Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Bq2

What’s On My Design Wall

May 16, 2011 12:09 am ⋅

I’m bouncing all over the place this week.  This is nearly half of the blocks I’ll use as the background for the crossword puzzle quilt.  I still need to piece the rest of the blocks I’ve got cut out, and I think due to a miscalculation on my part, I need to make another 8 blocks.  Over the weekend I picked up 5 more FQs.  I’ve said it before, but at this point, this is it.  If I don’t have enough fabric, the quilt will simply be smaller.  The good news is I have final confirmation of the last name I need to include in the quilt.  Isabelle, my sister’s granddaughter to be was born last night.  So, once I get the rest of the blocks pieced I’ll figure out the final block arrangement.

But, since at this time I’m only aiming for a quilt top by the end of may and I have time booked to use the long arm next week, I’ve got to get at least one more quilt top done.

These are the strips sewn into pairs for a Strip Twist quilt.  Since this picture was taken Sunday afternoon, they’ve been pressed open and matched up to sewn into sets of 4.  Tonight is the  Guild meeting, but I hope to get the strip sets sewn afterwards.

Finally my Peacock BQ2 quilt is finished!  OK, it still needs a label, but that’s the least of my worries.  This is quilt # 3 in my 10 by June.

I made this quilt top in May 2009 – but then had no idea how to quilt it.  Honestly, I still didn’t know what I was going to do until my husband suggested loopy flowers.  I had my doubts, but it works. Sure, feathers would have been cool, but  since I’m giving this quilt to my aunt, I wanted to make sure it looked good – or at least not embarrassing.

Hop over to Patchwork Times for links to other design walls.

Posted in: BQ2, Challenges, crossword

Must Have Lost My Mind

March 16, 2011 11:44 pm ⋅

I started off the year with a bang, but here we are a bit over 10 weeks into the new year and I have 3 quilts completely cut out — 2 with the borders!  This is cannot be good for the UFO count.  To further illustrate that I’ve lost my mind, I’m planning on taking all 3 of them with me this weekend to a sew-in.

The bag on the left is Bonnie Hunter’s Fun With Bricks.  This started innocently enough as a leader/ender project in January.  The bag on the right is the Dragonfly quilt.  The middle is a red, white & blue scrappy twin size version of the Mystery Quilt I wrote for the April retreat.

Add to this that my husband has just convinced me that I need to quilt and bind six quilts before the end of June and now I know I have lost my mind. This does not include anything which is on my UFO list or any other project I want to finish sooner than later.  At least four of the quilts are completed tops.

Here they are:

Pattern - BQ2

Quilt #1 – 54 x 70.  I have enough fabric to make a second identical quilt and bind them both in the purple.  I may use the fabric to make the backing.  No idea on the thread color or quilting motif.

Pattern Old Tobacco Road

Quilt # 2 – 70 x 100  When I started the quilt in Purple, Green & Yellow, I was thinking “Mardi Gras” and purchased either 1/2 yard or yard of Mardi Gras frogs.  I may look for some more Mardi Gras fabric for the back.  The purple binding is made and tucked in with the quilt and frogs.

 

Pattern Victoria's Rose

Quilt # 3 – 68 x 86.  I have a  piece of the border fabric left in the stash.  The floral, pink and green fabrics, along with a stripe and a small floral print were part of a bundle.  I found more of the floral on-line, but don’t think I there is enough for the backing.  My spreadsheet says I have ‘binding fabric’.

Oh, my.  I just thought of something.  I really want pillow cases to go with each of these quilts.  Have I mentioned I’ve lost my mind?

 

Pattern - The Chain Event

Quilt #4 – 74 x 88.   I thought I had backing fabric for this quilt top, but when I inventoried my quilts tops and UFOs last year, I discovered I only had binding fabric.

 

Pattern - Disappearing 9-patch Variation

Quilt # 5 – 60 x 76. It’s a variation because I’m not making 9-patches and I’ve changed the size of the pieces.  It just worked better for the size quilt I wanted to make.  Fortunately I have the backing fabric – a great dragonfly print I found on-line and the binding has been cut, just not made.  So, if I finish piecing the top this weekend, this will be the first quilt I get done.

 

Pattern - Crossword Puzzle

Quilt # 6 – size unknown.  The size is unknown because this is still a work in progress.  I have about 1/2 of the letters made.  This one is going to the April quilt retreat.

I think my husband wanted to suggest a 7th quilt, but quickly left the room before I could throw something at him. Good thing I put the following qualifier in my UFO Challenge rules:

There will be occasions when a quilt will need to get moved to the top of the line regardless of the # pulled for the month. In those instances, I’ll either swap the #s if they are on this list, or if the quilt doesn’t have an assigned #, but is on either tab as of January 1, 2011, I’ll substitute it for the current # drawn. After all the goal is to get quilts off the UFO list.

Posted in: 2011 Mystery Quilt, BQ2, crossword, Dragonflies, Fun with Bricks, OTR, The Chain Event, UFO Challenge 2011, Victoria's Rose

Peacocks

May 18, 2009 7:00 am ⋅

Yesterday I was in the mood to sew — and preferably on something new. So, I pulled out the peacock fabric and the pink and purple which came in over the last two weeks and made this lap quilt top from the BQ2 pattern.

If you need a fast quilt this is it. Large blocks, just a few seams. I started to track the time I spent on it, but since I kept getting distracted, I lost track. I know it would have taken me less time if I didn’t have a directional print. I sewed 3 seams wrong — at least to keep all the peacocks on their feet.

This top measures approximately 54 x 72.

Now the tough part. Figuring out how to quilt it.

Posted in: BQ2, peacock

Stash Report Week #20

May 17, 2009 12:09 pm ⋅

It’s been a really long week. Orchestra Concert Monday night that I audio taped for. Tuesday was the band tour (4 concerts, also audio taped) and evening concert (video tape). Wednesday I finally got going around noon and did a quick run through the MQS show and vendors — Got away virtually unscathed there $2.55 for scissor tip protectors.

Somewhere along the way my pink fabric for the BQ2 came in. But I didn’t get to work on it since I needed to St Louis. Of course that meant stopping at quilt shops along the way. Again, I did pretty good on the way over — a pkg of Tiger Tape, and a thimble. It was the stop on the way home that did me in.

Who knew you could find a quilt shop open on Saturday until 8 PM? Corner Quilt Fabrics is located in the Warrenton Outlet Center and they keep mall hours – except for the occasional Sunday or holiday. I picked up 4 blue FQs – I’ve got a blue, white & yellow quilt I’m planning on making, and I need to make some blue and yellow blocks for a swap I’m in. I also picked up a couple of reds and a green for the extra blocks I want to make to go with the Christmas Swap Blocks. I can’t explain the butterfly print except to say it was pretty.

So, here are the damages:

Fabric Added this Week: 7.75 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 132.5 yards

Fabric Used this Week: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 38.872 yards

Net Stash: +93.628 yards

Posted in: block swaps, BQ2, Stash Busting Report

Fabric Before the Pattern

May 12, 2009 8:39 pm ⋅

Judy over at Patchwork Times asked which comes first — the pattern or the fabric. For me, I think it depends. Since I tend to do ‘scrappy’ quilts, it’s probably the pattern most often, but occasionally it’s the fabric.

For instance, this peacock fabric:

Two years ago I found this fabric at Blessings Quilt Shop in O’Fallon, MO. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with it, so I didn’t even know how much to buy. Ultimately I ended up with 4 yards, plus a yard of purple and pink to go with it.

I tried desperately to make an Irish Chain quilt, but before I cut into the fabric, I designed it in EQ6.

I just wasn’t feeling the quilt, so the fabric has been sitting in my stash waiting for the right quilt to come along.

In April at the quilt retreat I went to, I saw a BQ2 (about 1/2 way down the page) made up in a Christmas print. Immediately I knew what I was going to do with my peacock fabric. I bought the pattern on the way home. After I started studying it, I realized I didn’t have enough of the pink or purple fabric.

I found the pink easily enough online, but the purple was trickier. I sent an e-mail to Blessings, and they were able to give me the color # so I could find the fabric. Blessings keeps excellent records, for just such purposes, and yes, I did inquire to see if they had either of the fabrics before I ordered them elsewhere. The purple arrived last week and the pink was shipped today. So, as soon as the pink arrives, I’m going to make a pair of the BQ2 quilts.

Meanwhile, the Irish Chain waits for the right fabric.

Posted in: BQ2, peacock

Stash Report Week #19

May 10, 2009 8:54 am ⋅

Early in the week I opene a box of fabric which wasn’t sorted. I was surprised to findthe exact blue and gold fabrics I need to work on my Ladder to the Stars quilt. I completely forgotten that I ened up buying extra last summer for the 12″ version of the quilt. Admittedly, there’s not enough to complete my 6″ version, but there’s enough to get started on the pieced sashings. So the cornerstones are cut, and I’ve got 3 of the sashings cut. The only other thing I pieced this week was the Kansas Trouble block for the Kansas Spirt quilt.

In coming fabric was limited to 2 yards of a deep purple to use in a couple of BQ2 quilts featureing a peacock fabric. The pink will come in next week and I should be able to knock out the quilt tops in no time. When I bought the peacock fabric 2 years ago, I wasn’t certain what I was going to make wiht it. I also bought a yard of purple and a yard of pink to go with it. While at retreat I saw the BQ2 pattern made up in Christmas fabric and thought it would be great for my peacock fabric.

So, here’s the report.

Fabric Added this Week: 2.0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 124.75 yards

Fabric Used this Week: yards
Fabric Used to Date: 38.872 yards

Net Stash: +85.875 yards

Posted in: BQ2, Stash Busting Report