Monday Meanderings 8 - 4 - 2025

Yahoooooo! Our hot weather has broken.  Early this morning it was 60˚.  And it stayed nice with lower humidity all day.  Although most of my time was spent in my studio in the basement, I did get out a couple of times to walk Sunny. We didn't even have to worry about paws being burnt on the asphalt street.  I finally had a bit more motivation to finish up another of my retreat tops. Most goals were achieved last week. 

✅Put all my retreat supplies away — done. 

✅Put borders on Pretty Please — finished. 

✅Finish FCQ Equilters blocks — completed and ready to get it in the mail. 

Pick a quilt and backing — I picked them but didn’t do anything with it! 

✅Keep knitting on the current hat — finished except pompom. Another one is started. 

✅Work on cross stitch project bag  — more stitches are done. 

Here's Pretty Please which is now named Popsicle. (Pretty Please is the name of the pattern from Fabric Cafe.) Who knows when I'll find a fabric for the backing. 

I also finished the last few FCQ Equilter blocks this week.  I'll get them off in the mail sometime this week. There are other ways to lay them out but this one caught my eye. I quit at 6 blocks. 

I didn't take photos of the hat nor the cross stitch project bag.  Maybe next week. Now on to this week's goals list. 

8/5/25

Figure out next steps for my 1.5” squares sewn into 9 patches

Quilt a top

Prep triangle top to quilt on my domestic machine 

Continue working on the counted cross stitch project bag and the hat

Attend Country Piecemakers guild meeting Saturday 

Here are a few things I worked on off list. First is a triple rail quilt from Even More Quilts for Baby from Ursula Reikes.  When I opened this quilt kit at retreat I had no idea what I had done.  Evidently I hadn't cut all the rails I would need and the focus fabric was cut the wrong size and way too many than needed. Last week I auditioned three different fabrics for the centers. 

Biker Chicks 

Dalmations 

Mickey Mouse 

As much as I like the Biker Chicks I just couldn't see it as a baby quilt. Dalmations would have worked but Mickey won out because I had enough fabric to cut the 4 8.5" blocks and not a lot leftover. Bonus. 

Here's Mickey's Triple Rail quilt top. It's about 38" square if I remember correctly. The hospital we donate our baby quilts to like smaller quilts for the NICU. So this will work great. 

I also decided on my fabrics for the Magnificent Mystery Quilt being offered by Cheryl Brickey at Meadow Mist Designs. (This links directly to the info page for the Mystery Quilt.)  The cutting directions will be released on Thurs, 8/7.  I've got my fabric picked but I'm waiting for my background fabric that I ordered Sunday. 

All of the colored fabric came from my stash. Amazing.  Although I really like the background fabric at the top it's only a fat quarter so I'm not using it. Hopefully I'll like the fabric I ordered.  I bought a bolt of it as I needed some beige-y fabric for bordering one of my quilts from retreat and possibly could use it as backings fora couple of tops. I really like these fabrics and how well they go together. Fingers are crossed that the new background fabric will look terrific with them. 

Another week of 100% on 15 Minutes of Stitching.

W/ending 8/3/25. 215 days of 2025

• 15 minute days/July = 31/31
• 15 minute days/August = 3/3
• 15 minute days/2024 = 215/215 days
• Success rate = 100%

Please take a few minutes to visit these Linky parties. Lots of ideas will pop off the pages. 

Stitching Stuff

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday 

Monday Musings 

I'll leave you with one more photo.  Be careful of wandering seam rippers! This one rolled off my sewing machine table. I don't know if it rolled off through the open area at the side of the machine or whether it rolled off the front. But it landed point first.  I showed the presser foot to show that it was ridiculously close to my foot which was wearing a sandal at the time. 😳😳

And with that I'm done. My quilting buddy Sharon is coming up at the end of the week and we're looking forward to making progress on some of our projects and getting to visit in person for the first time since last October, I think. 

Happy Quilting All.  Bonnie 

National Sewing Machine Day & Some Finishes!

June 13th is National Sewing Machine Day.  I read that we should share our machines.  I have no idea where I saw it but I thought I'd give my machines a little love and attention. 

So here are my machines from oldest to newest. 

This is my trusty Singer Featherweight.  It is from the early 1950s.  It's a slow workhorse that I take to sewing days and retreats.  Unfortunately it doesn't sew fast at all.  Some day I may see if there is something that can be done to speed it up some but in the mean time it is slow, steady and reliable. 

Meet Ruthie the Nolting Long Arm and her computer.  I've had her for 9 or so years when we traded a smaller one in for her. She's quilting away on one of my 3 yard quilt tops. 

I bought this Viking Topaz in the last 8 or 9 years.  I use it mostly for embroidery. I found I perferred my older Bernina for piecing and some quilting. I keep this one set up for embroidery. 

This is my newest sewing machine, a Bernina B 570. I've only had this one for 8 months or so.  It has way more bells and whistles than I need.  It's been fun to learn what it can do for me.  I want to try making quilt labels with the built in alphabets.  Someday I might buy the embroidery module and then sell the Viking. 

I also have a very old Elna Carina which weighs under 20 pounds. It's also good for taking to sew ins and retreats.  I might start taking it along with the Featherweight and see how it does. 

Now on to the two finishes from earlier this year. First up is the framed 9 patch in blue. The FCQ Equilters made the blocks for me a couple of years ago.  I finished the top last year but didn't get it quilted until this year. (I have a couple of smaller tops waiting to be quilted.) This pic was taken this spring -- note the azaleas in bloom. 

And, a close up view. Below that is a picture of the front and back. 

Next up is Traffic Jam, quilt pattern is by Pat Sloan and a free version can be found on her web page here. She also has a pattern for sale which has 3 additional sizes. You can check out a couple of different colorations here as well as finding the link to purchase the pattern. 

I've made a couple tops/quilts using the pattern. One I decided to use 2" squares since I had a ton of them. But I don't remember if this was it or one of the others I've got hanging around.  I used Susie's magic binding on this one.  

I don't remember the exact measurements but both of these quilts are basic lap quilts.  I'lll have to check my pile of finished quilts to see whether these have been donated or not.  

Please take some time visiting the following Linky Parties.  I used to post often on Fridays and these were my go-to blogs. 

Needle and Thread Thursday 

Beauties Pagent

Finished (of Not) Friday 

Off the Wall Friday 

I'm leaving you with a picture of my friend Sharon's really old sewing machine. She doesn't use it but it is fun to see it and the booklet and supplies for it. 

This is a National Rotary sewing machine that was owned by Sharon's grandmother. Sharon has the Certificate of Warranty dated September 9, 1938. Notice the boxes (tied with string!) and the manual by it. Evidently it had a table it could be set into also.  

Do you have any antique sewing machines in your life? 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie

Monday Meanderings 3 - 31 - 2025

Welcome Spring!  We've had a high of 80º one day this weekend and it's predicted for Monday als0.  Wow -- many degrees above normal. Hopefully, we are done with freezing nights! Despite the gorgeous weather I did spend quite a bit of time in the studio.  Here's my goals list from last week.

3/24/25

✔️Make 2 RSC yellow blocks — started not finished. 

✅Quilt one of my quilts  -- done and bound! 

✅Mail blocks to FCQ Equilter -- done! 

Cut out a new quilt — nothing done! 

I have 2 yellow blocks cut out with this one started on the sewing. That will be on the next goals list and maybe the April color too. 

Here's the quilt I decided to quilt next. I had a blue backing that was also used for the binding. 

This is the first of 3 framed 9 patches I've made from the group of blocks I received from the FCQ Equilters. It did get quilted and bound this week.  I'll share the finish at a later time.  This was the biggest of the three quilts...but still only a lap quilt. 

What I find ridiculous is I didn't remember to put binding last week's quilt on my goals list this week. So, yep, I did that one too. 

Sharon and I consult with each other when we aren't decisive about a project.  I wasn't sure about which fabric to use for the binding. I really wanted to use the purple -- I have tons of it.  But it really didn't look very good.  I liked this navy blue which Sharon agreed with but then suggested I use the navy piece as a flange look. I decided to Susie's Magic Binding  It took a bit longer but it does look good on the quilt. I used directions I found on  Aunt Marti's web site. I prefer reading directions rather than watching directions but I notice there is a link to a video in the first paragraph if you'd rather watch how this is done. 

Here are this week's goals. 

3/31/25

Start on April UFO 

Cut out a new quilt

Quilt a top 

Order more backing fabrics

Start another knit hat 

So, start on a new quilt . . . I need some help!  Here's the group of fabrics I want to use.  I think I might throw in another fabric - white, beige, grey?  

But I'm looking for ideas of what to make. The pink, purple, and green is a yard, the green is about 1/2 yard.  The lighter pink is leftover backing. Maybe a half yard or a bit over.  Any suggestions? I think the pink, purple, and green needs to be bigger pieces. I imagine I could get a wheelchair quilt from the fabrics I have or perhaps a child's quilt. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. And, maybe I should look at the blocks on board I have for my Accu Quilt die cutter.  

Here's a quilt I finished several months ago. In fact, when I was trying to figure out how much fabric was in it I realized I had already given it to the guild's charity group.  Luckily I had taken some pictures of it before I gave it away. 

This is 54.5 x 70.5". The quilting design is Quick and Easy Stars Edge 2 Edge by My Creative stitches .  The pattern is a variation of Wayne's Quilt in Smash Your Precut Stash. the book had 12" blocks but I made mine 8" blocks.  

Here's the stats for my sewing time this week. 

W/ending 3/23/25. 89 days of 2025

• 15 minute days/Mar = 30/30
• 15 minute days/2024 = 89/89 days
• Success rate = 100%

Yep another week of sewing every day. 

I'm linking with the following Linky parties: 

Stitching Stuff

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musing

Here are some pictures from spring in our area.  This is our cherry tree in the front yard in full bloom.  You can read about the stages of cherry blossom blooms at this web site. It looks like there are some buds still on this branch. It looks like Peduncle Elongation to me.  The news reports go into all the stages so you learn a lot about cherry blossoms watching the nightly news. I wish our trees were a little more pink but they sure say spring to me. 

We've got one more day of warm weather (maybe 80º) but rain is coming in. Hopefully we won't lose all the petals from the rain and possible wind. Soon it will look like snow on the ground from all of the petals that are blown off the tree. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie  

A Couple More Finishes!

Today I have two more finishes to share. 

First up is a project with blocks made by the FCQ Equilters -- years ago! Yes, I still have several different block sets that should be made into quilt/s. This project used 16 patches made with 2" (unfinished) squares in red, white and blue.  I added 6" x 3" flying geese to make stars.

I used FanFare quilting design by My Creative Stitches.  It looks like I used red So Fine thread. From what I can tell I finished this quilt in March of '24.  I will probably give this to the local guild to donate to a veteran. 

Are you a fan of Cheryl and Meadow Mist blog? I decided to do her mystery quilt in 2022 for the first time. My friend Sharon and I got together with FaceTime once a month to sew the mystery together. I finally quilted it in July of 24.  I think part of the reason I postponed quilting this one is I was undecided on the quilting design. 

I decided to "store" it on the guest bedroom -- there's another quilt under this one. 

Here's a closeup of the quilting pattern. It is Sunshine, by Melonie Caldwell and sold at Urban Elementz.  Can't tell which thread I used but it was definitely a white or cream. 

It's always fun when I can use fabric from my stash. For this quilt I already had this green with bright colored polka dots and possibly the dark green. I did buy the purply-pink and possibly the background fabric. 

I'm linking up with these Linky Parties: 

Wednesday Wait Loss 

Beauties Pageant 

Put Your Foot Down

Finished or Not Friday

Off the Wall Friday

They have lots of wonderful blogs listed for you (and me) to visit.  I've been reading a lot this week and playing computer games rather than spending a lot of time in my studio.  So, it seems like visiting some of these blog posts will be very entertaining this weekend. I hope you do some blog hopping too. 

Every year I drop my finished spools in a basket to see how many I use during the year.  Here's the photo from this year's spool usage. 

I've been keeping track of my spool usage since 2012.  My highest spool usage was 30 and it happened in 2014 and 2017. (My guess is I was embroidering a lot and used a lot of spools of embroidery thread!) I'm happy with the 20 spools for this year. My lowest number was 7 in 2016. I don't know what happened that year. Maybe I started buying cones for my domestic machine along with the long arm. 

That's it for me tonight. We've got more snow coming in over night but hopefully it won't be more than 2" or so.  The temperatures have been staying near or below  freezing since the snowstorm on Monday.  Hopefully we'll see some temps above freezing so the snow will begin to melt.  I'll be spending the weekend in the studio in hopes of making all my goals this week.

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie

Monday Meanderings 11 - 25 - 2024

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has come barreling in this year, or so it seems to me. And we all know what comes next! This week I didn't seem to get as much done as I usually do. I think it's probably going to be the same for the next couple of weeks.  We'll be singing a couple of concerts and a few open air gigs too.  I'm hoping I can continue to keep sewing and especially quilting through the end of the year.  Let's look at what I did get done this week. 

11/18/2024

Quilt a top on Ruthie — I got the backing loaded… 

✅Attend 3rd (last) machine mastery class — done but there is a lot more to learn!

✅Finish another ornament — 3rd done, 1 to go.

✅Pick a block set and make into a top — several rows are done. 

Finish Fall Applique top — not touched! (but I did iron the fabric after it's wash.)

✅Pick another UFO from this year’s list and work on it — that block set above? Turns out the block set was also on the UFO list. Two goals with one project. 

The blocks I was working with are called the Ultimate Scrap Buster. You can find the tutorial for it here. I asked the FCQ Equilters to make this block for me at least 2 turns ago -- so 2 and a half years or so. I got the top two rows sewn but I didn't take a picture of it but here's them laid out ready to sew together. (I am pretty sure I rearranged them a bit after I took the picture. Note to self...compare these to the real blocks so I sew them together correctly.) 

We E Quilters generally make way more blocks than needed for just one quilt. So I have two groups of blocks left to make more quilts. Here's another group. I'll probably have to make another block to use them. 

And I also got a set of blocks that the corners didn't match up with all the other corners.  My plan is to make a smaller quilt but I'll have to make more blocks for this top eventually. 

 

Here are the goals for this week. 

11/25/2024

Work on last ornament

Finish top made with ultimate scrap busting block

Quilt a top on Ruthie

Make a couple of blocks

Mail tree blocks to Washington state

Make apple pie and a squash casserole for T-day dinner

Supposedly I have fewer goals this week. I should be able to get through them all. This week I kept procrastinating loading the backing on Ruthie all week. Sunday afternoon I realized I had already sewn the backing together and it was ready to be loaded. So I did, finally. I'll add the batting and top this week and get it done. 

I spent an afternoon updating my quilts on the to-be-quilted list.  I hadn't updated it since August. Yikes! A lot of tops have been finished.  But I've made a slew of tops this summer and fall. (Hum, I may have succeeded too well at the two retreats I went to this year!) 

I'm also trying to figure out a block to have the E Quilters make me starting December 1.  I've been saving block ideas on my computer for years. One looked promising to me. I have been playing with it trying to make it look like a picture I have.  Here's my first attempt. Sharon suggested it would look better if the red color were used for the four alike triangles. I think the center square is too big and the rectangles aren't big enough. I'll be trying it again and see if I can get it right. Next try will have more spring like colors. I'm tired of the fall colors. I have about a week to figure this out. 

I had another successful week stitching every day.  A couple of days I had to set my timer and stitch right before bed. But I fit stitching in every day!

W/ending 11/24 — 329 days in to 2024. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7
• 15 minute days/Nov = 24/24
• 15 minute days/2024 = 320/329 days
• Success rate = 97.%

We'll be going to our son's house for turkey day. He and his wife like to host her family and our family for big celebrations. (Although we only number 17 at the max so it isn't all that big!) We have a lot of fun and plenty of good food to eat.  We're  bringing Sunny to have a play date with Chewy and for everyone to see her again. (Plus we don't like leaving her by herself all day.)  Luckily I only volunteered for two dishes. They shouldn't take long. You can see why I need to cut back on my goals this week. 

I'm ready to call it a night (yep, I write this Sunday evening.) I'm linking up with Oh Scrap!, Stitching Stuff, Design Wall Monday, and Monday Musings.  Take some time to look through these Linky Parties to see what others are doing these days. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie