Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Uncategorized

What’s On My Design Wall

It’s been two weeks since my last post and I’ve been busy working through the projects that I had going at the beginning of the month.

  1. Christmas Star Swap – quilted and needs to be bound
  2. Squedge 18 degree table runner – needs to be quilted.
  3. Community Quilt – quilted and delivered, so not pictured
  4. Auction Quilt – quilted and delivered, so not pictured
  5. Postage Stamp Leader/Ender – dormant, but I’ve added 1 1/2″ squares to the basket
  6. Pink, Green, & Purple Quilted Sweatshirt- no progress
  7. Sheet to make body pillowcase – no progress
  8. Fairy Frost Sunset pillowcase – done
  9. Christmas Star Swap pillowcase – no progress
  10. HST for Rivanna – nearly 2 batches stitched (that’s 120 HSTs!) I have another 120 ready to go.
  11. Kimberly from Stripology 3 – squares cut and ready for class
  12. Tara from Stripology 3 – ready to trim and bind
  13. Crystal from Stripology 3 – cut out and first column assembled

Here’s where I started from:

Take note of the fabric in the bottom left corner of this picture. All that is left is this:

After I get the 3 quilts bound, I think I’ll have enough to make a pillowcase. As for the rest of the fabric, I haven’t decided if it will go in the stash or if I’ll squeeze one more project out of it.

Chilhowie is Finished!

I finished Chilhowie over the weekend. Chilhowie was the 2022-2023 Quiltville Mystery Quilt.  This year there were 7 clues.  I kept up with the piecing through Clue 6, but when the assembly instructions came out in Clue 7 I needed to circle back to make 4 additional blocks. As I was pushing to finish the log cabin quilt, Chilhowie got set aside.

I found a backing in my stash that was perfect for this quilt.

  • Started:  11/25/22
  • Finished : 3/19/23
  • E2E: Fresco Feathers, resized to 16″ with an offset of -4.5
  • Glide 40 wt in Strawberry Blond – 3 bobbins
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Washed Size: 73 3/4 x 90 1/4

The Next Generation – USAFR

I spent this past week in San Antonio Texas as the 3rd generation of our family joined the Air Force Reserves.  This photo of my brother, sister-in-law and nephew was taken immediately following the graduation ceremony.  This was day 2.

This was the first day — the Airman’s Run.  It was cold and blustery — for San Antonio.  The run was the first time families got a glimpse of their loved ones after 7 1/2 weeks of BMT – Basic Military Training.  I will admit this view made me emotional. My nephew is in the 2nd flight.

After the run, there was a break as the Airmen got cleaned up for the Coin Ceremony. It marked the end of their basic training.

Everyone was given a Town Pass so we went into town for lunch at one of the eateries at the Pearl.  It’s a collection of eateries and and shops in the old Pearl Brewery. We ate at the Boiler House Texas Grill & Wine Garden then had desert at Lick Honest Ice Creams.  Both were excellent. Afterwards we headed back to the Airbnb we were staying at to visit more with David.

The next morning was the Graduation Parade.  Another blustery day.  But both days were sunny.  David is the 2nd from the right in the 2nd rank.  This is at the end of the parade right before they were dismissed.

 

 

A New Name Tag

The President’s Challenge this year is for us to make a name tag.  This is mine.

The cream ribbon will be used to attach little bows that we’ll get for each show-n-tell project. We’ll also get one if we demo a ruler, or are the meeting speaker.

But since I’m in multiple guilds, I have made extra labels.  They are held on by Velcro.

I also added a pocket!  When I was in Starlight Quilters Guild, we had raffle tickets that I had to keep up with during the meeting and we were handed our ribbon bows as we approached the stage for show n tell.   This would have been handy.

This was my old name tag.  I can’t wait to start adding ribbons to my new one.

What is a PIG?

Quilters love their acronyms – BOM, DSM, FQ, HST, LQS, WIP, PIG, UFO, but today’s focus is PIG – Project in Grocery Sack.

The only reason I’m looking at this is because I day 3 of the Final Countdown was to “Take a project inventory and devise a plan“. Given that I already have a comprehensive list of my UFOs and Tops to Be Quilted – with a plan to finish at least 12 of them by early December, I decided to focus on my PIGs.

When I first started this blog I divided my UFOs into 2 lists since the thought of having in excess of 125 UFOs was mind boggling.  I’m happy to say that 15 years later, the combined list is down to 52 with less than a dozen from the original list. At the time I think I had 4 kits.  However, my kits and PIGs have exploded in the last 4 or 5 years.

 

So, a philosophical question is a curated collection of fabric, purchased to use together to make a quilt but without a specific pattern in mind a PIG?

 

What about partial bundles, such as a pattern and focus fabric, or a panel with an idea, but the rest of the fabric hasn’t been pulled or purchased?

 

With the count over 50, perhaps I need to divide the list in two. Projects I have everything for – kits/pigs, and project missing a pattern or fabric – WHIMMs.

Day 3 – The Final Countdown

Day 3 of The Final Countdown.  I’ve got this…

Take a project inventory and devise a plan

but there is room for improvement.   In 2008 after 5 years of quilting becoming my primary creative outlet, I started my WIF_UFO spreadsheet and I’ve maintained it.  I split it into two categories – Works In Progress and Quilt Tops because the number of projects was over 100 and that number was too big to wrap my head around.  Today combined list is down to 52 with 36 on the WIP list 7 of them are on my 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO Challenge.

My Quilt Top list is down significantly as well.  I noticed earlier this week all of the tops, with their backings, fit into a single tote. I have 16 tops waiting to be quilted, 5 of which are on my 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO Challenge.

This past year was the first time in a long time that I allowed myself to buy both speculative fabric – fabric I like but have no idea what project it will end up in, and new projects just because.  I have most of them ‘kitted’ together and most of the kits are in the same place, but I don’t have a good inventory of them. I want to sprinkle some of these into the mix as I’m working on my challenge list.

 

Now an update on previous tasks. Task 1 – a quick finish

The Machine Quilting Sampler is DONE.

Progress has been made on the Faux Applique — I finished the bird tail and stitched around 1 1/2 purple leaves.

As for Task 2 I have put the books on the bookshelves in my office and den – and they are even somewhat organized. The Sunroom still needs a bit more work, but at least now I can move stuff from the house into this space while the house is being worked on.

 

 

 

Finish It Friday

On this Finish It Friday I have 2 quilts to share.  First up is my Atomic Starburst, shown here hanging in my foyer on the new hanging rod.

This is one of three quilts I made with the FQ Bundle of Radiance + 10 ‘solids’.   I’ve finished Shimmer, and still need to quilt Bauble ‘n Beads.

In each of the diamonds I placed a motif from a Double Wedding Ring Melon, then morphed it to fit the diamond. I did ruler work in the sashings and the starburst blocks.

 

My other finish this Friday is my 2019-2020 Quiltville Mystery quilt, Frolic.

I enlarged it and changed up the borders.  It measured 118″ x 118″ before I quilted and washed it. Here it is hanging on my 12-foot quilting frame. I opted to do an all over Edge-to-Edge design called Fresco Feathers.

I only have 8-foot ceilings, so I don’t wait a minute, I have vaulted ceilings in my den, I might be able to get a straight on picture — if I had something wide enough to hang it on.  I’ll have to think on that for another time. Here it is on my driveway before binding.

I bought a wide backing, but it wasn’t wide enough, so I added in a strip with ‘extra’ blocks.  In reality I made those specifically for the backing.

 

Halloween Quilting

I’ve collected Halloween fabric for a number of years with the intention of making a Halloween quilt. This year I’ve made several projects, ironically none with my collected fabric! Most of this fabric came from The Quilted Cow in West Branson, Missouri from watching their Wednesday night shows on Facebook. There are a couple of exceptions.

This table runner is made with the fabric line Too Cute to Spook by Me & My Sister for Moda Fabrics. I purchased it from Stitch-On Fabrics in Lawrence, Kansas.  It is one of the table runners in Little Charmers II by Anka’s Treasures.

This is Pint Size Parking, an Atkinson Designs pattern. The fabric is from Jo-Anne’s.

The towel on the left is from the Riley Blake line Halloween Whimsy, the one on the right is Haunted Hallow by Clothworks.

Dry Ideas drying mat has Whimsy fabric on one side and an autumn print on the other.

This table topper is Orange Spice from the Little Charmers IV pattern by Anka’s Treasures. It’s made up in Halloween Whimsy.

I bought a kit for another Whimsy quilt, but ran out of time.  Perhaps next year.

Next I have several projects using Gnome-str Mash fabric line.  First up is the Tinzley Table Runner, a pattern by The Quilted Cow. Super fast to make and fits on top of my tea cart.

 

This is another Quilted Cow pattern, Wicked Big Hexi.

This is a sofa pillow that I change out seasonally.

I purchased a 4-yard kit, backing and binding.  It had these 3 fabrics, a green and black buffalo print and the ‘tossed gnomes’ for the backing.  I opted to make this three yard quilt Roman Holiday from Quilt As A Wink 3-Yard Quilts.

 

 

 

A Week in Kansas City

Back in July, my sister-in-law and I flew to Kansas City for a week.  We did a few touristy things, hit a lot of quilts shops and naturally visited with family and friends.

Monday on the touristy front, we visited Powell Gardens. They had a special butterfly exhibit while we were there. This was spontaneous stop.

Afterwards we went to a baseball game.  The Kansas City Royals won!

Tuesday we ate Barbeque at Joe’s KC Bar-B-Que at their original location. I had eaten at their other locations before.  After dinner we went the Starlight Quilters Guild meeting.  I won one of the buckets and a door prize from the guest speaker – Missouri Quilt Museum.

Wednesday we were off to Hamilton, Missouri to visit the museum and shop. They had 2 special exhibits – Red & White quilts and miniature quilts.

On the way home (my brother’s) we visited my sister in her new digs. We are standing on the roof in this picture.

Thursday we took it easy. We ran to town where I purchased team shirts.  I can’t wait to go to another baseball game and wear my Royals’ shirt.  I’ve been wearing my Chiefs’ shirt while I watch the games on TV. 

Back at the house, I dug through my grandfather’s carved teak chest. I didn’t think to take a picture of it. I knew there was information about my grandfather’s last flight. I found the telegram the government sent. I also found a photo composite of our military men. My grandfather is on the bottom right and his brothers above and to the left.  Now to figure out who the other 3 men are.

Friday I needed to run into Kansas City for an appointment and we had time for another spontaneous stop – the Johnson County Museum.

When we got back to the house there was a beautiful sunset.

It having been a long week, the family just chilled after dinner.

Here we are Saturday morning before we left for the airport.

We shopped so much, we had to buy luggage to take it all home. Good thing we were on Southwest!

The fabric haul will be another post.

My Quilting Mind

My quilting mind wanders.  I setup the 2nd two cutting/pressing stations Saturday night. The space is still not finished and the boxes are not correctly labeled – not to mention stuff got shoved into them when packing last year. (Can you believe it.  I signed the mortgage papers on this house just over a year ago)

Anyway, buy Monday night the space looked like this.  How did I get there. Come along on a ride.

My SIL asked me if I wanted to go to Hobby Lobby since this week the fabric is on sale.  Of course.

I need more fabric for this table topper for  Halloween.  I’m hosting Bunco in October and need something to protect my wood tables.

My pink and brown quilt needs a label and I don’t want to use bright white.

It’s been suggested that we wear costumes when we get together for Bunco in October so I need to figure that out.  I briefly thought about Minnie Mouse when I saw a 1″ white dot on red fabric, but if the costume doesn’t get made I’m not sure how to use the fabric.  So I’m going to do Belle in her blue dress and apron.  There are 3 reasons for this option.  1 – if I don’t get the costume made, I can use the fabric in a quilt, 2 – I can use the costume to test fit my pattern for a ‘real’ dress, and 3 – a light blue dress with a white pinafore and blond wig becomes Alice in Wonderland or with blond wig and tiara it’s Cinderella.  I’ll be set for 3 years of costumes.

This still doesn’t explain the mess.  That happened after I got back.  I started looking for my Halloween fabric. This meant every tote was opened.  Oh look!  It’s the music ‘jelly roll’ race.  If I add borders it’s will be of donation size.

Isn’t the music fabric in the tote under the shelves by the chimney?

Oh – and there’s the red & white fabrics. Need to remember that and some of the Halloween fabric.

All this music fabric and nothing is working.  Back to the drawing board, but where is the Halloween fabric.

Found it. The labels are new. I added them as I opened each box.

At HL I stopped my SIL from buying some fall fabric.  Actually what I said was I purchase 1 yard of 3 different fall fabric from The Quilted Cow and she could have some.  I had to stop and cut her some fabric.

Now If I had just stayed home and worked on the project on my sewing table. There are 3 maybe 4 projects there. A purple and yellow quilt in the zipper bag.  My fabric swap blocks, a band for the second tea towel. The lavender fabric is for a pillowcase — if I make it. The whole area needs picked up.

So what am I going to do next?  Who knows. None of the quilts have deadlines and who knows how long it will take to get the dress fitted.  I’m leaning toward working on the dress.