Sister's Choice Quilts

What a Day

I haven't had quite as much time to sew as I had expected, due to my poor grand dog Remy's anxiety issues.  Since we are taking care of him for a few days while his family is on vacation, we have witnessed how severe his anxiety issues are. He will go to the veterinarian on Thursday, but in the meantime, we are trying to deal with his issues and make him as comfortable as we can.

I thought at first that the poor little guy's anxiety attacks happened at dusk, but it turns out he has them any time during the day. Yesterday he began shaking and trembling and panting at 9:15 and did not stop until 2:30. It was awful. We tried to distract him with sips of water, treats, peanut butter (what dog can resist that?), and holding him securely. Nothing worked. He just had to get through it, but it took a long time. I hope when my son-in-law takes him to the vet, some solution will be offered.

The photo above is Week 3 of the Red Sampler Sew Along Lori Holt is sponsoring.  I love how these blocks are turning out, but those little ones with the 3" blocks sewn in a quadrant are a real challenge!

Hope your week is going well. 

I fixed it:

Red Sampler Blocks Underway

New Project! Woo hoo! I am so excited to show you my first two weeks of Lori Holt's Red Sampler Sew Along. Each week it seems we will make one 12 inch block and two 6 inch blocks. The block patterns come from three or four of her published books, so it sure helps if you have them on hand. Luckily I have collected them over time. Two weeks done and seven more to go to catch up.

The most challenging block was the one on the bottom left that consists of four 3 1/2" Churn Dash blocks. That is an easy block, but try making it in a 3 1/2" size and you might re-evaluate that opinion. There will be a number of blocks in that style throughout the quilt. Easy blocks, but made super small and connected in a quadrant. It is a fun look and I am excited to see where we are going with it.

While I made the blocks yesterday, I listened to the end of the audiobook I have been so enjoying. The Hail Mary Project by Andy Weil.  Ok, this is a surprise. It is science fiction and I loved it. As a matter of fact, I like it the best of any book I have read this entire year. It will be in my top five favorites without a doubt. I URGE you to read this book. I laughed, I cried, and in the end, I was left with the happiest best feelings. I loved this book so so much. It is a book about heroism, unlikely friendships, and features a character who is the most unusual I have ever encountered in a book. Not going to spoil it for you. Just read it. Or listen to the audiobook. The narrator could not have been more perfect. And then tell me how much you loved it. You are welcome!

Making Progress

I'm about halfway finished with sewing the blocks together in my Moda BlockHeads 3 quilt. Woo Hoo! I love this little quartet above. Did you know that when a bee returns to the hive she can tell the other bees where the good flowers are by doing a little dance? She explains it all by her movements and the other gals can fly out and find the spot she is describing. No map required.

I tell you, sewing the lattices around each of these blocks is a time-consuming process. Whoever figured out what size the lattices need to be for the different-sized blocks was a genius. So far, all my blocks are lining up and the rows are exactly the same length. I refer to my notes all the time to be sure I don't get something wrong. It is really best to keep on working on this and not stop. When I took a break a few months ago, I totally forgot all the details and had to start all over to wrap my head around the complicated directions. The directions aren't easy to find either. A lovely lady whose name I forget showed her quilt setting on Instagram and I loved it. I reached out to her for her measurements for the lattices and she kindly told me what she had done. So I just have scribbled notes to follow. I'm not sure I could tell you where to go to see what she did.

Yesterday Eva and I celebrated our last day of school by having lunch out. There is a new place in town where one can eat outside on a covered porch. They just serve sandwiches and salads and have a kid's menu. We both had BLTs. The second half of mine is going to be my dinner. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were happy to be out in public. The best thing was seeing other people out and about having a great time.

Do you find as you get older your appetite decreases? I remember my mother-in-law saying that all the time. When she and my father-in-law would go out to eat, both of them would bring half their meal home in a box to eat later. I know I haven't had much of an appetite lately. It may be more stress-related than age-related though! Whatever the reason, I have lost 15 pounds and will take it. I have to wear a belt to keep my pants up! Would you believe my shoes are even loose? A couple of pairs of sandals I like keep flying off my feet when I try to wear them!

Well, look at me, rambling away. I hope you all are having a terrific week!

Sewcialites #32 Bright Block

I am all caught up with my Sewcialites blocks. This one is #32 "Bright Block" by Chelsi Stratton. It features four usually very tricky units called "cat's cradle" units. 

They involve small triangles and often come out wonky and with points cut off. That wasn't going to happen to me, because I have the Creative Grids Cat's Cradle Tool. With it, you can make the cat's cradle units in six different sizes with squares and rectangles instead of triangles. You also cut your pieces a bit larger than you need and trim them down to the perfect size. 

I set the ruler on a piece of white fabric so the markings can be seen more easily. The sizes to cut your pieces for the block are printed on the ruler. How brilliant is that? I was making the 2 inch finished size.

I cut out two white squares and 2 gold rectangles and sewed them together.

Next, you use the tool to line up your stitching lines and mark them with a pen. Layer your rectangle/square unit on top of a larger rectangle, right sides together, and sew on the line. Cut down the middle between the sewing lines. Then you will trim the seam allowance to 1/4" for each of your two pieces.

Flip open your unit and press toward the large triangle. Position the trim tool with the lines along the seams of the small square, and the diagonal line exactly on the seam of the finished size you are making. In my case that is 2" for both alignments. Trim the top and left-hand sides of the unit.

Keeping the unit in place, flip the tool around so the diagonal line is on the finished size you are making and the square on the tool is "kissing" the point of the small square of the unit. Trim the right side and the bottom.

And here are my four perfect Cat's Cradle units. Each one measures 2 1/2" unfinished or 2" finished. This tool turned what would have been a frustrating, fussy block into a perfect and fun one. I highly recommend this trim tool by Creative Grids.

 

 

 

Found Treasure

Oh my gosh, look what I found yesterday. Way up high on a closet shelf there was a project box labeled "Granny Blocks".  When I pulled it down I was blown away to discover these quilt blocks made from a
Pam Kitty Morning collection for LakeHouse Fabrics. I must have made these seven years ago. I vaguely recall making them and I may have even sewn some together for a baby quilt for a niece some years ago. 

Presently though, I have no idea what to do with them! I could make more blocks, but at this point, I have no idea what the white outer fabric was, so it might not match exactly. Not that big a deal I don't think. I can get pretty close with a current Bella Solid. But what should I do with the blocks?  I do not know of anyone who is expecting a baby girl right now. I suppose I could make a baby quilt and keep it on hand for that happy occurrence. Eventually, someone I know will have a baby girl, right?

I wonder why on earth Lakehouse stopped making Pam Kitty Morning fabrics? I recall they were hugely popular, and seriously are way cuter than a lot of other fabrics of this type. Pam has a terrific blog. She has tutorials for fabulous projects and is fun to read. She starts out some of her posts with a photo of a cup of coffee in her garden and saying "It's a PamKittyMorning". She is upbeat and friendly and seems super nice too.

I have a question for you all. Do you think I should separate the blocks with a white lattice? Or do you like the idea of the blocks all looking "connected"?

So, this was a lucky day for me, finding a treasure trove of pretty blocks in gorgeous fabrics. Hope your day was as fortunate!

The Last Moda Blockheads 3 Block

This is positively, absolutely, definitely, the very last Moda Blockheads 3 block. I think there are 98 total blocks, more if I count the ones I remade or made and then decided not to use. Good grief I have been working on this project forever. 

I know it is boring, but I really need to concentrate on adding all the lattices and sewing the rows together. This project needs to be put to bed.

The block above was from one of Lori Holt's Vintage Farm Girl books, I don't recall the name. 

Speaking of Lori Holt, is anyone doing her Red Sampler Sew Along? My gosh, that looks like a great project. She is doing it with red fabrics from her various collections for Riley Blake (see below).  All the patterns come from her assorted books, mainly the two Farm Girl ones and her Christmas one. From what I have seen on Instagram and her blog it is one gorgeous quilt. But of course, I am never making another red and white quilt, so it shouldn't concern me, right? Right.

Go look on her blog, you know you want to. 

 

My week is going well. Eva is off school due to the county fair, which no one can go to. Don't ask me, I don't make these rules. We made pink cupcakes yesterday and had a lovely relaxing day today. I read aloud to her as long as my voice held out. We are finding that sharing really good chapter books is one of the best things ever. We discovered the author Kate DiCamillo, who is an outstanding author of kids' books. Because of Winn Dixie was the first one we enjoyed, and now we just finished The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Edward is a porcelain rabbit who has some incredible things happen to him. Before that, we read Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz-Ryan. All these books made me cry, which is embarrassing when you are reading aloud to a nine-year-old.

Have any of you read these books to your kids? Do you have any others you would recommend?

Moving On

These pretty red blocks are some that I made for the Sewcialites Sew Along, sponsored by Fatquartershop.com. I also have a group of black/cream blocks and a group of gold/cream blocks. I think this is going to be a striking quilt when it is put together. And it won't be long until the finish now! Just a handful more blocks and they will be ready to be put into their setting.

This is block 29 "Delight" by Me and My Sister Designs.

Sorry for dropping out of sight last week. I had some personal things going on that took the starch out of my sails. Thank you to those of you who reached out and wished me well. I am ready to move on now and hope to get some quality sewing in this week! New month, new goals, new attitude.

Sewcialites #28 Hope

I am so proud of myself for keeping up with the Sewcialites blocks every week. This one is #28 Hope by April Rosenthal. It definitely is not my favorite in this sew-along. I wish I had thought of a way to make it more interesting because to me, it just isn't. Used over and over again in a one-block quilt, the diagonal pattern it makes could be very eye-catching, but honestly, as a stand-alone block, it is pretty blah. You know, I may just sub it out with something I like better. I tend to do that anyway when I am putting a top together, as you may have noticed.

I had a nice drizzly weekend with my dad. I got lots of work done, and while I did that he was able to read his Kindle. Now that is a real miracle. A few months ago, he had lost a good deal of his sight due to macular degeneration, but due to his treatments being extremely successful he is able to enjoy reading again. I ordered him Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, the fictional retelling of the life of Thomas Cromwell. He is a real history buff, so I hope he loves it. Anybody read it? It is almost 600 pages!

Hope you all had a splendid weekend!

Serendipity Third Row

Yesterday I got cracking on the third row of the Serendipity Quilt sew-along. You can bet I double-checked to be sure I hadn't made these blocks already. Ha ha. 

These blocks use the Courthouse Steps foundation papers from Fatquartershop.com. The papers are an option, you can also make the blocks the traditional way. I really liked the accuracy achieved with the papers. Courthouse Steps is a block that can get wonky on you, but not with foundation papers.

After sewing on each strip, I used the "Add a Quarter" ruler to trim off the excess seam allowance. That is a handy tool if you do paper piecing.

You trim up the block after attaching all the strips, then peel the paper off. It comes off extremely easily. This is a great paper piecing product.

For the row you make four blocks and attach them together with a lattice strip in between. The colors look kind of washed out in my photo, but they are really pretty in person.

The fabric collection is Apricot and Ash by Corey Yoder (Coriander Quilts for Moda). 

I was happy to get caught up with this sew-along. Packages of new fabric continue to arrive. I feel like the princess in Rumplestiltskin. Will I be able to use all the fabric up in my lifetime? I believe I have been guilty of some late-night ordering under the influence of chardonnay. I wonder if I can put a time lock on my computer, shutting it down after 7 PM?

 

 

Oh Yes I Did

It's been a couple of weeks since I worked on the Serendipity Sew Along. I had a couple of hours yesterday afternoon, so I thought I would put Kimberly on my iPad and stitch along with her on what they are calling "Release Two", which is the second row of the quilt. (Remind me to clean my iPad screen). I got my 40 flying geese units all cut out and began happily sewing away.

But for some reason, it all felt kind of familiar. Deja vu, you know?

Oh right. I already made that row of 40 flying geese a couple of weeks ago. Much head-slapping went on for a little while, but then I realized it was ok. I hadn't wasted all that fabric after all. It turns out there is a second row of flying geese just the same as the first one later on in the quilt.

Whew.

I need to keep up with these things a bit better. Maybe, just maybe, I might have a bit too much going on? Yeah, I think so too.

Then I ran out of my starched background fabric and had to make more.

It was a lovely warm afternoon. I just lay out a thick towel and spray until the fabric is soaked with my Faultless Heavy Starch. On a nice warm day, it is dry in half an hour!

Wish me a mistake-free day today, because I hope to sew!