Sister's Choice Quilts

Two Down, One to Go

I came home from seeing my father on Sunday afternoon thinking I would tear upstairs to the sewing room and get those three outer borders on this Little Village quilt. And I just couldn't. I was running on empty. The kind of empty where you just want to sit and play solitaire, or scroll mindlessly through Instagram, or watch make-up gurus on YouTube.

So, I did nothing. I may have read my book for a bit, but certainly did nothing sewing-related. Or housework related, or cooking related. And that's that. My weekend was a wrap. My dad is great, and oh, get this! He has gained almost 10 pounds since my sisters and I started staying with him and making sure he eats three times a day. Back in January, he was quite frail looking in the low 150's, and was 163 when he saw his doctor last Friday. She was a bit alarmed at the sudden gain, but my sisters and I are delighted. He seems much more robust. I told him he weighs more than I do, and he looked at me skeptically.  Seriously Dad? Give me some credit.

Monday was better. Eva and I put in our time with homeschooling. Long division. Ugh, that is a time sink. We took a walk with a friend who has been housebound (even more than normal!), made a delicious coffee cake, and started a new book called The Beast and the Bethany.

When Eva left at 2:30 I did go upstairs and got two of the outer borders on. I wanted to make the lentil soup that Kathe recommended recently, so I quit around 4:30 to cook.

That's my story and I am sticking to it.  Some notes on the recipes linked above: The coffee cake calls for
2 1/2 cups of cake flour OR a combination of regular flour and corn starch. Use cake flour. I got the most amazing rise and the cake was really good. I was afraid it wasn't done after 55 minutes and left it in the oven for another 5 minutes, and probably should not have done that. The recipe calls for an astonishing amount of streusel for the top, but trust me, go with it.

The lentil soup has a twist that makes it so much better. Kathe emailed me when I asked readers for their favorite soup recipes, and this one is a keeper. It is called Molly Ringwald's Mom's Mom's Lentil Soup. Everything about it is pretty standard: lentils, onion, celery, carrot, broth, a ham hock. But then you add a pound of browned Italian sausage at the end and that takes it up considerable notches.

Wish you could smell my kitchen right now!

Little Village Lattices

Woo hoo, more progress has been made on the Little Village quilt. I got all the middle of the quilt lattices on. This Sunday when I get home from my father's I will put on the top, bottom and sides. Next comes a solid red containment border and finally an outer border of a cream print with a large red floral design. The overall effect of the quilt will be the red houses surrounded by a pretty light-colored setting.

I am happy with the look of the top. I am also happy that it won't take much to finish it up.

Maybe it will be part of my red and white front porch decorating plan for this summer! Except for my husband just planted blue and yellow flowers in all the containers out there. We may have to do some switching around.

Hope you all have a great weekend. My plan is to visit with my dad, do some reading, and to work on two or three articles for the company I am working for as a writer. Never a dull moment, right? Happy Friday!

Maybe You Should Finish Something

My husband and I were sitting in the living room visiting with each other while dinner cooked. We do that most nights. Take some time at the end of the day to sit together with a glass of wine and connect with one another. He asked me "So what project are you working on right now?"

Sound of crickets....

"Well," I said finally, "I have five or six different projects spread out all over the place at the moment".

"How is that working for you?" he inquired. 

"Honestly, not great", was my answer. "I feel very disjointed, unorganized, scattered, messy, and kind of frazzled". 

"Maybe you should finish something", he offered.

Wow. Imagine that. Finish something? Really? 

The next time I was up in my sewing room, I took an honest assessment of all the unfinished, half-started projects I have in various states of disorganization throughout my sewing room. The major project that I would like to get done is my Moda BlockHeads 3 quilt. Those blocks have been on my design boards for well over a year. A lot of excitement, fabric, time, and effort went into making those 50 some blocks.

I have been dithering over how to set them in a way that shows off the blocks rather than a busy, confusing, mess. When you make a quilt with several different sizes of blocks, finding a setting that works is extremely challenging. I wanted those blocks to be set apart from one another so the eye has a place to rest when looking at the whole quilt.

Julie Lloyd at Julesccreates on Instagram had a brilliant setting for her MBH3 blocks. I commented on her post and asked her if she would share the size of her lattice strips because I wanted to recreate her setting with my blocks. She very kindly responded with her measurements and I ordered lattice fabric in Bella Solids Porcelain (which matches my 3 Sisters fabrics). And then the fabric sat on the shelf and the blocks stayed on the wall and nothing got done.

Until yesterday. I took my husband's words to heart and got to work. This quilt is sewn together in vertical rows. Each block has a lattice around it, which is trimmed down to size when you sew the blocks into rows. You can see my first row on the far left in the photo. I am so pleased with how it is turning out.

I plan on having 7 rows. Four rows will have 12", 6", and 4" blocks. Three rows will have 8" and 4" blocks. I do not have quite as many blocks as I will need, so there will be a bit more block construction before I am done. This quilt is going to be very large and will cover my queen-sized bed with a good amount of overhang.

I am so excited to turn these blocks into a beautiful quilt. 

Setting Blocks and Setting Triangles for Comfort and Blessing

This is really coming along.  It is Piecing the Past's "Comfort and Blessing" summer quilt along.  The patterns are available for purchase on their website.  I think I have been referring to this project as "Comfort and Joy" but that wasn't right.  I must have Christmas in July on my brain.  Anyway, sorry for any confusion.

I reduced the block size from 9 inches down to 6 inches.  Where I could.  Some of the measurements were too hard to work out for me, so I just substituted other blocks for the ones I couldn't reduce.  On Sunday I managed to sew the diagonal rows together and hope to connect the rows later this week.  There will be three borders- one, a narrow dark brown containment border, two, a cream border, and three, a wider dark brown outer border to finish it.  I enjoyed the piecing process very much and loved the jewel-like tones in the fabrics I chose.  Overall, I think the quilt will have a cheerful summery vibe.

In other news, I am having a routine medical procedure today, and had to have a COVID-19 test three days prior.  Now that was an interesting experience!  It was a drive-through test.  I had an appointment, and there was no waiting, I just drove up to a series of tents where my identity was first verified, then I was guided further down a drive to the next tent, where a nurse was waiting for me. She had the longest swabs I had ever seen and explained how she was going to stick them up my nose for a count of six for each nostril.  It was not pleasant, but six seconds isn't too long a time.  She counted it out so I knew it was nearly over.  There was much eye-watering afterward, but I was able to pull myself together and drive on to the next tent where I was checked out.  Later in the day, I had the mother of all sneezing fits, but survived that too!

I haven't gotten my results yet, but I have no reason to think they won't be negative.

Hope to have a post tomorrow unless I am too wiped out.

 

Hodge Podge

Well, this is a mess.  My sewing room has so many projects going on, it doesn't know what hit it.  I have three block of the week projects in process, and enjoy seeing my completed blocks on display, so there you are. 
A big mess.

Thank you all so much for your kind comments and wonderful response to my post yesterday.  Hartman was, as one reader said, "an angel who passed through my life".  I truly believe that and am so grateful to those of you who related to my story.  I was absolutely thrilled to hear from one reader who had taken a university course from Hartman's wife!  I am so happy he found a kindred spirit with whom he could share his life.

I finished two of the three Piecing the Past "Comfort and Joy" blocks for this week.  And they were doozies.  (Does anyone say "doozies" anymore?).  They were the most difficult so far in this sew-along, particularly the blue block on the right.  It is called "Sparkler". The block instructions are for a 9" block, which I thought was too big.  I am reducing my block size down to 6", and for the life of me could not find instructions for this block in any of my books.  All the others I have been able to reference in other quilting block reference books, but not this one.  Lord help me, I had to do the math.

It came out pretty accurate.  Don't look too close or you might see a tiny pucker I am doing my best to ignore.  It took me all afternoon Monday to get that block finished.  The block on the left, "Windmill", had a lot of little pieces and it was tricky to get all the intersections to line up, but in the end, it was a success.  

The remaining block is a simple Ohio Star, so I will whip that together at some point this week.

If you are interested, here are my tried and true quilt block reference books.  They contain a plethora of blocks with instructions to make them in various sizes from 3" up to 12".

This is my go-to, tried and true reference book for quilt blocks.  And I am so so sorry to tell you that you cannot get this book anywhere unless you pay over $100 for a used copy.  If you see one at a garage sale or thrift shop, do not hesitate, snap it up.

This one is readily available and is quite good, but not nearly as comprehensive as the one above.  

Please, do share--if you have a favorite quilt block reference tool, can you tell us about it?

Scrap Quilt

Greetings fellow shut-ins.  Hope you all had a good weekend.  We cleaned the house from top to bottom, spent a lot of time on the front porch, planted some summer annuals, and got in a wee bit of sewing.

I tidied the sewing room as part of the cleaning effort, and somehow the project box with my Scrapbusting blocks ended up on the top of the pile.  I listened to book review podcasts while I stitched up a few more blocks. I will actually be really happy to use up this fabric, which has been taking up a lot of space in my stash bins.

To refresh your memory, the instructions for this block can be found at Border Creek Station, Ontario, Canada.  They call the project "Bust That Stash", and it is their 2020 Stashbusting Challenge.  There are so many ways to put these blocks together.

I have been using this BlocLoc Strip Set Ruler to cut out my little sections for the four patch units.  It certainly does keep your units nice and straight.  There is a groove in the ruler that nestles right into the seam "ditch", which keeps things perfectly lined up.

I think the Typepad issues are mostly worked out by now.  The technician suggested I publish my post manually, so it had to wait until I got up this morning at 6:00 rather than posting at 4:00 PDT as usual.  With luck I will be back on schedule tomorrow as usual!

Getting Outside

I had to take a break and go outside today.  The weather still isn't very nice, but my pansies seem quite happy with the rain, grey skies and cool temperatures.  I am longing for warmer days spent out on the porch.  I see myself surrounded by hanging flower baskets, wearing my white jeans...Oh wait, they don't fit anymore because I have spent the last month indoors eating comfort food.  Am I wrong, but doesn't it seem harder to eat fresh healthy salads when you can only go to the store once a week?  I have been ending up with enchiladas, stuffed shells and tamale pie.  Chocolate cake, scones, ice cream bars and pound cake.  This.Must.Stop.

I've been stitching away making more of these little blocks, and now have a total of 120.  For a full sized quilt I need something like 357, so I have a way to go.  I had an unfortunate realization after I had made a couple dozen of these blocks yesterday.  I had forgotten that the corner units need to be pressed toward the darker fabric in order for the blocks to nest nicely together when assembled.  I had been merrily pressing them all outward, as one does typically with these corner units.

That was fun, re-pressing all those blocks the right way.  Arrggghhh.

I started in on one of my new books, The Guest List by Lucy Foley, and it is really good.  In the style of an Agatha Christie Who-done-it, the story is set on a remote island off the coast of Ireland.  A house party assembles for a wedding and one of the guests gets murdered.  The twist is, the reader doesn't know who got murdered for quite a while because the story is told in flashbacks.  You understand that one of these characters is going to get what they deserve, you just aren't sure which one.  And they are mostly all odious, so half the fun is not only figuring out who did it, but who it got done to.  

As always, I hope your week is going well.  We are headed into the weekend now, but it doesn't feel any different than any other day, does it?  Wherever you are, whatever it is you are doing, stay safe and well.

What Exactly Was I Doing With This?

Well, this would be a one block quilt that I started over a year ago, packed up into a project box and put away in the closet.  As you see, I had made a bunch of blocks.

I certainly had cut out a lot of strips.  But where were the instructions?  Was the block from a book?  Maybe a magazine?  I had no recollection.  At first.  I started thinking maybe I had gotten the idea from Instagram, and that it may have been a sew along hosted by a fabric shop.  I thought The Quilted Moose may have sponsored a one block sew along.  They had indeed, but not this one.  I finally Googled "One Block Quilt" and what do you supposed popped up?  Why my very own post on Sister's Choice Quilts about a fun sew along Temecula Quilts was hosting.  Hello.  Honestly, getting older is the pits.

So, here we are.  I found the instructions online, still available and free for anyone.  Back in January 2019 Temecula Quilts started a sew along called "One Block Wednesday".  As usual for me, I thought, 'I certainly have a lot of fabric to use up, I should do that".  And I started it, and it ended up getting put away.  

After I copied out the online instructions, of course, I found my previous notes from 2019 put away in a drawer.  Why I did not include them in the box with the fabric strips and completed blocks is a mystery.  Further proof of my diminishing mental capacity I am sure.

This turned out to be an enjoyable afternoon after I figured out what I was supposed to be doing.  It will be a fun project to pick up and stitch a few blocks on when I have a moment.  It does use up fabric.  You need to be able to cut one 2" x WOF strip each of a light and a dark fabric, or two 2" x 21" strips of both a dark and a light fabric for four blocks.  Easy peasy and what fun it is to put the different scrappy combos together.  It would be great in any type of fabric you have leftover from other projects.  How often have you cut into a fat quarter bundle for a new project and had tons left over?  There you go.

The blocks are only 3 1/2", so you could make a quilt any size depending on how much fabric you have.  The blocks are small enough that it would make a fantastic table topper or runner.

You might be wondering why I am not showing you my latest block from the Moda BlockHeads 3 sew along, which came out yesterday.  No.  Just no.  Not my cuppa tea this week.  I've made a few extra blocks, so I think I will sit this week out.

Hope your week is going well.  For me, I will be getting back to homeschooling Eva next week, so I am making the most of all my free time this week.

 

Productive Weekend

I did not set foot outside my house for the past three days, and got a lot of sewing done!  My husband being glued to the tv watching various football games also helped my productivity level.

What have I been working on?  Well, a couple of things.  My main sewing project is First Flake in navy and white.  It is simple strip piecing, but you have to have your wits about you when you are laying out the pieces because it is very easy to turn one of those half square triangles the wrong way and end up spending some time bonding with your seam ripper.  I speak from experience.  I have 18 rows completed, sewn into two nine row sections.  I think this is such a striking looking quilt and cannot wait to display it.

I've also done some wool appliqué, which was fun, but ended up looking like a ten-year-old did it.  That's ok, I am enjoying myself and know I will get better with practice.   In 2020 I want to listen to more audiobooks, and these little projects are a good thing to work on with my hands while I do that.

That super cute mug is one of my favorite new things, from Anthropologie.  Only $12 and worth every penny.  I love the look of the tiny subway tiles and the beautiful initial.  Don't worry, if your name doesn't start with "N" they still have you covered.  It makes me happy when I have my coffee!

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.