Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Bom

Nora’s Notebooks

February 14, 2023 6:00 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

The Nora’s Notebook pattern is a padded cover which fits those inexpensive black and white composition notebooks. The pattern is exclusive to The Quilted Cow in West Branson, Missouri.

Three Fat Quarters are needed, a little bit of lightweight interfacing, Soft &  Stable (I used Pellon Flex-Foam FF78F2), and an 1/2″ magnetic closer, but a piece of hook & loop tape could also be used.

There are 4 pockets, one on the outside, 2 on the inside left cover,

 

and one on the back cover.

I simply quilted around the circles using pink thread.

My number 1 recommendation is to label the pieces.  2nd, when putting in the snap,  orient the tabs top to bottom so you can stitch around the tab and top stitch the cover when done.  I had to remake my tab so I could to the topstitching.

For my second cover I actually used 5 fabrics.  I wanted a way to easily see this is my Quilters By Hearts’ Desire notebook, so I made it to match my Pizza Box Quilt we made.

To quilt it, I did a 2″ crosshatch, with 1/2″ vertical lines behind the pencil pouch.

The tab is shorter as I oriented the fabric the other way.

The Quilt Studio is a bit neater as well. As I was working on the cover, I cut up my scraps which have been sitting in the pizza box and put them away.

I have one more I want to make for my Brandon Quilters notebook cover, and I think I’ll use the fabric I used in the mystery quilt we did last year.

 

Posted in: Nora's Notebook, Pizza Box

Quilt #2 of 2023

January 18, 2023 10:39 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Quilt #2 is the 2022 Quilters By Hearts’ Desire Pizza Box Swap quilt.  Last year we each put a length of background and  focus fabrics, plus some FQs of coordinates in a pizza box.  We made the first block, then at each meeting someone else took the box home.  We don’t meet in December, so we received our boxes back in November with 10 additional blocks.  I made a 12th block then put them together to make this quilt.

The blocks are set together with a 6″ wide sashing and corner stones giving the illusion of alternate blocks.

The quilt is custom quilted with several different quilt designs.

  • Outer border – Alienfleur Border & Corners
  • Inner border – ABM HFzag drop
  • Setting Triangles – Anne Bright Hippie Double
  • Setting Corners – Anne Bright Hippie Single
  • Pieced Blocks – Anne Bright Hippie 4 Block
  • Blocks formed around Corner stones – Sweet Dreams BD 2013 003
  • Triangles formed in sashing – Kalediscope

At this point I must give a huge shout out to Capri, the System Administrator  on the Innova AutoPilot Mach3 Owners FB group and owner of Bear Paw Quilts.  I posted in a panic Saturday morning about something weird in my file when I opened it to resume quilting. She spent nearly 2 hours on the  phone with me working through fixing the issue, then teaching me what I needed to do to finish the quilting. She also suggested the quilting motif for the blue sashing, which still needed to be quilted after I finished the computerized quilting.

I’m not sure it shows well here, but it is Point to Point curves from corner to corner.

I took the quilt outside before I bound it and all of the great texture can be seen.

Quilt Stats

  • Started 1/9/2022
  • Finished 1/16/2023
  • Quilted with Glide 40wt in Cool Gray 7 – 4 bobbins
  • Legacy 80/20 batting
  • Top before quilting and washing 73 1/2 x 91 1/2
  • After quilting and washing 67 x 86 1/2

 

For the label, I created a document in Word and printed it onto printable fabric.  I moved the blocks out of month order, so the label reflects the block order and includes the name of the quilter, the block they made and the month they made it.

This quilt is on my 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO Challenge list.

Posted in: 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO, Machine Quilting, Pizza Box

Time to Quilt

January 12, 2023 8:50 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I have lofty goals for the rest of the week. Finish binding the log cabin quilt, bind Princess and the Pea, quilt and finish the Pizza Box quilt.  First up is the Pizza Box quilt.  Ruby finished quilting her Pizza Box quilt last night and then I loaded my quilt.

Thread was picked. It came down to Cool Gray 7 or Zaffree. I think either would work, but have chosen Cool Gray 7 as it is the same color as the lines on the background fabric.

Now to figure out how to quilt this!

Posted in: 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO, Pizza Box

A Little Bit of This and That

January 9, 2023 9:23 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I had grand hopes of having my Chilhowie top finished, the Log Cabin finished, and perhaps even the Pizza Box top quilted.  But the last few days since I checked in I’ve done a little bit of everything so nothing is finished.

Bonnie released the final clue to Chilhowie.  The clues will only be available for a short time — my guess is the end of January 2023. Anyway, I need to make 4 more blocks and corresponding border and sashing pieces to finish the top.

When I get the Chilhowie top finished, I have the backing for it. I found it in my stash while digging for binding.

 

Binding was the challenge on the log cabin. The original plan was to carry the center fabric to the border.  I had been warned off using a yellow for the center, for fear it would leap out, but it doesn’t. However, I was afraid the yellow border would, so I dug through my stash and came up with these options.  Each of them had their advantage and disadvantage, but none were “right”. Facebook was evenly divided. So I went to my LQS to see if I could find the “right” fabric. It was suggested that I use the backing fabric and I was just about to walk out of the store when the “right” fabric was spotted.

 

This Kaffe Millefiore. It’s darker than the yellow so will “frame” the quilt nicely, but at the same time it’s lighter than my previous choices.  Finally, it has all the colors.  After my running around over the weekend I started working on the binding. However, in my haste to finish it up missed spots when machine stitching it down.  I’ve got to take another look at it.

In addition to finding the backing for Chilhowie, I found another 3 Yard kit.  I think this was a ‘contest kit’ at the Quilted Cow. They called it ‘Anthony’, but I’m calling it Dragonflies & Flowers. I am adding it to my WHIMMs page.

Today it the last day to post about the results of the Final Countdown tasks. Here’s my recap.

Day 1 – Choose something you can finish quickly and do it  Big dreams, but I finished my pillow – a UFO from 2008.

Day 2 – Clean out a storage area – I got all the books put up which were stacked in the “Quilt Studio Annex”. As I look at the before and after pictures, I realize that I had already started putting the books up and when I took the before.

Day 3 – Take a project inventory and devise a plan. Since my Quilt Tops and Quilts In Progress (aka UFOs) were already tracked, and I had my UFO Challenge List defined, I decided to work on my PIGs and WHIMMs and what that means to me. I’ve added two tabs at the top of my page. I spent a good bit of time digging though my stash cataloging my projects.  I still haven’t found everything.  Earlier I wrote down “Bubbles – 4/23/22 Have a collection of FQs, now need pattern”. I have no idea what this is, but I’m sure it’s bagged up together and when I find it I’ll add it to my WHIMMs page.

Finally, I’m gearing up to begin the next phase of renovations.  My contractor and I have decided to tackle the den next.  I’ve narrowed down my paint color to one of the 2 purples that nearly blend into the sheetrock.  The paneling will be replaced with sheetrock.  The doors will get trimmed out, ceiling accent lights will be installed and replaced, and new flooring and base board trim will be installed.

 

 

Posted in: 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO, Chilhowie, Final Countdown, House, log cabin, PIGS, Pizza Box, WHIMMs

2023 Brandon Quilters UFO Challenge

January 1, 2023 10:26 am ⋅ 1 Comment ⋅

Happy New Year!

Over the next few days I’ll update my list of Finishes, Quilts in Progress and Tops to be Quilted, but today I’m listing out my 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO Challenge quilts. My list was created and turned in at our December meeting.  The goal to finish all of these quilts by our meeting December 4th, 2023. So here’s the list:

  • Mom’s Sweatshirt – Started in December 2008. My goal now is to have it finished by September at the latest, preferably May.
  • Black & White Stacked 4-Patch – Started this in Spring 2008. I started the quilting on it, but needed to rip it out since the border wasn’t lining up.
  • Christmas Row Quilt – This was a block swap I did in October 2008. I want to have the quilt finished by July.
  • Fairy Frost Sunset – The top was mad in 10 days in September 2010. It’s time to get it quilted.
  • Auction Strings IV: Turquoise & Cheddar –  These are the last of the blocks I bought at the auction in September 2018.
  • Princess & the Pea – The retreat mystery quilt started with a panel. I got it quilted last month, then realized I don’t have binding fabric.
  • Christmas Star Swap – These was swapped in April 2019. I have a plan and the fabric on how I want to set these blocks. My goal is to finish by July.
  • QBHD 2022 Pizza Box – We finished the swap in November, my goal to to take it finished to our next meeting on January 16th.
  • Athena – I started this quilt last January.
  • Donna’s Log Cabin – I started this quilt at the September retreat. All the blocks are finished and I sewed the last seam of the 1st half of the quilt just before midnight.
  • Rainbow Challenge – These squares were swapped during the year. I started doing “something” with them in October. I have a plan.
  • Chilhowie, the 2022 Quiltville Mystery – My plan is to keep up with the rest of the clues, but I will lengthen the top.
Posted in: 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO, Athena, Auction Strings, Chilhowie, Christmas Row Swap, Christmas Star Swap, Fairy Frost Sunset, log cabin, Moms Sweatshirt, Pizza Box, Princess and the Pea, Rainbow Challenge, Stacked 4-Patch

The Final Countdown with Prairie Moon Quilts

December 29, 2022 3:25 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I have sporadically participated in The Final Countdown with Prairie Moon Quilts over the years and I’ve decided to do it again this year.

Today’s task is:

Choose something you can finish quickly and do it

 

This past year I’ve been working hard to knock my UFOs out.  I finished all 12 of the UFOs on my 2022 Brandon Quilters UFO Challenge list, plus another 5, so there’s not a whole lot left that is a quick finish.  After going through my UFO list these are my options:

On the left is the Machine Quilting Sampler from a class in 2008. Free motion quilting on my sewing machine is not a skill I ever became proficient at and at this point it is unlikely that I will.  However, my free-motion skills on the long arm could use some practice. I could add some fabric to each end so I can load this on my longarm and finish the quilting there.

On the right is another class project, this one from May 2012. The first thing I need to so is sit still, in good light, and do the embroidery, then I can decide how to finish the piece. Maybe I need to pull my notes and thread and set this by my chair to work on while I’m watching TV in the evenings.  Currently I’m re-watching The Librarian — both the moves and the TV show.

A third option is to simply finish these blocks.  I think there are 26 or 27 blocks that each need 2 more logs.  Once that is done I can start on the quilt top. This quilt is on my 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO Challenge. It is what I’m working on until the next Quiltville Mystery Quilt clue comes out on Friday  I want to have this quilt completed (quilted, bound, labeled and washed) by mid-January, so I can’t procrastinate on this quilt.

On my 2023 UFO list5 is the Pizza Block quilt. I plan to have finished by mid January as well.  I haven’t decided how it will be quilted, but I can make the binding so when it comes off the longarm I can finish it.

Finally there is this quilt – Princess and the Pea.Also on my 2023 UFO list, I threw it on the long arm and the computer quilted it earlier while I was working on the log cabin blocks. Then I realized that I have no idea what I’m going to use for binding.

 

So, in summary the plan for my  ‘quick finishes’ are

  • loading the machine quilting sampler on the long arm to practice my free-motion quilting
  • gathering the thread and working on the embroidery on my Faux Applique in the evenings
  • finish the last of the log cabin blocks so I can begin assembly
  • make the pizza box binding so it will be ready to go when when the top is quilted
  • decide and make the binding for the Princess and the Pea quilt.

I won’t get them all done before the first, but I should have significant progress on all of them by the 9th.

Posted in: Final Countdown, log cabin, Machine Quilting, Pizza Box, Princess and the Pea

Design Wall Monday – Christmas Weekend

December 26, 2022 5:56 am ⋅ 1 Comment ⋅

First, I hope you had a Merry Christmas – and stayed warm!  I can’t say I’ve not been in cold weather like we had before, but it was further north!

First up for the weekend stitching is my Quilts By Hearts Desire Pizza Box Challenge quilt.  I was able to finish the quilt top.  Later this week I’ll get it loaded on the longarm to get it quilted.  This quilt is on my 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO list and I would like to have it done by January 16th QBHD meeting.

Next it was time to work on the Quiltville Mystery Quilt – Chilhowie.  These blocks went together quickly. I can’t wait to see what our next step it.

With both the Pizza Box done and the Mystery caught up, it was time to pull something else out.  I pulled out the Log Cabin quilt which I started in September and haven’t worked on since I got back from the quilt retreat in September.  I just have the last 2 dark logs to add to the rest of the blocks before I can start assembling the quilt top.  I’d like to have this one finished by mid-January as well.

 

Posted in: 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO, Chilhowie, designwall, Pizza Box

A New Dress for Betsy

December 21, 2022 9:07 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

I don’t remember how old I was when I got my Betsy doll for Christmas. I have her original pink dress, plus a couple of dresses that I wore when I was her size.  A red cotton dress my maternal grandmother made me and a light blue dress that my mother made me.  I felt she needed something more festive for Christmas, so I went shopping and found this velvet and taffeta dress. She wears a size 2T.

I have a few more pieces of sashing and corner stones to make then I can start assembling the quilt.

Posted in: Pizza Box

What’s on My Design Wall

December 19, 2022 9:33 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Over the weekend I finished both Clue #3 and Clue #4 of the Quiltville Mystery Quilt Chilhowie. I saw some grumbling about folks running out of orange fabrics and I think I know why.  Although 2 yards is mathematically 1/2 yard more than is needed, when working from FQs and needing matching sets, if the orange squares from Clue #2 were not evenly distributed from each FQ and not cut along the width of the FQ I can see where you would run out if you only purchased 8 FQs.  I had 13.

 

My current Leader & Ender project is Rivanna. I think I have 30 different fabrics, so I’m about 1/4 of the way through the HST. This is a quilt for my guest bed, so there’s no rush.

After finishing Clue # 4, I worked on the sashings for my Pizza Box quilt. The units for the inner portion of the border sashing is done and now I’m working on the outer portion. I hope to have everything pieced before the next clue comes out.

But I’m already planning my next quilt – or rather how to finish a quilt on my UFO list.  I pulled the fabrics on the left from my stash, but naturally I don’t have enough fabric, so a trip the LQS was in order to see what I could find.  The fabric on the right came home with me.  I love the that diagonal stripe as a binding. We’ll see if I use it or not.  My plan is to have my decorating Christmas Quilting done by July this year as the guild program that month is Christmas Quilts by our members.  I have 2 Christmas quilts on next years UFO Challenge list. The list was complied and turned in prior to knowing what the program was going to be. I might have added a 3rd quilt had I known.

 

 

 

Posted in: 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO, Chilhowie, Christmas Star Swap, Leaders & Enders, Pizza Box, Rivanna

Did Someone Say Rulers?

December 16, 2022 7:26 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Yes, I seem to have duplicates. I found all of these because I was looking to see if I  had something to help me trim the hourglass units from Part 3 of the Quiltville Mystery – Chilhowie.  I can attest to having recently purchased an Easy Angle Ruler. I couldn’t find mine — or my Essential Triangle Ruler.  Then I found the small one which worked for whatever it was I was doing. I just opened the new ruler last weekend….

As I was putting the box up, I looked up through the wires shelf and yes, I found my Essential Triangle tool. I’ve put all the rest of the tools back in the box.

As for those hourglass units, I found a Quilt In A Day Fussy Cut ruler the exact size of these hourglass units.  It has made trimming these units so much easier and makes me wonder why I put off working on them.  I  think I have 1/3 of the sets left to do before I start Clue 4 which was released this morning.

 

It wasn’t just the dread of making the hourglass blocks which caused me to put them off.  I’ve been working on the sashing for my pizza box quilt.  I think I have all the sashing cut and just need to sew. I hope to get both Clue 4 and this top finished this weekend as I have decided how I’m going to finish another set of swap blocks and just bought the necessary fabric…..

Posted in: 2023 Brandon Quilters UFO, Chilhowie, Christmas Star Swap, Pizza Box, Quilts