Monday Meanderings 6 - 8 - 2026

Recently beginnings of my post have been weather related, especially through winter and a semi-wet spring.  Summer has finally hit (with a vengeance) and we are in the hot, humid and repeat stage. Which will probably be the case for the whole summer. I'm lucky because my studio is in the basement which is naturally cooler.  In fact after a few hours down there I usually need to put on a light sweater or come up stairs to warm up.  I see a lot of sewing going on this summer. 

I did pretty well on my goals this week. Most progress came at the end of the week rather than the beginning. Here's what I did. 

6/2/2026

✅✅Quilt two of my quilts — One baby top and one throw top quilted! 

✔️Make some hollow 9 patches - just one finished but a couple more cut out. 

✅Knit more kid-size beanies — one done, one more started.

✅Stitch on Snowman #2 — a little stitching done. 

Cut one quilt kit - not even planned! 

So the big finish was quilting two tops.  The first one I did was scrap blocks made by my FCQ E Quilter's group.  I don't remember when I got these blocks but I made the top last year.  I purchased the backing at a local store probably last month. 

The block is the Ultimate Scrap Busting Quilt Block by Create with Claudia.  You can find the block here: https://www.createwithclaudia.com/2019/08/scrap-busting-quilt-block-tutorial/.  I really like how vibrant the colors are and the way it looks like it has been sashed. Nope, that is part of the block. 

I chose Feather Late Than Never, by My Creative Stitches,  for the quilting design. It stitched out beautifully.  I chose a beige thread -- it doesn't stand out very much so  maybe I should have picked a different color. 

Here's some of the back and a close up of the front. The backing is little flowers in fall colors on a beige background. I will probably use that leftover fabric in a small quilt with other autumn colors. This picture definitely doesn't show it off well.   

I also quilted a baby top. I've decided to call this Bubbles and Checks. (That blue fabric has little checks in it.) All the fabric came from my stash.  So I think of it as a free quilt! For the back I used the last larger piece of the purple from the bolt I got from Marshall Dry Goods a year or so ago.  I still have odd ball scraps from it so I'll be using it for years to come!  (You can just see it in the upper left of the picture.) 

I used Hills and Valleys #1, again from My Creative Stitches.  I check the web site to see what they recommend for nesting, whether it had overstitching and the size it was designed at.  Yes on nesting, no on overstitching. It was pretty close to a square design.  I thought that made a lot of sense for a square quilt. (36" x 36" basically.) 

I also tend to read the reviews to see if there is any more information shared there.  Yes, many folks said it stitched out quickly.  Yep. It really did. I think it took about 3 minutes to stitch each row.  It dawned on me closer to the end of my 7 rows why it stitched out so fast.  Each row was like a half a row.  It needed to be tightly nested to make it look like a full row.  And this was done really quickly with no problems. See the close up 👇. It creates lots of nice texture. 

And this week I'll be trying to get these items done, or at least moved forward. 

6/7/26

Bind 2 quilts

Knit more kid-size beanies 

Stitch on Snowman #2

Cut one quilt kit

Make more blocks for Veronica, Hollow 9 patch, & E Quilter blocks 

Attend Country Piecemaker's meeting and class 

I did a little off list sewing this week. Pat W chose blocks for the EQuilters to make her during May and June. She wants them child oriented with bright colors. She chose Jenny Doan's Two Step Quilt. Here's the link to the directions if you want to make it yourself. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r7eObCvo9H4.  I've decided that each of my blocks is good individually but they are pretty busy together. Or, I haven't arranged them correctly.  

I was successful sewing every day. Most days were much more than 15 minutes. 

Week ending 6/7/26:  158 days of 2026.

  158 stitching days out of 158 days. 100%

Sharon should be coming to visit at the end of the week. And we'll be going back to Country Piecemakers (west of Richmond) as she is teaching a mystery class.  And, no, I don't know what it is! I'll be sewing along with the other guild members. 

Don't forget to check these Linky parties. 

Stitching Stuff 

Oh Scrap

Quilting Patchwork Applique 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

Oh yes, there is one more item to share. 

The Spotsylvanians sang the National Anthem at the Fredericksburg Nationals, a farm team for the Washington Nationals.  This is the fourth year we've sung and we had a large turnout of singers.  These are mostly the sopranos. This was the only picture I could find that you can actually see me!  After singing we had a great dinner and could watch the game from seats on the first base line.  (And, yes, we had to pay for all the tickets and dinner. But some how we got free parking.)  The Fred Nats won and we actually lasted through the whole game. 

As much as I am enjoying my Monday nights off, I miss these ladies, gentlemen, and singing.  We'll start up again in mid August. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie