Monday Meanderings 6 - 27-2022

 Welcome to the last week of June. On Friday, we'll be half way through 2022.  Does that shock you too? Time just keeps flying by.  The weather here is now mostly hot and humid which means it is great for quilting. My studio is in the basement so it feels wonderful to be down there where it is really cool.  And, bonus, my main sewing machine looks out of French doors and the outside.  Generally my room has a lot of light as long as it is sunny out. Needless to say, I love it down there.  I spent quite a bit of time down there this past week.  And look at what I achieved! 

6/20/22

✅Finish quilting June UFO -- Done using my domestic machine! 

✅Bind June UFO -- Finished on Sunday. 

✅Bind 2021’s RSC quilt Friendship Stars -- Done! 

✅Work on the Cupcake blocks -- All blocks are finished.

Here are the cupcake blocks ready to be sewn into a quilt top. These blocks are big.  I believe they are 13.5" finished.  I was able to use dies from my Accuquilt 9" cube to cut the fabrics.  I kept running out of fabric as I was making the blocks.  So other fabrics were introduced.  What do you think?  Do all these fabrics work together? My guess is some little person is going to love this when it is finished. Who doesn't like cupcakes?  

Yes, it's been a very good week. Between getting the above items finished I also was able to work on some individual blocks.  

Moving right ahead -- here's what I hope to get done this week.

6/27/2022

Make backing for Cheese and Crackers quilt

Quilt and bind Cheese and Crackers

Finish making the dog toys

Make 3 more blocks for Irma 

Sew cupcakes block together 

For the first time in many weeks we aren't planning to go anywhere.  I translate that into more sewing time.  I'm hoping to get Cheese and Crackers completely finished by the end of June.  (I've been going a bit wild buying fabric in June -- mostly the backing for the C & C quilt.) So if I can finish one more quilt I'll be really happy and hopefully show some great fabric usage. 

Speaking of fabric usage here it is the end of June and I haven't listed my stash busting statistics for May. WHAT?  I forgot all about actually listing them here but I had actually figured it out.  Not the best but I did use more than I bought. Hopefully June will show much more fabric usage. 

2022	Fabric In Month	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out  Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
May	0.75	50.375	2.25	55.00	4.625

More Norfolk photos. On our second day we spent the whole day learning about some of the US Navy history in Norfolk.  First we went to Hampton Roads Naval Museum.  From the water it is called Nauticus. It was full of exhibits on ships although not specifically US Navy ships. 

We didn't spend a whole lot of time in that part of the museum as we also wanted to visit the USS Wisconsin, a battleship docked next to the museum.  

The Wisconsin was launched December 7, 1943, exactly 2 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is huge. This picture was taken from the bow towards the stern of the ship. You can see the 6 forward guns. Notice the buildings to the right of the ship.  I think they are apartments or condominiums.  Would you like to have a view of this ship out your living room window?  

The Wisconsin served as a training ship after the Korean War.  She was dry-docked in 1958. But, that was not the end of the Wisconsin. She was recommissioned in late 1988 and many upgrades of the most advanced weaponry were installed.  She saw battle during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She was decommissioned in the fall of 1991.  You can read more about her here. Pat and I spent quite a bit of time on the ship.  Three below decks, the main deck, and a couple of upper decks are open to the public. We walked through all of it! 

Stern of USS Wisconsin.

After our time on the battleship, we went through the section on US Naval history and ships.  We were running out of time and our feet were hurting so we left to find lunch before our afternoon activities.  More on Norfolk will be coming in the next few days. 

I'm linking up to my normal parties.  I hope you visit them and use them to surf the many quilting blogs people are sharing there. 

Oh Scrap

Monday Meandering

Design Wall Monday

To Do Tuesday

I'll be linking up with the other two parties once they are posted. (Hopefully I actually remembered to link up!) 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 6 - 20 - 2022

So when did we get 2/3rds through June?  You would think time would slow down when you are retired and can do what you want.  I find, generally, that time is zooming by. We spent Sunday afternoon driving up I 95 to watch Natalie play softball.  She had three hits which was terrific to see her succeed.  I also got several of my goals done over the weekend so I was able to check everything off.  Here's the details. 

6/13/22

✅Start quilting June UFO -- about half done.

✅Make June BOM from a quilting life -- finished, looking forward to July's.

Make several blocks: ✅Spider Web, ✅RSC, and ✅FCQ Equilter blocks -- all of these had progress made. See the RSC blocks here. 

✅Make some of the dog toys -- 13 of 20 were made. 

Here's a picture of the FCQ Equilter blocks this month.  It was Irma's choice this time and she chose Jumping Jacks from Missouri Star Quilters. Here's a link to a You Tube video to learn about this block. Irma asked for peach and soft lime green.  Um, I don't have all that much of either color. I want to make a few more so will need to see what else I can find.

I was very happy to finish all of these goals this week.  Looking forward here's what I have planned for this week.  

6/20/22

Finish quilting June UFO

Bind June UFO

Bind 2021’s RSC quilt Friendship Stars

Work on the Cupcake blocks 

Called cupcake blocks because of the center cupcake fabric.  I started these earlier this year but put them aside as I tried to keep up with the UFO challenge.  I'm pretty sure I'll be finishing June's project this week and so will have time to make progress on this one. These Churn Dash  blocks are about 14.5" although I cut the pieces with my 9" cube. Each unit is 5" unfinished.  Hopefully all of the needed pieces are actually cut. All I need to do is sew them together.  I'll let you know next week. 

Now, two more pictures from our trip to Norfolk last week.  It was really cool to stay in a tall, downtown hotel. We walked all over the place. I had over 11,000 steps recorded both Wednesday and Thursday.   Our room on the 19th floor overlooked the water. Here's what we saw straight out of our window. 

To the left midway up were two US Navy ships in for some work. (You can only see the bow of one.) In the distance was another ship being worked on. On the bottom left is the Norfolk sign I showed on Saturday.  There was a lot to see along the waterfront. It was clean and well kept.  Apparently it is also the location of quite a few festivals. 

This Merman was  sitting around outside Nauticus, Hampton Roads Naval Museum. We spent part of the day at the museum and battleship. I'll share more of our trip over the next few posts.  I took way too many pictures so, a few each time I post. 

I'm linking to the following parties.  Please take a look -- you know you need some more inspiration, right? (HA!) 

Oh Scrap

Monday Making 

Design Wall Monday 

To Do Tuesday 

That's it for today.  I'm off to spend some time quilting the June UFO challenge. Because of some floppy ears and button eyes I am sewing it with my walking foot and my trusty Bernina.  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

RSC Saturday

I finally decided to take out my RSC blocks to get a picture of them all together - minus the last blue one that is actually cut out but not sewn yet.  I like the block but I'm not happy with all my color choices.  On the other hand, I'm not buying any fabric for these so, I shouldn't complain. 

It currently looks a little heavy on the red/pink blocks but should balance out over the next few months. We still have orange and purple and probably a few more colors.  It looks to me that my turquoises aren't all bright enough.  I may make a couple more blocks at the end of the year to balance what I have and make sure I have enough blocks for the quilt I'll finally make from these. I only made 2 of the turquoise ones and one actually looks green although it is teal.  (3rd column, 3rd row.) 

Here's a quick peak at where we spent part of this week. 

We spent our 49th anniversary in Norfolk enjoying the sights.  I'll share some more pictures next week.  It was a fun couple of days and I was surprised how much there was to do in Norfolk. 

Now, I'm ready to finish my last blue RSC block and get on to some other blocks I've cut out. Check out the two Linky parties below.  I'm sure you'll see some fabulous quilts and more ideas than you can use! 

Finished (or Not) Friday

Scrap Happy Saturday

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 6 - 12 - 2022

I am so late getting this posted.  I don't have a lot to share today except goals.  Let's start with last week's list. 

6/6/22

✅Cut out dog toys for MAESSR - all have been cut out - 20!

✅Work on pyramid class project - top is together. This is small 32" x 26". It will hang in our living room between the French doors and a window when quilted. 

✅Pin baste June UFO project old doggy top - ready for quilting with the Bernina.

✅Cut and sew a couple more red spider web blocks - 3 cut, 2 sewn

Pretty good week overall. What I'm not showing as a goal is all the books I read this week. I read 4 books and listened to one audio book.  The best of them was the audio book, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave. It was listed as a Thriller and Suspense along with Fiction and Literature. The book club picked it for June. I do not like to read thrillers and suspenseful books.  But, I decided to give it a go.  There was a little suspense but it wasn't the heart pounding variety that makes you look away if you're watching a movie. In the end I really enjoyed it. 

Moving on to this week. Here are the goals I'll be working on. 

6/13/22

Start quilting June UFO

Make June BOM from a quilting life

Make several blocks: Spider Web, Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and FCQ Equilter blocks

Make some of the dog toys

I can tell you I've already made one of the dog toys.  They are pretty fast to make up until I realize I have 20, 19 of them to make. Plus, I don't have much in the way of black poly thread so I may have to buy more thread to make up all of them.  Hum, these toys are fleece - black with multicolored paws on them.  Do you think I could get by with dark brown thread instead of black?  Maybe the thread is buried enough so it won't matter. 

Have you watched the House of Representatives January 6th Committee public hearings?  We have with great interest.  Several things have struck me. First Lynne Cheney is amazing.  I hope Wyoming realizes what a patriot she is and re-elects her to the House. Secondly, is how most of President Trump's advisors told him he did not win the election and yet he persisted in his false narrative. Lastly, I feel sorry for the millions of his supporters who donated to his cause after the election. He raised over $250,000,000 from small donors. None of the money went to the defense of the "stolen" election. I wonder if they would continue to financially support him knowing what is being shown during these hearings. 

Enough of that.  I'm ready to link up with several parties.

 Monday Making

Design Wall Monday

To Do Tuesday 

Mid-Week Makers 

I'll be back to link up to the last two as they become available.  

Enjoy your week and

Happy Quilting! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings - 6 - 6 - 2022

I was hoping that the end of singing rehearsals and concerts would mean I would have more time to sew.  Um.  Didn't happen.  Tuesday which is a day I usually spend the whole time sewing turned out to be a day of errands.  Wednesday I did spend a little time in the studio. I must have gotten more bits of time in there as I made progress on most goals.  Take a look: 

5/30/22

✅Finish SAHRR top — better known as Feathered Star -- top is done unless I add appliqué.

✅Work on pyramid class project -- found more fabric for it, started making more triangles.

Begin working on June UFO challenge - quilt old doggy top -- nothing done other than getting it out of the closet. 

✅Mail out blocks for FCQ Equilters and quilts to Hands 2 Help -- 5 tops in the mail to Cool Kids Clubhouse in North Carolina.

✅Quilt one of my quilts -- quilted, still needs binding.

Yep I made forward progress on 4 out of 5 goals.  Not bad.  I'll be continuing to work on two of these goals this week. Here's what I hope to make progress on this week. 

6/6/22

Cut out dog toys for MAESSR 

Work on pyramid class project

Pin baste June UFO project old doggy top

Cut and sew a couple more red spider web blocks

Short list but maybe I can actually finish all of them. (Hum, most of these goals shouldn't take up all that much time.) 

Here's the top from with the 6" sampler blocks.  The week of May 23rd I listed getting the sashing done on it.  I realized today that I hadn't shared a picture of it on my blog.  

I already have the backing fabric for this one so I should be able to get it quilted and bound this month.  

This is a short post, not much happening in the studio.  So please take a look at some of the links at these parties. 

Oh Scrap

Monday Making

Design Wall Monday

To Do Tuesday 

Hum, usually at least two of these are posted Sunday night.  Maybe I'm a bit earlier than usual.  I'll be back to link up the rest on Monday and Tuesday.  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie  

Hands 2 Help Quilt Challenge

Here are the 5 quilts I sent to Cool Kids Clubhouse in North Carolina. You can read more about them at this post. If you have other quilts ready to be sent out to a charity please consider sending them to Cool Kids Clubhouse. The address is on the post listed above.  It supports pediatric cancer patients in North Carolina and some adjacent areas.  

The first three all have dogs in them.  Hum, I didn't realize I was sending so many dog quilts!  What can I say, I like dogs.  And, I guess I have a lot of dog fabric too. 

Oops -- there are dogs in this Happy Quilt too.  

And for a little difference -- this quilt has a bunny or two in it. 

The center block has some of the bunny fabric in it. 

I'm happy to say that all 5 were put in the mail yesterday.  Here's hoping they go to children who will love them during their treatments. 

You can see other quilts that were made and donated in the name of Hands 2 Help at this Linky party at Academic Quilter. 

Hands 2 Help Final Linky Party 

Join me in surfing these blogs to see what quilts have been made and sent to the various charities in America. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie