Sister's Choice - 35 Down, 13 to Go

 

A couple of years ago I participated in a civil war repro six inch 9 patch swap.  I ended up with thirty-five 9 patches.  I turned all of the 9 patches into 10 inch Sister's Choice blocks.  These are the last of the swapped blocks turned Sister's Choice.  So, for a throw 60 x 80 I guess I need 13 more blocks. 

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

I'm on a much needed stay-at-home vacation this week. 

I see some spring cleaning, seed starting and some sewing in my days ahead! Wooohooo. I'm free to do as I darned well please when I darned well please (for a week anyway)!

And, I need to get used to this time change. 

Digging into the Civil War Reproductions

I have a big bin of civil war reproduction fabrics (well, I threw it in there if I thought it  was a cw fabric) that I need to reduce before I die (which I hope is not any time soon because I have lots of other bins to reduce too). 

While looking around for a pattern I liked I somehow happened upon a picture of a  Blind Man's Fancy quilt. I loved it.  Then I did a search and found more pictures that I loved and then I found  a pattern for a 15 inch block.   So I made a couple of blocks just to see if I would still like it.   And I do. 

And then, since I was in civil war fabric mode I made a few more swapped  6 inch nine patches into 10 inch Sister's Choice blocks. 

And then besides the bins of fabric there's the scraps from previous projects that need to be used up.  This bag is all 2.5 inch scraps. I've kept them separate because I'll probably make nine patches with them.  I don't mix and match my civil war fabrics with other scraps because civil war fabrics are pretty snobby and frown upon those novelty fabrics I seem to use quite frequently. 

This drawer has scraps of sizes other than 2.5.   I think I'll cut the 2 inch, 4 and 6 inch scraps into 2 inch squares.   I don't want to waste any 1/2 inch pieces of fabric cutting 2 inch squares so that's why I'll pick out even numbered scraps.  Yes, I'm cheap  frugal. 

Sunny Lanes

At the beginning of the year there will be a swap on Block Swappers Yahoo Group of 12 inch Sunny Lane blocks.  (Hey, if you have civil war fabrics and/or scraps it's not too late to join in.) At first I didn't really like the block by itself but  when the blocks are sewn together the white (Kona Snow) lanes form a pattern in the background that I kind of like.   Plus I can use up some scraps making my blocks.   For the swapped blocks I'll strip piece. 

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times. 

Just a Few Minutes Each Day

Holiday vacations are over, ten hour work days are back. But I'm still finding a little time to sew each day. I'm working on 6 inch churn dashes in civil war fabrics for an upcoming swap. I'm hoping to swap 24 blocks - 2 sets of 6 negative and 2 sets of 6 positive and keep duplicates of same for myself.

It's Linky Party Tuesday at Freemotion by the River.

And, if you want to check out some projects using words check out the In Your Words Blog Hop. hosted by Linda at Buzzing and Bumbling.  My project is on the list to appear on Monday, Jan 14! I've had it finished since first week of Jan.

Civil War Block Catch Up

Railroad Crossing

Next Door Neighbor

Petersen's Stars and Stripes

Samplers

CW Sampler - Ladie's Aide block.

The outside piece on the cross is supposed to match the fabric of the corner pieces; however, I did not like how it looked since my fabric on the crosses did not match up properly to the corners. Maybe before the quilt is made I will redo this one.

CW Sampler - Calico Puzzle

FW Sampler - Big Dipper.

Do you know I was an old lady before I could actually look up in the sky and see the big dipper and then the little dipper? And now I look at this block and just don't get it!

FW Sampler - Broken Sugar Bowl.

This is my version 2 of this block since I made the other one undersized and we do know that size matters! And, on the subject of sugar bowls...I inherited and use grandma's sugar bowl and hope no one breaks it.

FW Sampler - Buzzard's Roost

Kind of wild...I used that brown fabric since it kind of looked treeish. Don't know why I used the green.

FW Sampler - Country Farm.

Hmmm, looks like that one side doesn't have enough seam allowance. Hope it's just the picture!

FW Sampler- Darting Birds.

Ok, not enough contrast. I wanted red birds since some of the other bird blocks are blue but I should have used the Kona snow. Maybe another one for the remake list. Or maybe not..

Catching Up on Civil War Blocks Again

Blocks from Barbara Brackman's block-a-week release from her blog Civil War Quilts

There is also a button on my sidebar that links to her website. Even if you are not making blocks the history she presents on the civil war is very interesting. Below are my interpretation of her blocks. I have this week's block done too but wanted to fix it a little before I took a picture of it. In the sane quilting world I do love samplers. I need to work a little more on the Farmer's Wife Sampler now.

Catching Up on the Civil War, Finally!

Barbara Brackman, quilt historian, releases a block a week for a civil war quilt along with some civil war history to go along with the block. I was behind several weeks but have finally caught up. See my sidebar for a link to the her blog. It is quite interesting.

Texas Tears

The latest block in the Civil War block of the week. I may have to remake this one. The upper right corner is off. Arghhh (and then some)!

Samplers

My spool block for the Farmer's Wife Sampler (see link on sidebar). This is a pretty wild looking block even for me. I think it was the only 30s repro striped fabric I had in my stash and I wanted the spool to look like it had thread on it with the stripes going a different direction. And then...after I had the block together I thought I should have sewn small scraps together to make the spool thread. Maybe next time, next spool block. I have about 60 calico spools in a WIP bin.

I chose 30s fabrics for this quilt because they remind me of grandma who showed me how to quilt. I loved looking at all the pieces of clothing she used in her quilts. She told me stories of how many times a piece of fabric was used before it finally ended up in a quilt and other stories of how they survived during the Depression era. She was sort of a bitter, cranky old woman - nearly 40 when dad was born and each year, according to stories, made her a bit crankier. I must say, though, that when she was showing me how to sew or smock or embroider that she was a very pleasant, loving, beautiful grandma.

And this is my Farmer's Wife Snowball block. Of course I had to use fabric with circles on it. I hate snow now. Well, sometimes it looks beautiful, especially when there is hoare frost, but most times it is dirty and too cold for me. I've been meaning to make snow ice cream with the grandkids when they are here after a fresh snow but it hasn't happened yet. Snow...when I was younger I used to love tobaggoning down Fejervary Park hill with friends and then go home and drink hot chocolate. Sometimes my memory starts tricking me and I wonder if I just wished I went home to hot chocolate or if I really did. With an absent mom (who went off somewhere to find herself...with other men) and a dad rarely at home (either at work or out drinking somewhere) I think I wished it. I know hot chocolate in a pouch didn't exist in the olden days and I don't remember much milk in the frig, now that I think about it. I'll have to ask some of my siblings what they remember in re hot chocolate.

And this is my Seven Sisters block for the Civil War Sampler (also see sidebar). I'm not much for applique since I'm not good at it and don't really know what I'm doing, but I won't ever know how to do it if I don't try. So I tried. I know...wonky stars. I can imagine several civil war era ladies had the same.

I think I will start on another sampler soon - Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I don't think I will use reproduction fabrics for it but you never know, er, I mean, I never know. Stay tuned...

North Star - Civil War Sampler Block 2

North Star quilt block for week 2 of the civil war quilt sampler from quilt historian Barbara Brackman.  See sidebar for a link that will take you to her blog and some civil war history to go along with the block.

Catch Me If You Can

Quilt historian Barbara Brackman will release a free 8" block pattern each week during the 2011 sesquicentennial year on her new blog Civil War Quilts. Also each week she will tell a true story about persons who lived during that time. As a genealogist and quilter I LOVE the idea and took up needle and thread yesterday to participate. Since I have been hoarding cw reproduction fabrics for a couple of years, now is the time for me to make a dent in the stash. The first block is "Catch Me If You Can" and this is my version of it.