Sister's Choice Quilts

Stars and Baskets All Quilted

I received my Stars and Baskets quilt back from the quilter, and I am so pleased with it.  I decided to go with a feathers quilting design, as suggested by a couple of you (thanks Sharon), and am thrilled with the choice.  I felt that quilting design was in keeping with the "era" the quilt was supposed to represent (1880s).  

I don't have the binding on yet, but you can be sure that is going to be a priority!

In other news, my background fabric arrived for my Sweet Escape log cabin sew along.  I made a test block, and I hate it.  The alternate background fabric I chose isn't right, and the block came out wonky.  I am so used to using my trim tools (the Creative Grids Log Cabin Trim Tool comes to mind), but these blocks do not lend themselves to the size options of the tool.  I am on my own, just sewing strips and wow.  Just wow.  I am not happy with the results.   

And of course I cut up two honey buns of Sweet Tea fabric so now I feel I have no options but to forge ahead.  I'll keep you posted, but right now things are a bit of a mess.  I am going to experiment and see if I can somehow make this pattern work and use my trim tool.  My blocks will be smaller, and hence the quilt as well.  I have an idea though....stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Things Winter 2019

Many of you seem to love it when I do a post on the things I have been especially enjoying lately, so here goes for Winter 2019.

Have you heard of the Yeti insulated mug?  It is brilliant for keeping hot tea or coffee hot, and for keeping iced tea or water cold.  Either way, it keeps your beverage just the right drinking temperature.  The handle feels so good in your hand as well.  Someone gave us a no-handle cup called Corkscicle that is supposed to do the same thing only for keeping wine cold, but it works great for keeping coffee hot too.  However  I fear folks might think me one step away from the Betty Ford Clinic if I am always carrying the wine cup around.

This is the "Wet" brush.  It is just what you need to painlessly get tangles out of wet hair.  It is essential if you have a grand daughter who screeches bloody blue murder if you try to brush her hair.  Works great on wet or dry hair.  Like buttah.

Another hair related item.  This is the Revlon One Step Hair Dryer Brush.  You can't tell so well from the picture, but the brush part is kind of ovoid in shape.  I use this when my hair is 90% dry, to straighten it out.  It takes less than ten minutes, and you will look as though you spent a half hour blow drying your hair.  It is great for people who have wavy or curly hair, who like a straight look.  I like it so much I bought one with a UK plug to keep at my son's house in Ireland.  It is a teensy bit noisy and gets pretty hot, but you can use a lower setting option.

I am living in these pull on jegging style jeans from Talbots.  The waistband is wide and flat (and does not roll one bit), and you easily can pull these jeans up with no bulky zipper poking out in front.  The high waist prevents any sort of muffin top, and you will be smooth as can be under your tees and tops.  Very sleek.  I find them to be super comfortable and that they do not bag out, even though they have plenty of stretch built into them.  They are a regular denim weight, and not flimsy at all.  On sale right now as well if you buy more than one.  They have a choice of washes, so I'd say, buy two!  They also come in petite and plus sizes.

Have you noticed the Soap & Glory brand at Target and Walmart?  You can also get this line of products from Amazon or Ulta.  They offer a large selection of very good quality, reasonably priced toiletries such as lotions and cleansers.  The Peaches and Clean facial cleanser is a real favorite of mine, and is under $11 for a huge container.  It smells so good you might be tempted to eat it.  But don't do that.

Next is a new lip product that is pricey ($26), but just divine.  Bobbi Brown calls this a "swipe and go no fuss lipstick".  The new Crushed Lip Color is a cross between a gloss and a regular lipstick.  You apply it with a doe foot applicator, and it lasts for quite awhile.  It isn't sticky, it doesn't dry out your lips at all, and in fact, feels like a lip treatment.  It comes in a ton of colors, and is really wonderful.  I got mine at Macy's.

Now, if you would rather pay $8 for almost the exact same thing, this Revlon "Kiss Plumping Lip Creme" is a very close dupe. Very comparable formula, and similar colors to the more luxurious brand.   It comes in a squeezy tube, and can be found at most drug stores.  

Lastly, if you like a cup of good tea, I think you might like Harney and Sons Victorian London Fog.  It is under $11 for 30 tea sachets, and is just so comforting and delicious on these cold damp days we have been having.  It is a black and oolong mix with bergamot oil, and a bit of lavender and vanilla overtones.  Very similar to Earl Grey, but fancied up a notch.

Hope you enjoyed this list of some of the things that are making me happy these days!

A Breath of Spring

I just can't seem to get enough of cheery spring like fabrics lately.  My desire for the rain to stop and the sun to come out is taking over my life.  I am also stuck waiting for my fabric for the Sweet Escape Sew Along to arrive.  I ordered my background (Moda Bella Porcelain}  on Feb. 27, and the company is saying It takes 10 days for me to get it.  If I had known that before I hit "place order", I might have made a different choice.  It was only $5 postage, so you get what you pay for I suppose.

So, at loose ends, I jumped into this project over the weekend.  The pattern by Carried Away Quilting was my inspiration, and I was able to duplicate the look of their fabrics by using  pieces from several Sherri & Chelsi collections.  The pattern is called "Fat Quarter Flourish".  Here is a closer look at my fabrics:

This little mini quilt went together quickly and was fun to make.  I made a lot of half square triangles using my Angler 2, which is such a great device.

You tape the plastic film to your sewing machine throat plate, and using the lines on the device, you are able to sew gazillions of half square triangles without drawing those dreaded diagonal lines.  Unfortunately, this particular item is no longer produced, due to the untimely demise of the inventor, Pam Bono.  There are similar items on the market, but I prefer this original to anything else.  When we moved, I tossed mine out, thinking it was easily replaceable.  Imagine my dismay when I found out it wasn't.  Luckily a friend sent me an extra that she had, but when this one wears out that will be it.  Here are two other similar devices.

Hope you all had a great weekend!  

 

 

OK, I'm In

Have you heard about the latest sew along, sponsored by adorable Camille Roskelley of Thimbleblossoms?  Using her Sweet Escapes pattern, we make log cabin blocks and arrange them in the pattern shown above.  You have got to check out her navy blue version on Instagram.  Go ahead, do it right now.

If that doesn't make you want to jump in with both feet, I don't know what will.  Can you imagine this quilt done in reds?  Or a Christmas theme?  If you look closely, you may notice that the light colored sides of the log cabin blocks are made with a white background and a very light aqua.  Is that not the prettiest effect?

Here is a link to Camille's set-up instructions.

I've got my fabrics on order.  I  have chosen to use Sweetwater's new collection Sweet Tea.

Two shades of blue, red and a taupey grey.  For the project, we will use 1 1/2" strips for the blocks, so I ordered two honeybuns.  That will save a bit of time on the cutting, and Green Fairy quilts had them for an unbelievably low price, so I lucked out there.  A tip:  I read somewhere that if you take a lint roller to a honeybun, right out of the package, it cuts down on the lint mess a lot.  I am going to try it and let you know if it helps.

I learned something new yesterday.  I wanted to order a background that coordinated perfectly with this Sweetwater collection, so I emailed the Sweetwater designer Lisa Burnett directly and asked her what Moda Bella white solid went best with that group.  She must have been on her computer when I sent the email because she answered me directly, saying that Sweetwater collections always coordinate with Moda Bella Porcelain.  How about that?

No fabric yet, but it has all been shipped, so with any luck, I can start cutting early next week.

Have an excellent weekend friends!  Hello March!

Just Playing Around

These little Sweet Clover blocks turned out to be just what the doctor ordered to give me a shot of Spring.  I made ten blocks and turned them into a table runner, which I plan to send out to be quilted as soon as possible.

I can see it with some sage green candles and I am good to go for Easter.

One thing led to another, as it often does, and I found myself on a chair pulling old unfinished project boxes off the shelf in the closet.  I found three boxes that contained unfinished or un-started Fig Tree projects from years ago.

One was Jelly Ohs, a jelly roll project.  I had everything I needed in the box, except the three different light background fabrics the pattern called for.  I may search online for something that would work, but I definitely will not be finding this particular collection, which is so old it isn't even on the Moda website anymore. 

I made a block, which is kind of cute, but seems so big after all the small projects I have done recently.  I am also kind of over that butterscotch color, but it does go well with my decor.  

I have some other projects that really do command my attention, but I just seem to be in a flighty mood lately.  At least I am in my sewing room, right?  It doesn't really matter what I am working on, just so I am sewing!

Goodbye February!  You didn't last long, but after interminable January, that's ok.  Helloooo March, and warmer weather, sunshine, sitting on the porch and barbecuing outside.  By the end of the month, right?

Shop at Home

Since I am desperate for a touch of Spring, I've been in a mood to make some small quilts in a lighter color palette.  My favorite dark reds, golds and browns seem so heavy right now when my soul is craving lighter more delicate tones.  Pale green in particular.

I recently rediscovered a tub of Fig Tree fabrics that I had packed away.  I used to do a lot with Fig Tree fabrics, and then for some reason, fell away from it.   Lately, I have been paying attention to the Fig Tree Christmas and Halloween collections and it made me recall my stash.  In the tub I had some very pretty light greens that paired well with some butterscotch tones which were also on hand.  

Along with the stash of vintage Fig Tree fabric, I also had a number of Fig Tree patterns.  The one I pulled out to use for this project is called Sweet Clover.   I doubt if stores still carry it, but I did see a couple of patterns for sale on eBay.  What I thought was in keeping with my Spring theme, was that the block forms a sweet flower design.  It is basically four inch half square triangles with sew and flip corner squares to give the block unit a rounded petal shape.  I will have to machine applique the center circle, but that is not a big deal.  This pattern is giving my Doug Leko Folded Corner ruler a real work out.  I have used that little ruler in so many projects lately.

I've really enjoyed working with these pretty fabrics and think I may order some future Fig Tree lines.  Their "Christmas Figs" collection was wonderful and they are releasing a Halloween themed group  "All Hallow Eve" in June.   

How about you?  Are you fighting the Winter doldrums as well?  What springy projects are you planning to counter act the gloom of Winter?

Comparing Pineapple Rulers

I've spent several days comparing two pineapple rulers.  One, the Creative Grids Pineapple Ruler, I have used before and really liked.  It recently came to my attention that Bloc Loc makes a Pineapple Ruler as well, and on impulse I ordered one.  I'll give you my opinions in this post, which is very photo heavy.

Both rulers have YouTube tutorials, but the Bloc Loc lady is left handed which I found very confusing when she did her video.  The Creative Grids video is clear as can be.

You can see that they differ considerably in appearance.  

With the Creative Grids ruler, you trim the even numbered rows like this:

The ruler has little squares for each even round.  You place the square for the round you are on over the center square, taking care to line up the dotted lines that appear throughout the ruler with your seam lines.  There is also a white diagonal line that helps you be sure your center square is square and not tilted.  You can trim two sides at once with the ruler in one position.  Flip it and trim the other two sides.

When trimming the odd numbered rounds (in this case, the white strips), you do have to trim each side individually.  You don't worry about lining up the squares now, but pay attention to the dotted lines and a 45 degree line at the top of the ruler.

You add squares to the corners when the block is as big as you want it (4", 5" and 6" are your options with this ruler).  Use the ruler to square up your block perfectly.

I was pleased with how the blocks came out, with only the most minuscule distortion.  

With the Bloc Loc ruler, there seems to be a lot more trimming.  The ruler "locks" in place along your seam line, and you just need to line your center square in a square unit up with the 90 degree angle lines that are marked on the ruler.  My seam ripper is pointing to one of these lines.  There is another one running down the left side of the white square in a square block.  You trim the excess fabric on the top right.  You have to do this with all four sides of the block.  So, four cuts.

Then you have to trim your strips down, all four sides.  Four more cuts.  And good grief if you forget this step (which I did every now and then), you will be doing some un-sewing.

So far, I am thinking there is a lot more passes with the rotary cutter to get each round to size with the Bloc Loc compared to the Creative Grids.  Creative Grids:  4 trims per round.  Bloc Loc: 8 trims per round.

Now let's talk about block size.  There are two Creative Grids Pineapple rulers available.  I have the smaller one, which gives you blocks that are 4", 5" or 6".  All my fabric strips were cut to 1 1/4".  There is a larger size for making 6", 8", or 10" blocks.  For the larger blocks you would cut your strips a bit larger.

For the Bloc Loc ruler, you choose your tool based on the width of the strip you want to end up with.  I chose a ruler that gave me the option of having one inch strips or 1/2" strips.  If you want strips of a different size you must purchase more rulers.  

With the Creative Grids  tool, all strips are the same width (1/2") for the three block size options.  If you opt for the larger size choice, I believe your finished strips are 1".  With the Bloc Loc, you can use strips of any size wider than 1 1/4".  Since you have to trim down the strips in each round anyway, it is a great use of leftover strips from other projects.

The plus with the Bloc Loc ruler is that you can make your pineapple block as big as you want to.  You are not limited to a size.  If you want a big pineapple block, just keep adding strips.  You might think the ruler is too short to make a big block, but all you have to do is slide the ruler along the seam line to get to the end of your cut.

I made a nice big block, and as you can see, there is a fair amount of distortion.  The block is askew.  I was dismayed by this and thought I should try again and be more careful as I trimmed.  I made a second big block, and it was just as crooked.  I am thinking maybe it wouldn't be so noticeable if I had made a smaller block.

My final opinion is that I preferred the Creative Grids Pineapple ruler over the Bloc Loc.  My reasons for liking it better is that 1) there isn't as much trimming per round and 2) the block came out straighter, 3)  there are more lines on the Creative Grids tool for squaring up the block for better accuracy.

Stars and Baskets Off to be Quilted

Remember my Stars and Baskets Quilt?  I had not gotten around to having it quilted, and when I decided that it would be next in the queue, I had second thoughts about its size.  Without borders it was coverlet size, about 76" square.  I really wanted something that would cover the entire top of the mattress, plus drape over a bit.

My problem was that the fabric collection I used for the quilt "Collection for a Cause Mill Brook 1892" was released back in 2015.  Four years ago.  I really wanted to match one of the prints in the line in the border for some cohesiveness.  I did a Google search, and I was thrilled to see that several people were selling pieces from the line on Etsy.  In the past I have had really good luck finding older fabric lines from that source.

I ordered my border fabric and got it sewn on this week, and mailed off to my quilter yesterday.

Next question is how should this be quilted?  I can't afford custom quilting, so it has to be an all over design.  Any of you long arm quilters out there have a suggestion?  If I chose some sort of quilting design that had stars in it, do you think that would be too much?  I was thinking something swirly, with a star every now and then.

I have been obsessed with sewing this week, so expect some quilty posts coming up.  I am trying out and comparing a couple of different Pineapple Block rulers, so stay tuned.

On another subject, readers have reminded me recently of several really good recipes that I had posted over the past number of years, that I had completely forgotten about.  I am going to be adding a "Recipes" search button on the sidebar, to make finding my shared recipes a bit easier.  I don't know if I can add in past recipes, but you can count on all future recipes to be searchable.  Next week I have a couple of cake recipes to share, which I know you will love.

Chicken Noodle Casserole

When I posted my Twelfth Anniversary post last week, a sweet reader named Jody emailed me that she has been following me for years and that my recipe for Chicken Noodle Casserole was a big hit with her family and that she is still making it.

I stared at her email for about five minutes trying to recall a recipe I had for Chicken Noodle Casserole.  It was vaguely familiar, but I was at a loss.  How could I have forgotten anything so delicious?  So important?  I had no clue where that recipe was.  And it sounded really good.  And I wanted to make it right now.

I even had a follow up email from Barbara Anne, asking could she have that recipe.  Now I was on the hot seat.  And I really wanted that recipe so I could make it.  I started searching through my cookbooks, and searching through my recipe cards to no avail.  Years ago I had a little binder with recipes in it, going way back.  Like back to the 70s.  The binder fell apart, and it got tossed.  I thought I re-coped all my best recipes from it, but apparently some may have been left out.

I did some online research and found this recipe from Taste of Home that sounded like something I would make.  I have honestly never had one of their recipes fail.  I printed it out and made the casserole, and I have to tell you...it was good! 

Now, only Jody can tell us if this is similar to the original recipe I posted years back.  But even if it is completely different, I think it is a keeper.

Thank You

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who commented on my Twelfth Anniversary post.  It has been so rewarding to have you follow along on my journey these past years and I hope we can continue our relationship for many more.  I love sharing my love of quilting, family tidbits, decorating, books and recipes with you.

Speaking of which, I have a recipe that I hope you might enjoy.  It has been so rainy, stormy and windy this month that I have turned  more often than not to filling, nourishing soups and stews that leave me feeling all cozy inside.  This recipe for Beef Barley soup is one of them.  Bon appetit!

Beef Barley Soup

1 pound beef stew meat, cut into small chunks, and dredged in flour and Lawry's Seasoning Salt
olive oil 
1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
1/2 half onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 32 oz box Swanson's Beef Broth, low sodium
1/2 c uncooked barley
1 tsp fresh thyme, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Season beef in flour and Lawry's Seasoning Salt.  Brown in 1 T. olive oil.  When nicely browned, remove from pan.  In remaining oil, add mushrooms, onion, carrots and saute until softened.  Add more olive oil if necessary.  Sprinkle with a bit more flour if desired, to thicken ( no more than 1 T.).  When veggies are softened, add box of broth, reserved beef, barley and thyme.  Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 30-40 minutes, until thickened and barley is cooked through.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add more broth if you like.  Serves 4 generously.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Dreaming of drier and warmer days here.