Sister's Choice Quilts

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.

New Fall Table Decoration

I was inspired this weekend to create a new table decoration for fall. My inspiration came from a YouTube video by Jennifer Decorates. Jennifer Davenport is a professional designer from Tennessee who creates the most beautiful decor. Her channel has loads of DIY ideas. She made her table decoration from items she recently purchased at Hobby Lobby. I couldn't get to Hobby Lobby, so I went to a Michaels store near my dad's house. I found just about everything at Michaels, including the cornucopia basket. Her things from Hobby Lobby were cuter than what I got at Michaels, but it isn't that noticeable. Honestly, I think Hobby Lobby would have been cheaper too. 

The main idea I copied from her is that I wanted a neutral fall color palette, with no strong oranges in sight. I think my cornucopia works on the batik leaves table runner I finished last fall. The runner does have stronger colors than the table arrangement, but I like the overall paler look.

I encourage you to take a look at Jennifer's YouTube channel for some great ideas. I promise you will pick up a tip or two you didn't know. 

The runner is from the Maple Leaf pattern by the Pattern Basket. I made it just a year ago, and of course I changed things up. Here is a link to my post where I shared about making it. Interestingly enough, California was on fire then too. This is becoming the new normal. The situation in Lake Tahoe sounds dire right now. Lines of cars are trying to evacuate and get to Nevada and away from the Caldor Fire, which has gotten away from the firefighters. Prayers for everyone affected.

Thrifty Me

I had a lot of leftovers from my recent Red Pineapple finish. Normally, I am not one to fret about using up leftover fabric, but I had an idea for what to do with them.

I have had foundation paper piecing on my mind lately and purchased a couple of the 6" Log Cabin paper pads from Fatquartershop.com. I LOVE these papers. Years ago, you could not have persuaded me to do paper piecing for love or money, and now I am obsessed with it. The accuracy is amazing and each block turns out just like its sisters. I sure wish they came in a 4" size.  I am also working on some 4" log cabin blocks and using a Creative Grids ruler.  It's going ok, but I sure do prefer the papers.

So I used my leftover French General strips and made a super cute Log Cabin table runner.  I am sending it off to be quilted this week. I doubt I'll get it back in time for Valentine's Day, but I may put it out anyway! It will look so good on my dining room table.

The colossal mess pictured above is my sewing table. I was using my little Fiskars cutting mat to trim the seams after each addition. I realized while I was using it that it is really beat up. I have never had to replace a cutting mat in my entire life of sewing, but I did order myself a new one. I have probably had this one for twelve years or so and have used it constantly for trimming small block units. Replacing it is sure cheaper than replacing the bigger mats on my cutting table, so I don't mind. The small size is so handy, so keep it in mind as a way to save your larger mats.

I had a very productive weekend, but we are commencing back to homeschooling today. My plan is to try to carve out a couple of hours of stitching each afternoon when school's out. Fingers crossed!

Pressing Tool and Log Cabin Blocks

I recently bought a few more notions at Fatquartershop.com. One of them is this cool seam roller by Riley Blake. It is designed by Lori Holt and is actually a very nice little seam presser. It cost $15, and I am glad I bought it.

It works great for the times when you want to press a seam open but want to kind of squish it in place before you apply the iron.

I've been using it with my Log Cabin paper piecing and found it to be really good.  As a matter of fact, I don't even need to use the iron as I attach the strips!  This little wooden seam roller is all I need. I have been rolling it on the wrong side of the block, and then on the right side of the block, as shown in my top photo.

And here is my finished Squirrelly Girl table runner!  I made twelve paper pieced Log Cabin blocks. Still debating on whether or not to add a border.  This will probably be a Christmas gift for someone, who will use it on their dining table.  Maybe I need to get some more cute border fabric....I am imagining a border of about 2" all around in one of the white prints.

Gosh, this is such a cute fabric collection. It is going to sell out, so if you think you like it, I highly recommend getting a layer cake at least!

Hope you all had a nice weekend.  We have been warned that our power company will shut down our electricity Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon.  It is very dry conditions and the wind is kicking up, which makes for a real fire danger. My husband has the generator all gassed up and everything ready to move into one refrigerator. It is so inconvenient but considering the alternative...I am going to try to get these posts scheduled so my content won't be interrupted.

 

Maple Leaves Runner and Our State is Burning Up

I put in a few hours of sewing over the weekend, and the Maple Leaves blocks are finished and being sewn together.  The batik fabrics are so pretty.  It is like I am working with little jewels. What I am really enjoying is the lighter background.  Many of my fall table toppers and runners are rather dark, and I like how the bright colors really show up in this piece.

The pattern is Maple by The Pattern Basket.  Batiks were in my stash. The background is just muslin.

As you see in this photo, once I reach the middle of the runner, the leaves will switch direction.  I think that looks so much more balanced than having them go all one way. 

The runner will have 14 maple leaf blocks all together. I kind of did my own thing here.  My setting triangles are 9 3/4" squares cut diagonally twice and my corner triangles are 5 1/8" squares cut diagonally once.

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This was an incredibly distracting weekend.  My mind is fixated on the fires and all the people who are affected.  Some of whom I am closely related to.  That thunder and lightning storm I told you about last week sure did a lot of damage. It created complete havoc as a matter of fact.

Several lightning strikes caused the CZU fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which have caused my nephew and his family to be evacuated from their home in Boulder Creek.  Last they heard, the blaze was a mile from their home. Their insurance agent has already been in touch. They are currently staying with my father in the Bay Area.  My cousin and his wife are under imminent evacuation orders due to the SCU fire south of San Jose. The house where we used to live in the Monterey area came very close to burning down.  We actually thought it had been consumed, but later news informed us that the River fire had come so near to our former neighborhood that it completely scorched the surrounding visible hillsides.

And my daughter Sara who lives in Groveland, near the entrance to Yosemite, woke Saturday morning to the sheriff pounding on her door, informing her she needed to evacuate due to the Mocassin fire. They have a horse, a goat, two large dogs, and chickens that had to be sorted out.  Neighbors rallied and loaned them a trailer, and the larger animals have been boarded safely in another county. It turns out the evacuation orders they received may have been pre-mature, but they are standing ready to flee.

This is a terrifying situation, and is happening rather early in our typical "fire season." So many people are affected by the over 600 wildfires raging through our state. I feel such fear for the firefighters who are doing battle with these infernos.  Their courage and heroism are unfathomable. Resources are stretched very, very thin, and available manpower and equipment are in short supply. Pray for us all.

Frivols 6 (Not) is Finished

Hello.  This is Frivols #6.  Not.  In my recent sewing room clean up, I reacquainted myself with my little Frivols collection.  I had started to do something with Frivols 6, which was nothing like the project suggestion that came with the fabric in the collectible tin. And then I abandoned the project.

I had been using the fabric to experiment with a pattern by The Pattern Basket, called "Feathers".  I made two bird blocks and recognized the fact that I did not possess the fortitude to make an entire quilt made up of these bird blocks.  So the project and fabric got relegated to a shelf in the garage.

Upon rediscovering the fabric, the tin and a little accompanying card for a "variation" block called "Twin Star", I was re-inspired to do something.  I found myself having a ball combining "Strawberry Fields Revisited" fabric into combinations for the star blocks, and then had a nighttime epiphany as to how I could use one of those bird blocks.  Put it in the center of course.

So here is my final result, a table runner (surprise).  It will be about 18" by 36" finished.

I have definitely rekindled my interest in those Frivols projects.  If you have a stack of them decorating the shelves in your sewing room, stand by for some more shake-ups from me as I work through mine.  If you have any ideas on how to change them up, do share below.  

Hope your week got off to a good start.