Sister's Choice Quilts

Serendipity Flying Geese Row

What a busy day we had yesterday!  Eva had her swim class at 11 to 12 and I had my second COVID shot at 1. I felt like I was in a big rush to get places only to have to wait once I arrived. At least I got to read my book while Eva swam and while I waited my turn for my vaccine.

What was interesting is that the folks who were administering the vaccine and corralling the people were all the way from Florida! One lady told me she had been traveling for the Center for Disease Control doing COVID related jobs since August! They were all quite jolly and efficient. Shanika gave me my injection so perfectly I was barely aware of the needle. So far so good. My arm isn't even sore.

Once I got home I told Eva we were done with school for the day. Homeschoolers get minimum days too, right? I went upstairs to sew and made 40 flying geese for the second row of the Serendipity sew-along. I like to make mine larger and trim them down with the BlocLoc ruler. Perfect every time.

While I sew I like to watch Kimberly Jolly's Fatquartershop YouTube videos that are basically tutorials for making the blocks for the sew-along. She was very chatty and described various ways to make flying geese. She is trying to promote her Triangles on a Roll papers because she bought the company, but said she likes the Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day flying geese ruler very much as well. Have any of you tried it?  There is an old YouTube video from 2014 where Kimberly demonstrates it, which I watched. I am not sure I am willing to switch from my beloved BlocLoc trim rulers, but am curious if any of you have used that Quilt in a Day trim tool? How about Kimberly's Triangles on a Roll papers?

Catching Up on Sew Alongs

I had a productive weekend, spending most of it with my dad and no sewing machine. The two of us had a pleasant time together, and I stayed to make him a nice Easter breakfast. My sisters planned to see him for dinner and make it as festive as possible. He kept asking all week long who was coming and what we would have to eat.  Typically we go all out and host a big family brunch for 20 or more people, so he was definitely missing all the hoopla.

Our breakfast for two was modest compared to what he was hoping for, but I have to say I thought it was pretty good. Scrambled eggs, sausages, fresh pineapple, and little coffee cake bites. I think he enjoyed it.

This was our little centerpiece. I went outside before he got up and cut some of my mother's camellias from one of the bushes in the garden. They are so perfect, aren't they? 

I got back home in the early afternoon and worked on my Sewcialites block for last week. I took a picture of block 25 and block 24 at the top of this post.

Monday, I got my Serendipity row 1 together. I did lots more starching and am ready to go with the next rows. This is a close-up of the block for row 1. Kind of a weird block in my opinion, but the rest of them are better. I do love those fabrics.

Hope you all had a splendid Easter!  I get my second COVID injection today. Fingers crossed I am still standing tomorrow. I had no reaction to the first shot, so with luck, this one will be the same. I will be glad to have that behind me.

Album Block Runner

Ah, what a treat it is to be able to just stay home and sew. I am making the most of this week, that is for sure. I had purchased a honey bun of At Home by Bonnie and Camille that I wanted to make use of. I needed to find a pattern that used 1 1/2 inch strips, and this Album block from the Summer Moon quilt book by Carrie Nelson works great.

My blocks are 6 inches square, which is probably my favorite size for a quilt block. They are a bit time-consuming to make, not sure why. Maybe it's the 29 pieces in each block? My plan is to make a table runner with 10 or 12 blocks. I will get a few more made and see what it looks like for size.

The block looks trickier than it really is. You sew rectangles together to form the block, then use your square ruler to trim it down to 6 1/2 inches.

I like the clean, peaceful look of the blocks so far. I am using Kona Snow for the background. I have loved that solid for going on 20 years. It is one of the best whites ever. It has just a touch of creaminess to it, so it isn't blindingly white, yet not too yellow either. 

To entertain myself while sewing, I have been watching old Fatquartershop YouTube videos. Oh my goodness, is that dangerous. I watched all of the tutorials on how to make the Summer Moon sew along from several years ago, and now I want to make that quilt. Today I watched a video from over a year ago where Kimberly was talking about the Bloomtopia sew along using a fabric line by Sherri & Chelsi called Summer Sweet, which I am sorry to have missed out on. I swear everything I watch I want to make or buy. I had better stick to audiobooks I think!

Fancy Summer Breeze

Isn't this pull of fabric happy? It is a combination of Lori Holt's "Prim" and "Flea Market", Corey Yoder's "Spring Brook", and Lily Ashbury's "Fancy". I think Lily Ashbury was ahead of her time with those fun bright-hued fabrics. They are hugely popular now with designers such as Lori Holt and April Rosenthal putting out two or more collections a year.

My Lily Ashbury fabrics are several years old and were pulled out of my "Happy Fabrics" bin for a new project I have in mind. 

How cute is this pattern "Summer Breeze" by Carried Away? That border is wonderful. It is a mini quilt, only 26" square. I have enough fabric to make six of these quilts, I swear. I will just be dipping my toe into it. I sure do love shopping from home!

Here is my first little test pinwheel block. I think I love it.

What prompted this new project, when I have six UFOs in process?

Well, I was trying to get out some springy table toppers/runners to decorate for Easter, and was sorely disappointed in my lack of them. I had plenty of fall decor, but not much cheerful, light and appropriate for this time of year and going forward. These rich, color-saturated colors are perfect.

Please somebody tell me I have enough fall-colored quilts. And for heaven's sake, if I start yet another red and white quilt, somebody call the quilt police.

A Few More Cute Quilt Blocks

I can't seem to stop myself. This Moda BlockHeads 3 quilt is never going to be done. I keep thinking I need to add more "cute" blocks to it. You have to admit, that fat blue bee is pretty darn adorable.

So naturally I had to give him a house. Isn't that little bee skep too much? Both the bee and the bee hive and the dahlia flower came from Lori Holt's Vintage Farmhouse 2 book. If you ever want "cute" blocks, she is the source.

One of the reasons I have been dragging this project out is because I have run out of my main background fabric. That is the fabric shown in the bee hive/heart block above. My friend Tracey is sending me a fat quarter, but it's coming from Canada on a slow boat. Does anyone have any amount of that cream-colored print? It is from 3 Sisters "Snowberry" collection. If anyone has some they would like to sell, please let me know. SKU is 44145 11.

Hope you had a good weekend. Our weather has suddenly turned gorgeous and we had our windows and doors open constantly. I think it got up to 74. We have new neighbors with little kids and it has been so nice to hear their happy voices while they play outside in the sunshine.

And woo hoo, it is spring break for Eva, so I will have a couple of free days this week to sew and read and catch up on chores around the house. It seems amazing that we are saying goodbye to March already.

Little Village Lattices

Woo hoo, more progress has been made on the Little Village quilt. I got all the middle of the quilt lattices on. This Sunday when I get home from my father's I will put on the top, bottom and sides. Next comes a solid red containment border and finally an outer border of a cream print with a large red floral design. The overall effect of the quilt will be the red houses surrounded by a pretty light-colored setting.

I am happy with the look of the top. I am also happy that it won't take much to finish it up.

Maybe it will be part of my red and white front porch decorating plan for this summer! Except for my husband just planted blue and yellow flowers in all the containers out there. We may have to do some switching around.

Hope you all have a great weekend. My plan is to visit with my dad, do some reading, and to work on two or three articles for the company I am working for as a writer. Never a dull moment, right? Happy Friday!

Little Village Revisited

I revisited my Little Village house blocks yesterday. I had finished 12 of the 16 blocks and decided I needed a kick in the pants to finish up those last four blocks and get this done. None of the blocks was difficult, even the pinwheel one on the upper right.

I think I will re-do the churn dash block on the lower left. I am not feeling the joy in that one. Too many directional pieces give me a headache. 

If you recall this was a free sew-along hosted by designer Jessica Dayon. Here is a link to her website.

This quilt top will finish with lattices around the blocks and three borders as I recall. The separation of the blocks with a cream-colored fabric lends a lightness to the look of the top overall. The photo below is Jessica's photo of her finished quilt top.

Hope you are all having a great week. Super chilly here. I can't seem to warm up! Just so you know, I am a California sissy.  The high was 54, which means if you live in Wisconsin you are probably out wearing shorts and flip-flops.

Two More Blocks

I had to share two more cute blocks with you. The Dahlia and the Beehive blocks are from Lori Holt's Farmhouse Vintage 2 book. I love the whimsical element that they add to the quilt top. They add to the heart/love theme of the quilt and tell a story about the things that make me happy.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. I had a really full day Sunday and never got around to writing a blog post for this morning. It is around 6:30 (Pacific Daylight Time) as I write this on Monday morning and it is still really dark! As in 5:30 AM dark. Is it just me, or it is crazy hard to get used to the first days after a time change?

I hope you all had a great weekend. My father continues to improve and is in great spirits. When asked, he always says he is "in the pink". My husband and I got our corned beef and cabbage fix taken care of, due to an invitation to join my first son-in-law and his wife for dinner. The bonus was we got to take our Leprechaun Eva home with us. And the last big event of the weekend was that I managed to get my COVID shot scheduled for this week! I will be sure to let you know how that goes!

Cutest Quilt Block Ever

Cherries. How cute is this quilt block? I got it out of the Lori Holt Farm Girl Vintage 1 book. It is a 6-inch block, so the pieces are pretty tiny, but it wasn't too bad to make. It took some time, but wasn't difficult. I think it is adorable. 

I have been plugging along on my remaining blocks for the Moda BlockHeads 3 quilt. Just a few more to go. Would you believe I have nearly 100 blocks in this quilt? It is massive. I want to make some more blocks like the cherries above. I think blocks that are "pictures" or represent something will give the eye a place to rest amongst all the more traditional quilt blocks. 

So far my background fabric is holding out, but I think I have less than a fat quarter of it left. I am using every single smidgen of it. So glad the remaining blocks I have to make are pretty small!

Heading out to spend the weekend with my father. I am so challenged as to what to feed him. His appetite is so small that I had to launch into a full blown cooking frenzy because I will be left with too many left overs that will get wasted. He pretty much eats about two tablespoons of whatever I give him and leaves the rest, saying "I can't eat all this". He does like a bowl of soup, so perhaps I will go in that direction. I can make a pot of something and just take a small container of it to my father's house and leave the rest with my husband. Do you all have any favorite soup recipes?

Have a great weekend.

Additional Moda BlockHeads 3 Blocks

For the setting I have in mind for the Moda Blockheads 3 sew-along, I have found that I need to make some additional blocks in the 12-inch and 6-inch sizes. I am actually having fun going through various sources looking for blocks in those sizes.

This 12-inch block is from a Moda Bake Shop sew along from last year called Spring Flowers. The blocks for this sew-along were all 12 inches finished, and the designs were super cute. However, that being said, I was absolutely appalled at the errors in nearly every single pattern I tried. This one is called "Bouquet" and did turn out ok after I remade eight half-square triangles in the correct size. 

This 12-inch block is called Daffodil and is also from the Moda Bake Shop Spring Flowers sew-along. I ended up having to actually throw away two blocks from this sew-along because after I had cut my fabric I found that the instructions were full of errors and the wrong measurements. There were a ton of comments on the website from very unhappy people who, like myself, had wasted time and valuable fabric. Some people who were making all the blocks claimed there was an error in every single block pattern they tried from this project. And I was being so careful not to waste any of my precious background fabric because I am running so low. It was a huge disappointment to have to throw some away. I can forgive one error, but time after time? No sir. Do the authors/designers actually not bother to test the blocks before they publish them? That is shameful. I have never in my life had this issue with any other Moda sew-alongs. BlockHeads has been so excellent I have participated in two different year-long projects. Going forward, I am going to be leery of any patterns from Moda Bake Shop. Ok, rant over. Just be warned to check your measurements before cutting if you ever participate in a Moda Bake Shop project.

One last 12-inch block. I have already forgotten where this pattern came from, but isn't it cute? I love the frame effect that the blue fabric has around the red star.

The rest of these blocks are all 6-inch. My source for a lot of them was various Lori Holt books-Farmhouse VIntage 1 and 2 primarily. Now, her instructions and measurements are always impeccable. 

This last one is a favorite for sure. I love how the red checked fabric looks like a folded-over envelope flap. I was even able to use four of the too-small half-square triangle blocks from the sloppy Moda Bake Shop instructions for "Bouquet".

So, good progress, all in all. Only a half dozen or so more 6-inch blocks to go. This project may be out of control. You can see how my design wall is filling up. Think I could use a bigger design wall?  lol