Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Quilts

Progress, a Finish and a Start

There was plenty of machine time Saturday.

Progress: Catching up on the Brandon Quilters 2022 Mystery Quilt – Starflower.  Monday we’ll get the finishing instructions.

A Finish:  The Mississippi Quilt Association 2020 Block of the Month. I waited until Saturday to stitch the binding down as I had to order a walking foot for my Singer Genie. Formal portrait to come soon. At the moment it’s in the dryer.

A Start:  I found more of string blocks from the auction in 2018.  These were separated because they were slightly smaller.  I’m trimming to them to 6-1/2″.  I have just enough that with a 1″ sashing I can set them on point and get a twin size quilt.

Up next, is the binding on the Crazy Quilt.

 

Go! Big Crazy is Quilted

Wednesday ended on a good note. I finished quilting my crazy quilt. I used my go-to quilt design – Overlapping Crop Circles. I wondered if I really was going to get it done.  I started quilting before work and got the top partial row and the first row quilted before I sat down for work.

Mid-morning I reached for my earbuds to make a call on my cell phone and there was only 1 in the case which made no sense to me.  I checked to see if I made a call after I got home the night before and I had not. So, a quick walk was in order. The case fell out of my pocket the night before when I rode my bicycle over to Ruby’s.  I picked up the case, but didn’t think to check to see if both earbuds were in the case. Clearly a mistake as the right one got run over by a car!

I hightailed it home for a couple more hours of work and snuck one more row of quilting in during lunch before the storms hit.  We were under a tornado warning for nearly 2 hours. After the storm cleared I took a quick nap then went to the gym.  When I got home I was finally able to finish the quilting.

Thursday there were no storms, but I didn’t get into the quilt studio until after 9.  I need to sew the joining seam on the binding of the MQA quilt and then stitch it down.  Then there’s the crazy quilt and the pot holder – all that need to be done by Monday, not to mention doing my taxes.

 

Quilting and Box Shuffling

After a night’s rest I was able to resolve my tension issues and started quilting.  This is the first quilt I’ve done in almost a year.  Prior to this one the last quilt I quilted was April 4, 2021. Four days later I decided to move and I started packing.  This is the Mississippi Quilt Association‘s BOM from 2020.  They are running it again. The blocks are available HERE.

Boxes were moved, one at a time.  Books are heavy. They’ll hang out in the corner room until my bookshelves are built.

The front bedroom is the audiovisual library.  78’s, LPs, 45s, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, and VHS.  A box of LPs are heavier than a box of books — including the yearbooks.  All of this will be gone through and thinned out eventually.  This will go in the den after that room is finished.

The instrumental music library.  Clearly it all won’t fit in the piano bench.  I’m pondering storage solutions.  

I’m considering an Ikea Kallax.

I would use these inserts, put it on legs and fashion some doors.  But that’s a future project.

While shuffling boxes I opened the next to last box the movers packed and finally found my silverware.  I’m not sure what I thought was in the box.  It was not labeled.

I found MORE of the auction blocks.  These are smaller than the others.  I have enough for yet another quilt. I’ll sash them and set them on point after trimming them to the same size.

Moving all of the boxes means I’m able to setup my quilting space.  It’s not done, but I have a work space.

Last night the borders were added to the crazy quilt. I used straight pins to hang the quilt on the wall. I really need to get my design wall put up, but it’s on hold until the trim is caulked and that is on hold until my patio door is installed.

The quilt was loaded last night. This morning before work I started the quilting. I’ll do another pass at lunch.

Borders for Go! Big Crazy Quilt

This is the center of my Crazy Quilt that I cut with the Go! Big Crazy Quilt 10″ die.  I use 50 13-1/2″squares and have 2 blocks leftover.  It currently measures 60″ x 80″, but it needs to be 70″ x 90″ for the organization I’m giving it to.

The other day I purchased a black splatter and turquoise for the border and binding.  But the moment I laid it out I realized that was NOT the answer. So, I started digging in my stash.

I really like the original turquoise, this is one is not quite as vibrant.  May be it’s the gray inner border.  I’d like to do an inner border, so I can do a faux piping binding.

This turquoise and red combination is not bad, but still not right.

Since the yellow jumps out in the quilt, maybe a yellow inner border.  This green is nice and cheery.

I think this gold might work better. But after playing with all of the fabric options I had to clean up the room as my long arm was being delivered the next morning.

All ready for the long arm.

Blocks!

I’ve been making up for lost time away from the sewing machine.  These are the swap blocks that I’m taking to retreat next month.  It is Friendship Scrap Block from Quilters Cache.

I also finished making the string blocks.  Now I can clean up the mess. I’ve yet to figure out how to work with strings that doesn’t create a huge mess. I’ll intersperse these blocks with the others and hopefully they’ll blend in.

Miss Genie Is Home

After my big machine died, I picked up Ruby’s Brother to use until Miss Genie came home. I picked  her up yesterday afternoon and after I got home from the quilt guild meeting I opened her up and started piecing.

The sewing machine is currently sitting where the longarm will go.  This is what the space looked like Friday night.  I’ve been busy.

But first there was a bit of retail therapy.  The blocks on the left were cut with the Accuquilt Machine.  I stopped in at Twin Oaks Crafts in Richland, Mississippi and rented their GO! Big Crazy Quilt-10″ Finished Die.  It didn’t take me long to cut out all 50 blocks and they went together SO fast — right up until my sewing machines died.  I still need to one more seam on about 20 of the blocks then this quilt will be ready to assemble.  As to the retail therapy, I plan to do a narrow border of the turquoise and then use the black splatter as the border.  The Purple space/star is a wide backing that I’ll use on both quilts.

The pile of blocks on the right are the last of the auction blocks.  They are trimmed and ready to sash.  The lime green is the sashing and the bubbles is the border.

I’m aiming for a 70 x 90 quilt, so I’m 18 blocks short. Last night I only had seven completed, with 3 in progress when Miss Genie decided I needed to go to bed. This morning I changed the needle, re-threaded the machine and pulled some thread off the bobbin and I was able to finish 3 more blocks.

Also over the weekend I made significant progress on my swap blocks. I need to finish the brown set and then sew them into a 12″ block.

Not shown are the two Pizza Box Blocks I made for the Guild swap.  I wasn’t able to work on the block right away since my brother arrived the evening of the Guild meeting.  So 2 weeks of house remodeling, a week to recover, and then the machines died.  As soon as I picked up Ruby’s spare machine, I made the block I was to swap last night.  I brought a new box home and IMMEDIATELY made the block I’m to take back next month.

I have a few more days of piecing then I’ve got to clean up my mess to make room for the long arm.

Is It Too Early?

In late April I’m going to a quilt retreat.  Among the activities is a “Challenge Block” and a “Swap Block”.  This year the Challenge or Lotto block is the 10″  from Quilters Cache.  Any shade of blue with white on white background. I’ve made 2 so my name will be tossed into the bucket twice to win all of the blocks.  One year I think there were enough to make 3 quilts, so 3 people took blocks home.

This year’s Swap Block is Friendship Scrap Block, also from Quilters Cache.  The ‘ring’ is supposed to be a cream with a small print (this photo is slightly overexposed)  with medium darks with subtle print or solid of my choice. Since the sign up is still open, I don’t know how many blocks I’ll need to make.  My plan is to make at least a dozen blocks between now and when the final count is released.  If I have more blocks than I need they’ll be tossed into the box to be used later. If I need more blocks, I’ll be well on the way to having them done.

So, why am I working on these blocks 10 weeks before I need them?  Well the next two weeks will be devoted to working on the house.  My brother will get in tomorrow night and we’ll hit the ground running on Tuesday. First up — plywood to make a platform for the antique brass bed and getting a mattress.  I sent the rails out to get lengthened and didn’t know when I’d get them back, so didn’t want to buy a mattress until I had a place for it. I’ll eventually need to get or make a bed skirt, but I’ll worry about that later.

Design Wall Monday – 1/24/22

This is the first Design Wall Monday post I’ve done in a while. These are the fabrics I’ve picked for the mystery quilt Brandon Quilters are doing this year.  I’ve got my small flying geese made and have the pieces cut for the next bit of piecing. I was able to pull all but the darkest green from my stash.  It’s time to use some of my fabric that I’ve been saving. I love this paisley. It’s been sitting in my stash for 14 years.

This past weekend I played a bit with my Accuquilt Go! Big.  It came with the 8″ Qube. I pulled out the Quarter Square Triangle to see what I could make. This is a block for my orphan box.

I’m currently stitching in a make-shift environment.  The sewing machine is on a folding table behind my recliner in the den.  The Go! and my cutting board are in the Quilt Studio on the other side of the plastic.  The plastic won’t come down until the doors go up and the doors won’t go up until the floor is done in the den.  That will be after my bedroom and bathroom is done.

 

 

A Quilting Challenge – Really?!!

I’m living in a house which has NO room completed, so naturally, I’m going to participate in my quilt guild’s UFO Challenge.  I’ve picked 12 quilts which need to be completed and shown by December 5th, 2022.

1- Hand Quilted White Work. This is my oldest quilt “top” from sometime in 2005.  I took a hand quilting class in preparation to quilt my DWR.

2 – QIAD Green & Cream Swap from the fall of 2006. It’s my 3rd oldest UFO.

3 – Johnny’s Strip Twist.  I started this at a quilt retreat in 2016. I had problems with my 1/4″ seam, so started over. I have enough sections to make at least 2 quilts.

4 – Pink & Black Auction Crazy Strings. I bought the blocks at an auction in 2018. This will be the 3rd quilt I’ve made from them. I pulled the fabrics when I thought I was going to a Sit-n-Sew in December so I’m counting it.

5 – Christmas Wall Hanging. My SIL and I purchased the fabric for this quilt at the same time — July 2018.  Hers is finished, I have part of 1 block done.

6 – Frolic the 2019 Quiltville Mystery Quilt. This looks like it just needs to be quilted.  But I need to make the backing bigger, so I’ll be making more blocks.

7 – Baubles ‘N Beads – I made this top in August 2020 and just need to quilt it.

8 – Shimmer – I’m using the leftover fabric from Bauble ‘N Beads and Atomic Starburst to make this quilt. I started it  August 2020.

9 – Atomic Starburst – the top was completed in March 2021, which is why it’s listed after Shimmer.

10 – MQA BOM – I finished the quilt top the end of September 2021 – so it is possible to piece with the house torn apart.

11 – Ruby’s Sampler – I started this the New Year’s Eve 2020. I still need to write up the patterns for the blocks and of course finish making the top.  I need to make 4 more blocks.

12 – SQG BOM – The first block came out February 2021. I made 3 blocks before I stopped sewing last year to start packing.  I didn’t get a picture of the 3rd block.

In addition to the above I’m participating in a Pizza Box Challenge – one block a month with one of my guilds & I’m considering a mystery quilt with the other guild.  The retreat usually has a lotto block – I’ll try to make one; a swap block – I’ll probably skip this time; and a mystery quilt – which I may not do either.

My goal is to not start anything new, but now that I think about it, there’s a pot holder and possibly a sweatshirt jacket in my future.

 

 

I Jinxed Myself

Yes, after bragging about having 4 correct corners yesterday I proceeded to turn one the wrong way when I sewed the block together.  Fortunately with just ripping out a couple of seams I was able to turn the unit and finished the block correctly.

I then went on to make 2 more blocks bringing my total of correctly made blocks to 23.  I also made 2 more Easy Breezy blocks.

Looks like I’ve hit a milestone with my 350 Challenge — 200 blocks

  • 350 Challenge April = 18
  • 350 Challenge Cumulative = 200
  • Easy Breezy = 142