Monday Meanderings 12 - 16 - 2024

It's been a week! I was going to write my blog on Monday instead of Sunday but I decided I'd write it Sunday night as usual.

First up is concert week info. Our concerts actually started on Tuesday when a group of Spotsylvanians went into DC and visited the White House. I'm sure you're wondering why we visited the White House. We were honored to be selected to sing to visitors as they toured the White House to see the amazing decorations. We were set up in the State Dining Room between two huge Christmas Trees.  

We sang a cappella for about an hour and three quarters.  Visitors to the House were walking behind the table in the bottom of our picture.  I was amazed at how many people were going through seeing all the wonderful decorations.  And, how many people stopped to listen and to video us as we sang. (Hum, I now have a little experience with the paparazzi!) (Note: I'm on the left in the back row just about under the sconce. Pat's center front with the red tie.) 

After singing we were delighted to find out that we could leave by taking the tour of the House. (They could have taken us out the back way and we'd never see all the wonderful decorations and these historic rooms.) 

At this point we've been checked in, given WH visitors passes, and gone through metal detectors. (Um, I was pulled over for a handheld wand over my front and back.  Who knew bra hooks would set off the detector?) 

The sparkling chandelier was augmented with a reflective canopy to give the feeling of a peaceful snowfall.  It was stunning.  Heck, the chandeliers alone were amazing.  There were 3 in the room but only the center one was augmented.

The official White House Christmas Tree was in the Blue Room. The carousel was a surprise.  The pink pennants in the circle at the top of the tree feature the names of every state, territory, and the District of Columbia. The chandelier is removed every year to accommodate the official tree. This year's tree is 18 1/2 feet tall. 

A friend snapped us leaving the White House through the front door better known as the North Portico. It was an amazing day. There was a lot of standing and walking. But we wouldn't have missed it for anything. ⬇️ I took one last picture as we were walking to the gate to leave the WH grounds.

Just in case you thought I found out all the information about the rooms listening to a tour guide or reading a plaque -- nope. Each family is given a full color booklet. This year's theme was A Season of Peace & Light. The booklet gives a lot of information about the rooms that were decorated as well as the decorations in the rooms. No doubt I'll be keeping this one for a long time. 

We left our house at 6:30 am to meet the bus we took to DC and returned about 2:30 pm. We were pooped out. And, did mostly nothing the rest of the day. 

I'm going to squeeze in my goals from last week here. Surprisingly it was a pretty successful week on the quilting front. 

12/9/24

✅Finish quilting sloth quilt and trim it — all done and returned to Jenny.

✅Finish sewing stash busting blocks into top — finished, measured and stored in the quilt closet.

✅Keep at cutting up scraps into usable squares and rectangles — quite a few scraps were “processed” this week. 

Concert week✅✅✅3 rehearsals and ✅✅✅3 performances — all done!

✅Shop for Christmas presents 🎁 — surprisingly we got a little shopping done. 

Here's Jenny's Sloth quilt. I used a light grey So Fine thread. The quilting design is called Just Leaves. I trimmed it for her and gave it back to her after the concert Sunday afternoon.  

Here's what I'll be working on this week in between all the holiday related events.

12/16/24

1 Concert

Make a table runner

Finish grands’ ornaments

Make a bunch of mini cupcakes for the Va Star Guild’s holiday party and attend the party

Wrap presents

I'm really hoping I can get more piecing and/or quilting done this week but it may not happen. 

15 Minutes of Stitching. Oops! I forgot to stitch on the day we went to the White House. Here are the statistics. My percentage dropped a little. Oh well -- it's still a terrific number! Do you realize there are less than 2 weeks left in 2024? 

W/ending 12/15 — 350 days in to 2024. 

• 15 minute days/week Nov = 6/7
• 15 minute days/2024 = 339/350 days
• Success rate = 96.85% 

I'll be linking up with my regular parties. Please take some time to check them out: Stitching Stuff at Life in Pieces, Oh Scrap at Quilting Is More Fun than Housework, Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, and Monday Musings at Song Bird Designs.  Hopefully I'll be back with more quilty news next week.  With only 1 concert left to sing, life is calming back down. Oh, except Christmas prep. 

I leave you with my starring roll in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at the concerts this weekend. A friend from the neighborhood chorus gave me the nose and a bunch of us will be wearing them at that concert.  I snuck mine on at the Spotsy rehearsal and started singing Rudolph with the rest of them.  I was hamming it up. I checked with our director afterwards to make sure she was ok with it.  My first review -- it was great and I was very cool. Yes, do it for the shows. So of course I hammed it up a bit more for the two concerts. Another review came in -- "she was really having a good time with that song." Well of course I was! On the other hand none of the grand kids had much to say about it. One might have been in shock but she wasn't saying anything about it.  

PS -- I didn't think to take this picture while still dressed in concert black. So I decided it was fine if I took it in my bathrobe against my closet door! The things I'll do for a laugh! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 12 - 9 - 2024

It's concert week+ this week. We'll be singing 3 concerts with the Spotsylvanians.  We've got 3 rehearsals this week although one is with our neighborhood group -- The Heritage Singers.  Their concert will be on Monday 12/16th.  This coming weekend is overloaded.  So, if you don't hear anything from me this week don't be surprised! 

I didn't do very well on my goals this week.  Although I did succeed on a few things. 

12/2/24

Finish top made with stash busting block — about half sewn together.

Mail tree blocks to Washington state — ugh, no didn’t even package them up.

✅Bind quilted top — all done! 

✅Quilt a customer top — done! 

✅Sing at the Mall — done!

I was remiss taking photos this week so I don't have any from anything I've done this week. Sigh.

I will say I did make progress on the stash busting blocks. I've sewn all six rows of blocks together and three of the rows are sewn together.  Hopefully I'll find a little time this week to finish sewing the other three rows together.  

Here's my goals for this week. Not much but I'll try to do a little in the studio.

12/9/24

Finish quilting sloth quilt and trim it 

Finish sewing stash busting blocks into top

Keep at cutting up scraps into usable squares and rectangles

Concert week 3 rehearsals and 3 performances 

Shop for Christmas presents 🎁 

Here's the quilt I've got Ruthie working on while I write this blog. (Yea for a computerized long arm!) My daughter Jenny loves patterns by Elizabeth Hartman.  This one is called Sleepy Sloths. These are sloths 3 and 4 hanging off the edge of the long arm frame. 

And here is 1 

and 2. 

As I am typing this Sunday evening Ruthie is on the 2nd to last row.  It's worked really well for me to write my blog and supervise the quilting. (It's done!) 

Just in case you missed our sloth siting in Costa Rica in March here's another picture of him. (I've gotten more informed about drawing circles on my photos. 

I've somehow been able to stitch every day this week. Working on the last ornament counted for a couple of days.  I'm halfway done with the last ornament for the grands which counted for some of my stitching time. Another good week for stitching. 

W/ending 12/8 — 343days in to 2024. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7
• 15 minute days/Dec = 7/7
• 15 minute days/2024 = 333/343 days
• Success rate = 97.% 

I find it interesting that my success rate has been 97% for weeks, probably months. I can't see myself being more successful next year but I'm pretty sure I plan to try. 

Here are the links to the Linky parties this week: Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Design Wall Monday, and Monday Musings.

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie

Monday Meanderings 12 - 2 - 2024

 I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving this year.  We were happy to get together with our family and our daughter-in-law's family. We generally celebrate Christmas together. We'll be repeating the gathering again for Christmas.  Now we're on the slippery slope running up to Christmas.  EEEK -- I have no presents yet. (Or I don't think so!) 

As you might imagine, I didn't succeed with all of my goals this week.  But I'm happy with what I did finish. 

11/25/2024

✔️Make apple pie and a squash casserole for T-day dinner — done and eaten!

✔️Work on last ornament — not finished but definitely started.

Finish top made with stash busting block — a few more rows were sewn but not finished yet. 

✔️Quilt a top on Ruthie

✔️Make a couple of blocks — not too many but a at least 2. 

Mail tree blocks to Washington state — oops. Not yet.

One of the blocks I made was the opposite coloring of the Potato Chip block I made previously. Here they are together.  I'm thinking of using this block for my 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I wish I had an Accuquilt die for the pieces. Instead I'll be cutting a lot of 2.5" strips into 4.5" bricks.  

I finally loaded and quilted a top on Ruthie this weekend. I wasn't enthused to load the quilt because I didn't want to sew the backing together. Was I surprised when I checked the backing fabric.  I had already sewn it together when I first got it. All I had to do was load it and start Ruthie.  Here's the top after the first 2 rows of quilting.  I used Quick and Easy Swirls from My Creative Stitches.  I really like that quilting design as it truly is quick and easy.  

The quilt design is Picket Star. You can find the directions for it on Sew Preeti Quilts. When I get the binding done I'll post pics of the whole quilt. These blocks were made by my friends in the FCQ EQuilters. 

Here's my goals for this week.  I've cut back on the number of goals.  

12/1/24

Finish top made with stash busting block

Mail tree blocks to Washington state

Bind quilted top

Quilt a customer top

Sing at the Mall 

Speaking of singing -- a small group of the Spotsylvanians sang at the Mistletoe Mart on Saturday.  Gee Wilikers! It was cold.  I doubt it was above 35 degrees until after we got home. (I'm the one in the blue coat. Pat was next to me but not in the picture.) 

Life is getting busier with concert season.  This week we we'll be singing at the local Mall.  Next week will be almost all singing.  Or so it seems. 

I took a break from my 15 minutes of stitching on Thanksgiving.  I thought I'd do 15 minutes of hand stitching but no, it didn't happen. 

 

W/ending 11/30 — 336 days in to 2024. 

• 15 minute days/week = 6/7
• 15 minute days/Nov = 29/30
• 15 minute days/Dec = 1/1
• 15 minute days/2024 = 326/336 days
• Success rate = 97.% 

One of the things I did on Black Friday was buy some new backing fabrics. I tend to wait until JoAnns has their Keepsake cottons on sale. Recently the fabric has been selling at $4.99 for big sales.  I found one of my notes that I paid $4.49 a yard.  But this Black Friday Keepsake was selling for $3.99 a yard. I always want to feel it before I buy so I don't end up with a stiff fabric that no amount of washing will make soft or one with a low thread count. I bought several backing fabrics and a big hunk of white on white.  Here's what I got.

So far, I've washed the black and purple fabrics. I've even sewn the black backing together too. I wonder if I could get it quilted this week?  Unfortunately, I ended up buying more fabric than I actually needed because I didn't figure the amounts correctly.  I'll put it all to use eventually but I'd rather I got the right amount.  This will make a small dent in my finished tops.  I'll be buying more fabrics once I use this batch up. And, it goes on sale again. 

I'll be linking up with Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Design Wall Monday, and Monday Musing.  Please check them out if you want to see what quilters are doing around the world. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

 

December Mysteries and Quilt Alongs 12/24

I've been neglecting posting the mystery quilts and quilt alongs.  I'm not sure why. But this month I'll post a few that are still going on and some that are starting soon. 

Bonnie Hunter's 2024 mystery has started. "Old Town" is inspired by Bonnie's trip to Poland. You can read about it here and find links to the various posts.  The fabric choices and the first two clues have been posted as of the end of November.  If you decided to participate, keep going to this link as Bonnie will post each clue's link to this page. 

Coriander Quilts is sponsoring a mystery block of month starting in January.  The first announcement has the fabric requirements. https://corianderquilts.com/cali-co-2025-mystery-bom/#google_vignette . A recent announcement has more details including when the patterns will be available.  https://corianderquilts.com/coming-soon-cali-co-mystery-bom-matching-bella-solids/.  

Corn Wagon Mystery Sampler is in celebration of the Corn Wagon Quilts 45 years in business. A non-refundable $85 charge includes club membership, patterns and finishing kit. Monthly kits are $7.00 each. Check out the beautiful fabric and more information: https://www.cornwagonquilts.com/module/class/570825/2025-corn-wagon-mystery-sampler---silver-celebration  This is basically the opportunity to share the mystery with folks who do not live near their shop.  $$

Stitchin’ Heaven is holding a virtual New Year’s Day Mystery Quilt Along on, you guessed it, New Year’s Day.  The 5th annual New Year’s Day event will be live on You Tube. Must sign up by registering your email at https://stitchinheaven.com/pages/new-years-quilt-along . You can still buy fabric kit until 12/1, or later with no guarantee the fabric will arrive before the event. Patterns are free. 

The Fat Quarter Shop has several quilt alongs and stitch alongs starting in January. First up is Hometown Christmas Quilt Along based on Lori Holt’s Vintage Christmas Book.  More info is available at 

https://blog.fatquartershop.com/announcing-the-vintage-christmas-quilt-along/ . Fabric requirements are already available as a link on the above page. Specific dates will be released on December 26,

Next up The Fat Quarter Shop is offering The Quilted Snowman using Lori Holt’s pattern 'The Quilted Snowman.' The specific start date isn’t listed yet. But the pattern is currently available. https://blog.fatquartershop.com/announcing-the-quilted-snowman-quilt-along-and-stitch-along/ .

Minnesota Quilters is again offering a mystery quilt designed by Suzy Webster. It starts Jan 1. Cost for nonmembers is $47.00.  The directions will be emailed to you on the 1st of each month from January to October. Check out the rest of the information at https://web.cvent.com/event/705efe43-0044-416e-89a8-76de0015f88a/summary . 

Monday Meanderings 11 - 25 - 2024

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has come barreling in this year, or so it seems to me. And we all know what comes next! This week I didn't seem to get as much done as I usually do. I think it's probably going to be the same for the next couple of weeks.  We'll be singing a couple of concerts and a few open air gigs too.  I'm hoping I can continue to keep sewing and especially quilting through the end of the year.  Let's look at what I did get done this week. 

11/18/2024

Quilt a top on Ruthie — I got the backing loaded… 

✅Attend 3rd (last) machine mastery class — done but there is a lot more to learn!

✅Finish another ornament — 3rd done, 1 to go.

✅Pick a block set and make into a top — several rows are done. 

Finish Fall Applique top — not touched! (but I did iron the fabric after it's wash.)

✅Pick another UFO from this year’s list and work on it — that block set above? Turns out the block set was also on the UFO list. Two goals with one project. 

The blocks I was working with are called the Ultimate Scrap Buster. You can find the tutorial for it here. I asked the FCQ Equilters to make this block for me at least 2 turns ago -- so 2 and a half years or so. I got the top two rows sewn but I didn't take a picture of it but here's them laid out ready to sew together. (I am pretty sure I rearranged them a bit after I took the picture. Note to self...compare these to the real blocks so I sew them together correctly.) 

We E Quilters generally make way more blocks than needed for just one quilt. So I have two groups of blocks left to make more quilts. Here's another group. I'll probably have to make another block to use them. 

And I also got a set of blocks that the corners didn't match up with all the other corners.  My plan is to make a smaller quilt but I'll have to make more blocks for this top eventually. 

 

Here are the goals for this week. 

11/25/2024

Work on last ornament

Finish top made with ultimate scrap busting block

Quilt a top on Ruthie

Make a couple of blocks

Mail tree blocks to Washington state

Make apple pie and a squash casserole for T-day dinner

Supposedly I have fewer goals this week. I should be able to get through them all. This week I kept procrastinating loading the backing on Ruthie all week. Sunday afternoon I realized I had already sewn the backing together and it was ready to be loaded. So I did, finally. I'll add the batting and top this week and get it done. 

I spent an afternoon updating my quilts on the to-be-quilted list.  I hadn't updated it since August. Yikes! A lot of tops have been finished.  But I've made a slew of tops this summer and fall. (Hum, I may have succeeded too well at the two retreats I went to this year!) 

I'm also trying to figure out a block to have the E Quilters make me starting December 1.  I've been saving block ideas on my computer for years. One looked promising to me. I have been playing with it trying to make it look like a picture I have.  Here's my first attempt. Sharon suggested it would look better if the red color were used for the four alike triangles. I think the center square is too big and the rectangles aren't big enough. I'll be trying it again and see if I can get it right. Next try will have more spring like colors. I'm tired of the fall colors. I have about a week to figure this out. 

I had another successful week stitching every day.  A couple of days I had to set my timer and stitch right before bed. But I fit stitching in every day!

W/ending 11/24 — 329 days in to 2024. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7
• 15 minute days/Nov = 24/24
• 15 minute days/2024 = 320/329 days
• Success rate = 97.%

We'll be going to our son's house for turkey day. He and his wife like to host her family and our family for big celebrations. (Although we only number 17 at the max so it isn't all that big!) We have a lot of fun and plenty of good food to eat.  We're  bringing Sunny to have a play date with Chewy and for everyone to see her again. (Plus we don't like leaving her by herself all day.)  Luckily I only volunteered for two dishes. They shouldn't take long. You can see why I need to cut back on my goals this week. 

I'm ready to call it a night (yep, I write this Sunday evening.) I'm linking up with Oh Scrap!, Stitching Stuff, Design Wall Monday, and Monday Musings.  Take some time to look through these Linky Parties to see what others are doing these days. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie