Sister's Choice Quilts

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...

 

Pinwheels and Hourglass Blocks

Just revel in these gorgeous fabrics for a moment.  Ahhhh.  Aren't they just the best?  The darker fabrics are mostly Rachel Remembered by Betsy Chutchian, and the lighter ones are from my stash.  I absolutely love those blues and golds. And of course the reds and browns.  But those golds....

It's an old Bonnie Blue pattern I have had around for years.  Windmills.  The blocks are alternating pinwheels and hourglass blocks, with flying geese for the borders.  The blocks are only 4" finished, so the quilt made as the pattern directs is only 56 inches square.  Sorry, that is just not a terribly useful size imho.

So I need to make more blocks.  Heaven knows I have plenty of fabric.  I have pulled at least 75 prints so far. I just love the colorful, festive look of this quilt.  There is something very joyful about it.

Hope you all have had a good week. I appreciate the comments I received regarding my favorite notions.  It's funny isn't it? We think we have seen it all, but every year there are new things that make our quilting journey easier or at least more fun.

Have a terrific weekend everyone!

Tootsie Pops

I have been dreaming about spring table runners.  I knew I didn't want anything too pastel, but definitely wanted fresh greens and maybe some lavender.  No pattern or fabric collection stood out for me.  That is until a couple of days ago when I was browsing through Instagram and saw the perfect spring table runner.

Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple (machine quilter extraordinaire) showed a lovely picture of a runner she had made with a fabric collection by Jan Patek, and a pattern by Fig Tree called Tootsie Pops.  Exactly what I have been wanting to make.

So, I went to the stash closet and got up on a step stool so I could really see what was on that higher shelf.  I had a fat bundle of Brannock and Patek fabric called Lilac Hill, from TEN years ago that I have been saving for something really special.  I know.  It is insane to hoard a fabric bundle that long, but it isn't like it is going to go bad, right?  A few years ago I had made a quilt with another Brannock and Patek collection called Audra's Iris Garden that has many of the same colors.  I put together a stack of prints fro both groups and loved how they look together.  The fabrics have the green and lavender I was going for, and some beautiful reds.  Have to include the reds.

I downloaded the pattern from the Fig Tree website and was good to go.  Don't you love it when things come together?

I got started and cut out my fabric-a two and half inch strip of each of the colors shown in the photo at the top of the post.  So, I still have enough of this fabric left over to make about 50 more table runners, or even a full sized quilt.  Or I can keep on hoarding it.

Great Mail Day

Yesterday was a great mail day.  I had ordered several items and wouldn't you know, they all showed up on the same day.  

I am excited to share with you my new notebook (above), which I ordered from Erin Condren.  This company is best known for their great planners/calendars, which I have enjoyed the past few years.  I had a coupon which helped me decide to take the plunge and order the notebook.  It has the high quality paper I have come to expect from Erin Condren.  I also love the care in which they package things.  You know me, presentation is everything.  This is what the box looked like when I opened it:

Who wouldn't get excited to see what was under that purple tissue paper.  You can personalize your notebook anyway you like.  There are loads of cover designs from which to select, and you can even make up your own if you choose.  I have a million ideas for quilts rattling around in my head, and I need to start writing them down before I forget them.  Hopefully this notebook will hold my thoughts better than my brain does!

I also finally received my fat quarter bundle of New Hope by Jo Morton.  Gosh, this is even more beautiful in person than in pictures!

Reds, golds, blacks, sage greens--all my favorites in one collection.

In other news, I have been working away on my Courthouse Steps blocks, and have decided I need 81 blocks for a 9 x 9 setting.  So far, I have made 55.  Wow, only 26 to go.  The end is in sight.  I am just making the blocks and slapping them up on the design wall, so there will be some major rearranging when it comes time to sew the blocks together.  This is a fun scrap busting project.  I bought nothing for it, and am just using scraps from my stash.  Use It Up, that's my plan for 2018!

In other mail related news, a week or so ago, some nice girl from Harry and David's called and got my husband on the phone.  She managed to talk him into making a purchase, and he ordered so much of their Moose Munch Popcorn, it had to be dropped off on the porch in a special USPS box.  I tell you, if you want to sell something or need a contribution, just talk to my husband. He can't say no.

Barn Stars Finished

Here is sweet little Barn Stars, a Kim Diehl Simple Whatnots offering from a couple of years ago.  I had subscribed to the bi monthly kits, but quit the club when I realized the kits were piling up and I wasn't making them.  I have recently dipped back into that bin of kits and have been trying to make one or two every now and then.  I am a big fan of Kim's and love how she can't resist throwing in a bit of teal or aqua to most of her projects for some "zing".

I love this pattern, with the stars made up of 'negative space" and the backgrounds being colorful.  It is different, and so pretty.  I don't have the measurements right in front of me, but I am guessing it is 16 or 18" square.  A nice size for a candle mat, or something on which to place a vase of flowers.  

If you missed out on the Simple Whatnots band wagon, or like the patterns, but didn't want to commit to making them in Kim's more primitive style fabrics, this might interest you:  She is coming out with a book this spring that features patterns from her first three or so years of the Simple Whatnots Club.  So if you get the book, you can make up the little table topper sized patterns with what ever fabric you enjoy most.  I am hoping to get the book and will let you know when I hear that it has been published.

Hope your week got off to a good start!

Scrap Policy

Katie, a nice reader of this blog, contacted me over the weekend, and raised such an interesting question about scraps.  We'd love to know your "Scrap Policy" and hope you will take the time to comment and share what types of scraps you bother to save.  There are so many amazing quilts that can be made with scraps and I am curious as to what the ideal size is for saving.  Do you bother with tiny pieces?  Or do they end up in the trash bin?  How small is too small? 

I wanted to rummage around in the sewing room a bit and see what sort of scraps I had thought to save from leftover projects, and discovered a zip lock bag packed full of colorful Civil War scrap squares, most around two inches square.  There are a lot of them, and I must have thought I could use them for something. I sure haven't, but now that I see them, the wheels are turning in my brain.

Typically, I personally do not tend to save super small scraps.  If I have a leftover scrap that is 5 or 6 inches square (charm square size), I will keep it if it is a fabric I love.  Otherwise, meh, I will probably toss it.  Bigger scraps, definitely.  I save those in bins according to color.  These range in size from fat quarters, fat eighths, ten inch squares, whatever could be incorporated into a project when I need a certain shade.  For instance, I have been extremely happy on more than one occasion when I have been looking for just the right shade of red and found it in one of my red scrap bins.  Blues and greens are even trickier to match and can be worth saving.

I have color coordinated bins of fabric in my closets, and loads more in tubs in the garage.  The fabrics are folded and easy to access in bins labeled according to fabric theme and color.  I feel that I am an artist, and those fabric scraps are my palette.

I know some folks cut their leftover fabric into strips to use in Log Cabin or other strip style quilts.  Have you ever done that?  It seems like it would take too much time for me, but then I guess you would be all good to go with your strips ready if you made a lot of strip style projects.  I must have done it at least once though.  Look, I found a bag of 1 1/2 inch purple strips I had cut for something.

Speaking of extreme scrap saving, I knew a woman who saved even the tiny dog ear snippets from half square triangles.  I think she may have used them to stuff dog beds or something, but never the less, she never threw them away!  I also remember a gal I used to sew with who saved all her folded corner clippings to make tiny little half square triangle squares!  She would use them to make inner borders of half square triangle squares on some of her quilts.

You should take a rummage around your sewing room and see what hidden scrap treasures you might find.  I discovered an entire basket of scrappy two inch half square triangle squares.  What?  There must be close to a hundred of them.  Evidently I thought those small scraps were worth saving!  I think I need to come up with some projects and use these scraps up, don't you agree?

So, what's in your scrap basket?  Do share!

Sewing with Stripes

Do you avoid sewing with stripes?  If so, I want to encourage you to give it a try.  Many of us avoid using stripes because the direction of the stripe ends up not going in the same direction within a block.  For me there is nothing more annoying than having stripes going every which way, to my slightly OCD persona at any rate.  Some folks love the wonky look having directional fabrics going off in all directions.  It just isn't for me.

I love using stripes and directional fabrics in my blocks, but only if they all go in the same direction.  The green block above will not work for me.

The way to get your stripes straight is super simple.  It is all in the cutting.  This is what I am doing for my square in a square blocks.

Cut your squares.  You will need to cut these squares on the diagonal to end up with four triangles to make the block.

Cut the diagonal lines in opposite directions,  When you construct your blocks this is what you will end up with:

If you cut your squares in the same direction, which we are used to doing with non directional fabric, this is what you get:

I know which one I prefer!

Time For a New Project, S'Mores

I've been diligently plugging away at my Triangle Gatherings and Moda BlockHeads Sew Alongs, but truth be told, am getting a teensy bit bored with them.  I only have a handful of blocks left for Triangle Gatherings, and just need to get them made so I can sew the rows together and get the blocks off my design wall.

After seeing a super pretty quilt on Instagram, I was inspired to pull some fabrics and start a new project.  The pattern is called S'Mores, designed by Jo Morton and put out by All People Quilt/American Patchwork and Quilting.  You can order the pdf file for $5.99. The block is a simple square in a square block that finishes at 4 1/2 inches.  I am veering away from the pattern instructions greatly, so for me, the pictured pattern was just an inspirational stepping off point.

I am using my new Creative Grids Square on Square 8" Trim Tool.  Obviously I am not making my blocks the full 8 inches, but stopping at 4 1/2".  And I will be making a LOT of blocks.  Somewhere between 150-200.

I pulled pretty browns, reds and creams for my blocks, and got my fabric cut out last weekend.  The Creative Grids Square on Square trim tool is wonderful to work with, and those tricky square in a square blocks are coming out great.  When you are trimming your block down, you need to cut your pieces a skosh bigger than the pattern calls for.  For my blocks  I cut my center square 2 1/2", then the first round of cream fabric is two 3" squares cut in half once diagonally.  My second round of dark fabric is two 3 1/2" squares cut in half once diagonally.  As you see in the photo below, you trim the block down after each round of triangles is sewn on and end up with exactly the right size to make the block.

The trim tool has squares marked on it so you can line your center square up with the lines to trim after each round.

Perfect.  Sew your next round of triangles on, line your block up with the next larger square, and trim again.

I am loving this ruler and my blocks are as cute as can be.  I have always found the Square in Square block to be problematic.  It never comes out right unless you make it larger and trim it down.  I love the block, but it can be fiddly to make.  This ruler is the answer to my prayers.  

This is second Square in Square quilt I have made this year.  I finished Penny Pincher back in February, some of you may recall.

I had fun making Penny Pincher, but was struggling with two different trim rulers in an effort to get the blocks to come out right.  They did in the end, but gosh, I sure wish I had had the Creative Grids Square on Square trim tool back then!  Things would have gone a lot faster.  The ruler comes in the 8 inch size, as well as a 6 inch.  Depending on how many rounds you put around the center square, you can make a lot of different sized blocks.  I recommend it!