Sister's Choice Quilts

What Was I Thinking?

Well, this is a UFO in all sense of the word.  I discovered this little project box in my sewing room closet and just stared at it open-mouthed.  What had I been planning?  There were the makings for flying geese units, some strips in various sizes, a whole lot of black and orange fabrics.  No pattern, no notes.  What in the world had I been thinking I was going to make with all this?

I started searching through my books and found a super cute pattern that I think will work great for this mystery assortment.

Are you familiar with the Moda All Stars book "Mini Marvels"?  It has patterns for 15 little quilts that are full of wonderful design elements.  Right there on the cover is a great little quilt that involves flying geese and log cabin blocks.  Here is a better picture of the quilt:

The pattern is called Cabin Skein and is by Carrie Nelson.  I will have to cut my flying geese and strips down to a smaller size for this project, but that is easily done.  This will be such a cute October table topper in those black and orange fabrics!  It will finish at about 20" as I recall, just right for a candle or little vignette of some kind.  

I have to confess, I got the sixty four 1 1/2 x 2 1/2" flying geese all made and thought "I'll just get cracking on those 4 1/2" log cabin blocks".  Wrong.  I made two of them and they were so wonky and misshapen I was ashamed.  I am so used to using trim tools and special rulers to ensure the accurate size of my blocks that I guess I can't live without them.  I have the Creative Grids Log Cabin Trim Tool in both the 8" and the 6" sizes and my blocks always come out perfectly.  So, I got on the computer and ordered the 4" size.  It should come by Wednesday and I will be back in business. 

Sometimes you just need the right tool for the job!

Wallowing in Fabric

Is that not the most beautiful pull of fabric?  It is what I am planning to use for the Comfort and Joy quilt-along hosted by Piecing the Past.  I had it all in my stash, and only ordered a few more backgrounds. I love Civil War reproduction fabrics as you know, but I am especially excited to use brighter tones. This project checks all my boxes.  Here is a link to all the documents that describe the project, yardage, etc.  They are super nice at Piecing the Past, willing to answer any questions you might have, and so generous to provide all the information to make the quilt.  The preliminary documents/information pages are so thorough, I imagine the block instructions will be too.  And it is all free if you download the pattern instructions each week.  If you delay and wait until later, there will be a small charge for the block instructions.

I am so excited to make this quilt.  

Here is my version of Moda BlockHeads 3, block 12.  I followed Fig Tree & Co. suggestions for changing up the block units from half square triangles to square in a square blocks and flying geese.  It was still a beast to put together and to get all those points to line up.  Nice block though.  I made the 12" size.  Can you imagine making the 4"?  

For the first time, I skipped making my Laundry Basket Mystery blocks.  Tomorrow is the reveal of the last four blocks to complete the center, so I am excited about that.  My plan is to complete the top over the weekend.

Our homeschooling experience was rather blah yesterday.  Both Eva and I were kind of bored with all the lessons.  The Arctic Tundra, beginning geometry, telling time, spelling, reading comprehension:  Big ho hum.  We wanted to do the jigsaw puzzle and play Roblox.  And fondle fabric. 

Our schools will be closed for the remainder of the year, so I had better get my mojo back.  This girl needs me. 

Fabric Bin Organization

Just a quick post to let you all know I am still alive.  The weather cooled down to the high 80s over the weekend, so I took advantage of the cooler temps and went out to the garage to organize my fabric storage.  We picked up some new bins at Walmart and I was able to put away the surplus fabric that had been piling up in my sewing room over the past year.  I have so much fabric from my favorite designers that is left over from projects.  I don't want to discard it, as it usually goes great with future collections these designers release.  Honestly, with each new project, I can be found rummaging in these bins to find things that coordinate with whatever new fabric line I am working with.

My organization method is somewhat haphazard.  Feel free to enlarge the photos to see my labels.   Some bins are for specific designers, if I have substantial leftovers to warrant a separate bin in their name.  Other bins are just fabrics by color:  reds, light greens, yellow & gold etc.  And then we have smaller bins for abandoned postponed projects.  I know i will get back to that Moda Blockheads quilt one of these days.  And those birds I wanted to make from leftover Fig Tree fabric... 

All in good time.  And meanwhile, in these labeled bins, there is a chance I can find those projects again when I am ready.

Temperatures are supposed to be between 102-105 the next few days, so I will be inside with a fan aimed at me.

Birthday Goodies

Some recent birthday shopping has been happening.

My birthday was earlier this month and I was fortunate to receive some gift certificate bounty for Fatquartershop.com from various loving relatives.  I put the gift certificates to good use (they are probably still smoking) and ordered two fat quarter collections.  The one in the two photos above is the Temecula Treasures collection.  Lots of clear toned small Reproduction prints in this one.

And this one is Riviera Rose by Renee Nanneman.

Reds and blacks and tan, with one amazing large scale black and red print that ties it all together.

I was thinking the reds and blacks could be very interesting in this Laundry Basket Kelley pattern.

Not much sewing going on here so far this summer, but I can always dream of the future, right?

I wonder if I could set up my Featherweight poolside?

Chateau Rouge Cutting

Didn't we have great comments yesterday to my complaints of not feeling inspired to sew lately?  My gosh, so many of you weighed in with ideas for projects that were exciting to you.  The enthusiasm just leapt off the page.   If that wasn't a shot in the arm, I don't know what would be!

I got my red French General strips all cut out and a fair number of strip sets sewn together and cut out.  I think this project is going to go quickly, which is just what I need right now.  Instant gratification.  In spite of pre-washing my fabrics, I am getting the required eight triangles cut out of each pieced strip set.

I am using a 60 degree equilateral triangle ruler by Creative Grids.  My triangles are being measured on the 8 inch line near the bottom of the ruler.

Do you see how the bottom three strips are off-set by about an inch?  That is to be sure you get every smidgen of use out of your strip set and get your eight triangles from the WOF.

I need 108 of the pieced triangles.

Hope your week got off to a good start.  Thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions yesterday.

Starting Something

Well, this weekend I started something.  And it's been awhile since that has happened.  Honestly, I just have not been excited about any new projects lately.  None of the latest collections, or patterns or color schemes have appealed to me much.  I don't recall ever being in such a creative slump.  All the designs by my favorite designers have seemed to be much of the same as that which they have produced in previous seasons.  Nothing has grabbed me, or sparked that excitement of new possibilities.  

It is making me wonder if my taste in Reproduction fabrics and classic quilt designs has become passé?  Barbara Brackman stated on her blog Civil War Quilts, that the number of reproduction fabric collections at Quilt Market this past weekend was very sparse. 

From the photos I have seen from Spring Market, apparently there is a big trend towards all grey or black, grey and white quilts.  No color.  I am not completely opposed to this concept, it is just going to take me a bit of time to come to terms with the idea.  I crave something new and innovative, but am not sure if that is the direction I want to go.

At any rate, I have been browsing various online sites for glimpses of upcoming kits, collections and patterns.  I found one by 3 Sisters that appealed to me.

3 Sisters has a collection called Cinnaberry that is all red and cream fabrics.  I love the look of this simple design, called Holly Berries, made up entirely of triangles.  I was so close to ordering it when I remembered I had a collection of French General fabrics called Chateau Rouge.  I have hoarded this fabric for years, because it was just too pretty to cut up.  The Chateau Rouge collection came with a free pattern of the same name, and guess what?  It is made up entirely of triangles.

I decided this time that I would shop at home, and make up this quilt that I have been thinking about for years.  The red triangles are actually made up of red strips, which give the quilt top so much texture and dimension.  It is a simple design, but taken just that one step further.

So with Eva and Ozzie's help, I got my fabrics washed and starched over the weekend.  I hope to start cutting today and am keeping my fingers crossed that this will get me out of my quilting doldrums.

How about you?  Am I alone in not relating to a lot of the new trends and collections that have been on offer the past year or so?  What is new and exciting to you?  Please share what you are drawn to lately.  I know I can't be the only one wishing for some inspiration.

This and That

I had my tiny little table topper quilted, and it came out so cute!  It is the perfect size for a candle or vase of flowers.  Still need to do the binding, but at least I have the fabric and know where to find it.

I needed more fabric for my Sweet Escape blocks, and good old Fabric Shack came through, as I knew they would, so I am ready to finish up those blocks.  I am seriously considering a scrappy companion piece in a log cabin design, featuring a layer cake of an older Minick and Simpson collection that has red, light blue, navy and cream.  I can see those two quilts out on my front porch on those nights during the summer when we want to sit outside and stargaze.  Red white and blue seems like such a summer color scheme, doesn't it?

In Instant Pot news, I am still completely smitten.  So smitten that I ordered the larger 6 quart size in addition to the mini 3 quart size I started out with.  This appliance is a complete game changer, I tell you.  Over the weekend, I made a Tomato Beef Curry that was perfect for entertaining.  Monday night I made Chicken Paprikash, which was so good I was talking to myself while I was eating it.  "Mmm, so good.  Wow, this is fabulous.  Mmmm.  Yum."   Seriously, this was the best $70 I have spent in, well I don't know, ever?  I love how you can saute the onions in the pot, then brown your chicken (in the same pot), then toss the noodles in the same pot, switch to Pressure Cook and in 4 minutes you have the most delicious dinner imaginable. And only one pan to wash.

I made home made mac and cheese for Eva in about 10 minutes, and she gave it her thumbs up sign of approval.  I took a bite, and even though mac and cheese is not something I typically crave, I decided then and there maybe I needed to have a small bowl of it. And it was good.   I have a cookbook called The Instant Pot Bible, which is great, but I also have gotten a ton of recipes and tips from two YouTube sites:  Pressure Luck and Six Sisters Stuff.

Hope your week got off to a good start!  Mine sure did.  I now have a fridge full of mac and cheese and chicken paprikash to eat all week long!

Spice It Up

Can you believe how gorgeous this fabric collection is?  It is Spice It Up by Jo Morton, designed for Moda.  The colors are my favorite warm autumn tones, and I can think of so many projects that this fabric would be perfect for.  If you are a collector of Jo's fabrics, you know that her new collections always "play" beautifully with her past ones.  You can achieve an amazing scrappy look by combining Jo fabrics from your stash.

Check out your local quilt shop, they may have it in stock.  If not, there are loads of places you can order it from on line.

Hope you all had a good weekend.  Mine was great, spent with family.  I am not seeing so much of my husband now that he has been persuaded to come out of retirement to work in the city.  We made the most of our Saturday and of our Sunday morning.  We even went out for lunch and had a cocktail.

A Zombie.  Yes, it was blue.  And had a brain floating in it.  But you know what?  It was actually pretty good.  Really.

That's Just Swell

I had to do it.  This is the Swell Christmas kit by Urban Chiks.  Do you know Moda is sold out of these already?  Fatquartershop is as well and won't be getting anymore.  I found one on Etsy for a great price and snapped it up.  Whew.  I would have been so disappointed to miss out on this little kit.  I think it will be so sweet on Eva's bed during the Christmas season.  

When you open up the box, the presentation is so darling.  You have your instructions, the glorious fabrics and the Retro Santa appliqué.  I have not read the instructions yet, but to look at it, that must be what it is.

At the rate my summer sewing is plodding along, I had better crank up the pace a bit to get this done and quilted by November.

There are still some kits available if you search Etsy and quiltshops.com.  If you think you want one, don't wait too long.

Hope you all had a great weekend, and that the father's in your lives did as well.  On special occasions, my dad often asks me to make him tomato aspic, a dish he enjoys, but no one else in the family will touch.  I have come to like it actually.  Talk about something retro.  It is made with V8 juice, Knox gelatin, diced celery, red pepper, avocado, and tiny cocktail shrimp.  Lots of tangy flavor from vinegar and Worchestershire sauce.  My mom used to make it for him when she was with us, and it always brings back happy memories.

 

Squishy Packages

Oh gosh, I may not be sewing up a storm, but some serious shopping has been going on.  The gorgeous stack of blues in the photo above is from the Regency Blues by Christopher Wilson-Tate collection by Moda.  Oh my goodness, is this fabric ever lovely.  I have a plan to make a Laundry Basket design that involves a lot of blue stars...  Seriously, if you like blues, check this collection out.

Various backgrounds and backings.  A necessary expense, so be sure and check the Sale section on your favorite online fabric sites.  Bargains do occasionally come up, and you will be very happy to score something good.

Another fun opportunity to score something for a bargain price is on the Fatquatershop's daily Flash Sales.  Check it out, this "Jolly Bar" (the equivalent of two charm packs) was offered at a steal a week ago.  American Jane is one of my favorite designers (Sandy Klop), so I couldn't resist. Every day they offer something at a price slashed deal, and it might be to your taste now and then.  Just get on the FQS email list and you will get daily notices of what they are practically giving away.

Maybe next time I post I will have something to share that I have actually shown.  Or maybe not...