Sister's Choice Quilts

Twelve Years

February 12 was the anniversary of my very first blog post.  A kind reader, Pam, pointed it out to me and I thought at first that she must be wrong.  No, it could not be possible that I have been blogging for that long.  Maybe ten years, but certainly not....And then I checked, and sure enough friends, Sister's Choice Quilts was launched on February 12, 2007.

I started this blog for several reasons, mainly because I love to write, and second because I wanted a record of my quilting journey, and third, because I was in the hope of meeting more like minded people with whom I could share my love of quilting.  

The quilt pictured above was featured in my very first post.  It was made on a quilting retreat and I named it Blogging Friendship.  It was my first and last Mystery Quilt! I featured the quilt in a giveaway in 2008, and  Susan from Blackberry Creek Home Arts was the winner.  Susan is still blogging as well, so you should go say hi.  I know she'd love that.

So many things have changed since that first post twelve years ago.  Blogging was in it's heyday back then, and I had been inspired by several bloggers who unfortunately, no longer post.  I had several cyber friends with whom I would exchange long quilt/fabric related emails.  We provided mutual support and also joked that we were "enablers" who caused one another to buy way more fabric than was necessary. We even met up in person on several occasions!  That was such fun.  People do Instagram more now I guess, and blogs seem to be out of fashion.  Quilt shops and quilt shop hops were a big deal in those days as well, and there were many opportunities to shop in person and even get together at shops and sew with friends. Now quilt shops seem to be few and far between, victims of the economy and the ease of internet shopping. The shop that sponsored the retreat where I made the Mystery Quilt is no longer in business. 

When I introduced myself in that first post, I explained that I had named my blog Sister's Choice Quilts in honor of my four sisters.  Now, sadly, I only have three sisters.  I also said in my first post that I hoped to meet more quilters and make some new friends.  That goal has been met in a way that has far exceeded my expectations.  People have come and gone over the years, but I still get comments and appreciate every single one of them.  The greatest blessing in this twelve year adventure has been the interaction I have had with lovely, quilt loving women.

Whether you are a long time follower of this blog, or if you just discovered me by accident recently, I thank you with all my heart for visiting and giving me a chance to express myself.

2018- Quilting Year in Review- July through December

The second half of 2018 definitely showed a slow down in productivity.  I spend a lot of time with my grand daughter Eva in the summer, and we also had a major trip, plus there were all those holidays...

July

Aurora

August

Maple Leaves

Halloween Logs and Geese

September

Baby Quilt

October

Blackbirds and Stars

November

Christmas Pines

Three Trees

Drunken Frenchmen

Red and White Sampler

That is a good one to end with I think.  I didn't do much sewing in December, other than about two dozen microwave bowl cozies.  

2018 was an excellent year for me, without a doubt my most prolific ever.  I think I need to slow down a bit more in 2019.  I feel as if I was in a bit of a fever to get things done last year.  I want to savor the process more in 2019.

2018- Quilting Year In Review- January through June

I had a great year of quilting in 2018.  It was my first year of being completely retired since I was about 15 years old, so I had a lot of time for sewing.  I made 9 full sized quilts and 19 mini quilts.  I am working on a sidebar which lists the quilts with more details.  Here is what I accomplished in the first half of the year:

January

Triangle Gatherings

Loose Change

Barn Stars

Tiny Town

February

Raspberry Cocoa

Scarlet Stars

Run Around

Courthouse Steps

Pinwheel Puzzle

Luck o' the Irish

March

Pie Birds

State Fair

April

Double Nine Patch

Endearments

Windmills

May

Liberty Road

Leftovers

June

Faithful

Recess

 

 

A Baby Quilt

This is a baby quilt my daughter Sara made.  I helped her finish it up (binding), but it is her creation from start to finish.  She used a couple of charm packs of an older collection of American Jane fabrics and some good quality muslin to frame the squares and make the lattice.

When we presented it to the Mom To Be, she seemed thrilled.

The party had a Harry Potter theme, and the decorations were so darn cute.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was socializing with my friends and never got out my camera!  The mom to be thinks the Sorting Hat would have put her in Hufflepuff House, so the room was decorated in black and yellow, the Hufflepuff colors.

Just look at these adorable cookies. Some people are so clever!

The expectant mommy is Eva's step sister, so she was given certain responsibilities at the shower, as you can see.  There she is, passing out party favors as people leave the event.

Hope you all had a nice weekend-it was Labor Day for us in the States, so Monday was a holiday for us.  We've been busy organizing things for our visit to Ireland!

Double Nine Patch Comes Home

This is another favorite spot for me to sit.  Not so much in the heat of the day, but it sure is lovely early in the morning or in the evening.  On the love seat you can see my new Double Nine Patch quilt.  Gosh, it certainly did surprise me, how much I love that quilt!  For the last fifteen years or so I haven't decorated much with blues, but I am thinking that may need to change.

This is another shot of the quilt, a bit closer in:

Doesn't the variety of tones of the background fabrics add textural interest?  Something to keep in mind.  The fabrics were mostly from a kit I purchased some years back and never used.  I pulled them out for this project and they were perfect.

Here is a close up of the quilting.  It is a simple all over/edge to edge design, but it suits the quilt I think.  The swirly design is a nice counterpoint to the squares in the piecing.  Honestly, most of the time I am happy not to pay for custom quilting.  How about you?  Do you spring for the custom job once in a while or do you mostly stick to all over digital designs?

Happy 4th of July everyone!  And belated Happy Canada Day too.

Back From the Quilter

This sweet little quilt is back from the quilter already.  I have to say I just love it.  I hope to get it trimmed up and bound before i leave on vacation this weekend.

My posting will be sporadic the next week or so.  My son is coming from Ireland for a visit, and we are whisking him away to Lake Tahoe for most of the time he is out here.  I will try to post a picture or two every day.

If Ozzie had a brain, he would be excited too.  We have lined up a pet/house sitter we have had a few times before, and he just loves this gal.  She does things with him.  They go on walks, she takes him on outings and car rides, and in general, he has a vacation like experience himself while we are away.  She is terrific, frequently sending us photos of him relaxing or hanging out with her, so we can see with our own eyes that he is a happy camper.

Hope you are all having a great week!  More when I can.

Courthouse Steps is Finish

Courthouse Steps is finally a finish.  This quilt has been at least a year in the making.  I started out strong, then put the project away, and only brought it back out in the New Year.  This is my year to Use It Up, so the quilt is made entirely of scraps from my stash of reproduction fabrics.  There is a lot of Jo Morton represented in the fabrics, as well as Rene Nanneman, Pam Buda, Paula Barnes, Barbara Brackman, Judy Rothermel.  All my favorite designers of Civil War reproduction fabrics over the years.  True confessions:  this barely made a dent in my stash. Sigh.

Even though my fabric choices are all repros, don't you agree that the quilt has a modern feel to it?

The quilt has 81 8 1/2 inch blocks, set nine across and nine down.  1377 pieces.  The measurement is 72 x 72,  a good size for a quilt.  Believe me, I could have kept going, and made this as big as a circus tent.  I have three gallon size zip lock bags of strips left over!

I used Creative Grids 6 inch Log Cabin Trim Tool to make the blocks, and used an 8 1/2 inch ruler to trim the final round of strips.  Each block took quite awhile, since I was very particular about what colors to put in each block and how the blocks played with each other.  It took as long to pick the five fabrics for each block as it did to sew them I think!  I also ended up replacing the outside strip on about a dozen blocks to achieve the more overall gold look I wanted.  If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the fabrics I used more clearly.

How do you think I should have this quilted?  I am not real good at picking out quilting designs, but I have a new quilter and need to give her some suggestions as to what I like.  I've been choosing a design called Baptist Clams (silly name), which is kind of a cross between Clam Shell and Baptist Fans.  I am thinking an allover design that has some curve to it would compliment the angularity of the blocks.  All suggestions welcome. 

Triangle Gatherings, First Finish of 2018!

Drumroll please...I am so proud to present my first finish of 2018.  This is Triangle Gatherings 2017, a year long project hosted by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings.  I thoroughly enjoyed this year long saga, and want to thank Lisa for her generosity in hosting the sew along and providing the many different block settings.  Each week Lisa provided one or more block settings, for a total of 98 different ways to arrange those 16 half square triangles!  All 98 of the blocks Lisa provided are currently available on her website.  

  For the size quilt I wanted, I stopped with 61 blocks.  I chose to make 1 inch half square triangles, and used triangle papers to achieve uniformity in size.  My sixteen half square triangles measured 4 1/2" when sewn together.  I surrounded each of my 4 1/2" triangle square blocks with star points to frame and set them off, for a finished block size of 6".  I set the blocks diagonally and added setting triangles.   Finally, I added a 3 inch outer border to make the blocks "float".  The quilt measures about 74"  finished.

So, woo hoo, my first finish of the year!  And my design wall is now cleared off for new projects, and I have something new up on it already.

Hope you all had a great weekend, and I look forward to sharing my next project with all of you.

 

2017-Quilting Year in Review

 I thought I'd look back at the quilts I completed in 2017 and share.  There are more quilts in the parade than usual for me, mainly because I focused more on making smaller quilts.  I intend to continue with this habit, as there is a limit to the number of full sized quilts I can use.  In 2017 I made four full sized quilts and 20 minis.  There are details as to pattern, fabric used and size in my " 2017 Finishes" album in the side bar if you'd like more information.

Penny Pincher

Buzz Saw

Stars and Baskets

1000 Pyramids

Reveille in Blues

Valentine Square in a Square

Green Roundabout

Mite

Joy Luck

Mini Oak Patch

Halloween Log Cabin

Skull

Rhubarb Crisp

Gingersnap

Simple Folk

Christmas Township

Grandmother's Album

Scrappy Pineapple

Mon Ami

Farmstead Game Board

Scarlet Stars

Blue Township

What Took Me So Long?

Honestly.  I wish I had purchased a Bernina 440 Quilter's Edition years ago.  This is a fabulous sewing machine.  I love my Bernina 153, and it has been a really reliable workhorse.  For 19 years.  But everything about the 440 is an upgrade.  I spent all weekend sewing on it, and I just can't tell you how amazing and awesome it is.  If you get a chance to purchase a refurbished one (they are no longer being made), I recommend you jump on it.

I quilted my little Countdown to Christmas table topper on it, and was so pleased with the results.  It just sews like a dream.  In fact, I was so excited about this little project, I made another one.

One for Sara, one for me.  This pattern is called Township and is a Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. offering, through Moda.  I am pretty sure I downloaded it from the Moda Cutting Table Blog website.  Why yes, I did: click here for the link.  Awesome little pattern.

Hope you all had a great weekend!  Mine was pretty perfect.  I spent Saturday morning playing games and doing art projects with Eva and the rest of the time sewing on the QE440.  I recently "retired" from working, so I plan to have a lot more time pursuing both of those activities!  

Update on the currently missing in action Bernina 740:  it made it to the Illinois Bernina USA headquarters and is being looked after by the extremely knowledgeable Bernina repair technicians.  Everything is under warranty and most likely the lower electronics brains will be replaced.  Still no idea just when I might be seeing it again.  But, I am so pleasantly distracted with my new toy, I am not missing it at all right now!