Sister's Choice Quilts

Surfacing

Hi everyone.  I have to say I am overwhelmed with the kind words and expressions of sympathy I have gotten from my blogging community in the past couple of weeks.  To say that I appreciate it doesn't quite express the level of gratitude I feel towards all of you who took the time to say you cared and had my family in your thoughts and prayers.

I have had a hard time focusing and concentrating on things, but I believe I am getting a bit better.  My new planner/organizer has been a distraction.  I also have gotten interested in paper crafting, and have made a few greeting cards with my sister Andrea's Sizzix machine (on loan).  Honestly, if I got into paper crafting at the same level as I am into quilting I am sure we would be on the dole in our retirement years!  Those are two expensive hobbies!  I will share more about that in a future post.

One thing thing that has snapped me out of my doldrums is that I received two quilts back from Mary of Quilt Hollow, who quilts for me.  These are Mary's photos below.

This small quilt has been quilted with a design of sunflowers all over it.  I can't wait to get this one trimmed and bound and on my porch, or maybe even on my dining room table.  I will definitely share some photos of it when I get it finished and situated.  How awesome is that quilting design? 

 

This is Bow Ties.  I admit I jumped this one way ahead in the quilting queue!  This is my fall/winter cuddle quilt, and I need it NOW even though the temps are around 100.  This is my Bwankie.

The second thing that has me surfacing from my funk is a very tempting new Quilt Along project I am going to do with friends Thelma and Sinta.  I will tell you all about it tomorrow!

For now, so long, and I will be back to share my doings on a much more regular basis.  Thanks again for your support and patience and I get through this experience.

Second Hand Clothes, A Finish

I am so pleased with this quilt.  Every single bit of it, I love.  The pattern is Second Hand Clothes by Bonnie Blue/Red Crinoline, and the fabrics mostly Kim Diehl designs over the past year or two.  There is a vibrancy to the quilt that makes my eye dance over its surface.  There is liveliness, optimism, and hopefulness that just jumps out at me when I look at it.  This quilt just says "Yes".

This quilt is destined for someone I dearly love, and I tell you, I said a prayer with every stitch I made.

 

Pillow From Gay Pareee

Certainly I have been enjoying the inside of my new home, and getting it decorated for fall.  However the outside has many charms as well, with wrap around covered porches and a very nice view.  I bought some red citronella candles at the hardware store of all places, and love lighting them each evening and sitting out to enjoy the dusk and any wild life that happens to pass through the field off the porch.  I have seen groups of deer, a huge gaggle of turkeys, and even a fox.

The size of the front porch is really generous, and I love feeling as if I have both an outside living room and dining room as well.  Believe it or not, we eat most of our evening meals out here.

Our outside furniture is covered in a very neutral golden tan, which works with a lot of other colors, and is particularly nice with my dark red accents.  The candles were a lucky find, and I already had the two red pillows.

My most recent quick little sewing project was to make an additional pillow for the love seat.  A dear friend recently traveled to France, and knowing how I love fabric, picked up some toile yardage for me in Paris.  When I saw the piece of fabric, I knew instantly how I would use it!  Can you believe what a great match it is to the cushions on the loveseat?  I could not have done that on purpose if I had tried for a year!

Come and sit a spell, won't you?  Heaven knows I can grab a quilt for you to bundle up in if it gets chilly!

 

 

 

Mission Accomplished

Well, no, it isn't finished, but I am making great progress on attaching the lattice on my Hill Country Baskets blocks.  A reader commented on my last post that she could not see that fussy cutting the striped fabric for the lattice was worth all the trouble, but I could not disagree more.  What would be the point of a striped lattice that was all wibble wobbly?  It would completely detract from the integrity of the quilt in my opinion.  I love the look of the fussy cut stripes and think it is worth every extra minute of effort to get it right.  What do you think?  Pointless exercise or worth it?

On Saturday I had the entire day to sew, and got so much done!  My student came over to work on her new project and we stitched away companionably.  I have decided that since she is a captive audience while she is sewing with me down in the studio, I should introduce her to the joys of audio books, in an effort to show her there is entertainment to be had beyond video games (her obsession).  My first choice of book may not be high literature, but I thought it was a pretty sure bet to interest her.  Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer.  Being An Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jackie" Faber, Ship's Boy. "Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of eighteenth-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas.  There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl".

I knew we were in for an educational experience when I told my student that the book was set in the time of Napoleon.  "Oh, cool, during World War One", was her response.

Okaaaaaay.  The good news is, she loves the story and didn't want to leave to go home.  She stayed for six hours and finished all her blocks.  "When can I come again next?"  she kept asking me.  I think my plan is working.

 

Row Row Row Your Boat

Still working on sewing all those diagonal rows together for Message in a Bottle.  I have two sections sewn together, and will get the five rows of the third section together this week.  It is coming along!

As I look at this quilt top, I am thinking what a great Friendship quilt it would make.  You know, one of those quilts for some special occasion (anniversary, wedding, 75th birthday), where friends and family  members sign a square that is part of a larger quilt block.  These quilts were very popular in the days when young women would pack their worldly goods into a covered wagon, hit the trail Westward, and very possibly never see their loved ones again.

I made one of these Friendship/Autograph quilts for Sara's bridal shower (different block, same concept) and had all her girlfriends sign a fabric square, which I then incorporated into a quilt block.  I used an April Cornell fabric collection, and the quilt was as feminine and sweet as can be.  The quilt lives at Sara's house, but I will see if I can get a picture of it and share it later this week. It really is super cute.

What I remember most about making that quilt is that it was like herding cats to get people to sign the squares and mail them back to me.  I sent the fabric square, a micron pen, and a self addressed stamped envelope to everyone.  All they had to do was sign their name on the damn square and mail it back to me.  How long could that take?  I was hounding at least four girls down to the very last minute to get them to mail me back their squares.  I finally told them they would end up on the back of the quilt if they didn't get their squares to me within a week.  I tell you I burned the midnight oil getting that quilt finished for the shower because of those lazy girls!

The first Friendship quilt I was ever involved with was maybe 40 years ago.  Some dear friends of the family were relocating to Argentina, and it was felt that the occasion warranted one of these Friendship quilts.  Back then, you couldn't really get decent quilting fabric, so the quilt blocks were just big plain squares that were signed or decorated with drawings or poems and sewn together.  We backed it with a bed sheet.  It was actaully rather dreadful, but our effort truly came from the heart.  Ultimately, these friends ended up moving back to California a few years later!  I wonder whatever happened to that pitiful quilt?

One of my cousins organized a similar project to celebrate my Grandma Agnes' 80th birthday.  Everyone she ever knew or was related to signed a fabric square and it got made into a quilt.  Funny, now I can't remember if I made the quilt or if my cousin did.  I believe my cousin must have.  The gift was a huge success, and my Grandma lived another 19 years, enjoying that quilt.  And you know what?  She was buried in it!  No kidding.  Wrapped in the signatures of everyone she loved.

Have any of you been involved in making a Friendship quilt?  How did yours turn out?

 

 

Happy New Year

Wishing you all a year of peace and good luck.  May all your hopes and dreams come true!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you.  Thank you so much for your comments, support and encouragement over the past year.  You all add considerably to my life.  I hope all your wishes come true for the holidays and the new year.

I will be taking a blogging break until Jan 3, talk to you again then!

Making Up For Lost Time and PRIZES

Oh joy.  Be still my heart.  Look what arrived on my door step.  My extra blacks and neutrals for my Halloween 1904 half square triangles. 

And you know what else?  Eva took a super long nap today and I was able to finish all of them!  The stars are now in alignment and the cosmos is in balance again.  I am now back to where I was on last Saturday.  Look out Thelma, I am catching up to you!  As if you are worried....

Here is what they look like, made the super fast Easy Angle way.

If you ever need to make a gazillion half square triangles and just need to get 'em done, this is the way to do it.

Was that Spools Parade yesterday fun or what?  I even got a comment from the pattern designer herself, Rock Star Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms, who sincerely got a huge kick out of seeing all the quilts made from her design.  It must be like giving birth to an entire herd of Spools quilts.  Never mind.  That analogy is definitely not working.  At any rate, Camille has been following our progress with great interest and was completely jazzed to see all your projects.

So, how about some prizes?  Chris, who made the amazing red and yellow quilt absolutely must have a prize.  I had a number of people email me to specifically mention how gorgeous her version was.  There is going to be trouble if that woman doesn't get awarded a prize!  Congratulations Chris!!  Email me your address and a Bonnie Hunter scrap quilting book and two charm packs will be coming your way.

The amazing Cheryl is also going to get a prize.  A woman who can complete *anything* while homeschooling six kids deserves some sort of recognition!  And besides her Spools quilt using the black, red and grey Sew Mama Sew collection was so off the chart splendid.  One of my favorites for sure.  Let me know where you live Cheryl and some charm packs and Miss Rosie Schnibbles patterns will be going to your house.

Lisa from Stashmaster is providing two sets of two matching charm packs to two lucky winners, and my random finger pointer says Paula and Amber are the recipients.  Send me your addresses and Lisa will pop your prizes in the mail.  And Paula---everyone is raving about your rebel little spool.  You must tell us what you decided to do about him.  The consensus is overwhelming that he must live and be in your quilt.

Thank you everyone for your participation and for following along.  We are Sister Threads without a doubt.  That thread goes out into the internet and binds us all together, and it makes me proud to "know" you.

The Projects, Part One

Thelma and I signed up for three classes in the four day week of course offerings the Buggy Barn provided.  Initially, we intended only to sign up for the two quilt classes offered by Paula Barnes of Red Crinoline Quilts (formerly Bonnie Blue Quilts).  Both of us are crazy for Civil War reproduction fabrics and patterns, and had been fans of Paula's forever.  We knew we could not possibly go wrong with that choice and we were right.  Ultimately, we chose an additional class in an area in which neither of us had any experience, but that's anotherpost!

Paula Barnes is a soft spoken, and extremely gracious Southern lady, who was also a very effective teacher.  The first day of class the project was one of her Bonnie Blue patterns called Hill Country Baskets.  This pattern would be ideal for a stash reduction project, but because of time contraints and simplicity, a kit was offered as part of the class price.  Just take a look at the photo above, every Civil War scrap in your stash would work together in this quilt.  The thing that holds it all together is the lattice--a border stripe print.  TIP:  when you see a border print fabric in colors that you often use, just buy it.  Don't even think twice.  Of course you can use it as an outer border, but doesn't it add the coolest effect in the lattice?  We commonly pass right by these border prints, but come on, let's use our imaginations.  These fabrics are fabulous when used well.

The fabric you choose for the setting triangles and the border are going to set the over all look of this quilt.  My opinion?  Why not wait until you lay out your blocks and lattice and see what "speaks" to you?  Sometimes after you finish your blocks, all will be revealed and you will know in just what direction to proceed.  If you make this project, you may have a preponderance of greens or blues or browns in your stash (and your finished blocks), and those colors might be more effective in your setting triangles and borders.  Just wait and see is my advice.

Aren't these blocks adorable?  Another TIP:  buy fat quarters or half yards of good background fabrics constantly.  If you are on a shop hop, don't come home without some good backgrounds.  Every stash benefits from a good and plentiful assortment of these.  Scrappy backgrounds are wonderful, and are going to be with us for the foreseeable future.  Our quilting predecessors used multiple scraps of what they had on hand, and it makes for a much more authentic Civil War reproduction project.

So here is another TIP, this time from Paula.  She likes to lay out her block units on a tray and assembly line sew them together in sets of five or six blocks.  She was telling us that she recently purchased a baker's rack (you know--you've seen them a million times--it's a metal rack with very narrow slots for holding baking sheets that contain rolls or other baked goods).  She organizes her block units on rimmed baking sheets and pulls a tray out and sews her units whenever she gets a chance.  Brilliant, huh?

Most of us either don't have access to a baker's rack, or the room to squeeze it into our sewing rooms, but one little tray could achieve the same purpose.  I kind of like how my units to be sewn are all organized and together there.

I will be posting all week and probably into next week on this marvelous trip and all that we learned.  I have another vacation coming up, and will set some posts to publish while I am away.  This time I will be organized, and also have enough blog fodder to keep you all entertained while I am off.

Where am I going next?  Ireland!!   I am going to visit my son and his fiancee Mary Ann, and cannot wait!

 

Getting Ready for Some Sewing!

 
Woo hoo!  In about a week I am going to be getting together with some friends and do some sewing!  Mostly I am excited to see my friends, but also I wanted to get a seriously wonderful project ready to work on during the time that we will be sewing together.

I am working on a really lovely pattern called Shiloh, by Bonnie Blue Quilt Company.  I started these blocks a number of months back, BM.  That would be Before the Move.  Quilt projects come and go, but I have to say, this one really got my pulse racing.  Love these blocks.

 
Here are a few of them laid out on the floor of The Studio-That-Isn't.  The jury is still out on whether or not the red blocks get to stay, but for now, I am thinking they are ok. 

I started out using a kit, and ended up using a few of the fabrics from the kit, and supplementing most of the others with scraps from my stash.  Then I discovered a layer cake of a collection called Arnold's Attic and went to town using that.  Why do I buy kits anyway?  I always end up changing them up completely.

 

See what I mean?  Aren't those just too wonderful to not include in my quilt?

 
This quilt has a L.O.T. of flying geese units in it, and I wanted to get all my units lined up and ready to go for my block construction.  No cutting for me while I am on retreat.  That never goes well.  I tend to get distracted and cut my 6 1/2" squares all 6 1/4" or something equally tragic.

What I will be doing is using my Fit To Be Geese ruler to trim my flying geese units to precisely the right size.  If you haven't tried this tool, you simply must. 

 Best tool ever for making perfect flying geese!