One Monthly Goal Success!

I succeeded on my January OMG! 

60+ blocks later I have enough blocks to make a twin size quilt for the guest bedroom. These blocks have 21 pieces in them.  And, in case you are wondering, I will not be making this same quilt for the second twin bed in the room!

I was able to make or finish over 30 log cabin blocks this month.  And then, since I was on a roll, I went ahead and rebuilt them.  If you are interested in how to do this check out Elaine's blog Elaine Adair Pieces. You can find her directions under Tutorial - Scrappy Rebuilt Log Cabin. I think these blocks are going to take a short recess and then I'll get busy on making them into a quilt.  I still need to trim them all to the same size and then work on layouts.  

Each block has 21 pieces in it.  Needless to say, I ran out of fabric and was begging off of the gals at retreat.  Sharon is represented by several fabrics and Nancy found one piece in her stuff.  Thanks friends.  

So the sad part about this is I some how twisted 4 blocks the wrong way so they can't be used on the front -- but maybe on the back.  

That's it for me today.  Go see what the rest of the gang finished at Elm Street quilts.  Also check out Needle and Thread Thursday and Midweek Makers.

Now to decide what is going to be my next One Monthly Goal! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meandering 1 - 28 - 2019

I'm backkkk!  I skipped blogging all of last week.  Before that I was talking about going on the At Home Retreat down at Sharon's new house.  I got there Thursday early afternoon and by 3 we were stitching away.  MaryBeth and Nancy got there around 5:30 -- in time for wine and dinner.  We were all stitching away after dinner, and all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

I spent most of my time on my log cabin blocks.  Ugh, by the end of the retreat I was sick and tired of those blocks.  Although I did finish all I needed.  I'll be showing them later this week for my completed One Monthly Goal. I was pretty worn out from the driving and retreat so I took some down time most of last week.  (Heck I had hardly spent any time reading and had several books I wanted to make sure I finished before they were due.) 

Here's some of the projects the gals were working on: 

MaryBeth was the fastest sewer -- or so it seemed to me. I didn't get a picture of the T shirt quilt she put together first.  Next, she put a smaller patriotic quilt together.  Unfortunately this picture turned out pretty dark. 

Then she pulled out this older Bonnie Hunter mystery and worked on it. This is just one quadrant.  She is putting it together differently than the mystery finish. 

Nancy was working on this very cool star pattern.  Except, this is the reject one! Right, not a reject to me!  She made 4 of these but one was smaller than the others so she is going to make this one a wall hanging and make a new one. 

For some reason I didn't take a picture of any of the projects Sharon was working on.  She made several blocks for Pam's FCQEquilter block and a lottery block.  But her big project was working on a cool quilt for her bed.  I'll have to get a picture of it when I next go down to visit.  But I thought you might like to see her fabric storage.  She and a friend spent a day unpacking and refolding and organizing all of her fabric when she moved in.  It looks beautiful and seems way more than when she had it stored in her closet in Maryland. 

Here are the 2 blocks I made for Carousel that I showed the kit all cut out here. I've put it away for a later date as I have several projects I'm working on now. I forgot to take pictures of the other kit I cut and took down to work on.  (Note to self, take a picture and share in the next week or so!)  

Although I did write goals for last week I didn't share them with you but here's what I got done on them: 

January 21, 2019

Work on challenge wall hanging ✔️

Start cutting and resewing log cabin blocks✔️

Make some red Rainbow ScrapChallenge blocks✔️

Make wonky star blocks for FCQ E-Quilter ✔️

January 28, 2019

Sew challenge project to background

Finish altering the last log cabin blocks 

Bind the Turtle quilt 

Mail the FCQ Equilter blocks 

Quilt and bind the Heart table runner

That's it for me today.  Please take a look at the following linky parties to see what folks are doing this week in Blogland. Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, and Moving It Forward.  I'll have to stop back tomorrow and add the links for most of these. Let's see if I remember to do it! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie

End of Year Statistics

A few days ago I realized I never posted my November fabric stats.  So below you'll find both November and December.  I loved getting fabric at Christmas  until I saw how much fabric I added to my stash in December.  But the best news is I did actually use more fabric than I brought in!  Whoop! Whoop! 

2018	Fabric In Month	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
Nov	9.250	68.125	4.000	80.500	12.375
Dec	17.250	85.375	13.750	94.250	8.875

And here's my stats from when I first started keeping statistics to 2018. Evidently I can control some of my fabric splurges.  And considering how many tops I have in my closet I should be able to get some fast fabric usage going in 2019. 

Year	Fabric In	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
2010	65.000	70.250	13.000
2011	186.500	72.000	114.500
2012	113.545	108.970	4.575
2013	100.710	103.015	2.305
2014	108.250	79.750	28.500
2015	66.205	77.150	10.945
2016	83.375	55.375	28.000
2017	118.625	108.125	10.500
2018	85.375	94.250	8.875

Let me tell you I was so pleased I actually used 8 and 7/8th yards of fabric more than I received in 2018. I'm going to hold off buying fabric for a month or two.  But, honestly, I have a quilt that I really would like to finish and it needs a backing.  Sigh.  I will try to hold off and actually quilt the tops I already have backing for... we'll see how long that lasts! 

Recently I was cutting leftover doggy fabric for a tumbler quilt.  I really looked at the colored dots on this fabric and had to laugh.  The colored circles are paws.  Somebody at that fabric manufacturer has a good sense of humor. 

I ended up getting 120 tumblers cut and decided I couldn't get any more done to take with me.  I'll need to cut about 40 more pieces when I get home. But I have more than enough ready to get several rows done.  I really like my Accuquilt Go.  It makes it so easy to cut even odd size pieces. And, boy howdy!  It is sew easy to sew these tumblers together.   

Thursday I'm heading out for a retreat at Sharon's house.  Nancy and MB will be coming to. Normally I host this retreat but we all want to see Sharon's new house!  We'll be sewing up a storm through Monday.  We've really lucked out on the weather.  It should be in the 60's for a few days we are in North Carolina. On the other hand, when we go home on Monday we will be facing an Arctic cold blast.  Supposedly it will be in the low teens overnight and low 20's during the day.  That's really cold for this area!  I'm sure I have a quilt or two I can pile on!

That's it for me today.  I'm linking with Midweek Makers and Needle and Thread Thursday. Take a few minutes to see what folks are working on this week. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Monday Meandering 1 - 14 - 2019

Here's Theo at preschool wearing the sweater I made him for Christmas.  This was the sweater I started at least 2 times because I really wanted to make him a cardigan but I couldn't get the pattern figured out.  So, he got a pull over.  It looks like mom and dad rolled up his cuffs but the rest fits like a charm.  Hm, maybe next year I'll make him 2 sizes bigger.  Although, I suspect my yarn was a heavier weight than the pattern called for.  I'm having a heck of a time figuring the "new" yarn types with the ones I originally used.  And, this book was 30+ years old.  But I was very happy to use up some yarn I had sitting in my yarn stash. You can see more pics of the sweater in progress here, here, here, and here. 

My next share is Sea Glass.  I still haven't succeeded in getting a picture of the whole quilt.  But these two are not too bad for parts of the quilt.  That's me showing it off at Country Piecemakers. Hum, even my clothes seam seem to go with it. 

I've been doing ok on my goals but I haven't got much to show for them this week.  Here's what I wanted to do: 

January 7, 2019

Continue making Log Cabin blocks√

Make FCQ Equilter blocks for Sharon and Pam√ in progress

Prep one more project to take to retreat√ in progress 

Do something with that pile of leftover fabrics on the cutting table Aaah didn’t even try to work on this! 

Make a pillowcase√ and donated

And here's this week's plan: 

January 14, 2019

Quilt customer quilt

Finish the last kit to take on retreat

Sew like a fiend at the In House Retreat

Sew on log cabin blocks 

Begin challenge wall hanging

I'm linking up with my regulars: Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday,  and Moving It Forward.  I'm looking forward to spending some time this week seeing what people have been working on.  I especially am looking forward to seeing what blocks are being made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  And, one last question -- do you store your smaller scraps (not strips or squares but odd bits and pieces of yardage,) by color?  I need to re-evaluate mine and I'm looking for ideas.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie  

Winter hit us again this past weekend.  By the time it was done it was only about 5 to 6 inches.  Forecasted amounts were up to 10 inches. Phew, we were happy with the smaller amount.  This pic was after the first night; it snowed for another 10 to 12 hours.  

Monday Meanderings 1 - 7 - 2019

Here's what I worked on the first week of 2019 - - 

This is for the Calendar Challenge.  We picked a month or season and need to create a wall hanging to represent the month.  Mine is December and I'm working on a Christmas tree.  I want to commemorate the wonderful handmade ornaments my great aunt gave us for years.  So first comes the tree. 

No pictures yet but I have been making progress on the log cabin blocks.  I think I have 31 of the 63 I need done. Every day I try to add a log or two to the 10 or so blocks I have going.  

One thing I added to my goals in the fall was to clean off my cutting table.  Did I share what it looks like then?  I don't think so.  Argh!  Here's what a section of it looks like now. (heck, it probably looked the same then with one less layer of fabric!)  

Not such a pretty sight.  I tend to pile up left over fabrics that can't be stored on my shelves or in my baskets of fat quarters.  So, this pile of stuff represents way too many months of finished projects.  Hum, I see some left overs from my bargello top, and ooh, there's some turquoise from Sea Glass and the black and whites are from my current log cabin project.  The main issue I have is I need to trim or cut into squares or strips.  And, I hate doing that.  So, eventually, I'll sweep it all into one of two huge baskets and then I'll have this end of my cutting table ready to us. 

Lest you think I try to work around that mess, here's a snap of the other big section of the cutting table.  Yes, I do have a pretty big space.  Across from this clean section is my Go cutter.  Very convenient. 

I included a pic of the project boxes under the table.  I haven't changed what's in those boxes for quite a while even though I know I've finished the projects.  Check my goals for this week.  I hope to go through them and change to new projects or UFOs. 

And, this week I cut out all the pieces for Carousel except the little squares that go in the center of the blocks.  A decision as to what color will be made after I make most of the blocks. The kit is ready for the retreat down at Sharon's house next week.  (I guess I'll be bringing the log cabin blocks too but variety is the spice of piecing!) 

Here's how I did on the minuscule goal list I did last week. 

December 31, 2018

Finish sewing the binding on Sea Glass√ and on the bed!

Continue making log cabin blocks√ 39 done so far 

Start cutting out kits for the in house retreat√

…. don’t know what else I’ll do but surely other stuff will get done

I know I did other stuff -- like taking down the Christmas decorations and washing and ironing most of the fabric Jenny gave me for Christmas. Next week's goals are: 

January 7, 2019

Continue making Log Cabin blocks 

Make FCQ Equilter blocks for Sharon and Pam

Prep one more project to take to retreat

Do something with that pile of leftover fabrics on the cutting table

Make a pillowcase

 So, here we are at the end of my post.  I'm linking up to these blogs this week: Oh Scrap!, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, and Moving It Forward. Everybody is back to their regular blog schedule. So, please take some time to check out what folks are working on these days.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

One Monthly Goal January 2019

It's taken me a bit of time to figure out what I wanted to work on for my January goal.  After much thought and knowing I should get UFOs knocked off my list here's what I'm aiming to finish this month: 

Make all the blocks for my rebuilt log cabin twin size quilt. 

I currently have 32 blocks finished. 

Maximum blocks would be 63; minimum would be 54. I haven't decided how big this quilt needs to be to fit on one of the twin beds in the guest bedroom. Currently there's a quilt on the bed that is 72 x 90 1/2 that is an ok size although slightly big in both directions.  My blocks are going to be about 10" finished so I need to make some decisions. Or, maybe I'll trim the blocks a a bit smaller to make them fit better. Time will tell. PS These blocks haven't been rebuilt yet.  Stay tuned!

Personally, I'd love to get the blocks sewn together but I don't really see that happening this month.   

Christmas was a quilter's delight as both of my kids got me quilt related presents.  One gave me Stash Statement by Kelly Young.  I've been wanting that book since it was first published.  The other got me a bounty of fabrics.  Here's the first group of fat quarters.  Yummy colors and I've already picked a pattern and have started cutting at least for a sample block. First up the colors that have been selected for this project. 

And here's a picture of the pattern: 

It comes from the book Simply Fat Quarters by It's Sew Emma Patterns.  There are several additional patterns I'm considering for later.  But, first I need to get this one made and a couple of UFOs moved on to finished top stage. 

Back up and look at those gorgeous fabrics again.  The beige background is what I plan to use for my background in the block.  Notice the darker beige in the center --- I was thinking I might use that for the center square of each block.... but I'm not sure. Its a different color beige with a black stripe.  I have two other fabrics to try out. Heck, I have a big stash I can ponder to find the right color! I won't make my decision until after I get several of the block sections made. Hum, would it work to vary the center square in each block?  What do you think? 

Here's the small number of fat quarters that did not make the cut.  Still beautiful but I liked the way the top group played together. 

Time to get sewing or maybe cutting first and then sewing. 

I'm linking up with Elm Creek Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Have a Whoop, Whoop! and Finished or Not Friday. I'll check back with Sarah later to see if Can I Have a Whoop, Whoop! is posted.  Take some time to see what's going on in the Internet quilting world.  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie