Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid

The Forgotten Quilt – Gift Wrapped

November 2, 2014 1:02 pm ⋅

giftwrapped

 

Some of you may remember. The week before I left for my June quilt retreat I received an e-mail asking when the picture of “Gift Wrapped” would be available.  My first thought was “Huh?”  Then I dug through my e-mails and realized that in January I had committed to making this quilt but I couldn’t start working on it until “spring”.

A mad dash to Hobby Lobby for fabrics, a weekend of intensive piecing, another week to get it quilted and I finished Gift Wrapped.

Details:

  • King Tut Morning Sky thread on top
  • Bottom Line pre-wound bobbins in Gold
  • Measures 63″ x 84″ after washing
  • In the background I used Double Plume by Keryn Emmerson
  • The “bows” have continuous curves
  • The “ribbon” has “figure 8s”
  • Batting is Hobbs Tuscany Collection 100% Bleached Cotton

giftwrappedquiltingdetail2

 

The pattern is in this month’s issue of The Quilt Pattern Magazine. Also in the magazine this is the 2nd part of Cardinal Points, a mystery quilt in 6 parts.

 

 

Posted in: Gift Wrapped

Stash Report

November 2, 2014 9:21 am ⋅

Nothing in, nothing countable used.

Last week I pulled all the fabric for the November stars, but I’ll count all of the fabric when the quilt top is finished — next August!  I’ve also resumed working on the Batik quilt, but again that fabric won’t get counted until I get the top finished – with luck on next week’s report. There are a couple of big purchases looming — the background for the graduation quilt and the backing for the batik quilt, but I’m not purchasing either until the batik top is done. At least that’s my story right now.

Fabric Added Since Last Report 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 197.074 yards (92.45 is recycled)

Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 99.275 yards

Net Increase in Stash to Date:  -97.799 yards

See how others are doing over at Patchwork Times.

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

61 Stars

October 29, 2014 6:30 am ⋅

star-a-day-Oct

Two months down and 10 to go. I finished the 61st star as the Royals scored 7 runs in the 2nd inning, then I went on to make star # 62, the first one for November and the last of the prepped stars.

star-a-day_novfab

I’ve been digging in my 1-1/2″ strip box for fabrics for my star points and have found these. They still need to be matched up with a background fabric.

star-a-day-butterscotch

Butterscotch is holding down the rest of the 1-1/2″ strips that I pulled from the box and that need a mate.

Tonight during Game 7, I think I’ll stitch on the DWR. I need want to get the next three rings stitched down by the end of the month. That will leave me with 11 rings and a label to get done by mid-November so I can then get it washed and on the bed by our 29th anniversary on the 29th. Totally do-able. Of course at one time I thought I’d have the quilt finished for our 5th 10th 15th 20th 25th anniversary as well, so who knows.

Posted in: Star-A-Day

What’s On My Design Wall

October 27, 2014 8:27 am ⋅

DW1027

 

More stars!

For those of you keeping count, my start date on the stars is September 1st.  That means as of last night I should have 57 stars completed at one Star-A-Day.  As you can see, there are a few extra up on the wall.  The extra stars are because 1 – I prepped a month’s worth of stars in advance and 2 – there was a lot of sitting and waiting going on last week.  One more star (and I just need 3 background pieces attached) and I’ll have all of October’s stars done.

There are a few more rings stitched on the binding, but I’m not sure how many. Maybe later today I’ll have some time to figure that out.

See what others have on their design walls by following the links over at Patchwork Times.

 

Posted in: Star-A-Day, Stash Busting Report

Stash Report

October 26, 2014 7:35 am ⋅

It’s been a long week. Extra stars were made. Binding was stitched down on a couple of rings of the DWR. The boxes of magazines were removed from my house (I still have the batting scraps and fabric “confetti”). But there is no change in my stash report.

Fabric Added Since Last Report 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 197.074 yards (92.45 is recycled)

Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 99.275 yards

Net Increase in Stash to Date:  -97.799 yards

Linking to Patchwork Times

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

What’s On My Design Wall

October 20, 2014 9:01 am ⋅

dw1020

 

At first glance it doesn’t look like anything on my design wall has changed.  But there are more stars on the wall.  I’ve been keeping up with them.  Now that the scraps and magazines are gone through, it’s on to cleaning up the sewing room. I’ve taken 2 steps already.

Yesterday afternoon I  helped a friend baste her king size quilt. We decided the backing really needed pressing, so I had to clear the ironing board off. Some of the stuff ended up on the cutting table, the scraps I had been digging through ended up in a scrap bin, but the large stuff got put away appropriately. The 2nd thing I did was put away the piles of fabric I had pulled out for the Grand Illusion Mystery. I haven’t given up on doing the mystery, I simply need to clear the decks to get a few other things done first.

Linking up to Patchwork Times.  Be sure to go over and see what others are working on.

Posted in: designwall, Star-A-Day

Stash Report

October 19, 2014 12:03 pm ⋅

craigslist

Last week this was the pile of “scraps” and quilting magazines I needed to go through. I’m happy to report as of last night I completed both tasks.

magazines

These are the magazines I’m not keeping, passing them along to my sister to go through. Yes, there are more in the boxes now than when I started. The last thing I did was go through mine, including those that hadn’t made onto the shelf since there wasn’t any room.

I now have space.

magshelfs

As for the “scraps”, after it was all said and done I ended up with a bin full of usable scraps and about 1/2 a popcorn tin of crumbs (the tin was 1/2 full to begin with). Although I do wonder why I collect crumbs. In the end I usually give them away.

SCRAPS

In addition to the scraps, there was a bunch of Christmas fabric with fusible. There’s probably enough to decorate 2 or 3 sweatshirts.

scrapschristmas

As far as yardage goes…I weighed the scraps — 7.8 pounds.  Doesn’t that work out to about 31 yards at 4 pounds a yard? I’m going to add it to the recycled column of my spreadsheet. It will still get counted in my total, but not as purchased yardage.

Fabric Added Since Last Report 31.2 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 197.074 yards (92.45 is recycled)

Fabric Used Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 99.275 yards

Net Increase in Stash to Date:  -97.799 yards

I really need to finish something. I’m going backwards….

Linking to Patchwork Times.

Ooh — I just realized I haven’t counted (or sorted through) the milk crate of scraps I bought at the estate sale a few weeks ago.  Maybe next week.

Posted in: Stash Busting Report

Butterscotch & Gracie

October 15, 2014 12:59 am ⋅

butterscotchgracieA few weeks ago Ted & I adopted two cats. Butterscotch & Gracie.  The picture above is one taken by their previous owners/staff. We were told they were BFFs. Until recently, their favorite place has been under the bed.

Butterscotch-bed

Gracie-bed

 

Gracie has also been found under the kitchen sink (now cat-proofed!) and in the fireplace.

Gracie-cabinet

gracie-fireplace

 

Butterscotch has started venturing out. Here she is hanging out on the back of the chair.

Butterscotch-chair

 

She is also learning about being a quilt inspector…

butterscotchquilt

 

and fabric selection.

 

butterscotch-fabric

 

Gracie did hang out with Ted, briefly, last night.

GracieandTed

I hope one of these days I see both cats at the same time.

 

Posted in: Butterscotch, Gracie

Craigslist Projects

October 14, 2014 6:30 am ⋅

craigslist-scraps

No, that’s not a pile of trash in my sewing room.

Last week my husband clicked on the Free category in Craigslist and found a listing for “fabric scraps” – specifically quilting fabric scraps. Wonderful guy that he is, he brought it to my attention and I called.  Six bags. I’ve gone through part of the open bag and sorted it into “scraps”, “crumbs” and “too small for me”. I think this is going to take a while.

craigslist-mags

A few days later, in the same category, he found a listing for “quilting magazines”.  It’s going to take a while to go through these too. The boxes are still in my SUV. I hope I don’t need to haul anything anytime soon. Until I clear the “scraps” there’s no room for the magazines.

As long as the Royals are in the playoffs, I’ll sort and watch the game, but on travel days, I’m going to work on the batik quilt.

 

Posted in: scraps

What’s On My Design Wall

October 13, 2014 6:30 am ⋅

DW-1013

 

This week I’ve rearranged the batik blocks to get the stars up on the wall. I have two more stars made which are not pictured, so I’m still on track.

Surprisingly, the Star-A-Day quilt has been taking a big chunk of my time. But hopefully I’m good to go as I’ve prepped the stars for the rest of the month.

The last week of September,  I pulled fabric for the October stars.

Staroctfab

 

I stacked it all in my star box and couldn’t lift the box with one hand. So, I decided to further refine each kit. Last night I finished kiting up the October stars.

The pieces are traced and cut out, including the setting square.  I’ll explain those tiny squares in a minute.

prepstar-cut

 

They are then stacked up on the setting square.

prepstar-stack

 

I fold the setting square over to contain the pieces.

prepstar-fold

 

And stuff it into a business envelope which I’ve created 3 pockets by stitching through.

prepstar-stuff

 

I did this for all of the sets which I’ve not stitched and filled 7 envelopes  for 21 prepped stars.

prepstar-21

 

I’ve put two envelopes, a few pins, a couple of needles, thread, scissors, a pen and a glue stick into a pencil bag. It takes up much less space on my side table than the star box. The rest of the envelopes are in the star box in the sewing room.

prepstar-kit

So, why do I need those 3 tiny squares, a glue stick and pen? I’m keeping a journal of my quilt progress.

prepstar-journal

 

Now that the stars are under control (at least until the end of the month) maybe I can work on a second project — but will it be the batik quilt or one of the Craigslist projects? I’ll tell about those tomorrow.

See what others are working on by following the links over at Patchwork Times.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in: designwall, Star-A-Day