Sister's Choice Quilts

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!

Sewcialites #27 Earnest

Here is last Friday's Sewcialites block "Earnest" designed by Vanessa Christensen of V & Co.

I wasn't loving the tone of my gold blocks, so I had a rummage through my stash and pulled out a few more pieces that leaned more gold than tan. So you see my pull from stash below. All starched and dried in the sunshine.

Confession time: I have been buying fabric like a crazy person. Backgrounds, layer cakes, half yard cuts. It has been intense, particularly for my pocketbook. I want to spend all my time sewing, and life is getting in my way big time. I am hopeful that when summer arrives I will have a bit more time for myself. 

I have also purchased a number of patterns, mostly from Pattern Basket. What the designer Margot Langeudoc does with her patterns really focuses on the fabrics in a collection. Often her patterns just call for a layer cake or fat eighth pieces. The pattern below is a good example of what she does. Anyway, I am looking forward to making a few of them.

Hope your week got off to a great start! Wonderful weather here. Eva and I made banana muffins and worked on math, reading, science, and book club.

Sewcialites #26 Courage

I don't have much sewing to show for my time, but I did finish last week's Sewcialite block. "Courage" by Joanna Figueroa, #26 in the sew-along. It was pretty easy. I do like the crispness of the cream against the red. The red fabric was a small scrap of some Minick and Simpson collection I had left over. I used every last smidgeon of it for this block.

I've been reading a couple of books this week. I started with "Yellow Crocus" by Laila Ibrahim, a book set in pre-Civil War Virginia. It is about a privileged white child, Lisbeth and her enslaved nursemaid Mattie. It was a thrilling story about how both Lisbeth and Mattie came to want to escape their lives and lack of freedom in the South. It was quite a satisfying book. Short and free on Kindle Unlimited. 

The second book in the series, "Mustard Seed", is about the same characters. It is also a very short read and free on Kindle Unlimited. I started the book, and am dumbfounded that these characters from the first book, who managed to escape to Ohio from the oppression of the times, make a very strange choice. They decide to go back to Virginia after the war is over. Yes, they have their reasons, but seriously, why would anyone do that? It took everything they had to get away in the first place and was the entire premise of the first book, so why would they put themselves in harm's way again? I am not very far into the second book but am wondering if it isn't such an annoying plot device that I should quit.

Have any of you read these books? They are well written and the characters are terrifically portrayed. What do you think? Is the second book worth continuing? So far I am slapping my head saying "Why are you doing that?"

Album Block Woes

I went back to work on my Album blocks yesterday. And realized I had made the first four of them wrong. The second and sixth rows are supposed to be made with 3 1/2" long strips of colored fabric, and I had used strips that were 2 1/2".  Arghhh.  

I sure did not want to remake the whole blocks. I figured that if I unsewed carefully with my seam ripper I could just re-do those rows. And I was right, thank goodness.

This is how they are supposed to look. It is a subtle difference, but I am glad I spotted it and fixed it. I am still not sure if I will make eight blocks or ten. I will add a border and I don't want the runner to be too big. At first, I was thinking twelve blocks, but now I am leaning towards ten.

My husband and I got three pots planted with the plants I bought over the weekend. I cannot wait to see how they look once they fill out. Can you spy Ozzie photobombing my photo?

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?