Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

4-Patch Stripy Quilt Top is Done

April 6, 2010 6:41 am ⋅

Last night I finished the borders on the quilt top. I even rummaged through my boxes of yardage to find a backing. This is what I came up with:

Not necessarily my first choice, but it will be fine and the price is right — out of my stash! This is a 1997 Daisy Kingdom print called “Scottie Plaid”. Several years ago this piece moved from my Mom’s stash into mine. I suspect I was supposed to make a dress for my niece. At nearly 13, I don’t think she’ll mind that she’s not getting a pink, black, green and gray plaid dress.

Tonight I’ll work on piecing the backing and sandwiching the quilt. I think I want to quilt it using pink thread, so I’ll need to get it as well as the pink Fairy Frost I want to use for the binding.

Posted in: quilt top

What’s on My Design Wall

April 5, 2010 1:00 am ⋅

Between cleaning the living room, my sister moving, and my initial pass though Mom’s sewing room, it’s getting crowded in my sewing room. As a result, I can’t get to the design wall and today’s picture is taken on my bed — please ignore the pile of clothes at the foot of the bed.

This is my Stripy 4-Patch which I made Leader/Ender style. I started it in the fall of 2007, but when I found out that I had a new great-niece, I used the pieces I had completed to make a baby quilt which was delivered in January 2008.

Once I finished Violet’s quilt, I resumed sewing the 4-patches for the current quilt. By this time last year, the pieced strips were done and I simply needed to cut the stripe fabric and sew it together.

This was one of the quilts I took to last year’s retreat, but did not get to. Earlier this month I thought I’d take it to this year’s retreat, but sometime in the last week, I pulled it out and started working on it. I just need to cut and attach the top and bottom borders and miter the corners and the top will be complete.

In my crazy mind, I’m even considering trying to get it quilted this week. I just have to find something to use for backing in my stash. There will be a trip to the quilt shop to get the pink Fairy Frost for the binding.

The pattern is in Quilt-lovers’ Favorites from American Patchwork & Quilting, published by Better Homes and Gardens Books. I think it’s in Volume 2. I’m not sure what the designer called it.

Check out what’s on other Design Walls by following the links at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: designwall

Stash Report

April 4, 2010 8:13 am ⋅

This week I worked on my brother’s shirts. Nothing like cutting up one shirt to add length to 3 others. I just hope I got them long enough. Once those were done, I pulled out Stripy 4-Patch and started sewing it together. Since the strips were already cut, I can’t count them, but hopefully I’ll get to the point this week that I’ll need a backing for it. The only fabric I used this week are the leader/enders for Oklahoma BackRoads. Good thing I didn’t count it when I pulled it for the project.

Inbound is the fabric I bought from Connecting Threads that arrived Friday.

Fabric Added this Week: 6 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 31.778 yards

Fabric Used this Week: .087 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 22.088 yards

Net Stash for 2010: 9.69 yards

See how others are doing with their stashes by checking out the links at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

The Doorbell Rang

April 2, 2010 1:44 pm ⋅

It was the mailman and he had two packages for me. One from Connecting Threads and the other from Overstock.com.

Last week I started to place on order with Connecting Threads and then asked my friends if they wanted to go in on the order with me to save on shipping. They did. Now I have to divvy up the thread and get it to them. The red fabric is for my cornerstones for Texas Braid I’ll be making next month. The white shirting is just because. The kit in the back is 30’s fabrics for a sewing kit and two book covers. I don’t know if I’ll make the kit up or just put the fabric in my 30’s bin for my Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler blocks.

The package from Overstock.com contained 2 5-count packages of Martelli rotary cutter blades. Earlier this week I put my last new blade in my Ergo 2000 (love that cutter!) and discovered I had a “flat”. Almost couldn’t get the bolt out to remove the new blade. When I finally got it loose, I discovered my generic blades had cut a grove into the bolt! I had always heard you should use the Martelli blades to prevent this from happening, but I’ve never had any problems with the generic blades I’ve used in the past. I pulled out my spare bolt and ordered new blades.

Posted in: notions

April’s Quilting Goals

April 1, 2010 11:44 pm ⋅

It’s the first of the month and the start of a new quarter, so it’s time to figure out this month’s quilting goals.

So, I’m going to start with the ongoing goals:

  • Keep up with the Sylvia Bridal Sampler BOW
  • Keep Scraps Cut Up and Make Progress on the Scrap Basket

That was easy. Figuring out what else I want to accomplish this month is a bit more difficult. However, since I’m going to a 3 1/2 day quilting retreat later this month, I should be able to get plenty done.

This may be a stretch, but they are only goals.

  • Finish and Quilt Stripy 4-Patch Top
  • Complete the Carolina Christmas Top
  • Finish and Quilt Dancing Flowers
  • Resume hand quilting on the Double Wedding Ring
  • Enter a quilt in the guild quilt show

Check back throughout the month to see if I get any of this done.

Posted in: goals

QA Wednesday

March 31, 2010 5:48 pm ⋅


Quilting Accountability Wednesday – the basic goal was 15 minutes of piecing primarily on Carolina Christmas or perhaps Dancing Flowers. The point was to get back to quilting now that life was returning to ‘normal’. Although I didn’t sew entirely on Carolina Christmas, I did get several hours of sewing in since I was feeling much better by Saturday. I completed 11 blocks for Carolina Christmas, 2 Sylvia Bridal Sampler blocks, added 3″ to one of my brothers shirts and cut up not the scraps I pressed weeks ago, but pieces for Texas Braid, a class I’m taking with Bonnie Hunter in May.

This week, I really need to finish the rest of my brother’s shirts – although it’s not technically quilting I do get the left over pieces of red 100% cotton fabric so I think it should count. I’ve got to get 2 done, but would like all of them done so they aren’t hanging over my head. The other thing I’ll want to do is finish cutting the ‘light’ pieces for Texas Braid so I’ll have that done. For the record, I’m not counting the Texas Braid pieces in my stash report until May. I think I’ve cut more than I’ll need for a lap quilt.

See what others are working on this week by checking out the links on Bari’s blog.

Posted in: goals

What’s on My Design Wall

March 29, 2010 12:15 pm ⋅


Poinsettia Stars from Carolina Christmas are on the design wall. I’m not finished but I’ve put the rest of the pieces back in their bin since if they are out, I’ll want to work on them. This will be one of the projects I take to my quilt retreat in April.

In the meantime I doing some utility work for my brother. At Christmas he sent home a dozen shirts for me to add about 3″ to the tail so they’ll stay tucked in. Since mowing season is about to begin he needs them back. So this week I’ll be working on his shirts.

Check out other design walls over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: designwall

Stash Report

March 28, 2010 12:01 am ⋅

This week I took Music Lessons into the quilt shop as it is one of my UFQs for the year. It’s been done for a while, but I hadn’t had a chance to get to the shop and remember the quilt on the same trip. I got out of the store with only a single FQ from the American Jane collection as my reward for finishing the quilt.

I finished a few more Poinsettia Star blocks from Carolina Christmas. That fabric is counted, so I only was able to count the squares I’m using as my leader/enders from Oklahoma Backroads. I also completed 2 more blocks for my Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler.

Fabric Added this Week: .25 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 25.778 yards

Fabric Used this Week: .337 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 22.001 yards

Net Stash for 2010: 3.777 yards

See how others are doing with their stashes by checking out the links at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

SBS D-4 Rambler

March 27, 2010 9:41 pm ⋅

D4 – Rambler

This block was partially pieced, so tonight I decided to finish it so I could put the fabric back in my box.

Finished 48 blocks containing 1197 pieces.

Posted in: SBS

SBS Block Due 3/28

March 27, 2010 9:10 am ⋅

F7 – Big T

I started this project three years ago and had I kept up, my last block would have been made a couple of weeks ago. Well, at the beginning of the year, I was way behind (around 100 blocks). As a result, one of my quilting goals is to keep up with the blocks this year. That’s not worked out too well for me either. So, moving forward I will try to keep up with the blocks. And if I get a missed block done, that’s one more block closer to 140.

Finished 47 blocks containing 1164 pieces.

Posted in: SBS