Sister's Choice Quilts

First Flake Quilt Top Finished for January

First Flake is finished!  I am happy to have had the experience of making this fun and easy strip-pieced quilt.  The pattern was purchased by me as a pdf download from an Etsy seller.  I was inspired by Thelma's red and white version and will be excited to add this to my January/Winter decor.  It is a pretty small quilt (58 x 58"), so I will probably hang it from my upstairs balcony where it can be seen from downstairs.

In other news, I have brought out all my Moda Blockheads 1 blocks and laid them out on my design wall.  And guess what?  I have an idea for a layout that I am super excited about.  But...I need more blocks.  So I had another brilliant idea (the second this month) to make the six inch size of the current Blockheads weekly blocks and add them to the BH1 blocks until I have enough.  How about that?

Goodness I am loving this sew along.

My Year in Quilts: 2019

I will be the first to admit this was an "off-year" for me as far as quilting was concerned.  Recently, my daughter Sara was asking me why I was relatively unproductive in 2019, and I had to give it some thought before I answered her.  I think there were several main reasons.  First, I was really focused on my reading in 2019, and that took up a lot of my free time.  Second, I was not that enamored of the fabric collections that were released last year.  Sure there were some that were gorgeous, but not nearly as many captured my attention as usual. Third, I have such a surplus of quilts from my forty years of quilting, that it is hard to justify making more bed-sized quilts.  Storage is becoming a real issue.  I have some ideas to address this problem, but I will share that later.  Here is what I did manage to accomplish in 2019:

This quilt is called Signs of String.  I finished it in Feb. 2019.  The pattern and fabric are both by designer Linzee McCray.  The blocks required paper piecing which I did enjoy.  Otherwise, I am not in love with this quilt.  It was time-consuming, took a ton of fabric (lots wasted) and was tiresome to construct.  And the colors are not my thing.  

In January, I am always craving the calmness a blue and white quilt gives me.  I made this little table topper with leftover scraps of Primitive Gatherings blues.  I made 3" finished square in a square blocks, which I trimmed to size with my Creative Grids Square in a Square trim tool ruler.  The quilt measures 17" x 26".

This little table runner was a Fatquartershop Sew Along called Threadology I believe.  It is basically an Ohio Star block in two sizes flanked by flying geese units.  I used Fig Tree fabrics from my stash.  I like it and used it during February.

This Green Pineapple quilt was an experiment with the Creative Grids Pineapple ruler.  I used lime green fabrics from my stash and had fun using the ruler. I love the colors for March.  I do enjoy the complex looking Pineapple block, but don't have the patience to make an entire quilt out of them.  I do have some red pineapple blocks in my UFO bin, so I may have to eat those words one day!

This s a Fig Tree pattern called Sweet Clover, which I adapted to make a table runner.  I used Fig Tree scraps from the stash bin.  The colors are soothing and subtle, and perfect for spring.  The quilting design really pops on this one.

This pattern is called Fat Quarter Flourish by Carried Away Quilting.  I used fabrics by Sherri and Chelsi.  Love how crisp and summery this turned out.  It features the same quilting pattern as the Sweet Clover quilt.

This little quilt is called Corn and Beans.  Lots of flying geese, and the colors are perfect for late summer.  I plan to put a vase of sunflowers on this one.

This is probably my favorite quilt of 2019.  It is called Sweet Escape, a pattern by Camille Rosskelley of Thimbleblossoms.  It was a sew along, for which I (mostly) used the Sweet Tea fabric collection by Sweetwater.  I did make my blocks smaller than the pattern called for.  Mine are 8.5" rather than 10.5".

This little nine patch table runner is made from Corey Yoder's Pepper and Flax collection.  I think it will be lovely in early spring with yellow candlesticks on my dining room table.

Here is a table runner for late summer, made entirely of leftover gold half square triangles.  I never used to be one for saving leftover trimmings, but I couldn't resist doing something with my 2 inch hsts!  

I am so happy that I finished this quilt, which has been folded up in a box for over a year.  It is Into the Wind by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  I used a fabric line called Larkspur by 3 Sisters.  It was very tricky to lay out and get the fabrics positioned to my satisfaction, but I succeeded in the end.  I also ran out of background fabric for the setting triangles.  I was able to order more, but the quilt went unfinished until this year.

I feel kind of "meh" about this little quilt.  It looks like so many that I have done in the past.  I used scraps from my stash and made churn dash blocks that finish at 3".  I was glad to work on it though, and it did ease me back into the sewing room, where I had been largely absent most of 2019. The pattern was inspired by one in the Simple Friendships II book.  I made alterations and changed the finished size.

This cute little project was my foray into working with wool, an activity I plan to continue in 2020.  The pattern is by Buttermilk Basin (By Thy Hands, January), and the wool from my wool stash.  I really like the combination of a pieced block with some appliqued wool.  Currently, I have it sitting on my fireplace hearth with a bowl of potpourri on it.

My last project for 2019 was this little blue and white quilt was a kit called Winter Snowfall by Piecing the Past.  It was a tricky block to make, with those pieced flying geese units.  I did have to unpick some of the chopped off corners and re-sew them by hand.  Once this is quilted, it will be a nice addition to my January quilts.

To re-cap, I really was not as productive in 2019 as I usually am.  When I look at what quilting I did accomplish, I am actually kind of surprised because it seemed to me that months went by when I did not even go into the sewing room!  I spent my time in 2019 doing a lot of reading, taking some fun trips and enjoying my granddaughter, so I can say I am happy over all.  In retrospect, I also see that I made quite a few projects with fabrics from my stash, and also used tools like the Creative Grids rulers to achieve good results.

In 2020, I hope to be sewing more than this past year.  I want to finish up four or five UFO projects that I started in 2019 and abandoned.   I will continue to make seasonal table toppers as well as some full-sized quilts.  

How was your quilting year?  

Bindings and Buns

I think I will be hand sewing bindings on for the next little while.  I was so provoked that I did not have enough of the dark green border fabric for the binding on the Corn and Beans quilt.  It was a little kit, and you would think they would have included that fabric in it, but they didn't.  Or if they did include it, I misplaced it, which is entirely possible.  At any rate, I had to "make do" with what I had on hand, and I am not really happy with it.  I made it really narrow, so with luck, it won't stand out too much.

Do you remember a few months back I was complaining that I was very disorganized with keeping track of my binding fabrics?  You all gave me lots of great advice, including the suggestion that I cut and press the binding strips the minute I finish a quilt top so it will be all ready to go when the quilt gets back from being quilted.  I am still not that organized, but I do have a system.  I dug out a little storage basket and as I finish a quilt top I put the required fabric for the binding right into that basket.  All my future bindings are right there all together waiting for when I need them.  At least I am not losing my binding fabric or heaven forbid, using it in another project.  Sometimes I have quilt tops sitting around for years before they are quilted, so in the past, there were many opportunities for the quilt and its binding fabric to go their separate ways.

This is the project I am really anxious to get back to.  Those bat blocks are nice and complex and require a bit of thought to put together.  Luckily I am only making a table runner consisting of five blocks, so there is an actual chance that this will get finished before the end of the month.  

How is your week going?  I am getting a much needed hair cut today and expect that I will be feeling like a new woman the next time I chat with you.  Honestly, it has been months since I cut my hair.  The only thing to be done with it is to put it in a bun or a ponytail.  I must make a better effort.  Honestly, I look like my Grandma Agnes, who wore her hair in a bun for 80 of her 98 years on earth.  Who knows, she could have been born with a bun.  I never saw her without it.

Quilts in the Mail

I received some quilts in the mail from my quilters yesterday and had to share with you.  They are a bit rumpled, just out of the boxes, but over the next few days I will get them pressed and trimmed and bound.  I will have another chance to take better photos of them once they are really finished.  The quilt above is Aurora, a Laundry Basket design.  My quilter custom quilted this one, and I love the circular design we chose for those large cream colored areas.  

This rectangular table runner will be so lovely on my coffee table or dining table during November.  I love the harvest gold colors and the all-over circular quilting design. This was just half-square triangles made from leftover trimmings from another quilt.

This little square one is my choice for a late summer table topper.  I can just see it on my kitchen island with a gold candle and a bunch of mini Indian corn.  The block is called "Corn and Beans" as a matter of fact!

I received one additional runner, but couldn't get a good photo of it to save my life.  The lighting in my house has been so dark lately.

I am very happy to report that the jet lag seems to be over for the most part.  I still wake up pretty early, but 5:00 AM is better than 2:00, right?

 

Dazed and Confused

Oh boy.  This quilt has been a process I tell you.  I started it one, maybe two years ago and it has had me scratching my head from the get go.  The instructions are fine.  It is just me being super confused about the diagonal layout and frustrated by my choices of fabrics.  It is supposed to be a scrappy quilt, but man, trying not to have the same prints or colors next to each other has been making me absolutely twitchy.

The pattern is gorgeous, and the instructions are pretty clear.  It is a Miss Rosie pattern called "Into the Wind", and when she was producing them herself there was admittedly more text and explanation, which I kind of miss.  However, the instructions are all there and just needed a smarter person than me to decipher them.  I took it step by step and still had a number of hiccups along the way.  I just could not seem to wrap my head around the layout.  There are also some partial blocks around the border that threw me for a loop for some reason as well.  And all those prints...well, I really tried not to get the same ones right next to each other, but it was hard.

I also ran out of light background prints and had to order more.  I packed the project away for months and months and when I dragged it out again it was like re-inventing the wheel to get back up to speed as to what I needed to do next.  Ugh.  The fabric is Larkspur by 3 Sisters by the way.  It is a kind of random assortment of pink, red, aqua and gold.  The effect from a distance is interesting, up close, I am not so sure.

i am in the final stages of sewing the rows together and will be thrilled to get this off my design wall!

 

 

Two Blue Quilts

Amidst the craziness that is beginning to define this summer, I managed to dig out two quilts that I simply must send out for quilting.  The one above I think I made ten years ago believe it or not.  Yes, time to get that baby quilted.  It is half square triangles set into stars and arranged, well, arranged the way I arranged them.  I know the fabrics are totally from my stash.

You all may remember Aurora.  Sweet little blue stars from a pattern by Laundry Basket.  This one is more recent.

I have an idea to decorate the upstairs guest room in blue and white.  I love to make blue and white quilts, but they just don't fit into the decor of the rest of my house.  How nice to have a nice blue and white oasis for guests to enjoy.  There is an antique rocker in that room that is upholstered in blue, tan and white fabric, so it will all go nicely together.

That is the plan anyway.  Between swim practice, swim meets, and various other Eva activities I need to get the backings sorted out and the quilts in the mail.  Wish me luck!

Short Line

This is just a quick post on a quilt I have been enjoying lately.  It is called Short Line, and is a pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  It was made with fabrics from various American Jane (Sandy Klop) collections, designed for Moda.  

It is a gorgeous quilt and although I have had it for nearly ten years I have never gotten tired of it.  This one is a real winner.  It was made from 1 1/2" strips of fabric-making it a great choice for honey buns.

You can also make it with larger strips (jelly rolls).  This version was made from 2 1/2" strips of French General fabrics, and made quite a large quilt.  If you can get your hands on the pattern, it is a great quilt to make in either version.

A Quilt For Her Sister

Several years ago I mentored a young friend for a year.  She was working on her senior project for high school and wanted to learn how to quilt.  She was an apt and eager student, and during the course of year, she completed several baby quilts which were donated to women in need who had infants.  

Once the senior project was finished, my young friend wanted to make a quilt for her older sister.  I gave her a bundle of fabric by Zen Chic called "Juggling Summer" and she chose a pattern she liked.  My friend finished the quilt top and it was greatly admired by everyone, and then tucked away.  Her family moved house, she started college and a job, but the quilt wasn't forgotten.  Five years passed.  The older sister has since married and moved to Georgia and had a baby of her own.  The girls talk often and more often than not, the older sister reminds my friend of the quilt she was supposed to complete and give to her.  It has become a source of sisterly teasing and frequent conversation.  "So, where's my quilt?"

At long last, with some assistance, my young friend was connected with a long arm quilter who was able to machine quilt the quilt top both speedily and brilliantly.  You see, the older sister is coming to California to visit and show off the baby in just a couple of weeks.  Just under the wire, the quilt has been quilted, but still needs to have the binding hand sewn down.   I gave my friend a lesson in hand sewing bindings and all the supplies she needs to complete the task.  She says she is up to it, but if for any reason it looks like she needs help, I am at the ready.  Big sister is going to get her quilt at last!

I Am a Slacker

I think one of the reasons I have been avoiding my sewing room is due to all the nearly finished projects that have been piling up over the past year.  I don't know what finally got me up there, but I bit the bullet this weekend and attached the binding to 9 quilts.  Yes 9.  How did that happen?

Above you see my Flag quilt and my Square in a Square quilt.  I love both of them and it is high time they went into rotation around  here.

Next up is my Pinwheel Quilt in Betsy Chutchian fabrics and my Courthouse Steps Quilt in so many of my treasured Jo Morton scraps.

Then we come to the table runners and table toppers.  The Fig Tree "Clover" runner, the  "Fat Quarter Flourish" quilt with Sherri and Chelsi fabrics, and the tiny little candle mat that looks kind of like a game board.

Lastly my green pineapple runner and my scrappy Christmas tree runner.

I can't believe I have been sitting on these for so long, but it's a great feeling to get those bindings attached at last.  Now to do the hand sewing and stitch them down.

I have some other UFOs that are making me feel guilty and those are going to be what I tackle next.  Those are a couple of large projects that I have got to complete.  It is hard to justify buying anything new when I have such a long list of things to finish.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  It was Memorial Day weekend here in the US, and we celebrated by having my sister and her husband overnight, and by visiting my daughter and son in law's restaurant.  My other son in law cooked ribs Monday night, and I was so happy to join in for those.  I never cook them for just us, so it was a real treat.  Now if it would just stop raining and the sun would come out...

Quilts Out For Quilting & Podcasts

I finally got myself in gear and sent these two little table toppers out for quilting.  I shouldn't procrastinate-the sooner they are quilted, the sooner I can use them in my spring/summer decorating.  I love the soft muted colors of the runner at the top of the picture.  It is a Fig Tree pattern called Sweet Clover, and the fabrics were older Fig Tree scraps I had in my stash.  A free quilt, right?

The smaller topper is a pattern called Fat Quarter Flourish by Carried Away Quilting.  The fabrics are from various Sherri and Chelsi collections for Moda.  Love the cheerful colors and also how the center star is in proportion to the floral motifs in the four corners.

My flying geese units are all finished and trimmed for the Corn and Beans table topper I am working on this week.  Hope to finish that up by the weekend.

While I have been stitching, I have been listening to some bookish podcasts.  Do any of you listen to podcasts?  For those of you who may be unfamiliar, a podcast is kind of a radio show you can down load to your iTunes account or to a podcast app on your phone or other device.  There are a gazillion of them out there, something for everyone's taste:  true crime, book reviews, celebrity gossip, current events, financial planning, weight loss, even quilting.  The bookish podcasts I really enjoy and follow most are "What Should I Read Next", "Currently Reading", "Book Cougars", and "One Great Book".  If you enjoy reading, you will get tons of ideas from these podcasts.

On other subjects, I have enjoyed "Pat Sloan's Quilting Podcast" for American Patchwork and Quilting, "Serial" which is an investigative journalism podcast, "Criminal" which is a totally addicting true crime podcast, and "Sorta Awesome" which deals with lifestyle and women's issues.

Do you have any favorite podcasts?  On what topics?  We'd love it if you would share in the comments!