Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Final Countdown

The Final Countdown, Task Two

January 1, 2021 1:12 am ⋅

Task Two  of the Final Countdown is clean up the fabric storage and stray fabric piles. So why didn’t I post this on Wednesday?  Because I was trying to decide which pile to tackle.  I have 4.

Up first, primarily large backings loose on the fabric shelves.  They really don’t have a home, which is why they are on top of the boxes.  But those boxes are full after my buying spree when a LQS went out of business this summer. The boxes themselves are in pretty good order since I misplaced a piece of fabric after that buying spree cleaning up.  All the boxes were emptied and the fabric refolded and sorted.  I think all that is left to refold is the KTQ box and the 30’s reproduction box, but given they have their own boxes, there is no hurry to do that. As for the backings, maybe in the box of tops even though they don’t have tops yet?

Another obvious choice is the longarm.  In the foreground is a bag of scraps which will be given to a Guild Member who makes them into pet beds for the local shelter. The bag of brights contains the fabric and blocks for the Mississippi Quilt Association BOM I’m doing.  There are 2 more blocks to go. I suspect that bag will just get moved around the room to get it out of the way until the top is done. The KTQ fabrics will shipped off to my SIL for a BOM as soon as I have the first set of pattern written up. With any luck that will be next week. Looks like there are a couple of Christmas fabrics which I might be able to squeeze into the Christmas box. The pile of batiks is for one of the quilts I’m currently working on.  It will get moved around until the top is finished.

What I really needed was a challenge to clear my sewing table. There’s another backing, parts and pieces of a quilt top I finished, some of the blocks for the batik quilt, and way under there is the leftover fabric from Frolic that I’m going to use to make the backing wider. It’s been sitting there for months.

 

Of course, what really needs work is the area in “the hole”.  I’m not sure I can even identify what all is in those piles from the picture.

 

I think we have until January 7th to complete our tasks, so maybe I’ll make the most of this 3 day weekend and knock a few of these piles back into submission. Look for an update next week.

 

Easy Breezy = 89

Posted in: Easy Breezy, Final Countdown

2020 Final Countdown, Task One

December 29, 2020 7:18 pm ⋅

 

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts has hosted the Final Countdown for many years. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve participated, but I thought I’d try it again. Maybe I will be the catalyst I need to start documenting my quilting again.

Task one – Clear off your main work surface. Yes, that is a current picture.  I had a head start since part of my Christmas was a new cutting mat.

As you can see, it wasn’t too bad. The box was put back on the shelf, the bag of pieces slipped into the drawer, the rulers put away, and the pipe cleaners & snips put in a box with the rest of the wreath supplies I’ve purchased over the weekend.

This is the wreath I made this morning.  I have stuff for Mardi Gras and Easter wreaths as well.

Now the next step is to finish this section of the wedding quilt. Then it will be on to making more HSTs.

Easy Breezy = 86

Posted in: Easy Breezy, Final Countdown, Mesh Wreaths, Quilts, Wedding Quilt

The Final Countdown – Task Three

January 3, 2017 11:47 pm ⋅

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task Three – Get Committed

It’s a good thing she’s given us until the 6th to do this. As weird as last year was I really haven’t given it much thought and it doesn’t look like I was committed to anything. Blogging was minimal, no ‘quilt’ finishes, although I did make a bunch of zipper pouches and a Bionic Gear Bag — that was back in the summer and the fabric is STILL sitting out on my flat surfaces — you know the ones that were part of Task Two?

My UFO count – both tops needing to be quilted and tops I’m still piecing has gone up – by a total of 5 — if my notes are correct.  Bottomline there are 25 quilt tops in the queue and another 32 quilts I’m still piecing, including En Provence which I started Thanksgiving weekend. 

Scraps and fabric is all over the place — I have piles of fabric from both Allietare and En Provence sitting about as neither quilt top is completed. The fabric from the BGB is still sitting out as I planned to make some accessories to go with it. Shoot, my bag from the quilt retreat is still half packed.

Last year I started off in numerous challenges, but in the end I dropped out. So this year I’m going to commit to the following:

  • Complete the En Provence Mystery Quilt top – I’m working on the last two clues now.enprovencechristmas
  • Quilt the Blue Disappearing 9-patch. The top was finished in January and the pieced backing sometime the first half of the year. I’ve dug out the backing and removed the cat hair. Now both the top and backing need to be pressed and sandwiched together so I can quilt it.goal2
  • The Green and Cream quilt.  This was a Christmas 2015 UFO! I unearthed it while working on the space between the cutting board and the designwall.andrea-gift
  • The blue and green Strip Twist.striptwist
  • Process the boxes of fabric scraps into the Scrap Users System. This will need to be a long-term project as I have the equivalent of 4 or 5 book boxes (if not more) worth of scraps and my pre-cut scraps are getting thin. This task also includes putting away the fabric that is laying out and about.
  • Determine what I’m going to do with the upholstery samples I picked up off of CraigsList. There are 3 boxes in the garage and in the stack by the design wall. At first glance these are  not as usable as the one I made the zipper bags from last summer.

If I can stay focused and get these six tasks done I will be thrilled. Stay tuned.

 

 

Posted in: Challenges, Cream & Green Swap Sampler, DP9, En Provence, Final Countdown, scraps, Strip Twist, UFOs

What’s On My Design Wall – Allietare

January 2, 2017 12:36 pm ⋅

allietarecenter

For the first Design Wall Monday post of 2017, I offer the center of Allietare, Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery quilt from 2015. I’ve been working on it as I’ve been assembling it while using the 2016 Mystery Quilt, En Provence as my leader/enders.  There are a ton of 4-patches in the new quilt.

The 6th clue came out Friday morning. But could I find either of my Companion Angle rulers? So, I had to start cleaning my flat surfaces. from the Final Countdown Task 2. The ironing board has been cleared.

ironingboard

Yes, I’ve found my ruler — not that it was on the ironing board. More cleaning was required. So, I tackled the floor. Yes, this is better.

floor

In the foreground are the fabrics I’m using for EnProvence. On the chair is a quilt that was supposed to be a give Christmas 2015. The shoebox of fabrics is from two quilts — Allietare and a StripTwist. Time to put the Allietare fabric up. They are sitting on two boxes of upholstery samples. The two laundry baskets have batting in them. The box with the yellow bag and the box it is sitting on are scraps I was given in early 2015. Perhaps I need to go through them this year. There’s a box of books/magazines that I will probably give away — need to flip through them one more time. The green crate in the corner contains ‘sewing stuff’. I went through it last night while I was looking for the ruler. Sorted, tossed and put away enough stuff that the box is no longer overflowing. I can’t say the same for the larger crate it is sitting on — more scraps and another crate of scraps under the shelf.  But no Companion Angle ruler.

That left the cutting board.

cuttingboard

I started clearing it off. Stuff had gotten piled high on it. After excavating the top 2 or 3 layers I found the ruler. So naturally I quit cleaning.  Actually, I gave up. I’ve been fighting the crud for the past few days so I went to bed.

I go back to work tomorrow, so no long days of quilting. My goal this week is to get En Provence finished and the cutting table cleared.

Check out what others are working on over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Allietare, designwall, Final Countdown

The Final Countdown – Task Two

December 31, 2016 10:33 am ⋅

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task Two – Tackle All the Flat Surfaces

Boy do I need to do this. I can’t really start on Task One until this is done as some of the stash is on the bottom and I’ll need to cut and press.

Shelly’s questions:

  • So what are your plans for your flat surfaces? – Find them. Since I’ve not been quilting much, they have become catch-alls — the cutting table, the ironing station, the floor between the ironing station and the design wall, the small table beside my sewing machine and the treadle machine.
  • Which flat surface seems to cause your biggest problems? – Generally speaking the floor — it’s a catch-all for stuff from the other rooms — although since I’ve not been sewing the cutting table is piled high.
  • How will you be dealing with this going forward? – In a methodical manner.  I need the cutting board cleared so I can stop cutting on the ironing station. The ironing station needs to be cleared so I can press a top and backing that I need to quilt sooner than later, then the treadle and small table need to be cleared so I can quilt it. That leaves the floor last which goes hand in hand with Task One getting the stash under control. I wrote this yesterday and then brought in two boxes of upholstery fabric samples from Craigslist. That and looking for the camera tripod resulted in me clearing the floor first. Although it’s more of a case of stacking neatly to make room for the new blocks. I really need to locate my companion angle ruler, so I’ll start with the ironing board and the cutting board then circling back to the floor.

It’s a good thing we have until the 6th to complete these tasks.

Posted in: Challenges, Final Countdown

The Final Countdown – Task One

December 30, 2016 12:27 pm ⋅

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task One – Get your fabric stash under control

My first thought is I’d have to find my flat surfaces to get my stash under control. I haven’t done a whole lot of quilting this year — as evidenced by this being only the 40th post of the year. But mid summer I did pull out some fabric to make a bag and accessories and that fabric has not been put back up. Then I unpacked the projects I took to retreat in June to work on them, but they got buried as well.

So here are Shelly’s questions.

  • Do you have a plan for your stash? – It’s sorted by color and/or theme. Last year I started refolding it so I didn’t have to dig in my boxes and stopped after posting the picture of my floral box. Actually, I must have sorted a bit more as when I was digging in it earlier this month, there were two columns of fabric. I must say it made it easier to grab what I was looking for.florals
  • Are you working your plan? – The sorting has been kept up, but the new folding didn’t get very far. I think if I refold the fabric it will fit better in my boxes and it definitely will be easier to find what I’m looking for. I think the next box I’ll fold/sort is the red/green box as that’s the fabric which will need to be put up next.
  • Do you need a new plan? – I think I’ll reduce the number of ‘theme’ boxes – at least move floral into the color boxes. I also have a novelty, black & white,  red & white, Kansas Troubles, 30’s reproductions, Halloween, Christmas, music and yardage boxes. As I fold, I expect some of my combo boxes to shift around.
  • Is your stash almost under control, but it just got a little out of hand because you’ve been using from it and adding to it all year? -I hesitate to say it’s under control — but that’s primarily because I’ve not dealt the two huge boxes of scraps I was given last year — or was it the year before.  Well, that and not getting the fabric put up from this summer.
  • Did it all used to fit where you had it, but now it’s sort of spilling out into other spaces and areas and making a bit of a mess? – It’s all contained in the sewing room, but I need sort it and put it away. But I don’t guess that’s really the question. Some of my boxes are overflowing — the red/green, the purple/pink, and neutral. The lids are on those boxes just barely and I moved some neutral over to the music drawers. I suspect with the refolding everything will fit better, although there may be some shifting of fabric into new boxes.
  • What are your plans for your stash going forward? – I really would like to get all the fabric back on the two main shelves so I can get one of the smaller shelves out of the room — alas there’s more than fabric on those smaller shelves.
  • Are you setting any stash-related goals for yourself for 2017? – Get the scraps sorted and dealt with, get the lids on the boxes to close easily, use it, and only buy if absolutely necessary to finish something in progress.

 

Posted in: Challenges, Final Countdown, Stash

Final Countdown Task 3

December 31, 2014 12:30 pm ⋅

The Final Countdown is on over at Prairie Moon Quilts.  The third and final challenge is to Pick a New Habit to Start (and keep).

But what to pick?  Don’t start a new quilt until one of the UFOs is finished is less habit than resolution. The same is true of don’t pile stuff on the cutting board (an interesting proposition as it is the 1st flat surface when we enter the house) treadle machine (2nd) or ironing board (3rd).  Also, those surfaces get cleared off when they are needed.

I guess the biggest issue I  have is scraps. Not so much those that I generate myself such as these from the current project

countdowntask3-scrapproject

as soon as I get the quilt bound, labeled, a pillowcase made and both washed, I’ll deal with these.

It’s those scraps which come into the house in large quantities via friends and scavenging for them off of Craiglist.

countdowntask3 -scrapsThe top box is more of a “stirring box” — I think those the scraps I haven’t put back up from pulling fabrics from the Star-A-Day project.  Those bottom two boxes though…

If I put everything on hold, I could work through these scraps over the course of a few weeks. But I have a graduation quilt to start,  BOMs to catch up on , UFOs to work on, etc. So, I think the new habit is going to be to spend 30 minutes a week working on my scraps until  I get them under control, and then weekly as needed.  Going forward, I’ll add a comment on my Sunday Stash Report post of how much time I worked on my scraps.

As for tasks #1 and #2, I’m happy to report that I have them completed.

Task 1 Before:

countdowntask1a

Task 1 After:

countdowntask1-done

 

Task 2 Before:

countdowntask2

 

Task 2 After – The longarm box:

countdowntask2-longarm

 

Task 2 After – The retreat box:

countdowntask2-retreat

 

Task 2 After – The Star-A-Day bag:

countdowntask2-staraday

 

Both the long-arm box and the retreat box get stuff added to them on a case by case basis, but they contain the basics.  The long-arm box is in the bag I  haul my quilt in, along with the 2 pantographs I own. Once I find the second set of zippers they’ll go in the bag as well.  The retreat box, is under the rolling cart under my sewing desk as I can’t easily get to my sewing machine bag due to where it is stored.  The Star-A-Day bag is on the end table in the living room. Perhaps I should get working on them again as that is star # 65 which should have been completed on the November 4th.

 

 

Posted in: Final Countdown

Final Countdown Task 2

December 30, 2014 2:34 pm ⋅

countdowntask2

The final countdown is on over at Prairie Moon Quilts.  The second challenge is to Organize Part of Your Stash.

I try to keep my stash organized.  I’ve got boxes of fabric sorted by color and/or theme.  Kits are together. Strings, strips, squares and bricks are sorted by size (and occasionally color).  My thread is sorted and in boxes. My UFOs are either in project boxes or zip bags and above all everything is labeled.   That’s not to say my stash is perfectly organized.

A couple of months ago I dug through one of my strips boxes for the Star-A-Day project (now 2 months behind) and that box got dumped into a box of scraps I was also digging through.  I think there are 4 boxes of new to me scraps that need to sorted through. But that’s not what I’m picking to work on today.

The other day I dumped a couple of boxes of notions in the cat bed (the cats prefer the basket of recycled shirts) in preparation for renting time on the long arm.  I need to get my long arm box put back together and in the long arm bag and I need to re-assemble my travel box of notions.

As for yesterday’s challenge?  Well it’s a work in progress.

countdowntask1-results

 

Hopefully I’ll finish both tonight.

Posted in: Final Countdown

Final Countdown Task One

December 29, 2014 12:04 pm ⋅

countdowntask1a

 

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is doing her annual Final Countdown Challenge. It’s a chance to do 3 things to get us prepared to quilt in the new year. Today’s task is to clear one flat surface – as in put the stuff away, not set it on a different surface. There are numerous surfaces which need clearing in my sewing room.

  • The sewing table — a couple of nights ago I heard a thud — a big pile of papers had slid off the unused portion of the table and landed on the floor. Last night I gathered them up and put them back on the table without looking at them.
  • The top of my printer — at the moment this isn’t too bad — let’s just say it’s been worse.
  • My desk — it’s actually in pretty good shape as I had to clear it off this weekend to put a sound card in my computer.
  • The ironing board – also in good shape – just the fabric for the pillowcase to go with the quilt I’m binding and a backing I just brought into the room.
  • The floor — buckets of stuff sitting around on the far side of the room which need to be sorted through and put up.
  • The treadle machine — in excellent shape — I moved the cat bed full of sewing stuff to a box on the floor so I could attach the binding to the quilt I’m working on. This is an example of what Not to do. (The cat sleeps in the laundry basket of shirts on the floor)
  • Two chairs – not so flat, but both stacked with stuff. One has a crate of “stuff”, I’m not sure what topped by the trimmings of the quilt I’m binding and the sweater I just took off. The other has a top, backing backing fabric, plus a quilt. My husband just sits on top of it.
  • The cutting table — There is assorted stuff on the table.  I’ve tried twice to get it cleared off, but before I finish, something else gets tossed on it.

For this task, I’m picking the cutting table. Check in tomorrow to see if I get it done.

Posted in: Final Countdown