Monday Meanderings 8 - 12 - 2024

Debby, the hurricane, has passed by us.  Although our general region had huge amounts of rain, we saw less than 3".  Unfortunately we could have used more.  Humidity was awful for several days but this past weekend has been cooler and less humid.  I actually didn't go outside from Saturday early morning. I'll be out early for my walk tomorrow around 7:30 -- am! Have I mentioned I'm not a morning person?   

Luckily, I did get most of my goals completed this week.  I was wondering if I would miss my last goal by Saturday afternoon.  But I loaded up a quilt then and quilted it on Sunday. Here's what I was working on this past week. 

8/5/24

✅Bind Melodic Mystery — done. 

✅Prep magenta backing — done

✅Quilt and 👎🏼bind one of my quilts — quilting is done but not the binding. 

✅Sew snowball blocks then evaluate whether more blocks are needed — some done, more needed

✅Keep working on seaside top — more finished, but lots more to do 

First up is Flower Song, the top I quilted this weekend.  Here's a picture of it as I started it. I didn't remember that I used this same pattern on the last top I quilted.  

The quilting design is called Sunshine by Melony Caldwell available at Urban Elements.  I used lavender So Fine.  The fabric that I listed on my goals list to be made into a backing is the one I used for this quilt.  I had a different top planned but I really like the new one for this quilt. It is the same fabric as the top border but is magenta with colorful spots.  I'll be using it for the binding also. 

Here's a snap of my design wall -- it's full of blocks and too many odd things hanging from it! I should take a look at the stuff on the right and see if I can put some of it away. 

From left to right: snowballs, half log cabins, bowties, and junk of all sorts! But let's take a better look at the three projects up there. 

I decided that most of these blocks were animals or living beings so the rest of the blocks are going to be animals, bugs, and more living beings. I'm aiming for 36 blocks which would give me a 36" x 36" top -- perfect for a NICU quilt. I've got another 9 or 10 blocks cut and ready to sew.  Hopefully this will be a top by next week.  

I've cleared all of other Rainbow Scrap Challenge bowties off the wall.  These are the orange, blues and turquoise blocks.  It looks to me that most of these blocks look like turquoise more than blue.  I may add some more blues eventually.  But that will wait until all the colors have been called. 

Here are 8 blocks of half log cabin blocks.  I don't know how I'm going to set them but this is an idea. I have at least 18 more blocks ready to sew, with another smaller number already finished.  I have no idea what size I'll make the top in the end.  But I'm having fun making the blocks.  I've precut the strips to the necessary size and then I pick the pieces for each block and clip them together.  That makes it really easy to use these as leader enders. I know, that just sounds weird but it's working for me. 

This week I plan to try to get these goals done. 

8/12/24

Bind Flower Song quilt 

Sew snowballs, maybe sew top together

Keep working on seaside top

Finish knitting hat

Put more fabric away

Make a placemat or two 

Take some time to visit the following Linky parties.  It's fun to see what everyone is working on. (And, yes I get way too many ideas from checking these out!)  Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Design Wall Monday, and Monday Musings.  

Here's my info on 15 minutes to stitch.  

W/ending 8/11 — 224 days in to 2024. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Aug = 11/12 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 215/224 days
• Success rate = 96% (rounded up from 95.98%) 

I found myself engrossed in my most recent book. In fact, I was reading it while Ruthie was quilting away.  I started it Saturday morning and I'm over 75% done as I write this Sunday night. I'm hoping I can finish it tonight without staying up half the night.  Oh, what's the name you ask?  It's The Book of Lost Names by Kristen Harmel. It is based on a true story of a young French woman who learns to be an expert forger in order to save lives of the many Jewish children left alone after their parents are arrested by the Nazis*. It's gripping reading and not surprising, has 4 1/2 stars on Amazon.  I've read quite a few historical fiction books this summer and found them very interesting. *From reading the author's notes about this book I realize the main characters are actually from her imagination.  However there were many people who through forging documents allowed children to escape to Switzerland.  I thought this was a new book however it was published in 2020.  It's still well worth the read. 

It's time to get back to my reading! 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie