Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Charm Challenge

Goals for the Week of May 11, 2025

  • Make the rest of the Lemoyne Stars for the Compass Lone Star quilt. – DONE
  • Find something to use for my Leader/Ender Project – DONE
  • Clear the tables AGAIN and go through at least 1 of the DOOM bags. – DONE

So far so good with setting of the weekly goals.  Not only did I make the rest of the Lemoyne Stars for the Compass Star quilt, I finished the top. I’ve got it loaded on my machine ready to quilt.

I picked the 9-patches to use as my leader/ender project.  I’ve finished all the brown ones and now I’m working with the yellow squares.

And I cleared the tables and sorted and put away all the stuff in one of the bags.

So this week I have the following goals.

  • Finish the Compass Star quilts — quilt it, bind it, and label it.
  • At least piece the Dragonfly Dance Wall Hanging – Bonus if I can get it quilted and a hanging sleeve on it.
  • Keep the tables cleared. – The fabric on them in the picture at the top of this post is for the wall hanging.
  • Make a quilt hanging rod for the breakfast room.  I’m using the same Stas Picture Hanging system that I have in my office and entry area, I just need the pole.

Speaking of the kitchen/breakfast room, the counter tops were installed on Friday. Today they are installing the backsplash.

Compass Lone Star Progress

Yesterday I was able to finish all of the Lemoyne Star blocks that I previously cut.  It’s now time to figure out a layout.  I prefer a quilt that is longer than it is wide, but I’m also fighting the lack of the background fabric. I sent the picture to my sister and asked her how she felt about square quilts.  She prefers rectangles, but said this one needs to be square.

That’s good as it will be easier to finish.  I found 2 more Lemoyne Star halves, so I just need to make 3 more.  I’ll use the shirting in the bottom right of the fabric picture. Given that I’m going for a square quilt, there might be enough left in the shirt to use in sashing or whatever I do to finish this quilt.

My pile of little 9-patches are growing as my Leader/Enders.  I think I have 2 more brown pair left to make, then it will be time to move to another color.

The paint is up on the wall. I’m not sure what is next. The general contractor will be here this morning.  I think all that is left are installing the cabinet inserts & door/drawer pulls, floor, backsplash, countertops, appliances, electric, and plumbing.

January UFO Challenge Met – Part 2

Over on my UFO Challenge 2011 tab I have two lists.  The first list is for quilts I will consider “done” when they get to the “Top” stage.  The second list is for quilt tops which will be considered “done” only when they are quilted and bound.  Thus my announcement on January 25th that I had met this month’s challenge.  I had finished UFO #6 off the first list.

Well, I’m happy to announce that I’ve finished Three Sisters’ Choice.  As in quilted and bound.

After washing, where is scrunched up beautifully, it measures 53″ x 74″.

I hoped to have the quilt off the 2nd list to show tonight, but I rapidly ran out of time.  My husband hung it so I could photograph it.  There’s a pillow case to go with the quilt.

Check back tomorrow to see if I finish the second quilt.

All Ready to Sandwich and Quilt

I’m too tired tonight to sandwich the quilt, but I’ve prepped the backing, made the binding, found a piece of batting the right size and wound two bobbins.  I see quilting (instead of piecing) in my future.

January 2011 UFO Challenge Met

Three Sisters’ Choice is now a top.  It’s come along way from a pile of pieces with no design (or good name) in mind to this finished quilt top.

The name is derived from the fabric designer, Three Sisters, and the block, Sister’s Choice.  I don’t see where I have any other choice but to call it Three Sisters’ Choice.

Earlier today I rooted around in my yardage boxes, and found 4 yards of a peach fabric which will make the perfect backing.

The fabric was originally intended to be either the framing or sashing around some 4-patch Stacked Posies blocks, but I used the 4-Patch fabric back in October or November to back the Row Quilt I gave my brother and his wife for Christmas.   There is enough of the border fabric for binding and the cuff of a pillow case.  All I have left of the rest of the fabric is 2 – 2″ strips WOF of the green and a pile of trimmings.  I’m going to have to be inventive for the body of the pillowcase.

 

What’s on my Design Wall

This weekend I was on call for work, so I spent some quality time with my sewing machine and completed the center of my 2008 Charm Challenge quilt which is UFO #6 for Judy’s UFO Challenge.  Now I’m working on the borders.

I had 13 1/2 inches of the green fabric and 7 inches of the peach.  Needless to say my options were limited.  I managed to mangle the math, but I think it’s going to be OK.  The inner peach border will finish at 1/2 inch, the middle green border 1 inch and the outer border 3″.  The finished size of the quilt will be about 54 x 76 — a smaller than the 60 x 85 I try to aim for.

Another evening or two, and I’ll have this quilt top finished and off my UFO list and on to my “to be quilted list”.  I do hope that whatever # Judy draws next month, it’s something I can finish without much thought.  #2 or #7 would be good numbers for February.

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

The Blocks are Finished

This will stay up until this weekend to let it simmer.  I keep swapping blocks around to try and distribute the dark blocks and keep the 5/4 peach pattern.    I really hope the dark border fabric I ordered doesn’t overwhelm it.

A Solution

All month I’ve been working on UFO # 6 for Judy’s UFO Challenge.  This quilt was started back in 2008.  One of the reasons it got set aside was because I made two wrong cuts – messing up 4 of the 9-patches.  Normally this would not be a big deal, but since I was working with a charm pack and had no more fabric it brought me to a screeching halt.

When I resumed working on the quilt, I had to figure out how to deal with my bad cuts.  My first attempt to resolve the problem was to rip out my original piecing and take narrower seams.  I even double stitched them for added security.  But the more I thought about it the more I got concerned that it would rip out.  The narrow seam allowance can be seen in picture 1.

So I came up with another solution.  I ripped the stitching out – again.  Picture 2 shows how much smaller the pieces are from what they are supposed to be.  Then I put a piece of Lite Steam-A-Seam2 on the edges (3).  The fabric was then fused to a thin piece of muslin (4) and trimmed to the correct size (5).  1 5/8 inches by 1 5/8 inches.  Picture 6 shows how I’ll sew the block back together.

I’ll sew the block back together with 1/4 inch seams, but only 1/8 inch of fabric will be caught on some edges. I hope that the extra layer of fabric, along with the fusible will keep fabric from unraveling.

 

What’s on my Design Wall

Eight more blocks and I’ll have all 96 blocks done.  Then I can start sewing them into rows and ultimately a quilt top.  I’m going to have to temporarily clear the hearth off so I can get the last two rows up on the design wall.  Those blocks on the right really go on the bottom of the quilt.

For a border I’ve decided on three narrow inner borders  – 3/4- inch green, 1/2 – inch peach, and 3/4 inch green — this will use up the remaining peach and green fabric.  The final  outer border and binding will be a 4 to 5 inch wide  brown print.  I finally found two different brown prints from the collection on-line and ordered one of them last night.  Since Shangri-La is an older collection (2008), I’m thrilled that I can find anything in stock.

Since I’m off from work, I’ll spend a good bit of time working on this, hopefully finishing it up – well as much as I can with out the border fabric — and then get started on my next project.

Follow the links over at Judy’s to see if others are making progress on their UFOs or working on something new.

What’s on my Design Wall

Today’s wall contains UFO # 6 – the 2008 Charm Challenge.  I found out the name of the charm pack is Shangra-La.  It is a Moda line by 3 Sisters.  I spent most of Friday evening cutting the light fabrics and part of Saturday cutting the green squares for the star points.  I ‘batched’  up 9 kits of 8 blocks each and it looks like I have a few more light pieces to cut and definitely more green squares to cut.  At the moment the plan is to make the quilt 8 blocks by 12 blocks.

This is the first time in a long time I’ve worked on just one project at a time.  I don’t have a leader/ender project going.  I’m not sure if that a good thing or a bad thing.

I hope to get this top finished by next weekend.  I have a couple of current projects which I need to make progress on this month.

See if others are working on their UFO challenges or something else by following the links over at Patchwork Times.