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.

Quilting and Box Shuffling

After a night’s rest I was able to resolve my tension issues and started quilting.  This is the first quilt I’ve done in almost a year.  Prior to this one the last quilt I quilted was April 4, 2021. Four days later I decided to move and I started packing.  This is the Mississippi Quilt Association‘s BOM from 2020.  They are running it again. The blocks are available HERE.

Boxes were moved, one at a time.  Books are heavy. They’ll hang out in the corner room until my bookshelves are built.

The front bedroom is the audiovisual library.  78’s, LPs, 45s, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, and VHS.  A box of LPs are heavier than a box of books — including the yearbooks.  All of this will be gone through and thinned out eventually.  This will go in the den after that room is finished.

The instrumental music library.  Clearly it all won’t fit in the piano bench.  I’m pondering storage solutions.  

I’m considering an Ikea Kallax.

I would use these inserts, put it on legs and fashion some doors.  But that’s a future project.

While shuffling boxes I opened the next to last box the movers packed and finally found my silverware.  I’m not sure what I thought was in the box.  It was not labeled.

I found MORE of the auction blocks.  These are smaller than the others.  I have enough for yet another quilt. I’ll sash them and set them on point after trimming them to the same size.

Moving all of the boxes means I’m able to setup my quilting space.  It’s not done, but I have a work space.

Last night the borders were added to the crazy quilt. I used straight pins to hang the quilt on the wall. I really need to get my design wall put up, but it’s on hold until the trim is caulked and that is on hold until my patio door is installed.

The quilt was loaded last night. This morning before work I started the quilting. I’ll do another pass at lunch.

My LongArm is Here!

Saturday started bright and early as I was expecting my longarm.  Butterscotch was in the window on the lookout.

It fits perfectly where I anticipated.  7 feet from the driveway wall and 5 feet from the laundry room wall.  The ceiling fans are centered above the table the the power cord drops from the ceiling just past the edge of the table.  The power cord has a twist lock mechanism so it can’t fall out or accidentally be pulled out.

Before Ethan left, I made sure the machine was working.  After all my tech support is no longer an hour away.  The closest Innova dealer is 5 1/2 hours away!

I had great plans to get a quilt quilted over the weekend, but I ran into tension issues. It is partly a poorly wound bobbin and mostly a bad backlash spring in the bobbin case.  I really thought it had been replaced, but apparently not.  I think I had 2 ordered before Ethan got out of the driveway.

As you can see, I spent no time at all putting boxes under the longarm. They all need to be gone through, but I need flat surfaces to do that.  So, I guess tonight I’ll wind another bobbin to see if I can get the tension correct, then start to move boxes out of the space.  I think the books I’ll stack against the wall in my office and the albums I’ll put in the front bedroom.

Borders for Go! Big Crazy Quilt

This is the center of my Crazy Quilt that I cut with the Go! Big Crazy Quilt 10″ die.  I use 50 13-1/2″squares and have 2 blocks leftover.  It currently measures 60″ x 80″, but it needs to be 70″ x 90″ for the organization I’m giving it to.

The other day I purchased a black splatter and turquoise for the border and binding.  But the moment I laid it out I realized that was NOT the answer. So, I started digging in my stash.

I really like the original turquoise, this is one is not quite as vibrant.  May be it’s the gray inner border.  I’d like to do an inner border, so I can do a faux piping binding.

This turquoise and red combination is not bad, but still not right.

Since the yellow jumps out in the quilt, maybe a yellow inner border.  This green is nice and cheery.

I think this gold might work better. But after playing with all of the fabric options I had to clean up the room as my long arm was being delivered the next morning.

All ready for the long arm.

Blocks!

I’ve been making up for lost time away from the sewing machine.  These are the swap blocks that I’m taking to retreat next month.  It is Friendship Scrap Block from Quilters Cache.

I also finished making the string blocks.  Now I can clean up the mess. I’ve yet to figure out how to work with strings that doesn’t create a huge mess. I’ll intersperse these blocks with the others and hopefully they’ll blend in.

Miss Genie Is Home

After my big machine died, I picked up Ruby’s Brother to use until Miss Genie came home. I picked  her up yesterday afternoon and after I got home from the quilt guild meeting I opened her up and started piecing.

The sewing machine is currently sitting where the longarm will go.  This is what the space looked like Friday night.  I’ve been busy.

But first there was a bit of retail therapy.  The blocks on the left were cut with the Accuquilt Machine.  I stopped in at Twin Oaks Crafts in Richland, Mississippi and rented their GO! Big Crazy Quilt-10″ Finished Die.  It didn’t take me long to cut out all 50 blocks and they went together SO fast — right up until my sewing machines died.  I still need to one more seam on about 20 of the blocks then this quilt will be ready to assemble.  As to the retail therapy, I plan to do a narrow border of the turquoise and then use the black splatter as the border.  The Purple space/star is a wide backing that I’ll use on both quilts.

The pile of blocks on the right are the last of the auction blocks.  They are trimmed and ready to sash.  The lime green is the sashing and the bubbles is the border.

I’m aiming for a 70 x 90 quilt, so I’m 18 blocks short. Last night I only had seven completed, with 3 in progress when Miss Genie decided I needed to go to bed. This morning I changed the needle, re-threaded the machine and pulled some thread off the bobbin and I was able to finish 3 more blocks.

Also over the weekend I made significant progress on my swap blocks. I need to finish the brown set and then sew them into a 12″ block.

Not shown are the two Pizza Box Blocks I made for the Guild swap.  I wasn’t able to work on the block right away since my brother arrived the evening of the Guild meeting.  So 2 weeks of house remodeling, a week to recover, and then the machines died.  As soon as I picked up Ruby’s spare machine, I made the block I was to swap last night.  I brought a new box home and IMMEDIATELY made the block I’m to take back next month.

I have a few more days of piecing then I’ve got to clean up my mess to make room for the long arm.

The Piano Arrived

My piano was delivered Friday.  I’ve also have been unpacking the boxes with breakables in them.  I think I have 3 more boxes of breakables in the living room and the flat boxes with mirrors, glass, and artwork to unpack.

Among the things I found were this bunny and lamb that my husband painted when he was about 12 or 13.  Now if I can keep the cats off the table so they don’t knock anything off.

This is a PSA.  Clean you sewing chair wheels periodically.  I wish I could say there was no thread left on the wheels, but all I can say is the chair rolls much better now.

I’ve been sewing on my  Singer Genie since I’ve moved. But earlier this week I pulled the bobbin case to clean out from under it (is this a theme?). I wasn’t able to get it back, so I it is in the shop.  Since Saturday is National Quilting Day, I thought I’d temporarily move my sewing table to where the longarm will go and pull out my big machine.

Now it looks like the motherboard is going out on my Quilt Designer. I guess I’m due for a new sewing machine – or two.

Dinner Was Served in the Dining Room

Yesterday I moved the dining room furniture into the room.  I have the buffet centered on the wall.  There’s plenty of room at each end for the arm chairs.  They’ll be used when the leaves are in the table.

The china cabinet is on the living room wall.

The plan was to unpack the china and stow it away into the china cabinet.  However, when we moved it into place it was very wobbly – more than an uneven floor could explain.  I laid the cabinet down and discovered the leg supports were broken.  I pulled them off and we set the cabinet on this blanket so I could bring in the table.  I’m going to talk to my cabinet guy to see if he can make me replacement legs.

Dinner was leftover beef and noodles eaten at a table!

 

 

Windows – Day 2

Day 2 was cloudy, but no rain.  They finished the windows across the front. The top picture is from October, but bottom one yesterday. Sometime in the nearish future, I want to paint the door trim to match the window trim.

I rehung the sheers in the rooms. I need some sort of blind for the bedrooms – or a heavier curtain which can be drawn if someone is staying in the room.

They added the side windows in the breakfast room bay.  I opted not to have those open as the glass is only 12″ wide.

The bathroom window has obscure glass.

They also put in windows in my bedroom and over the kitchen sink.

I didn’t do the work, but I’m exhausted.  Maybe it’s thinking about what comes next.  The Piano will arrive sometime between the 15th and the 22nd, so that means I need to get the dining room setup so I can clear the boxes out of the living room.  That will be this weekend’s project.

That in turn will give me space to move the boxes of books and music out of the way of the longarm which I hope to have sometime between the 21st and the end of the month.

 

Today’s Progress

They have started the window install.  First is the driveway wall windows in the Quilt Studio.

The Sunroom window went in.

Finally the patio wall of the Sunroom.

It started raining about 11:15 this morning and is just now (10:45) tapering off after 4+ inches of rain. I was trimming these quilt blocks when they lifted the last window into the opening in the Quilt Studio.  I could no longer hear the rain.

This video is my attempt to show the sound dampening (no pun intended) of my new double pane windows.

Even though it rained all afternoon, the guys kept putting windows in.  I forgot to get an exterior picture of the breakfast room.  The two side windows will be replaced tomorrow.

 

The living room.  I’m need to move those rose bushes. They beautiful, but are too large.  Maybe next year.

The dining room.  I purchased a few Daylily roots Sunday. I think I’ll plant them in in front of this window.

Speaking of daylilies, I picked these up at Hobby Lobby. The plan was to put them on the dining room table when I get that far, but for now, they are on the entry table. I may need to do another arrangements for the dining room.

Finally, I  have the guest bed put together. The dust ruffle was delivered today. So, I used my new nail gun to nail the plywood to the slats to keep it from shifting, then started dressing the bed. I got my workout unpacking the mattress. The quilt is the 2018-2019 Quiltville Mystery Quilt – Good Fortune.  Clearly I need to make a couple quilts in the 84 x 90 range.  The bed frame has been in the family for at least 50 years.  Ted’s sister Ruby remembers sleeping on it when she was 16, it was Ted’s bed growing up and our first bed when we got married.

It’s not supposed to rain tomorrow which will make it easier for the guys to finish the windows. I think there are 8 more to install.

Window Day

It’s window installation day!  Naturally that means the cats get locked up so they don’t escape. I’ve got them in my office. There’s no door knob on the hall door, so the chair is keeping the door closed.  They have food, water, a litter box, scratching post, a toy mouse and 3 cat beds.

But Gracie is not happy.  Typically when people are in the house she hides in my bedroom, but since my bedroom is getting windows, she’s locked up with the other two girls.

I’ve also pruned the magnolia tree and hung the chimes.  My original plan was to hang them by the house, but I discovered the previous owner had put a couple of hooks in the tree to hang a swing.  I removed the ropes and instant spot for the chimes.

The first thing they guys told me was the exterior glass was broken in one of windows.  They are ordering a replacement sash which will be here in 3 – 4 weeks. Since all 5 of the Quilt Studio and Sunroom windows are the same size, this one will go in the Sunroom.

I just hope the rain holds off long enough for them to get all of the windows installed.