Monday Meanderings

Another finish! 

And a great big One Monthly Goal Score. I had planned to just get this to top stage.  But, I did that so early in the month that I kept going.  I finished the binding about 10 on Sunday night.  (please note, I usually don't get things done well in advance but I did this time!) 

Butterfly close up. I used metallic thread on the "curl."

Close up of the quilting in progress. There were a lot of thread ends to tie off and bury. This is already hanging in the great room.

Do you know about Sew It's for Sale?  It is a yahoo group dedicated to the selling and buying of sewing related items.  You can check it out and join here. I've bought several items over the past year.  And, I've sold a few things too.  You contact the seller directly and make arrangements.  Sometimes the sellers list really reasonable prices and sometimes you think, "Um, no.  Too expensive." Below is my most recent purchase. 

These three fabrics are KPKids by South Seas Imports. I think they are 10+ years old but will work well with kids quilts.  A bit over 4 yards. Total cost including shipping was $18.  Not a bad deal although sometimes prices are even lower.  I'm not sure what I'll be using this for but they will become either a quilt or a pillowcase (and maybe both!)  Do you buy or sell fabric or other sewing related items  online?  What group do you use and do you like it? 

Last week's goals -- not a bad completion rate. 

August 21, 2017

Finish quilting geese and floral wallhanging√

Quilt floral wallhanging√ completely finished

Finish Christmas TAW to top stage√

Find backing for Streak of Lightening oops!

Keep hand quilting Civil War Quilt√ someday I’ll finish this!

And this week's goals: 

August 28, 2017

Spend a couple of days with the grands

Keep hand quilting Civil War Quilt

Bind geese & floral wallhanging

Make some fabric boxes

Find backing for Streak of Lightening & quilt it

That's it for me today.  I'm linking up with my favorite Monday linky parties: Monday Making, Moving It Forward, Main Crush Monday and Oh Scrap. And because I've finished my OMG I'll be linking to Elm Street Quilts finished linky party. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

A Top is Done!

Here is my Trip Around the World from the 12 Days of Christmas Quilt Along. (You can find the beginning of the instructions at Confessionals of a Fabric Addict. Then just check her Blog Archive for July to see the rest of the instructions.  You will need to scroll to the bottom of each post to find the directions.)

I was able to pull all of the fabric from my stash.  And, quite a few were old pieces that needed to be used.  I was lucky to find a group of fabrics that worked well together. 

Can I just say how happy I am with this top? I really like how well the fabric created the darks and lights.  I'm thrilled I used up some very old fabrics. I even have one or two quilting designs I could use that will make it look even more Christmasy. I will need to find a backing for this one. Nothing in my stash will work. I'll probably do that next month when I'll be up in Lancaster county again. 

Did you enjoy your Eclipse watching?  I had a great time with some friends.  We shared my pair of glasses and we were all wowed by it.  Our area had about 85% cover but it was so amazing.  

Today I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday and Midweek Makers.  Spend some time browsing through the blogs posted.  You will get so much inspiration!  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meandering 8 - 21 - 2017

Welcome to Solar Eclipse Mania!! 

Ok, so maybe some folks are into the whole eclipse mania but we're in the penumbra section. (Yes, fancy word that means only a partial eclipse.) I have approved eclipse glasses that I'll be taking to the stitching group up at the clubhouse Monday since our eclipse time will be during our normal gathering.  So, I'll stitch a bit and watch a bit and then get back to stitching.  I'll need to figure out where I need to be to actually see it too.  Should be fun.  

On to my regularly scheduled blog.  Here's a peek at some of the projects I worked on this past week. 

The Trip Around the World is almost a top.  I've got about 5 more strips to sew and then I need to sew it together.  My granddaughter Ellie (age 3, closing in on 4) said she wants this quilt.  And yet she really wants some doll clothes for her birthday. I think I'll be making some doll clothes for her October bd. 

I used to make Streak of Lightening quilts as baby quilts.  I'd forgotten how easy they are so when I saw this blog about them I thought I'd make another one.  I used it as my leader-ender for the TAW.  Yea, I know sewing the rows was way more sewing than your typical leader-ender but I'm happy to have it done!  (You need to scroll down the blog to find the actual directions.) 

Those were the two biggies this week.  Here's how I did on the rest of my goals list. 

Aug 14, 2017

Work on Christmas TAW√

Keep hand quilting Civil War Quilt√

Quilt geese and flowers wall hanging√ started

Make backing for floral wallhanging√

Cut out a Streak of Lightening Quilt√ & main section is sewn together

Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish this 4th week of August:

August 21, 2017

Finish quilting geese and floral wallhanging

Quilt floral wallhanging

Finish Christmas TAW to top stage

Find backing for Streak of Lightening

Keep hand quilting Civil War Quilt

I'm linking up with my regular linky parties: Monday Making, Moving It Forward, Main Crush Monday and Oh Scrap. (I'll link Moving It Forward when I notice it's posted.)  Enjoy some time seeing what others are working on.  There is so much inspiration on the Internet.  

We had a couple of visitors at the house over the week. 

This little frog (maybe all of 2") was on the outside of the French door. I snapped his picture as I was bringing in the dog just before bedtime.  I love how it looks like the frog is on the chair! When I opened the door he hopped on to the side so I couldn't get a picture of him from the house to the outside. 

Kona (the black dog) had her BFF visit for the weekend.  Cassie's family was going camping and it was easier for us to have her than for her to go with my son's family.  Boy does that dog shed.  She walked into the house, shook, and left yellow fur all over the dark wood floors.  EEKS!  I took both dogs out Saturday morning and furminated them. They still kept shedding though! 

Safe Solar Eclipse Watching and Happy Quilting! Bonnie 

Monday Meandering 8 - 14 - 2017

Here's what I've done this week:

I finished binding this and it is on the table. Do you put labels on your finished table runners or toppers?  I've put one on this but I haven't sewn it completely down.  I'm thinking I might want to use the reverse side sometime so I'm considering removing the label.  Scroll down this page to see what the reverse looks like. 

I've got one set of threads to tie off on this wall hanging and then it is time to find a backing and quilt it.  Now I wonder if I want to make another project from this Kim Schaefer's Calendar Quilts.  I'm planning on quilting on Bernie rather than the long arm.  It shouldn't take all that long once I get started.  I will also be using a wider binding as the butterfly at the top will get lost under the hanger I plan to use so a wider binding should help her show.  

FYI -- both of these quilts were made from my scraps, except the binding on the table topper.  I ran out of the navy blue Kona.  Once it was replenished I was able to finish this off. 

The weather at the beach was pretty iffy for most of the days we were there.  (Heck, we were only there for 48 hours and we got to the beach both days.) The humidity was relatively low until the day we left.  Unfortunately, Natalie was sick when we got there.  It turns out that a fever and throwing up are symptoms of strep throat which is what she had.  Who knew?  Jenny had plenty of ear infections and strep as a child but neither of us remember any nausea.  Natalie is well on the road to recovery now. 

Because I planned my goals for the amount of time I had available I was able to check off every item on the list this week. 

Aug 7, 2017

Finish the floral wallhanging to top stage√

Bind orange and blue table topper√

Keep hand quilting Civil War Quilt√

Enjoy a few days with the grands at the beach√]

And now this coming week . . . 

Aug 14, 2017

Work on Christmas TAW

Keep hand quilting Civil War Quilt

Make backing for floral wallhanging

Cut out a Streak of Lightening Quilt

Make Flying Geese blocks for retreat

Quilt geese and flowers wall hanging

If I can keep focused this week I should be able to get a little done on each project. 

I'm linking up with my regular group of linky parties: Monday Making, Moving It Forward and Main Crush Monday. I'll check in Monday morning to add links to the other two blogs.  I'm so proud of myself when I can get my blog written Sunday evening.  Usually I'm taking pictures on Monday morning and then writing.  I just realized that Oh Scrap is up on Sunday so why haven't I been linking to it?  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie

Monday Meanderings 8 - 7 - 2017

Late in July I finished a really old UFO, A Tisket, A Tasket.  It was designed by Bunny Hill Designs and was a free block of the month in 2009. The whole pattern is for sale now.  I was surprised that there is a new Christmas block of the week going on at Bunny Hill Designs. I'm saving them but heaven knows I don't need another Christmas quilt.  A Tisket, A Tasket is all hand appliqué in quilting cottons and some wool.  There was a lot of hand embroidery which I also enjoyed.  After looking at all the wonderful designs I realized I could use a new appliqué wall hanging for Easter.  Hum... 

Here it is hanging in the guest room. I won the quilt on the bed from Northern Virginia Quilters Unlimited show in 2001.  I attended the show with a group of guild buddies and as I walked in I stopped to buy tickets (6) for the quilt.  No one else bought tickets. You have to buy tickets to win!  I try to support guilds by buying raffle quilt tickets -- especially if I like the quilts.  Do you buy raffle quilt tickets? 

Current projects are being moved forward!  Here's a peak at the table topper that is almost done.  It just needs binding. (Actually, it still needed trimming when I took this picture.) 

And the back which shows off the quilting quite well.  I can imagine using this side if I'm tired of the orange and navy! (Most photos on the blog can be enlarged.) 

It was part of my goals list this past week.  I'm very happy with my overall progress from last week.  

July 31, 2017

Work on Christmas TAW√

Keep hand quilting Civil War Quilt√

Get serious on finishing floral wallhanging√

Figure out and quilt the orange and navy table topper√

Make a fabric box

Here's what's going to be worked on this week.  

Aug 7, 2017

Finish the floral wallhanging to top stage

Bind orange and blue table topper

Keep hand quilting Civil War Quilt

Enjoy a few days with the grands at the beach

I'm linking up with my regular Monday linky parties:  Monday Making, Main Crush Monday and Moving it Forward.  I enjoy spending time during the week looking at what others are doing across the internet.  I'll update inactive links as I find they are available. 

That's it for me today.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Stashbusting Stats and One Monthly Goal

Another month when I've used more fabric than I brought in!  Ok, I only used 1/2 yard more than I bought but at least it is using more than I'm bringing in.

2017	Fabric In Month	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
July	10.00	62.875	10.5	70.250	7.375

I'm hoping I can control myself this month and not go wild buying fabric. I was at my LQS today but couldn't decide what I wanted to use with the spool blocks  swap from the retreat in May.  So I didn't get anything. Amazing! 

Floral Wallhanging start.

It's time to make a goal for the one monthly goal.  I've decided to work on the floral wall hanging. I've been ignoring it for too many weeks months.  I'm hoping to get all the pieces fused down and zigzagged (or blanket stitched) around them. I'd love to get it finished but I don't hold out much hope for doing that.  We are going to be traveling a bit this month so it may cut into my stitching time.  

I'd like to get this done early in the month so I can hang it before fall comes. I'm tired of the Fourth of July wall hangings. 

I have been making progress on the Christmas Trip Around the World.  All four strata are sewn.  I need to go back to Confessions of a Fabric Addict to figure out the next step. (If you want to see the directions for Sarah's Trip Around the World Quilt Along scroll down to the Blog Archive and click on July. Then click on the first day of the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop. The directions are at the bottom of each post.)  I'll show pictures of mine once I get a quarter done.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks! 

I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Elm Street Quilts goal setting, and Can I Gt a Whoop Whoop?  Be sure to take a break and check out others' blogs.

Happy Quilting All. Bonnie