Sister's Choice Quilts

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!

Plain Folk

This little quilt is a Kim Diehl design called Simple Folk.  It finishes at 18 1/2 inches and was made entirely on the Singer Featherweight.  The blocks start out with 2 1/2" pinwheel blocks, which form the center of log cabin blocks.  
The blocks finish at 6 1/2".

It has kind of a homey/folksy feel.  I love how these tiny quilts look when tucked into a basket or with a candle sitting on it.   It was fun to make, and I am all primed to make a few more small projects while I wait for a working grown up sewing machine.  Which could be weeks from now.  But that's ok.  My little Featherweight is being a champ.

I had a little stack of green and red fabrics I thought would be adorable for a Christmassy table topper.  I had just the collection of inspirational patterns to choose from, except....Except my books have gone missing.  I had Jo's Little Favorites, Jo's Little Favorites II and Simple Friendships by Kim Diehl and Jo Morton and now I can't find them anywhere.  Last time I saw them was when the housecleaners were here on November 2.  I vaguely recall putting them away so my table surfaces would be clear for dusting, and they have completely disappeared.  I swear I looked for them for an hour yesterday.  I feel like I am losing my marbles.   Arghhh.

Mini Oak Patch Quilt

This is my completed Oak Patch variation quilt.  The pattern is by Kim Diehl from the book Simple Friendships, a collaboration by Kim and Jo Morton.  I recommend the book, which has recently been published.  It is full of patterns I would love to make, not all of them involving appliqué.

I wish I didn't have to quilt it myself, but I suppose I will have to give it a try if I want to use this little quilt this fall season.  

In yesterday's post I mentioned using the Block Loc Strip Set ruler to make my strip sets for the nine patches.  Here are some close up photos of that tool:

Notice the intersecting frosted lines?  The underside of those lines is grooved, so it fits snuggly along your seam line.  You can line your strip sets up against it, and every cut is perfectly accurate.  You rarely have to stop and make a straightening cut to even up the strip.  It works for any size strip you want to cut.

These Bloc Loc tools are quite pricey, but if you acquire them over time, they become an investment you will appreciate and use frequently.  I had a gift certificate that I received for my birthday and put it toward this ruler, and have been quite happy to have it in my collection.

Hope you are all having a great week!

This and That

Paddle Boats from "Best of Black Mountain", a Teri Christopherson pattern circa 2002.

My six year old grand daughter is holding up this little quilt while I take a picture.  She is holding a big piece of French bread in her mouth , which you cannot see, but she had to do something with it while her hands were occupied holding the quilt so I could take a picture.

Her daddy, my former (but always in my heart) son in law has this quilt in his house, and puts it out seasonally in the summer due to its red white and blue color scheme.  I had totally forgotten about it, but when I saw it on his couch I had to snap a picture  He had invited me over for spaghetti (we live practically in the same neighborhood), and there it was.  I think I need to re-make this quilt, only doing one "block".  The surrounds are awesome.  I love that saw tooth border around the block and the border.  Would that not make the most gorgeous table topper if done smaller, i.e. one block?  I think I'd bring that white border a bit narrower.  Hmmm.  Something to think about.

Anyway, a quilt made 15 years ago is still being enjoyed and going strong.

So, here's a cute story.  Eva and I were stuck at the house most of the day yesterday waiting for a new 'Wine Fridge" to be delivered.  Our old one died, and Denny ordered a new one.  Eva and I played every card game she owns, she watched the latest Smurf movie three times, and finally after 3:00 when the darn fridge was delivered, I took her over to our community pool for a break.  When we got there around 3:30 we had the place to ourselves, but people soon started arriving en masse.  It turns out, there was some organized event going on at the pool, which we knew nothing about, but my Eva joined right in.  A couple of terribly cute teenaged boys were in charge of organizing activities for the 4-6 year olds, and Eva felt quite at home joining right in.

There seemed to be mostly boys there, and she quickly made friends with a rather loud mouthed, yellow goggles wearing young man of five named "Jack".  In the photo above, she is enthusiastically rooting for her new best friend as he participates in a relay race.  I seem to recall she is shouting "Go Jack!".

And, here is Eva, about to win the relay race.  Against all those boys.

Next up, there was some kind of competition to toss yellow beach balls through hula hoops.  She did really well at that too. (Do you notice her competition seems to be all boys?)  No one seemed to notice or care.   Here she is, diving into the arms of one of the adorable teenaged organizers.

At any rate, we completely horned in on whatever this event may have been, and Eva had the time of her life.  

We left after two hours, and I took her home to her Daddy for a spaghetti dinner.  By 7:10 she was asking me to tuck her into bed, which is pretty much unheard of.  I still have no clue what party we crashed, but Eva won the relay race and had a great time with all those boys.  Those organizers are probably wondering who in the world that little girl was about now.

Bye Bye Bounce

It took me awhile, but I did get the final border on my Halloween Bounce quilt top and am sending it off to my amazing quilter this week.  

Last year was the year of me sending quilts off to be quilted that I intended to gift to family members, but this year I am taking care of my own unquilted tops.  Time for some new quilts around here.

I love the colors used in my version of "Bounce", a Miss Rosie pattern.  They are mostly Civil War Reproduction fabrics, but I deliberately chose prints that had a brighter hue.  I have orange, gold, green, black and purple.  I absolutely love an excuse to use both black and purple in a quilt.   If you look closely, you can see there are actually two different sizes of stars in the quilt.  And that border....isn't it the best?  It really "makes" the quilt.

This quilt looks like an end of summer/early fall quilt, and I know I will enjoy using it from the moment I get it back from the quilter.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!