Monday Meanderings 12 - 22 - 2025

Merry Christmas 

It's hard to believe that Christmas, Hanukah, and other December holidays are here.  Doesn't it seem that it was just last week when we were complaining about the heat in July?  And, I know I have complained about how cold it was at the beginning of December.  But now the temperature is cool not freezing-your-nose-off-cold like it was earlier in the month.  It was a chilly but pleasant walk with Sunny tonight.  She has a very nice fur coat and doesn't seem to want anything else when she's outside.  I bundle up though. 

My goals were over ambitious this past week.  

12/15/25

✅Baste Tall Trees and start quilting it — Basted and quilting is started but there’s a lot more to do. 

✅Quilt customer quilt— done and returned. 

Finish December clue for Magnificent Mystery —not even close. 

Make last block for Cali-co mystery — not started. 

At the beginning of the week I pin basted the Tall Tree.  You can see the sections of the tree well here.  I am stitching in the ditch around each section. Which also means tying off the threads and burying them. It's very time consuming.  So far I've finished all the green sections of the tree. I'm about half done with the white sections.  I haven't done anything on the tree skirt section though.  

My other issue with this is how big some of the pieces are, especially the whites. I used a light polyester batting to cut down on weight. But it needs quilting every 4 inches.   I've spent a bit of time trying to figure out what to do in the bigger spaces. I made a couple of sample sandwiches and tried out different thread and different designs.  

Here's the first one I did. I was thinking of sewing snowflakes on to the white section.  And below is sample 2. Hum, these didn't photograph well so I hope you can see what I'm thinking of doing, 

I'm going to use the serpentine stitch shown in sample 2 for the whites. I plan to do it with a light blue probably wider spaced than these two rows are. Then I'll add some snowflakes (or stars depending on what you think they are) scattered in between the serpentine stitches. Oh, and I'm going to do the serpentine stitch parallel to the sides of the quilt. I chose a light poly for the batting as I assume it will hang better from the quilt rack. (As in not fall off due to the weight!) I'm pretty sure this won't be done by Christmas but it may be done by the end of the year. If it is, I plan to hang it in the great room for a few weeks.  

I had a lot of fun quilting this top for my friend Nancy.  It is an Elizabeth Hartman pattern called "Look Out."  She did a wonderful job on it. And, picked a great quilting design for it.  Here's a pic right after the quilting was done. There is another row of trees on the top. 

Nancy chose Quick and Easy Swirls (by My Creative Stitches) to give the appearance of wind blowing through the trees.  I think it looks fabulous.  She was delighted when I finished it in time to return it in less than a week. 

Now let's look at what I hope to do this week. 

12/22/25

Wrap presents and send cards

Make final Cali-Co block and start on setting them

Work on Magnificent Mystery clue

Prep snowman block for hand stitching

I have succeeded again in stitching every day.  

W/ending 12/21/25. 355 days of 2025

• 15 minute days/December 14/14
• 15 minute days/2025 = 353/355 days
• Success rate = 99.4%

I have been very motivated to get my 15 minutes of stitching every day this year. (Or at least most days!)  I probably will sign up for it again in 2026.  It's easy to do and keep track of so it's a win-win deal.

I'll be linking up with these blogs this week. Take some time to check out some of the bloggers who are listed on them.

Life in Pieces

Oh Scrap

Quilting Patchwork and Applique

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

I finally posted the December Mysteries and Sew Alongs this week.  Check it out here. 

Here's hoping all of you have an enjoyable holiday week.  We'll be going up to our daughter's family in Maryland along with our son and his family.  It will be great fun to get together again. Luckily, Sunny is invited too. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie