Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: 2021 – 350 Blocks

Design Wall Monday – 4/12/21

Sunday afternoon I decided I need to get back in the sewing room to make some progress and so there was something to post for Design Wall Monday.  So, 6 rows of my second Easy Breezy top was sewn together.  I have 2 more rows made, I just didn’t get them attached.  During this assembly process, I made my final 2 Easy Breezy blocks.

My short absence from the sewing room was due to more de-cluttering.

My first stop was the linen closet. Still way too many towels for any one person, but it’s so much better than it was.   One large bag of older towels was hauled to the pet shelter. The sheets which no longer fit my deeper mattress gone.

Then I started on other “low hanging fruit” as the saying goes. My husbands shoes, the stuff in the bottom dresser drawer that I haven’t worn in 20 years, the clothes that have been hanging around because “we might lose enough weight” to get into them. Ha!

This week I’m going to focus on the boxes in my husband’s office.  I need to get them out to I can get to the musical instruments.  It’s time to sell them.  Anyone want to buy a marimba?

 

  • 350 Challenge April = 20
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 202
  • Easy Breezy = 144

I Jinxed Myself

Yes, after bragging about having 4 correct corners yesterday I proceeded to turn one the wrong way when I sewed the block together.  Fortunately with just ripping out a couple of seams I was able to turn the unit and finished the block correctly.

I then went on to make 2 more blocks bringing my total of correctly made blocks to 23.  I also made 2 more Easy Breezy blocks.

Looks like I’ve hit a milestone with my 350 Challenge — 200 blocks

  • 350 Challenge April = 18
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 200
  • Easy Breezy = 142

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

It’s a new month and already I’ve touched 5 different projects.

First up is Shimmer.  3 more blocks.  That makes 16 made correctly.  Given that my design wall is not big enough for all of them, I pulled down the ones I made last month to make room for the rest of the blocks.

In the middle is this month’s BOM from the Guild.  Now that it’s made, I’m second guessing my choice of this particular orange fabric.  I’ll worry about it after I get the rest of the blocks made.

The next 3 blocks are from the Addicted to Scraps column in Quiltmaker.  The pink one is Dakota Farmer from the November/December 2013 issue.  The pink and white HST were pulled from my orphan block box. They were bonus HST from my Carolina Christmas.  The pink squares came from my box of 2″ squares.  The blue and burgundy block next to it is Four Patch Pinwheel from the January/February 2019 issue. Finally the green/neutral block is Betty’s Choice from March/April 2013.  This brings my total to Addicted to Scrap blocks 15.

The last two blocks on the wall are the last two Easy Breezy leader/ender blocks.  I’ve now made 140.  Since I’m not certain how I plan to set these blocks I’ve pulled out my postage stamp quilt.  I added 10 -15 2 patches to the bag.

  • 350 Challenge April = 9
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 191
  • Easy Breezy = 140

 

Addicted to Scraps – Part 2

Yesterday the May/June issue of Quiltermaker was delivered.  That means it’s time for another round of Addicted to Scraps blocks.  This month’s block is Butterfly Bush — it’s the top left block.  Since it is so small, I made 4 of them and sewed them into a single block.  The large block in the middle is Antique Tile from the September/October 2011 issue. Outside In from July/August 2014 is the pink and brown block.  The last block is Box Kite from the May/June 2014 issue.

I have all of the blocks gathered on one page HERE.

While I was making the blocks I finished 3 Easy Breezy Blocks.

  • 350 Challenge March = 68
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 182
  • Easy Breezy = 138

 

One of These Things is Not Like the Others

As I sat at the other end of the sewing room talking on the phone, I realized that one of these blocks is not like the others. And this time, there is no way to fix it without an extra seam.  Will I? Who knows.  I’ll worry about it another day.  I still have 16 more blocks to make.

  • 350 Challenge March = 61
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 175
  • Easy Breezy = 135

The Continuation of Shimmer

Work on Shimmer continues.  After another cutting mistake I’ve decided I’m stitching then cutting.  I have no guarantee that I’ll have fabric to replace my mistakes.  I’ve discovered that some of my fabric pairing choices don’t have enough contrast, but I’m going to leave it.

I’m also contemplating quilting ideas for Atomic Starburst. I haven’t settled on anything yet, so I haven’t loaded the quilt.  Of course I need to make the backing first.

Also on my list of things to think about is how I’m going to set my Easy Breezy blocks.  I only have 6 left to make. After that I’ll need to find something else for my Leader/Ender project.  In the short term I may just pull out my Postage Stamp pieces.

  • 350 Challenge March = 58
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 172
  • Easy Breezy = 134

Design Wall Monday – 3/29/2021

Today’s design wall appears to be a throw back to August 2020.

I know you are thinking — didn’t she finish this quilt top last summer?  The answer is  Yes, but no.

When it came time to trim it up, (back when I could see my hearth) it wasn’t right, but I couldn’t put my finger on what the problem was. Look close – see the blue and yellow star?

It’s not lining up. I couldn’t see it last summer, but yesterday when the top was uncovered by my cleaning, I spotted the problem right away.  Apparently this top needed to be in timeout for a while.

Gracie helped me rip out the seam.

Once it was in two pieces it was easy to see where the mistake was made.  I think this was the last seam.   I  haven’t decided if I’ll trim it before or after I quilt it.  I’m leaning to after.  So, I’ll spend a day or two trying to figure out how  I want to quilt it.  I have to keep in mind, that — oh, this is March — I was thinking in the next 2 weeks I needed to load my nephews graduation quilt on the machine to quilt — but there’s  8, not 4 more weeks to graduation.  So, I will be able to keep this on the frame for a couple of weeks and still get his quilt done.

As for my piecing project,  I’ve pulled Shimmer out.  It went into time out because I made 2 different cutting errors on the same block. Since the above picture was taken, I’ve finished cutting the white for the rest of the blocks, and completed a block.

This is not a quick sew. I watched 2 episodes of Deep Space Nine without commercials in the time it took to complete this block.  I have 21 left to make. Hopefully it will get faster.

I’m linking up with Small Quilts for Design Wall Monday.

  • 350 Challenge March = 53
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 167
  • Easy Breezy = 132

Finishing the Week

Test 2 is bound.

Louisa Lattice is bound and washed.  This one is going to my Guild’s Cancer Center project.

Yesterday after binding Louisa Lattice, I pulled out the box with these pieces in it.  The crazy squares I purchased at auction a couple of years ago.  This is the 2nd quilt I’ve made from the blocks and there are at least enough blocks to make 1 more quilt. The sashing is from Quiltville’s Dancing Nines. I quilted this with “Bubbles” in Candy Apply Red thread.  The back is a piece of fabric I bought to make my husband a shirt.

2 more Easy Breezy Blocks were made.

Finally, I got the cable company to come remove their box and cable from the house to the pole.  I haven’t had cable in a number of years. Earlier this week I was up in the terraced area of the back yard and had to duck to go under the wire.  Now to get the phone company to pull the DSL line and tighten the phone cables.  I’m ducking under those too.

  • 350 Challenge March = 51
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 165
  • Easy Breezy = 131

 

 

Finished (or Not) Friday / One Monthly Goal

I’m starting with One Monthly Goal — Finish the wedding quilt. It still needs to be washed, but I’m calling it done. I think next month I’ll pick something a little simpler.

I used 9 Big Dream Dance in the Hummingbird colorway for the backing.

For Finish (or Not) Friday, I also have Louisa Lattice.  This was made with a bit of yardage from my stash and a layer cake called Louisa that I won during Fabric Bingo.  I’ve made a scrappy binding from the leftover squares. The back is a vintage Peter Pan floral which my mom bought years ago.

I while I was assembling the top, I made 2 more Easy Breezy blocks.

  • 350 Challenge March = 37
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 168
  • Easy Breezy = 129

 

Quilting and Piecing

The last of customer quilts is done. I had to learn a new skill  – masking. That’s when stitching out an edge to edge design you mask a spot you don’t want to stitch.

It’s not the best picture, but the “straight” lines is the boundary where I told the computer to skip.

Once I got past the masked area, I was able to do a bit of piecing.  These are the rest of the pieces for “Louisa Lattice”.  I also finished one Easy Breezy block.

  • 350 Challenge March = 17
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 131
  • Easy Breezy = 127