Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Category Archives: Scraps

Quilt Studio Cleaning

January 12, 2026 8:24 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

It’s an ongoing battle to keep the mountains of fabric beat back. Between multiple on-going projects and the desire or need to move to the next project, stuff gets piled on my tables. Honestly, I’m not sure when I last saw the surface of that far table.  It’s supposed to be be my cutting table.  But instead of speeding ahead into my next project I started working on the tables. I have a deadline — Sunday.  My sister will be here for 2 week sharing the space with me.

On the near left corner is fabric which needs to make it into one of my FQ bins. I’m stacking it because I’m sure there is more and my fabric bins are stuffed.  I may need to shuffle fabric to get it all put away. On the stool in front of the far table is yardage. Honestly I’m not sure there’s room in the cabinet, but I can’t put it in there without more comic book boards, so I gave in and ordered them. They should be here sometime today.

As I’ve been cleaning up the scraps I’ve added them to my strips bins — selvedges, strings, 1 1/2″, 2″ and 2 1/2″ strips. Only the very top layer is new and there is more on the table.  In fact I counted 5 bags and bins of scrap fabric. There’s one on the floor by the table, a bag on the table and 3 bins under my longarm. Maybe after I get through a couple more of my UFOs I’ll do a scrap quilt.

This is the next quilt I plan to finish.  It is the 2nd version of the 2025 Brandon Quilters Mystery Quilt. I want to put in sashing and cornerstones. But first I have to finish the cleaning.

 

Posted in: Chain of Blossoms, cleaning, mystery quilts, scraps

Little Laura Notebook Covers and Lighting Matters

February 16, 2025 5:17 pm ⋅

Last night I finished the 10 remaining Little Laura Notebook Covers.  I think that means I’ve made 31 and I have 18 left.  Now I need a place to put the rest of the snaps and notebooks.

I have decided the snaps will go in the box with the rest of the notebooks and on the top of my wire shelf.  Maybe I won’t forget where they are.

Then I drove down to Ritzy Quilting Company. Danielle doesn’t reorder fabric except for basics. She posted the most gorgeous wide backing in teal, fuchsia and blue with gold running through it called Midas Touch.  I don’t have a quilt in the queue this would go with, but I know if I don’t get it NOW, she won’t have it when she gets back in 2 weeks after vending at 2 quilt shows.  My SIL, Ruby likes it as well.

 

Then I saw the Manufacturer’s image of the backing.  Whoa.  Now it’s Teal & Purple with Gold.  I still don’t have a quilt in the queue, but it might work for a quilt I’m making for my SIL Penny’s sister. I sent her the picture and she agreed.

So off to Crystal Springs I go.

 

It’s probably too light for Penny’s quilt and Ruby thinks it’s too dark.  Naturally I buy 9 YARDS!  My thought process is 3 quilts, or 2 quilts, 4 pillow cases & borders.

But here it is in my quilt studio.  It’s different again.  I said something to my brother and he said it has to do with the angle of the camera and how the light is bouncing off the fabric.  I don’t know if I’ll use it in the quilt top, but I’ll definitely use it for color inspiration.

While I was at the shop, I was given a bag of scraps.  Guess what I’m turning them into?  But this will be it.  I only have 12 notebooks left. I guess I’ll need to find another place to store my snaps.

Posted in: Lauras Little Notebook, scraps

Digging Through Boxes

February 18, 2021 9:25 am ⋅

I need to cut more Easy Breezy blocks, but I didn’t want to drag out my FQ boxes.  I have 8 12-gallon flip top crates under my longarm table, many of them full of scraps, so I decided to dig into those.

This first box apparently has the red and green scraps according to the card I found.  I didn’t look in the sack, but I did pull out other interesting things.

5 pillowcases kitted up and ready to sew. Also in the bag with these were several decorator fabric zipper bags kitted up.  Just what I need, more projects.

Then there were these double wide dresden blades.  Apparently I started cutting them out of a charm pack. I also found those in this box. I dug around in the ruler drawer and found the ruler. Now the blades, ruler and charm pack are all together in a bag in the dresser. I have not added this to my UFO list.  I think this is destined to be an Orphan Block for now.

I also found some FQs and a few bits and pieces of loose fabric which I dealt with appropriately.  However, I still needed more neutrals for my Easy Breezy blocks.

I opened the next box and thought “Zuckerwatte”.  Zuckerwatte is a Bonnie Hunter quilt in her book String Fling. It’s the last picture on THIS PAGE.  I started digging. This box contained more than pink and purple scraps.  I found the cut of corners from two different quilts I saved.   I vaguely remember tossing them while making On Ringo Lake then seeing something which had me pulling them out of the trash.  I also had the trimmings from my  Eye Fooler.  I made the decision to toss them. I don’t need another project.  (They actually went in the scrap bag which I’ll take to a gal who makes dog beds for the shelter).

Another bag contained all sorts of fabric including parts of two unrelated charm packs  Those where pressed and put with the charm squares. This bag had the neutrals I was looking  for.  I have all of them cut, but have not started on cutting the squares.  I finished pulling everything which wasn’t scrap out of this box and closed it for another day.  I could get lost in a rabbit hole for days and I have a challenge to complete!

 

I stitched away on the binding and I am 5″ from the 2nd corner.  I probably pushed myself to hard, but I really want to finish it by Monday.  So, I’ve come up with a plan.  I’ll only stitch 40″ each night.  That should let me finish up Sunday, giving me time to wash it and photograph it on Monday. Who knows, this might even allow me to finish the rest of the items on my challenge list.

 

Posted in: scraps, wonky dishes

Cleaning aka Distracted

January 18, 2017 9:32 pm ⋅

I estimate that I have another 8 hours to go before I complete my En Provence quilt top. The pattern is still available HERE through the end of the month.

Block13

Block #13 is sewn into rows, waiting to be finished. But I haven’t turned my sewing machine on today. Instead of I’ve been cleaning.

Back at the end of the year, Task One of the final count down was to get your stash under control. Task Two was tackle the flat surfaces. For me these two tasks are basically the same thing.  Invariably there are piles of fabric laying around at the point I finish a quilt top — or get it to a stopping point. My Allietare and En Provence fabrics were stacked here and there, not that either top is finished, but both are to the point where I know what fabric will be needed to complete them. So, I allowed myself to get distracted.

foldedbox

I’ve been folding fabric. This is supposed to be the ‘floral’ box, but given the red & green box is stuffed, I’ve hijacked the box temporarily. I’ve also hijacked the black and white & red and white box, moving that fabric into this box. Which has made room for the larger pieces of fabric.

foldedlarger

 

I can’t say that all of the loose fabric is folded – I forgot about this box of fabric and the pile under the lid, but I have cleared the shelves of loose fabric – except for the binding fabric for the Disappearing 9-Patch.

shoebox

Now I have a pile of fabric which needs to be cut up into strips, bricks and squares.

scraps2cut

But I think  I want to consider what exactly I made be making next.  Why yes, I’m thinking about a new quilt. I’m considering using these 4-patches as the starter.

4-patches

I don’t really have enough to do anything — yet. 43 3-inch black and white 4-patches and 32 red and white 4-patches.  I have red fabric that needs to be cut into strips on the ironing board, there is white fabric on top of the shoe box and in the box is some black fabric.  Now, to figure out a quilt design.

Or I can spend my next 8 hours quilting and finish the En Provence quilt top so I can get to quilting the Disappearing 9-patch.

 

Posted in: scraps

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 is Scrappy?

June 4, 2016 3:09 pm ⋅

WhatIsScrappy

Grandpa’s Best, Diamond Links, Eye Fooler (tweaked for my use)
Scrappy Irish Chain, Texas Braid, Ladder to the Stars
Sew Scrappy, Sisters Choice – Bonnie Hunter (tweaked for my use), Turning Twenty Again

Since I seem to not be blogging much this year, I thought I would share a post I wrote on Facebook in the Quiltville’s Open Studio group.

One of the first posts I read this morning had to do with what is scrappy. I suspect the post was written as a commentary on marketing of fabric and patterns. So, I thought I would put together a college of some of my ‘scrappy’ quilts.

If ‘scrappy’ is defined as ‘left over fabric’ (assuming one can buy fabric to tie it together) all but two of these quilts fit that category – Top Center & Bottom Right — The Top Center were collected FQs specifically for the quilt and the Bottom Right was a FQ stack from the same line of fabric. The top center I use as an example when someone says they ‘don’t like scrappy’. I think it was cut from 12 – 15 FQ of each color. 36 – 45 different fabrics say scrappy to me.

If a quilt is not scrappy because the fabric is from the same line there are 3 quilts in the picture that match this criteria (Bottom Row). The Bottom Left are scraps of Kansas Trouble fabrics given to me. The Bottom Center used a Three Sisters charm pack as the basis of the 9-patch – the green and peach are consistent throughout the quilt, but the background is scrappy. The Bottom Right I mentioned previously.

The Top Left was made from blues in my stash I think the only thing I purchased was the border fabric. The Top right the black and gold was purchased, the brights were from my scraps.

The quilts in the center row are from my scraps, except for the fabric I used to tie them together. The Left Center uses a constant background fabric. Center quilt uses a purchased red. The Right Center I purchased the gold, red and blue.

So bottom line, I think scrappy is in the eye of the viewer. I’ve had people who say they ‘don’t do scrappy’ or ‘I don’t like scrappy’ change their mind when they see what ‘scrappy’ can be.

 

I suspect this is what the Quilting Police are really thinking when they say “scrappy”:

scrappy_no_border

Oklahoma Back Roads, Log Cabin, Scrappy Trips

These three quilts were made from my scraps – some pre-cut into squares, rectangles and strips, others from what was left from the FQs which I had previously cut into for another project.The only “yardage” used was the binding — and for all three of these quilts it was left over from another project, or at least not purchased specifically for these quilts.

I could come up with more examples of ‘scrappy’, but if you found my blog prior to the first of the year, you know ‘scrappy’ is what I do. I seldom make quilts from a single line of fabric or using just a few fabrics.

Posted in: scraps

What’s On My Design Wall

April 25, 2016 7:49 am ⋅

shirts0405

Off and on all week I’ve been working on the shirt backing. I’m cutting 10-1/2″ and 5-1/2″ squares, then from what’s left, I’m cutting 2″ and 1-1/2″ strips. The rest of the shirt goes into my shirt scrap box. Ideally, I need 90 large squares and 20 small squares as I need the backing to be 95″ x 100″. I think I’ve got 24 large squares cut so far.

But I felt the need to piece. So instead of pulling out any of my numerous UFOs that could be worked on, I pulled out Tuscan Sun, the JoAnn BOM from 2006 that my mom collected.

joannbom

I didn’t get far. The pieces are pre-cut, so no thought required there and just what I needed. Unfortunately, either the cutting was off or my piece was off. I suspect it’s a little bit of both.  Each quarter section is supposed to measure 8″ unfinished. They do not. So this is going to require a bit of thinking.  For now, I think the whole thing is going to get put back in its packaging and put back on the shelf.

But I did make progress on the Tumblers.

tumblers

A group of 8’s  sewn into a group of 16 (there is a dark tumbler just outside of the picture on the left.)

Now back to cutting shirts.

See what others are working on over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: BOM, designwall, scraps, Tumblers, UFOs

Stash Report

April 26, 2015 11:05 am ⋅

stash0426

I haven’t done a stash report in a while simply because the numbers haven’t changed. I knew the numbers would change this week, I simply had no idea by how much.

The border fabric for the graduation quilt was finally purchased, but I haven’t finished the top yet. This was anticipated. What was completely unexpected was the generous gift of my friend’s scraps. Over 35 pounds!  For one of my future quilts I need a length of red fabric and I found it in the boxes. So, that quilt will move up on my list.

Fabric Added Since Last Report 147.2 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 166.11 yards

Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 20.497 yards

INCREASE in Stash to Date:  145.613 yards

See how others are doing over at Patchwork Times.

 

Posted in: Eye Fooler, scraps, Stash Busting Report

Scrap Bonanza

April 25, 2015 9:37 pm ⋅

vicki-3

vicki-1

vicki-2

 

Earlier this week I received an e-mail from a friend “I have some fabric scraps that I won’t use. Wondered if you are interested in them?”

Naturally the answer was “Yes”.

She said she stick them in a box and bring them to the quilt retreat this weekend.

I didn’t get to go to the retreat because I was working this weekend but I did stop by the quilt shop long enough to purchase the border fabric for the graduation quilt. While I was there my friend put 2 BOXES of fabric in my car.

I have two things to say.

WOW!

Thank you!

I can’t wait to really dig in and play with these fabrics.

 

 

 

Posted in: scraps

What’s On My Design Wall

March 16, 2015 6:13 am ⋅

star-a-dayDW0316

This past week I’ve been working on my stars.  Star #99 still needs a few more pieces of background attached — then I’ve got to pick more star fabric.

So, this past weekend I started working on the Craigslist scraps – the ones I got back in October and whittled down to one crate. I’ve got them sorted by color or theme except for this last little bit in the crate.

scraps-box-dw0316

 

There were piles covering all of my ironing board, but I had to make room for pressing. The blues have been pressed.

scraps-board-dw0316

 

To clear the space, I moved the scraps to my treadle.

scraps-treadle-dw0316

I hope to get through the scraps this week because I need to get back to the graduation quilt.  I was reminded that there’s just two months until graduation.

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

Posted in: designwall, scraps, Star-A-Day