Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

What I’m Working on Wednesday – A Finish and A Start

In this installment of What I’m Working on Wednesday, I have a finish and a new start.  The finish is Jelly Roll Twist.  I made the top at the quilt retreat this past September and quilted it this past December. I finally got it bound on Tuesday.

  • Started 9/21/24 – Finished 1/22/25
  • 51″x 60″
  • Glide 40wt in Cotton Candy
  • Hearts n Flowers
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Donation Quilt

The new start is Living on Cornbread.  In November I saw an antique quilt with these blocks and fell in love with it. I started with a layer cake and yardage, but will end up getting another one as one layer cake only makes 21 blocks. I reached out to an Etsy seller to cut templates for the kite unit, as that angle is narrower than what the Accquilt die makes.

 

Weekly Goals for the Week of 1/20/25

I have more quilting/textile goals for 2025 than I listed yesterday on my UFO list. I also want to post more regularly since this is typically how I track my quilting.  To that end I’ve come up with this schedule:

  • Sunday – 2024 Catch up.  Once I’m caught up I’ll revisit this.
  • Monday – Goals for the year or week.
  • Wednesday – What I’m Working On. This ties into the weekly Facebook post for Gulf States Quilt Association
  • Friday – Stash Report. How I’m doing on using my existing stash.

There may be other posts through the week, it will just depend on what’s happening. So this week’s goals are:

I have 2 quilts which need to be quilted this week.

I want to get this quilt from my UFO list bound and labeled. I want to turn it in at the next Brandon Quilters meeting.

There are 12 of these little notebooks on my list to get done by February 10th.  I want to get at least 4 made this week.

Check back on Monday to see if I accomplish these goals or if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

Setting Quilting Goals – 2025 UFO List

2025 Brandon Quilters UFOs

Last year I turned in a small UFO list — I think there were 4 items on it since I knew I was planning on 5 different versions of the Brandon Quilters Block of the Month.  With the remodeling taking place and my trip to Scotland for the most part quilting did not happen until the 2nd half of the year and it was all what HAD to be done instead of what struck my fancy.  Do not get me wrong, I wanted to make those 5 quilts. It was my decision, it’s just that I was frustrated that there was no time to do any thing else.

This year I want to avoid cramming all the quilting the last 6 months of the year. There is remodeling this year – my kitchen! A trip this summer – The Kansas City Quilt Festival, speaking at Candlelight Quilters in Raytown, Missouri, the Iowa State Quilt Museum and the Minnesota State Quilt Show.  Plus I’m still President of the Brandon Quilters and Secretary of Quilters By Hearts Desire and a member of the Mississippi Quilt Association, Gulf States Quilt Association. I’m ballroom dancing 3 – 4 times a month, play Bunco once a month and still working full time.

My goal this year is to finish projects which were started in the past, start & finish some new quilts/quilted items I’ve identified, make a few non-quilted items, pick a few projects from my kits, small projects and panels and still allow for the unknown — maybe something from my travels. For now, here is my 2025 Brandon Quilters UFO list.  I’ve already finished one item!

  1. 2020 Candlelight Snowman Swap – Finished 1/12/25
  2. BQ 2024 BOM Framed – needs binding
  3. BQ 2024 BOM Blue Waters – needs binding
  4. Compass Lone Star – still piecing
  5. Kandy Korn Kitty – finish applique
  6. Yellow & Green Illusions – needs binding
  7. Retreat Jelly Roll – needs binding
  8. Auction Top – quilt
  9. BQ 2024 BOM Grunge – needs assembling
  10. Music Jelly Roll – top needs finishing
  11. 2022 QBHD Color Theory – still piecing
  12. Rivanna – assemble blocks

 

A Flurry of Finishes – July 2024

July 4th last year was on a Thursday and I turned in into a really long weekend. My company gave us both Thursday and Friday off and I took off Monday – 5 days off from work and I used it to jump start my quilting.

First up was finishing the binding on Auction Strings IV.  I was working on the binding of this quilt October 29th and the following morning I heard that nearly half my team at work go laid off.  Life got super crazy and it simply sat on the sewing machine for 8 months before I got back to it.   This is called Auction Strings IV as it is the 4th quilt I made from a stack of string blocks I bought at auction in 2018.  I think I’ve finally used them all.

  • Started 9/21/18 (the date of the Auction) Finished 7/3/2024
  • 71″ x 91″
  • Glide 40wt in Strawberry Blond
  • Overlapping Crop Circles
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Donation Quilt

Another quilt on the to-be-bound list is Chain Link. This is a Villa Rosa pattern.  The fabric I received from the estate of a former guild member.  The quilt was a quick piece, in fact I had it quilted the same day, the set it aside before getting it bound.

  • Started 9/30/2023 Finished 7/4/2024
  • 41-1/2″ x 63″
  • Glide 40 wt Thyme
  • Gaiety
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Donation Quilt

July was not all about old UFOs. This is Double 4-Patch, my own pattern. I pieced and quilted it in June while I was working on the pattern.

  • Started 6/2/2024 – Finished 7/4/2024
  • 12-1/2″ x 48″
  • Glide 40 wt Amethyst
  • SCF-196 Tur 1 Block v2 — I cut the block in half for the setting triangles
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Mine

Yes, I made a 2nd runner, this one for the shop sample as I taught this class at Ritzy Quilting Company last summer.  The fabric is from a line called Rory.  I quilted it on my sewing machine.

  • Started 6/17/24 – Finished 7/4/24
  • 12-1/2″ x 48″
  • Thread – unknown
  • Straight line on the domestic machine
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Mine, currently hanging in the shop

Back to the stack of binding. This is Garden Lattice. The pattern can be found in the book Just Can’t Cut It! by Pamela Moster.  The fabric is from the estate of a guild member.

  • Started 9/10/2023 Finished 7/4/2024
  • 62″ x 76-1/2″
  • Glide 40 wt Thyme
  • Gaiety
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Donation Quilt

I call this quilt Squirrel!  Last summer I did a presentation on Orphan Block quilts, so I pulled out my stuffed box of orphan blocks, threw them up on the design wall and started editing them. This is what I came up with.  I call it Squirrel because it’s all over the place and I finally got to use my Squirrel fabric in the border.

  • Finished 7/4/2024
  • 56-1/2″ x 67 -1/2″
  • Glide 40 wt Strawberry Blond
  • Overlapping Crop Circles
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Mine

The final quilt of July is the Brandon Quilters Half-Square Triangle quilt.  At the May meeting we had a program on Half Square Triangles (HST).  After the presentation the group broke up into groups of 3 or 4 and were given a bag of pre-cut HST to design a block.  Someone from each group took the pieces home and bought them back the next month as a completed block.  I then brought them home and designed this quilt, quilted it. The guild ultimately donated it to one of our charities.

  • Started 5/5/24 –  Finished 7/4/2024
  • 65 -1/2″ x 83″
  • Glide 40 wt Mercury
  • Nightlight
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Donation Quilt

Bonus Quilt

A friend asked me if it was possible to re-quilt a quilt without taking the binding off. I had no idea, so I threw my Strippy 4-Patch which I finished in April of 2010 on the frame.  It was originally quilted on my domestic machine. Because it is a well loved quilt, the stitching has started to pop.  I threw it on my long arm and re-quilted it with edge-to-edge design Espalier.  Is it perfect? No, but I expect the quilt to easily last anther 15 years if not longer.

 

Stash Busting Report – January 17, 2025

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a stash report.  But since I’ve touched EVERY piece of fabric in my stash while I was organizing my Quilt Studio this past fall I came to the conclusion I need to start quilting instead of shopping.  These cabinets are the narrow Billy cabinets with the extension and Oxberg glass doors.  I’ve folded anything over 1 yard onto comic book boards.

Then there are the “fat quarters” — anything less than a yard.  This is just one box.  If you click on the photo it will take you to a video of the rest of the FQs.

There’s more fabric in kits, backings, vintage fabric, shirtings, panels, my pre-cut strips, etc. I’m sure you get the idea.  There’s a lot of fabric in the Quilt Studio.  In December I declared I was going “no buy” — only the “B’s” were allowed – Background, Borders, Backing, & Binding.  Then promptly bought fabric for 2 quilts that I have yet to start.

As I look at my wish list of projects for 2025, I only see 2 maybe 3 quilts which I may not have everything I need to complete the top, so my goal is to use up what I have. So, lets see if I can use more fabric that I bring in this year.

Here are my numbers:

Fabric Added Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date:  0 yards

Fabric Used Since Last Report: 4.625 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 4.625 yards

Net Used for the year -4.625 yards

 

 

 

 

First Finish of 2025

This is my version of the the 2020 Candlelight Snowmen Swap.  We didn’t want to do a Christmas quilt, but rather make a quilt we could keep out in the new year.  We choose to make snowmen with blue and gray being our primary colors.  At the time I had no idea what I was going to do with just 9 blocks.  I guess last year’s program “Got Blocks, Now What?”  kick started my thinking.  The setting fabric is Grunge Basics in Ash.  I found a pretty blue with gold accents (not that you can see them) to use for the flange in my binding.  I pulled the top together between Christmas and New Years Day, getting it quilted New Years Day.

The thread is Glide in Mercury and I used the Edge to Edge design West Wind Winter. The snowflakes were cut with 3 different Accuquilt dies.  I have learned I prefer the Warm & Natural’s Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 vs Pellon’s Lite EZ-Steam II, something I’ll have to remember the next time I’m doing fusible applique.

After the quilt was bound, I put some fusible rhinestones on the snowflakes in 4 different sizes.  I have yet to be able to get a good picture except in close-ups.  This quilt is 63″ x 63″ and is on several of my UFO lists — Brandon Quilters, Mississippi Quilt Association, Quilting Friends, and my personal 2025 Quilt Goals.

 

 

 

 

Zip and Clip Bag – March 2024

Over the next few weeks I hope to document my projects from 2024, as well as keeping up with this year.  This is the first project I completed in 2024.  This is my second Zip and Clip bag.  I previously made one in July 2022 (see it here) and wore it out.  This one is made from the legs of jeans my sister cut off to make shorts.

The embroidery is an iron-on applique I purchased from Jo-Ann’s.  I was in a time crunch as I needed this for my trip to Scotland in April, so the magnetic snaps are larger than I would have liked.  Under the flap there is a zipper compartment and a “phone” pocket.

The main compartment is roomy, there is a passport pocket with a hook and loop closure, as well as another zipper pocket.

The zipper pocket has a space for 6 cards.

Although not part of the pattern, I added a back pocket for my phone.  I didn’t want to open the bag to get my phone.

The pattern is Zip & Clip Bag by Around the Bobbin.   I really like this bag.  It holds everything I need.  I can wear it cross-body, or around the waist. I typically thread the strap through my belt loops when I do that.

 

Highlights from 2024

2024 was a very busy year for me. So much, I didn’t do any posts!   I was still reeling from the company layoff in October 2023, I was President of Brandon Quilters and Secretary of Quilters by Hearts Desire, renovations continued on my house, I visited Scotland for 12 days, prepared and presented 2 different presentations a the quilt guilds, assisted a friend vend at a quilt show, self-published a table runner pattern, taught a quilt class, visited family in Kansas City for my nephew’s 21st birthday, started ball room dancing, and drove a 26-foot UHaul to Nashville, learned to make quilted sneakers and reorganized my extensive fabric collection. There was some quilting done, but most of it was crammed into the last half of the year.  I need to go back through all of my photos to figure out what projects I started and finished as I didn’t even keep up with my quilting spreadsheet.

My brother called me towards the end of December or early January last year and said he was going to come down and put in my shower in February.   It’s tough to get a good picture of the shower because of the small space.  We celebrated his birthday while he was here and he did a few odd jobs around the house as well.

Once the shower was done, the contractors came in, fixed the bedroom ceiling, painted, put in the new flooring.  My brother will be back in February to install the new vanity in my bathroom.

I think the contractors finished on Friday and the following Tuesday I was off to Scotland for 2 weeks.

When I got back I started ballroom dancing.

I mentioned I visited Kansas City for my nephew’s 21st birthday.  A baseball game and quilt shop hopping also took place.

I self published the pattern for my Double 4-patch table runner and taught it at the local quilt shop.

I gave a presentation on quilts from Orphan Blocks.

and another on different ways to set blocks.

I learned how to make quilted sneakers.

Drove a 26-foot UHaul to Nashville.

and reorganized my fabric.

2025 looks to be just as busy. I’m still President of Brandon Quilters and Secretary of Quilters by Hearts Desire, I’m teaching the sneaker class at my LQS, I’m going to AQS Branson to help my friend in her booth. There’s a trip to Kansas City & Minnesota planned – 2 quilt shows, speaking at Candlelight Quilters, ballroom dancing 3 or 4 times a month, a quilt retreat, attending the regional quilt guild meetings and monthly Bunco. We can’t forget the on going renovations. This year it’s the kitchen!

I have a plan to spread my quilting out throughout the year.  More on that later.

A New Year, New Responsiblities

No, I have not given up blogging, I’ve just been really busy.  My responsibilities at my day job doubled over night at the end of October.  As a result, I’ve spent virtually no time in my Quilt Studio.  I’ve made a handful of blocks for a BOM that I’m working on (times 4 maybe 5), and I worked on my name tag, but that’s it.  The other thing which occurred is I was made President of Brandon Quilters — the larger of the 2 quilt guilds I’m in.  I’m still Secretary/Newsletter Editor for Quilters By Hearts Desire.

I have one meeting, albeit sparsely attended due to the rain, under my belt.  But today was a big day. Along with the President of Quilters by Hearts Desire, we did a live TV segment about our quilt groups.  You can watch it HERE.

 

Athena is Finished

It’s been a busy few days.  Saturday I made an appointment to go to Ritzy Quilting Company with Ruby, my SIL.  The shop is owned by a friend and we were looking at her website when Ruby spotted some fabric that she thought would work well with s floral she got from an estate a few weeks ago. I needed a green to go with my lily fabric for a 2nd quilt from the fabric, and while I was there I picked up some additional fabrics to go with it for a 3rd quilt.

I used the 2nd green from the left in my Chain Link quilt and will bind it with this fabric as well. I have plans for 2 more of these quilts.  They go together quickly, but I found it hard to ‘square the quilt’ when it was quilted.

While this quilt was being quilted, I made binding.

One of these days I’m going to learn that I plan to get more done that I have time for.  I’m going to try to get the Auction String IV bound today, but the Orange Lily quilts will have to wait until later.  After I get back from the Quilt Guild meeting tonight, I have to go into cleaning mode as I’m hosting Bunco next Monday.  After Bunco, I have the President’s Challenge to get done by the following week for my other guild.  At that point, I have a sweater sleeve to knit so I can get my sister’s sweater finished.  Hopefully that won’t take more than a week or 2 so I can get back to quilting.  I have 2 more UFOs to finish by December 4th, and I’d like to get one more quilt made from the Lily Fabric. I think I still have 6 1/2 yards left.

So back to Athena.

It is quilted using Glide in Buttercup. The quilting motif is “Sports”. I enlarged the E2E design to 20″ tall. There is less than 2 bobbins of thread in this 57 x 71 quilt.  I started the quilt on 1/26/22 and finished it 10/1/23. The quilt pattern is Athena from GE Designs Stripology 2, but I switched up the colors a bit. Instead of a 2 color quilt, I made mine 3. I had purple strips and squares, neutral strips and yellow squares.