Monday Meandering 5 - 29 - 2023

This week zoomed by with a lot of studio time and way less reading than some weeks.  I guess if I read I don't get as much stitching done.  The book has to really draw me in and the one I was reading earlier in the week didn't. The next one up did. Have you read any of Sherry Thomas's Lady Sherlock mysteries.  I just finished #7 and it did grab me and kept me. I've enjoyed all of them -- some as audio books and some as ebooks. Evidently it didn't cut into my stitching time all that badly as I got all my goals done! Whoop,!Whoop! Let's take a look. 

5/22/23

✅Mail two packages of blocks out -- sent out Friday and I bought a pair of shoes.

✅Finish fusing & trimming tee shirts for a quilt -- all done.

✅Put border on APQ UFO for May -- mitered and sewn on in two different colors, fancy! I also need to quilt it but haven't decided what how to yet.

✅✅Trim and bind 2 quilts -- Finished both of them.

Here's Sheep in Boots -- quilted and bound. (Too bad I never think about getting a label on before I sew the binding on!) 

And an up close view. . .

I used Ginger Flower for the quilting design and So Fine thread.  This will be going to a local hospital's NICU via my local guild, Virginia Star Quilters. 

Here's what I'll be doing this week. 

5/29/23

Hem a couple of pairs of pants

Make 2 Flower Song Blocks 

Finish 3 RSC blocks 

Put border on grapes quilt

Doesn't seem like all that much to me so I might work on some other things. You won't see much about the t shirt quilt again until late June or possibly July.  I've got a plan to get one part completed every month until the whole quilt is done. Here's part of one of the tee shirts already trimmed and stabilized. The hard part is coming -- figuring out where each shirt is to be placed and what fabric I'll add to it. 

Yep, you might have guessed, this is a a triathalon tee shirt. My son used to do a lot of running and biking. Please don't tell him I'm working on his quilt. (Yea, I know you don't really know him and I am hoping none of the family actually reads my blog!) 

I finished everything on my Goals List early Sunday afternoon. So, I decided I would try a block I'd been wanting to make for a while.  This is called String Bean and is 12.5" x 15.5" unfinished. It uses mostly 2.5" strips.  I have a slew of them and I thought this might help me get rid use them. Here's a link to Pat Sloan's pattern in case you have lots of strips too. This log cabin variation is very easy especially if you have a lot of precut strips or you've got leftover jelly rolls. 

My plan is to use a solid or reads-like solid in the center and then surround it with a colors drawn from multi-color fabrics that I'll also use. I was surprised to find this very nice hand dyed fabric in a scrap basket. It was a pretty big scrap and I have no idea why I would have thrown it in the basket instead of my hand dye box. I'm hoping to use lighter, spring colors while using up some of my smaller pieces of solids. The hand dyed pink fit right in with my plan. Time will tell whether I succeed. 

That's about it for this post. Here's my list of Linky Parties I'll be linking with:

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday 

Monday Musing 

To Do Tuesday

Take some time this week to visit these parties and join in.  You never know what great idea you'll see on quilter's blogs. 

I hope to publish my next Mysteries and Sew Alongs on Thursday, June 1. Check back if you are looking for a new sew along or mystery to do. 

I was so surprised to see my Peace Lily bloom.  I first noticed it before we went to the beach and I was so disappointed that I would miss its full bloom. I was wrong. It took several weeks to get to this point.  And, I suspect it will continue with this display for several more weeks.  My surprise at the bloom is because the plant is quite old and I can't remember it ever blooming before. Heck, I bet we've moved it at least 4 times.  A couple of years ago I separated it into two pots.  The second one looks anemic but this one has been quite nice and now the added bonus of two blooms. Do you have house plants?  I'm not much of a gardener but I do keep up with several house plants. 

It's time for me to finish this off and get on with my latest novel.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 5 22 -2023

What a week!  I'm exhausted but I really wanted to write my normal Monday post. I did surprisingly well on my goals list so I'm sharing that first. 

5/15/23

✅Quilt two tops — done and done! 

✅Make blocks for BOM for guild —  finished & turned in quite a few different blocks at the meeting.

✅Start fusing & trimming tee shirts for a quilt — 1 column of shirts done. 

👎🏼Put border on the UFO — um, no, didn’t happen

Here are sneak peeks of the two tops I quilted this week. 

Hum, you might notice that these quilts use the same blocks.  They are called Happy Blocks and you can get simple directions here. Mary gives 3 different directions. I tend to change the inside block size and then make the outside blocks fit.  

And here are some blocks I made for the guild raffle quilt. 

Here's what I want to get done this week.

5/22/23

Mail two packages of blocks out

Finish fusing & trimming tee shirts for a quilt

Put border on APQ UFO for May

Trim and bind 2 quilts 

Hum, I sure hope I get all of these things done. But a high priority is to bind 2 quilts. 

Every Monday I head up to our community's club house to join a group of stitchers.  There is a variety of stitching going on along with lots of talking and laughing. I work on whatever strikes my fancy or I want to get done.  Many of the gals make hats using a circular frame.  When I realized I have 4 boxes of miscellaneous yarn I decided I'd borrow a frame and try to make one. (Or more.) (I'm looking at you Alycia!) 

Um, it really isn't a weird cactus.  I had some leftover fuzzy yarn so I decided to try it.  A friend made the pompom and another one trimmed it up. Some little girl is going to love this hat and her mom will probably hate that the fuzzy pieces fall out!  The frame that was available was more for a baby or toddler so that's the size I'm making. I've already made two more that I'll eventually photograph and share. I've asked another friend to be on the lookout for a frame or frames while she does her thrift shopping. I'm happy to be making a dent in my yarn. 

These will go to From the Heart Stitchers in Fredericksburg/King George. Here's a little about them. "Our mission is to serve our community by preserving and promoting fiber arts, creating a spirit of fellowship and love among our volunteers and board members, and producing handmade items which bring comfort, love and solace to others."  

The other big activity this weekend was a dress rehearsal and concert by the Spotsylvanians. Dress rehearsal went well except some crazy problems with the sound system. We were exhausted when we finally got home.  Call time on Saturday was 3:15 as the concert was beginning at 5.  This semester we were only doing one concert rather than an evening and a matinee the next day.  We sang a wide variety of music from  traditional Madrigal, pop music, spirituals, and a several songs from Disney.  We even sang a song in Norwegian!  (Think Frozen.) This was the 20th anniversary of the group so it was quite festive. Two other choral groups joined us.  We finished at 7:30! I was exhausted and I expect the audience was too. The highlight of the night might have been the heavy down pour during the second half which made its own music on the roof and dripped on the altos. Exciting! Like true professionals they moved out of the way and didn't skip a note! 

The group celebrated with a wonderful dinner and party at a local restaurant. (We were all starving by the time we got there!) There were several presentations and surprises before dancing and karaoke began.  Hubby and I were so very surprised and pleased when we were given a remembrance for our 50th wedding anniversary that we will be celebrating in June. (Boy did that time go by fast!) I thought you might like to see us with our acrylic reminder.

We were totally exhausted when we got home. (Again!) Sunday was quieter but I did start and finish a small quilt. 

I'm linking up with my favorite beginning of the week parties:

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

To Do Tuesday

I'll come back tomorrow to link up what ever blogs are available. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Mystery Quilts and Sew Alongs, May 2023

I am definitely way too late on this but I totally forgot about it while traveling earlier this month.  Hopefully I will get something posted earlier in June. Here are the May Mysteries and Quilt Alongs. 

"Through the Block of the Month Club, The National Quilt Museum aims to challenge quilters to experiment with new techniques and styles while having fun connecting with quilters from all over the world, and learning more about the museum in the process!” This starts May 1. You can sign up for the FaceBook group, The National Quilt Museum Block of the Month Club. All previous BOMs are available in the FaceBook files: https://quiltmuseum.org/blockofthemonth/

Positivity Quilt Along 2023 starts May 28 and ends Sept. 3. Fabric requirements are already listed.  Preeti, who blogs at Sew Preeti Quilts, is asking that the finished quilts be sent to Mercy Hospital in Sacramento for their terminally ill patients if you want to be eligible for prizes. Check this blog post for more information:  

https://sewpreetiquilts.blogspot.com/2023/05/positivity-2023-qal-schedule.html.  

Riley Blake Designs is offering a sew along called Wildflower Seeds by Kelli Fannin. Check your local quilt store for the pattern or a kit. Sewing should start on May 25th with the last step, finishing, planned for Sept. 28th. https://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/assets/images/sewalongs/WildflowerSeeds/WildflowerSeedsInvite.pdf $

I missed a quilt along by Jessica Dayon but it is still available on her website. Here’s the information post:

http://jessicadayon.blogspot.com/2021/12/new-quilt-along-scrappy-sampler-block.html. Blocks are 6.5” unfinished. She has patterns for machine piecing, paper foundation piecing, English paper piecing and appliqué.  She has some other sew alongs available if this one isn’t to your liking. Check below her header for Quilt Alongs. 

And here is another one by Jessica Dayon that started in April.  The Nona quilt is being presented on the Bernina's We All Quilt web site. This quilt along is designed to be exceptionally easy and perfect for a first time quilter.  I know most of us are beyond that level but I’m guessing it will be a fast-to-make quilt as it only uses squares and rectangles to finish at 50.5 x 60.5". Here’s the link: https://weallsew.com/?s=Nona+quilt  It started at the beginning of April and will finish the first week of June — that’s for the whole quilt not just the top! (You can type Nona in the search feature to find all the posts about it.) 

If you are a fan of Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs check out the info about her newest mystery, Malted Mystery.  Fabric requirements will be announced July 6. For more information go to her web site:

https://meadowmistdesigns.blogspot.com/p/malted-mystery-quilt.html.

The Quilt Alliance is celebrating their 30th Anniversary with a block of the month for 9 months beginning in April.  Blocks are designed by a variety of well known quilters including Ricky Tims, Bonnie Hunter and Pat Sloan.  If you aren’t a member you can make a $30 donation or become a member. Each month the block instructions will be emailed to you, including previous blocks if you join late. https://quiltalliance.org/blockofthemonth/

I hope you enjoy checking out these Mysteries and Quilt Alongs.  Come back next month to see what I find over the next few weeks. 

Check out the previous months mysteries and quilt alongs here. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 5 - 15 - 2023

Before I tell you about my goals let me just say -- I read 5 books this past week.  So, no, my goals got shunted to the side for the most part.  And, the bigger announcement is Ruthie, the long arm, came home on Saturday!  Whoop! Whoop!  And there went the rest of the goals for the week. Except the one I did get a good start on. Let's take a look. 

👎🏼 Start working on APQ’s UFO challenge - mine is a small wall hanging that needs a border, quilting and binding

✅ Make various blocks to donate -- not finished but some are done, more to come

👎🏼 Continue to make Flower Song Blocks 

👎🏼 Start fusing and trimming  tee shirts for a quilt

Cynthia who blogs at Quilting Is More Fun than Housework has been collecting blocks to make into compassion quilts.  You can read more about the project here and get directions for the blocks. Yes, you get a choice.  I'm glad I posted the link here as I reread the info and realize I don't have to make these three as one block. I think I see some more 4 patches in my future. This drive ends with the end of the month.  I'm slow getting going but I hope to finish several more before I mail them to Cynthia.  

I also made at lease one more block (with one more cut out) to send to the FCQ Equilter this round. She asked for 9 patches for either children or veterans.  I'm making some of both types.  It was fun diving into my fun children's prints again. 

Hopefully both of these will go in the mail this week. 

And here's the plan for this coming week.  Maybe I'll spend more time in the studio playing rather than laying on the couch and reading! 

5/15/23***

Quilt two tops

Make blocks for BOM for guild

Start fusing and trimming  tee shirts for a quilt

Put border on the UFO

*** Oops! I forgot we have a big rehearsal Friday night and the concert and dinner Saturday.  So I may have listed way more projects than I can reasonably do.  I'll let you know next week if I come close to succeeding.

So here's a shot of Ruthie as I was getting a quilt loaded. ( Yep, I realize I don't have any batting there...I'll get it on tomorrow! Just wanted to include a colorful quilt.) I finished a small one today.  Hubby had to do a little maintenance so things didn't knock and ping. He switched how some bolts were placed in the rails which took care of the noise/problem. 

She's been gone for two and a half months. I forgot nearly everything on how to run her! Biggest issue was the password to get into the computer running the electronics for the quilting design. Phew, my first guess was the correct one. Here's a peak at the first top I finished. It's called Sheep in Boots based on the main fabric. I'll show the whole quilt in a week or two -- once I get the binding on. (During that 2.5 month without my long arm I finished 4 tops, two of which I started and finished. Along with blocks for various projects.)

I had a very nice Mother's Day.  My daughter-in-law and the kids made a wonderful candle for me.  But I was laughing my head off when I opened the box.  Here's what was in it. 

Yep, there were two rolls of toilet paper included.  Once I finished laughing I realized it made a lot of sense as the TP rolls prevented the candle from moving around in shipping. Theo and Ellie colored the hedgehogs as book marks for me.  They included a really cute otter card which I assume they picked because of the great day we had looking for the otter statues around Fredericksburg in the fall.  

They also sent this lovely floral arrangement. I love getting flowers and really didn't think I needed any more after the candle and goodies. But I was happy to receive these flowers first thing on Friday morning. I usually take really good care of any flowers that come in by changing the water every couple of days and putting a special powder in that prolongs the blooms. If I'm lucky I'll have these for 2 weeks, hopefully longer. 

I'm calling it done for this post.  I'll link up to my regular Linky parties. Please join me on checking out what folks are working on these days. 

Oh Scrap!

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

To Do Tuesday

I realize I failed to blog about Mystery Quilts and Quilt Alongs at the beginning of the month. (I blame it on traveling. Ok, you don't have to believe that I just kept forgetting.) I'll post it Wednesday.  Take a look if you want to know about new opportunities. 

I hope you had a happy Mother's Day.

Happy Quilting All -- Bonnie  

 

Monday Meanderings 5 - 8 2023

I have had a great week. Pat and I went down to Nags Head to take care of some work around our beach house before the summer begins.  We've had a great spring with rentals and the summer and fall seem to be gearing up to continue apace.  

One thing I generally bring down is my trusty featherweight and too many projects to get done.  This time I finished two tops and made several different blocks. I did have another group of Happy Blocks I could have put together but didn't get to it. I also brought down my most recent finish for a photo shoot. But before I show those let's look at my goal list from last week. 

5/1/23

✅Make extra Happy Blocks — 6 done

✅Sew one group of Happy Blocks into quilt top — top done

✅Sew grape top together - made blocks and put top together 

✅Make some Flower Song blocks — 3 more made 

This was the last project I worked on.  I was happy to get 3 more blocks made.  Luckily I have quite a few additional blocks cut out and sewn into half square triangles.  I'm going to try to continue working on this project over the next few weeks. 

Here's my goals for this coming week. 

5/8/23

Start working on APQ’s UFO challenge - mine is a small wall hanging that needs a border, quilting and binding

Make various blocks to donate

Continue to make Flower Song Blocks 

Start fusing and trimming tee shirts for a quilt

Before the end of April I finished another small quilt.  I decided to take it on our trip so I could get some glamor pictures of it.  Pat and I went over to Roanoke Island's Festival Park.  Roanoke Island is famous as the site of the first attempted settlement from England in America.  The first English child was born in the settlement in 1587.  Unfortunately the settlement vanished and no one knows what happened to the people living there. You can read a bit about here and here. 

It was a beautiful sunny day with a bit of wind.  As usual, I took way too many photos and chose only a few to share. 

Pat fighting the wind. 

 

Using my 9" Accuquilt Cube I was able to make a 14" unfinished block. The quilt is approximately 41" square.  You can make this block using any cube using shapes 1,3, and 9.  The block will be larger than your cube size. (Basically it will be about 3 times the size of your shape 1 excluding the seam allowances.)  

There was this interesting stage that also let you enjoy the water view. 

On a tree!

On our back deck.  The backing fabric is a wide back from Connecting Threads called Cobblestone in Light Honeysuckle. I did not use it in the top but I did use it to bind the quilt. 

I have way too many tops to turn into quilts -- I'm still waiting for my long arm to come back. Once that happens I'll be spending more time getting tops finished.  I've run out of the plastic hangers I use to keep them neat. 

It's time to share my favorite Linky parties. I hope you can use one of these as a jumping off source to see a whole lot of blogs chock full of great ideas! 

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

To Do Tuesday

Here's hoping you have a Quilty week! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie