Sister's Choice Quilts

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!

Sewcialites Binder

Are any of you doing the Fatquartershop's Sewcialites sew-along? I have been enjoying making the blocks and watching the Friday Behind the Seams videos with Kimberly Jolly on YouTube.

Recently, Kimberly announced that her shop had created a binder to corral all the pattern instruction sheets for the project. Being an organization nut, I ordered the binder. Of course, any binder would do, but this one is labeled with the name of the project and is pretty cute.

I picked up some sheet protectors and got everything all assembled. It will be a nice reference for block patterns when the project is finished. Now I want to do this with all my past and current sew-along patterns!

These are my Sewcialites blocks so far. I didn't like one of the week's blocks and substituted the Martha Washington Star block (the purple one) for it.

There are bound to be more blocks I don't care for, so I made another extra one in the Ohio Star pattern. Keep this in mind when you are participating in these sew-alongs. You do you. Don't worry about following along exactly with the crowd. If you don't care for something, swap it out, make it your own.

 

Curvy Log Cabin Block and Ruler

I have had Log Cabin blocks on my mind lately. I have been using Fatquartershop's Log Cabin Piecing papers to make a fall table runner and have really been enjoying the process. I recently picked up one of my Creative Grids Log Cabin rulers to compare the construction process for accuracy and enjoyment of piecing.

This past weekend I played around with the Creative Grids Curvy Log Cabin Ruler in the 6-inch size.  I needed another 12-inch block for the Moda BlockHeads sew-along and thought if I combined four of the 6-inch curvy blocks to make a 12-inch block it could be interesting.

As you can see in the photo of my finished block (which is four blocks sewn together), the style of this Log Cabin block is a variation of the standard one. In the Curvy Log Cabin block, there are wide strips that are combined with narrower ones, rather than all the strips being the same width as in the classic Log Cabin block. The overall effect is, well, curvier.

As with the regular Creative Grids Log Cabin ruler, there are markings on the tool showing you where to line up the center square for accurate trimming. (I placed the ruler on a scrap of white fabric so you can see the markings more clearly).

I ended up making a total of 5 Curvy Log Cabin blocks.  I had to discard the first one because it did not come out as well as I would have liked. The trick to using this tool is this:

Do you see the square at the lower left of the ruler? It has four holes drilled into it.  You are to take a pen and mark the wrong side of your center squares carefully. You then must pay strict attention to stitching exactly between those dots in order to have the seams on that critical center square come out exact. If you disregard this suggestion, your seams will not be straight when you add your strips around the center square to complete the block. The thing is, the seam allowance is slightly more than 1/4" for that center square. Ignore your usually sacred 1/4" for this center square only. Just pay attention to sewing between the dots. The remaining strips will be sewn with your 1/4" seam allowance.

I wasn't super careful with my first block and some of the sewn strips did not look even to me. In my subsequent blocks, I was more exact and the blocks came out fine.

Will I use this tool again?  Hmmm.  Probably not. It was ok for the novelty of making this one block (composed of 4 six-inch Curvy Log Cabin blocks), but I don't think I'd ever make an entire quilt with it. I prefer the regular Creative Grids Log Cabin ruler, as it seems less fussy. My final thoughts are that I would make an entire quilt using either the Log Cabin Paper Foundations or the Creative Grids Regular Log Cabin trim tool. Both are fun to use and produce super accurate blocks without too much thought or fuss.  

Here are my eight 12 inch blocks for my Moda BlockHeads project. Only I am not going to use the block on the top right. It is a cool block, and it is made well, but to my eye, it does not play well with the others. It comes across as too dark, too bold, too something.  It stands out too much. So, I will be making one more 12-inch block to replace it. Maybe I'll put it on the back of the quilt. I could also add a little border to it and turn it into a candle mat.

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.

 

Paper Piecing Log Cabin Blocks

I have stitched a bit more on my paper pieced log cabin blocks. This is a block all stitched. You carefully place the fabric strips on the paper's underside, lined up along the right numbered line. After stitching, I have been trimming my seam allowances with a handy little tool called the "Add A Quarter."

After stitching on the line, you fold the paper back along that stitched line and use the ruler to butt up to the fold. The ruler has a notch or ledge on it that grips along the fold. Use your rotary cutter to cut off any excess fabric beyond the quarter-inch ruler allowance.

That trimming after each strip really makes the back of the block look neat and tidy. 

And the front of the block isn't bad either! I am really enjoying this paper piecing and plan to get more of the Fatquartershop's paper piecing tablets.  I want the Courthouse Steps, the Pineapple, and the Economy papers. These will be handy along with a honey bun or other precut to make table runners as gifts for folks. 

I swear, I could sit and stitch these blocks all day while listening to podcasts and good audiobooks!

Didn't we have a nice conversation in the comments to my last post on tailor's clappers? So many great suggestions on pressing and alternate devices to the clapper. What was really fun is that we got to hear from loads of new people! Thanks for commenting all you guys! That is what this is all about...creating a fellowship amongst quilters. I love hearing from you all and appreciate every moment you gave, contributing to the conversation.

I hope you all have a terrific weekend. It is fall here, with temperatures finally down to the mid-70s. I hear some of you got snow in the midwest! I am still waiting for that crazy tree in my backyard to turn red and drop all its leaves in 24 hours.

The Clapper

Have you all heard of a tailor's clapper? It is a wooden block that you use to flatten seams when sewing. Kimberly Jolly of the Fatquarter Shop has been touting them on her Friday "Behind the Seams" YouTube videos. She uses one made by Riley Blake called "The Quilter's Clapper". It seemed to work great for her when she pressed her seams open, so of course, I ordered one. FQS is sold out, so I got mine off of Amazon. 

They are made of hardwood and have a good heft to them. They come in two sizes, 7" and 12". They are kind of pricey at $18 and $23, so I just got the smaller one.

So you make your block unit, press the seam open and plop the Clapper on top of the hot fabric. The combination of the heat and the weight of the wooden block is supposed to flatten your seam even more.

Did it work? Hmmm. I don't know. I guess, somewhat. The photo at the top of this post is of the unit pressed open before applying the Clapper. The photo right above is of the unit after the clapper sat on it for a minute. It is noticeably more flat in the last picture, but it wasn't that bad in the first picture after just being pressed on the wool mat.

Do any of you have this device? What do you think of it? Should I leave the clapper on the block unit for a longer time?