided I didn't really care for the flower stems. Too "cutesy" for my taste. I spent a lot of time looking over the past Designer Mystery settings and liked the look of the one from 2020. 

As you can see it has nine blocks set on the diagonal as a center medallion. There are a couple of narrow borders that will frame it, as you can see in the diagram below. 

It finishes with a star design and the four remaining blocks on each corner. I have enough fabric for a floral outer border, so that will increase the size of the top for me.

This quilt has the look of a girl's quilt I think. And I know a special girl who is turning 11 in July that might like it. And look what I can use on the back:

Thanks so much to those of you who made setting suggestions yesterday. It really made me rethink the pattern directions that came with the quilt blocks!

Among the Stars Again Month Four-All Caught Up!

I'm happy to say I am all caught up with the Among the Stars Again sew-along. This is Month Four. Pretty subtle block for sure. Each month you make two blocks with the same pattern and same fabrics, just reversing the color placement. These blocks may look kind of blah, but the overall effect in the quilt is very elegant.

I had fun playing around with my ancient Singer Featherweight the other day. Do you have one of these classic old machines? I used to use mine when I attended quilt retreats or get together with quilting friends. I only sew at home anymore, so I wasn't even sure if this old Featherweight still worked.

The good news is, it works pretty well! The lacy looking plastic gizmo on the right of the needle is a seam guide I bought ages ago. It is so pretty, isn't it? You line it up with your quarter inch foot, then screw it in place for accurate sewing. I don't always use it, but I tried it out again. I was thinking I might be able to take this Featherweight with me to my dad's on the weekends and get in some sewing. I may or may not do that.

Here is something super cute I just bought and thought to share with you all. You know how on these old machines the spool of thread sits on a little felt pad? There is a lady on Etsy who crochets these little spool pin daisies that work great in place of the boring felt circle. Here is a link to her site. I contacted her and she says she isn't making them anymore, but she has a pdf pattern on how to make them. Evidently, I bought the last one!

Well, I sure did get a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes after my plea for help. I don't know what the issue was with my recent attempt that spread out all over the pan. I think leaving out the nuts could have had an effect on the dough holding together. Also, since i prefer a chewier cookie, more flour might have helped. I am really intrigued with the chocolate chip cookie recipes that called for a package of vanilla pudding! I am going to try that next up. I also noticed so many of you recommended half butter and half Crisco. I will give that a shot soon as well. One more thing is that I will let the butter soften to room temperature on the counter before using it. Giving it a nudge in the microwave may have affected my outcome. 

At any rate, thanks so much for all the suggestions and links to chewy chocolate chip recipes!

 

My Garden is in Blossom

Another productive sewing day for me yesterday. This has been quite the week for getting my mojo back. I finished the fourth and fifth blocks in my 2011 Designer Mystery BOM. The setting is going to be so cute. I will be making little stem units so it appears that each block is a flower. Hope I have enough green....

That fifth block (the middle right one) was a bear to sew, I can tell you that. It was a bit fussy. But it used all the colors, woo hoo. Of course, I got one tiny unit switched around (not just once but four times) and had to do some unsewing. Ah, those thread-picking interludes are restful for the mind, right?

I am really enjoying these bright fresh colors.

I also can report that I got my Serendipity quilt top all put together, except for the borders.  Maybe I can wrap that up on Sunday afternoon.

Have a great weekend everyone!

What Next?

I tell you, give me a week to spend sewing, and I can get things done. Lately that hasn't been happening though, but due to a Covid outbreak in the family, I have been able to get up in my sewing room for extended periods this week. And look what I found.

This is an ancient fabric collection by Fig Tree & Co. It was called Strawbery Something. Strawberry Fields, Strawberry Rhubarb, Strawberry Shortcake, I can't recall. It was a Block of the Month Designer Mystery sew along sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop from 2011.  Eleven years ago.  Can you believe I dug up a UFO older than my grandchild?

And I never made a single block. Month after month for a year I paid for my monthly block subscription and never sewed a blessed one. 

I had neatly stored all the fabrics in a plastic tub and still had all the patterns. 

I started assembling the fabrics needed for each block and starching them. Yesterday I made three blocks,
and I don't mind saying, they are adorable!

Block number one.

Block number two. This one took a while. And I got two of the corner blocks turned wrong. Fixed it!

Block number three. I think this one is my favorite.

I am having fun working with these larger blocks (12.5 inches unfinished). I have no idea how I will put them together. Probably a simple setting with the white tone on tone polka dot I am using for my background. I will never find a matching border fabric after all these years, but Fig Tree will have a red print that will still match, so I think I will be good.

Did any of you make this quilt back in the day? 


 

Christmas Among the Stars Again Months 1, 2, 3

Another glorious day of sewing yesterday. I have finished the first three months of the Fatquartershop Block of the month sew-along "Among the Stars Again". Now, here's a question for you.

I could make this same block of the month with Fig Tree Halloween fabrics. I have a bundle of Fig Tree Pumpkins and Blossoms in orange, green and black. The book I am using for the pattern instructions for the Christmas sew-along actually shows the quilt blocks in both Christmas and Halloween fabrics.

The question is: Should I make the blocks in the Halloween fabrics while I am already making them in the Christmas fabrics? Then I would have two quilts that were the same, one in Christmas fabric and one in Halloween fabrics

OR

Should I make the Halloween quilt completely different? I have a couple of patterns in mind that would work.  

Have you ever made the same quilt twice? I have thought it might be boring, so I have only done it a couple of times.

Whatever I decide, I know I will end up with two super cute quilts. 

I sure hope you are having a great week. I certainly am.

 

Christmas Among the Stars Again BOM Progress

Amidst the holiday hubbub, I managed to get into the sewing room for an hour or so. If I don't keep up with the Christmas Among the Stars Again sew along I am going to get behind. This is one of two blocks for the second month of the sew-along.  I just paid for month four, so I need to step it up a bit. 

How many times have you signed up for a BOM year-long sew-along and lost steam after the first or second month? I swear I have at least three abandoned BOMs sitting in storage. Now that is a real waste. I regret abandoning two of them, one was in Fig Tree fabrics and the other was Bonnie and Camille. At some point, I do want to finish those up. The third one I ended up not caring for because the fabric was kind of ugly (to be honest). It was a Blackbird Designs collection that featured muted colors and had lots of prints in a baby diarrhea gold/brown that was just bad. That one can remain a UFO.

Are any of you participating in this Christmas Among the Stars Again sew-along? I looked on the Fat Quarter Shop website but did not see any finishing or backing kits for this sew-along. I hope they aren't sold out! There isn't much left of the Christmas Morning fabric collection that the BOM is using.

I am enjoying making the blocks and fondling the pretty fabric.  The quilt is Christmassy, but still kind of subtle. 

Next Christmas I will be so glad I made it!

Hope you are all doing great and that you are enjoying a relaxing week between Christmas and New Years.

 

Then This Happened

Oh dear, I am not sure what came over me. This is Fig Tree & Co.'s latest Halloween collection "Pumpkins and Blossoms". It is different from, but coordinates perfectly with their previous Halloween group "All Hallows Eve".

You know I am making the "Among the Stars Again" Block of the Month in a beautiful Christmas collection by Lella Boutique called "Christmas Morning". The BOM I accidentally signed up for with Fat Quarter Shop. Well, I figured since I was already making two blocks each month in the Christmas fabric...

...I might as well make two more in Halloween fabric.

Just to be clear, in case anyone is confused, I am not combining the Christmas blocks and the Halloween blocks into the same quilt. I will be making two quilts. One Christmas, one Halloween.

I am just glad all the thinking is done for me because I don't have the energy to do anything too clever on my own these days.

As an aside, the cream background fabric in the Pumpkins and Blossoms line is a tone-on-tone print. It is cream with a little pumpkin figure on it. I can't show it off properly in a photo, but trust me, if you can get your hands on this background fabric, do it. It will be perfect for any fall or Halloween-themed quilt you do in the future. I managed to get 6 yards from an Etsy seller, and am so glad I did.

This is the design in black and orange. It is pretty darn cute too. The fabric I bought is all cream, with the design printed in white. The SKU of the tone on tone is 20427-21

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Block One Christmas Among the Stars Again

I squeezed in some time to make the first block of the Christmas Among the Stars Again BOM program. I was delighted that one of the units in the block was an Hourglass. I had recently purchased just the perfect little tool for trimming them.

I recently bought a set of Lori Holt's "Cute Cuts" trim tools, which as you can see, have all the markings to perfectly trim an hourglass block. It worked like a charm.

One more block to make for this first month in the program, which I hope to do today before I leave for Palo Alto to take care of Dad. The colors will be reversed in this second block for a different look.

The weather has been mild and fall-like. We got in a little porch time before dinner last night. Ozzie joined us of course. He looks pretty good for an old guy going on 15 years of age. He is pretty deaf, but his eyesight isn't bad. He enjoyed staring at a squirrel off in the distance for a while. There is definitely nothing wrong with his appetite. 

Hope you all have an excellent weekend!

Best One Yet

I squeezed in an hour up in my sewing room yesterday and made the best mug rug yet. Technically anyway. It went together without any glitches or hitches and the machine binding went perfectly. What a great discovery that technique was! A timesaver for sure.

And I also got my pieces cut out for the first block in the Among the Stars Again Christmas version. 

Sorry for the poor-quality photo. It was late in the day when I took it. These are the pieces I cut out for the first two blocks.

I have to say, when you join in a Fatquartershop Block of the Month program where they supply the fabric, they are incredibly generous. This has always been the case, going back ten years or more. After cutting out the pieces for the blocks, I had enough fabric left over to repeat the process for another two more blocks!

This is what I had leftover. If you want to starch, or if you make a mistake, or just need extra, they provide it in their generous cuts. I am sure once this project is done, I will have more than enough to make a table runner or some other small project. It is a good value for the cost.

Hope everyone had a good week. I am off to take care of my dad this weekend. One of my sisters reported that Dad wanted to walk down the block for some exercise yesterday. He pushed his wheelchair and made it down three or four houses from his house. I am glad to see he had an interest in doing that. He is so frail and seems very weak and fragile to me.

I'll try to post Friday. If not, have a great weekend everyone! Bye-bye September!