Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

First Quilt Revisited

August 5, 2009 9:40 pm ⋅

Back in February, I posted about my First Quilt. It’s still missing in action, but tonight while my husband and I were looking through our box of pictures I uncovered this one.

Here it is on my bed shortly after I finished it. You can clearly see that there’s next to no quilting in it. I also can date the quilt a little more precisely. On the back of the picture I wrote:

My quilt I made in Clothing. 11th grade. Apr 80

Shoot, the first picture I found tonight had it scrunched up on the bed and one of the cats laying on the bed — proof that I still had it and was using it later. Of course I found this pic and then tossed that one back in the box. Now I wish I had kept it out. Flipping back through the box just now I didn’t see it. Oh well. Maybe the next time we dig through our box of pictures.

Posted in: first quilt

SBS Swap Block Fabric

August 4, 2009 11:06 pm ⋅



This evening after making the BOW, I dug through my blue, brown and cream fabrics to see if I had what I needed for my swap blocks. Since these are small blocks, I don’t need much, but I do need to deal with scale.

I’m thrilled that I was able to find fabric for 3 of the remaining 4 sets. From top to bottom:

G10 – Arizona
C1 – Contrary Husband
F10 – Aunt Sukey’s Choice

I still need to pick out the fabric for L6 – Steps to the Alter, but I’ll save that for another day.

Posted in: block swaps, SBS

SBS Block Due 8/9

August 4, 2009 7:34 pm ⋅

L-1 Friendship Quilt

This is a simple enough block, but the stripe units are supposed to be cut 1 3/16″ wide. I figured my cutting wouldn’t be accurate, so I pulled up the block in EQ and paper pieced it.

Posted in: EQ, SBS

August 2009 Quilting Goals

August 3, 2009 9:09 pm ⋅

When it comes to quilting, I’m all over the place as far as getting things done. I’ll say I want to finish XYZ, but then I’ll get distracted by something else — and it’s not always new fabric or a new quilt.

So, I think I’m going to start listing my goals here on my blog, as well as a large printout by my computer, to see if it helps.

So, in no particular order, here are my August 2009 Quilting Goals

  • At least 2 sets of blocks for the SBS Brown/Blue Swap
    (5 sets are needed by mid-Octber, 1 set is already done)
  • Keep up with the SBS BOW
  • Finish star blocks to go with birthday swap blocks
    (10 done, 10 more needed-block kits already cut)
  • Work on Josh’s quilt
    (5 1/2 blocks to hand quilt, and machine quilt the borders)
  • Make up mind about applique on table runner
  • Work on DWR – top needs to be done by mid-October
  • Make rest of Birthday Swap Blocks (4 more needed)
  • Quilt a baby quilt to get a finish!
  • Keep scraps cut up

    • Posted in: block swaps, dwr, Josh's Quilt, monthly goals, SBS, scraps

    What’s On My Design Wall? – 8/3

    August 3, 2009 6:30 am ⋅


    What’s on my Design Wall? A wider longer wall for one thing. This is a 60 x 102 tablecloth. I folded over about 19 inches at the top. This reinforces the buttonholes and shortens the tablecloth. I didn’t center it on the fireplace this time since I needed to avoid the grout. The buttonholes are spaced about 9 1/2″ apart and there are 7 of them.

    The quilt is my Birthday Quilt. The blue and white Pennsylvania blocks are from a swap I did on the QIAD Forum. Last Thursday I decided I needed to work on something mindless and bigger than the 6″ blocks with lots of pieces. This was the project since it involved working on a UFO, cutting fabric, and seeing quick progress.

    The stars are not in their final location. I’ve got to see how the other blue and yellow stars turn out. I also have to decide if I want to float the center or make 1/2 Pennsylvania blocks to take it to the border. Right now I’m thinking a narrow yellow border and then a wider blue border, but I’m not there yet, so who knows.

    To see what’s on other quilters’ design walls, visit Judy’s page over at Patchwork Times.

    Posted in: block swaps, designwall, QIAD

    Stash Report Week # 31

    August 1, 2009 11:10 pm ⋅

    You would think 20 blocks would use up more than a smidgen over 2 yards. But when most of them are 6 inch blocks, it just doesn’t use up the fabric. I did break down and buy 3 one yard cut of white on white fabric to use as backgrounds in the star blocks I’m making.

    Fabric Added this Week: 3 yards
    Fabric Added to Date: 163 yards

    Fabric Used this Week: 2.072 yards
    Fabric Used to Date: 57.149 yards

    Net Stash: +105.852 yards

    Posted in: Stash Busting Report

    Color Values – Part Blue

    July 30, 2009 11:03 pm ⋅

    I dug in my box of blue fabric and found plenty of options. I don’t know if I’ll go with these fabrics, or keep digging.

    Posted in: birthday blocks

    Color Values – or is it Hues

    July 30, 2009 8:53 pm ⋅

    After a week of 6” blocks, I decided I needed something larger, so I’m making 12” star blocks to go with the Pennsylvania blocks I received in a birthday swap. I put the first three up on the wall and stood back. Believe it or not, there is a different pair of yellow and blue fabrics in each block, but from a distance they all look alike. I need more contrast in the color values unless it’s hue. I can’t remember which, but I do know that if my “scraps” are so close in color/tone/value/hue I can’t tell them apart from a distance, then I might as well use just one fabric — not that I have enough of any single yellow or blue to make 20 blocks.

    So an experiment was in order. Would you believe my folded FQs can stick to my design wall? Ok, I’m not certain any one of the fabrics is a full FQ, but still. But on to my experiment.

    I pulled yellow FQs from my stash, threw them up on the wall and took a picture. Then I turned on grayscale. I think I’ve got enough variation when I look at ALL of the yellows. Now I’ll have to do the same think with my blues.

    Posted in: birthday blocks

    Another SBS Block

    July 29, 2009 8:39 pm ⋅


    F-10 Aunt Sukey’s Choice

    This is another block I’m making for the SBS Swap. This one goes into my quilt. Tonight I’ll dig through the stash to see if I can find enough fabric, but then I think I’m going to work on something else. A week of 30’s reproductions and small blocks is about all I can stand at a time. Or maybe it’s that I want to see significant progress.

    I think I’m in need of some mindless piecing about now. Who knows what that means I’ll be working on next.

    Now isn’t this cool. I was playing with Picasa and think I’ve stumbled across my sashing color. Lavender. What do you think?

    Posted in: block swaps, SBS

    SBS Swap Block Set #1

    July 28, 2009 10:50 pm ⋅

    This is the first of the five block sets I’m making for the SBS swap. Even six of these 6 inch blocks don’t take much fabric. When I added it up I think I used about 3/8 of a yard. Not a very big dent in my stash. But that’s the good news. It all came from my stash. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that with the other blocks, as I don’t have a lot of brown with small scale prints. We’ll see.

    Posted in: block swaps, SBS