Sister's Choice Quilts

It Took Me Eleven Years, But It's Done

Finally. It's been on the shelf for a long time, but it is finally ready to be quilted. This is the Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery Quilt from 2011. The patterns for the blocks and for the finishing kit are still available on their website. You should know that I did not follow the directions for finishing the kit, but instead swapped out the finishing instructions for Designer Mystery 2020 instead.

My quilt finished at 90 inches square. It is as big as a circus tent, I swear. I added a 6-inch floral border in the aqua print, which gives the quilt a great drop on my queen-sized bed.

I really struggled with pressing the whole gigantic thing perfectly, but I know it will look great once it is quilted.

And I did piece the backing!

That turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. I haven't worked with such large pieces of fabric as this quilt top and the backing in a l.o.n.g. time. I won't lie, it was a struggle. And my next large quilt is going to have 108 inch backing for sure. I did not enjoy wrestling with all that yardage. 

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement! Glad to check this UFO off as a "finish"!

Can You See Where I Am Going With This?

Like I said, baby steps. I only snagged an hour or so to sew yesterday, but I got two of the big corner pieces made. They are just pinned on the design wall, but I think you get the idea of where I am headed with this.

I really like how the star points pick up the aqua in the quilt blocks. I am liking this quilt top so much better now that I ditched the flower motif.

Eva and I made applesauce muffins yesterday, which were delicious. It was another Taste of Home recipe. They are so reliable. Here is a link, if you want to try them. That recipe is a keeper!

Just a quickie post today. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a quilt top to show you!

One More Border

This week's sewing is going to be in baby steps I think. I did manage to get another border on the center medallion of my Designer Mystery 2011 quilt. The next step will be to frame the four outside blocks that are not on the diagonal. After that, there is kind of a giant Cat's Cradle unit that will form a star around the center medallion. I won't be using my Creative Grids tool for that, so wish me luck.

I am enjoying the direction away from the pattern that has evolved with this quilt. I will be emphasizing the aqua colors in the remaining construction of the quilt, which I think will play well with the quilt blocks. In the finishing kit, the border fabric is a tan background floral print. The tan fabric coloration features only a couple of times in the blocks and only in the smallest ways. I am perplexed why they chose it for the border fabric. You can spy a touch of the tan in the top-most center flower in the center medallion. Seems kind of random, right?

I happened to have a good amount of the coordinating large aqua floral print in my stash (!), and I am making use of it in the star and in the border.  The large piece of tan floral in the finishing kit will go on the back of the quilt. I am not wasting anything! I have no recollection of where or why I bought a few yards of the aqua print, but yay me. I barely remember why I did something last week, much less back in 2011.

Hope you all enjoyed yesterday's book reviews. I was asked if "A Place to Hang the Moon" was a juvenile book, and I would categorize it as "middle grade". Suitable for young teens, but would be very much enjoyed by adults.

Hope your week got off to a great start! Our weather here is warming up and I am thinking of getting a pedicure....

Going In a New Direction

I am taking my Designer Mystery Quilt 2011 in a different direction. I decided I didn't really care for the flower stems. Too "cutesy" for my taste. I spent a lot of time looking over the past Designer Mystery settings and liked the look of the one from 2020. 

As you can see it has nine blocks set on the diagonal as a center medallion. There are a couple of narrow borders that will frame it, as you can see in the diagram below. 

It finishes with a star design and the four remaining blocks on each corner. I have enough fabric for a floral outer border, so that will increase the size of the top for me.

This quilt has the look of a girl's quilt I think. And I know a special girl who is turning 11 in July that might like it. And look what I can use on the back:

Thanks so much to those of you who made setting suggestions yesterday. It really made me rethink the pattern directions that came with the quilt blocks!

One Quilt Finally Off the Design Wall

Sewcialites is finally off the design wall! Woo hoo!  All the rows are sewn together and the borders attached. I have to say, those blocks all came together pretty perfectly. No fudging was required when sewing them together, which is unusual. I credit careful cutting, a strict 1/4" seam allowance, pressing seams open, and starching the fabrics before cutting. I love the way it came out. Once it is quilted, it will go nicely in my library/reading room.

And here is a new look for my sewing room design wall!

This is the Designer Mystery 2011 Sew Along. I am toying with layout ideas, which will be a bit different from what the directions say I should do. The official version of the quilt is 79" wide and 94" inches long. Now, if I put that on a queen-sized bed, I want the sides to drape over. The upshot is, I want a wider quilt than what the designers made.

I was thinking of doing four columns of three flowers instead of three columns with four flowers. Do you think that would be weird? Any ideas for a layout that is wider than 79" would be welcome!

I went to the Fat Quarter Shop website and searched for "Designer Mystery Quilt Finishing patterns" and came up with a good number of past layout patterns for the DM quilt alongs. Take a look and see if you think one of them might be a good choice. I am flexible for sure, and have a lot of fabric.

I've made 12 12" blocks, but could make more. I've got yards of finishing fabric, so there are lots of options. I could even scrap the stems and do a diagonal layout with alternate blocks....

 

I made one of the "stem" blocks to see how it looks, and I think it's pretty cute, but I'm not committed.

I invite you all to weigh in with suggestions!

 

Quilting Friends Are the Best

I am actually completely thrilled with this photo. I have finished all 12 blocks for the Fat Quarter Shop 2011 Designer Mystery Quilt! Can you imagine? These blocks were just scraps of fabric that languished in a tub for 11 years. Well, no more languishing. They are going to become a quilt.

But there was just one problem. Back in 2011 when I wasn't working on these blocks, the finishing kit was offered for sale by Fat Quarter Shop. And I did not buy it. The finishing kit had all the fabrics for a fabulous setting, alternate stem blocks, borders, and binding. 9 extra yards of fabric to make a quilt that finishes at
76 x 94.

I reasoned to myself that I didn't have to complete the quilt as intended. I would have 12 great blocks and quite a bit of background fabric, which would be enough for a lattice and inner border. For the outer border, I would need a print that coordinated with the blocks. The fabric is by Fig Tree & Co., and their reds are very consistent. So, no problem. I wouldn't end up with such a large quilt, but it would be pretty and it would be finished.

Then the quilting gods smiled upon me. My quilting friend Lisa D. reads my blog. She emailed me to say she had the kit also and had never made it. Sadly, she had lost the love for this quilt and doubted that she would ever make it and therefore planned to sell or donate it. And she had the finishing kit. I offered to buy it from her and she agreed. Can you hear the sound of angels singing? She has mailed the finishing kit to me and as soon as I receive it, you can bet I'll start work on it.

Oh, and here is something else that makes me happy:

Yesterday I used up a big spool of Aurifil thread! I started using it in April 2020. I was thinking it would last me a year, but I did not sew much in 2021, so it has lasted me 20 months!!! Now, that seems like a good deal for $48. $2.40 per month. I wrote 1/22 on the inside of the cone and will be interested to see how long this new spool lasts.

Hope your weekend was great. If you have today off, make the most of it!

My Garden is in Blossom

Another productive sewing day for me yesterday. This has been quite the week for getting my mojo back. I finished the fourth and fifth blocks in my 2011 Designer Mystery BOM. The setting is going to be so cute. I will be making little stem units so it appears that each block is a flower. Hope I have enough green....

That fifth block (the middle right one) was a bear to sew, I can tell you that. It was a bit fussy. But it used all the colors, woo hoo. Of course, I got one tiny unit switched around (not just once but four times) and had to do some unsewing. Ah, those thread-picking interludes are restful for the mind, right?

I am really enjoying these bright fresh colors.

I also can report that I got my Serendipity quilt top all put together, except for the borders.  Maybe I can wrap that up on Sunday afternoon.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Let's Get This Done

You may remember this project from this past summer. The Serendipity Sew Along. Free patterns for this row quilt are from Fatquartershop. You can get the patterns if you go to fatquartershop.com and search for "Serendipity Quilt Along". My fabrics are Apricot and Ash by Cory Yoder of Coriander Quilts. In case you were wondering, that random upside-down acorn on the upper left is not part of the quilt. 

I lost steam for this project when I got so busy with my father's care and when Eva's school started back up in August. I think it is time to get in gear and finish up the seventh (and final) row, get the borders on and call it done.  I've been looking at it on my design wall and thinking how pretty it would be to use it in September and October. It also coordinates beautifully with Cory's new collection "Cozy Up", which I used for my recent acorn block runner.

I dragged out the project box and pulled my fabrics and got started on the square in a square units that form the center of the six blocks in row seven.

For the square in a square units, I like to use Fatquartershop's foundation papers. Things come out so accurate when you foundation piece.

If you do use those papers, an indispensable trim tool is this little Add a Quarter ruler. It has a raised lip that locks onto the seam line for very tidy trimming.

Once you get all the corner triangles attached you are left with this sad wonky unit. No problem. Trim on the outside solid line and you have a perfectly square unit to build your block around.

WIsh me luck. I should be able to get six blocks done this week, right?

Hope you all had a great weekend. I may have to step up my cooking game for my dad. I fed him leftover chicken and rice casserole that I had made for my husband and me last week. When I looked in his fridge for signs of what my sisters had made for Dad during the week I discovered panko breaded fish fillets, steak/mashed potatoes/baby carrots, and grilled sausage and roasted potatoes. Hmmmm. I think I need to do better.

Machine Binding: Shall We Give It a Try?

I have always had an issue with hand sewing quilt bindings. My problem is that I procrastinate something awful and put off finishing those bindings for a very long time. Years in fact. It isn't that it is difficult, I just find it B.o.r.i.n.g. It is better when I can sit with an audiobook and listen to something entertaining to pass the time. For the past couple of years, my schedule has been so busy that I just don't have time to sit for an hour or so at a time to do this handwork. Many people advise me, "Oh, you should do it in front of the tv in the evening". That just doesn't work for me. I am rubbish at sewing in the evening. The light is never good enough and I drink a couple of glasses of chardonnay every night, which does not lend itself to nice stitching.

So, my quilts pile up. They are quilted, the binding is partially sewn on, it just needs to be sewn down by hand. And I do not do it. I am not kidding, I must have ten quilts sitting around waiting for me to finish the binding. Hang on a minute, I am going to go count them. Be right back.

Eight.

Better than I thought. But still. I just sent five table toppers to be quilted, which will bring my total up to 13, so there.

This brings me to the point of this blog post. I discovered a tutorial by one of my favorite quilt designers, Vanessa at Lella Boutique. On Instagram and on her blog, Vanessa demonstrates her method for stitching quilt bindings by machine. The process involves Elmer's School Glue, believe it or not. Her Instagram post is a video, and her blog post goes into great detail with photos as to her binding method and machine stitching process.

So, what do you think? Do you want to take a look at her method and give it a try with me?

I won't have a chance to sew again until Sunday, but with luck, maybe I can have one or two bindings done to share on Monday? If any of you try it as well, please report back to us and let us know how it went, ok?

 

 

Sewcialites Quilt is Finished

The Sewcialites Quilt Along was a completely free program hosted by Fatquarter Shop and Kimberly Jolly.  A total of 18 designers contributed block patterns each week. There were 36 blocks in all.

I thoroughly enjoyed working on my block each week of the sew-along and am pleased with my quilt top. The blocks were offered in three sizes: 3 inches, 6 inches, and 9 inches. I opted to make the 6-inch size. My finished quilt is approximately 48 inches square. I will probably add a 4 1/2 inch wide solid cream border to finish it off. I'm still considering that.

Kimberly offered weekly YouTube tutorials showing how to construct each block in the various sizes. It was fun to watch her tutorials while I sewed the blocks and I actually picked up a lot of useful tips.

Did you participate in the sew-along? Did you enjoy it? Have you finished your top?

Sorry for my spotty posting this week. I am afraid it will be like that for a while. There is an awful lot going on in my life this summer: my eye surgeries, my husband's illness, caring for my 95-year-old dad each weekend, hanging out with my 9-year-old granddaughter during the week, and my part-time writing job. I will try to post as often as I can, but sometimes I have no content lately! During my three-hour drive to my dad's house on Fridays and Sundays, I have been listening to some great audiobooks, and I will share my favorites with you soon.