Sister's Choice Quilts

Strawberry Garden Block Eight

This cool block is number eight in the Strawberry Garden book. My friend Thelma (Cupcakes n' Daisies) made this quilt and said on Instgram that it was her favorite block in the book. It had a lot of pieces and is actually four blocks sewn together. It is called Ring Around the Rosie and finishes at 18".

Construction was actually very simple. Just some half-square triangles and a lot of four-patches. 

These are the blocks that represent the first eight weeks in the original Strawberry Garden sew-along. The sew-along is long over, but I now have the resulting book, so I can go along at my own pace. Apparently, some weeks you make one block, other weeks you make two, three, or more blocks. And the blocks are different sizes, so the final layout will be interesting. I am enjoying making the blocks.

Eva and I made Snickerdoodles for our baking project this week. They were great! I used Sally's Baking Addiction recipe for Soft and Thick Snickerdoodles. Nice and cakey, just like I prefer.

I didn't get much sewing done on Monday, but I have plans to start block Nine today. Also, I hope to get my May book reviews out to you this week!  Eva is participating in both swim team practice every day, as well as water polo from 7-9 in the evenings. Lots of chaufeurring going on around here. I tell you, the kid sleeps great after all that exercise!

My Baby is Now in High School...

Well, it's over at last. Eva has graduated from 8th grade and is officially a high school freshman. How can the time have passed so quickly?

It was a proud day for all of us, and I have to say, "Whew". All that planning and celebrating and carrying on is exhausting! Things are going to settle down now and I am looking forward to some quiet days with no demands, deadlines, or commitments!

I wanted you all to know all is well, I am still alive and kicking and will be back (hopefully tomorrow) with some quilty and bookish content!

Success

We had a little graduation party for Eva last night, and I gave her the calendar quilt I made for her. It is hard to put one over on her, and of course, she had noticed that I was working on it. She didn't seem to know it was for her, though, and seemed surprised to get it. 


I think she liked it, judging by the smile on her face. 

We had a nice family gathering, with her dad, Ryan, her stepmom, Stephanie, her stepsister, Sydney, and her other grandma, Nana Sue. We kept it simple, serving cheese and crackers, pizza, watermelon salad, and ice cream bars for dessert. 

As for me, for some reason I feel absolutely done in! I am ready for a shower and a good book before I go to bed. I need to rest up because this will be a busy week. We will have a houseguest, Miriam, Ryan's mother is coming up for the graduation ceremony on Tuesday and will stay with us for a few days. We have loads of things planned. I know things will calm down eventually!

Hope you all had a good weekend.

Eva's Graduation Quilt Back From the Quilter

Eva's graduation quilt came back from the quilter just in time for her graduation next week. I still have to sew on the binding, but I thought I would share the finished quilt. 

For those of you who are new, this quilt was inspired by the calendar year, and all the activities Eva and I have done over all the years she has been in elementary and middle school.

The idea for the quilt came from Sheri over at A Quilting Life. Sheri does a yearly quilt-along, and her blocks of the month for this year are surrounded by a log cabin design. I took Sheri's concept and put my own featured block in the center, commemorating an activity or theme for each month. 

I thought it was fitting to use a couple of fabric collections by Sheri and Chelsi since I was basically using her block idea! The colorful and cheerful fabrics are perfect for a quilt for a 14-year-old girl. 

I love this quilting design, which is called Mod Circles. I think it is exactly right for this quilt.

Now, to get that binding on. Hope she loves it!

 

Neutral Granny Finished

I was super productive on Sunday and made a dent in my mile-long quilting To Do list. At the top of the list was the Neutral Granny table runner for my sister. I don't know why, but I was over-thinking that project from start to finish. Should I go with more lights, or add in more darks, how long should it be? In spite of all my dithering, it turned out very well I think.

Ahren has left us and gone back to Ireland. Sob. We miss him already and wish he were still here. He made it home safely, with three packed boxes as extra luggage. Here's a tip: if you are traveling, packing a medium-sized moving box with up to 50 pounds of whatever costs around $60 as extra "Checked luggage", which is tons cheaper than shipping the items overseas. He took three boxes this time. I do not have any idea how he managed them, but he had one of those airport carts and piled it all on. He even took a kite with him (packed in a carrying case). It didn't fit in any of the boxes, as it was the size of an umbrella. He asked the first-class flight attendant if there was room in the coat closet for it, and they accommodated him cheerfully without any charge.


Another very positive thing that I attribute to Ahren's visit is that Dennis made a tremendous effort to be more mobile. He has given up the wheelchair entirely and uses the walker less than half the time. Mostly, he is getting around with two canes. (I need to get him two matching ones!). He saw his neurologist last week and she was blown away by the change she saw in him. He has gone from being paralyzed in October to what you see in the photo above. He is still a fall risk, has serious balance issues, and can't move fast or with a lot of coordination, but he is getting there. We are even talking about traveling to Europe again!

We had a busy weekend, but now things are going to settle down a bit. I hope all is well with all of you!

 

The County Fair

This handsome guy, as many of you may recognize, is my winemaker son-in-law, Ryan. Proud winner of a DOUBLE GOLD award for his wine at our county fair!

His winery is called La Folia, and this prize-winning wine is his Il Pazzo line, and is called The King. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Graziano, and Zinfandel grapes. The judges evidently loved it and awarded him gold medals in two different categories. 

Our county fair is this week, and the entire community takes time off to participate. The schools and businesses are closed, and everyone seems to have an entry or someone in their family who is participating. Flower arranging, art, winemaking, quilts, livestock of every description and lots more are all in evidence.

Eva had an art piece on display that she had made of hammered copper and colored pencil.

I am thinking I need to enter a quilt or two next year and make it a total family affair. 

Mark Twain stayed in our county for a few months during his life and wrote a story about the Angels Camp Jumping Frogs. Our town has grabbed onto that sliver of notoriety and taken it about as far as possible. Mark Twain references are everywhere, and the Jumping Frog Contest is a serious event. You can even rent a frog and go up on the stage and see how it does, and maybe win your 5 minutes of fame and a plaque on Main Street's sidewalks. That is Eva in the picture above with her nephew Rowan and Mark Twain.  They did not have a frog to enter into the competition.

Ahren went and, honestly? I think it was the highlight of his trip here! He had an absolute blast. It was Hometown good fun at its best.

This is last summer's Summer in the Country quilt, which seems like it would fit right in at the Fair!

Moda BlockHeads Fabric and Mother's Day

I've got my fabric all lined up for the BlockHeads 6 project, which will start later this month. It is Pumpkin Spice Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings. It combines the reproduction style I love, as well as the brighter colors I've been craving lately.

There are loads of background prints, which I think add interest. The other colors are gold, rust, orange, red, tan, brown, sage green, black, and purple. I can't guarantee I will use the purple, but you never know. I decorate a lot with gold, red, and green, so these colors will fit in perfectly with my decor. It has an autumnal feel, with a bit of zip and brightness.

Now to get it all starched!

Son in law Ryan had us all over for homemade pizza on Mother's Day, which was amazing. He made eight different pizzas for us all to taste. I bought a big Caesar salad, and Eva made brownies for dessert. It was such a lovely evening. 


I mentioned that Eva had asked if she could use my sewing machine to make a frog. Well, it turns out she made three of them. Each of her "bonus mom"s got one. Her stepmom Stephanie, Stephanie's mom Nana Sue, and me! Is that not the cutest frog and the sweetest note? Each one of us got a thoughtful personal note of appreciation and a little bean bag froggie. 

I just showed her how to use the Bernina and how to go slowly around curves and she was pretty much on her own for the rest of it. She stuffed them with split peas which I thought was appropriate.

Mother's Day was just about perfect and I hope yours was too!

 

 

Another Zippy Bag

I made myself a new zippy bag over the weekend. (Yes! I made time to sew!) The pattern is an old Atkinson Designs one that I have made many times and always keep coming back to. It is called Zippy Strippy, and comes out adorable every time.

My fabric choice was totally dictated by the cute zipper pull I had on hand. Isn't that the cutest thing ever? I do love a cute zipper pull. I can't recall where I got it. I suppose it could have been in a Fat Quarter Shop Sew Sampler box, or maybe I just included it in a fabric order because I loved it. The fabric is Love Blooms by Lella Boutique.

Eva has been staying with us over the weekend to spend more time with her Uncle Ahren. She also started a sewing project, which I plan to help her with today (Sunday). She has decided to make a frog. I will keep you posted as to how that goes. 

Archie was so happy to see us when we picked him up from the dog boarding place. My goodness, he sure does hate that place. Next time, our regular dog sitter will be back from vacation, and he will stay with her and get to play with all his doggie pals on her spacious property. As you can see, we have been trying to make up for his recent boarding experience by giving him lots of snuggles. 

Hope you all had a grand weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to those of you who are moms!

 

Lake Tahoe Trip

No doubt about it, Lake Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. We took a drive over to Reno on Wednesday and did some fun shopping. I got to go to an actual Talbots store, which is a rarity. Of course, I bought a few things. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and bought some olive oil at a boutique shop. We live out in the country, so malls, chain retail stores, and even specialty stores are not something we get to experience frequently. We made the most of it and came home to our rental with full tummies and empty wallets.

On Tuesday, Ahren made chili, which turns out a bit different each time he makes it. These are the veggies we put in this particular batch. Onions, poblano chiles, red pepper, a jalapeno, carrots, cilantro, and tomatoes. We also added browned ground beef, a can of chili beans, Rotel canned tomatoes, chili seasoning, and other seasonings. The recipe was great, and who knows if we will ever duplicate it? 

Ahren is a cook who "lets the force be with him". This chili was delicious, with half the fun being the toppings we piled on top. We had sour cream, cilantro, shredded cheese, diced fresh tomatoes, and crushed Fritos. It was so good. There isn't a recipe, really, he just browns the hamburger and adds what he thinks might be good. I did talk him out of adding mushrooms, which I thought were just wrong.


This has been a super fun trip, and Dennis has managed to get around just great with two canes. No more wheelchair, and he is done with the walker, he says. We head home this morning, and I'll check in with some sewing-related posts coming up soon. 

Hope you are all having a great week!

 

 

Lake Tahoe Day One

Dennis typically would pack our car when we left for a vacation. This time Ahren and I took on the job and I have to say, I think we did ok! Everything was organized and fit just right in the back of the Subaru.

Ahren drove us up to the Lake and our condominium was just as we remembered: deluxe, spacious, and very comfortable. We settled in with more than enough room and were soon having wine and lively conversations in the living room.

Ahren and I made fresh homemade linguine pasta in the morning before we left, with the idea that we would make linguine and clams for our dinner the first night.

The pasta was magnificent and Ahren did a fabulous job on the sauce.

The three of us gathered around the table and had a magnificent meal.

I hope your week got off to a great start! I am looking forward to a mix of relaxation, adventure, and reading time.