Sister's Choice Quilts

Two Quilts From Moda BlockHeads 3!

I haven't been so excited about a sewing project in some time! Well, that's a lie, I am excited about all the sewing projects, but this one is special. Can you believe it? I got TWO quilts out of Moda BlockHeads 3! 

In my opinion, that sew-along went way too long, an entire year, which is a long time commitment to one project. I ended up with over 80 blocks in four different sizes, and had the unrealistic notion that I could combine them all into one gigantic quilt. It wasn't a quilt, it was a tent, and I ended up taking all those blocks apart. The lint situation was dire, I am telling you. What a mess. I sure wish I had planned ahead better.

So, the quilt in the photo above (the one on the floor) is the quilt I ended up making from the 30 8" blocks. It is a generous lap-sized. I do plan to put a border around the outside. I found a navy, red, and cream paisley pattern from a recent 3 Sisters collection (the fabrics I used in the quilt are mostly from older 3 Sisters) ranges. Alternatively, I could put a rather narrow border of the background fabric around the border. I doubt it would be more than 4 inches wide. You guys are great with advising me: do you think a navy print would contain the blocks and look good? Or are the blocks busy enough, and a cream background border (even a narrow one) would be a better choice?

This beauty is my second MBH 3 quilt. It is comprised of 12" blocks and 6" blocks. It is more bed-sized at around 72" square. Sheri McConnell of A Quilting Life used this setting for her quilt, and I loved it. It is similar to what I was envisioning for my original circus tent quilt, but smaller, better organized, and less overwhelming. I still need to sew the blocks together, but I am pretty happy with the arrangement.

Thank you to all you amazing readers who advised me to use the "not like the others" half square triangle block by Lisa Bongean in the middle! It works very well there, and even though the color, style, and configuration of that block differs from the others, it works well as a center point. Besides, darn, all those half-square triangle points came out great, I need to show them off. I rearranged a few other blocks and remade the one in the upper left-hand corner (with a lighter background fabric), and now I am happy with the result.

What a relief that those blocks didn't go to waste and that I ended up with two quilts for my trouble! Thanks to you all for weighing in with your suggestions, they were brilliant!

Now I am ready to move on to Moda BlockHeads 6 and other projects! Have a wonderful weekend, friends.

Moda BlockHeads 3 Second Quilt Setting Decided!

I have found my second setting for the Moda BlockHeads 3 quilt blocks. I've nearly got the 8-inch blocks assembled into another quilt top, which I will share with you in the next day or so. In this setting, I have combined the 12-inch blocks and most of the 6-inch blocks into the top you see above. I have yet to actually sew the blocks together and will rearrange some of them before the final sewing. I see some that need other placement for sure.

There is one block that stands out like a sore thumb. Which one does not belong? Can you spot it?

It is the 12 " block on the lower right with the dozens of half-square triangles. It was a Lisa Bongean block and to my eye, it does not work in this quilt at all. So say bye-bye, because it will be replaced with something lighter and more balanced with the other blocks. 

To give credit where credit is due: I have been stealing getting inspiration from Sheri McConnell at A Quilting Life a lot lately. I did some research and found her setting for Moda BlockHeads 3, which you see above. It is similar to the massive setting that I recently picked apart, but contains about two dozen fewer blocks! 

The quilt will be close to 72 inches square, which is a favorite size for me. At this point, I have no ideas as to how to border the quilt, but I'll take things a step at a time.

For all the unsewing, I have to say, the results of this take-apart venture have been a much better outcome than what I had previously.

Wednesday, May 28 (yesterday) was the first day of the Moda BlockHeads 6 sew-along. I have vowed to finish these Moda BH 3 tops before I dive into the new project, but that will be happening soon!

Are You Feeling Halloweeny Yet?

Are you looking forward to Halloween yet? I know, I know, it is still Spring, why would anyone be thinking of Fall holidays? Well, if you have a quilt top and have a hope of having it quilted by then, you need to be planning ahead. I have a Halloween quilt top that has been languishing in the closet for a long time. Since 2014, as a matter of fact. I may not get things done in a timely manner, but I do circle back to my projects eventually. 

This is a fun, scrappy quilt that I thoroughly enjoyed making, but am just now getting around to having quilted. Oh well, it happens. This pattern is called Lucy, and is an older one by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. You can still purchase the pdf download pattern on Fat Quarter Shop. 

The fun thing about this pattern is that it is just two blocks, and it is totally 100% scrappy. It calls for fat 8th scraps (or smaller) of oranges and blacks. I think some low-volume prints (with an orange or black motif) work well in the mix as well. If you have been making Halloween quilts for years, I would bet you have a fair stash of leftover fabrics. Why not put them to use in this scrappy quilt? Shop at home, use it up. 

The alternate block in this quilt would lend itself so well to custom quilting. A pumpkin or other Fall design would go so well in that big light space. I am not going to spring for custom quilting, but I bet my quilter will have an idea for a design that will be appropriate and show up well in that large light space. 

I know I make a lot of sampler style quilts, but I have to admit there is something really special about a simple quilt with one focal block that is repeated. And I go for scrappy every time!

 

 

Designer Mystery 2022 Quilt

My little photo bomber couldn't resist getting in the picture I promised you of my Designer Mystery 2022 quilt. Go ahead and enlarge the photo so you can see the pretty quilting my longarmer did. And the serious expression on Archie's face. I don't know what was up with him; I guess he felt the occasion was a solemn one.

The binding is about half done and I plan to finish it so it can go on the bed as soon as the carpet installers get my bed put back where it belongs. 

The quilt has such a light airy feel to it. I know I will love using it during the warmer months. I have a couple of other blue and white quilts I plan to get down off the shelves and display around in the room to coordinate with it. I love doing that. It makes the room look decorated and kind of "finished". 

I am getting nervous and excited about the carpet installation. I hope they don't damage anything when they are taking apart the beds and moving the dressers around. I am also really apprehensive about getting my sewing table set back up with the machine and my special lamp. My husband had an elaborate system underneath the sewing table where he had the wires all rigged up on little cup hooks so they didn't show. There is no way he could get upstairs, much less under a table, to hook anything back up for me. Yikes. I feel like such an adult, having to do everything myself. 

Hope your week got off to a good start. I am leaving soon to have my teeth cleaned, which is not high on my list of things I enjoy doing. 

Happy April to all the Fools out there!

This is the Big Week

March may be going out like a lion here, but I was able to finally find daffodils at my local grocery store. I've been checking every week this month and they had them at last. Now it feels like Spring!

This is the big week! My new carpeting is going to be installed on Wednesday and Thursday. Things are all out of place and there is barely room to move around with all the rooms cleared out as best I could manage. It's going to get worse once they start taking all the bedroom furniture out. Goodness knows where they will put it. Out on the porch I guess?

I haven't been able to get into the sewing room to really tear things up with a project, so I thought this was a good opportunity to get some bindings attached to a couple of quilts. I can work on hand stitching them down during the day when the carpet people are here. I will stay out of the way in the living room and hope there will be room for me amidst all the hubbub I imagine will be going on around me. 

This Christmas quilt was made from Lella Boutique fabrics, Christmas Morning I think the collection was called. It is from an It's So Emma pattern booklet called Amongst the Stars Again.

I cannot wait to get this quilt on my bed! It is the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery quilt from 2022, in Camille Roskelley's Nantucket fabric line. This quilt is so summery and peaceful. It will be stunning in my bedroom. The setting for this quilt is just so pretty. 

I promise to show full photos of those two quilts as I make a bit more progress with the bindings!

Sara and I have a new podcast up with some of the books we read in March, so do check us out. Click the link "Reeding Between the Lines" to the right, or go to see us on YouTube.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Calendar Quilt Blocks Done!

Sorry for the lack of recent posts. Typepad (my blog host) has been down for the longest time. Had me worried there that it might not come back. But, here I am, minus the hair I pulled out in frustration.

I have been so busy, honestly. I have finished all the blocks for the calendar quilt for my granddaughter Eva. Today I hope to sew the blocks together and get a reply from my quilter that I can send it to her for a mid-May completion. Here are the blocks I have finished over the past week:

Honeybee block for August

Fall leaf for September

Pumpkin (duh) for October

Mixing bowls because we bake in November, right?

And to finish off the year, Christmas lights for December

Here are all twelve finished blocks! Now to sew them together and get a border on the sides so it will fit a twin bed better. I am so pleased with how fun and colorful these blocks are, and hope Eva will enjoy the quilt and the memories of all our afterschool activities over the past nine years she's been in elementary and middle school. All those times she said "What shall we make (bake, do, create) today, Nana?"

Hope you all had a great weekend. Happy St. Patrick's Day! My winemaker son-in-law invited us over for a fantastic corned beef dinner last night and it was so good. 

 

New Project: A Quilting Life 2025 BOM

"Whaaat? Another project, you say? And a Block of the Month? Seriously, Nicole, I thought you swore off these things for 2025?"  No, no, no. The project I have in mind is technically a Block of the Month hosted by Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life. But I don't have a year to get it done. It needs to be finished, quilted, and bound by the end of May, and Sherri's BOM goes through December. I don't have time for that. But she has given me a brilliant idea for a quilt I hope to crack out in a few weeks. Thank you Sherri!

OK, here's the deal. Sherri does a wonderful BOM every year. The patterns are free during the year the BOM takes place, and then you have to buy them if you didn't download the free patterns when you had the chance. This year, each month has a six-inch block that is surrounded by a log cabin setting. Each block finishes at 18"!  That's big. Anyway, by the time you complete 12 blocks you have a really big quilt. You know going into the BOM, you will end up with 12 log cabin blocks with a different cute 6" block in the center.

So here is how I am going rogue with this project. I will not be making Sherri's center 6" block for each month. Instead, for each month, I am going to do my own themed center block that has to do with whatever season/holiday/motif is associated with that month. A heart block for February, a shamrock block for March, an acorn block for September etc etc. The six-inch center heart block above was a Lissa Alexander free pattern  "Zest" in the Moda Blockheads 3 sew-along. The shamrock came from a pattern I ordered off of Etsy.

I don't have time to wait for Sherri to come out with her monthly center block. I will forge ahead and find my own 6-inch seasonal blocks for the center of my 12 monthly themed log cabin blocks. My goal is to complete these easy blocks, send them off to my quilter, and get the quilt back in time to give to Eva as an eighth-grade graduation present by the end of May. How fun is that? Her whole life, we have done seasonal crafts, seasonal cooking projects, and seasonal decorating. Now, she can have a commemorative quilt that will celebrate all those months of the year when we spent time together creating amazing things.

The fabric I am using is Sherri and Chelsi's Laguna Sunrise and Raspberry Summer. I bought a layer cake and a jelly roll in each of those collections. Both lines are cheerful, fun, colorful, and perfect for a young teen's quilt. There are shades of red, blue, green, peach, aqua, citron and more. Each block will pull from one color and be in keeping with a theme associated with the month in question. The background fabric I chose is just amazing, and I recommend that you snap some up before it is sold out. It is a white tone-on-tone (with subtle tiny ditsy flowers) from the Laguna Sunrise collection. This is a great background and would be amazing in so many quilts that need a solid-reading fabric as a background.

Can you tell I am excited about this new project? I get to work with fun colorful fabric and give the quilt to someone I love when it's finished. Win, win, all around! 

 

 

Working on Bindings

For all my talk about binding my quilts on the machine, I decided to go ahead and hand-bind a couple. I have a good audio book that I am listening to right now and it feels good to multi-task while I listen. I picked up my Lori Holt red and white sampler quilt to begin with. It will be nice to get this one on my bed for February.


I got it finished and on the bed and am really enjoying it. That Red and White Sampler was a fun project to work on. Lori still has all the tutorials and pattern links on her blog.


It felt so good to actually get the binding on the red and white one completed that I moved on to my shades of green St. Patrick's quilt. My bedroom walls are actually painted green, so this quilt will look amazing in there. This was another quilt that was fun to make. It is just a rail fence block used as the center of a square in square block. I did use an old pattern by Miss Rosie called "Don't Fence Me In".  I do love how a one-block quilt can really show off a fabric collection. This one is called "Lucky Charms" and I bought the fabric from Shabby Fabrics, but of course it is long gone by now.

I learned something interesting yesterday. You know Jennifer, the pretty blond lady who owns the online shop Shabby Fabrics? She does all their YouTube tutorials and can be found at any quilt show where Shabby Fabrics has a booth. I've met her and she is super nice. Her tutorials are also always consistently excellent. Ok, here is what I learned about her: she is a former commercial airline pilot. How about that for a career change? She sure did make a success of her fabric business!

I hope your week is going well. I am spending my time just the way I love to: lots of sewing and lots of reading. I made another loaf of sourdough this week and it turned out great, and I have been regularly walking Archie, which makes him a happy camper. You can barely call what we do "a walk" however. He moves at the pace of a snail because he has his nose to the ground smelling everything that has passed along the way before us. I have started calling our outings "Sniffaris"

 

 

Sewing Again and It Feels Great

It was a beautiful clear crisp day in my neighborhood yesterday. I got started with my plans to sew every morning by starching the fabrics for my sister's Neutral Granny Square runner. It may be chilly, but that fabric dries fast anyway.

I went up into the sewing room for the first time in ages and tried not to be disheartened by all my paused and abandoned projects. Remember this adorable Halloween Memories project? I'll get back to it.


And this Christmas at Granny's project? Gosh that was a cute one and I was really enjoying it during back in early November when I started it. Then things got real around my house with my husband coming home from the hospital and rehab and there was no more time for sewing.


My lack of sewing time didn't completely stop me from doing a bit of fabric shopping however. How cute are these Fig Tree bundles? Farm Road Quilt Shop is a great Etsy shop and I have purchased a lot from them. I love that hey have a great selection and fast shipping. Don't know what I will make with these yummy fabrics but trust me, I will come up with something. I find I am increasingly drawn back to Fig Tree fabrics and 3 Sisters collections lately.


While I waited for my starched fabric to dry, I completed Block 8 in the Designer Mystery project from 2012. No, that isn't a typo. 2012. I love these cheerful colors and am pleased with how the blocks all look together.


I didn't buy the finishing kit for this project, so I will have to get creative when it is time to set the 12 completed blocks.

That little sunflower block at the lower part of the design wall was an experiment. I think several of those blocks put together as a table runner would be super cute. There is always a new project to look forward to, isn't there?

Are you getting back into the swing of things now that the holidays are behind us? I feel as if I am and it makes me very happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very Productive Weekend

I was determined to get some things finished this past weekend and I am happy to say that is just what I did. I got the borders on my Summer in the Country quilt, and am pleased with how it came out. I wonder what sort of quilting design would be best for this one?

Pat not only finished her quilt, but it's back from the quilter already! She did a fabulous job and I wish I had thought to include a flag block in my quilt as she did in hers.

I also got the borders on Jubilee, a Pattern Basket quilt. The fabrics are from a couple of older collections by Sheri and Chelsi (Summer Sweet) and Coriander Quilts (Canning Day). I have no idea what I'll do with this quilt. It is so summery and cheerful. It would be a good quilt for a little girl I suppose.

I also got the bindings attached to two quilts. Now I just need to sew them down by hand. I have quite a setup next to my tv chair. I have my super bright light, and a handy magnifying glass for when the thread gets tangled. Luckily I can see well enough out of my right eye to do the stitching. It's coming out pretty good I think.

I've been rationalizing that since I have gotten so many projects into the finishing stage, I should probably start something new.  lol. Just a small project, maybe a table runner. I'll share more tomorrow.

Hope you all had a great weekend!