Sister's Choice Quilts

Spooky and Sweet Project

How cute is this Spooky and Sweet Halloween project? Fat Quarter Shop offers it as a free pattern and also has YouTube tutorials on how to make it. I did make some modifications to their pattern. Mainly, I added rounded off eyes and rosy cheeks, and used a couple of blocks from the panel that comes with the Hey Boo fabric collection for their "pumpkins". I also rounded off their heads for what I think is a cuter look. Oh, and added those vampire fangs! I didn't come up with these ideas myself, I saw them on @luv2quilt4u Instagram account and just figured out what she did to get this look. 

I am thinking of using my project as the center medallion in the Halloween Memories/Moonlight quilt.


I'm not 100% sure if I can make it work because it is a weird size.  I've ordered more of the pale pink background fabric to border the medallion and I will play with it to see if it will work. If it doesn't work as a center medallion, I will just use it as a Halloween wall hanging.

In other disappointing news, after a couple of days of medical testing, I have been diagnosed with macular degeneration. This condition runs in families, and my father also had it towards the end of his life. Right now it is just in my left eye, but there are signs of it potentially being an issue in the right as well at some point. This came on quite suddenly for me. At the beginning of August I noticed my vision was rather blurry. It quickly progressed over a couple of weeks, until the vision in my left eye was significantly affected. 

Fortunately, I have the type of AMD that is treatable. I got my first injection last Friday. My retina specialist was hopeful that the progress of the disease can be slowed and that I may even experience some improvement in my sight. For now, that hasn't happened, but I am optimistic.

I can still read and sew, but it is a challenge at the moment!

The doctor urged me to share with family and friends that if one notices any change in their vision (blurriness, distortion, dulling of colors) to see an ophthalmologist immediately. He also recommends a macular vitamin supplement called Areds 2 which is available over the counter. 

I am still adjusting to the news, but am determined to carry on as I have been.

New Pressing Tool

I wanted to share a new pressing tool that I got recently that has revolutionized my open-seam pressing game. This is called the 12" Wooly Pressing Bar, and so far, to me, it is worth the $30 price tag. 


This is the inside anatomy of the pressing bar. It is a curved piece of wood covered in wool that has been attached to a wooden base. The curved shape of it is perfect for pressing seams open. Honestly, it works so much better than pressing on a flat surface. 


12" is about the largest size block I typically make, and this pressing bar easily accommodates that size. Here I am pressing the 12" Designer Mystery 2012 Block 5. These longer seams have always been a challenge for me to press nicely, and this pressing bar makes it easy. My blocks turn out so flat.


Here I am pressing a 7 1/2" block. Something about the curve of the bar makes the seam cooperate and open up and press nice and flat. 


I like to flip it over and press the right side as well. See how flat and nice the seam lies?


I love how my blocks are turning out. 

I've been working on my little Vampire ghost for the Spooky and Sweet Halloween wall hanging. I've had some challenges trying to adapt the block the way I want it to look, but I'm getting there. Hope to show you my completed project in my next post. My plan is to use it as a center medallion for a larger quilt I am making. Hopefully I can make that work. 




Thanks for your encouraging words yesterday regarding my medical issues. I am having some vision problems and hope to get some answers soon.

Have a great weekend everyone. To those of you in the US, it's Labor Day weekend, so may your barbeques be fabulous!

 

Bring On the Fall Decorations

Not much sewing going on this week. I need some medical tests and procedures, so we've been traveling to the Bay Area to see doctors. Hopefully, I can get sorted out quickly and get back to my sewing. At least we found a pet-friendly hotel, so when we stay over Archie can be with us. He is not a fan of being boarded.

Anyway, I decided to cheer myself up and bring out some of the early fall decorations yesterday. The top photo is my dining room table. I love that acorn pattern. It is Acorn Love by Lori Holt.

This is my coffee table, showing Sunflower Duet, a pattern by Kansas Trouble's Lynn Hagemeier. It is a design  I found in a book called The Big Book of Table Toppers.

This little table topper is called the Buffalo Check Table Topper by Carried Away Designs. There is a Christmas one I've been wanting to make in red in green with presents where the pumpkins are. Adorable. Ignore my messy kitchen counters in the background. I had to dust before switching everything out.

This fall leaves table runner was made with batiks in my stash. The runner is from the Maple Leaf pattern by the Pattern Basket. I did change things up and made it a custom size. I like to use it on the dining table at Thanksgiving. Here is a picture from a year or so ago. Isn't the quilting stunning?

A smaller runner works well on my kitchen island.

Sunflowers go especially well with this little topper. The pattern is called Corn and Beans. Can't find the pattern at this point nor recall who designed it. Sorry! It is basically the corn and beans quilt block surrounded by flying geese and a couple of narrow borders. It was fast and easy and ended up about 18" square.


This is a little dried arrangement I made some years ago that I love to bring out in the fall. It's got a little quail sitting in the middle of it, can you spot him?

I've got loads more fall and Halloween runners I can (and will) bring out, but that's it for the time being. 

Hope your week is going better than mine is...

 

Idea to Combine Two Quilts

Thanks for all your suggestions on what I should do with my Piece and Quilt blocks. I am pretty discouraged with that project and do not feel the excitement and joy I did when I started it. I have decided to put it away for now. I will do something with some of those blocks and I know I have loads of that fabric collection to use in a future project. 

So, onward.

I have what I think is a good idea for another project. You all know I have been working on a free Fat Quarter Shop pattern called Spooky and Sweet with the Hey Boo collection. It makes a 30 x 34" inch wall quilt. However, I have an idea to use it as a center medallion for the Halloween Memories/Moonlight quilt, also made with Hey Boo fabric. 

I still need to make the little vampire ghost and finish the Spooky and Sweet project. I have it up on the design wall with the Halloween Memories blocks I've made so far and love the way they all look together. The Halloween Memories quilt has an alternate block that is an hourglass. I will make a few of those and see how it all looks together.

Anyway, I am excited to work on something "Halloweeny" going into September and October.

 

Re-Doing Blocks

AFTER

I didn't do a lot of sewing over the weekend. I was reading some really engrossing books and found that all I wanted to do was sit outside on the back porch and read. I can't wait to tell you about them!

Last Friday, I returned to the Piece and Quilt project, because I was anxious to finish up the August blocks before we moved on to September. If you recall, I was not happy with the blocks on the right-hand side of the quilt.

BEFORE

This is the photo I showed last week. I was not happy with the busy prints in the blocks on the right side of the quilt. So I re-made them. Take a look at the photo at the top of the blog and see if you think the fabric selection is better. I decided the entire block on the upper right corner was a miss for me, so I substituted another block I liked better. 

I am happier with the results of the re-make, but I am beginning to lose my love for this project. I will tell you why. I picked a beautiful fabric collection to work with, Old Glory by Lella Boutique. Its colorway is red, medium blue and grey. That really isn't enough colors for this quilting project. When you have more colors to work with in a scrappy sampler quilt, block placement is much simpler. With a limited palette, you find that you get the same colors next to each other, and that isn't ideal. I can't be re-making blocks every now and then, what a waste of fabric. 

The thing with this quilt is, you make the multi-sized blocks in a sequence and you place them in order in rows as the pattern specifies. It is difficult to be switching the blocks around to suit your color aesthetic because they may not fit in the place you would like them to go. You really have to plan ahead or you will end up re-making blocks. 

I'll keep going for now, but I sure wish I had chosen a collection that had five or more colorways. It would be so much easier for block placement. If I am still unhappy at the end of September, I may have to put this project away. 

I am planning to get back to my Halloween Memories project next week. I've got more good books lined up to start, so I must manage my time well.

Catching Up on Piece and Quilt Blocks and Red Sampler Quilted

I thought it was time to get back to my August Piece and Quilt blocks while it is still August. I am quite happy with these two blocks. The red one is Maple Leaf and the blue and grey one is Texas Puzzle.

I've laid the blocks out as they will be positioned in the quilt top. The top two rows could even be sewn together now. However, I do not care for what is happening on the right-hand side of this top. Too many messy prints all close together. I am going to have to remake all of those with the busy-looking prints. The fabrics that read "solid" are much much better in this project. 

This is a tricky quilt to make because as you make the blocks you have to consider the colors and prints you are using and what they will be next to. I've been mindful in my placement of the red and blue colored blocks, but those busy prints are going to have to go.


In better news, I got my Red Sampler quilt back from my quilter! I love this quilt. She used a design called Ginger Snap, which I have used many times.


Here is a close up of the quilting. I worked on this quilt for many months and I am so happy to have it quilted. Now for the binding. Wonder how long I can put off doing that?

In other news, Sara and I have a new book podcast episode up. Just click on the top Reeding Between the Lines emblem to the right and you will be taken to Apple Podcasts. The episode is called "Dark Academia Books You Just Gotta Read".

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Let's Make Some Moonlight Blocks

I jumped right in and got six blocks made for the Halloween Memories sew-along. I am getting into the swing of it and am having fun so far. It took as long to get organized as it will to make the blocks. Just kidding, sorta. I am getting faster at it. I grab one of my baggies containing the block units and can assemble one in less than a half hour. Having a really good audio book is a must for this kind of sewing.

In my photo above, the black lattices really stand out, but there will be an hour glass alternate block that will separate all the blocks, so I don't think that will be so prominent once the top is together. 

A couple of you have mentioned in the comments that you don't really want another Halloween quilt, and I get that completely. I'm not sure I want another Halloween quilt but here I am. Anyway, I wanted to direct you to the Jolly Jabber blog, where Fat Quarter Shop is showing seven quilts for this project made with non-Halloween fabrics. Go check it out. There is a gorgeous blue and white version, made with Primitive Gatherings new collection, as well as a lot of other great ideas. 

New Project: Halloween Memories, Moonlight

Well, I don't know what I was thinking. I have a lot of works in progress and UFOs at the moment, so starting in on a complicated new project doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I even had to purchase a bunch of fabric for this one, which is even more impulsive. But, here I am, and you can watch me sink or swim.

The new project is from Susan Ache and Lissa Alexander's new book "Halloween Memories". The quilt is called "Moonlight". Fat Quarter Shop says they will be blogging about it on the shop's Jolly Jabber blog, and there was a post yesterday morning.

This quilt calls for a heck of a lot of fabric. It is a one block quilt and the idea is to have the colorful star and the dark lattice all be scrappy and in a gazillion different fabrics. The block background fabrics are supposed to be all different as well. Since there are 32 blocks in this quilt, I thought having 32 different colored blocks, 32 different blacks for the lattices, and 32 different backgrounds was just nuts. I have a great stash to pull from, but even for me, that's excessive. 

I had a fat eighth bundle of Lella Boutique's Hey Boo. I bought one background for the whole quilt, and additional fabric for an alternate hourglass block, and a couple of borders. A lot of fabric for a quilt that is 63' X 77". A lot of fabric.

I made a test block and as you can see, it is pretty darn cute. Those dark lattice strips are only 1" wide, so that is kind of a pain, but the final look is cool. I would not say this is a quilt for a beginner. Each block is made up of four half-square triangles, four flying geese, a square in a square block, and the lattice strips and posts. The pieces are not large, and you do have to really pay attention to your quarter-inch seam allowance on those lattices. 

In my opinion, the only way I can see making this quilt is to cut everything out in advance, put the pieces for each block in a sandwich baggie to have ready when you have time to sew a block. So, cutting and organizing is what I did yesterday. And I did not finish. It's a lot of cutting and a lot of prep work.

I managed to put together 9 packets (out of 16 total), each will make two blocks of the same fabric. I made my half-square triangle papers ahead, but didn't trim them. I have my square in a square papers in the baggie along with the fabric to make them. I also want to do 4 at a time flying geese, and have the squares all cut out for that. Basically when I sit down to make a block or two, everything is ready to go in those little sandwich bags. 

This is actually a great project for a quilting retreat. If you plan ahead like this for your sewing, once at the retreat you don't have to think. Just pull out your baggie and keep on visiting with your quilting pals while you sew. 

There are a lot of Instagrammers who are participating in this sew-along, and Fat Quarter Shop lists them and their Instagram names so you can follow along. Are any of you making this project?

Spooky and Sweet Witchy Little Ghost

Isn't she cute? This is the first block in the Spooky and Sweet Halloween Mystery sew along Fat Quarter Shop did a month or so ago. I like to know how my mystery projects end up before I plunge in and I thought this was a pretty fun Halloween project. 

I have to tell you though, I made this little block a heck of a lot harder than the FQS version. In their block, the head is a square, the shoulders aren't rounded, the eyes are plain rectangles and there are no pink cheeks. To achieve the effect I did, which I think is way cuter, you have to add flip and sew squares (really tiny ones) to the head, shoulders, eyes, mouth and cheeks. It was very fiddly, and took a l.o.n.g time. 

Plus when I thought I was finished I realized I hadn't added the little orange fingers or the shoulders. So I had to take it apart and add those. It took me hours. 

The idea to soften up those sharp angles wasn't mine. I got it from an Instagrammer Lisa @LUV2quilt4U
The fabric is Hey Boo by Lella Boutique, probably the most adorable Halloween fabric ever. I bought a lot of it, so you will be seeing at least one other project where I use it. That will be a one block quilt from Susan Ache's new book Halloween Memories. They are calling it Moonlight Quilt. More info is on the Fat Quarter Shop.

It was a day for puttering yesterday. I am on a roll with the Designer Mystery 2012 blocks and got Block 3 made. These blocks aren't hard and the pieces are big, so they go together fast. How funny is this? My friend Lisa said she just bought the kit from a friend who had never started it and she will be working on the blocks too. Twelve years later and Lisa and I still are on the same wave length! I have no idea how I'll set my blocks, so I will be following her closely.


You must admit those colors are gorgeous. Oh my gosh, that red. 

Hope your week got off to a great start!

 

 

Designer Mystery 2023 Finished---On To Something Else!

Designer Mystery 2023 is finished. Honestly, it took hours to get all the borders on this quilt, and I felt like I was wrestling with a circus tent the whole time, but I got it done. I think those large blue areas will be pretty when they are quilted. I have the quilt turned sideways so there is more of an overhang on the sides, which works best in my opinion. 

Now I just want to put it away and not think about it for a while. I am so happy to move on to some other project! Definitely not one this big!

I am thinking of making the Fat Quarter Shop Spooky and Sweet Halloween mystery wall hanging/table topper. My fabric is all starched and ready to go. I plan on making a few modifications to the pattern, which I will share as I get to them. I actually may need your advice on how to go about them. I want to round out the shape of the characters' eyes and heads, which I should be able to do with easy flip and sew corners, right?


This weekend I was on a step stool rummaging in a closet and found a tub with the Designer Mystery block of the month quilt from 2012 if you can believe it. I had made two blocks, but that was back in the day when I didn't starch my fabric, so the blocks seem flimsy and floppy and not very well made.  Being a FQS project, there is plenty of fabric to remake the blocks, so I remade one of them. If I do make these 12 blocks, I will set them simply (I didn't buy the finishing kit apparently), so the quilt shouldn't be too large. 

The fabric is an ancient Bonnie and Camille collection called Vintage Modern. The blocks are sweet and very cheerful. I can't believe all the money I have spent on these block-of-the-month kits which I have not finished. It is pretty ridiculous, really. I aspire to do better. 

Blocks one and two. I remade #2.

Hope you all had a a great weekend!