Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

Brandon Quilters President’s Challenge

April 1, 2022 7:42 am ⋅

After moving to Mississippi I joined two quilt guilds – I was already a member of the state guild, Mississippi Quilters Association. The president of the Brandon Quilters issued a challenge.  Make a potholder and bring it to the April meeting. She even provided a fat quarter for us to get started out of her stash. I was given the brown with white flowers.  I used it in the center, binding and backing. It just shy of 8″ square.

For this Folding Star, I used the Plum Easy Patterns’ directions. Given how thick the top is I opted to use Insul-Bright instead of batting.

For a while, I thought this might become a UFO.  I was struggling to get the binding ends joined.  It’s normally not an issue for me, but I haven’t bound anything for over a year and I didn’t have much room to work in. It wasn’t until I was joining the binding on the MQA quilt that I could see how to do the join.

 

Posted in: 2022 President's Challenge, Brandon Quilters

Go! Big Crazy is Quilted

March 31, 2022 11:30 pm ⋅

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.

 

Posted in: Go! Big Crazy, MQA BOM 2020

Quilting and Box Shuffling

March 30, 2022 9:37 am ⋅

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.

Posted in: Go! Big Crazy, House, MQA BOM 2020

My LongArm is Here!

March 28, 2022 8:23 am ⋅

Saturday started bright and early as I was expecting my longarm.  Butterscotch was in the window on the lookout.

It fits perfectly where I anticipated.  7 feet from the driveway wall and 5 feet from the laundry room wall.  The ceiling fans are centered above the table the the power cord drops from the ceiling just past the edge of the table.  The power cord has a twist lock mechanism so it can’t fall out or accidentally be pulled out.

Before Ethan left, I made sure the machine was working.  After all my tech support is no longer an hour away.  The closest Innova dealer is 5 1/2 hours away!

I had great plans to get a quilt quilted over the weekend, but I ran into tension issues. It is partly a poorly wound bobbin and mostly a bad backlash spring in the bobbin case.  I really thought it had been replaced, but apparently not.  I think I had 2 ordered before Ethan got out of the driveway.

As you can see, I spent no time at all putting boxes under the longarm. They all need to be gone through, but I need flat surfaces to do that.  So, I guess tonight I’ll wind another bobbin to see if I can get the tension correct, then start to move boxes out of the space.  I think the books I’ll stack against the wall in my office and the albums I’ll put in the front bedroom.

Posted in: Longarm

Borders for Go! Big Crazy Quilt

March 26, 2022 6:32 pm ⋅

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.

Posted in: Accuquilt, Go! Big Crazy, Longarm

Blocks!

March 23, 2022 1:08 am ⋅

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.

Posted in: Dancing Strings

Miss Genie Is Home

March 22, 2022 8:49 am ⋅

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.

Posted in: Accuquilt, Crazy Quilt, Dancing Strings, Pizza Box

The Piano Arrived

March 19, 2022 1:05 am ⋅

My piano was delivered Friday.  I’ve also have been unpacking the boxes with breakables in them.  I think I have 3 more boxes of breakables in the living room and the flat boxes with mirrors, glass, and artwork to unpack.

Among the things I found were this bunny and lamb that my husband painted when he was about 12 or 13.  Now if I can keep the cats off the table so they don’t knock anything off.

This is a PSA.  Clean you sewing chair wheels periodically.  I wish I could say there was no thread left on the wheels, but all I can say is the chair rolls much better now.

I’ve been sewing on my  Singer Genie since I’ve moved. But earlier this week I pulled the bobbin case to clean out from under it (is this a theme?). I wasn’t able to get it back, so I it is in the shop.  Since Saturday is National Quilting Day, I thought I’d temporarily move my sewing table to where the longarm will go and pull out my big machine.

Now it looks like the motherboard is going out on my Quilt Designer. I guess I’m due for a new sewing machine – or two.

Posted in: genie;, House, Sewing Machine

Dinner Was Served in the Dining Room

March 11, 2022 9:07 am ⋅

Yesterday I moved the dining room furniture into the room.  I have the buffet centered on the wall.  There’s plenty of room at each end for the arm chairs.  They’ll be used when the leaves are in the table.

The china cabinet is on the living room wall.

The plan was to unpack the china and stow it away into the china cabinet.  However, when we moved it into place it was very wobbly – more than an uneven floor could explain.  I laid the cabinet down and discovered the leg supports were broken.  I pulled them off and we set the cabinet on this blanket so I could bring in the table.  I’m going to talk to my cabinet guy to see if he can make me replacement legs.

Dinner was leftover beef and noodles eaten at a table!

 

 

Posted in: House

Windows – Day 2

March 10, 2022 9:19 am ⋅

Day 2 was cloudy, but no rain.  They finished the windows across the front. The top picture is from October, but bottom one yesterday. Sometime in the nearish future, I want to paint the door trim to match the window trim.

I rehung the sheers in the rooms. I need some sort of blind for the bedrooms – or a heavier curtain which can be drawn if someone is staying in the room.

They added the side windows in the breakfast room bay.  I opted not to have those open as the glass is only 12″ wide.

The bathroom window has obscure glass.

They also put in windows in my bedroom and over the kitchen sink.

I didn’t do the work, but I’m exhausted.  Maybe it’s thinking about what comes next.  The Piano will arrive sometime between the 15th and the 22nd, so that means I need to get the dining room setup so I can clear the boxes out of the living room.  That will be this weekend’s project.

That in turn will give me space to move the boxes of books and music out of the way of the longarm which I hope to have sometime between the 21st and the end of the month.

 

Posted in: House