Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Challenges

Stash Report

January 9, 2011 2:41 am ⋅

Three hours at the LQS and I still have used more fabric this year than I’ve purchased.

Saturday was the 2010 UFQ Trunk Show at Heritage Fine Fabrics.  I signed up to get 5 quilts either ready to quilt or quilted and bound – I finished 4 of the 5.  Over the year as we finished each project, we received a FQ as a reward.  At the trunk show, we receive one ticket for each finish for the drawing.  I won a $15 gift certificate.  So, there’s more fabric in my future.

My only purchase was some Lite Steam a Seam 2 for the Crossword Puzzle quilt – which doesn’t count in the stash numbers.  I also signed up for the 2011 UFQ (UnFinished Quilts) Challenge.

Ready-to-Quilt

  • 2008 Charm Challenge/Shangra-La
  • Mom’s 4-patch Stacked Posies
  • QIAD Christmas Row Quilt

Quilted and Bound

  • Miniature LeMoyne Stars
  • Crossword Puzzle
  • Blue Carolina Baby Quilt

Sorry for the distraction – back to the stash numbers:

Fabric Added this Week:  0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 0 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 3 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 4.63 yards

Net Stash for 2010: -4.63 yards

Check out other results by following the links over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Challenges, Stash Busting Report, UFOs

A Design is Found

January 6, 2011 10:35 pm ⋅

I’ve been pondering what to do with my 9-patches for UFO # 6.  Today I read this post which Bonnie wrote showing a Sister’s Choice quilt which Clare had made.  It took a while, but eventually I made the connection and decided to turn my 9-patches into Sister’s Choice blocks.

I have 2 yards of the green and a box full of lights, so I should be able to finish the top from my stash.

Now on to cut.  I need a total of 768 – 1 5/8″ green squares, 384 – 1 5/8″ light squares and 384 – 1 5/8″ x 3 7/8″ light rectangles.  I could be cutting a while.

Posted in: Charm Challenge, UFO Challenge 2011

The Easy Part is Done

January 5, 2011 10:43 pm ⋅

I’ve made all of my 9-patches. The hard part is now figuring out what to do with them.  The truth is, I didn’t have much of a plan when I started this project back in the spring of 2008.  Only a recognizable part of each charm square was required to be in the project.  I vaguely remember thinking I wanted to use as much of the charm squares as possible.  Thus my 9-patches are a weird size. I think they are supposed to finish at 3 3/8″.  There should be 4 more blocks, but I made two incorrect cuts early on and I haven’t figured out what to do about it yet.

Posted in: Charm Challenge, UFO Challenge 2011

The Year of the PIGS – Question # 1

January 5, 2011 3:30 am ⋅

Jill is hosting a support group for quilters with PIGS (Projects in Grocery Sacks) and UFOs (UnFinished Objects). The idea is every couple of weeks a question will be asked and those participating will post their response.  The first question is:

How do you store your UFOs and PIGS separate from your fabric stash?

The good news is I don’t have that many PIGS.  But as a general rule, I store all of the fabric and generally the pattern in an appropriate sized zip top or other closable clear bag.  There are a couple of exceptions to this.  I’ve got one quilt in the Priority Mail envelope it came in, one is in a Moda “lunch box”, and one is in a Chinese take-out carton (it came that way!)

The bags are then stored either in this milk crate, which is usually buried under another crate and then stuff stacked on top of it.

In my crate of UFOs.

Or for my Kansas Trouble Kits, in the Kansas Trouble fabric box.

My UFOs are stored similarly.  In clear bags in the box above, or in labeled project boxes on the top of my fabric shelves.

The project boxes may contain more than one project, if all I have are blocks.    I also have a LARGE suitcase which contains one of my quilt-as-you-go projects since I’ve got the batting with it.

My finished quilt tops waiting to be quilted are folded up  – with the binding and backing if I have it and are stored in two crates.  The crates are labeled, so when I decide it’s time to quilt one of them, I can tell before dragging the crate off the top shelf if it’s in that crate.

Check out the links over at Jill’s to see how others store their PIGS and UFOs.

P.S.  I guess I should clarify how I use the terms:

PIGS – Project In Grocery Sack – fabric and pattern stored together, but not started.  This list is short only 11 projects.

UFO – UnFinished Object – it’s been started but is not yet a quilt top.  There are 36 of these, which is why I’m participating in several UFO Challenges.

Top – some times referred to as a Flimsy. This is a quilt top waiting to be quilted.  I have 39 of these waiting to be quilted.  There are 8 on my list to quilt this year as part of various UFO Challenges, but the rest will be done when I need a quilt for a specific reason.

 

 

 

Posted in: PIGS

January UFO Challenge

January 1, 2011 7:37 am ⋅

Judy has drawn # 6.

That means this month I’ll be either get my Charm Challenge into a top

or quilt my Scrappy 5-Patch.

Now for a bit of history on these two quilts.

For several years, my LQS, Heritage Fine Fabrics, issues a Charm Pack Challenge.  The rules are pretty simple.  Create a quilted object containing  a recognizable piece of every charm in the package.  In 2008 I  think the charm pack was a Three Sisters line.  I decided to make 9-patches using the ‘quick pieced’ method where you start off with two squares of fabric and end up with 2 9-patches.    I hadn’t thought past that point, and when I didn’t finish the 9-patches and the contest deadline passed, the pieces were set aside.

The Scrapy 5-Patch is a quilt top I completed in 2009.  It just needs quilting.  The backing and binding are folded up with the quilt top and I’m sure there’s a piece of batting big enough in my batting box (or I can piece one together).  I  just have to decide how I’m going to quilt it.  That’s where I frequently get stuck – although generally, I don’t get as far as making the binding and having the backing ready.

My brother and sister and their families are coming to dinner tomorrow, so I won’t get much quilting done this weekend.  Good thing I  have Monday off!

Good luck to all of the participants in this challenge.  I’m sure we’ll finish lots of quilts by the end of the year.

Posted in: 5-patch scraps, Charm Challenge, UFO Challenge 2011

2010 Countdown Tasks Complete

December 31, 2010 10:37 pm ⋅

Prairie Moon Quilts set up three tasks to help us clean up our sewing rooms and prepare for the new year.  I have now completed all three tasks and there’s still another 1 1/2 hours left in 2010.

Task #3 was to deal with some scraps.  This was my pile which I gathered up while clearing my flat surfaces (from Task # 2).

I sorted through them and decided some could go into my fabric buckets and then cut the rest into 3 1/2″, 2 1/2″, 2″, 1 1/2″ strips, strings and bricks and blocks.

My sewing room is now ready for the new year.

Posted in: Challenges

2010 Final Countdown Task Three

December 31, 2010 9:10 pm ⋅

Task #3 of the  Prairie Moon Quilts 2010 Final Count down challenge is:

Deal with a bunch of scrap

But before I can begin Task # 3, I have to finish Task # 2.  I’m happy to report that Task # 2 is completed.

1 – the ironing board

Yes, there’s a pile of fabric on the ironing board, but that’s what I uncovered clearing the flat surfaces and what I’ll deal with for Task # 3.

2 – guest sewing table

 

3 – the cutting table

 

4 – my sewing table

I did not just shuffle the stuff around.  The batting was put up into the appropriate bins, the quilting patterns and magazines filed, the paperwork sorted (filled up my under-desk recycling bin), stuff which doesn’t belong in the is room hauled out (and put away), quilt parts and pieces gathered and folded together.

Now, off to deal with that pile of fabric on the ironing board.

Posted in: Challenges

2010 Final Countdown Task Two

December 30, 2010 11:50 pm ⋅

Task #2 of the  Prairie Moon Quilts 2010 Final Count down challenge is:

Clear off a flat surface in your sewing area

I need to spend a couple of hours on the flat surfaces of my sewing room.  There are four of them – not including the floor or my desks and chest of drawers 🙂

1 – the ironing board

It’s not too bad — but then I had just dumped a bunch of stuff on the floor so I could play with some fabric.

2 – guest sewing table

It’s a flat surface, so what can I say, we come into the house from the garage and dump everything here.

3 – the cutting table

I recently cleared the guest sewing table and ironing board by dumping everything on to my cutting table.  When I need to cut something I pull out a mat and put it on the ironing board.

4 – My sewing table.

Ignore the open binder.  That’s a rolling cart with a work binder on it.  The pile of stuff on the right is a combination of personal and work papers I haven’t needed in a while.  Mixed in are parts and pieces of at least one quilt, and a windbreaker.

So what did I do instead of clearing these flat surfaces?  Made the pillowcase to go with No Blue Geese in my Tropical Garden.

It should count toward cleaning up – the fabric needed to be put up and  I needed a pillowcase.    Actually, I’m working on the  areas and have made progress on three of the areas.  Look for pictures either later tonight or tomorrow.

Posted in: Challenges, finish

2010 Final Countdown Task One

December 29, 2010 11:52 am ⋅

Prairie Moon Quilts is doing 2010 Final Count down challenge. Nothing elaborate, just simple tasks to get us up and in gear.  Here’s task # 1.

Find your oldest UFO and do something about it

I guess it depends on your definition of UFO.  I think generally, quilters think of UFOs as projects which are tossed aside, never to be worked on again unless someone prods  you to.  So, with that definition I guess the “honor” goes to my Christmas BOM which I started August 21, 2003.  For some reason, I’ve kept detailed notes. I can tell you when I made each block that I’ve got completed.

Why is is still languishing?  That’s easy.  I finished all the pieced blocks and all that remain are the applique blocks.  Ok, that and I thought I wanted to make it bigger, so I needed more blocks. I used my perfect “reindeer fabric” on another quilt — it was a perfect brown — and I stole my friend’s stash of the same fabric to finish something else.  And finally, there’s always another project calling my name.

So, what am I going to do about this UFO?  Put it back on the shelf and go with a different definition of UFO.  I’m going to use the simplest definition of UFO — UnFinished Object — meaning the quilt that is the oldest that is not finished– I just happen to be working on it so some might say it’s WIP – Work-In-Progress.  That honor goes to my  Double Wedding Ring  which I started in September 1989.

At the moment it’s stuffed in the basket and tucked behind the table — had to get it out of the way when I cleaned up for Christmas.  I’m sure everyone is tired of reading about this quilt. I missed all of my latest sets of deadlines – Nov 29th our 25th anniversary; Dec 22nd the last day to turn in a  UFQ project at the LQS and Dec 31st the last day to turn in  UFO on my on-line challenge (hey- no way I can quilt 20-21 rings and bind it by midnight Friday).  So, since all my “deadlines” have been missed, I’m simply going to work on this quilt with the intention of finishing it sometime in 2011.  Maybe I can get it done in time to hang in the Guild quilt show in April – wait -that’s another deadline.

Seriously though, my 3rd oldest UFO — one that is stuffed in a corner and not being worked on – is a BOM from April 2005.

This one got set aside for all of the usual reasons. – found something else to start, not excited by the setting, etc.  This one I have a plan for in 2011.  It’s quilt #12 on my UFO Challenge for Judy.  It’s on both lists — needs to be pieced and needs to be quilted since I’m doing it quilt-as-you-go — so there’s no getting around it when she calls # 12.

Well, I hope this listing of my 3 oldest UFOs – regardless of definition meets the challenge issued.

 

 

 

Posted in: Challenges, UFOs

Judy’s UFO Challenge 2011

December 16, 2010 11:06 pm ⋅

I’m not doing so well with Finn’s New Year’s Eve UFO Challenge. I had great hopes to finish 3 pretty good size projects, but as usual when I make plans like that life gets in the way.  I don’t see myself finishing anything else this year – not that I’m not still plugging away on various projects.  They are just going slower than I anticipated.

That’s not to say I’ve given completely up on my UFOs.  One day (in a time far, far, away) they will become finished quilts to be used.   To help me whittle down my extremely long list (see the Tops To Be Quilted and Quilts In Progress tabs above), I’m going to play along with Judy and her UFO Challenge next year.  Instead of listing quilts I’ve “got” to finish, I’ve picked quilts that I’ve passed over in the past to work on something “more important” or “more fun” (i.e. a new quilt).    My list of quilts and the rules which I’ve tweaked (Judy said we could :-)) are on the UFO Challenge 2011 tab.

If you have UFOs which need to be completed come join us over at Patchwork Times.  Sign ups begin Friday.

Posted in: UFO Challenge 2011, UFOs