Sister's Choice Quilts

Do You Bullet Journal?

Have you been caught up in the Bullet Journal craze?  In a nutshell, bullet journalling is all about tracking your habits, making lists, planning for the future, and writing down anything that is important to you.  It is a combination of keeping a journal or diary, plus a calendar of your activities.  It combines creativity, mindfulness and organization.  You can read all about it here, or just go to YouTube and type in "bullet journal" and be prepared to be overwhelmed with ideas.

You can set up your bullet journal in any sort of a notebook, but one of the most popular is the Leuchtturm journal, available online and at some stationary stores.  The pages of the model I chose have little dots in a grid pattern, which makes drawing lines and boxes easier.

You can keep it simple and basic, or add little stickers, drawings or other decorations to make your pages fun.  It is totally up to you.  Click on any of my photos to enlarge and see more detail.  The photo above is my monthly overview for July.  My month starts out pretty bare bones, but it will get filled in and messy by the end of the month.  I do enjoy decorating a little, just for fun.  I have a couple of sticker books I got at Michaels and have a good time using them if it seems appropriate.  Some folks go completely nuts with the stickers etc, but I am fairly restrained.  If you have any artistic talent, you can add little doodles that will give your journal so much personality.

I do weekly spreads as well, to have more room for daily lists and appointments.  I fill this in as I go.  If you enlarge the picture, you can see I have a couple of appointments set up, and a lot of room to jot down my daily "to do's".

This part of the monthly spread is my favorite.  I can set down my goals for the month, keep track of new recipes I try, books that I am reading, tv shows we are watching etc.  I find I actually do go back and look at what I have done or noted down.  

One of the best parts about bullet journaling are the lists you can create.  You can jot down your "I Want To Make This" ideas for new quilts, track books you have read, gifts you have given or received, work outs at the gym, a weight loss journey or savings plan--anything and everything goes.  Some people track their moods, or habits such as taking their daily vitamins or how many glasses of water they drink.

I love tracking the books I have read in a given year.  I am a voracious reader, and would forget half of what I have read if I didn't write it down.  This is going to be a big reading year for me, just saying.  I didn't quite make it to 100 books last year, but I think this year I am going to hit it.  By the way, if you are interested in following along with what I read, consider following me on Goodreads.  My books are listed, plus a review of one to five stars for those I have completed.  FYI, I am a tough reviewer.  Most books get a three star rating (meaning it was entertaining and ok for me), books I really enjoyed get four, books that blew me away get five.  I rarely give one or two stars unless the book is dreadful.

So that is how I bullet journal.  Do any of you enjoy this process too?  If so, what sorts of things do you note in your journal?

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.

Rhubarb Crisp

You cannot have too many fall themed table toppers in my opinion.  So I started another one. This is Rhubarb Crisp, a design by Jo Morton.  Over the weekend, before my mechanical problems occurred, I got a grand start on the project.  I got my ten sawtooth stars made, and got a good amount of flying geese made.  I will need well over 100 of them for the table topper.  Sounds like an awful lot doesn't it?

It is an awful lot, because these flying geese finish at 1 x 2".

I actually ordered the Bloc Loc trim tool in this size, and I have to say it was worth the hefty price tag.  Trimming these little guys is going like greased lightening. The grooves in the trim tool lock into the seam allowance, and you trim the top and right side, flip your rotating mat around and trim the bottom and left side.  So fast.

Once I got my temperamental Janome to only sew when I was operating it, things went pretty well.  I thought I must have made way more geese than I needed after a day's sewing, but no such luck.  I am only about half way done with them.  

This little runner is going to be so sweet on my Thanksgiving table.  Keep your fingers crossed that my Bernina gets fixed and back to me quickly, because I need to quilt it myself and the Janome isn't up to that task.

Hope you are all having a great week!  I am thinking this is the last week I have to work extra hours at my job, so that means more sewing time!

 

 

Rusty

Back in the day, I used to sew all my own clothes.  I made just about everything except underwear.  I even tried to make a bikini a couple of times.  (Nothing I could actually wear in public however--my estimate of my pattern size was way off in the swim suit category anyway).   At one point, every garment in my closet was something I had sewn myself, except maybe a pair of jeans.  I used to love garment sewing, and would avidly browse through the pattern books and sewing magazines.  When my son was born, I made little kimonos for him, and when he got older, I even made snap crotch overalls.  I made my sister's wedding gown, some beautiful tailored jackets, bathrobes for everyone in the family, and some very elaborate Halloween costumes.

That was a l.o.n.g. time ago.  I don't know what happened.  Fabric stores that specialized in garment fabrics started closing up, prices got higher and higher, and my life got busier.  Finally, it was more cost and time effective to just buy my own clothes.  I never went back to sewing my own clothing.  The love of sewing never went away, but quilting took the place of garment sewing for me.

So, imagine this---I got a notion to make my grand daughter Eva a little apron.  She loves cooking with me, and when she sees me put on an apron, she wants to wear one too.  I can accomodate that, but of course all my aprons are huge on her.  I've had this pattern for ages, and some very cute cupcake fabric, but for some reason, kept procrastinating about stitching it up.

Until yesterday!  I cut out the fabric and had that little apron finished in about an hour.  But, man, was I rusty!  Can you believe I had a complete brain fade on how to turn a narrow fabric tube inside out?  So silly.  It did come back to me, thank goodness.

Just so you don't worry about me, my schedule is kind of crazy this week, so I may not get to post as often as usual.  Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and have gotten your week off to a good start.

Mini Cherry Baskets

This is my little homage to Thelma's Door County Cherry Basket Quilt.  I used some of her leftover black and brown triangles, and some of my beautiful red charm squares from Primitive Gatherings.  The patterns for the basket blocks came from Miss Rosie's "Picnic" Schnibbles pattern.  The blocks are 6 inch finished. 

My offering is a far cry from the masterpiece Thelma's original is, but in two afternoons, I think I  managed to at least capture the feeling of her beautiful quilt.  I will enjoy this little table topper (about 25 inches square) for years to come.

And you know something?  Everytime I finish one of these mini projects, I can see that my machine quilting is improving!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.  I was in the company of my dear little Eva, and we celebrated the lovely day by getting a certain someone new shoes.  With polkadots and owls on them.   If I am able to teach this child anything, it will be to love pretty shoes.

Doing It My Way

You will be seeing this quilt on a couple of blogs today.  This is Thelma's (Cupcakes 'n' Daisies) Door County Cherry Baskets quilt.  It was a pattern designed by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.  Ever since Thelma started this quilt I have wanted one too.  Primitive Gatherings was offering the quilt as a kit, which I had in my imaginary shopping cart on and off until it was no longer available.  The $225 price tag was making me hesitate, and then it was too late.  Thelma did not use a kit, she used fabrics from her stash.  Thelma's quilt was masterfully quilted by Linda Hrcka of The Quilted Pineapple.  Check out both Linda and Thelma's blogs for more pictures!

So.  How am I going to get a quilt like this one?

Being the fine friend that she is, Thelma sent me her leftover black and brown triangles for the basket blocks.  She did this ages ago and the pieces have been sitting around in my cupboard until yesterday.

That's a lot of brown and black triangles.  Enough for lots of baskets.

When I was at Road to California, I purchased two of these gorgeous charm packs from The Primitive Gatherings booth.  Each pack has 30 pairs of red prints--60 pieces in all.  And I have two packs.  Plenty for lots of baskets!

Now, I did not think I would be able to replicate the exact pattern that Lisa designed and that Thelma executed.  But I was determined to use the leftover dark triangles and these gorgeous red charms to make some basket blocks and see what I might come up with.  So I started playing around.

In Carrie Nelson's Picnic Schnibbles pattern, she shows how she made eight half square triangles out of two five inch charm squares.  I remembered that, and pulled out the Picnic pattern, which as you can see is a basket quilt with four or five variations of basket blocks.

I did have to trim down the smaller dark triangle units to 2 inches, but every one of them is going to be usable.  And the large triangles are exactly the right size, at 3 1/2 inches.

At this point, I have not decided if I am going to go with Carrie's basket blocks set on the diagonal with alternate red blocks, or if I am going to try for a smaller version of Lisa Bongean's Cherry Basket quilt.  Today I am going to play around and see if I actually can make a version of the block in Thelma's quilt. Either way, I think I can replicate the feel of the original Door County Cherry Baskets quilt.  You will have to stay tuned for this one!

 

 

Barbara's Rolling Ironing Station

Last week when I posted on my new ironing board cover, Barbara left a comment saying she has a rolling ironing station that her husband made for her out of a dresser.  Several people emailed me to ask if I could persuade Barbara to share a picture and she kindly agreed.  Thanks Barbara!  People will love seeing your ironing station, but you are going to incur some serious stash envy!!

Here it is, with its sides in the "up" position.

And with the sides down.

You could pick up a changing station or old dresser at a yard sale and paint it up and make the modifications Barbara's  DH did, and have one too.  Here is what Barbara said when she sent me the photos--

"I'm glad to share the pictures of the ironing cabinet but the backgrounds of the photos look ... messy!  The closet shelves are full of flannels and UFOs, on the side of the built-in bookcase to the right are my porcelain Celebration! little quilts (now occasionally found on eBay), and the bookshelves are filled with fabric - of course.  Please forgive the mess, but hey, creativity is messy!!

The ironing surface on top measures 20"W x 36"L and each wing adds an additional 12" in length!  Obviously, the wings are up in the first photo.

Hope this makes everyone happy!  It certainly makes me happy to have this stellar helper to use in my little sewing room.

Love and hugs - Barbara"

 

Inspiration Quilts

I have two quilts I would like to share with you today.  A lovely lady named Patt, who reads this blog, emailed me to say she thought I would enjoy seeing them.  And I think you will too!

Are you as blown away as I am?  Isn't this exquisite?  She has used the French General collection Rouenneries and has concentrated on featuring the pinks and the reds equally.  This has turned out to be so elegant and rich looking, and very different from the other Rounneries quilts I have seen.  The finished quilt measures 62" by 70". 

She and her daughter took a class at their local quilt shop Country Loft in San Diego.  The class was called French Chain, and the teacher was "Colleen", so if you too, need to make this quilt, you might contact the shop for more information.  Her quilter used a varigated red thread and a clematis & hummingbird quilting design.  Nice job Patt!

And here is her second quilt:

 

This quilt may look familiar to you, as it is the Toulouse pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.  I had made one along with Lisa (Stashmaster) and Thelma (Cupcakes 'n' Daisies) awhile back, and Patt said she got the notion that she wanted one too.  This is her effort, with a very innovative chevron border.  Don't you love it?  The quilting shows up super well on this quilt.

Hope you all enjoyed seeing Patt's work as much as I did.  She doesn't have a blog, but who knows, maybe someday...
 

Inspiration Quilts

I am off to sew with some of my quilting friends in San Jose today, and expect to be wowed by the projects they are working on.  I love seeing the work of others, as it often provides me with challenging ideas and introduces me to methods I could incorporate into my own quilts.  The two quilts featured below I photographed at a recent Opening Sew class at Eddie's Quilting Bee in Sunnyvale, CA.

This beautiful strippy quilt was made in the blended style I am so obsessed with lately.  The maker used my favorite shades of green and cream and rose, and what I particularly would like you to notice is the way she embellished  some individual squares.  Also, see that she used a textured upholstery fabric for the green triangles?  What great imagination and what a romantic and interesting quilt!

The quilt below is all redwork.  Doesn't it make you want to go buy some red embroidery floss and get going on making one for yourself?  Does anyone know of a good book on redwork?

Tagged!

(iStockphoto)

I have been tagged!  Marilyn from Joy and Lace Cottage has presented me with the Thinking Blogger Award, as someone who has inspired her with my blog.  I am so honored by this, I can't tell you!  As a new blogger this compliment is just tremendous to me.  Being tagged, my responsibility is to now name five bloggers whose blogging sites regularly inspire and entertain me.  The hardest thing here, is to settle on only five! 

One site that I would name as my number one inspiration, Marilyn has already named as one  of her five favorites.  That site would be Under a Blue Moon, which belongs to my dear sister Andrea!  Andrea is beyond inspirational to me, and in fact, is one of the main reasons I started blogging.  Her site predominantly features decorating, cooking, and matters of style.  Her writing style is fantastic.  She is humorous, humble, elegant, sympathetic and thoughtful  She is also a very accomplished photographer, and many of her pictures are so inviting, they make you want to step right into them.   If you have never checked out her site, don't waste one more second---go right to her link and start enjoying yourself.  Her most recent post features lilacs, so the photo above is dedicated to her.  All I could wish for any of you would be to have as sweet, helpful, gracious, kind, and motivating a sister as I am blessed with.  And, believe it or not, I have three others besides her that are each totally awesome in their own ways.

OK.  The following individuals must now consider themselves tagged with the Thinking Blogger Award!  My other five favorite, most inspirational blog sites would be:

Sara at The Winemaker's Wife http://thewinemakerswife.blogs.com/
    Sara is a lovely young woman whose blog site is dedicated to food, wine, and lifestyle experiences.  She is a newly wed, and her husband is a wine maker in the Santa Cruz mountains.  She is an aspiring food writer, and I predict she will one day be as well known as any of the Food Network super stars!  Her food and wine pairings are terrific, and her entertaining and decorating ideas are fabulous.  Her photographs are without a doubt, some of the very best in blog-land.

Lisa at Stashmaster http://stashmaster.typepad.com/
    Lisa is a passionate quilter, who literally has inspired me countless times to copy her designs, buy what fabric she buys, and quilt more and better.  I sometimes think that Lisa and I are living in parallel universes, so similar are our tastes and backgrounds.  Since I started blogging, I have become fast friends with Lisa, and a day without an email exchange with her is a bleak one indeed.  How she gets any quilting done is a mystery, as she works full time and has three young children!  Oh, and did I mention she is a kick boxer?  Check out her blog, and her quilting album in particular.  This is one very talented and nice lady who has added a lot of value to my days.

Darlene at Quilting Daze http://quiltingdaze.blogspot.com/
    Darlene is without a doubt, the most accomplished and prolific quilter I have ever come across.  Her talents are HUGE.  Please go to her amazing website and read every single post she has ever done.  When I discovered her, that is just what I did, and when I was finished, my head was spinning with all the gorgeous patterns, designs, and projects of hers I wanted to copy.  Her taste and mine are remarkably similar, and   it never ceases to amaze the two of us how much alike we are (except that she is ten times more talented).  Darlene is someone who has become very dear to me, and I look forward so much to her posts and to the emails we exchange almost daily.  Darlene and I are so in sync that we are planning a Fat Quarter Challenge between the two of us on our respective blog sites in the near future.

Kim at Daisy Cottage http://www.deardaisycottage.typepad.com/
    Kim's blog is in my opinion, one of the most inspirational decorating sites in existence.  She lives in an 1920's cottage, which is featured in most of her posts.  She decorates, cooks, collects, crafts, and knows how to turn a house into a home better than anyone.  Her photos are stunning and the fact that she is a very regular poster is a wonderful gift to all her avid fans.  She is responsible for my new found interest in "thrift shopping", and for a number of lovely treasures which have found their way home with  me.  Her site is so welcoming and inviting, you will feel as if you have been invited right into her cozy world.  I can't tell you how many super ideas and recipes I have gotten from her remarkable blog site.

Leigh at Cinnamon Sticks http://cinnamonsticksss.blogspot.com/index.html
    The truly wonderful thing about blogging is that one gets to make friends with people all over the world.  Leigh's blog is such fun, you must make it one of your favorites.  Leigh is a quilter who lives in Australia.  Besides being a very talented quilter, she is a professional cook, enthusiastic china collector, and mother of two grown children.  No matter how many miles separate us, I find Leigh and her interests a very worthwhile addition to my life!

So thank you to all you inspirational fellow bloggers!  You have added immeasurably to my existence and it is a true honor to call you friends.