Return of the Leaders/Enders January 22, 2011
Posted by Pam in KC in Bonnie Hunter, Fun with Bricks, scraps.comments closed
Or, how I solved two problems at once.
I’m a big fan of Bonnie Hunter and her Scrap User’s System. I really like Leaders & Enders. I’ve used these two systems to get rid of my scrap basket, waste less thread and make more quilt tops. I have one quirk (ok, many, but only one I want to talk about today) which I haven’t been able to overcome — I don’t like sewing leader/enders unless I know where the patches will end up. I haven’t been able to just make light/dark 4-patches and throw them in a box to be used in some quilt yet to be identified. As a result, when the new year started, I didn’t have any leader/enders sitting by my sewing machine when I started working on UFO #6.
Although I have a lengthy list of UFOs which are still in the piecing stage, there is nothing which mindlessly lends itself to Leaders & Enders. So, as I worked on my Sister Choice blocks for the UFO Challenge, I tried to keep the chain going. It wasn’t entirely successful, but I wasn’t clipping thread tails every 6 or 12 inches either.
Now I’m sewing the blocks together into rows.
There’s no getting around it, I’ve got thread tails much more frequently and it’s driving me crazy. I’ve got to find a Leader & Ender project.
I pulled out my 2″ Brick and Block box. It’s stuffed.
Look at all of these 2″ x 3 1/2″ bricks.
Next, I visited Quiltville.com to look for a pattern.
I found Fun with Bricks! It uses 2″ strips sewn together and subcut into 3 1/2″ squares. I’ll just sew two bricks together — and worry about the 3 1/2″ light square later.
So there is just one question left.
When do I count my Leader/Enders as a new start?
Stash Report August 15, 2010
Posted by Pam in KC in Bonnie Hunter, Stash Busting Report.comments closed
If you’ve been following Bonnie Hunter’s blog you know that last week she was in Kansas City visiting area quilt guilds. I met Bonnie in May when she was at the Kaw Valley Quilt Guild in Lawerence, Kansas, which is where I met also met Marci. Marci invited me to visit the Nitetime Needlers Quilt Guild and last Thursday I did, where – yes – Bonnie Hunter was the guest speaker.
So what does this have to do with a Stash Report? At the end of the meeting I won one of the door prizes! (Or maybe my husband did – he gave me his ticket at the break). The items pictured above were in my bag. That FQ is the only fabric I brought into the house this week. But it’s a wash as I made the KVQG BOM last night.
Fabric Added this Week: .25 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 132.261 yards
Fabric Used this Week: .25 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 57.106 yards
Net Stash for 2010: 74.155 yards
Check out how others are doing over with their Stash Busting efforts over at Patchwork Times.
Oklahoma Backroads Blocks August 8, 2010
Posted by Pam in KC in Bonnie Hunter, Oklahoma Backroads.comments closed
Yesterday’s plan was to work on Star Struck. However, in cleaning up the sewing room, I found a stack of blocks that needed to be contained in a project box. I grabbed an unlabeled box and found my Oklahoma Backroads blocks. I finished up the last 20 blocks, so now I’m ready to start sewing them together.
I started working on this quilt as a leader/ender project back in October. It is a Bonnie Hunter pattern that you can find here.
Extreme Multi-tasking May 28, 2010
Posted by Pam in KC in Bonnie Hunter.comments closed
Clearly I need to step away from the sewing machine and make a decision on what I’m going to work on.
Bottom left – Texas Braid; Top left – part of Oklahoma Backroads; Sewing table left – the borders to the 2nd baby quilt from my Carolina Christmas blocks; Sewing table middle – some of the bricks for Star Struck; Sewing table right – 2″ blue and white squares for Blue Ridge Beauty.
Anyone notice a theme here?
Scraps in Review May 27, 2010
Posted by Pam in KC in Bonnie Hunter, goals, scraps, Star Struck.comments closed
Over the years my scraps multiplied. I didn’t really use them — they just sat in boxes and bags. Then I found Bonnie Hunter’s Scrap User’s System.
Around 2008 I started cutting up my scraps into usable pieces per Bonnie’s system. I started off with plastic shoe boxes for my pre-cut pieces. After a year, I finally got all of my scraps into a single laundry basket. For the past 11 months this basket has seen it’s ups and downs.
This year I decided that one of my goals was to empty the basket once and for all. I’ve been piddling with it since the beginning of the year, but this month I set my mind to getting it emptied.
I actually do make quilts from my scraps. Last fall I started Oklahoma Backroads because I couldn’t get my 2 1/2 inch bricks/blocks box closed. As I worked with my scraps this month, I was inspired to pull red, white and blue 2 1/2 inch bricks for a Star Struck quilt.
One thing I have noticed is that I don’t have a lot of “light” scraps. With this last push to empty the basket my 2 1/2″ and 1 1/2″ strips got larger boxes and I pulled the lights out. They are still in the shoe boxes.
Here’s the tour:
Left – Top to Bottom:
- 1 1/2″ dark strips. The Christmas tree box contains 1 1/2″ red and light squares for the center of a log cabin quilt.
- Strings — the shoe box was overflowing. I really liked the string blocks I made a while back but boy does working with strings make a mess.
Middle – Top to Bottom:
- 1 1/2″ light strips
- 2 1/2″ light strips
- 2″ strips — mixed and almost can’t close the box. I’ll use these since I’m making my Texas Braid longer
- 3 1/2″ strips — this started out as purple and yellow leftovers from Old Tobacco Road.
- 2 1/2″ bricks and blocks for a red, white & blue Star Struck. I want to use gold for the accent.
Right – Top to Bottom:
- 2 1/2″ dark strips
- 2 1/2″ brick and blocks
- 2″ bricks and blocks.
Now that my scraps are usable, I’m going to have fun playing in them.
But, to answer your question — No, I do not want your scraps — at least not until I make a dent in these!
🙂
Retail Therapy? March 13, 2010
Posted by Pam in KC in Bonnie Hunter, scraps.comments closed
After a tumultuous seven weeks, today was the first day I didn’t have to be anywhere or have anything that absolutely had to be done. That’s not to say that I didn’t have things which needed to be done — there’s always the house which needs to be cleaned – and it’s getting deep even for me — but I couldn’t sit still and didn’t want to stay home. Ultimately, I got out and headed to one of the thrift shops (then came back and napped).
I’ve been resisting shopping for thrift shirts, but today was the day. The store had a sale — all yellow tag clothes 5 for $5. Pictured above are 9 of the items I bought today, a few shirts which I bought last summer and a couple I’ve been given. The tenth item from today is a ladies Christmas jumper which I hope to recover enough fabric for a border on a Christmas quilt I’m working on.
So now I’ve got questions:
- After I cut up my shirts/shirts Bonnie Hunter style, do I mix it in my bin with the rest of my pre-cut fabric, or do I start a new bin for pre-cut shirts?
- How do I count this fabric for my weekly stash report?
- Do I count the fabric in my husband’s old shirts when I pull them out of the “outgrown” closet and add them to my stash?
I’d love to hear how you handle your thrift store finds.
Quilting and Stuff by Knitnoid 
