Sister's Choice Quilts

Spirals Quilting Design Pattern

Sometimes being a blogger has some real advantages. I posted a photo last week of my most recently finished table topper, a pattern by Carried Away called Summer Breeze. The pattern is wonderful, but the design my quilter chose for the quilting really set off the design and was so in keeping with the breezy summery feeling of the quilt itself. Sadly, I didn't have any idea what the name of the quilting design was. My quilter usually sends me some suggestions for quilting options but doesn't always attach a name to them.

Imagine my surprise when I received a comment from the actual designer of the quilting pattern! Denise Schillinger is the creator of this quilting design "Denise's Spirals". It is a pantograph available for sale through Urban Elemenz.

How cool is that?

In other news, it has done nothing but rain here for the past two and half months. My husband is out in the garage building an ark as I write this. Well, maybe not, but this situation is getting dire. If I don't see the sun pretty soon I just don't know how much longer I can cope. 

One fun thing the husband and I have been doing is watching some of the movies that were nominated for the 2023 Oscars. As you read this, the winners will have been announced, but I know we have some favorites. We used to be such movie buffs, going to the cinema a couple of times a month. Since the pandemic, we watch things at home on the TV now, which is ok, but there is something so dynamic about seeing a movie on the big screen. Here is what we've seen (I've linked to the trailers if you are interested):

We watched Elvis, which was incredible. Austin Butler will get the award for Best Actor unless he is robbed.

We saw Banshees of Innishiren, starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. The movie was very weird, but quite good. Of course, the story is set on an island off the coast of Ireland, so that's all we needed to be on board. I doubt it will win for Best Picture, but I am very glad to have seen it. The acting was top-notch and made me go from laughing out loud to tearing up in sympathy. It was certainly thought-provoking. You have to know going in that the movie is a metaphor for the Irish Civil War, then things make more sense. 

My husband took himself to the local theater a month or so ago to see Top Gun: Maverick and really enjoyed it. I skipped it due to it not quite being my thing. Very loud and action-packed.

Finally, we saw Women Talking, which is based on the novel by Marian Toews. The plot concerns a sect of Amish women who have been consistently drugged and sexually abused by male members of their community. Now, before you say "Ick" and vow never to see it, hear me out. The cast is amazing: Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth in The Crown), Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand, and Jessie Buckley (one of Ireland's best actresses). As the movie begins, the attackers have been arrested and taken away to a nearby city. The women are left alone on their compound and hold a meeting to decide 1) If they should stay and do nothing, 2) If they should stay and fight, or 3) If they should all pack up and leave. The philosophical dialog was fascinating as the women talk through the various scenarios open to them. Do they forgive, as their religion teaches them? Do they band together and demand equality and power in their sect? Should they leave the miserable so and so's and start up their own colony elsewhere? This was so so good. I'll be thinking about this movie experience for a very long time. Award-winning performances by the whole cast. If you like a movie that makes you think, this is the one. 

Have you seen any of these movies? Or any others you enjoyed? Do share in the comments. 

Well, I have started the week off in a very chatty way, have I not? With any luck, I will have some sewing to share this week and less to blab about!

Summer Breeze-Let's Get The Binding Done

Can we just take a minute and admire the quilting on this little 26" square piece? The quilt is Summer Breeze by Carried Away. I do not know the name of the swirly quilting design, but it could not be a more perfect choice. My plan is to use this in my kitchen during spring and early summer. The colors are so uplifting and cheerful. Now all I need to do is get that binding on and all will be as it should be.

What a week this has been. I thought I should get some sort of post up so you all don't forget about me. I can usually handle about a half dozen professional writing assignments a week, and this week I have 9. And next week I have 13. I have already contacted my supervisor and begged her to cut that number way down. I am drowning in assignments. All I do is sit at my computer and write all day long. I am dreaming about writing articles for pool and spa companies (my typical clients). And that is not my number one favorite thing to dream about.

Eva and I did make a batch of chocolate cupcakes on Tuesday afternoon. Life would have to be at a complete standstill before we could miss our regular baking day. I'll tell you though, these cupcakes were amazing. Here is the recipe if you want to try them.  No eggs or dairy and they were so moist and wonderful. Super chocolatey from real Dutch process cocoa powder. 

Wish you could taste them. Try this recipe, seriously, it's a good one.

Hope your week is going well and you have time for something besides work.

I Needed Another Christmas Table Runner....Not

Sometimes the creative urge cannot be denied. I have had this sweet pattern for a Buffalo Check Christmas table runner for a year or two, and have been meaning to make it. I used scraps from my stash and yardage of a white, taupe, and darker tan. The pattern is by Carried Away Quilting and was easy to follow. I did have to press all the seams open, and let me tell you, I was very tired of doing that by the time I finished the project. I don't know what it is about pressing seams open. I know things turn out better and lie flatter but I just resist it for some reason. 

Here is a close up of the two units that make up the top. The trees were easy peasy. So was the star for that matter. The only caution I have is that you have to have your wits about you or it is easy to put the wrong color neutral in a place where it doesn't belong. And if that happens, you lose the checkerboard pattern. My seam ripper and I got reacquainted while I made this little project. 

Busy week for me, how about you? I am meeting up with a friend this morning, then I need to go home, work on a writing assignment, and then make cranberry relish. My husband has been so excited about having pumpkin pie, and came home from Walmart with two jumbo cans of Libby's pumpkin. Each can makes two pies. I guess I will make those on Wednesday, along with prepping my dressing. I am going to try something different this year. I will make my dressing as usual, then put it in the crock pot to finish cooking. It will free up the oven, which is a plus.  Have any of you ever done that? One Thanksgiving I made my mashed potatoes in the morning, and put them in the crock pot to stay warm. It worked great! I only have one oven, which is a problem when you need to cook sweet potato casserole, keep the turkey warm, and cook dressing. How do you all manage all the dishes on Thanksgiving? 

Squirrelly Girl Table Runner Quilted

This is the second table runner I recently received back from my quilter. I used a fabric line by Bunny Hill for Moda. It is so gosh darn cute! For the runner itself, I think I just had a honey bun of 1 1/2" strips.  Sure wish I had bought more of that fabric collection. It just goes to show you, when you see a collection that has a lot of a color that you use frequently, buy more. That soft orange would go in so many things that I make.

Here is a photo of the backing, where you can see the primary print of the little hat-wearing squirrel. When I bought the backing it was just about all I could find of the collection anywhere. 

I didn't have enough of any of the Squirrelly Girl fabric for my border but found something in my stash that I think worked great. I've had it for years and can't recall who designed it, unfortunately. I did not use a pattern, just made Log Cabin blocks and arranged them the way you see. If it looks familiar, I made a Halloween quilt a year or so ago that is rather similar. 

My baby blocks are nearly complete for the Family Reunion quilt I have been working on. Just six more to go! That is my plan for the weekend, along with sorting out my clothes closet. 

Forgive me while I play around with my blog banner. I wanted to have something seasonal, but it is a fiddly business. 

Best wishes for a lovely weekend to all of you!

Buffalo Check Table Topper

This little Halloween table topper is "Buffalo Check Table Topper", by Carried Away.  It comes in a Christmas design as well, included in the same pattern. The Christmas version has little wrapped presents rather than pumpkins. It is always fun to put out new seasonal decor, even though my table runner cupboard is starting to overflow!

The quilting design is an overall pumpkins on the vine pattern that I think is perfect. I used Moda solids for the checkerboard effect and leftover Fig Tree scraps from a Halloween-themed layer cake.

My dining room table is better suited to a long narrow table runner, but sometimes I like to use a square one for variety. My buffet is in the background, cleared of homeschooling detritus for the first time in almost three years.

Have you got your Halloween decorations out? I figure we only have about three weeks to enjoy them before they go back and the more subtle Thanksgiving decorations come out. And then, of course, we go full tilt boogie with the Christmas madness. By January, I will be ready for a minimalist look with nothing cluttering any surface of the house!

 

 

 

 

 

It's Feeling Like 4th of July Around Here

Another great table runner pattern. This one is called Zig Zag by Lehman Designs. It is fast, it's easy, and I have made four of them in two days.  lol.  The 4th of July one is pictured above.

I made a cream, red, and brown one with leftover 3 Sisters fabric.  This one could stay out all year, it goes with everything in my house. Seriously, this is a great pattern. It would be wonderful for holiday gifts.

One of my block of the week projects is called Peace and Healing by Piecing the Past Quilts. I had several red, cream, and blue fat quarter bundles that I combined for my version of the project. Unfortunately, they had been in my stash for a long time and I don't recall the exact names of the collections. These designers regularly come out with new groups in the same colorways, so it would be easy to duplicate. Pam Buda, Primitive Gatherings, and Julie Frederickson (of J.J. Stitches) were the designers. Honestly, all the fabrics worked great together and heaven knows I have a million yards of various backgrounds at hand, so it all went together easily. 

These are the most recent blocks I have finished. The blocks started out super simple, and I was tempted to throw in the towel and not bother making more, but they are getting more complex and more interesting, for sure.  The photo below is of all the blocks I have completed so far.  I believe there will be a total of 31.

It feels peaceful and kind of soothing to work with Civil War Reproduction fabrics. Lately I have been drawn to more contemporary and colorful collections, but these old standbys go with my decor and feel like painting in a way. It's hard to describe, but using these small saturated prints is just like playing with paints to me. Nothing assertive or large scale, just plenty of color.

Around the house, the patriotic decor is coming out.

The hall table.

Something whimsical on the kitchen counter. I bought so many Bath and Body Works candles this season. The house smells amazing.

The coffee table in the living room. Usually Ozzie is on the couch. It is almost camouflage for him (he blends right in), but I swear he isn't in this photo.

My dining table. Not very fussy this year, but that is definitely one of my favorite red, white, and blue quilts. 

I could have sworn I had Hobby Lobby front door hanging decorations, but I couldn't find them anywhere today. My husband says he thinks he knows where they are, so if they turn up I will take a picture tomorrow. If not, I will be stopping at Hobby Lobby on the way to my dad's this weekend!




 

Quilt As You Go Table Runners

The other day I came across a YouTube tutorial from Shabby Fabrics on making a holiday table runner with a pre-printed quilt-as-you-go table runner batting. They had a June Tailor kit they were promoting, but the pre-printed batting is available without their choice of fabric for a much less expensive price ($16). You could totally use your stash and save yourself $50 for the kit.

It made me think how lovely it would be to make holiday table runners using this method. They are fast to make and people would love to receive them. 

I started rummaging through my patterns and found a lot of old ones that had a similar look. Obviously, they are not the quilt-as-you-go method, but still would be very quick to construct out of holiday fabrics for a great seasonal gift.

Alas, time is a major obstacle for me this year, and I doubt I will have time to make any holiday gifts. I need at least six more hours in each day. Sigh.

However, these quick and easy table runners are a great option for those of you with a decent stash and some time on your hands.

Tell us, do you make runners for people as a holiday gift? What other ideas do you have for quick, fun, holiday presents that people love to receive? Bowl cozies, zippered bags, table toppers....

If You're Not Convinced Yet...

If you're not convinced that you need to make the Centerpiece Table Topper Mug Rug, maybe this one will convince you. I swear it turned out so darn cute. I have a friend who is a little bit "witchy" (she would be the first to say so) who will love this. 

Sewing the rounds around the center hexagon is a bit fussy, but I hope/think I am getting better at it. My trimming is more accurate for sure. This time, when it came time to attach the binding I decided to cut the strips 2.5 inches wide, which is wider than what I usually do (2.25 inches). I pressed it as per the instructions given by Lella Boutique, but omitted the glue step. On each of the mitered angles, I just used a straight pin to hold things in place. 

And I stitched that puppy down with the machine. I used a 3.0 stitch length setting and went slowly in the ditch. The top looked perfect and the underside was ok. It wasn't right on the edge, but all the binding was  caught in the stitches and was pretty even at least. For a mug rug, I was totally satisfied. It took just a minute instead of 20 (by hand) and really looked quite nice. My conclusion is for mug rugs, machine stitching the binding is the way to go.

I am so overwhelmed with work this week and am dying to make more of these little mug rugs, but it just is not meant to be. Hope your week is going well! Happy first day of fall!

Machine Binding Went Ok

I tried Vanessa's method for machine stitching binding yesterday and overall was very pleased with how it went. Vanessa is the designer behind Lella Boutique fabric, and has a tutorial on this technique on Instagram. 

Vanessa's method involves Elmer's School Glue, which many of you said you did not and would not do. Other than the glue, a number of people commented that they use her technique with success. A few folks said they never have had success with finishing binding by machine and much prefer the look of hand binding.

I had a very small table topper and decided to just go for it and try Vanessa's method. I know from experience Elmer's School Glue is water-soluble and did not think it would gunk up my machine. Why use glue at all? Well, it actually worked to hold the pressed binding down in place firmly and eliminated the need to use binding clips, which allowed me to stitch along more steadily without a lot of stopping and adjusting clips. I used such a minimal amount of glue. A super-light touch. You definitely do not want blobs of white glue oozing out from underneath your binding. Ugh.

 

I did put a pin at each corner, which you can see in the top photo. I thought it would hold the mitered corner in place better, and sure enough, it worked great. In the photo just above, you can see my stitching on the backside of the quilt. 

And here is the top side of the quilt. You can see that I stitched in the ditch, and it looks pretty darn good. On the backside, there are a couple of places where the stitching just missed the edge of the binding and will need to be tacked in place with a stitch or two by hand. With luck, maybe I will get better at this and not miss the edge next time. 

Overall, this is a great method. Of course, I was working with a super small project which was easy to manipulate through the machine. I am very pleased with how it turned out and will definitely try it again in the future. And honestly, the glue thing was just fine. I preferred it to messing with binding clips.

Do let us know if you tried this method and what you thought!

Acorn Love Table Runner

In honor of Fall, I just had to start a new table runner for the season. This one is called Acorn Love, and is a pattern by Lori Holt for Bee in My Bonnet. If you are familiar with Lori Holt's books, you know how well she does pieced patterns that depict something, such as the acorn here. Other patterns she has done are corn, apples, strawberries, carrots, various animals, tractors, all sorts of adorable things.

That is one block above, which still needs colored corner triangles sewn on. I was hoping to finish the blocks this weekend, but I ran out of steam.

We had a family wedding on Saturday and an overnight visit with my father. The venue where the wedding was held was at a remote mountainous site that had absolutely no accommodation for a person in a wheelchair, so hauling Dad around was completely exhausting. I had to enlist the help of some brawny grandsons to physically carry Dad in his wheelchair up steep gravel hills and up and down numerous steps. I have no idea how this place has a permit to hold events!  If you are disabled, you pretty much were up the creek. It made me appreciate all the fixtures to accommodate the disabled that we have come to take for granted nearly everywhere else we go.  By Monday all I wanted was to sit on the couch and read a book!

The table runner calls for twenty blocks, which I have done, except for the corner triangles. The runner ends up about 65" long, which I think is longer than I want. I will probably reduce the number of blocks to make it shorter to better fit my table.

This image and the next one are from the pattern cover.

Lori used one of her fabric lines to make her Acorn Love runner. I doubt that particular line of fabric is still available. I used Corey Yoder's brand new line "Cozy Up", which I thought had similar colors.

Anything designed by Sandy Gervais would work great with this pattern as well. Sandy often uses browns, oranges, golds, and that beautiful teal in her fall collections.

I would like to start using my runner ASAP, so I may bite the bullet and quilt this one myself!

Hope you all had a nice weekend.