Institches with Bonnie: Monday Meanderings 1 - 12

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Monday Meanderings 1 - 12 - 2026

I've had a wonderful week of stitching. I am amazed about how much I've gotten done.

Let's start with goals from last week. OOOHHH look at all the green check marks!

1/5/2026

✅Finish Dec. clue from Magnificent Mystery — finally done!

✅Work on Snowman block — Made some progress on stitching and prepping next pieces to stitch.

✅Make plan for spool blocks from 2017 (UFO Challenge) — Figured out a plan and began on it.

✅ Quilt more on at home round robin — quilting complete!

✅Knit on hat — good progress made.

✅Work on cross stitch zippered bag — the end is in sight. But probably another week or two.

It took forever to make 120 half square triangles and then 60 of the flower blocks that made up the clue for Magnificent Mystery. This is the December clue finally done! I'm ready to do the January block now.

I've got a very doable plan for the Spools blocks. Here's a "mock" up using one of the 12" blocks I made recently. I need to make 2 more spool blocks. I found a great sewing machine block to put in the middle. I'll decide about the filler I'll need around the 12" block once it is made.

No pictures of the other goals but I'll be sharing some of them soon. (Ie, when I finish them!)

Now on to this week's goals.

1/12/26

Make sewing machine block and 2 spool blocks

Work on snowman block

Bind at home round robin

Work on cross stitch zippered bag

Make some miscellaneous blocks

Quilt one of my quilts

I didn't post my 15 minutes of stitching last week. So, here's my stitching report since the beginning of the month.

Week ending 1/11/26 11 days of 2026

11 of 11 days 100%

And, it is time to share my fabric usage for 2025. I was worried I'd acquired more fabric than I'd used. Needless to say, I was pleased with these numbers. And, I haven't bought any fabric this year!

Year	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out Year	Total Out Year
2025	111.75	130.225	18.475

I've kept track of the spools (or cones) of threads I use each year since 2012. My lowest number was 7 and the highest was 30. This year I used 12, split evenly between cones and spools.

Other events this past week ... Sunny was groomed. To see her "hairy" look, check here. You couldn't even see her eyes by the time she was groomed.

I like her look with the cute bandana. She doesn't mind it except when her leash is on. So, she goes without it. I recently was given a bunch free fabric. I was surprised there were quite a few dog bandanas in the collection. I'll be cutting them up too. Luckily some of them were for much bigger dogs than Sunny so I'll get a few more cuts out of them. But I may have to keep this red one for her to wear on dress up days!

Now, about that puzzle. (you can see what I'm talking about by reviewing it in last week's post.) I have to admit I tried to make progress on it. I got the bottom edge totally put together with at least one additional row. The side edges were about 3/4s up. But I couldn't get anything on the top together. I finally decided today that I really wasn't enjoying the puzzle. So I took it apart, boxed it up, and tomorrow I'll take it to the clubhouse so someone else can do it! I don't want to see it again!

In its place is a 1,000 piece puzzle that I've made a lot of progress on. And the pieces definitely snap together well. I admit I spent a couple of hours on it today. Amazing how motivating it is to work on it and see progress!

And here's the pic of the puzzle I'm working on. I've never made a puzzle that had a separate picture rather than just the box cover. Have you? I know those lovely sun flowers are going to be a mess to figure out. And, all those dogs all the same color? Probably difficult too. We'll see how much I can do this week and still reach my sewing goals.