Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Music Quilt

My Favorite Quilt – Bloggers Quilt Festival

October 29, 2010 12:36 am ⋅

Amy over at AmysCreativeSide.com is hosting the Blogger’s Quilt Festival October 29th – November 5th.  This is the second time I’ve participated.  Last fall I showed the  Blue Applecore quilt I gave my husband.   This year I’m entering “Music Lessons” – another quilt I’ve made for my husband.

This quilt started off with a casual purchase “oh, look music fabric” and an innocent remark by my husband.  “Wouldn’t it be cool to make a quilt with nothing but music fabric – just a single repeat of each fabric?”

It was the Spring of 2003 and I was still a machine knitter and a want-to-be-quilter.  I had quilt patterns and magazines, and a little bit of cotton fabric, but I hadn’t really been bit by the “Quilt Pox’.  In fact I purchased my first music FQs the Spring of 2003 in at Silks & More Fine Fabrics – now Appletree Quilting Center in Columbia, Missouri, while I was making arrangements for a statewide gathering of Bond Machine Knitters.

Isn’t it funny how we can remember where we purchased some of our fabric.  Or is it just me?

Anyway I showed the fabric to my husband and the comment about a quilt and the idea for a music quilt was born.  Although I didn’t like his idea of chunk of fabric – I wanted to piece something.

Over the next five years I began to collect music themed fabric.  It was given to me my by my mom and friends.  I bought music fabric on-line that I couldn’t find locally.  Since I didn’t have a pattern in mind, I kept collecting music themed fabric.

I think this picture was taken after I completed the quilt top.

Then one day while I was surfing the web, I spotted a picture of a quilt with lots of floral fabrics.  Each one was different and the “piecing” was done in the sashing and cornerstones.  I then had a design for my music fabric.

I started the quilt in September 2008 and finished the top the following April.  It would take until the end of the year begin quilting on it.  I needed a back!

So, I pieced the back from the “leftover” music fabric.

See that swag fabric in the middle of the back.  That’s Andover Fabrics Marching Band by Gail Kessler.  I searched the entire metro area for that fabric without success.  I found it on-line, but didn’t want to buy a border fabric without seeing it.  On the Iowa road trip (13 stores in 3 day) I found the fabric in one of the last stores we visited that weekend.

Music fabric still came into the house after the quilt top was completed.  Some of it got worked into the back of the quilt.  The top left corner is one piece and the last full square on the third row was a new fabric.

In total there are 168 different fabrics on the front of the quilt.  Two different colorways of the same print count as two. I also included a block I printed which has a scan of one of my husband’s original piano pieces on it.    The back contains at least three prints which did not make it into the front of the quilt  – two were purchased after  the top was complete, the third was the swag.

As I was finishing the quilting my husband and I started thinking about what to call the quilt.  It had been known as “the music quilt” & “music star”, but I felt the quilt needed a more significant name.  We came up with “Music Lessons”.

If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading. Check out other quilters’ favorite quilts over at Blogger’s Quilt Festival.

Posted in: blogger's quilt festival, music quilt

What’s On My Design Wall

January 18, 2010 3:12 pm ⋅

Today, it’s really  what’s NOT on my design wall.  My wall is empty — I took down Ladder to the Stars because I needed the hangers to take a picture of “Music Lessons”  (alternatively know as Ted’s quilt;  Music Stars; and  the music quilt).  I finished it last night and took it out of the dryer a little while ago.

It even has a label.

There is a new tab for my 2010 finishes. I hope this is the first of many UFOs I finish this year.

See what others have on their design wall’s by checking out Judy’s blog.

Posted in: designwall, finish, music quilt

Quiltathon Progress Report – Day 2

January 18, 2010 1:33 am ⋅


“Music Lessons” is done!!!! There’s even a label on the quilt. After I wash it in the morning, I’ll try to get a decent picture of the quilt. It will depend on the weather.

Even though I planned to quilt Monday since I am off from work, I think I’ll take it easy.

Follow other quilters as they participate in Judy’s Quiltathon.

Posted in: music quilt, Quiltathon

Quiltathon Progress Report

January 17, 2010 12:51 pm ⋅


Yesterday after we got home from my nephew’s wedding, I made significant progress on the music quilt. So much so, that this morning I only had 8 lines of stitching to complete the quilting. I’ve done that, and the quilt has passed Quality Control. We’ve also settled for a name for the quilt –  Music Lessons.

I’ve printed the label so it will have time to dry before I wash the quilt. Now, I’m off to make the binding, then I’m going to have to boot the cat off the quilt so I can square it up. Seven does look comfortable though.

Follow other quilters as they participate in Judy’s Quiltathon.

Posted in: music quilt, QCC, Quiltathon, Seven

Music Quilt Half Quilted

January 14, 2010 7:49 pm ⋅


I might just make my self imposed deadline of Monday on this quilt. The first half of the quilting is done. Now I’ll do the diagonal lines the other direction.

Posted in: music quilt

The Quilting Has Begun

January 12, 2010 12:34 am ⋅

After a bit of running around this evening, I finally sat down and started quilting.  The top half of the photo is the music quilt.  I’m doing simple straight line quilting using the star points as guides.  It turns out I have to mark one side of the star, but I can use the guide on my walking foot for the second side of the star.    This is a large quilt (roughly 87 x 102) so I’m having to wrestle it a bit.  Hopefully there won’t be any running around Tuesday night and I can get more done on the quilt.

The bottom half is the hand quilting I was able to do in 30 minutes.  Actually, it is probably only 20 or 25 minutes as I’m watching M*A*S*H on DVDs and using it as my timer. I need to check to see how long each episode is and maybe “watch” two episodes and include my marking in the time.

Posted in: dwr, hand quilting, music quilt

Music Star Top – Revisited

December 14, 2009 5:16 pm ⋅

This is the top or front of the quilt that I’m currently piecing the backing to. There are 168 different pieces of music themed fabric in this top. Admittedly some are simply color variations such as Column 4 Row 3 and Column 8 Row 4 or Column 1 Row 5 and Column 14 Row 6. Black & White prints vs Color Prints. Column 1 Row 2 & Column 10 Row 5; is a bit trickier. Since it had multiple images scattered on it, I was able to grab two different images so it is not just the color that makes a difference.

There is also a piece of fabric I printed that no one else will have. Doesn’t look like much in the picture (Row 6 Column 8), but it’s a print of a scan of one of my husband’s original compositions – Large Egg Rag. You can hear it here.

Posted in: music quilt

What’s On My Design Wall? – 12/14

December 14, 2009 7:30 am ⋅


This week it’s my Design Floor. The design wall is only 60 x 80, so it simply won’t work for this project. This is the backing for Music Star. Each large square finishes at 10 inches, so the backing will be about 90 x 110 when I finish it. The first 3 rows are sewn together and the next 3 are waiting to be sewn. I hope when it is finished it is a pretty day out so I can get a picture of the entire backing.

To help me keep my place as I pick up each row to sew, I’ve taken some of my flat head pins and written numbers on them with a permanent marker. These go in the top left corner of the odd # block. Then I flip the next block over on top of it and pin the right edge at the top to show me where the seam is supposed to go. I do this down on the floor so when I get to the sewing machine I don’t get the blocks out of order – or more accurately put them back in the correct order. So far, it has worked well.

Check out other design walls by visiting Patchwork Times.

Posted in: music quilt, music star back

Retreat Flimsy Four

April 23, 2009 6:53 am ⋅

This is the last of the quilt tops I finished at the retreat. This is my husband’s music quilt.

It started innocently enough. On a road trip, I stopped in a quilt shop and saw some music fabric and picked up a couple of FQs back in the Spring of 2003. At the time, I was still knitting, and quilting had not taken over. DH suggested that I make him a quilt, using just music fabrics using a repeat from each fabric. I nodded, the quilter in me wanting to piece, and started collecting music fabric everywhere I went.

Fast forward 5 years and now I have two drawers full of music fabric, only a handful repeated. I continued collecting since I hadn’t started the quilt, and had no idea what I was going to do. DH’s idea was beginning to look better and better.

Then I saw a quilt on the Quilt in a Day forum that someone had posted. She had taken squares of floral print and set them with sashing forming stars. I knew then what I was going to do with my music fabric. I wish I could remember who the quilter was to thank her for the inspiration.

Before I left for retreat, all the sashings were pieced, the top half of the quilt was sewn together and I had two additional rows sewn together, so it came together pretty quickly.

There are 168 different fabrics, no two a like. I even printed my own square, scanning in an original composition my husband hand wrote, Large Egg Rag.

Naturally, this didn’t make a dent in my music fabric, so there is another music quilt in my future some day.

P.S. I just found the link to the inspiration quilt.

Posted in: music quilt, QIAD, retreat

Stash Report Week #14

April 5, 2009 9:04 am ⋅


No dent in my stash this week, although I did get my geese sewn together and one more row sewn together on the music quilt.

On the other hand, I did bring fabric into the house. Last Sunday, when Sandra, the list mom from Stashbusters, was in town, we got together for a visit. She gave me a couple of potholders she made (and I’ve enjoyed using this week) and a yard of pretty green fabric.

Friday morning I picked up the yardage for the borders to OTR. Saturday another 1 1/2 yards for a bag I’m making for a gift. But it was Saturday afternoon which really caused my stash to grow.

A friend of a friend had fabric from her mother’s or grandmother’s estate. The boxes contained a little of everything, about 1/2 of it cotton. Of the cotton I brought home 13 pieces. I just finished measuring it. There’s 48 1/4 yards there — but it’s all 36″ wide. I did some fancy math to figure out what the works out to in 42″ wide fabric on the theory that if a pattern today calls for 1 yard of fabric, 1 yard of this vintage fabric won’t be enough — I’ll need about 42″.

Fabric Added this Week: 47.75 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 98 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 22.08 yards

Net Stash: +75.92 yards

Posted in: music quilt, OTR, Stash Busting Report, vintage fabric