Sister's Choice Quilts

Serendipity Flying Geese Row

What a busy day we had yesterday!  Eva had her swim class at 11 to 12 and I had my second COVID shot at 1. I felt like I was in a big rush to get places only to have to wait once I arrived. At least I got to read my book while Eva swam and while I waited my turn for my vaccine.

What was interesting is that the folks who were administering the vaccine and corralling the people were all the way from Florida! One lady told me she had been traveling for the Center for Disease Control doing COVID related jobs since August! They were all quite jolly and efficient. Shanika gave me my injection so perfectly I was barely aware of the needle. So far so good. My arm isn't even sore.

Once I got home I told Eva we were done with school for the day. Homeschoolers get minimum days too, right? I went upstairs to sew and made 40 flying geese for the second row of the Serendipity sew-along. I like to make mine larger and trim them down with the BlocLoc ruler. Perfect every time.

While I sew I like to watch Kimberly Jolly's Fatquartershop YouTube videos that are basically tutorials for making the blocks for the sew-along. She was very chatty and described various ways to make flying geese. She is trying to promote her Triangles on a Roll papers because she bought the company, but said she likes the Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day flying geese ruler very much as well. Have any of you tried it?  There is an old YouTube video from 2014 where Kimberly demonstrates it, which I watched. I am not sure I am willing to switch from my beloved BlocLoc trim rulers, but am curious if any of you have used that Quilt in a Day trim tool? How about Kimberly's Triangles on a Roll papers?

Needle Test Run

I got so many great suggestions to my recent post where I asked about what needles you all prefer for hand sewing bindings. Carol raved about these Black Gold needles by Clover and swore they go through multiple layers of fabric "like buttah". 

I have decided that I do prefer a shorter needle when I sew bindings, so I was interested in trying these. I ordered a pack from Amazon, and you know them, the delivery came a couple of days later. So here is what I think:

First of all, you only get 6 of them in the pack, and at $7.00, that is more than $1.00 per needle. "Hmmm", I thought. "They better be worth it". You only see five above because I had removed one to try it.

Here is a size comparison. The Clover Black Gold #9 Sharp is the upper one, and the Primitive Gatherings Binding Needle is below it. I found the PG needle way too long for my liking, so the size of the Clover looked very good to me.

Carol had warned that they were ridiculously difficult to thread, due to the very small eye. I can't thread a needle with a large eye on my best day, and always depend on needle threaders to get the job done. I was afraid that my needle threader might not fit through the teensy eye on the Black Gold needle, but after a few tries, it went through! So far, great.

The verdict? I have never sewn with a better needle. They do glide effortlessly through layers of fabric and are a pleasure to sew with. I highly recommend them. Carol, thank you so much for your excellent suggestion! I think a lot of people will benefit from it. I love them for bindings, but you gals who enjoy hand applique will be over the moon.

 

Binding Needles

As usual, I have a gazillion bindings to sew down. I have been struggling in the past few years with what the best needle to use for sewing bindings might be. I need your help.

I'd love your input. What needles do you find best for hand sewing down quilt bindings?

I am having the hardest time finding a binding needle that is the right length, goes through the fabric "like buttah", and is a joy to work with.

I recently bought these highly recommended binding needles by Primitive Gatherings, but they are not going to work fo me. They are thin and easy to thread, but they are way too long for me.

Can you all recommend to me what you think the best needles are for sewing down quilt bindings? I surely would appreciate it. For me, the main qualities of a good binding needle would be that it is thin, goes through fabric easily, and isn't too long. Short is fine.

Please share what you use and why you like it!

Perfect for February

How beautiful is this fabric collection? It is Roselyn by Minick and Simpson. I am sure it was meant to come out in February for Valentine's projects, but due to COVID-related shipping delays, it hasn't come out yet. I bought this little fat 8th bundle from an Etsy seller. No idea how she managed to get it ahead of schedule. I am planning a red/pink/cream project which I will tell you more about soon. I still need a background and probably some additional yardage, but I will have to wait.

Did you all see that Fatquartershop has been closed for a few days due to the terrible weather in Texas? Their employees couldn't even get to work apparently. I hope all our friends in Texas are recovering from that ordeal. 

Have I mentioned these Olfa Endurance rotary blades to you before? They are pretty amazing. The package claims they last twice as long as the normal Olfa cutting blades, but I think they are being modest. In my experience, they last WAY longer than the normal blades. Maybe even three or four times as long. Of course, they are more expensive, but I think they are so worth it. The ones pictured above I bought on Amazon for under $10 apiece. I know that is a lot for a single rotary cutter blade, but these are so good. 

Now you will have to excuse me. I have a bundle of fabric to fondle and a rotary blade to change.

Hope your week got off to a good start.

Square in a Square Foundation Paper

The most recent foundation paper piecing patterns offered by Fatquarter Shop are these Square in a Square papers in three sizes: 4", 3", and 2". I think this is so handy for those times when you are working on a sampler quilt and have one block with a center square with this unit. Particularly those itty bitty 2" units that are so hard to get right.

I haven't used mine yet, but I am mulling over some ideas. Now, if only I had more time to work on new projects up in my sewing room!

I think I have mentioned that my daughter's husband has a barbecue restaurant. Sometimes they have extras leftover at the end of the day. A few days ago they gave us a prime quality barbecued tri-tip roast. With just my husband and I, it was a lot of meat for us to use up. I had to come up with something to do with the leftovers. I couldn't think of anything better than an old fashioned beef pot pie.

The recipe was so easy, I ended up making it twice! Here is the recipe for Fast and Easy Beef Pie if you ever have leftover beef roast and wonder how to use it.

I am off to care for my father over the weekend. Hope you all have a good one!

 

The Quilter's Clapper

Have we talked about The Clapper? For the life of me I could not recall if I had mentioned it before, so forgive me if I have. It is such a great tool, it bears talking about again.

The device is a wooden block made from hardwood, such as maple. It is technically called a tailor's clapper and is used for flattening seams on garments. The way it works is, you press your seams, then lay the block on top of them. The wooden block absorbs the heat of the iron from the fabric and the pressing surface. What happens is, your seam gets pressed on both sides. The wood really heats up and continues to press the fabric after you have removed the iron. It is very gentle and works amazingly well to flatten seams. You do not need to leave it on your seam for long to achieve the results. Just a minute or so.

You will have the flattest blocks ever when you use this thing. Combined with the wool pressing mat, which also retains heat, the results are incredible. I bought mine from fatquartershop.com. They are currently out of stock but have them on order. Many people make their own by having a piece of hardwood cut, and then sanding it. It comes in two sizes, 7" and 12". I got the 7" and will be ordering the larger one when it comes into stock. This particular clapper is made by Riley Blake, but I think Steady Betty may also make one.

Highly recommend this product.

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!

My New Neck Light

My new neck light kind of blends in with my dark sweater, but you can see it I think. I turned it off so you wouldn't be blinded by the brightness. Let me just say I love it. It works so great for reading, particularly when I walk into our library room to read in my favorite chair by the window and am greeted by this sight:

It is somebody else's favorite chair too and he is often in it when I want it. That little red light is from Ikea and was given to me years and years ago by a friend.  At first, I used it by my sewing machine, but now I use it all the time by my reading chair. Except when Ozzie has it monopolized.  But it no longer matters if my chair is full of dog!  I have my neck light. I can go into the living room and sit on the couch, where the light is not great for reading. With this neck lamp, low lighting in a room no longer is an issue.

This photo is with the light on.  I can see the printing on the page of my book brilliantly!  I am very excited about this purchase.  Less than $20 on Amazon and it is going to make such a difference in me being able to get all those bindings stitched down. I highly recommend this for reading and hand sewing.

Square in a Square Blocks

I always think Square in a Square blocks are one of the most difficult block units to make. There are so many ways to go wrong when attaching the triangles around the sides of the square. And when things go wrong, you have a wonky unit with inadequate seam allowance at your points.

I have had the best luck making these square in a square units using a tool designed by Deb Tucker called the Square Squared® ruler. It has marks on it showing the exact size to make your center square for a variety of sized finished units. The tool has the size for cutting your triangles printed on it as well. You end up with a slightly oversized unit, as you see on the right in the photo above. You then use the ruler to precision cut your final unit with the square perfectly positioned and the exact 1/4" seam allowance at all four of your points. My trimmed unit is on the left.

Deb has a great YouTube tutorial that explains way better than I can, just how to use the tool for perfect Square in a Square blocks.

This tool has been in my collection for at least 10 years, but I sometimes forget I have it and always regret it when I do. My Square in a Square blocks never come out as well.

The reason I was using it the other day was that I didn't care for the most recent Sewcialites Sew Along block offering. (Do you see a pattern here?) I made a substitute block that I preferred and my little block units came out so nicely with the Square Squared tool.

My source for this substitute block pattern was a little "book" of blocks called "The Quick and Easy Block Tool".  It is a funny little thing that reminds me of a book of fabric swatches or wallpaper samples. It is full of great quilt blocks in numerous sizes. I like the small size of it, and find it easy to follow. However, I don't think the book comes in this format anymore.  I found something similar that is an actual book on Amazon.

Hope you all had a great weekend and managed to squeeze some sewing in amidst all the holiday hoopla and preparations.

Christmas Themed Masks

Even elves need to wear masks this holiday season. It's sad but true. My little elf turned up at my front door yesterday, outfit on point except for the missing mask.  No problem. We got busy and got her fixed up.

Have you tried the Creative Grids mask template? It is my absolute favorite. You can make masks in three different sizes, and the fit is the best I have come across.

There are several helpful videos to show you how to construct a mask with the template. Eva is wearing the size small.

Well, after making a Christmas mask for the elf's mama, my elf and I are off to make applesauce cookies for our cooking project this week. Hope all is going great for all of you!