Sunday, March 31, 2024

Monday Meanderings 3 - 31 - 2024

I'm back!  I missed last week because I was traveling and didn't want to drag my computer with me.  So over the next few weeks I'll share our family vacation to Panama and Costa Rica.  Just let me say we had a fabulous time. Our family included our son and his family and our daughter and her family, and us.  There were 10 of us although for a few days Pat and I were in Panama City by ourselves.  I'll be sharing some photos over the next few weeks.  

It was hard to figure out what I was doing before we left.  Here's the last goals list I posted on March 18th. 

3/18/2024

✅Finish another loom hat -- Done and turned into From the Heart.

Bind Spider Web quilt -- Started but not finished.

✅Bind 16 patch r,w,b quilt -- Done!

Bind Zigzag quilt. — Didn’t happen. 

Work on needlepoint scissors case -- Needlepoint part finished.


I made three loom hats over the weeks before we left. I turned those in before I left. 


Here's a picture of the needlepoint scissors case I've been working on since 2017. These come as kits and use embroidery floss instead wool. The designs are already made into the finished project, in this case a scissors case. You can see the excess canvas on the side and bottom.  I'll line mine at some point.  I need to see if I have some fabric I can use.  I'll keep you posted! 



Here's what I think I'll be working on this week.  I am not sure what I should be doing except the quilting for my neighbor. We'll see if I make progress on all fronts. 

4/1

Finish binding on Spider Web quilt

Bind ZigZag quilt

Clean up sewing table 

Make miscellaneous blocks 

Start knitting new hat 

Quilt customer top 


I don't have pictures of several quilts I've finished since the beginning of the year. Sadly it's suppose to rain for the next few days. Eventually I will get photos and share them. 


Even though I was gone for a week and a half I did get some stitching done during our vacation. So here's where I stand for the last two weeks of 15 Minutes to Stitch. I decided to continue the weekly reports so here are the last two weeks.  


Week Ending  3/24/2024

  • 15 minute days/week = 5/7 days
  • 15 minute days/March 21/24 days 
  • 15 minute days/2024 = 80/84 days
  • Success rate =95.2%
And for the Week Ending 3/31/2024
  • 15 minute days/week = 3/7 days
  • 15 minute days/March 25/31 days 
  • 15 minute days/2024 = 84/91 days
  • Success rate = 92.3%
Even though we were gone 10 days I was able to stitch on my needlepoint case several days, four days and at least 15 minutes, if not more.  

On to my travelog! Pat and I spent 2 days in Panama City.  We had a private tour of Old Town and some of the outlying areas.  First up is a pic of the tourists and a statue of Thomas Herrera. In November, 1840 he became the president of the State of Isthmus (now Panama) for a little over a year. Prior to this time Panama was part of Columbia and went back to being part of Columbia after that until 1903. 


Old Town, Panama has numerous old churches we were able to visit.  One was the Church of Saint Joseph. Although it is known for its beautiful Golden Altar I was taken with this piece of art.  I believe it was made with pottery and is displayed on the left side of the church.  You can learn more about this church and its beautiful altar at Famous Historic Buildings.


We had lunch at an outdoor area near a big fish market.  The area was pretty large and several different restaurants were operating there. From what I could tell one restaurant had the first three rows of tables, then there was another one with some rows and at least one other with another group of tables.  At the beginning of the rows there were staff from each restaurant trying to get the customer to sit in their section. Our guide said the restaurants served similar food.  We all enjoyed our lunch. 


I'll continue to share our trip but tonight I'm worn out.  We flew overnight Saturday and arrived at home at 6:00 am Sunday. I was able to get a couple of hours sleep on the plane and about 4 hours on Sunday. 

I'm linking with these parties. 

Goodnight All! 

**addendum -- evidently I was really tired... the date should be 4 - 1 - 2024 but I'm not messing with it now.  Sigh. **

Happy Quilting!  Bonnie 


Sunday, March 17, 2024

Monday Meanderings 3 - 18 - 2024

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day in style. Did you?  See below for pictures of the high tea for the ladies upstairs and other food for the men in the basement rec room hosted by Rochelle and Darren. But first let's look at goals.

3/10/2024

✅Knit socks -- the first sock is done.     

✅Finish last border of Malted Mystery -- Malted Mystery is a finished top!

✅✅Load and quilt two of my quilts -- two done! 

Start cleaning off cutting area 2 -- a large group of fabric was put away and my sewing buddy could even tell the difference! 


Yep, it was definitely a good week for me. 


First sock with wool from Germany is finished. The label is Superba Bamboo Superwash. It 50% virgin wool, 25% polyamide, and 25% viscose.  I had to do a little research to find out polyamide refers to several different forms of fibers made from strings of polyamide monomers, in other words a fiber made with petroleum. Most of us know of it through nylon.  In yarn it provides elasticity and silkiness. (If you have yoga pants they probably have polyamide in them.) The vicose in this yarn is bamboo based. (Or that is my conjecture.) Viscose is made from the cellulose material of bamboo. This material is dissolved in a chemical solution to produce a pulpy viscous substance, which is then spun into fibres that can then be made into threads. (This info came from https://goodonyou.eco/category/made-from/. It  promotes choosing fashions that are sustainable.)  OKAY! Way more than you wanted to know but it is pretty interesting.  On to the picture!

I love the color and the softness.  The design of the sock is tolerated. Who really wants to reknit the whole foot of the sock? Not me. So I'll make a note on the pattern to not use it again. That is unless the second sock comes out looking better, I might have made some mistakes... I'll keep you posted. 


Here's my finished Malted Mystery top. 


The very dark borders is purple. It has a small design in it but you sure can't see it in these purples.  I really like my finish since that dark purple doesn't look as intense in person. It has been hung in the to-be-quilted closet. 



First top quilted this week: 16 patch with stars.  The 16 patches came from the FCQ Equilters years ago. (This may be the second top I made from them...) Quilting design is Fanfare. I "think" this is a navy or red So Fine. 



I'm calling this one Old Zigzag.  I do not remember when I made it. I know it is at least 8 years old because I didn't make it since we've lived here. The HSTs are 2" finished. (I think I might have been a bit crazy when I made this. Or I had a really big leader ender project going on.) Quilting design is Random Clams. This thread is a grey Omni. 


I should have taken a before and after picture of cutting area 2. The left side of the table top is clear to the cutting mat! I still need to do something with the stuff all over the rest of the mat.  I'll try working on it again this week. 


Here's what I've got planned for this week. 


3/18/2024

Finish another loom hat

Bind Spider Web quilt

Bind 16 patch r,w,b quilt

Bind Zigzag quilt

Work on needlepoint scissors case


So, back to high tea... Rochelle, our pianist for the Spotsylanians community chorus, invites the whole chorus to come to high tea at her house on St. Patrick's Day. She goes all out to feed and entertain us. I didn't get pictures before the tea began but here are a few pictures from the during the event. 


She has a collection of different tea pots, plates, cups and saucers.  She has a multitude of tiered serving dishes to put sandwiches, scones and cookies on. And all sorts of additional dishes for serving clotted cream, jam, an sugar and cream.  It was a beautiful with 3 separate tables available.  I have had high tea at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC and several times on cruise ships. Rochelle's was as wonderful.  The company was fun (especially since we don't have a lot of chatting time during rehearsals.) 


Lemon balls and fresh strawberries.

And, honestly, this group will sing anywhere. So here some of us are singing Irish songs. (I was taking the pictures so I'm not shown.) 


People were definitely wearing the green....

The men are invited to spend time in the basement recreation room and their spread included chicken wings and brownies.  Probably more food but I didn't notice as I only went down after the party had been over for at least an hour.  Usually there is cigar smoking for those who enjoy it but they are invited outdoors.  I don't know if there was whisky this year or not. 


I volunteered to help clean up and started in washing all the tea cups, silverware and some of the smaller glass containers for the Vanilla Bean Yogurt/Lemon Lime Curd/Blueberries. Maddie was drying and continued washing when it was time for us to leave. I'd say we all had a great time. I'm hoping she continues this tradition.  


It was another great stitching week. Everyday I spent at least 15 minutes in my studio, many days it was much longer.  My success rate is increasing.... will it creep up to, say, 99% this week? 



  • 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
  • 15 minute days/March = 17/17 days 
  • 15 minute days/2024 = 76/77days
  • Success rate = 98.7%

I'm ready to call it a night. so Please take a look at these Linky parties. 

Oh Scrap

Stitching Stuff

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musing



Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 



Saturday, March 16, 2024

And the Winner Is

After forgetting all about the drawings I needed to do I finally figured out I should get the random number generator busy.  There were 19 people who qualified for the two drawings on my March 6th posting for Preeti's new pattern, Rainbow Parade.  

The first drawing was for the hand dyed fat quarters. Congratulations to Julie who blogs at https://quiltsandcostumes.blogspot.com/


The second drawing was for a free digital copy of Preeti's Rainbow Parade pattern. Congratulations go to Sara who blogs at http://mysewingroomsara.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading my blog and helping get the word out about Rainbow Parade. Just a reminder, here's a pic of my version. 


Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 


Sunday, March 10, 2024

Monday Meanderings 3 - 11 - 2024

Did you see the new pattern I tested for Preeti?  Check my post about Rainbow Parade here. I also posted the March Mysteries and Quilt Alongs this weekend. Check that listing here. And, now on to my goals last week. 

3/4/2024

✅Knit on socks — Progress made, time to knit the toe.

✅Find fabric for appliqué blocks — 3 new fabrics have taken up residence in my stash. 

✅Mail package to FCQ Equilter from last round — finally sent the blocks  off. 

✅Border Green, blacks, and white top — done

Start customer quilt — started and finished. 

Oops -- the chartreuse green doesn't go as well as I thought it did. At least not in this photo.  It's better in person. I didn't have a lot of the green floral fabric so I decided to scatter it across the quilt -- mostly randomly.   I don't think my drawing had 2 flower squares on the bottom row. Oh well.

My friend (and customer) Karen made this very cute Texas Quilt and asked that I quilt it.  I really like what she did.  There are quite a few of these 10" appliqué block with hand embroidery for the details.  Stars are the other blocks.  I need to get a picture of the whole thing to share.  Those blue tape pieces are my marks for where the next row needs to be lined up.  (Note to self, check that all blue tape has been removed.) 


What I forgot to put on my list last week was to finish my Malted Mystery. My friend Sharon and I FaceTimed and sewed each month.  This month she finished hers while we were chatting but I still need to get the last small border on it. Here's what it looks like so far. 

I know the dark fabric looks like black but it really is a deep purple (with a bit of a print on it!) One day I'll get a good picture of this with the colors correct. 

This is what I plan to do this week.

3/10/2024

Knit on socks 

Finish last border of Malted Mystery

Load and quilt two of my quilts 

Start cleaning off cutting area 2


I am trying to get some of my tops cleared out of my to-be-quilted closet. Although I keep making new tops so I probably won't be making all that much progress. 


  • 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
  • 15 minute days/March 10/10 days 
  • 15 minute days/2024 = 69/70 days
  • Success rate = 98%

I was able to spend at least 15 minutes in the studio every day this week.   Generally I spent much more time. I'm happy I am able to keep up the 15 minutes a day plan. 



There's not much else going on on the quilting and stitching front. So please spend some time visiting these blog parties. 


Oh Scrap

Life in Pieces: Stitching Stuff

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musing 


That's it for me tonight.  I'm worn out.  A big thank you goes out to Nann for recommending The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I found it engaging and funny.  Now to see what other books have been written in this series. 


Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

March Mysteries, Quilt Alongs, and Little Gifts

Here's what I've been able to find this month.  Take a look at the mysteries, sew alongs and little gifts. If I don't list your favorites please feel free to let me know in the comments.  I do a web search every month but not all new mysteries and quilt alongs show up.  I do keep track of gifts all month if I see something interesting while I'm surfing the internet.  

Every year the Fat Quarter Shop runs a fundraiser Quilt Along to benefit Make a Wish Central & South Texas. The fundraiser works by offering the Moonbeams patterns as FREE downloads during the event for a suggested donation of $10 each to Make a Wish.  Alternately you can make a larger, one-time donation of $50.  From March to September they will publish a new block pattern on the blog on the first Friday of each month.  https://blog.fatquartershop.com/announcing-the-moonbeams-charity-quilt-along/. $



Nicole Moore of So Much Moore in Store is sponsoring a quilt along using her Churn Chain pattern.  The quilt along will start March 7 and run until April 25. Pattern purchase required. https://www.sewmuchmoore.com/join-the-churn-chain-qal/ $


 Heart of the Home Quilt Along started Feb 29 and will continue to 4/24.  American Patchwork and Quilting published Sherri McConnell’s Heart of the Home quilt in the April issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. Read more about it: https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/quiltalong/heart-of-the-home-quilt-along-2024 $


The Fat Quarter Shop is running a Quilty Fun Row Along using Lori Holt’s book, Quilty Fun. The row along will run from March 2024 to February 2025.  Find more about it here: https://blog.fatquartershop.com/announcing-the-quilty-fun-row-along/ $



Another Fat Quarter Shop quilt along will be running from March ’24 to February ’25. The Piece and Quilt Sampler Along will use the book Celebrate with Quilts. https://blog.fatquartershop.com/announcing-the-piece-and-quilt-sampler-quilt-along/ $



Pat Sloan is offering a free quilt pattern to use while participating in her block a day quilt along starting March 1. For more information and a link to her free pattern: https://www.ilovetomakequilts.com/march-block-a-day-2024.html



Check out Moda’s Pouch Club.  There are currently 10 pouch patterns available.  https://modafabrics.com/tags/pouch-club


Tiny Tulip Pouch is the February pouch at Moda's Pouch Club. 


Here’s a cute DIY Easter Egg Holder for 2, 3, or 4 eggs or candy. The patterns are beginner friendly. https://sewingtimes.net/diy-easter-egg-holder-for-beginner/ 



Do you need a bucket hat this spring?  https://sewingtimes.net/how-to-sew-a-bucket-hat/


I know I won't be on time for the April Mysteries, Quilt Alongs, and Little Gifts.  But keep checking the link above to see when I finally get it posted! Yep, I am definitely time challenged! 


Happy Quilting All!