Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Quilts

A Long Productive Day

February 21, 2021 6:06 am ⋅

Saturday was the my guild’s Zoom Sew Day.  I’m happy to report that I was able to finish framing the blocks and building the rows.  Saturday evening I managed to get 4 rows together. This is the next to last thing on my Personal Challenge.  I still have to write the instructions for the BOM.

At 5 o’clock I was racing to finish up the last 10″ of binding before the sun set so I could get a “snow pic” and I had help. I should have pictures of the finished quilt tomorrow.

 

  • 350 Challenge February = 52
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 108
  • Easy Breezy = 118
Posted in: 2021 - 350 Blocks, 2021 Personal 1, Alphabet Blocks, Easy Breezy, wonky dishes

Progress

February 20, 2021 12:39 am ⋅

Friday I made more progress than expected on the wonky dishes binding.  I think I have less than 40″ to stitch.  I know there are many who enjoy this last step, but I’m not sold on it yet.  I will say, I am getting faster at hand binding.

I set aside the binding to circle back to the Sampler blocks.  The big 12″ block goes into the sampler.  I simply made lemonade from the mistake that I made and now have 2 new orphan blocks to add to the box.  Once the block was made, I pulled out the Alphabet BOM blocks to see what my next step was going to be.  I had 4 or 5 which I needed to adjust the seams on to get them to 9 1/2″.  Once I did that I started framing the blocks. I’m a bit over halfway done. During the Zoom Sew Day I hope to finish the framing and get the sashing and cornerstones attached.. I’ll also have to finish kitting up the rest of the Easy Breezy blocks.  I think I only have 2 more ready to go.

  • 350 Challenge February = 49
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 105
  • Easy Breezy = 115

 

Posted in: 2021 - 350 Blocks, 2021 Personal 1, Alphabet Blocks, Easy Breezy, wonky dishes

Finished (or not) Friday – 2/19/21

February 19, 2021 8:15 am ⋅

As the deadline for my 1st Personal Challenge of 2021 looms, progress is being made.  This is the 3rd of the 4 blocks in this set of blocks for my sister in law.  I was on track to have the last block made, but apparently wasn’t paying attention when I was cutting the fabric and got my turquoise and pink swapped.  Since it will make a difference to the design, I need to cut more fabric.

Binding on the wonky dishes quilt is proceeding. During the evening the cats took turns briefly sitting on lap. It wasn’t until the 3rd cat got on me that things slowed down.  Although she wasn’t on the quilt, she was sitting in such a way that it was making it difficult to see what I was doing.  I suppose it’s fair my goal was 40″ and I was at about 48″.

Tonight I plan on pulling out the Alphabet BOM and making my final plan.  Tomorrow is the Guild’s Zoom Sew Day and I hope to make progress on the top.

I’m linking up with Alycia Quilts for Finished (or Not) Friday.

  • 350 Challenge February = 42
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 98
  • Easy Breezy = 111

 

Posted in: 2021 - 350 Blocks, 2021 Personal 1, Alphabet Blocks, binding, Easy Breezy, Finished (or Not) Friday, Ruby's Sampler, wonky dishes

Digging Through Boxes

February 18, 2021 9:25 am ⋅

I need to cut more Easy Breezy blocks, but I didn’t want to drag out my FQ boxes.  I have 8 12-gallon flip top crates under my longarm table, many of them full of scraps, so I decided to dig into those.

This first box apparently has the red and green scraps according to the card I found.  I didn’t look in the sack, but I did pull out other interesting things.

5 pillowcases kitted up and ready to sew. Also in the bag with these were several decorator fabric zipper bags kitted up.  Just what I need, more projects.

Then there were these double wide dresden blades.  Apparently I started cutting them out of a charm pack. I also found those in this box. I dug around in the ruler drawer and found the ruler. Now the blades, ruler and charm pack are all together in a bag in the dresser. I have not added this to my UFO list.  I think this is destined to be an Orphan Block for now.

I also found some FQs and a few bits and pieces of loose fabric which I dealt with appropriately.  However, I still needed more neutrals for my Easy Breezy blocks.

I opened the next box and thought “Zuckerwatte”.  Zuckerwatte is a Bonnie Hunter quilt in her book String Fling. It’s the last picture on THIS PAGE.  I started digging. This box contained more than pink and purple scraps.  I found the cut of corners from two different quilts I saved.   I vaguely remember tossing them while making On Ringo Lake then seeing something which had me pulling them out of the trash.  I also had the trimmings from my  Eye Fooler.  I made the decision to toss them. I don’t need another project.  (They actually went in the scrap bag which I’ll take to a gal who makes dog beds for the shelter).

Another bag contained all sorts of fabric including parts of two unrelated charm packs  Those where pressed and put with the charm squares. This bag had the neutrals I was looking  for.  I have all of them cut, but have not started on cutting the squares.  I finished pulling everything which wasn’t scrap out of this box and closed it for another day.  I could get lost in a rabbit hole for days and I have a challenge to complete!

 

I stitched away on the binding and I am 5″ from the 2nd corner.  I probably pushed myself to hard, but I really want to finish it by Monday.  So, I’ve come up with a plan.  I’ll only stitch 40″ each night.  That should let me finish up Sunday, giving me time to wash it and photograph it on Monday. Who knows, this might even allow me to finish the rest of the items on my challenge list.

 

Posted in: scraps, wonky dishes

Binding in the Arctic Blast

February 17, 2021 6:34 am ⋅

Since I closed the door between the sewing room and living room, the air flow in the house is not optimal.  I knew it was cooler in the sewing room vs the rest of the house, but I didn’t realize just how much cooler.  62.2 degrees fahrenheit – and this was around 2:30 PM!  I’m going to be glad when this Arctic Blast goes back where it came from.

It’s entirely too cold to spend any time in there. A friend offered the use of a space heater, but there simply isn’t any room to safely use one in that space.  It’s warmer in the rest of the house — although I admit to wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled up around my ears.  I’m using the time to guilt free binge watch Deep Space 9 while I work on the binding.  I turned the first corner and I’m about 15″ down the first long side.

Posted in: binding, wonky dishes

The Binding Begins

February 16, 2021 9:53 am ⋅

I cannot believe I’m hand stitching another binding down. I don’t think I’ll be finished by next Tuesday, but I’m going to show the quilt anyway.  I would love to get a snow pic, but with any luck by the time I’m done with the binding the snow will be melted.

Yesterday I was in my sewing room cutting the strips around noon.  I didn’t have any lights on because it was bright enough with the light streaming through the big picture window. At one point I walked into the kitchen to put my lunch in the microwave. I opened my refrigerator and the light was out.  I looked around the kitchen and realized the power was out.  The rolling blackouts had started – only I didn’t know that’s what was going on.

I called the power company, they said it would be another 1-1/2 hours before power was restored.  I sent an email to my bosses at work via my phone to let them know I had now power, fixed lunch and sat down to eat.  In less than 20 minutes the power was back up.   On the news they said the outages in our area were up to an hour.  This morning as I was looking at the clocks which I had not reset, sure enough they were about 45 minutes off.

My power had been off for about 25 minutes by the time I noticed it.  Had I been anywhere else in the house other than my sewing room, I would have noticed immediately.

Posted in: binding, wonky dishes

Design Wall Monday – 2/15/21

February 14, 2021 11:43 pm ⋅

I still need to bind the wonky dishes quilt, but it is quilted.

The next blocks in Ruby’s Sampler is done.  I need to stop and write the directions for this block and the one I did Saturday.

No new Easy Breezy blocks were made.  I need to stop and kit up pieces.  I think I’ll dig into the scrap boxes under my longarm for more variety since I’ve used just about everything in my 1-1/2″ strip box.

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

  • 350 Challenge February = 41
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 97
  • Easy Breezy = 111
Posted in: 2021 - 350 Blocks, designwall, wonky dishes

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

February 14, 2021 1:10 am ⋅

I spent the better part of Saturday in my sewing room.  First up were 3 more of the Addicted to Scrap Blocks.   That’s Hot Cross Buns from Nov/Dec ’10, Scrap Basket from Mar/Apr ’11, and 4 Patch X from Sep/Oct ’10. I pulled out my bonus HSTs for the last two blocks.  My entire cutting board was covered in bits and pieces of leftover blocks and parts.  I was not working on ripping out the quilting on the Wonky Dishes quilt. Given I have a deadline, even if it is self-imposed, I shoved everything back in to the box and put away my Addicted to Scrap Blocks.  My current plan is when I receive each issue of Quiltmaker over the next 2 years, I’ll make the current block plus 6 of the ‘backlog’ blocks.

Eventually, I did get the quilting ripped out.  I finished up the feathered squares and found a feathered circle to put in the smaller blocks. In fact, I finished all of the quilting in the neutral squares.  Now I have to go back and quilt the broken dish units.

While the computer was running the machine, I made one of the sampler blocks for my SILs sampler quilt. I started another block but ran into issues with my instructions. Since this was about 10:30 and the quilting was done I decided to call it a night.

I have just 9 days left on my Personal Challenge and I oscillate between I’m not going to get my main list done and I might just make it happen.  Here’s the latest status:

  • Alphabet BOM – Complete the top, I have a plan.
  • MQA BOM – Assuming the rest of the tops is released I’d like to get at a minimum the rest of the blocks made. – Done 2/7
  • Red, White & Blue Wonky Broken Dishes – Quilt and Bind.  This is what I want to show at the meeting. – in progress
  • Moda U – finish the binding. – Done 1/25
  • Ruby’s BOM – I’d like to get at least the next 4 blocks made and instructions written. – in progress
  • Runaround Bag – Everyone needs a new start on occasion. This is mine. – Done 1/16
  • Wedding Quilt – Finish the top. – Done 2/6

I’ll go on the record and say none of the stretch goals are going to happen.

  • 350 Challenge February = 40
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 96
  • Easy Breezy = 111
Posted in: 2021 - 350 Blocks, 2021 Personal 1, Addicted To Scraps, Alphabet Blocks, Ruby's Sampler, wonky dishes

A New Project?!?

February 13, 2021 12:35 am ⋅

Back in December I gave myself a 2 year subscription to Quiltermaker magazine.  That is the magazine with Bonnie Hunter’s Addicted to Scraps column. At the time I pondered putting together a quilt using the patterns from the column, but that was as far as I got.  Then Thursday I received the March/April issue and Friday I received the January/February issue.  This prompted me to start the project.

Pictured below the Easy Breezy blocks (#110 & 111) are In & Out from the J/F ’21 issue, Around the Corner from M/A ’21, Spinner from M/A ’10, 4 Patch X from S/O ’10, and Carolina Chain from M/J ’10.  I pulled Carolina Chain from my orphan block box. It was leftover from my Carolina Chain quilt which I started in May/June 2018.

I’ve setup a page to track my progress under Quilts In Progress. For all I know this may go the way of other long-term projects.  I’ll get there eventually.

As for the Wonky Dishes quilt, I’m still ripping. I got about 1/3 of it ripped out.  I’ll work on it some more in the morning.

 

  • 350 Challenge February = 36
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 92
  • Easy Breezy = 111
Posted in: 2021 - 350 Blocks, Addicted To Scraps, Easy Breezy, wonky dishes

Don’t Get Cocky

February 12, 2021 12:46 am ⋅

My free-motion quilting will never improve if I keep using the computer on my quilting machine, but when it looks so good (and wasn’t cheap), it’s hard not to use it.

Yesterday I had a half-baked plan and I’ve tweaked it. The spots with the Xs I’ve done.  Well, I’ve done more but didn’t go back and take a picture.

I wanted my feathers to show motion. This is what I came up with.  The tail will point the direction, going around in a circle.  Of course now that I look at this, maybe I should have pointed the far right blocks toward the top center.  Oh well.  That is what a practice quilt is for.  Anyway, the center block has no point. On the second row of blocks, in the middle I ran out of bobbin, then my program shut down.  Fortunately it was only the last two feathers in the wreath, so I did them free hand as it was easier than trying to realign the software.

I need practice (see opening comment).

But that’s not when I got cocky.

I dropped my motif in what I thought was a boundary.  I thought it was a bit large on the screen, and ignored my instincts.  I started up the machine and it started where I thought it was supposed to. I went back to my lap top to search for the perfect pattern for the small neutral blocks (I think I found it).  With about 3 feathers left to stitch I realized the machine was stitching all over the HSTs – not because it was doing something wrong, but because I told it wrong.  I stopped the machine and started ripping out.  That will be tomorrow’s after work activity.

I’m second guessing my thread color now as well.  Originally I was going to use a red, white and blue thread on the top and a blue bobbin. But I changed my mind and opted for Linen on the top. Not wanting to deal with blue coming through to the top, I used Linen in the bobbin.

When I wrote this post, I forgot that I needed to link it up to Finished (or Not) Friday over at Alycia Quilts.

Posted in: wonky dishes