Sister's Choice Quilts

Have an Ohana 4th of July

Our national day of independence, the 4th of July is this Saturday.  If you celebrate, I hope you do so safely and with those you love.  We are having a small family barbeque at Eva's daddy's house.  He is a fantastic cook, so whatever we have will be amazing. 

Eva is with her mommy this weekend, so it will just be our "ohana" family, consisting of my (ex) son-in-law, his new wife, his new mother-in-law, my husband and me (his former in-laws).  This may seem to be an odd coming together of people unless you are familiar with the Hawaiian term "ohana".  Ohana means family, but not necessarily the family you were born into.  Ohana is a very embracing and extensive use of the term "family", it can mean those you are related to, those you adopt, or those who you intentionally include in your family group.

With Ohana, nobody gets left behind, and all are welcome and loved.  Many blessings upon you and whomever you consider your family.

Well, That's Better

I had a much better sewing day yesterday.  I had my husband snap a photo to show that I really can do it.  Excuse the no makeup and funny expression.  This was about the eighth photo he took, as he kept chopping off my head and I was getting impatient with the poor man.

I went back to my Hallo Harvest kit by BasicGrey.  I had bought the kit, which features a quilt with four rows of five blocks each.  I knew I didn't want to make an entire quilt from it, but rather three table runners.  One for me, one for my daughter Sara and one for my (ex) son in-law Ryan (he's the biggest fan of my work).

One row makes a great table runner size.  I didn't measure but if I had to guess I'd say it is about 18 x 48".  I had made three blocks some time back, so it was pretty easy to make two more blocks and get something accomplished that I was happy with.  How about that white bat?  Don't you love it?

Oh my goodness, thank you all so much for all the encouraging words yesterday.  You guys are so great.  What encouragement you gave me!  It made me turn my thinking around about the Hocus Pocus table runner with no contrast.  My daughter Sara says she loves it as it is, so I will have it quilted (with green thread) and hope that once the batting and backing are on it, the look of it will be improved.  Sara works in marketing and says she thinks the photo on the pattern cover was filtered to make the colors look more saturated.  It is commonly done.  Since I used the exact same fabrics as shown on the pattern cover my result should have looked identical to it.  Lesson learned.

Time to get these all sent off to the quilter so I get them back by fall.

Not Everything Turns Out As You Hoped

This was my weekend project.  And I am so disappointed in the way it turned out.  I swear I used the same fabrics as the pattern designer, and my effort is so not what I was expecting.

There just is not enough contrast between the background and the focal units.  It is supposed to be white pumpkins against a green background, but they just don't stand out.  What a waste of time and fabric.  Really nice fabric.  And a lot of time I will never get back. Arrrgh. Those units above the middle pumpkin?  They are supposed to be pinwheels.  Really?  They look like a big blur.

What a mess.

I used Pattern Basket's pattern Hocus Pocus and purchased the extra add on instructions to make the table runner with white pumpkins.  This is the picture on the pattern cover:

This is what it was supposed to look like.  I swear, I used the exact same background fabric, and my results are so disappointing.  To say my runner is subtle is an understatement.  What a disaster.  I think the pattern is great, but if any of you attempt this project, I sure hope you chose a background fabric that has more contrast than the one I chose. 

I guess you don't get a winner every time you make something...

Waaaaa. So bummed.  You must admit I keep it real here.

Little Stars Topper & Some Organizing

Just in time for the 4th of July!  This little stars table topper was such fun to make.  I don't do paper piecing very often, so a small project like this is what it takes to keep my skill set sharp.  When I first got started I could barely remember which end was supposed to be up, but by the seventh or eighth star, I was up to speed again.

The pattern is by Laurie Simpson and is in the Moda All Stars Mini Marvels book.  I printed the paper pattern right from the book and had no issues with it not being accurate.  The finished blocks came out 3 1/2", every single one of them.

My weekend was quite productive.  I recovered a new pressing board for my ironing station, as the previous one had warped very badly over the two or three years I have been using it. You should have seen my husband and I scrabbling around on the floor with the staple gun trying to cover the new board with batting and a fabric covering.  Neither one of us does so well on the floor anymore.  My husband found out that after his double knee surgeries, he can no longer kneel.

I just put the new board on top of the old one.  Hopefully the new one won't warp.  I will use my thick wool pressing mat as often as possible and maybe that will help.

Can you see how badly the bottom board warped?  It was like ironing in a valley.

I also reorganized my book shelves and pattern storage system.  My patterns are in the five white bins on the top shelf.  I need to go through them and toss the ones I know I will never use.  I also went through my books and discovered a duplicate of a good one, so I will do a give away at some point this week.  I eliminated a couple piles of books which made room for six project boxes on one of the shelves.  

What a good feeling to get a ton of crap stuff off the floor and stored away in the closet and on the shelves.  It is a pleasure to go in my sewing room and just sit in my chair and look around the room at my accomplishment.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Cabin Skein

This little mini quilt is called Cabin Skein.  Designed by Carrie Nelson, her explanation for the name is that a group of flying geese is called a "skein".  Since the quilt involves both Log Cabin Blocks and Flying Geese, she thought the name was appropriate.  The pattern is in a book called Moda All Stars Mini Marvels.  

Making the quilt is a cinch, particularly if you have certain sewing tools to make trimming your blocks to the correct size.  I used the BlocLoc Flying Geese trim tool in the 1" x 2" (1 1/2 x 2 1/2" unfinished) size, and the Creative Grids 4 inch Log Cabin Trim Tool.  My little block units came out just the right size with these sewing aids.  

As for the fabrics, they were honestly all from my stash.  There is a mix of Jo Morton, Renee Nanneman and Pam Buda for sure, others as well.  My taste in orange tends to run towards the rusty side of orange, so I was drawn to those shades.  Renee Nanneman comes out with a black and orange collection every couple of years and I always buy it.  This one was called Harvest Moon I think.  She designs for Andover Fabrics. If you Google "Harvest Moon fabric by Renee Nanneman", you might just find it.

This little quilt is about 20" square and was so much fun to make.  I got it done in no time, mainly because I couldn't stay away from making those blocks once my Log Cabin trim tool arrived in the mail.

I will send this off to my quilter, along with a full-size Halloween themed quilt I made a couple of years ago.  That was "Lucy" another Carrie Nelson pattern.  I decided to add a black containment border and an orange print border to make it big enough to hang over the sides of my queen-sized bed.  I am just waiting on getting the border fabric and I will be good to go.

I'll share a picture when I get the borders on!

Have a great weekend everyone.

What Was I Thinking?

Well, this is a UFO in all sense of the word.  I discovered this little project box in my sewing room closet and just stared at it open-mouthed.  What had I been planning?  There were the makings for flying geese units, some strips in various sizes, a whole lot of black and orange fabrics.  No pattern, no notes.  What in the world had I been thinking I was going to make with all this?

I started searching through my books and found a super cute pattern that I think will work great for this mystery assortment.

Are you familiar with the Moda All Stars book "Mini Marvels"?  It has patterns for 15 little quilts that are full of wonderful design elements.  Right there on the cover is a great little quilt that involves flying geese and log cabin blocks.  Here is a better picture of the quilt:

The pattern is called Cabin Skein and is by Carrie Nelson.  I will have to cut my flying geese and strips down to a smaller size for this project, but that is easily done.  This will be such a cute October table topper in those black and orange fabrics!  It will finish at about 20" as I recall, just right for a candle or little vignette of some kind.  

I have to confess, I got the sixty four 1 1/2 x 2 1/2" flying geese all made and thought "I'll just get cracking on those 4 1/2" log cabin blocks".  Wrong.  I made two of them and they were so wonky and misshapen I was ashamed.  I am so used to using trim tools and special rulers to ensure the accurate size of my blocks that I guess I can't live without them.  I have the Creative Grids Log Cabin Trim Tool in both the 8" and the 6" sizes and my blocks always come out perfectly.  So, I got on the computer and ordered the 4" size.  It should come by Wednesday and I will be back in business. 

Sometimes you just need the right tool for the job!

This is Really My Last Project for 2019

I managed to squeeze in one last project for 2019.  I don't have a lot to show for my year in quilting this year, but I am going out strong.  With luck, this will be how I will continue in 2020.  This little quilt is not perfect by any means, and I am going to try to rectify a couple of those chopped off points before I quilt it.  This was a tricky block to make, and I can't say I enjoyed it 100%. Those little pieced flying geese units were a bear.  Lots of bias edges and ways to go wrong.  Still, I know I will enjoy it as a table topper with a fun wintery scented candle on it.

I am full of ideas for January projects, which I can't wait to get started on.  I have a snowflake quilt in mind, plus a couple of small wool projects.  

It is time for us to say goodbye to our son and wish him a safe trip home to Ireland.  That makes me very sad, but we enjoyed every moment of being together.

Hope you had a great weekend and are looking forward to cheering in the new decade!

Holiday Gatherings

Hope you all had a great weekend!  I got a little sewing done, and finished my piece for the snowman applique.  The snowman and his broom will go on the right in the empty space.  It will be just the right amount of wool applique to get me started.  Of course I don't have any wool yet, but the Etsy shop where I bought some has shipped it, so yippee.

We had a family gathering on Sunday night, and I was so pleased with all our decorations.  We were all decked out.

My husband, as I have said, loves holiday decorations and thinks the more we have out the better.  He recently came home from a trip down to the Monterey area with a metal tree centerpiece decoration that has holders for five candles.  I wanted to give it a bit more oomph, so I added my crazy snowmen collection around it, and I like the results.  Everyone gives me a hard time about these snowmen, but they are wonderful collectibles that I acquired in the 90's.  

I get a lot of teasing about these funny looking little guys, but they are near and dear to my heart.

I've been watching some YouTube videos on making little zippered bags, so I may attempt one this week if time allows. There is always time to make a few zippered bags before Christmas right?  We have what, nine days? Have you seen the ones that are in the shape of little triangles?  So cute.

Scrappy Churn Dash Mini Quilt

I know.  Can you believe it? I actually finished something!  This little mini quilt is about 22 inches square, with little churn dash blocks that finish at 3".  The pattern came from the Simple Friendships II book, but I made my project smaller and changed up the border.  I cropped the photo, so the border looks kind of wonky because I chopped some of it off in the picture.  It did turn out pretty square though.  I had those borders off and had to try again a second time though because they were a mess on my first try.  That can happen when you change up a pattern size!  With some adjustments, it came out ok.

I started up the Buttermilk Basin wool applique pattern I showed you the other day.

Cute, right?  Well, the instructions are not so great.  Buttermilk Basin patterns are absolutely adorable and I have purchased many of them (and will continue to do so).  That being said, I am disappointed the instructions are not better proofed and are not a bit more thorough.  Pressing suggestions?  Figure it out.  And I believe there is a mistake in the cutting directions.

For the upper left-hand unit you are told to cut out 3 1/2" strips.  Clearly that is too long.  It should be much smaller than that to line up with the four patch. Plus the diagram indicates sewing a diagonal seam on two of the corners of that upper left unit, and that can't be right.  (Enlarge the photo to see the diagram better). Or have I lost my mind due to lack of sewing and am just not interpreting things correctly?  Diagonal sewing is called for to form the star, but not on the four corner units.  Look at the block photo, do you see any diagonal seams on the four corner units?  It is easy to blame the pattern, and maybe I am being hasty here, but I think the instructions are lacking.  I'll figure it out, but goodness, I feel frustrated! 

Did I ever get some great wool applique comments on my post the other day!  I wasn't able to reply to Vikki, but I did take several of her terrific suggestions.  I ordered the Lisa Bongean wool applique book, a wool pressing mat and an applique pressing sheet.  The book arrived already and I have been studying it. In the book, there is a recommendation for a certain needle threader which I have ordered.  I cannot wait to try it and share my results with you.   Now I am just waiting for some wool.  And of course, I have to finish that darn block above.

 

 

Table Runners Off and Running

I got upstairs yesterday before it got hot and finished up the borders on my little gold half square triangle table runner.  Now I am all set to mail this trio of toppers off to my quilter.  I am really looking forward to getting these into my late summer/early fall decorating rotation.

Decorating with small quilts is such fun for me.  Do you enjoy it as well?  At this stage of my life, I have so many large-sized quilts, making more of them just doesn't make sense.  I have given quilts to absolutely every single person in my family, and I doubt anyone needs another one.  I still love keeping up with new fabric collections and using them in projects, so making smaller quilts is the answer for me.  With each new season I can use three or four small table toppers or runners in table vignettes and satisfy my desire to keep current and up to date with something new.  My budget is also reduced now that I am retired, so it helps to buy a layer cake or a fat eighth bundle and save money on what I do decide to buy.  

So many quilt patterns can easily be adapted to make smaller or fewer blocks.  I will be sure and talk more about this in a future post.  

Have a great weekend, and stay cool!