adventure

Leftovers from Becca's Crazy Projects

I decided not to use the small half-square triangle units in a border for my Good Fortune mystery quilt. That meant I had to find a home for them.

I did some quilt math, and discovered I had enough to get half way to a crib quilt. I pulled out some coordinating prints and got stitching.

I also used the narrow string pieces to make the inner border on the quilt. A fun print of numbers and I had a complete crib-sized quilt top. I have some snuggly flannel in a coordinating color around here somewhere, I'm sure. Not ...

added by Becca 1 week, 2 days ago. under 2019 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , hst , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

The Not Blue Ridge Beauty from Becca's Crazy Projects

In an attempt to work through my ridiculous amount of fabric, I decided I should add one of Bonnie Hunter's projects to my list for the year. This year, I did not make a Get It Done UFO Challenge list. I finished all the quilts last year, and didn't have a stack to put on the list. I didn't even have an unfinished quilt beyond Good Fortune.

I'm not excited about putting completely nascent projects on the list. That doesn't mean I don't have plans for the year. Just that I don't have ...

added by Becca 1 week, 4 days ago. under 2019 , adventure , crazy , design , hst , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville , scrap , scraps

Long Arm Quilting Details from Becca's Crazy Projects

One of the quilting groups I belong to on Facebook shared this awesome post by Kimmyquilt on how to straighten and square up the leaders on the long arm frame. I wish I had this information a few years ago when I replaced the leaders.

In the end, I made some very minor adjustments to my leaders. It isn't 100% perfect, but I don't think a difference of 1/4" from one end of my 10 foot frame to the other is something I'm going to fret over. The difference in a pieced backing, or the piecing ...

added by Becca 1 month ago. under 2019 , adventure , crazy , long arm , longarm , md , modern , project , projects , quilt , quilter

Mystery Quilt: Good Fortune from Becca's Crazy Projects

Time to share my Good Fortune Mystery Quilt progress. I decided to pull the backing fabric from my collection of fabrics, too.

I was only a little surprised I found enough pieces in the right colors. I grabbed all the coordinating colors, laid them out, measured and was fairly certain I could come up with enough backing.

While I assembled the other pieces of the backing, I stitched out the label onto one section.

Due to a cutting error, I needed to make the pink section a little wider. I pulled out those two leftover blocks and added them in ...

added by Becca 1 month ago. under 2018 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , hst , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

Winter Holiday Adventure from Becca's Crazy Projects

With the recent lapse in appropriations for several government agencies, there have been closures of facilities in the Washington DC area. Darling Husband and I planned vacation time for the first week of January. We made that plan way back in November, when it seemed there would be many things to do in DC. Then there was a state funeral and a lapse in appropriations for several government agencies. What was open and what was closed was somewhat murky and more than I wanted to contemplate. Particularly knowing I might not get paid in January. A coworker recommended we check ...

added by Becca 1 month ago. under 2019 , adventure , museum , travel , washington

Mystery Quilt: Good Fortune from Becca's Crazy Projects

Time to share my Good Fortune Mystery Quilt progress. Clue number: the reveal! That's right, no more clues.

The bin was overflowing with bits from the last clue.

There was a sneaky clue number seven. It was joining some of the smaller units into larger units. Nothing fancy, but it was nice to do some intermediate piecing.

First part of the reveal was the primary block. Other than piecing one of these incorrectly (I'm sure that block appears in this post) this was a very straightforward clue. Those parallelogram units really shine here.

The alternate blocks used up ...

added by Becca 1 month, 1 week ago. under 2018 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , hst , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

Mystery Quilt: Good Fortune from Becca's Crazy Projects

Time to share my Good Fortune Mystery Quilt progress. Clue number six!

This is the stack of strings I pulled out of my string bin. It was almost enough to complete the clue.

I only had to cut a few strips from my other fabric to complete this clue. I still have to pull the paper off the back, but I'm ready for whatever comes next!

The rest of the units are ready.

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic ...

added by Becca 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under 2018 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , hst , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

Mystery Quilt: Good Fortune from Becca's Crazy Projects

Time again to share my Good Fortune Mystery Quilt progress. Clue number five!

This week made me question my color choices. Only for a little while, though. I cut my pieces using the 4.5" Easy Angle Ruler and the Companion Angle Ruler. These tools make cutting units like these a breeze.

Once I had pieced a couple of the units, I liked the colors just fine. The combination of these colors reminds me of my On Ringo Lake, Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt from last winter.

You can read all about my On Ringo Lake finish in this post ...

added by Becca 1 month, 3 weeks ago. under 2018 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , hst , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

Mystery Quilt: Good Fortune from Becca's Crazy Projects

Time to share my Good Fortune Mystery Quilt progress. Clue number four!

This week we did a little string piecing. At first I wasn't very excited about this prospect, but I dug out some of my strings and made up a couple. I decided I really liked the effect and they went together pretty quickly.

So quickly that I reached my goal, plus a couple extra, rather quickly. I might add string piecing back into my after work routine because it is so satisfying to put together fun blocks and units with what would otherwise be thrown in the ...

added by Becca 1 month, 4 weeks ago. under 2018 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , hst , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

Travel Knitting Kit from Becca's Crazy Projects

When I travel, I usually take along a simple kitting project to keep my hands busy during flights or long drives. This means I may need a few knitting tools. I want to share my kit so you can see what I have and carry regularly. I've never had a problem flying with this kit in my carry-on bag. I only fly domestically in the United States, so your mileage may vary.

I always have a project bag dedicated to my travel project. It helps me keep the yarn, needles and kit separate from the other things in my ...

added by Becca 2 months ago. under 2018 , adventure , bag , craft , crazy , knit , knitting , maryland , md , pouch , project , projects , scissors , travel , zipper

Mystery Quilt: Good Fortune from Becca's Crazy Projects

Time again to share my Good Fortune Mystery Quilt progress. Clue number three!

This time we're making chevron units. I've learned over the last few mystery quilts that I can cut and piece these the most accurately if I make a template of the chevron piece. How do I do that? I cut a piece of paper the size required for the finished unit. Then I use the 4.5" Easy Angle Ruler to trim that piece to the correct parallelogram shape. I tape that template to the back of my 6.5" Easy Angle Ruler so I ...

added by Becca 2 months ago. under 2018 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , hst , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

Mystery Quilt: Good Fortune from Becca's Crazy Projects

Time for the sharing of my Good Fortune Mystery Quilt progress.

I pulled out my fuchsia fabrics (my substitution for Bonnie's blue) and got cutting. I absolutely love the speed and accuracy I get when cutting strip sets with the 4.5" Easy Angle Ruler . (If you want a more versatile ruler, the 6.5" Easy Angle Ruler may suit you better. I think I got a deal with a coupon at one of the big box stores when I bought mine. I'm a big ruler fan and have rulers I haven't even used yet.) I stack ...

added by Becca 2 months, 1 week ago. under 2018 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , hst , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

Home Ownership from Becca's Crazy Projects

Home ownership comes with joy and challenges. A couple weeks ago was a challenge. The dryer (that came with the house) decided it didn't want to dry clothes any more. I could go into a long discussion about the basics of dryers and how a thermal fuse works, but if you really want to know, there is great information on Appliance Repair.net. Seriously, if you can follow directions and use a screwdriver you can fix quite a few things.

I even found this video that helped me test the operation of the dryer before I went out to ...

added by Becca 2 months, 2 weeks ago. under 2018 , adventure , challenge , crazy , home-improvement , maryland , md , project

Mystery Quilt: Good Fortune from Becca's Crazy Projects

It's that time of year again! When Bonnie Hunter releases her yearly mystery quilt and the internet goes crazy with crazy quilters. Today I'm sharing my color choices (show below) and the progress I've made on the first clue.

This year, the quilt is Good Fortune. Head over to Bonnie Hunter's blog to check out the Good Fortune Mystery Quilt. There you will find all the details, such as the fabric requirements and the first clue. Don't dawdle, if you want to join in. The mystery quilt is only available for free for a short ...

added by Becca 2 months, 2 weeks ago. under 2018 , adventure , crazy , design , good fortune , mystery , project , projects , quilt , quilter , quiltville

MQG Pouch Swap from Becca's Crazy Projects

The DC Modern Quilt Guild and the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild are doing a bag swap at the next Baltimore MQG meeting.

As one would expect, partner assignments went out weeks ago and I just got around to constructing my swap bag. The recommended pattern was the Open Wide Pouch by Noodlehead. It's a free pattern with a great tutorial. I dug around in my stash for the appropriate colors. At least I hope they are the appropriate colors.

Then I fiddled with Electric Quilt 8 until I had design I liked. The block finishes at 12" by 12 ...

added by Becca 3 months, 1 week ago. under 2018 , adventure , bag , baltimore , craft , crazy , maryland , md , mqg , pouch , project , projects , sew my stash , sewing , swap , zipper

Vertices Unite and Knitting Update from Becca's Crazy Projects

The first time I tried to knit Vertices Unite didn't work out very well. I think that was because of my choice of yarn. This time, I grabbed a bunch of superwash worsted (Knit Picks Swish) that Aunt Betty left me. This is great yarn.

I didn't pick the colors before I started. I mostly grabbed what I thought would work for each section. This is the somewhat lumpy shawl before washing.

While this blocking might look extreme, it isn't. Very minimal pulling and pinning but the shape is still pretty awesome. For the record, I still ...

added by Becca 3 months, 2 weeks ago. under 2018 , adventure , aunt betty , craft , crazy , fiber , knit , knitting , maryland , md , project , projects , wool , yarn

Open Wide Pouches from Becca's Crazy Projects

The Open Wide Zippered Pouch tutorial designed by Anna of Noodlehead is my favorite pouch pattern. It is so easy for me to change the basic measurements to fit the fabric and zippers I have on-hand.

I decided it was time to use this fun trick-or-treat fabric to make something. The Open Wide Zippered Pouch was perfect. This is made using the medium size bag with a minor modificaton to make the perfect knitting project bag. Instead of cutting the fabric panels only 9" tall I cut them to 12" by 12". That way I get a deeper bag. I ...

added by Becca 3 months, 3 weeks ago. under 2018 , adventure , bag , craft , crazy , knitting , maryland , md , pouch , project , projects , sew my stash , sewing , zipper

Like a Monster from Becca's Crazy Projects

I saw a cute monster themed tote while we were in Miami. That gave me the idea to make up one of my own.

This is the first stitch out of a design I made using a couple images from Games-icon.net. The colors are questionable because I was trying to figure out a thing or two about my embroidery machine. I used a woven cotton for this test because I wanted to check the stitch-out and the size. Knowing a design measures x number of inches by y number of inches doesn't help when you're trying to ...

added by Becca 4 months, 1 week ago. under 2018 , adventure , bag , craft , crazy , firefly , project , projects , zipper

Knitting Update from Becca's Crazy Projects

This is an unnamed shawl. I had an idea of a design I wanted to try. I also had 200 grams of superwash worsted. I decided it was time to test my idea. I worked on this when I didn't have to think too much about the knitting. Stitched in garter stitch, with simple short-row shaping, and a size 8 needle, it was a quick knit.

Here is the shape of the shawl before blocking. A somewhat wing-like shape.

I expected it to grow, but not by as much as it did. Still, a very satisfying finish. I have ...

added by Becca 4 months, 3 weeks ago. under 2018 , adventure , craft , crazy , custom , dye , fiber , knit , knitting , maryland , md , project , projects , tool , wool , yarn

Travel Knitting Holey Chevrons from Becca's Crazy Projects

I like to start a project at the beginning of any trip. This time I decided to make Stephen West's Holey Chevrons. I didn't want serious knitting and this qualifies. Simple garter stitch is perfect for travel knitting. No (or little) counting and you don't have to focus too much.

I grabbed two cakes of striping yarn I dyed in June. I just went with whatever color I wanted to use next.

I made good progress by the time we had boarded for the outbound flight.

Once we reached our destination, I had make excellent progress.

I ...

added by Becca 5 months, 1 week ago. under 2018 , adventure , craft , crazy , custom , dye , fiber , knit , knitting , maryland , md , project , projects , travel , wool , yarn

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