Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Retreat Week – Photo Heavy

April 22, 2022 8:56 pm ⋅

This past week I attended a quilt retreat where it looked like I was speed piecing.  I’ll let you in on a secret – I pre-cut sashings and had blocks already made.  This first quilt is on my guild’s UFO list as “Pink & Black Crazy Auction Blocks”. But after the list was made I decided to make the quilt bigger so swapped out the sashing and border fabrics.  Over the past few weeks I made a few extra blocks and apparently miscounted as I ended up with an extra block.  This was the first quilt I worked on.  Just added my precut sashings and instant quilt.  I used the sashing from Bonnie Hunter’s Dancing Nine’s.

Since I wanted to make sure I got up and walked, I chain stitched 10 sashings, then did a leader/ender.  My first L/E project was assembling this Easy Breezy quilt top.  I found it when I opened a box. I really thought I had finished it.  I think I had to assemble 3 or 4 rows.

Next up were these Shimmer blocks.  I had 5 ‘new’ blocks to make and had to remake 2 of the blocks, then I started assembling.

A couple of years ago I bought a FQ bundle of Radiance by Dan Morris plus 10 blenders. This is the 3rd quilt I made from that bundle and I’m going to try and get a 4th.

This was my leader/ender project.  These were 16-patches, so only 3 seams per blocks.

Now this was a quick sew. I purchased this fabric on my way to the retreat.  It’s a 3-yard pattern – Roman Holiday from the Quilt as a Wink collection.  I did make the borders wider.

Having run out of 1-1/2″ squares, I pulled out my Garden Party blocks to use as my leader/ender project. I’m not sure how many more of these blocks I need to make. I need to kit up more blocks.

This was my final project for the week – I had one block cut out and one flying geese made.  Decided how to assemble the quilt on the fly.

 

Purchases were made, but I’ll save that for another post.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Go! Big Crazy Quilt is Finished

April 4, 2022 6:42 am ⋅

This is the Go! Big Crazy Quilt. It was cut with the 10″ finished Accuquilt die.  I pulled 50 fabrics from my stash and cut them into 13-1/2″ squares before taking them to Twin Oaks Crafts and using their die. Since the pieces had the dog ears cut off, the blocks went together very quickly. The borders came from my stash after the fabric I bought simply didn’t work.

The backing is new.  I have enough to use on at least one more quilt.

Stats:

  • Started: 3/11/22
  • Top Complete: 3/29/22 – measured 71″ x 91″
  • Quilted: 3/30/22 – measured 69 3/4″ x 90 1/4″
  • Bound & Washed: 4/3/22 – measures 65″ x 84″
  • Batting: Legacy 80/20
  • Thread: Glide in Basil
  • Pattern: Overlapping Crop Circles
Posted in: Accuquilt, Crazy Quilt

2020 MQA Block of the Month

April 3, 2022 1:50 am ⋅

My Mississippi Quilt Association Block of the Month from 2020 is finished!  The pattern is available on-line HERE.

I started this quilt 12/1/20, finished the blocks prior to April 2021, then finished the top 9/30/21. The quilting was completed 3/28/22 and the binding was finished 4/2/22. This quilt is on my guild’s UFO Challenge list.

After washing the quilt measures 51-1/2″ x 63-1/2″.

I used Glide thread in Mercury on the top and bottom.

The Edge-to-Edge design is Circle Drama.

The batting is Legacy 80/20.

 

 

 

Posted in: MQA BOM 2020, UFOs

Progress, a Finish and a Start

April 3, 2022 12:01 am ⋅

There was plenty of machine time Saturday.

Progress: Catching up on the Brandon Quilters 2022 Mystery Quilt – Starflower.  Monday we’ll get the finishing instructions.

A Finish:  The Mississippi Quilt Association 2020 Block of the Month. I waited until Saturday to stitch the binding down as I had to order a walking foot for my Singer Genie. Formal portrait to come soon. At the moment it’s in the dryer.

A Start:  I found more of string blocks from the auction in 2018.  These were separated because they were slightly smaller.  I’m trimming to them to 6-1/2″.  I have just enough that with a 1″ sashing I can set them on point and get a twin size quilt.

Up next, is the binding on the Crazy Quilt.

 

Posted in: 2022 Brandon Quilters UFO, MQA BOM 2020, mystery quilts, Starflower

Brandon Quilters President’s Challenge

April 1, 2022 7:42 am ⋅

After moving to Mississippi I joined two quilt guilds – I was already a member of the state guild, Mississippi Quilters Association. The president of the Brandon Quilters issued a challenge.  Make a potholder and bring it to the April meeting. She even provided a fat quarter for us to get started out of her stash. I was given the brown with white flowers.  I used it in the center, binding and backing. It just shy of 8″ square.

For this Folding Star, I used the Plum Easy Patterns’ directions. Given how thick the top is I opted to use Insul-Bright instead of batting.

For a while, I thought this might become a UFO.  I was struggling to get the binding ends joined.  It’s normally not an issue for me, but I haven’t bound anything for over a year and I didn’t have much room to work in. It wasn’t until I was joining the binding on the MQA quilt that I could see how to do the join.

 

Posted in: 2022 President's Challenge, Brandon Quilters

Go! Big Crazy is Quilted

March 31, 2022 11:30 pm ⋅

Wednesday ended on a good note. I finished quilting my crazy quilt. I used my go-to quilt design – Overlapping Crop Circles. I wondered if I really was going to get it done.  I started quilting before work and got the top partial row and the first row quilted before I sat down for work.

Mid-morning I reached for my earbuds to make a call on my cell phone and there was only 1 in the case which made no sense to me.  I checked to see if I made a call after I got home the night before and I had not. So, a quick walk was in order. The case fell out of my pocket the night before when I rode my bicycle over to Ruby’s.  I picked up the case, but didn’t think to check to see if both earbuds were in the case. Clearly a mistake as the right one got run over by a car!

I hightailed it home for a couple more hours of work and snuck one more row of quilting in during lunch before the storms hit.  We were under a tornado warning for nearly 2 hours. After the storm cleared I took a quick nap then went to the gym.  When I got home I was finally able to finish the quilting.

Thursday there were no storms, but I didn’t get into the quilt studio until after 9.  I need to sew the joining seam on the binding of the MQA quilt and then stitch it down.  Then there’s the crazy quilt and the pot holder – all that need to be done by Monday, not to mention doing my taxes.

 

Posted in: Go! Big Crazy, MQA BOM 2020

Quilting and Box Shuffling

March 30, 2022 9:37 am ⋅

After a night’s rest I was able to resolve my tension issues and started quilting.  This is the first quilt I’ve done in almost a year.  Prior to this one the last quilt I quilted was April 4, 2021. Four days later I decided to move and I started packing.  This is the Mississippi Quilt Association‘s BOM from 2020.  They are running it again. The blocks are available HERE.

Boxes were moved, one at a time.  Books are heavy. They’ll hang out in the corner room until my bookshelves are built.

The front bedroom is the audiovisual library.  78’s, LPs, 45s, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, and VHS.  A box of LPs are heavier than a box of books — including the yearbooks.  All of this will be gone through and thinned out eventually.  This will go in the den after that room is finished.

The instrumental music library.  Clearly it all won’t fit in the piano bench.  I’m pondering storage solutions.  

I’m considering an Ikea Kallax.

I would use these inserts, put it on legs and fashion some doors.  But that’s a future project.

While shuffling boxes I opened the next to last box the movers packed and finally found my silverware.  I’m not sure what I thought was in the box.  It was not labeled.

I found MORE of the auction blocks.  These are smaller than the others.  I have enough for yet another quilt. I’ll sash them and set them on point after trimming them to the same size.

Moving all of the boxes means I’m able to setup my quilting space.  It’s not done, but I have a work space.

Last night the borders were added to the crazy quilt. I used straight pins to hang the quilt on the wall. I really need to get my design wall put up, but it’s on hold until the trim is caulked and that is on hold until my patio door is installed.

The quilt was loaded last night. This morning before work I started the quilting. I’ll do another pass at lunch.

Posted in: Go! Big Crazy, House, MQA BOM 2020

My LongArm is Here!

March 28, 2022 8:23 am ⋅

Saturday started bright and early as I was expecting my longarm.  Butterscotch was in the window on the lookout.

It fits perfectly where I anticipated.  7 feet from the driveway wall and 5 feet from the laundry room wall.  The ceiling fans are centered above the table the the power cord drops from the ceiling just past the edge of the table.  The power cord has a twist lock mechanism so it can’t fall out or accidentally be pulled out.

Before Ethan left, I made sure the machine was working.  After all my tech support is no longer an hour away.  The closest Innova dealer is 5 1/2 hours away!

I had great plans to get a quilt quilted over the weekend, but I ran into tension issues. It is partly a poorly wound bobbin and mostly a bad backlash spring in the bobbin case.  I really thought it had been replaced, but apparently not.  I think I had 2 ordered before Ethan got out of the driveway.

As you can see, I spent no time at all putting boxes under the longarm. They all need to be gone through, but I need flat surfaces to do that.  So, I guess tonight I’ll wind another bobbin to see if I can get the tension correct, then start to move boxes out of the space.  I think the books I’ll stack against the wall in my office and the albums I’ll put in the front bedroom.

Posted in: Longarm

Borders for Go! Big Crazy Quilt

March 26, 2022 6:32 pm ⋅

This is the center of my Crazy Quilt that I cut with the Go! Big Crazy Quilt 10″ die.  I use 50 13-1/2″squares and have 2 blocks leftover.  It currently measures 60″ x 80″, but it needs to be 70″ x 90″ for the organization I’m giving it to.

The other day I purchased a black splatter and turquoise for the border and binding.  But the moment I laid it out I realized that was NOT the answer. So, I started digging in my stash.

I really like the original turquoise, this is one is not quite as vibrant.  May be it’s the gray inner border.  I’d like to do an inner border, so I can do a faux piping binding.

This turquoise and red combination is not bad, but still not right.

Since the yellow jumps out in the quilt, maybe a yellow inner border.  This green is nice and cheery.

I think this gold might work better. But after playing with all of the fabric options I had to clean up the room as my long arm was being delivered the next morning.

All ready for the long arm.

Posted in: Accuquilt, Go! Big Crazy, Longarm

Blocks!

March 23, 2022 1:08 am ⋅

I’ve been making up for lost time away from the sewing machine.  These are the swap blocks that I’m taking to retreat next month.  It is Friendship Scrap Block from Quilters Cache.

I also finished making the string blocks.  Now I can clean up the mess. I’ve yet to figure out how to work with strings that doesn’t create a huge mess. I’ll intersperse these blocks with the others and hopefully they’ll blend in.

Posted in: Dancing Strings