Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Challenges

40 Day Challenge

June 4, 2020 4:02 pm ⋅

I’d like to get back to blogging about my quilting. It seems that I generally just post to Facebook anymore.  In one of my Facebook groups someone asked “What are you working on?” For me this morphed into this 40 Day challenge. My goal is to get everything on this list done.

This first picture is a stack of quilts that need to be bound.

  • A customer’s quilt – binding needs to be pressed, then can be attached and stitched down
  • Allietaire – plan do do both scallops and a 2 color binding.
  • Narragansett Blues
  • Sister Swap # 3 – The binding is made just needs to be attached and stitched down
  • Then & Now
  • Baby 4-Patch Stacked Posies
  • Tablerunner – Finally figured out what I am going to use

Believe it or not there’s more work in this pile than the binding pile.

The quilt with the striped backing needs a label and delivered

I’m behind on my Star Studded BOM. I have fabric for 11 or 12 large blocks and 23 6-inch blocks.

The log cabin quilt needs to be quilted bound and labeled.

The blue, black and white quilt is my Frolic the goal is to finish the top.

Although not quilting, there are 9 pair of pants which need to be shortened. This is driving the 40 days.

Bonus #1: Pillowcases for the customer quilt, Allietaire, Narragansett Blues, and the log cabin quilt (2)

Bonus #2: Pillowcases for quilts already completed – Christmas Crazy 8s, On Ringo Lake, En Provence (2), Carolina Chain, Good Fortune

Bonus #3: Quilt, bind, label and make pillowcase (2) for Frolic.

It should be an interesting 40 -45 days.

Posted in: 40 Days - 2020, Allietare, Allietare, Baby 4-Patch Stacked Posies, binding, BOM, Grandma's hourglasses, Janes Hourglasses, log cabin, Mending, Narragansett Blues, Pillowcases, Sisters Swap, Star Studded, Tablerunner, Then and Now

The Blue Disappearing 9-Patch

February 19, 2017 10:26 am ⋅

bd9pwindmill

Yesterday was gorgeous – sunny, light breeze, 74 degrees – not something you see often in Kansas City in February, but it was perfect for a quilt photoshoot. Ever since we cleared the jungle, I wanted to hang a line to hang quilts on.  It took two tries, as the weight of the quilt caused the first line to sag.

bd9pfront

This quilt is made from recycled shirts with the exception of the blue accent squares and binding. Even the back is from recycled shirts.

Bd9pback

I started this quilt January 5, 2016, finished the top February 24, 2016, then started working on the backing.  I finished the backing some time in June 2016 — possibly at the quilt retreat I went on.  Then the quilt sat, ageing, until I pulled it out this January and began quilting it on my treadle machine.

bd9pquilting

The binding was applied and stitched down on my main machine. I also made a pillowcase to go with the quilt using the binding fabric and a shirting that I bought a whole bolt of 10-15 years ago.

bd9pcase

This is my first finish for 2017 and is one of my 1st Quarter Finish Along Goals.

Posted in: Challenges, DP9, goals

1st Quarter Finish Along Goals

January 14, 2017 4:36 pm ⋅

1stQtrFAL

I didn’t do well with the 2016 Finish Along, but I’m going to give it another try. The 2017 Finish Along link up for proposed finished closes tonight, so I’ve pulled together a few items for this quarter.

  • Compass Lone Star — it’s been hanging around January 2007
  • Purple box bag — I started this last summer — and then misplaced the pattern which  I still haven’t found
  • Blue and Green Strip Twist – a quilt I started last summer
  • Green and Cream Swap Blocks – Started Fall 2006, I promised this for a Christmas gift — in 2015!
  • Monochromatic table runner – a class sample from last March
  • Disappearing 9-patch – from a year ago, I’d like to get it done this weekend.

Rhonda's [Quilt] Ramblings

All of these things (well, not the bag) have been on previous challenge lists. Let’s see if I can get a couple of these done by April 1st.

Posted in: 2017 Finish-A-Long, Challenges

The Final Countdown – Task Three

January 3, 2017 11:47 pm ⋅

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task Three – Get Committed

It’s a good thing she’s given us until the 6th to do this. As weird as last year was I really haven’t given it much thought and it doesn’t look like I was committed to anything. Blogging was minimal, no ‘quilt’ finishes, although I did make a bunch of zipper pouches and a Bionic Gear Bag — that was back in the summer and the fabric is STILL sitting out on my flat surfaces — you know the ones that were part of Task Two?

My UFO count – both tops needing to be quilted and tops I’m still piecing has gone up – by a total of 5 — if my notes are correct.  Bottomline there are 25 quilt tops in the queue and another 32 quilts I’m still piecing, including En Provence which I started Thanksgiving weekend. 

Scraps and fabric is all over the place — I have piles of fabric from both Allietare and En Provence sitting about as neither quilt top is completed. The fabric from the BGB is still sitting out as I planned to make some accessories to go with it. Shoot, my bag from the quilt retreat is still half packed.

Last year I started off in numerous challenges, but in the end I dropped out. So this year I’m going to commit to the following:

  • Complete the En Provence Mystery Quilt top – I’m working on the last two clues now.enprovencechristmas
  • Quilt the Blue Disappearing 9-patch. The top was finished in January and the pieced backing sometime the first half of the year. I’ve dug out the backing and removed the cat hair. Now both the top and backing need to be pressed and sandwiched together so I can quilt it.goal2
  • The Green and Cream quilt.  This was a Christmas 2015 UFO! I unearthed it while working on the space between the cutting board and the designwall.andrea-gift
  • The blue and green Strip Twist.striptwist
  • Process the boxes of fabric scraps into the Scrap Users System. This will need to be a long-term project as I have the equivalent of 4 or 5 book boxes (if not more) worth of scraps and my pre-cut scraps are getting thin. This task also includes putting away the fabric that is laying out and about.
  • Determine what I’m going to do with the upholstery samples I picked up off of CraigsList. There are 3 boxes in the garage and in the stack by the design wall. At first glance these are  not as usable as the one I made the zipper bags from last summer.

If I can stay focused and get these six tasks done I will be thrilled. Stay tuned.

 

 

Posted in: Challenges, Cream & Green Swap Sampler, DP9, En Provence, Final Countdown, scraps, Strip Twist, UFOs

What’s On My Design Wall – Allietare

January 2, 2017 12:36 pm ⋅

allietarecenter

For the first Design Wall Monday post of 2017, I offer the center of Allietare, Bonnie Hunter’s Mystery quilt from 2015. I’ve been working on it as I’ve been assembling it while using the 2016 Mystery Quilt, En Provence as my leader/enders.  There are a ton of 4-patches in the new quilt.

The 6th clue came out Friday morning. But could I find either of my Companion Angle rulers? So, I had to start cleaning my flat surfaces. from the Final Countdown Task 2. The ironing board has been cleared.

ironingboard

Yes, I’ve found my ruler — not that it was on the ironing board. More cleaning was required. So, I tackled the floor. Yes, this is better.

floor

In the foreground are the fabrics I’m using for EnProvence. On the chair is a quilt that was supposed to be a give Christmas 2015. The shoebox of fabrics is from two quilts — Allietare and a StripTwist. Time to put the Allietare fabric up. They are sitting on two boxes of upholstery samples. The two laundry baskets have batting in them. The box with the yellow bag and the box it is sitting on are scraps I was given in early 2015. Perhaps I need to go through them this year. There’s a box of books/magazines that I will probably give away — need to flip through them one more time. The green crate in the corner contains ‘sewing stuff’. I went through it last night while I was looking for the ruler. Sorted, tossed and put away enough stuff that the box is no longer overflowing. I can’t say the same for the larger crate it is sitting on — more scraps and another crate of scraps under the shelf.  But no Companion Angle ruler.

That left the cutting board.

cuttingboard

I started clearing it off. Stuff had gotten piled high on it. After excavating the top 2 or 3 layers I found the ruler. So naturally I quit cleaning.  Actually, I gave up. I’ve been fighting the crud for the past few days so I went to bed.

I go back to work tomorrow, so no long days of quilting. My goal this week is to get En Provence finished and the cutting table cleared.

Check out what others are working on over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Allietare, designwall, Final Countdown

The Final Countdown – Task Two

December 31, 2016 10:33 am ⋅

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task Two – Tackle All the Flat Surfaces

Boy do I need to do this. I can’t really start on Task One until this is done as some of the stash is on the bottom and I’ll need to cut and press.

Shelly’s questions:

  • So what are your plans for your flat surfaces? – Find them. Since I’ve not been quilting much, they have become catch-alls — the cutting table, the ironing station, the floor between the ironing station and the design wall, the small table beside my sewing machine and the treadle machine.
  • Which flat surface seems to cause your biggest problems? – Generally speaking the floor — it’s a catch-all for stuff from the other rooms — although since I’ve not been sewing the cutting table is piled high.
  • How will you be dealing with this going forward? – In a methodical manner.  I need the cutting board cleared so I can stop cutting on the ironing station. The ironing station needs to be cleared so I can press a top and backing that I need to quilt sooner than later, then the treadle and small table need to be cleared so I can quilt it. That leaves the floor last which goes hand in hand with Task One getting the stash under control. I wrote this yesterday and then brought in two boxes of upholstery fabric samples from Craigslist. That and looking for the camera tripod resulted in me clearing the floor first. Although it’s more of a case of stacking neatly to make room for the new blocks. I really need to locate my companion angle ruler, so I’ll start with the ironing board and the cutting board then circling back to the floor.

It’s a good thing we have until the 6th to complete these tasks.

Posted in: Challenges, Final Countdown

The Final Countdown – Task One

December 30, 2016 12:27 pm ⋅

Shelly over at Prairie Moon Quilts is again hosting the Final Countdown — a set of tasks to clear the deck so to speak to get us ready to quilt in the new year.

Task One – Get your fabric stash under control

My first thought is I’d have to find my flat surfaces to get my stash under control. I haven’t done a whole lot of quilting this year — as evidenced by this being only the 40th post of the year. But mid summer I did pull out some fabric to make a bag and accessories and that fabric has not been put back up. Then I unpacked the projects I took to retreat in June to work on them, but they got buried as well.

So here are Shelly’s questions.

  • Do you have a plan for your stash? – It’s sorted by color and/or theme. Last year I started refolding it so I didn’t have to dig in my boxes and stopped after posting the picture of my floral box. Actually, I must have sorted a bit more as when I was digging in it earlier this month, there were two columns of fabric. I must say it made it easier to grab what I was looking for.florals
  • Are you working your plan? – The sorting has been kept up, but the new folding didn’t get very far. I think if I refold the fabric it will fit better in my boxes and it definitely will be easier to find what I’m looking for. I think the next box I’ll fold/sort is the red/green box as that’s the fabric which will need to be put up next.
  • Do you need a new plan? – I think I’ll reduce the number of ‘theme’ boxes – at least move floral into the color boxes. I also have a novelty, black & white,  red & white, Kansas Troubles, 30’s reproductions, Halloween, Christmas, music and yardage boxes. As I fold, I expect some of my combo boxes to shift around.
  • Is your stash almost under control, but it just got a little out of hand because you’ve been using from it and adding to it all year? -I hesitate to say it’s under control — but that’s primarily because I’ve not dealt the two huge boxes of scraps I was given last year — or was it the year before.  Well, that and not getting the fabric put up from this summer.
  • Did it all used to fit where you had it, but now it’s sort of spilling out into other spaces and areas and making a bit of a mess? – It’s all contained in the sewing room, but I need sort it and put it away. But I don’t guess that’s really the question. Some of my boxes are overflowing — the red/green, the purple/pink, and neutral. The lids are on those boxes just barely and I moved some neutral over to the music drawers. I suspect with the refolding everything will fit better, although there may be some shifting of fabric into new boxes.
  • What are your plans for your stash going forward? – I really would like to get all the fabric back on the two main shelves so I can get one of the smaller shelves out of the room — alas there’s more than fabric on those smaller shelves.
  • Are you setting any stash-related goals for yourself for 2017? – Get the scraps sorted and dealt with, get the lids on the boxes to close easily, use it, and only buy if absolutely necessary to finish something in progress.

 

Posted in: Challenges, Final Countdown, Stash

3rd Quarter Goals

July 14, 2016 10:03 am ⋅
Rhonda's [Quilt] Ramblings
Not daunted by listing out quilting/sewing goals that don’t get finished, here are this quarter’s main goals.
  • Bionic Bagbionic
  • Zipper Bags (at least one – I haven’t decided if I like the other 3 fabrics together.)zipbags
  • The Blue Disappearing 9-Patch — Both the top and backing are made and there’s batting around here somewhere.bluetop
  • Strip Twist – a long shot as it is still in pieces and I have no idea what I’m going to use for the backing.striptwist
  • Cream & Green Swap – This really needs to be done first.andrea-gift
  • Monochromatic Tablerunner – I’m sure there’s something in the stash I can use for the backing.tablerunner

Of course the best laid plans don’t always come to fruition, so I am going to hope if I finish something else it will be one of my numerous UFOs or planned projects listed below:

The quilt tops:

tops2016

Pink & Brown, Christmas BOM, Scrap Patch Hearts, Black & White 4-Patch, Christmas Crazy Eights, Raising Cane, 2012 Mystery, 2008 Retreat Swap, Baby Black &  White 4-Patch, Whitework, Stack ‘n Whack, Thangles BOM1, Black & White Strip Twist, Old Tobacco Road, Machine Quilting Sampler, Fairy Frost Sunset, 2011 Twin Mystery, QIAD Christmas Row Quilt, Mom’s 4-Patch, 2011 Mystery, Estate Doves  in the Window

The quilts in progress:

Pieces

Lee’s Baskets, Mom’s Thangles, Hancock BOM, Border Class Sample, Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler, Twas the Night Before Christmas #2, Sheryl’s Churn Dash Blocks, Cream & Green Sampler,  Alphabet BOM, Hexie Hand Project, Twas the Night Before Christmas #1, Mom’s Sweatshirt, Sisters Swap, Just Takes 2, Estate Double Wedding Ring, Compass Lone Star, Candy Sunflower Seeds, QAYG String Blocks, Postage Stamp, Faux Applique, Blue Strings, String HST Wall Hanging, Christmas Blocks from Lee, Lillbet’s Garden, Star A Day

I probably should have done another picture, but I’ve been having computer issues all week and want to get this posted while I can.

There are a few other things kicking about in the sewing room, but given I can’t find the cutting table or ironing board and haven’t unpacked from the retreat back in early June, I’m not likely to finish those either.

See what others are planning on working on this quarter over at RhondasRamblings.

Edited 7/16/16 4:00 PM — Since I’ve posted this, and the deadline to post our list has not past, I’ve rounded up pictures of the rest of the projects that are kicking around the sewing room.

PIGS

Triangle Frenzy Runner, August 2013 Quilt A, Squedge Ruler Project

kits

The Night Before Christmas, Tuscan Sun

more

May Pole Bag/Accessories, Pineapple Blossoms, Music Throw

tumblerstop

Tumblers

I think that’s everything now.

Posted in: 2016 Finish-A-Long, goals

2016 Finish Along – 2nd Quarter

April 15, 2016 12:05 pm ⋅

Oh, my. Such grand plans for the 1st quarter and no finishes to show for it. I did complete 2 quilt tops, but those don’t count for this challenge. I nearly decided to not enter the 2nd quarter challenge, but why not. The worst that can happen is I don’t finish anything again.

As with the 1st quarter (not that it helped me) I’m going to list everything that I have started, or am considering starting. But first the main objectives.

April – May – June

2ndqtr

  • Green & Cream Swap
  • Compass Lone Star
  • Blue Disappearing 9-Patch
  • Music Throw
  • Turquoise and Green Strip Twist
  • Monochromatic Tablerunner
  • Alletore

It’s unlikely that I’ll finish all of these projects. I’ve promised myself I ‘get’ to work on Alletore through Saturday night, then I’ll resume working on the Green & Cream Swap quilt. I’m attending two quilt retreats this quarter, so I’ll work on Alletore, Strip Twist, and the backing for the Blue Disappearing 9-Patch.

But just in case I come up for air, there are tops waiting to be quilted:

tops2016Pink & Brown, Christmas BOM, Scrap Patch Hearts

Black & White 4-Patch Stacked Posies, Christmas Crazy 8’s, Moda U

Raising Cane, 2012 Spring Mystery #2, 2008 Retreat Swap

Baby B&W 4-Patch Stacked Posies, Whitework, Stack ‘n Wack

Thangles BOM 1, B&W Strip Twist, Old Tobacco Road

Machine Quilting Sampler, Fairy Frost Sunset, Twin 2011 Mystery

QIAD Christmas Row, Mom’s 4-Patch Stacked Posies

Baby 2011 Mystery, Estate Doves in the Window

And quilts still in pieces:

PiecesLee’s Baskets, Mom’s Thangle BOM, Hancock Stars BOM

Border Class Sample, Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas #2

Sheryl’s Churn Dashes, Green & Cream Swap, Alphabet BOM

Hexie Hand Project, L/E Tumblers, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas #1

Mom’s Sweatshirt, Sister’s Swap Blocks

Just Takes Two, Estate DWR, Compass Lone Star, Candy Sunflower Seeds

QAYG Strings, Postage Stamps, Faux Applique, Blue Strings

Redwork Snowmen, Jane’s Hourglasses, QIAD Flying Dutchmen, Allietare

String HST Wall Hanging, Lee’s Christmas Blocks, Lillbet’s Garden, Star-A-Day

Not to mention a few kit’s I’m considering for this year:

challengekitsTuscan Sun BOM, MayPole Bags(?), The Night Before Christmas

more kits

“Aug 2013 Quilt A”, Triangle Frenzy Runner

squedge 001

Squedge Ruler project – hopefully a 12″ x 30″ table runner

See what other’s are planning for the 2nd quarter over at the Link-up.

Posted in: 2016 Finish-A-Long

Stash Report

February 7, 2016 9:53 am ⋅

This is year is off to a slow start quilting wise. I have yet to complete 1 quilt block, let alone a quilt top or quilt. So, not completing anything means the count is still zero in the used column. As mentioned previously the fabric in the purchased column is for the Blue Disappearing 9-Patch that I’m currently working on.

This week, and it should have been last week, I’m adding the fabric I received I received in a box of quilting stuff I won from Prairie Moon Quilts as part of the 350 Blocks Project:2015 to my stash report.

350block-gifts

It’s an awesome gift box. I’ve thanked Shelly privately, but want to thank her publicly as well and encourage everyone to join the 350 Blocks Project:2016.

350button16-300x167

I’m off to a slow start.  No blocks for January. But I hope to rectify that this month.

Here’s the stash report:

  • Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0 yards
  • Fabric Used Year to Date: 0 yards
  • Fabric Enhancement Since Last Report:  0.182 yards
  • Fabric Enhancement to Date: 22.932 yards
  • Net Fabric to Stash: 22.932 yards

Hop over to Patchwork Times to see how others are doing with the stashes.

Posted in: 2016:350 Blocks Project, Stash Busting Report