Sister's Choice Quilts

One Block Progress

I've got a couple dozen of these blocks done so far, and am pleased with the ease at which they can be turned out.  I have put my iron right next to my sewing machine so I can avoid getting up to the pressing station, which saves time and steps.

I have been cutting out a couple dozen strips of fabric at a time, so I have a nice variety of combinations to choose from.  My goal is not to have more than two blocks with the same fabrics.  If I mess up and put the same fabrics together more than once I will live with it, but I am trying not to.

It is still hot as blazes here.  Another 100 degree day.  Eva's daddy took her to swim practice yesterday so I was spared.  Whew.  But it's up to me again today, so I am going to be prepared.  I have a chair, an umbrella, a gigantic hat, and a big container for ice water.  This time I am going to try not to get sunstroke.

A few of you expressed surprise that there is no covering to provide shade.  Well, here's my take on it--the swim practices are held at the local high school.  It is all very bare bones.  There is a huge pool and a big area of concrete surrounding it.  I think the powers that be designed it so that the kids who are swimming are in the pool doing their laps, and if you aren't one of them, you probably don't have any business being there.  They sure didn't make any accommodation for observers!  That's fine if you have a 16 year old, but a lot of parents of 8 year olds want to stay and watch.  If the practices were held at the local country club, there would be picnic tables, umbrellas and overhangs. 

As I recall, when I was a teenager, my high school was open to the public for swimming in the summer and there wasn't a speck of shade.  Just hot concrete that we baked on.  It's a wonder we don't all have skin damage.  We were pretty casual about using sun screen back in the day too.  Baby oil with a few drops of iodine to stain our skin was all the rage.  Do any of you remember Bain de Soleil?  It was a gel like sun screen with an SPF of about 8, that was kind of bronze colored when you smeared it on.  It made my lily white legs look like they were tan already.  I loved that stuff and had no idea that it wasn't doing a bit of good to protect my skin.  Now we spray on the SPF 50, but it's too late for my freckled and spotty old body.

Sweet Escape Finished!

I am so happy to share this Sweet Escape quilt with you all.  It has been on my design wall for ages,  just waiting for me to sew the rows together.  It wasn't such a hard task after all, and it feels great to have it done.

The Sweet Escape Sew Along was hosted by Camille Roskelley of Thimbleblossoms.  The pattern is hers as well.  Do check out the Instagram site for loads of photos of what other folks have accomplished.  You will be so inspired.  It was a very fun sew along in which to have participated.  I did purchase the pdf version of Camille's pattern, but ended up changing it a bit.  In her version, her blocks are 10.5", and I made mine smaller at 8.5".  The reason for going with a smaller block is because I wanted to use my Creative Grids Log Cabin ruler.  I used the 6 inch ruler, but added one more round of strips and trimmed it with my Precision Trim ruler. My center unit is different as well.  I made a half square triangle rather than use a solid square.

I used mostly Sweet Tea fabric by Sweetwater for Moda.  It seemed fitting to use it for a quilt called Sweet Escape!  I selected the reds, navys and tans from that line.  My taupe fabric in the alternate blocks is something I had in my stash that just happened to go brilliantly with the chosen collection.

I am super pleased with how this project turned out (especially that it is done), and plan to send it off to be quilted as soon as possible.

Hope you are all having a great week!

 

Aunt Addie's Quilt is Growing

I couldn't help myself.  I just had to make week 2 and week 3 blocks for the Aunt Addie Mystery Sew Along.  The blocks are fun, and I am enjoying my teal and brown fabrics from my stash.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

I keep worrying that I won't like the quilt when the finishing instructions are given, which has been my experience with every mystery sew along I have ever done.  But then, I remembered something.

Remember this book?

And this one?

I have both of them, and had a browse through them and got all inspired.   Have you seen these books?  The idea is you make rows of blocks, alternating kind of plain boring "blender" block rows with more pizazzy rows with houses, flowers, trees, applique etc.  The result is a super cute and unique quilt.   I may use these Aunt Addie blocks as a starting point for one of the quilts in the books!  I always enjoy doing my own thing, and I may end up with something fun if I incorporate some ideas from these books into my quilt.  I have loads of fabric, so I can definitely go larger.  The wheels are turning...

 

Success!

Thank you all so much for all your suggestions on how to be more successful with making this block. There are so many ways to get to a good result:  make half square triangles instead of sewing triangles to the square, hand piece the block, paper piece the block and more.  For me though, it all boiled down to two things, which in my heart, I know to be right:
1)  Starch the fabric
2)  Make the units larger than called for, then trim them down to the correct size

There was also a fair amount of operator error in my technique with the Creative Grids ruler.  There are several places where one is supposed to trim with the tool.  It turns out, I was neglecting to do the final trim down of the "Cat's Cradle" unit.  When making the units the specified size, this trim amount was negligible, but when I tried making the units slightly oversized, I could trim off a good amount and ended up with perfectly square units.

Here are some photos I took when making my test block in red and cream:

I made my units a quarter inch larger than I needed.  When the pieces were sewn, I used the Creative Grids Cat's Cradle tool to trim them down. You line up the solid lines to the size you want your square, and the diagonal lines to the size you want your finished unit.  In my case, this was the 2 1/2" diagonal line.

Trim two sides, then flip the block and trim the remaining two sides. You will end up with a perfectly square 2 1/2" square unit.  (There are other size options on the tool, I just needed 2 1/2" for my blocks).

Lay out your block units and stitch together.

Here is my perfect red block next to my sad floppy blue block from yesterday.

I had also gotten away from starching my fabrics prior to a project, which is really not a good idea.  Always take the time to do that, you will be much happier with the results.

Besides listening to all your great suggestions on how to make this block better, I did watch two YouTube tutorials.  One was by Deb Tucker, who invented a trim tool (the Tucker Trimmer) for this block, which is practically the same as the Creative Grids ruler.  I watched her instructions, and she is so clear and concise, I immediately grasped what I needed to do.  Then I watched another tutorial, specifically for the Creative Grids tool, but not sponsored by that company.  These two funny gals from Prairie Quilt started out bickering over what their favorite Thanksgiving menu item was, but then got into a demo of how to use the Creative Grids tool, which was very instructive.  You should watch it, they are pretty funny.  And their demo was more clear than the one Creative Grids put out to sell their ruler.

Thanks again to those of you who took the time to make suggestions.  I really appreciate it!

 

Working on My Sweet Escape Variation

Do you see where I am going with this?  I will end up with four quadrants of blue stars with red centers.  All my taupe blocks will be used as the "background" blocks.  I did not have quite enough of the navy blue fabric and had to order a few more fat quarters, which should arrive this week.  Did you all know that Fabric Shack sells quarter yard cuts of fabric?  Not many online shops will do that.  And they carry almost every current collection.  Everything.  I order fabric from them quite often and they always mail it out very promptly.

Those of you familiar with the Sweet Tea fabric collection I am using will notice that I did not include the light blues at all.  They just didn't work with this plan.  Now, I am finding myself wishing that I had another jelly roll of the collection so I could do a really scrappy version of Sweet Escapes, using all the colors in the line.  I would scramble up the combinations in each block, having some red/light blue, red/navy, navy/light blue etc.  I am really in the groove of making these log cabin blocks!

If I do another jelly roll quilt, I will not precut my strips. It is so much faster not to have to do all that cutting.  Since I am using a ruler to square up each round, those strips really do not need to be cut into shorter lengths.  

All the red and taupe blocks are made, just need to make sixteen more navy blocks.  My blocks are smaller than the Sweet Escapes pattern calls for, so my quilt is going to be more a generous throw than a bed sized quilt.  I should finish it this week.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  Our weather isn't exactly warm or sunny, but it is mild and pleasant.  The air is "soft".  My husband and I went out to lunch on Sunday and were able to eat outside which was lovely.

Sweet Escape Progress

I managed to finish the sixteen taupe blocks over the weekend.  Now I will begin to make the blue blocks that will form the star points that surround the taupe blocks.  I think there are 24 of the blue ones to make.  I am really pleased with the look of the blocks and think the finish is going to be wonderful.  

My friend and I had a wonderful shopping adventure Monday.  It took two hours to drive to our destination and two hours to drive home, and we had four hours to shop and have lunch.  It was delightful.  My friend was able to find not one, but two pair of jeans she liked at Chicos, and I found two pair of espadrille style shoes at DSW, so we both accomplished our missions.  We stopped by Bath and Body Works, and each of us got a French Baguette candle.  That is the best scent--just like fresh baked bread.  

We had fancy grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato bisque soup for lunch and as I write this, I doubt either of us will want dinner.

Hope your week got off to a good start!  

Now I'm Happy

I am so pleased with my modification of the Sweet Escapes log cabin block!  I have an idea regarding the color layout of the blocks too, that is different.  My center star will be red as shown, and I will have radiating blue stars in the four corners.  I decided not to be so random with this project, and be more planned in my color placement.  I hope it works the way my mind is envisioning it.

There are no plans to even leave the house this weekend, so with luck, on  Monday I will have more to show you.  

Have a great weekend everyone!

Log Cabin Block All Figured Out

This log cabin block has undergone quite a metamorphosis from the original block in the Sweet Escapes sew along pattern.

This is my test block, which I rejected for two reasons.  One, it came out wonky.  Operator error, but I wasn't confident it wouldn't happen again.  I like to trim my blocks down with a log cabin trim tool, and these strips didn't conform to the tools that I have on hand.  Two, I was very unhappy with my choice of alternate background fabric.  It was too pale and wishy washy, not providing enough contrast, and that particular print reappeared at least eight times in other colorways in the fabric I was using, which bothered me.

The changes I made were to switch out my alternate background fabric to a taupe that coordinates well with the Sweet Tea fabric collection I want to use for the blocks, and which also was a slightly darker tone which I thought provided more contrast with the plain white background strips.

The blocks in the Sweet Escapes pattern are 10" finished.  My Creative Grids Log Cabin Trim tool is for a 6" block.  Still a bit small.  To achieve the look of the Sweet Escapes block, I need to add another round of strips to my block.

To trim the final round, I used my 8" Bias Square trim tool, which kept that last outside round of strips straight and true.  I love all the markings on that ruler.  You can't go wrong lining things up.

You may also have noticed that instead of using two 1 1/2" squares at the center of the block (see my dark blue test block), I made a 2" half square triangle for the single center square.  I think when I put these blocks together, I am going to have the same look as the quilt in the pattern.  Since my blocks are two inches smaller than the blocks in the pattern, my quilt is going to be smaller as well, which does not trouble me in the least.

So why am I going to so much bother to change up the block, instead of just going with the pattern?  I don't know.  I guess because I can.  I like things to be really square and not wonky, and these trim tools achieve that for me.  I don't trust myself to get a nice straight square block without some help.  In the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn't matter, but I am just going with a method that makes me happy, even though it is more work.

Something New

As you know, if you regularly read this blog, I have been itching to start a new project.  Now that I have nearly finished a long running string quilt project, I am ready to move on.  I have something all cut out and ready to dive into, but as often happens, I got sidetracked.

It came to my attention that Fatquartershop.com is sponsoring a charity quilt along they call Threadology.  The sew along will ultimately benefit the Make A Wish Foundation.  Full details can be found on the Jolly Jabber (FQS blog).  I am posing a photo of the finished sampler quilt here:

Fatquartershop will post free patterns and also block making tutorial videos each time a new pattern comes out, which is supposed to be every two weeks.  In addition to the setting above, alternate settings will be shared when certain fund raising goals are met.  You are encouraged to donate $5 to Make A Wish for each free pattern you use.  Details here.  Moda Fabrics will match any donations to this worthy cause.

The first block pattern is for the Ohio Star block, with a dark background and light star.  This is such a great block for showing off fabrics you love. 

You make one 12 inch block and four 6 inch blocks each time a pattern is released.  The first fundraising goal of $3500 has already been met, and therefore, an alternate block arrangement was shared.  This was for a table runner, which I really liked.  I had some pretty Fig Tree red prints in my stash and decided spur of the moment to go ahead and make the five blocks, plus the flying geese/square in a square end strips.  I was not able to finish the runner because I didn't have enough of the tone on tone red for the sashing and border for the runner.

Thanks to the trusty Internet however, I was able to order more of the red and with luck, should be able to finish up the runner in the next week or so.  I hate to have to stop when I was on such a roll, but that's life.

Be sure and check out the links to the Threadology quilt along, as people are sharing photos of their blocks and fabric choices, which is always fun and inspiring.  On Instagram, use #threadologyquiltalong.

It's a Red and White Christmas

It's a red and white Christmas at my house.  My quilter sent home my red and white quilt just in time for the holidays.  It still needs its bindings, but that can happen during the next few days.  I photographed it outside my sewing room, next to my upstairs tree, where it looks very Christmassy indeed.  It will be terrific to have this heirloom to pull out during the holidays.

This quilt was made over a couple of years time.  The inspiration was Primitive Gatherings "The Magic of Christmas" sew along.  I made most of the sew along blocks, but added in other blocks that I liked as well as lots of basket blocks.  Basket blocks have always been a favorite of mine, and I thought they fit right in with the holiday theme.

This poor quilt has developed quite a lot from its original concept, which was to have the blocks set on the diagonal, and use both red and green blocks.  I changed my mind about using the green blocks and will use them in another project some day.  

I also tossed many of the original blocks because I thought my piecing could be improved upon.  The final blocks sat in a drawer for a long time, because I could not come up with a setting I loved.  Carrie Nelson came through with an imaginative setting that I shamelessly copied.  In her setting, the blocks were set in quadrants of four blocks each, which were then surrounded by flying geese.  Lots of geese.

All in all, it was worth the wait, and I am pretty satisfied.  It's a wrap!