Sister's Choice Quilts

My Latest Distraction

My latest distraction from reorganizing my sewing room is this little mini quilt in the Corn and Beans block.  I got my little pieces all cut out and sorted with my Alphabitties.  If you don't have Alphabitties, you might want to consider adding some to your collection of sewing notions.  They are double sided plastic squares labeled with the letters of the alphabet, so you can keep multiple block units all clearly organized.  There is nothing worse than grabbing your C triangles, when the ones you meant to sew together were the F and G triangles.  These little squares help you out with that.

This is as far as I got yesterday.  Today I hope to finish the border of flying geese and maybe even get it quilted.

Yesterday was a big day.  I got new canvas covers for my retractible awnings that shade my front and back porches.  One of them in particular was completely shredded in the bad storms we had this past winter.  They are colossally expensive, but have a ten year warranty, so we should be good for awhile.  

It was such a gorgeous day I sat outside with my book instead of sewing.  There is always tomorrow...

Killing Time with New Projects and Tools

While I wait patiently (not) for my extra materials for the Sweet Escape project, I have been passing the time by playing with some new projects and tools.  Some time ago I purchased a Creative Grids ruler called the Curvy Log Cabin Tool.  I got the six inch size, but it comes in 4 inch and 8 inch block sizes.

The concept is the same as their regular Log Cabin trim tool, but with the Curvy, you use strips of two different widths to create the curved effect.  If you google Curved Log Cabin quilts, or look on Pinterest, you will see all sorts of wonderful results people have gotten using this tool.

One tip that I learned from this tool is how to get a center square that is dead on perfectly square.

There is a little guide for you to use to cut your center square, and (this is the cool part) the tool has four little holes where you can take your pen and make dots to follow as a stitching guide!

I have learned that if you go awry with that first center square, your block is going to look wonky, even if it measures square once you get all the strips attached.

This picture is before trimming the strips.  You can see that little center square is perfect.

The ruler has marked squares that show you where to line up the center square and seam lines for accurate trimming.  You trim the narrower strips first, then flip the block and the ruler around to trim the wider strips.

I have in mind that I will make a table runner with twelve or sixteen of these blocks.  It takes four blocks to make the pattern shown in my first picture at the top of the post, and four blocks to make this design:

Both designs are fun, but I am leaning towards the circular one.

Hope you had a great weekend!  Mine was pretty quiet.  It stopped raining and the sun came out, which was a great novelty.  I also got some St. Patrick's Day flowers.  It is mostly greenery, but I still like it.

Comparing Pineapple Rulers

I've spent several days comparing two pineapple rulers.  One, the Creative Grids Pineapple Ruler, I have used before and really liked.  It recently came to my attention that Bloc Loc makes a Pineapple Ruler as well, and on impulse I ordered one.  I'll give you my opinions in this post, which is very photo heavy.

Both rulers have YouTube tutorials, but the Bloc Loc lady is left handed which I found very confusing when she did her video.  The Creative Grids video is clear as can be.

You can see that they differ considerably in appearance.  

With the Creative Grids ruler, you trim the even numbered rows like this:

The ruler has little squares for each even round.  You place the square for the round you are on over the center square, taking care to line up the dotted lines that appear throughout the ruler with your seam lines.  There is also a white diagonal line that helps you be sure your center square is square and not tilted.  You can trim two sides at once with the ruler in one position.  Flip it and trim the other two sides.

When trimming the odd numbered rounds (in this case, the white strips), you do have to trim each side individually.  You don't worry about lining up the squares now, but pay attention to the dotted lines and a 45 degree line at the top of the ruler.

You add squares to the corners when the block is as big as you want it (4", 5" and 6" are your options with this ruler).  Use the ruler to square up your block perfectly.

I was pleased with how the blocks came out, with only the most minuscule distortion.  

With the Bloc Loc ruler, there seems to be a lot more trimming.  The ruler "locks" in place along your seam line, and you just need to line your center square in a square unit up with the 90 degree angle lines that are marked on the ruler.  My seam ripper is pointing to one of these lines.  There is another one running down the left side of the white square in a square block.  You trim the excess fabric on the top right.  You have to do this with all four sides of the block.  So, four cuts.

Then you have to trim your strips down, all four sides.  Four more cuts.  And good grief if you forget this step (which I did every now and then), you will be doing some un-sewing.

So far, I am thinking there is a lot more passes with the rotary cutter to get each round to size with the Bloc Loc compared to the Creative Grids.  Creative Grids:  4 trims per round.  Bloc Loc: 8 trims per round.

Now let's talk about block size.  There are two Creative Grids Pineapple rulers available.  I have the smaller one, which gives you blocks that are 4", 5" or 6".  All my fabric strips were cut to 1 1/4".  There is a larger size for making 6", 8", or 10" blocks.  For the larger blocks you would cut your strips a bit larger.

For the Bloc Loc ruler, you choose your tool based on the width of the strip you want to end up with.  I chose a ruler that gave me the option of having one inch strips or 1/2" strips.  If you want strips of a different size you must purchase more rulers.  

With the Creative Grids  tool, all strips are the same width (1/2") for the three block size options.  If you opt for the larger size choice, I believe your finished strips are 1".  With the Bloc Loc, you can use strips of any size wider than 1 1/4".  Since you have to trim down the strips in each round anyway, it is a great use of leftover strips from other projects.

The plus with the Bloc Loc ruler is that you can make your pineapple block as big as you want to.  You are not limited to a size.  If you want a big pineapple block, just keep adding strips.  You might think the ruler is too short to make a big block, but all you have to do is slide the ruler along the seam line to get to the end of your cut.

I made a nice big block, and as you can see, there is a fair amount of distortion.  The block is askew.  I was dismayed by this and thought I should try again and be more careful as I trimmed.  I made a second big block, and it was just as crooked.  I am thinking maybe it wouldn't be so noticeable if I had made a smaller block.

My final opinion is that I preferred the Creative Grids Pineapple ruler over the Bloc Loc.  My reasons for liking it better is that 1) there isn't as much trimming per round and 2) the block came out straighter, 3)  there are more lines on the Creative Grids tool for squaring up the block for better accuracy.

Tools on Tuesday

I had posted a few photos of my string blocks on Instagram, and my daughter was asking me to post a photo that would show the size of the block.  The blocks are made up of four 5 inch smaller blocks, that when sewn together, finish at one 10 inch block.

I have thrown myself into making the blue blocks and wanted to show you a ruler I have been using that I really like.

This is the Simple Folded Corner ruler by Doug Leko.  I purchased it in a larger size when it first came out, but honestly when I make folded corner squares, they are usually tiny.  When this smaller version of the ruler came out I bought one and use it more than the larger size.

I was getting so tired of drawing lines on those darn little squares, when I remembered "Oh right.  I have that ruler..."

This is what it looks like, and here is how you use it:

Take one block unit and one folded corner square.

Place your folded corner square precisely on the corner of the block unit.

Position the ruler on top of the corner square, lining every edge up with the marks on the rulers.  Notice the dark solid diagonal line on the ruler, a quarter inch in from the edge of the ruler?  That solid line is going to be your stitching line, but nothing needs to be marked.  It is an exact quarter inch from the edge.

Cut on that outside edge of the ruler.  Say "Thank you for coming" to the little yellow triangle you just cut off and throw it away.

Sew as usual, using your quarter inch presser foot.

And there you go.  Now for the "folded corner" thing.

Fold it over and press.

That took longer to explain than to actually do.  I have to say, I get more accurate results with the ruler than I do with drawing those darn lines and stitching on them.

Hope your week got off to a good start!

Favorite Notions Part Three

Welcome back to my sewing room, for a tour of some items that I love using.  The strange looking item in the photo above is not a sculpture.  It is a standing thread holder, given to me some years back by a friend.  It isn't possible to fit the larger more economical thread spools onto a standard sewing machine, and this upright thread holder makes it possible to use those larger spools.  It has two upright spokes for holding thread or spare bobbins, and a loop at the top that feeds the thread efficiently over to the sewing machine.  The little round decoration in the middle of the flower is a magnet Eva stuck on there.  I rather like it!

I love making little fabric baskets I can use in various ways in my sewing room.  The larger one is a thread catcher, and I keep it right next to my machine for corralling all those pesky threads and snippings that get all over the place.  I have several of the smaller ones, and use them for holding binding clips, Alphabitties, extra machine feet, etc.  

Where would I be without my Ott Light?  I got this one at Joann's when they were having a coupon sale.  It has a magnifier on top, which believe it or not I use frequently, particularly when I have to pick out little stitches when "un-sewing".  The light is good, and I switch it back and forth on the table, depending on which sewing machine I am using.  And look, there is another of my little fabric baskets just behind it.

I shared this with you all recently, and have to say that my new ironing station is one of the greatest additions to my sewing room ever!  Metal shelving from Lowe's cut down to size by my husband, with a heavy plywood board on top for my pressing.  I used two layers of batting and made a fabric cover for it.  It is sturdy and hard and very flat.  Greatest pressing ever.

Irons. Lots of irons.  I go through one a year for sure, and have given up on buying really expensive ones.  Whatever I pay, it only lasts a year.  This is my latest, my second TFal, and I really like the blasts of steam this one puts out.

I hope you can see this well enough from my photo.  It is a small table rescued from the basement that has my Steady Betty pressing board on top of it, plus a pressing mat and another iron.  This is my small ironing station that sits just to the right of my big Bernina 740.  It is so handy to be able to press small units without hopping up to the larger ironing station every couple of minutes. 

If you don't have a Steady Betty pressing board, you should look into getting one.  They are very portable and make pressing small units or appliqué pieces a breeze.  I covered mine with some extra fabric I had laying around, so it will look different from the ones on their website if you look there.  You can keep it on your sewing table or pick up a small table at a thrift store to set right next to where you sew.

Lastly, behind my ironing stations, you see two design walls I have for laying out quilt blocks.  These are so essential for accurate laying out of blocks and previewing your work as you sew.  No more laying blocks out on the bed in the guest room, or breaking my back trying to use the floor.  These design walls are made of foam board from Lowes, cut to size.  The larger one is 72" square, and the smaller one was actually made from leftover scraps.  You can easily cut foam board with a box cutter, and then cover it with felt, batting or flannel.  Mine are screwed into the walls. 

Hope you enjoyed my posts on my favorite sewing notions and accoutrements this week!  Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or if you would like to share some of your favorites.

Favorite Notions Part Two

I have so many favorite quilting tools and notions that I had to break my post up into chapters!  

In the photo above is my Fiskars rotating cutting mat.  I have a larger one as well, but this tiny eight inch one is just right for itty bitty block units.  On top of the little yellow cutting mat are my Alphabitties, which are so handy for labeling those teensy little block units as you sew them together.

These are my favorite triangle papers.  Star Singles by Spinning Star Designs.  I love using these when I have to make super small half square triangles.  The paper is easy to sew through and tears off with little effort.  These papers come in a wide range of sizes.

Some favorite rulers:  Starting with the largest one, the Bias Square ruler by Patchwork place.  It is eight and half inches square and I swear I use this thing all the time for squaring things up.  I don't think you can get it anymore, which is a shame.  Many other rulers do the same job, but the lines on this one are so easy for my eye to follow.

To the right is my Easy Angle ruler, which is terrific for making half square triangles.  You cut strips of fabric the final size of your hsts and layer two strips together and cut along the strip.  I have shown how to use this is many posts.

Just below the Easy Angle is one of my favorite Bloc Loc rulers, the 2 1/2" square.  I have the Bloc Loc half square triangle rulers in several sizes (1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 6.5), but this is the size I seem to use the most.  This is essential for squaring up oversized half square triangles to a perfect size.

Below that is a very heavily used Creative Grids ruler.  This one is 4.5 x 8.5.  I use this one a lot to trim down strips into smaller units.  Actually any size Creative Grids ruler is excellent, and I have many in different sizes that I use all the time.  The 8.5 x 24.5, the 6.5 x 12.5, and a variety of square ones, all get lots of use in my sewing room.

Last, are my Bloc Loc Flying Geese rulers.  I have these in several sizes as well, but fine these two are the ones I use most often.  1 x 2 and 1.5 x 3.

Check in tomorrow for some larger things in my sewing room that I highly recommend.

 

Favorite Notions

Instagram has been buzzing in the past week or so with quilters sharing pictures of their favorite notions.  I thought that would be a great topic for a blog post, but I have so many favorites, I think I have to divide them up into several posts!

Some of my absolute essentials are in the photo above. Starting at the top left, I have a funny wool ball pin cushion that holds my specialty pins:  

These numbered pins are so great for marking quilt rows as you sew them together.

I use these forked pins to keep my seam intersections exact and also to prevent seams from flopping over and getting sewn wrong.

I couldn't live without these binding clips.  They hold your binding in exactly the right fold while you are sewing it to your quilt.  No more wonky bindings.  Love these things.

Just below the box of binding clips is my needle threader.  Goodness, no binding would be sewn on without that little tool.  My old eyes need all the help they can get.

Just to the left of the binding clips is my Roxanne thimble.

These thimbles are extremely expensive ($65), but are custom sized for your finger and last a life time.  If you get yourself fitted for one of these thimbles you can pass it down in your will.  I have had mine for over 15 years and would be devastated if I lost it.  I have very small tapered fingers and regular thimbles literally fall off my fingers.  I have never found one to fit me until I discovered Roxanne.

Next is my handy lint roller.  I wear a lot of black, and let me tell you, it is not a great look to find yourself covered in little threads and pieces of lint.  I am in the habit of not leaving my sewing room until I give myself a once over with my lint roller.

Below the lint roller is my Zirkel magnetic pin dish.  Love the way the pins fan out in it.  In the dish are my Little House quilting pins.  Super fine and even if I accidentally sew over one, the needle seems to miss it.

Next, we have my favorite seam ripper, which is made by Bernina.  One came with my first Bernina sewing machine and I have purchased many more over the years.  They have a super sharp and tiny blade that picks out threads or rips entire seams with ease.

Then we have a pair of Tweezerman tweezers.  These are a must for picking out threads after you have done some "un-sewing".  I can't tell you how often I use these.  Ahem.

Next to the tweezers is my Clover chalk wheel marker.  I use this all the time to mark lines on my quilt tops when I am doing straight line machine quilting.

I keep a little pair of thread snipping scissors next to my sewing machine at all times.  These little pink ones are by Singer, but Olfa makes great ones, as do several other manufacturers.  These little scissors get a lot of use, and they do get dull over time and need to be sharpened or replaced.

Last up is my Olfa rotary cutter.  This pretty one was a gift from a friend years ago, and I enjoy it's orange floral design so much.  I am coveting the new pink ones that are coming out soon.  I prefer the 45 mm size.

Please share what your favorite notions are, and check back tomorrow for a few more of mine.

 

 

Tootsie Pops Progress

Some progress has been made on my spring table runner.  Aren't those blocks adorable?

I thought I'd talk about the pattern and the block construction in case some of you might want to make this pretty runner for yourselves.

The pattern, Tootsie Pops by Fig Tree, was designed to use those little 2 1/2" precut packs that Moda puts out.  It is a great use of those little guys, but when you use them to make half square triangles, you end up with an unconventional size, 2 1/8".  I had fat quarters, so I cut 2 1/2" strips and used my Easy Angle ruler to make the half square triangles.

I had forgotten how much I like this little tool.  You cut your strips the size you want your half square triangles, or slightly larger if you want to trim down to a smaller size for better accuracy.  Layer your two fabrics right sides together.  The ruler is angled as you see and you position on the strips as shown and use your rotary cutter to cut out the triangles.  You end up with two layered triangles all ready to sew on the machine.  Flip the ruler and make your next cut:

I chain pieced my scads of triangles and pressed them out.  I had stacks of 2 1/2" half square triangles.  The size I needed according to the pattern was 2 1/8" half square triangles.  On to the next step.

I used my  2 1/2" Block Loc ruler to trim the half square triangles down to size.  I don't mind the extra step at all.  I think the perfectly accurate results is well worth the time.

S'Mores Update

This week I have been focusing on my S'Mores quilt.  S'Mores is a design by Jo Morton, which I first saw on Instagram.  I am switching up my version however.  I am making 4 inch finished square in a square blocks, and will separate them with a tan lattice.  My blocks are all red and brown, with scrappy cream and tan accents.  I will do plain setting triangles from the tan lattice material.

In the photo above, I was experimenting with some lattice fabric, which I really liked, but don't think I have enough of.  Fatquartershop to the rescue, and I am waiting on something pretty darn similar to arrive in the mail.

My blocks are turning out so perfectly, which I credit to the Square in a Square ruler by Creative Grids.

You make your triangles slightly larger than you need and trim after each round.  The ruler has marked squares that you line up with the units in your block before trimming down.  Honestly, they are all coming out great.  I have made 81 blocks so far, and think I will need about twice that.  151 I think.   Since the blocks are 4" finished, but will be set on the diagonal with a 1 1/2" finished lattice, the math is too much for me.  I'd like to end up with a quilt around 76" square.  I will get it up on the larger design wall in a week or so and get it figured out.

I made 40 blocks on Wednesday, which wasn't too bad actually.  Do you notice the little binding clips I have holding some of the blocks together?  I have ten blocks in each clip.  It makes it easy to eyeball how many blocks I have in each color, without having to stop and count the darn things all the time.

 I got that tip from Jayne at Jayne's Quilting Room blog.  Jayne has many very cool projects.  If you don't follow her blog, you might want to stop by, say hi and have a look.  She recently made a blue and white quilt she is calling Snow Shoo, which is awesome.  Two simple alternating blocks (Snowball and Shoo Fly) and you end up with such a beautiful pattern.  I've added it to my TBM (to be made) list.

Did you all have a good Valentine's Day?  We celebrated by having our carpets and sofas cleaned.  lol  So romantic, right?

 

New Ironing Station

I have a new ironing station!  I shamelessly copied an Instagram photo Thelma (Cupcakes 'n' Daisies) shared last week.  I dragged my husband to Lowes and we easily found what we needed to create this ironing board and storage shelf.  The entire project took less than a couple of hours to complete, believe it or not.

We got a four tier chrome shelving unit.  They come five tiered, but due to my space constraints, I wanted the 14" shelf depth rather than the deeper shelves offered in the five tiered unit.  The cost for the shelving unit was about $50.  The unit is 37.5" wide, 14" deep and 53" tall when assembled.

 

Obviously you do not want to iron on a surface that is 53" high, unless you are a giant, so some customization of the legs has to be made to make the unit shorter.  My husband used a hacksaw to saw the metal legs down to a height of 37".  He said it was easy, and I took his word for it.

For the top, we needed a board.  We could have used particle board, thick plywood etc, but we found an already cut hardwood board at Lowes.  The one we chose cost around $15. There were various sizes to choose from and we selected one that measured 16" x 48".  It was 3/4" thick, which is important.  You don't want a flimsy board.  The fact that this board was the right size and already cut was a big plus.

While my husband assembled and customized the shelving unit, I covered the board with two layers of quilt batting and a length of fabric.  We used a heavy duty staple gun to turn the edges under and staple the batting and fabric all around the underside of the board.

The finished height of the ironing station is 38" once the board is resting on the top.  We did not secure the board to the shelving unit, as it seems to stay perfectly in place.  I think the two inches of batting and fabric on each underside keeps it from moving.  The board does not slide around, it sits nice and flat and is a wonderfully firm surface for pressing.  

To celebrate that, I picked up my new annual iron!  The T-Fal I got last year worked great for its year of service, so I replaced it with another one (slightly different model) at Walmart.  

I am super excited with this new ironing station, and kept going upstairs to look at it all evening.  I am thrilled not just with the improved ironing surface, but those three shelves are fabulous for storage.