Sister's Choice Quilts

Acorn Love Table Runner

In honor of Fall, I just had to start a new table runner for the season. This one is called Acorn Love, and is a pattern by Lori Holt for Bee in My Bonnet. If you are familiar with Lori Holt's books, you know how well she does pieced patterns that depict something, such as the acorn here. Other patterns she has done are corn, apples, strawberries, carrots, various animals, tractors, all sorts of adorable things.

That is one block above, which still needs colored corner triangles sewn on. I was hoping to finish the blocks this weekend, but I ran out of steam.

We had a family wedding on Saturday and an overnight visit with my father. The venue where the wedding was held was at a remote mountainous site that had absolutely no accommodation for a person in a wheelchair, so hauling Dad around was completely exhausting. I had to enlist the help of some brawny grandsons to physically carry Dad in his wheelchair up steep gravel hills and up and down numerous steps. I have no idea how this place has a permit to hold events!  If you are disabled, you pretty much were up the creek. It made me appreciate all the fixtures to accommodate the disabled that we have come to take for granted nearly everywhere else we go.  By Monday all I wanted was to sit on the couch and read a book!

The table runner calls for twenty blocks, which I have done, except for the corner triangles. The runner ends up about 65" long, which I think is longer than I want. I will probably reduce the number of blocks to make it shorter to better fit my table.

This image and the next one are from the pattern cover.

Lori used one of her fabric lines to make her Acorn Love runner. I doubt that particular line of fabric is still available. I used Corey Yoder's brand new line "Cozy Up", which I thought had similar colors.

Anything designed by Sandy Gervais would work great with this pattern as well. Sandy often uses browns, oranges, golds, and that beautiful teal in her fall collections.

I would like to start using my runner ASAP, so I may bite the bullet and quilt this one myself!

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

Buffalo Table Topper Progress

I had a great day yesterday. Eva was on campus for workshops all day, so I had an unstructured schedule. I treated myself to a pedicure and a Subway sandwich and then got to sew for a couple of hours. I worked on some more of the buffalo check rows and the stars for the table topper I am making from the Carried Away pattern. I haven't had a day to myself in ages, so it was very enjoyable. 

This is Carried Away's photo. Mine should look fairly similar. I want to do the Christmas version as well.

I have to share another Carried Away pattern called Pumpkin Run, which I think is just adorable.

I think this pattern is so stinkin' cute and want to make it immediately! I just ordered the pdf pattern and think you should too! I am going to rotate the pumpkin placement so they face horizontally.

You just can't have too many Halloween table runners.

 

Plugging Away at the Sampler Spree Blocks

I had some free time come up unexpectedly last week and did some early morning sewing before it got too warm to be upstairs.

In the photo above you can see I added some variety to my light blue fabric blocks. I got brave and added in some orange for a bit of visual interest. I have been following Lella Boutique's posts and she had done that in a number of her blocks in a specific color. Since I am copying her layout and fabric choices I jumped in and tried it as well. We will see how it looks in the finished quilt top layout.

I applied the same concept to my dark blue blocks and added in some bright yellow.

This week I am going to start working on seven more blocks primarily in that cheery yellow shade. This Sampler Spree sew-along should be winding up pretty soon I think. I have meant to mention again what a great resource Susan Ache's book is. The blocks are a very good assortment, mostly pretty easy, and not patterns that you commonly see. For just over $22 I think it is a good investment.

Hope you all had a terrific weekend. I know it is only the beginning of August, which seems barely halfway through summer. However, in our area, school starts for Eva today, Monday, August 9th. How crazy is that? I have barely had a minute to wrap my head around it, and I am off to a Kick Off the School Year meeting today and will meet with her mentor teacher Wednesday to figure out our home school curriculum for the year. 

I sure have not put a dent in the sewing goals I had set for myself this summer. My hope is that once we get into a daily school schedule I will be able to carve out a designated sewing time each day and make better use of my time. Wish me luck!

Sampler Spree Sew Along 21 Blocks

I haven't been doing much sewing for a couple of reasons. One, it has been super duper hot where I live. It seems as if it gets up over 100 every day lately. My sewing room is upstairs and we have been trying to conserve energy by not using the air conditioner up there. I've tried sewing without it, and it is miserable. The second reason for not sewing much is a couple of health issues that are still bugging me. Between my slow eye surgery recovery and some recent asthma issues, I am happier just sitting quietly listening to an audiobook, to tell you the truth.

I did make a few more blocks in the Sew Sampler Sew Along. I laid them out in the three color groups I have made so far, and think they are so pretty. The blocks above are the pale orange color group.

Here are the darker orange blocks. Isn't that block on the top of the pile stunning? I can't remember what it is called, but I just love it and how the design twists.

And lastly, the blue ones. I have more light blue fabric that I didn't use and think I should make more blocks with those lighter colors.

This diagram is from Lella Boutique. I am copying her layout. The quilt design will be in the shape of a maple leaf. The sampler quilt blocks will be interspersed with solid "Grunge" fabrics designed by Basic Grey that coordinate with their Persimmon and Cider collections, which are the fabrics I am using. As you see from the diagram, the leaf is divided into different color sections. The total number of blocks I will end up with is kind of fluid at this point.

Hope your week is going well!

Week Six Red Sampler Blocks

It has been like pulling teeth, but I managed to finish the Week Six Red Sampler blocks. Aren't the two six-inch blocks adorable? I especially low the one that looks like 4 Xs. I had fun making both the smaller blocks on Sunday afternoon when I got home from my dad's.

Here's a closer look at the two six-inch blocks.

My father is doing great. He doesn't eat much, but since my sisters and I have been looking after him and preparing his meals, he has gained at least 10 pounds. Which means he weighs 150 pounds instead of 140. He is pretty frail, but we are building him up! No matter how full he is, he always can be counted on to enjoy a small dessert. His favorite is one of those Drumstick ice cream cones.

Big week coming up. Drumroll......Miss Eva turns 10 tomorrow! I can't believe how the time has flown. Our girl is double digits. It seems like yesterday that I got a ticket while I was following Sara and Ryan to the hospital. I was so excited to get there, and things kept holding me up. First the darn cop with his ticket, then a stupid cow was standing in the road and I had to stop and wait for it to move. I live out in the country, but that is ridiculous. Can't those farmers keep track of their stock?

I got to spend the night at the hospital waiting for Eva's birth, which didn't happen until around noon the next day. Hurry up and wait, right? As you can see, I only had eyes for Eva. 

Poor Sara, she looks done in. She had a time of it. Eva was born "sunny side up" instead of in the normal head-down position, which makes things difficult for Mama. It sure surprised everyone, even the doctor.

Eva is growing up to be such a lovely young lady.

One Quilt Block

This one quilt block is the only one I have managed to make this week. But here it is. The block is Butter Churn from Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage book. It is the 12-inch block from Week Six of Lori's Red Sampler Sew Along. I didn't have her exact fabrics but came as close as I could with what I had on hand. It's kind of a busy little thing. The idea was to mix tones of red. That fabric with the hangers on it is about as cute as it gets.

I am enjoying the sew along a lot, but have fallen far behind. I've decided not to worry about it one bit.

We had Eva over for a sleepover on Tuesday night and we made shish kebabs. You can't see it very well in the picture but she is holding up a skewer of peppers that she had just assembled. She is pretending to take a bite. She is wearing her fox nightshirt and the veggies kind of blend in. (We had just gotten home from the pool and she changed into her sleep shirt from her wet swimsuit).

And here is my husband seasoning the meat. He is doing very well after his recent health issues, thank goodness. We had a very nice family time with our granddaughter that night. The kebabs were delicious and so easy. 

When we make shish kebab, we always put all the same item on a skewer, we never mix them up. In photos, they show a slice of onion, a tomato, a mushroom, a pepper, the meat, etc all on one skewer and it looks so pretty. We have found that the different items all take different lengths of time to cook, so our skewers are all meat, all onion, all peppers, etc. How do you do it?

Hope you are having a great week!

Sampler Spree Week 4

Oooeee, this block was trickier than I first thought. I love the look of the half-square rectangle units. You hardly ever see those in quilt blocks. The challenge of course was to get all the points to line up. I think it is a cool block. It is from Susan Ache's book "Sampler Spree". It is #11 "Lacy Lattice Work", a name that doesn't make sense to me, but it's a great block.

These are my five orange themed blocks that I made yesterday when I had a couple of free hours. None of my eyeglasses work anymore, so it was kind of a challenge to sew. 

Instagram @samplerspreeqal has tons of great photos of people's blocks. I am doing a maple leaf setting using Cider and Persimmon by Basic Grey. I am pretty much copying Vanessa at Lella Boutique's vision, but I don't always do the same blocks she chooses. 

Did any of you experience your glasses being worthless after cataract surgery? I used to wear 2.50 strength "readers" for reading and other close work. The drugstore glasses that just magnify worked fine for me. Now they are way too strong. I have been experimenting with 2.00 and 1.50, but neither one is quite right. I think my eyes still have some healing to do before things settle down. 

I guess I knew I wasn't going to get a dramatic vision correction with this surgery, especially since my vision is not that bad. I do need magnifying lenses to read though, and to do any sort of sewing or other close work. Hoping I have a happy outcome eventually. My world is sure a lot brighter, which is a wonderful result of the surgery. I was looking at life through a golden veil for years. It is a pleasant change to have things looking bright and clean and not dark and dingy.

Serendipity Catch Up

I had some time last week to catch up on the Serendipity Sew Along. You may notice that I didn't play by the rules and substituted different blocks for two of the rows. What on earth gets into me sometimes?...

There is just one last row of blocks to make for this quilt. My motivation is strong to get going on it and wrap the project up. There will be plain white rows separating the larger block rows, and a white border finished with a wider border in the largest grey floral print.

I am using Corey Yoder's collection "Apricot & Ash" and following her progress with this project on her blog.

My second eye surgery is tomorrow and I am excited to get that over with as well. Thanks for all your good wishes and encouragement.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Bloc Loc Kite in a Square Tool

As you know I am doing the Sampler Spree Sew Along. One of the blocks I wanted to make this week is this one from Susan Ache's book "Sampler Spree". You can make the block from a template you make yourself or by purchasing a tool made by Bloc Loc. I went for the tool, "Kite in a Square" because Bloc Loc never has failed me and I love the look of this kite unit. It is pricey, but my son gave me a gift certificate to FQS, so there you are...

The tool comes in three pieces: The kite, the background, and the trim tool. 

Here are the three pieces of fabric needed for the unit. Looks kinda like a big moth. Bloc Loc has a great YouTube tutorial on how to sew them together.

Here is my unit, pieces attached and ready to trim.

The unit is all trimmed up and measures exactly 3 1/2" as it is supposed to.

Four units sewn into a 6 1/2" unfinished block. I quite like it.

I do not at all regret purchasing the tool, and I know I will use it anytime I need a 6 1/2" block for a sampler quilt. You will certainly see it in my Red Sampler project.

I used it for another block in the Sampler Spree book. On the lower right is "Tussie Mussie", featuring one of the Kite in a Square units.

I really liked this tool, as I typically do with any Bloc Loc product. If you had a layer cake of a special fabric collection you are not sure what to do with, this tool might give you some ideas!

Thanks for all your good wishes on my first cataract surgery. My vision is still a bit blurry today, but I am noticing how much brighter my world is. Before I was looking through a golden haze, and now everything is shiny white and clear. I am not so wiped out feeling today and think I am on the mend.

Have an excellent weekend!
 

 

Red Sampler Sew Along Week Four

This Red Sampler Sew Along by Lori Holt is so lovely. I am enjoying the fabrics, and the block patterns are all terrific. The patterns are all from various books she has published over the past few years, so you do need to have them to complete the blocks. I had them already, so that was all fine by me. If I had had to purchase four new books in order to participate in the sew-along, I may have felt differently, just saying. But the books are good, the patterns are well written and easy to follow and my blocks make me happy. So there we are.

The largest block in the photo above is a Granny Square block. They are kind of fussy to make, but the results are wonderful, don't you think?

That pinwheel block on the upper right is really a cool block, and I think it would be a terrific block for a One Block quilt. The construction of the pinwheel is a little bit different, and I really do love the look of it. It was fun to make too.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads in your lives. I am off this morning to spend a few days with mine. Goodness, I feel so blessed that he has been with us for so many years! 96 of them come November. Amazing. And he is a total love. He is so considerate. He forgot my birthday (at 95 I forgive him) and when it was brought to his attention, he called me to apologize and wish me the best on my special day.  Like I said, he is a dear.

Have a great weekend everyone!