Monday Meanderings 9 - 26 - 2021

Another successful week has come to a close.  Let's jump right in and see how I've done on my goals this past week.  It was a pretty darn good week, if I do say so myself. 

9/20/2021

✅Finish orange table runner (see it here.) 

Start sashing UFO --  this might be going with me on retreat.

✅If parts arrive, fix Ruthie

✅Finish quilt on Ruthie

✅Put border on curved 9 patch

This was made with the Accuquilt Go! Glorified Nine Patch.  I'm not sure I would have tried this block without having the die.  It was so EASY to cut and sew those curves.  My mind is wondering what other colors I can make these blocks in.  As to the borders, I'm not so sure about them.  When Sharon visited earlier this summer we auditioned all sorts of fabric from my stash. This is the one we thought looked the best. Um, I'm not so sure now. I'm going to take it on retreat this weekend and see what folks say. I might be buying new fabric for the border. (Click on the picture to see it a little bigger.) 

Yea! The parts for Ruthie finally arrived late Thursday afternoon. After dinner I went down and put the new items on her and got rid of the old pieces. I got 3 of the 5 rows done on one of my small quilts. The next morning I finished it up. I put a charity quilt on Ruthie Saturday and got it finished first thing on Sunday.  Hopefully Tuesday I'll put another one on and get it done so I can pass all 3 quilts off to MB to take to FCQ in Maryland. 

Let's look at this week's goals list.  It's loaded with all sorts of things! 

9/27/2021

Quilt 1 charity quilt

Take Bernina in for spa treatment and do a little fabric shopping 

Prep one last kit, 

Attend Retreat! 

Sew 16 patch sawtooth star blocks 

Sew the turquoise strip blocks 

Start on economy blocks

Short post today. You know the drill:  Check out these linky parties to find lots of blogs to read! 

Oh Scrap!

Monday Making 

Design Wall Monday

To Do Tuesday

Hum, I'll be back to link up the other locations. (Did you notice I even succeeded with To Do Tuesday last week?) 

I'm looking forward to retreat this week.  If I can I'll post something on Friday.  If not come back Monday to see what I was able to do on retreat. 

Happy Quilting!  Bonnie 

September Table Scraps Challenge -- DONE!

Orange is the color for September Rainbow Scrap Challenge and the Table Scraps Runner/Topper Challenge.  I decided I would try to make a table runner using my 4.5" tumbler die.  It's a great size to use scraps.  (In fact, the quilt that has been waiting for the long arm to be repaired is a tumbler using some of my doggy fabric. Inside info -- the parts came and I finished that little quilt.) 

I started cutting one piece from all the orange scraps that would fit on the die. Um, that wasn't enough.  So I started looking at the few leftover charm packets I have.   I finally found enough although I did have to cut into some of my yardage.  Isn't it great? Yea orange! 

My oranges go from very light peach to dark rust and from gold to bright orange.  When this was all done I realized my stack of orange fabrics needs some additions.  (But that is for another day.) The inspiration for this was a table runner Sherri, who writes about quilting at A Quilting Life, showed recently on an AccuQuilt Live event.  Shortly afterwards she wrote a whole post about making tumbler table runners.  So anyone who wants to make one check this blog post.

I found an old piece of Halloween fabric to use as the back.  I had to piece the it so it would fit. The plan was to do free motion stipple on my domestic machine.  My first try the tension was off even though I tested it.  Ugh.  Rip, rip, rip.  My second try it started out ok but my free motion skills are totally rusted.  And the tension whacked out.  More ripping.  Eventually I decided that if I ever wanted to finish this I needed to try something else. So I set up the walking foot and did the "organic" lines.  It worked pretty well.  

It's almost October and I'm wondering what color we'll be working with and what type of runner I can make next.  

Here's one last look at it. 

Up next will be to trim and bind the doggy tumbler quilt.  Then, I need to quilt a new quilt that's sitting on Ruthie.  And I have great hope to quilt 2 quilts before I head off on Thursday for retreat.  If I succeed I'll pass them off to a friend from Maryland who attends the retreat and she'll pass them on to the guild.  Lots to do in very few days. (Good thing I've already kitted up a couple of quilts.) 

Here are the linky parties to check out: 

Needle and Thread Thursdays

Can I Have a Whoop, Whoop? 

Finished or Not Friday

Beauties Pageant 

Table Scraps Runner/Topper Challenge Linky Party

Scrap Happy Saturday 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 9 - 20 - 2021

Did you have a great week last week?  Get a lot of quilting done and the like?  I did too but it seemed to be a slow week for me. I was successful with my goals so let's take a look at them.

UFO -- Roman Stripes 

9/13/21

✅Make Table Scrap Challenge runner — cut & laid out. 

✅Finish cutting out Economy blocks for retreat — finished &bagged for retreat.

✅Work on UFO blocks (need 2 more) Plan sashing — Trimmed blocks, made 3,  ready to sew together.  This pattern is called Roman Stripes. 

✅Make a couple of walker bags — Made 3 and turned into the guild (oops no pictures!)

✅Contact Grace Co. — Ordered new cables and small circuit board.

Here's what's up for this coming week.  It isn't a very long list because as soon as the parts for Ruthie come in I'll start catching up on my quilting.

9/20/2021

Finish orange table runner

Sew blocks together & start sashing UFO Roman Stripes 

If parts arrive, fix Ruthie & finish quilt on Ruthie

Put border on curved 9 patch

Last month I was really good and didn't buy any fabric.  This month I'm going crazy buying fabric and winning fabric.  I won a prize from the Positivity Quilt Along.  I received a squishy in the mail holding these beautiful fabrics. Whoop! Whoop! There were 7 fat quarters and a yard of the burgundy.  I need to start looking for fat quarter friendly patterns so I can make something special from them. 

Did you know Saturday, Sept. 18 was Jelly Roll Day?  I didn't either.  But I did read about it on Facebook.  There was also a link to some jelly roll friendly patterns.  Check them out here.  There are 15 different patterns -- one is probably going to call your name! I shared with my friend Sharon and she's planning on bringing instructions and a jelly roll to the retreat in less than 2 weeks. It's always nice to have a backup project just in case. 

• I'm linking with my regular parties. Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, and To Do Tuesday. (Ok, I've not been too successful on linking up on Tuesdays. I'll really try hard this week.) Join me in surfing the web.  There are lots of things to see out there.

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 9 - 13 - 2021

First up -- August stashbusting statistics.  Oh yes! There was some stashbusting going on during August. Here are the details. 

2021	Fabric In Month	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out  Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
August	-0-	80.875	15.125	105.625	24.750

* Wide backs are now added or subtracted by total width x total height divided by 1440.  I figured a “normal” yard of fabric was appx 1440 sq inches and have been using that for years.  (36” long by 40” wide equals 1440 square inches. 7/21)

I was strong and didn't buy any fabric in August.  And, the Verdant Serenity quilt used a whole bunch of fabric. My total out has surpassed June's 23.5 yards.  Not much but moving in the right direction again. (True confession -- I've already bought 5 or 6 yards but each has a definite purpose.) 

I'm pleased with my goal success.  Not 100% due to mechanical difficulties with Ruthie.  I'll be calling the Grace Co about these issues of the computer not "talking" with the long arm.  I think by buying new ethernet cables I'll get her to work again. (I sure hope so!) 

Here's the list from last week:

9/6/2021

Finish tumbler quilt in progress on Ruthie

✅Finish cutting out pieces for Sawtooth Star blocks 

✅Work on Ombre and RSC blocks 

✅Start cutting out Economy blocks for retreat

I have a good start on making kits for the retreat in a little over two weeks. I finished the Sawtooth Stars blocks and have a start on the Economy blocks.  I've been picking floral fabrics to make these blocks.  The two outside blocks shown below are Simple Abundance from Bonnie and Camille for Moda. I have several more pieces from that line. Maybe I'll pull out all of the pieces of Simple Abundance to see if they would make a decent size quilt. (Which means the other blocks may become another whole quilt....) 

I haven't decided how big this is going to be maybe set 5 x 6 -- 30 blocks.  Or maybe bigger. In the long run the size may be dependent on the Simple Abundance I have or whether I'm mixing other fabrics in.   I'm going to wait to get the blocks made to see if I need to sash it.  My guess is it will help. There's a lot more to be done to make this a kit for retreat! 

Here's this week's Goals List.

9/13/21

Start Table Scrap Challenge runner 

Finish cutting out Economy blocks for retreat

Make 2 blocks for a UFO. Plan sashing 

Make a couple of walker bags 

Call the Grace Co. about cables

Do you decorate with your quilts?  I've been hanging quilts as artwork around my house for 15 to 20 years.  My husband makes beautiful wooden quilt hangers for the walls. We switch out the quilts every few months.  Sometimes the quilts relate to upcoming holidays, sometimes not.  

He also made me a wooden "ladder" to show off several quilts at a time.  Here's the ladder decked out with a lot of the table runners I've made over the years.  Several are from the Table Scraps Challenge this year.  This stands in the corner of our dining room. 

Sometime in the future I will take a picture of the quilt rack he made.  It is in the guest bedroom and has bigger quilts on it.   

Have you seen all the great quilts folks are working on these days? I'm linking up to Oh Scrap, Monday Makings, Design Wall Monday and To Do Tuesday.  Take some time to check these linky parties out. 

That's it for me today.  I'm ready to read a bit and go to bed! 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

A Friday Finish: Aqua Table Scraps Challenge

I'm late getting this posted as I finished it over last weekend.  It's always nice to have a finish -- even if it is small.

Without further ado here's my finished August Table Scraps Challenge runner.

I decided to use my Accuquilt Go Cutter and the 9" Cube.  I picked a pattern I liked, picked the fabrics and got on it.  I really like aqua, teal, turquoise the whole realm of blue greens.  Surprisingly I don't have all that much fabric in those colors.  Hum, I wonder if I use them a lot?  Could be. 

The block design is called Louisiana. It's basically 4 flying geese with 4 rectangles.  I chose to put these on point as I had just purchased a die called Setting Triangles - 9" Finished.  It's actually a design that will cut the setting triangles on the side and the smaller ones on both sides at the top and bottom.  Since I have the 9" cube it seemed like a reasonable add on for me. 

Did you noticed the floor? We've had a portion of our back deck turned into a 3 seasons room. (Or maybe I should call it a sun room.)  We've had wonderful weather for the past few days -- low humidity and temps below 80.  So much nicer than the high humidity and 95+ degrees.  The window and door in the great room open on to the sun room.  We've opened both and the windows in the new room.  It is wonderful with a nice breeze circulating.  We still need some electrical work done (and inspected) and to have the floor installed. And then add some furniture -- which luckily we already own!  

Back to the table runner....

Hum, I'd agree that the table runner is flat out best! (Of course, all the table runners I've made this year are flat out best!) 

Here's a peek at the backing too. As usual all of this fabric came from stash. It feels so good to use stash especially a few pieces I really like.  I'll enjoy seeing this runner on my table. 

Late but happy to share my August Table Runner with everyone. 

I'm linking up with a bunch of blogs today. Please take some time to visit these Linky Parties to find links to lots of great blogs. Here's the list: Midweek Makers,  Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, and Beauties Pageant. Hopefully I'll remember to link up Saturday to SOScrappy for the weekly RSC party.  

Enjoy your weekend!  I need to keep cutting pieces to make kits for the upcoming retreat. (Less than 3 weeks now!) 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meandering 9 - 6 - 2021

The late version.... 

Have you spent your Labor Day sewing away in your studio? I'm jealous.  I spent my available time today cutting out some pieces for my patriotic Saw Tooth Stars.  These stars are going to be a retreat project so I'm focusing getting all pieces cut out.  I have more to do but I'm making progress. I'm hoping to have at least 3 projects precut and ready to take. 

Sunday we were up visiting our son and family. The guys were working on a house project while I was trying to keep the kids entertained while Aimee did mounds of laundry. Overall it was a good day to visit.  Since I have no pictures from the studio to share I thought I'd share Walter and me. 

Walter is a one year old German Short Haired German Pointer.  A month ago he spent two weeks at "sleep away" camp getting some extra training.  Here he is having climbed up on the chair with me.  Hum, I wonder how much that sleep away camp was!  As we've told our son, we won't be babysitting him for many years. Kevin swears Walter is doing much better. 

On to goals from last week. Not terrible but not all that great either. 

8/30/21

✅Finish baby quilt started in June

✅Quilt Table Scraps Aqua table runner (picture to come.) 

✅Work on Ombre and RSC blocks

Quilt doggy tumbler quilt  — started 

Finish the front of one ornament 

9/6/2021

Finish tumbler quilt in progress on Ruthie

Finish cutting out pieces for Sawtooth Star Blocks 

Work on Ombre ad RSC Blocks 

Start cutting out Economy Blocks for retreat

Not much else to share this week.  I sure hope I can make progress on my goals this coming week.  I may also need to find some more projects to work on -- there's always the Christmas ornaments ...

I'm linking up with my regular parties: Oh Scrap, Monday Making, and Design Wall Monday.  Please take some time to surf some of the blogs that link up through these parties. 

FLASH -- Linda who blogs at Texas Quilt Gal has taken over To Do Tuesday.  You can find lots more blogs to read by visiting there! 

That's it from me (and Walter).  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Sigh, Nothing Finished

Usually I have a finish for the Finished (or Not) Friday.  Not this week.  I'm sewing but I don't seem to have much progress to report.  But I do have some pictures! 

Big Stars are a direct response to this post by Nancy at Wyoming Breezes.  I have a quilt (ok, probably a UFO) that I made with various 4 patches.  The shoebox I stored the 2.5" squares still held quite a few 4 patches and I began sewing more together.  

A little later I got to thinking about one of the project boxes I have that was labeled 16 patches.  Upon looking in it I found at least 6 16 patches with red and white/cream squares and a few with blue and white/cream squares.  And a bunch of blue and light strips sewn together.  I realized that years ago I had requested those blocks from the FCQ Equilters and I had already made one quilt from them. Looking at the bounty of blocks I knew I would use them to make Nancy's stars.  They make huge 16" blocks so it will only take 12 and more than half of the 16 patches were done.  

On to the star points.  I took out my trusty Wing Clipper from Studio 180 and got to work.  Evidently I didn't pay attention correctly at one point. OOPS! 

I haven't decided whether I'll be working on these while I work on my Ombre Log Cabins or not.  I'm going to a retreat at the end of September and I like to have projects all cut out and ready to sew.  I may just cut out everything for the other 10 star points and finish them and the top at retreat. 

On other fronts I decided it was time to start up Ruthie and see if she will work for me.  I loaded this cute tumbler top I made with leftover doggy fabric. The first row did fine but the next one has balked.  It won't stitch.  I'll be contacting the company that did the electronics that connect the computer to the long arm and order some new cables and 2 different circuit boards. I'm hoping it will be resolved with a new cable.  Luckily there is no deadline for this little quilt. 

I've been spending a lot of time reading this last week.  The one I'm almost finished with that really struck me is The Premonition by Michael Lewis.  I'm usually not a huge fan of nonfiction but this book reads more like fiction. It is based on real people and the real beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic. In many ways it shocks me -- how inept America's response has been -- way more so than just the last administration's bumbling and denying. The American public health services have been vastly underfunded for years. The for-profit health providers (think hospitals, labs, pharmaceutical and insurance companies) really aren't benefiting people -- they are in it for money. It's a fast read and is only 300 pages (my copy. Although Amazon says it 320 pages.) It's well worth the time and has done a great job keeping my interest.  

I need to get back to sewing.  I'm linking up with Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Finished (Or Not) Friday, and Beauties Pageant. Take some time to check them out.  

Happy Quilting All,  Bonnie