Monday Meanderings 10 - 13 - 2025

Hello All!  This will be a short post as I'm nearly ready to go on retreat. It's about 3.5 hours away and hopefully will be an easy drive. (Let's hope there is minimal to no rain for the drive!)  This should be a  somewhat shorter post.  Look for more photos next week at this time! 

Here's my goals from last week. Not that many green check marks. 

10/6/25

Make sections 3 & 4 of Tall Trees — nothing done.

✅Figure out fabric usage stats — finished but will post later. 

✅Work on clue 4 of Marvelous Mystery — Clue is done. Yea!

✅Organize and pack for retreat 10/13 — Organized but only partially packed. But things are ready to go into the suitcase. 

Not many pictures of what I was working on last week. I've included one sample block. Yep a very simple block. I will be making this block with a group of turquoise fabrics with a yellowish green. Doesn't that sound weird. But the fabrics look good together.  Once the blocks are made I'll figure out the layout. It is going to be baby quilt so it is fairly small to meet the requirements of the hospital the guild donates them to.  this is 4.5" finished.  I have a 9" AccuQuilt Cube so I used dies from it for this block.  And, yep, this pink one is not going into the quilt! 

Here's what I've got planned for the coming week. 

10/13/25

Have a great time at retreat

Finish at least 4 of 6 projects

Start loading a quilt on long arm  when back home

Nope, not much listed.  I don't know which projects I'll work on. Although I'd love to finish all 6 I probably won't. I'm being realistic. 

My daily 15 minutes of stitching continues. Truth -- after I finish writing this post I plan to stitch for 15 minutes before bed...I'll change this info if I can't get it done! Just finished about 25 minutes of stitching on a needlepoint. If I hadn't already packed up my current knitting project I would have worked on it. YEA! Still at 100%.

W/ending 10/12/25. 285 days of 2025

• 15 minute days/October 12/12
• 15 minute days/2024 = 285/285 days
• Success rate = 100%

Last week I finished quilting and binding a small quilt. This week I took some photos of Whirl quilt I finished to share. It was a windy, cloudy and sometimes rainy day so only indoor photos of Whirl. 

Whirl is the name of the block. I used my AccuQuilt 9" Cube for these blocks that were made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2022. These were left over after making a bigger quilt. You can see the other blocks here, here, and finished quilt here. I noticed I called it Spinner rather than Whirl. Whirl is the name on the Accuquilt block pattern. 

Here's the back of Whirl. That's the purple fabric I bought earlier as a bolt from Marshall Dry Goods.  I'm pretty sure I'm down to about 2 to 3 yards left on the 15 yard bolt. But I still have a lot of big scrap pieces left.  I may be using it for years to come! 

Here's an unclose picture of the quilting on Whirl.  I'm pretty sure I used a white So Fine thread. The pattern is Rhapsody Edge to Edge Leaf.  (Again, from My Creative Stitches.) 

Please take some time to check out other bloggers via these Linky parties. I may not get the last two linked on Monday morning. But the computer is going to retreat too so I will get to it eventually!

Life in Pieces

Oh Scrap 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings. 

I'll finish this up with a before and after picture of Sunny.  Here's what she looked like before grooming this past Friday. 

And after her grooming.  I bet she can see a whole lot more of the world now! 

I've learned to make her next appointment while dropping her off for grooming. Her groomer is very busy! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 10 - 6 - 2025

Talk about productive weeks!  I was so tuned into my quilting that I got a lot done -- both on and off my goals list.  Now if I could just remember what all I did off list!  We sang at the Spotsylvanian's Cabaret on Saturday evening.  Of course, there was a rehearsal the night before.  It was a much smaller area and drew a nice crowd. The chorus sang 6 songs with various individuals, duets and small groups also singing. It was a lot of fun.  Last year we missed it because of a wedding.  Now, on to the quilting goals.

9/29/25

✅Finish clue 1 of Magnificent Mystery — well, not finished but a good start was made.

✅Finish sewing down ombré Log Cabin binding — Done! pictures to come later.

✅Quilt and bind another top — Done. 

✅Make some more Economy blocks — 2 or 3 more finished! 

✅Make section 2 of Tall Tree — Done! 

I had pretty specific goals last week. Because I've changed my fabric usage statistics to quarterly and Sept. 30 was the end of the third quarter I was determined to finish one more quilt and the large, Ombré Log Cabin. And I am so happy to report I finished both! I'm not sure when I'll be able to get some pictures but I will maybe this week or after I'm back from retreat. 

It turns out I've misnamed the Magnificent Mystery clues. September was actually Clue 3 but the first clue to sew.  So this week I started Clue 4 which I'll have all of October to finish. Here's the picture of some of the finished units. These were called Irish Chain blocks. The dark fabric is actually deep purple. I finished less than 20 of the 60 blocks needed. But most of the strip piecing was sewn and I just need to cut them into the various rows and sew them up. Magnificent Mystery details can be found on Meadow Mist Designs web site. It's not too late to start this project!  (Note: as of 10/5 Cheryl has not added the current clue info to the linked page. But she will do it. All the other links are live so you could start catching up!You can also click on the October link on the sidebar.) 

And, check out my Tall Tree! (Sorry for the dark picture. The sun goes down earlier and earlier.  I should have taken the pic by 2 pm or so when more outdoor light comes into the studio.) These sections have been very easy to do. In fact, I thought I might do an extra section this week but rehearsal and the concert took up more time than I thought it would. Maybe I'll get 2 done this week. (I'm not planning on taking this project to retreat.) 

Now what needs to be done this week? More retreat prep for the most part and a few more projects I want to move forward! 

10/6/25

Make sections 3 & 4 of Tall Trees

Figure out fabric usage stats

Work on clue 4 of Marvelous Mystery

Organize and pack for retreat 10/13

This week has a lighter load as I'm not sure how many more projects I might want to cut and take to retreat next week.  I always precut my projects so I don't need to be cutting while I chatting! Let's just say my concentration is pretty scattered. But we have a lot of fun. 

I've been able to sew every day this week. Here are the stats!  

W/ending 10/5/25. 278 days of 2025

• 15 minute days/September 30/30
• 15 minute days/October 5/5
• 15 minute days/2024 = 278/278 days
• Success rate = 100%

I've decided to make some more blocks to go with 5 leftover blocks from one of my turns with the FCQ Equilters.  No need to have these blocks sit around longer. Let's get more blocks done and then a quilt top.  I think I'll cut out several more blocks and take them on retreat to finish. These will be trimmed to 9.5".  So, how many more do I want to make?  Hum, if I plan a top 4 x 4 I'd need 11 more blocks. The quilt would be 36" square.  I may need to make more as I don't see these as baby quilt blocks.  What do you think? This block design was from the book California Cruisin' from Terry Atkinson.  From what I can tell you can only find it used. 

I did finish two more RSC potato chip blocks for September.  The October colors are brown and black. I haven't decided if I'm going to add either or both of those colors. I tend to only use the brighter colors.  I've made two 12" block each month except September when I made 4 blocks. I need to give some thought to how big I want to make this quilt and whether I need to make a few more blocks.  I probably won't make any decisions for a while. 

I hope you can spend a little time checking out blogs this week.  I tend to spend time on Mondays checking out blogs but often that is the only time I do.  Here's some Linky parties for you to check out. 

Stitching Stuff

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

October 2025 Mysteries and Sew Alongs

Fat Cat Patterns has a block of the month program going on now. There is an enrollment fee. For Mother Cluckers it’s $12 while buying the complete pattern immediately is $24.00. It started in August and runs through April 2026. For more info https://fatcatpatterns.com/boms. Don’t forget to check out some of their other offerings. $

Spooky Season Sampler: 9 designers offering a free Halloween -themed block every day. Runs from October 1 - October 10. For more information https://cottonandjoy.com/pages/spooky-season-sampler?utm_campaign=sampler-welcomeemail1&utm_content=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=flodesk Blocks are large and rated beginner to intermediate.  If you sign up you are also signing up to receive emails from all 9 designers. You can unsubscribe at any time though. (Hum, maybe wait until after you’ve gotten all the blocks.)

Check out the Pennsylvania Dutch Heritage Sew Along at https://suzyssitcom.com/2025/09/pennsylvania-dutch-heritage-sew-along-block-1.html. Suzy’s SitCom offers a new block each month on the 15th available free for one month only.  The fabric requirements and the first block is currently available. (Block 1 is only free until mid October.) Check out her other boms currently going on by clicking on Craft Tutorials and then choosing Free Patterns. There are currently 4 blocks of the  months, some ending in October and some continuing for several more months. If you want any of the complete patterns go to Quilt Pattern Store. Free for current month, $ if you don’t get the block while it is free. 

Frequently the Fat Quarter Shop has been featured in this column.  This month they have nothing new starting. But I thought I would add the link to their free quilt patterns. Check them out here: https://blog.fatquartershop.com/category/free-pattern/  If a mystery or sew along doesn’t spark your interest maybe one of these patterns will.  

As always if the link doesn’t work, you can copy the address and paste it into your browser.