Monday Meanderings 9 - 7 - 2026

We have relief!  Our temps hit 82º! And tonight it's supposed to drop to 62º. It's a miracle. Of course it was awful earlier this week. Temps were in the 90s and humidity was even worse.  Luckily I stayed inside most days except taking Sunny for walks. I spent most of the days in basement studio.  Unfortunately, when I wasn't working on Frog Choker, I was reading. 

I didn't do all that well on my goals this week -- not at all! That's ok. It's amazing how much time it took to stitch a bunch of rain plus tie off all the threads! 

8/31/26

✅Start sewing background of idiom quilt — background almost done. Need to tie off threads.

Cut one kit for Oct retreat — nothing done. 

Lay out potato chip blocks — nope. Need to clear off design wall 

✅Finish binding on sea life — done! 

Get one of my tops loaded and quilted — Not done because of customer quilt. 

Most of my quilting time was taken up by sewing silver thread in straight lines making it look like heavy rain.  What do you think? Remind you of rain? My idiom is Frog Choker which means so much rain that even the frogs are choking on it. 

Ms. Frog and her umbrella have only been laid on the background. She won't be put on permanently until I finish all the rain and tying off the threads.  Update -- All the rain threads have been stitched. I still have quite a few threads to tie off and bury.  But that should get done on Monday at some point. The dark grey at the top will be made to look like clouds -- hopefully.  Then I can iron on the appliqués and stitch Ms. Frog down.  I'm going to make some sort of swirl of water around the frog's hand between her legs. (Or so I hope!)  After that I'll only have binding, label and hanging sleeve to do.  I sure hope I can get it all done by 9/16! 

Here's a close up. Since this pic was taken I got all the close "rain" stitching done on this side of the frog.  Hopefully I'll be able to use a wooden skewer to hold up her umbrella.  Next week she should be almost finished before I write my blog. 

Here's next week's goals. (But you all know I'll be spending a lot of time on Frog Choker.) 

9/7/26

Keep sewing on Idiom Quilt

Finish quilting customer top

Sew July UFO together 

Cut one kit for October retreat

Fifteen Minutes of Sewing -- I sewed every day for at least 15 minutes this week. 

Week ending 8/30/26: 249 days of 2026.

 248 stitching days out of 249 days 99.6%

I'm looking forward to getting Frog Choker done so I can get back to sewing other projects and getting projects ready for my next retreat. Hopefully I'll have more things to share! 

I'm linking up with Stitching Time, Oh Scrap, Quilting Patchwork Applique,  Design Wall Monday, and Monday Musings. 

A couple of weeks ago I finished this UFO.  I started the appliqués in a class at a Maryland quilt store near where I lived.  They were finished but I put them away for a long while.  Nearly 20 years passed before I decided it was time to finish it.  Once I decided what to do it didn't take all that long to finish it. I stitched in the ditch around some of the areas and stitched parallel lines in the orange sections. I hand stitched around each motif.  It took a long time to finish it but I really like it. 

We are now 8 weeks away from the midterm elections. If you generally vote by mail consider trying early voting this year.  Who knows what will happen with voting by mail this year.  So plan ahead and don't forget to vote! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meandering -- 8 - 31 - 2026

I sure did the first thing on my goal list this past week.  Sharon and I had a great time together.  She got a lot done and pushed me to finish the August clue for Marigold Mystery.  I'm glad she did -- I was going to wait to do some at home.  But, the next clue comes out this week and sometime we'll get together over FaceTime and sew up the clue while we chat.  It's a great way for us to stay in touch.  

Here's the whole list of what got done. 

8/24

✅Enjoy in house retreat at Sharon’s — we had a great time. 

✅Make Marigold Mystery blocks — all of the first clue blocks are done. 

Start sewing idiom challenge top — no sewing done but several things were done that moved the project ahead. 

✅Finish sewing string quilt together — done. 

Bind sea creatures quilt — still need to hand sew binding down. And ✅fall appliqué quilt -- done and hanging.

Here are a few of my Marigold blocks.  You can see some of the fabrics I'm using here. Since I am using a big hunk of orange I'm trying to make blocks that will go with the orange but not be too dark. If you wonder where the purple is coming from, look at the bottom center of the picture of all the fabrics.  There is definitely some purple in it.  The first clue included 5 sawtooth stars and 4 Dutchman puzzles. I had two of the stars done from when Sharon and I had FaceTimed together.  That means I made 7 blocks at her house. 

I did get the string blocks sewn into a quilt but I didn't remember to take a picture until after it clouded up so I couldn't get a decent picture.  Additionally I finished sewing the binding on the fall applique and it is already hanging in the great room.  But it was too dark to get a decent picture.  After I write my blog I'll try to get started on the sea life quilt. 

I also spent some time today adding to my Idiom Challenge piece.  I've chosen colors for the items. I've done a bit more drawing of elements.  I hope to actually do some sewing this week.  It's due on 9/16.  It will be hanging at the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo in Fredericksburg Sept 24 through 26, 2026. (I'm also going to be working as a class assistant on the 24th.) 

Here's what I hope to get done this week. 

8/31/26

Start sewing on idiom quilt

Cut one kit for Oct retreat

Lay out potato chip blocks and possibly sew together

Finish binding on sea life

Get one of my tops loaded and quilted 

That seems like a lot considering I really need to get going on the idiom challenge quilt. Hopefully I'll get some different things moved forward too. 

Despite two days of travel I was able to continue stitching for 15 minutes a day. Saturday evening after driving for 5 or so hours home I wasn't sure I really wanted to do any stitching.  But after relaxing for a while I set a timer for 20 minutes and proceeded to knit on a wash cloth.  Not quite mindless knitting but pretty easy. Most days Sharon and I spent 6 to 7 hours in her studio sewing, chatting, and having fun. 

Week ending 8/30/26: 242 days of 2026.

 241 stitching days out of 242 days 99.6% 

One thing we did do is visit a couple of stores for fabric.  Did I need to buy any? Not exactly.  Did I buy some? YEP.  Here's most of my new fabric with a wide back I bought several weeks ago. Darn -- this isn't a great picture. The orange and blue are 3 yard pieces for backings. The weird looking brown is actually a 1/2 yard piece of brown dimples. (I figure it will go with Marigold mystery fabrics.) The fabric underneath them is actually a light blue-green design on a wide backing. You might be able to see them better if you enlarge the picture. I'm hoping to use some of these backings this week. 

And my best purchase was this, dare I say, hideous green with green spots/circles on it.  It yelled frog to me! (oops! I general use my blog URL on my pictures. Evidently I used the notation I use on the pictures name instead for some unknown reason.)  Isn't that going to make a great frog? I'm looking forward to making Ms. Frog. 

I meant to take a picture of one of the New Bern bears but didn't think about it until we were shopping.  This bear was out side of the Academy sports shop.  Driving to the next fabric store I must have seen 8 to 10 other bears, but this was easiest to snap a picture. 

One thing I "found" when I was putting away these fat quarters was an old Halloween stitchery I finished several years ago.  It's time to make it a small wall quilt/picture.  Here's the stitchery with 3 suggested borders. The one on the right seems wrong for the black and white stitchery.  Below is a closeup of the two blacks I'm auditioning.  I think the border would be about 2" cut or about 1.5" with the binding. I still need to trim the stitchery too.  My thought is to get this finished and possibly use it this October.  What looks like a shadow behind the piece is actually the excess fabric of the suggested borders.  See the close up below showing the two on the left. 

The one on the top is a herringbone design that was used as the border and binding of the autumn applique quilt. 

The one underneath has black with various shades of grey with it.  I'm leaning toward the black and grey one... gives a bit more interest to the piece.  Of course, I'll need to check that there is enough of it to also do the binding. If time permits I might work on it this week. 

Please check out these blogs.  It's fun to see what other quilters are working on. Heck, maybe you'll see some great inspirations. 

Stitching Time 

Oh Scrap

Quilting Patchwork Applique 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

We had a slight respite from the super hot and humid days last weekend.  And much of this week.  But if the weather forecast is accurate, we're in for really hot and humid week. Five days in the 90's and one day hitting 100°. And that's without taking the humidity into consideration.  So where will I be the most comfortable? You're right if you said my basement studio.  It is so much cooler down there AND I have my own ac/heater too if I get too hot.  So I should get a lot done this coming week.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 8 - 24 - 2026

Has school gone back in session where you live? Our county started August 11th! Yep several weeks ago.  When I was an elementary library Media Specialist the staff would start working two weeks before Labor Day. The kids would come the week before Labor Day.  Starting the second week of August just seems weird to me -- it's still summer. On the other hand, they will be out by May 28. So are your kids or grandkids in school now?  Does that mean you have more time or less time to sew? Or doesn't it make a difference? 

Here are my goals from last week.  I did ok but really didn't get as much done as I would have liked. 

8/17/26

✅Quilt one of my quilts — sea life baby top quilted. 

✅Plan projects for in-home retreat in NC — I’ve got about 5 but may add or subtract from that number. 

Start sewing the Idiom Challenge project — no sewing done. 

✅Make more blocks for July UFO — all blocks made - maybe. 

Make Marigold Mystery blocks — nothing done

✅Continue hand quilting fall applique blocks — 1.5 are left to quilt around. 

I'm not sure why I didn't whip through all these goals.  I did spend some time reading but I don't think I read all that much! Not a lot of pictures of what I did get done. 

This is what I'm calling Sea Life. I started calling it sea creatures and decided it showed a lot more than just that.  I purchased the fabric as a kit years ago. Do you remember Craftsy? That's where I got it from.  I don't remember what the kit was actually for in terms of a pattern. I think I made a wall hanging with the same fabric a couple of years ago but I couldn't find a picture of it.  So, maybe I didn't! 

I used navy blue So Fine thread and Curly long arm design by My Creative Stitches. Here's a close up of the stitching. The red fabric near the bottom right corner was also used for the backing. Except I didn't have enough so I added some light grey fabric evenly spaced in between two sections of the red.  The binding is going to be navy blue.  I prefer a darker binding mainly because it will hide dirt that might get on it. This quilt will be donated to one of the local hospitals NICU.  

The July UFO was a 12" fall block and a few 6" blocks also in fall colors some of which were from the same line.  I've been trying to make more 6" blocks and finally got the number I need done.  And, I'm underwhelmed by the top so far.   I've added a 3" borders around the 12" block. I figure 6" would work around that border.  Every time I look I see too white backgrounds on some of the blocks. I'm not particularly excited about it so far.  What do you think? If I remember correctly I'm out or nearly out of the yellow with the little brown flowers that I used with many of the blocks.  I don't particularly like the basket on the white background on the left. The other three blocks with white are the same beige fabric but different from the basket. I think I might need to replace the block with the white background with some other block using the beige background. Or?  Any suggestions.  I'd like to get this to about 36 by 42 or so as then it could be used as wheelchair quilt. I'll probably need another row of blocks or ?? on the top and bottom plus add 3" borders around the whole thing. I have no idea what fabric I would use at this point. I have some of the dark brown left but not much. Most of this fabric was actually fat quarters. I won it from a gal who had been making samples with the fabric many, many years ago. Those were the days when I won quite a few things while reading people's blogs. 

So my thoughts right now is to add something on the top and bottom that will be 3" total. Then figure out a 3" border for all around. Of course, that would be after I decide about that white background on the basket! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. 

Here are my goals for this coming week.  I will be down in North Carolina at my friend Sharon's house.  The current list "looks" doable while I'm down there but who knows. I may add one or two extra projects in case I run into a problem.   

8/24

Enjoy in house retreat at Sharon’s

Make Marigold Mystery blocks

Start sewing idiom challenge top

Finish sewing string quilt together

Bind sea creatures quilt and fall appliqué

I've continued my 15 minutes of stitching every day.  Usually a lot more! Here's the stats. 

Week ending 8/23/26: 235 days of 2026.

 234 stitching days out of 235 days 99.5%

I've also been sewing blocks for the most recent FCQ Equilter's turn.  I'll be taking these and a few more down to Sharon this week.  I may end up stitching a few that are already cut out down at her house. 

The block came from this year's Sewcialites 3 blocks.  It's #17 by Sandy Gervais.  It's an easy block to make -- it takes longer to cut than to sew if you ask me. I think I have 3 more cut out and fabric chosen for another one. Sharon will be making kids quilts with most of them.  

Monday begins singing season again.  The Spotsylvanians have their first rehearsal that evening.  I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and making new friends too.  I've enjoyed my free Monday evenings but I've been missing singing.  

So now is when I post all the Linky Parties and ask you to visit them.  Consider yourself asked! 

Stitching Time 

Oh Scrap

Quilting Patchwork Applique 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

 

I'm ready to call it quits tonight. Oops. I wanted to name the book I really enjoyed this last week.  It is The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. It was an unusual way to read a story as all of it was mail or notes.  I know I was drawn into the story quite quickly and finished it within a couple of days. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 8 - 17 - 2026

Have you checked the date recently?  I just realized we are half way through August.  How can that be?  I need to get hopping on some projects especially the monthly UFO challenge. I'm still attempting to get the July project -- finishing a top including 8 or 10 new 6" blocks -- done. August is putting a set of blocks into a top.  That one may still happen when I head down to Sharon's house the last full week of August. Fingers are crossed though.  Now on to my goals this week. 

8/10/26

✅Make progress on Idiom challenge — minimal but it will continue to grace my goals until it is done! 

✅Find border fabric and put on Hen & Her Chicks — done!

✅Empty two project boxes — one was emptied and immediately filled with Marigold Mystery fabrics and blocks. 2 of the 9 blocks for August were completed. 

✔️Finish string quilt top — Taking the paper off the rows is very time consuming. Two have been sewn together.

✅✅Quilt 2 quilts one for me, one for quilt guild — both were for the guild. 

✔️Continue making 6” blocks for Aug July UFO Challenge — one done several block choices were decided. 

Here's Hens and Her Chicks.  FYI -- the 9 patches are made with 1.5" unf. squares. I used them as leader enders for a long time.  Then they sat until I cut the extra pieces and took it to a retreat in October '25. I didn't do anything on it until the July retreat this year when I put it together, except for the borders. I generally put borders on at home where I can spread out more.  This quilt came from Quilts for the Heart by Karin Renaud.  There are a few more patterns in that book that I want to make so I'll have more leader enders to do over the next few years. (Yep it'll take me a while to get more of these quilts made considering all the UFOs I have.) Hopefully I can find a backing fabric for this 👇🏼 top -- soon!

No filled project box to share but I can show the fabrics that I stashed in it. 

From left to right dark teal will be the accent fabric. The orange is a wide back that will be general background fabric. The beige will be the blocks background.  The smaller pieces of the fabric on the top and bottom of the orange are for the blocks.  Since this picture I've added a few more pieces. (Actually, I removed the dark green on the far right of the upper section as it didn't look right...not enough blue in it.) These fabrics are all for Meadow Mist Designs newest mystery quilt, Marigold Mystery.  You can find out all about it here. Or click on the Mysteries tab at the top of the blog and then click on Marigold Mystery.  It's going to be another great event. 

Here's the second quilt I quilted for my local guild.  Both quilts are destined to be wheelchair quilts. I used Omni grey thread and Quick and Easy Swirls by My Creative Stitches.  And, yes, it was really fast.  I thought this was a cool pattern. I'm guessing the pattern used a jelly roll. But I don't know for sure as I just quilted it. 

Here's what I'm hoping to make progress on this week.

8/17/26

Quilt one of my quilts

Plan projects for in-home retreat in NC 

Start sewing the Idiom Challenge project

Make more blocks for July UFO

Make Marigold Mystery blocks

Continue hand quilting fall applique block

I've continued to sew something every day this week.  It's great to be retired and be able to sew to my heart's content. Here are the stats!

Week ending 8/16/26: 228 days of 2026.

 227 stitching days out of 228 days 99.5%

I've continued to work on my hand quilting project.  You can see more of the project here and a complete picture here. Today's picture is a closeup of one of the appliqués. I've finished 4 designs completely. After I finish this one 👇🏼 only 4 more are left.  

Some, like this one are more involved but there are a few more fairly easy ones left to do.  Once all of these designs are outlined I'll be able to put the binding on it. It sounds like there may be a finished UFO in the next couple of weeks.  It will look great on the holder above the fire place this fall. 

Time to remind everyone of the Linky parties.  Check these blogs out. 

Stitching Time 

Oh Scrap

Quilting Patchwork Applique 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

I thought I'd share the last bunch of fat quarters I bought from Connecting Threads. I really like having colorful bundles of go-with fabrics. I get the daily Stash Saver email from CT and sometimes I purchase these great fat quarters. For the time being I've put these in their own box. Don't they make you want to use them? 

How about telling us how you store your fat quarters.  Do they go by color with your yardage? Do you keep them in a drawer?  For the last 20 years or so I keep my fat quarters in box tops.  When I was working I was in an elementary school where a LOT of paper was used.  The paper cases were fairly large as 2 stacks of reams were in each box and these boxes came with lids.  I started saving them and using them for fat quarters. I have a Longerberger basket (or two) that I also used for fat quarters.  Here's what some looked like in our old house. 

If I ever clean up my current shelves and box tops I'll take a picture to share.  They are all a mess now.  Dare I admit that my stack of blue fabrics is so high I can't add anymore to it? -- It's hit the bottom of next shelf up! 

Hope you can stay cool this week. Our temps aren't all that bad but the humidity is oppressive. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie