Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Author Archives: Pam

I made my first quilted item as a visual aid for a math project in 7th grade. Over the next 25 years quilting was hit or miss, but quilting took over all the other crafts I've done in 2003.

What’s on My Design Wall

April 12, 2010 10:08 am ⋅

This week, I’m quilting Stripy 4-Patch. Nothing fancy — cross hatching in the pieced strips and probably a simple cable the floral strips.

This weekend I got distracted did no quilting on this quilt. Instead I made some quick gift items for the retreat and quilt show — I’ll show a picture next week. They really were quick, but anytime you start doing multiples that 5 minutes starts to add up! I also make a hanging sleeve for one of the two quilts I want to enter into the quilt show. I’m not looking forward to all of that hand stitching.

Check out what others are working on by following the links at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: designwall

Stash Report

April 11, 2010 3:06 am ⋅

This was a good week fabric wise. I finished the 4-patch stripy top which used a bit of fabric for one border (the other 3 were already cut). Then the quilt needed a backing. There were also bits and pieces to the pieced band in the middle of the backing, background fabric for Dancing Flowers, 50 2″
squares for the Oklahoma Backroads leader/ender project and a couple of yards of fabric for gifts and quilt boutique items.

Inbound was nearly as good, considering I was in 2 quilt shops this week, plus Jo-Ann’s. At the first shop I picked up the binding fabric for the 4-patch quilt, and background fabric for my Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler — all of this was part of the semi-annual Bolt Sale.

The only other inbound fabric was the Laurel Burch panel and coordinating fabrics. These fabrics came from my mom’s sewing room. Last week I did a quick dig and brought some fabric home. Yesterday my sister and I went through all the fabric on the shelves. Turns out she had more quilting cottons than I thought. I haven’t figured out how much I brought home yet. I’ll count it as I integrate it into my stash.

Fabric Added this Week: 5.833 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 37.611 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 7.454 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 29.542 yards

Net Stash for 2010: 8.069 yards

See how others are doing with their stashes by checking out the links at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

Stripy 4-Patch Backing

April 7, 2010 7:11 pm ⋅

I really do need a better name for this quilt. I stopped by the library and checked out Quilt-Lovers’ Favorites Vol. 2. They call the quilt — or one similar to it — Candy Stripes. But back to the backing. This is really growing on me. Two widths of the fabric wasn’t quite long enough for the length of the quilt. So, I pieced another string of 4-patches to insert in the middle. It turned out really cute. I don’t know if I’m going to attempt to center the strip, or let it fall where it may — which will be an inch or two off from center.

If you don’t have a Companion Angle Ruler, or something similar, consider getting one. I became a fan of this ruler and the Easy Angle ruler after working on one of Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts. This strip went together so much easier that the ones on the front. On the front I cut triangles from squares – and I can’t promise you I cut them on the diagonal twice so the edge was on grain. One reason this top sat so long was I didn’t look forward to squaring up the strips. I still had to square this strip up, but it was so much closer to being ‘right’.

Well, off to sandwich the quilt. Have to pull out the ‘big board’ now.

Posted in: notions, Quilts

QA Wednesday

April 7, 2010 12:15 pm ⋅

Last week a had simple goals — finish my brothers shirts and cut the ‘light’ pieces for Texas Braid. I’m happy to report that I’ve done both. The shirts were delivered Saturday and I now have 296 light pieces and 343 dark pieces for Texas Braid. Since the plan is to make either a lap or twin size quilt, I should have plenty. If not, I’ll cut more in May!

There are 4 things on my list for this week.

  • Quilt and Bind Stripy 4-Patch
  • Make pillow case to match
  • Prep for the Quilt Retreat
  • Make 2 Sylvia Bridal Sampler Blocks

The first two should be easy enough.  Last night I bought the binding fabric and started working on the backing.  I should get the quilt sandwiched tonight.  The pillow case I’ll deal with after I get the quilt done.   Prepping for the Quilt Retreat is an ongoing process since I’ll be changing my mind on what projects to work on up until I load the car to leave.

I need to make 2 blocks for the sampler this week as I didn’t get last week’s done.  This week’s block is B10 and I made it when I first started the sampler, so I’ll pick another block.  I HAVE to do this since I also bought 3 yards of the background fabric yesterday.

See how others are doing on their goals by checking out the links at Bari’s.

Posted in: goals

4-Patch Stripy Quilt Top is Done

April 6, 2010 6:41 am ⋅

Last night I finished the borders on the quilt top. I even rummaged through my boxes of yardage to find a backing. This is what I came up with:

Not necessarily my first choice, but it will be fine and the price is right — out of my stash! This is a 1997 Daisy Kingdom print called “Scottie Plaid”. Several years ago this piece moved from my Mom’s stash into mine. I suspect I was supposed to make a dress for my niece. At nearly 13, I don’t think she’ll mind that she’s not getting a pink, black, green and gray plaid dress.

Tonight I’ll work on piecing the backing and sandwiching the quilt. I think I want to quilt it using pink thread, so I’ll need to get it as well as the pink Fairy Frost I want to use for the binding.

Posted in: quilt top

What’s on My Design Wall

April 5, 2010 1:00 am ⋅

Between cleaning the living room, my sister moving, and my initial pass though Mom’s sewing room, it’s getting crowded in my sewing room. As a result, I can’t get to the design wall and today’s picture is taken on my bed — please ignore the pile of clothes at the foot of the bed.

This is my Stripy 4-Patch which I made Leader/Ender style. I started it in the fall of 2007, but when I found out that I had a new great-niece, I used the pieces I had completed to make a baby quilt which was delivered in January 2008.

Once I finished Violet’s quilt, I resumed sewing the 4-patches for the current quilt. By this time last year, the pieced strips were done and I simply needed to cut the stripe fabric and sew it together.

This was one of the quilts I took to last year’s retreat, but did not get to. Earlier this month I thought I’d take it to this year’s retreat, but sometime in the last week, I pulled it out and started working on it. I just need to cut and attach the top and bottom borders and miter the corners and the top will be complete.

In my crazy mind, I’m even considering trying to get it quilted this week. I just have to find something to use for backing in my stash. There will be a trip to the quilt shop to get the pink Fairy Frost for the binding.

The pattern is in Quilt-lovers’ Favorites from American Patchwork & Quilting, published by Better Homes and Gardens Books. I think it’s in Volume 2. I’m not sure what the designer called it.

Check out what’s on other Design Walls by following the links at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: designwall

Stash Report

April 4, 2010 8:13 am ⋅

This week I worked on my brother’s shirts. Nothing like cutting up one shirt to add length to 3 others. I just hope I got them long enough. Once those were done, I pulled out Stripy 4-Patch and started sewing it together. Since the strips were already cut, I can’t count them, but hopefully I’ll get to the point this week that I’ll need a backing for it. The only fabric I used this week are the leader/enders for Oklahoma BackRoads. Good thing I didn’t count it when I pulled it for the project.

Inbound is the fabric I bought from Connecting Threads that arrived Friday.

Fabric Added this Week: 6 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 31.778 yards

Fabric Used this Week: .087 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 22.088 yards

Net Stash for 2010: 9.69 yards

See how others are doing with their stashes by checking out the links at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

The Doorbell Rang

April 2, 2010 1:44 pm ⋅

It was the mailman and he had two packages for me. One from Connecting Threads and the other from Overstock.com.

Last week I started to place on order with Connecting Threads and then asked my friends if they wanted to go in on the order with me to save on shipping. They did. Now I have to divvy up the thread and get it to them. The red fabric is for my cornerstones for Texas Braid I’ll be making next month. The white shirting is just because. The kit in the back is 30’s fabrics for a sewing kit and two book covers. I don’t know if I’ll make the kit up or just put the fabric in my 30’s bin for my Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler blocks.

The package from Overstock.com contained 2 5-count packages of Martelli rotary cutter blades. Earlier this week I put my last new blade in my Ergo 2000 (love that cutter!) and discovered I had a “flat”. Almost couldn’t get the bolt out to remove the new blade. When I finally got it loose, I discovered my generic blades had cut a grove into the bolt! I had always heard you should use the Martelli blades to prevent this from happening, but I’ve never had any problems with the generic blades I’ve used in the past. I pulled out my spare bolt and ordered new blades.

Posted in: notions

April’s Quilting Goals

April 1, 2010 11:44 pm ⋅

It’s the first of the month and the start of a new quarter, so it’s time to figure out this month’s quilting goals.

So, I’m going to start with the ongoing goals:

  • Keep up with the Sylvia Bridal Sampler BOW
  • Keep Scraps Cut Up and Make Progress on the Scrap Basket

That was easy. Figuring out what else I want to accomplish this month is a bit more difficult. However, since I’m going to a 3 1/2 day quilting retreat later this month, I should be able to get plenty done.

This may be a stretch, but they are only goals.

  • Finish and Quilt Stripy 4-Patch Top
  • Complete the Carolina Christmas Top
  • Finish and Quilt Dancing Flowers
  • Resume hand quilting on the Double Wedding Ring
  • Enter a quilt in the guild quilt show

Check back throughout the month to see if I get any of this done.

Posted in: goals

QA Wednesday

March 31, 2010 5:48 pm ⋅


Quilting Accountability Wednesday – the basic goal was 15 minutes of piecing primarily on Carolina Christmas or perhaps Dancing Flowers. The point was to get back to quilting now that life was returning to ‘normal’. Although I didn’t sew entirely on Carolina Christmas, I did get several hours of sewing in since I was feeling much better by Saturday. I completed 11 blocks for Carolina Christmas, 2 Sylvia Bridal Sampler blocks, added 3″ to one of my brothers shirts and cut up not the scraps I pressed weeks ago, but pieces for Texas Braid, a class I’m taking with Bonnie Hunter in May.

This week, I really need to finish the rest of my brother’s shirts – although it’s not technically quilting I do get the left over pieces of red 100% cotton fabric so I think it should count. I’ve got to get 2 done, but would like all of them done so they aren’t hanging over my head. The other thing I’ll want to do is finish cutting the ‘light’ pieces for Texas Braid so I’ll have that done. For the record, I’m not counting the Texas Braid pieces in my stash report until May. I think I’ve cut more than I’ll need for a lap quilt.

See what others are working on this week by checking out the links on Bari’s blog.

Posted in: goals