Monday Meanderings 2 - 24 - 2020

Lots of stitching got done this week.  Nearly everyday I spent time in the studio.  Be prepared for some peeks at what I got done. 

First up a flannel monkey quilt that I made with my friend Marlyn.  I didn't get a pic of it finished but here it is on Ruthie.  I used Modernish 3 by Barbara Becker.  It's available from Urban Elementz.  We started and finished it in 8 days! Lucky for Marlyn all the fabrics were from her stash.  I found a bunch of flannel in my fabrics so we've started another one.  But, we won't be that fast. 

Next up is the Challenge quilt from Faithful Circle Quilters.  Participants were given a bag of fabric and were told to make a quilt.  The finished quilts will be donated to the charity of our choice after being shown in FCQ's show this April.  My bag had a big piece of dog fabric (3 yards if I remember correctly), a 1/2 yard of big elephants, a slew of partially used solid fat quarters in browns, blacks and cream.  There were two metallic fabrics and a couple of multicolored geometric pieces.  I am focusing on the dog fabrics and the go with browns and cream.  Here's what I've done so far. 

 This is considered one block.  It will finish at 16" in the quilt.  I'm planning on setting it 3 x 4 which will end up 48 x 64".  If I have enough left of the dog fabric I might try to make it larger.  But I suspect I will run through all of the doggy fabric and all the go-with fabrics.  I've already been cutting up some of my solids that will work.  (Hey, I'm always up for using up older fabric!)  Half of the larger pieces have been cut horizontal so that the smaller blocks will be either on top of the bigger piece or underneath it.  It should work well to highlight the dog fabric.  It needs to be completed before the gals come for the In House Retreat in March.  The gals from Columbia can take it up to FCQ along with the quilts I'm entering in the show. 

I've also been knitting like a fiend.  One of the gals in the stitching group at our clubhouse mentioned there was a need for fingerless mitts for chemo patients.  She shared the pattern and I've been knitting up some leftover yarn that works fine for these.  First up the first pair I made. (This is a more mellow color than what the pic shows.)  I took these on vacation to finish but couldn't figure out where I'd put them.  I finally decided I must have left them on the ship.  No, I had them hiding beside my dresser out of view.  

I've made two other pairs since these.  Here's fourth pain on my needles now.  (And, no these aren't really teal -- they are kelly green!) This is such an easy pattern to make up.  I usually can finish a pair in 4 nights of watching TV for 2 hours a night.  I like the idea of using the yarn I have on hand for a good cause.  One pair I made the ribbing of the cuff and fingers a different color but decided that didn't work so well.  (plus I pretty much ran out of the extra color and had to make the second one slightly different.) 

I plan to stop working on these after I finish the green pair because I still have a 20 year old quilt I'm hand quilting.  I would LOVE to get that thing done.  I haven't touched it for quite a while but I "think" I'm getting close to the end.  

When last I left my "travelog" we were in Panama sightseeing around the Panama Canal and Lake Gatùn.  Here is a collection of animals I photographed in Panama and Cartegena, Columbia.  When the tour bus returned to the cruise dock we were let off quite a distance from the ship.  We had to go through a little forested area and a shop to be able to walk back to our ship.  I was complaining about having to walk so far until I saw these peacocks. 

I decided this was pretty cool and took several pictures of the various animals there. These parrots were especially beautiful. 

And, how about a flock of flamingos? 

The next three pictures were taken while on our tour after we went through the Panama Canal.  First up is a sloth that was lazing away in a tree in a nature walk at the Panama Canal Expansion Visitor Center. Yes, I took this picture.  Since they don't move much I was able to get a pretty decent picture of him (her?) 

There were beautiful butterflies flitting around too.  When they landed on a leaf or branch they closed their wings so they pretty much blended in with the tree.  But when they were flying around their beautiful vivid blue on top of the wings showed. I tried to talk one into posing but he just wasn't interested in it! 

Next we took a small boat tour around a cove on Gatùn Lake.  And, golly gee!  We sighted another sloth. Our guide said one was a two toed and the other a three toed.  Ok, I admit, I can't see the toes on either of these guys.  

As we motored around the lake our guide was watching for other interesting animals to share with us.  We did see an alligator but he was pretty hard to see and my picture barely got him.  We also saw several monkeys cavorting in the trees.  Here's the "best" shot I could get on any of them! 

Yep, he's got his back to us sitting in the tree.  After we finished the boat tour of the lake we took a walk in the rainforest.  I took quite a lot of pictures but nearly all of them were trees or vegetation and I have no idea why I took the pictures.  I'll save you from the tree pictures!

I'm linking up with my regular linky parties: Oh Scrap, Monday Making, and Design Wall Monday.  I'm hoping I can spend a bit more time browsing the internet this week.  I'm looking forward to going to the Mid Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton, Va on Thursday.  Since our local quilt shop went out of business, I've got a pent up desire to buy some things.  (um, did I mention I bought some solid red and solid blue cottons for a QOV and a hunk of flannel for a backing of the next flannel quilt?)  It is not going to be a pretty month when I report my fabric use statistics in March.  Sigh.  But, when I try to grab go with fabrics for some of my fabrics I just don't have all that much.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie