Sister's Choice Quilts

Cabins in the Woods

I've been having fun this week making these easy house and tree blocks. This project is enjoyable and fast and I can't wait to get the blocks together for a seasonal table runner for late summer and early fall. I have a hall table that will be the perfect spot for this directional runner. The pattern is Base Camp by Sweetwater and the fabric is Timber, also by Sweetwater.

I did bring out a tool I don't often use to make these blocks. That is the Mini Simple Folded Corners Ruler by Doug Leko. It was just what I needed to make the roof units for the house blocks.

Working on this table runner has definitely put me in the mood for my short getaway to Lake Tahoe. We leave Sunday for a few days and I can't wait for the cooler temperatures, the fresh air, and most of all, the Lake!

Here is an update on my Halloween Memories project. Each day I try to make one or two more of these blocks, and as you can see it is coming along.

That's all I have for now. Time to get ready for my little getaway to the mountains. Hope you all haave a great weekend. I will try to post some photos of Archie on his very first vacation with his family!

 

 

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.

Jubilee Quilt and Baked Beans

It was a lovely and relaxing weekend. My Jubilee blocks are up on the design wall and I've started to add the lattice and will sew the rows together this week. One thing I really enjoy about Margot Languedoc's Pattern Basket patterns is the way they reliably show off whatever fabric collection you are working with. I love the clear jewel-like colors in these two fabric collections. I used Summer Sweet by Sheri and Chelsi and Canning Day by Coriander Quilts. I think it is fabulous the way the two collections work together. 

It wouldn't be Memorial Day without a barbeque and Eva's daddy Ryan had us over for burgers. I made crockpot baked beans, which are usually a hit at a potluck.

Our neighborhood had it's annual community garage sale, and I tell you, the joint was jumping. The folks behind us own a couple of surf shops in Santa Cruz and had a gigantic inventory sale in their driveway, which is just on the other side of our fence. Our neighbor told me they brought up 70 tubs of merchandise from their warehouse. Typically it is as quiet as a graveyard in our neighborhood, but Saturday we had hundreds of people a stone's throw from our back porch. It was a circus, complete with tents.

"You should come over and pick something out for yourself", our neighbor insisted. "You know, to make up for the commotion". So, I took Eva over and she picked out some flip flops, two pairs of shorts, and a cute blue and white sundress. $83 later I was wondering what happened to the "pick something out for yourself" part of the invitation...

Hope you all had a nice weekend, wherever you are! By the way, Sara and I recorded another book review podcast on May 24. Just click the Reeding Between the Lines symbol on the top right to listen on Apple podcasts. 

Posie Blocks Done!

The posie blocks are finally finished, all 40 of them. I slapped them up on the design wall so you can get an idea of what it will look like. Two narrow borders need to go on first, a dark brown one and a white one. We are getting there.

My Mercantile background fabric arrived yesterday. I want to give a shout-out to Riley Blake for the quality of this fabric. We are always raving about our love of Moda fabrics, and sometimes ignore the fact that other companies are doing a fabulous job as well. This fabric is silky, and an extremely high-quality quilting cotton. I can't wait to work with it.

Additionally, I'd like to recommend shopping with Quilt In A Day in San Marcos, CA. They offer the full line of Mercantile fabric for only $10.40 per yard, and their shipping is FREE. It arrived very quickly by Priority Mail, again let me mention the shipping was free... I will definitely shop with them again in the future.

It has been raining nonstop where I live in California. Plus, the winds have been something fierce. We live on a hill at an elevation of almost 1400 feet, so flooding won't be an issue for us. So many people are without power though, and that is something I always dread. 

We are trying to stay cozy and ride out the "atmospheric river". I read that the Los Angeles area expects that it will receive half a year's rain in just a few days this week. 

Hope your week got off to a good start. I am working on my book reviews for January, so do look for it later this week.

Posy Blocks Coming Along Slowly

The Flea Market posy blocks are coming along. Very slowly. I am completing one in about 20 minutes, which is faster than I was when I first started making them. You can really drag out the time it takes to make a block when you press seams open and trim your units constantly. They are coming out accurately though thank goodness.

The four brownish ones are going in the corners. The colorful ones are so cheerful, aren't they? I am glad I decided to do a border of them after all. 16 down and 24 to go.

I am listening to an audiobook of one of my favorite books from last year. I loved reading the print version of The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. I was listening to a book review podcast and the commentator mentioned that she was so annoyed at the ending of the book she wanted to throw it at the wall. What? What was so wrong with the ending? What even WAS the ending? Obviously, I wasn't upset by it if I can't even remember it. Another person mentioned that the audiobook version of this novel was excellently narrated, so that got me thinking. Why not listen to the book and experience it again but in a different way? 

I ordered the audiobook and she was right, the narration is terrific. I haven't gotten to the end yet, so that mystery isn't cleared up. I will be sure and let you know my thoughts when I finish it. For any of you who read the book, were you annoyed by the ending? No spoilers, please.

Flea Market Is Back on the Design Board

With all the talk about Lori Holt projects yesterday I thought I had better get with the program and actually finish one. I brought Flea Market out and put it up on the design wall to see where I am with it. At this point, the next step is to put on a narrow dark brown containment border and a white containment border outside of that.

I had said I would probably just add my final border and call this quilt done even though the pattern calls for one more border of posy flowers before the final final border. However, after looking at all the LH fabric I have on hand, I think I had better use some of it up and make that additional border after all.

I have to admit, they are pretty darn cute. However, they are quite fussy to make. Each block is made up of four quadrants. The seams must be pressed open and the four block units each squared up to 3". If you don't square up, they will be wonky, no matter how carefully you sew. I kind of hate making folded corner units. There I said it. The special rulers (Corner Clipper, Folded Corner etc) don't work that well for me. I am certainly not about to draw lines on 480 1.25" squares, so I am using my seam guide and going slowly. They are coming out ok, but it is taking some time. These little blocks are perfect for listening to an audiobook.

I think they will be really pretty as the outer pieced border for that medallion quilt. Hope I don't regret it! Four down, thirty six to go!

Yesterday was our baking day so Eva and I made a cake. She decorated it so nicely. Unfortunately by the time she finished it, it was time for her to go home so she never got to taste it!

Happy Wednesday. Hope your week got off to a good start. We have had two days at 70°, so I am really feeling spring fever. That will change soon as we are expected to get more than a week of rain. Bye-bye January. 

Going Into the Weekend

Going into the weekend I thought I would share with you a few things I worked on this week and a couple of great books I am enjoying.

This quilt block is the 9th in the Moda Blockheads5 sew-along. It is called Candy Stripe Holly Star or some such thing, but I call it Day and Night Star. It is paper pieced and was super fun to make and turned out spot-on perfect. I saw someone on Facebook had pieced four of the blocks and placed them in the center of a table topper so the stars formed a circle. It was stunning. I will sure be making more of these.

I nearly have all the rows pieced together for my Apple Sauce quilt and am still plugging away at the 80 square in a square blocks for the border. 

Not too long ago I got this Courthouse Steps table runner back from the quilter and need to put the binding on it. It will look great on my hall table, my coffee table, or my dining table this Christmas. I can't decide where I will use it! But it sure came out great. I used some reds and greens from a Bonnie and Camille collection as I recall.

Two more Hourglass BOM blocks. These are month 2. I am hoping to speed through making the blocks for this project and get to work on the alternate blocks.

Now for two really good books I am recommending:

Do you love a good mystery? Are you a fan of true crime? This book is fiction, but has such a different approach I think you might love it as I did. Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter is so original and it will keep you guessing right up to the end. I thought I had figured out "who done it" umpteen times and was wrong every time. You will feel as if you are watching a Netflix true crime drama unfold before your eyes as the story is told through the screenplay format of a cold-case crime documentary. It's a puzzle you, the reader, will solve along with the detectives and show producers.

Have the tissues close by if you read The Last Love Note by Emma Grey. This is so much more than your standard rom com. The author takes the reader through love, loss, heartbreak, and back again. Ultimately hopeful, with unexpected moments of humor. Love, hope, and a good future will prevail. This is really good.

Hope you all have a splendid weekend!

Blueberry Delight and Apple Sauce

It seems as if there are an awful lot of food references in quilting, don't you agree? The whole layer cake, honey bun, jelly roll thing, and so many patterns and fabric collections have food names. I wonder why we are so food-obsessed? At any rate, I finished my 8 Courthouse Steps paper pieced blocks for the Petit Four (there we go again) project. The fabric collection I am using is called Blueberry Delight by Bunny Hill.

The paper piecing was super simple and went extremely fast. The whole confusing backwards issue that you find in some paper piecing is not a factor in these blocks at all. The paper pads Fatquartershop makes for foundation piecing make the whole process very simple. They are even shaded so you don't get mixed up where the background or print fabric is supposed to go.

I am also making good progress with my Apple Sauce blocks. This is a pattern by BasicGrey, and I am using three of their collections: Persimmon, Nutmeg, and Cider. Good grief, with the food names. I am stalled with these at the moment because I need more of the teal solid fabric, which is on its way to me in the mail.

I got so many comments from you yesterday! Gosh, who knew I just need to whine about not hearing from people, and look what happens. Seriously though, getting some sort of reaction to a blog post that takes time and effort to produce is very gratifying. I enjoy writing this blog as a journal of my quilting and life, but interacting with readers is what makes it fun and worthwhile. I love hearing from you and do my best to answer your comments. Anyway, it was very nice to hear from so many readers.

Look for a book review post Friday. I must be sewing more than I am reading because I didn't read all that much in September, but I will tell you about what I did enjoy. 

Can't believe it is nearly the weekend again. Where is this month going?

Sampler Spree Almost a Finish!

My Sampler Spree Quilt is almost finished! I have completed four out of the five quilt rows and sewn them together. Today I will get the last row on and send it off to be quilted. You can see the last row of blocks peeking out from underneath the quilt top. This quilt is a monster! It will cover and drape down over a queen-sized bed easily. 

Don't the blocks stand out and shine now that they are separated into quadrants and framed by the cream and brown lattice? I think the setting brilliantly highlights the variety of all those 100 blocks. For those of you who may not remember, the quilt is from a book called "Sampler Spree" by Susan Ache. I used three different collections from Moda designer BasicGrey: Persimmon, Cider, and Nutmeg.

Whew, I am pooped after wrestling with that big thing all afternoon!