Monday Meandering Plus

Yea! It's November.  Tomorrow is Election Day.  Please VOTE!  There has been a wonderful turn out for early voting -- thanks to everyone who took this option.  Please be patient with getting results.  Because of the overwhelming number of ballots that have been turned in it is doubtful that we will have the outcome of the election on Tuesday night.  Be PATIENT.  Keep quilting! 

First up I'm sharing my October statistics.  What a month.  I don't normally have double digit fabric numbers both coming in and going out.  Getting 5 quilts finished last month is amazing.  (Don't worry I doubt if I'll keep up that pace!) 

2020	Fabric In Month	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
Oct	13.250	72.125	16.750	86.50	14.375

This month I was worring that I had bought more fabric than I used.  Much of the fabric purchased early in the month went to backings.  Close to the end of the month I bought some solids, one for a T shirt quilt I am making for a customer but the other pieces are on speculation. But I did continue to use more than I brought in during October. 

Now my November OMG. 

 

My Goal for November, 2020 is to prep 15 t shirts by cutting, stabilizing and beginning to sew sashing on.  

Ok that's the goal I'm admitting to the world, but I would really like to get the top done and quilted.  (Don't hold your breath... but wouldn't that be wonderful?)  I've just measured the quilts and the widths vary in size by 8" or so. I will need to talk this over with the customer as some shirts don't have enough fabric to all be cut the same width so the sashing in between will be different widths.  Luckily only one has important info on the back so that shouldn't be too hard to incorporate.  I need to spend some time with a pencil and my quad ruled paper. 

That's my plan for this month.  Tomorrow or Wednesday I'll post my goals for the week. (First I need to figure out what those goals are!) 

I'm linking up with my regular Monday parties: Oh Scrap, Monday Making, and Design Wall Monday.  Let's surf! 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings/ October OMG 10 - 4 - 2020

 It's time to announce my next One Monthly Goal. 

My Goal for October, 2020 is to finish 4 quilts.  

Three tops are already made and one needs to be started. 

All four need to be quilted. 

Since last week I have finished one more of the tops that need to be quilted.  I'm hoping to make good progress on the last one this week. I've already made  the backing for one of them and I have a wide backing for the other three quilts. So hopefully I can get these 4 tops quilted soon. 

Here's the next Happy Blocks Quilt I've finished. 

This top is the I pulled from the to-be-quilted-closet. It should be a wild quilt when done as I picked a bright green backing fabric that has some of the bright green from the stripes in it. 

Although I'm giving myself the whole month to finish all of these quilts I really would like to have them done in the next week or two.  

I'm linking with my regular Monday blogs: Oh Scrap, Monday Making,  Design Wall Monday and Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal October. I'm looking forward to see what quilters are working on these days.  I find the most interesting projects. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

OMG Completed!

 

 My Goal for September, 2020 is 

to trim all the rebuilt log cabin blocks

and 

to sew them into a top.

And, yep I succeeded! I shared this photo yesterday.

Here's the whole quilt top pinned to my design wall. It is 69 1/2" x 90". 

Although I am tickled to get this quilt done after working on it on and off for many years, it will be moving into the to-be-quilted closet for a while. I imagine it won't be coming out until next year. 

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilt's One Monthly Goal September Finish Link-Up and Needle and Thread Thursday.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meandering & July OMG 7 - 1 - 2019

Hello July and good bye half of 2019. I've had several days in my studio where I've mostly worked on finishing quilts and making an assortment of blocks.  

I got a group of 6 blocks from one of the guild members. Her mother, Donna, had a lot of UFOs left when she died so I agreed to take some to finish.  I figure I can add a few blocks and donate a quilt to one of our guild's charities.  I like working on unfinished projects left by quilters.  It feels good to finish blocks or quilts and donate them to someone who will love them.  Here are Donna's blocks along with what I thought I would like with them.  Meh -- not so much.  I've got some Ohio star variations in works that I like better.  Now I need to use these pink squares. (Don't worry, I have a plan...) 

Here's my July One Monthly Goal. 

I will border, quilt and bind the batik strips top.

The strips came from a retreat swap -- oh, maybe 5 years ago.  I had started working on them but wasn't thrilled with the look.  Fast forward a year or two and a Faithful Circle Quilt show.  Someone had made their batik strips from the swap into a quilt that looks a lot like this one.   I redid my blocks based on the other quilt. I got bored with it before I finished it and it sat for another year or two.  When I took it out to take the picture I fell in love with it again. The colors are so wonderful.  And, I have border fabric (black) all cut out.  Just needs to be sewn into strips and cut to fit.  What was I thinking to put this beauty away? It.Will.Get.Done!

Here's Nat's swimsuit cover up I embroidered a week or two ago. (Or longer? Who remembers the details!)  Each grand got to pick out a beach scene for either a coverup or a sweatshirt.  Natalie wanted this shark.  She always surprises me with her picks.  But I found the best shark fabric. (You can't tell but the shark fabric is a blue and aqua batik.) He was fun and easy to do.  I've got one more sweatshirt to show sometime in the future. 

I was very successful on my goals this week.  Every project was either finished or moved forward.  You can't complain about that! 

June 24, 2019

Hand quilt on old Christmas quilt√

Bind butterfly quilt√

Finish binding parrot quilt√

Work on Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks√

Make a few blocks for Taps quilt√

Make two more blocks for QOV√ Ok, I only got 1 done. 

And here are my  goals for this first week of July. 

July 1, 2019

Hand quilt on old Christmas quilt

Make last two Ohio star variation blocks and sew top together 

Continue working on patriotic Four Patch variation (Taps quilt)

Finish rest of blue Rainbow Scrap blocks and start the new color blocks 

Start doll sweater(s) 

Possibly start sewing moose blocks 

Having goals keeps me focused and moving forward.  Otherwise I am a racoon quilter... ooh lets start a new quilt, ah I like this fabric what can I make with it.  Are you a racoon quilter?  Easily distracted by pretty fabrics or cool patterns?  

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Moving it Forward and What I Made Monday.  I'll have to link up the rest of the parties when they are posted.  I'll be spending some quality time reading some blogs tomorrow.  I hope you will too.

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

June OMG and Stashbusting

Did you notice I'm not posting on the last day of the month?  That is usually what happens for OMG.  But yesterday I finished the last of two quilts that were part of my One Monthly Goal. My goal part 1 was: 

I will finish, quilt, and bind the butterflies top.

And here it is finished.  Many thanks to Beth for giving me the wonderful swirly blue fabric I used for the border and binding. I ended up using a different backing fabric as I didn't have enough of what I originally planned to use. 

And the back.

I used So Fine (a navy blue thread) and an edge to edge pattern called Hawthorn from My Creative Designs.  No doubt you can see my issue with the design -- both the front and the back of the quilt was too busy so the beautiful quilting did not show up much.  This design had a lot of stitches to it and it took nearly 30 minutes to quilt each row. This quilt is only about 36" wide.  Probably not the best design choice on my part.  

My next goal was 

I'm also going to quilt and bind the parrot quilt.

I purchased 1.5 yards of backing for this quilt.  I'm not sure what I was thinking because it used just about every inch of that 54".  I should have bought 1.75 yards.  I had to sew a strip of fabric on the top just so I'd have enough room to attach the quilt to my leaders. This pattern is Ginger Snap by Apricot Moon.  It is one of my very favorite designs and I've used it over and over again.  I used an orange So Fine thread.  

And the back...

These pictures were taken of the quilts hanging over the railing of our walk out basement.  I always use a towel to clean the railings off and to protect the quilt from the railing.  The purple is one of our towels.    

Before June is history I did want to share my stashbusting statistics for May with you. 

2019	Fabric In Month	Fabric In Year	Fabric Out Month	Fabric Out Year	Total In or Out Year
May	10.00	31.080	8.00	36.375	5.295

This is the second month in a row where I've brought in 10 yards of fabric.  Not a great way to use more fabric than I buy.  Hopefully June will see more fabric used than acquired.  Heck, I finished 3 or 4 quilts this month.  

I was very pleased with my strategy for retreat sewing. I brought 5 projects to retreat in March.  Most were simple quilts (both of these were worked on there.) 3 projects were either finished quilts or centers that only needed borders at the end of the retreat.  This month I focused on getting those three tops totally finished.  One project I've been working on for a while but only when I sew away from home.  And, one I didn't even look at.  

That is all said to say I've finally gotten a great retreat plan going for me.  Pick fairly easy quilts.  Precut all the blocks.  Sew like a fiend.  And, then finish up at home so the quilts do not go on the UFO list.  It's time to start planning and cutting the quilts for the October retreat.  It's about 90 days away. 

I'm linking up at Elm Street Quilts June OMG Finish linky party,  Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday, and Can I Get a Whoop! Whoop.  You know the drill.  Spend some time checking out what folks are working on across the Internet.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

May OMG

It's time to set my May goal but I've been having a hard time deciding what I want to work on.  I've finally decided that I need to finish two of the quilts I started at retreat.  

May Goal

I will finish, quilt, and bind the butterflies top. I will be sewing the blue swirl border on.  The lighter blue on the left will be the backing.  This will be going to a senior at a nursing home. 

And, because the butterfly quilt shouldn't take all that long I'm also going to quilt and bind the parrot quilt. I bought the backing for this last week so I'm set to get this done. I haven't decided where I'll be giving this one.  As you might have realized, most of the quilts I make these days get donated to good causes. I just don't need more quilts although I do keep some because I like the quilt so much. 

I'm linking up with Elm Street's Quilts June Link-Up, and Give Me A Whoop, Whoop. Take a few minutes to surf these linky parties.  Maybe you'll see something to inspire you. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

OMG! Whoppee!!

I had three goals I wanted to complete for the May One Monthly Goal.  Guess what!  I got all three of the items done.  Yea me!

First up was finishing the top using more of the granny squares I received from the FCQ Equilters.  I posted about it on May 6 so you can pop over  to see the finished top.  I looked for backing today but decided I wouldn't buy it yet -- I've gone a little wild with backings this month.  Plus, that quilt is going to be for us so I don't really needed it finished yet.

Next I wanted to quilt and bind the two friendship star quilts that I used a charm pack of airport activities as the centers of the stars.  Yep.  Both of those got done a while ago.  You can see them still on the long arm here. And here's from the photo shoot today. 

Hum, that's Kona photobombing my shoot. It is a beautiful day out now.  We've been having a lot of nasty weather in the evenings recently. Look carefully at the quilting patterns -- they're really cute chubby airplanes in the design. It's called Dave's Airplanes by David Hudson. It stitches out really nicely.  This is the second and third quilts I've used it on.  Does that mean I like airplane fabric?  Maybe. (By the way if you click on any photo it should enlarge.) 

My last goal was to use my parrot fabric for a quilt. I bought it in Lancaster several years ago; it was time to use it.  I was hoping to get it to top stage and I did.  And because I had so much fabric I made a pillowcase too.  Someone is going to love these bright little parrots. 

So, here it is the last day of the month and I've been really successful.  No wonder I'm whopping it up! Stay tuned as I figure out what I want to do for my June OMG. (OMGosh -- it's almost June!)

I won't be getting much stitching done this weekend.  It's concert weekend.  In a few hours I have to leave for rehearsal.  Then Saturday night and Sunday afternoon we are performing.  It's an amazing selection of music and we are definitely ready to give it our all. I hope you enjoy your weekend and get a little stitching in too. 

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. I'm planning to do some blog surfing Saturday.  Things should be less busy tomorrow.  I'm still trying to get some things done before the rehearsal today.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

OMG Success and What's Up Next

Again, I'm sneaking in just in time with my April OMG Finish.  My goal was to make two pillow shams to go with my Sea Glass quilt.  And, yes I finished both shams in time. The last one was finished about 10am on the final day. 

The room really needed some color and these have succeeded.  Below is a close up of the quilting Ruthie and I put on the fronts. 

The square design is Spring Sunrise Block 4 from My Creative Designs. Above and below the designs are Fulton Feather Border also by My Creative Designs.  The thread is So Fine #   

Now it's time to figure out what will be my May OMG.  This time I'm going to list a couple of goals as I'm pretty sure I can get several of these projects done. First up, finish this granny squares top. (This is the second one.) I took this picture to audition the inner border -- I had two different greens I could use but I decided I would use the same brown as the sashing.  Then, I'll use this leftover fabric for the border.  If I can get it quilted that would be a bonus but not part of my OMG. 

Next I want to quilt and bind two friendship stars quilts.  You can see both on the design wall here.  Here are the two quilts along with the backing I'll be using.  Well you can only see one of the quilts and the backing.  The backing is a wide back so I plan to load the quilts one after another.  It should save some time. 

And, last I'm planning on getting at least one quilt top made while I'm at retreat.  I've decided I should use this fabric I bought a couple of years ago.  Time to make it up and get it to some charity.  I may also make a pillow case but that won't be part of the goal. I'm not sure which of these fabrics I'll use with the parrots but they all would go really well.  Must consult my Quilts for Baby Easy as ABC by Ursula Reikes and the other two books in the series.  I use them all the time, must make a decision and start cutting! These fabrics are so fun so I'm sure I'll really enjoy making the quilt too! 

So three projects: granny squares becomes a top, 2 friendship stars quilts will be quilted and bound, and my parrot fabric will become a quilt top.  That's a lot of goals but I'm pretty motivated to get these things done.  

That's it from me today.  I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts' OMG April Finish Link Up, and Quilt Fabrication's Midweek Makers.  I'm also hoping to link up with Needle and Thread Thursday when it becomes available. I've just spent way to much time blog hopping instead of finishing quilt my royal blue snowflake quilt.  On to the studio! 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge and One Monthly Goal

This year I've gone wild with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I'm not sure why I am making 3 different block sets but I am.  Since I rarely post about the blocks I thought I'd drag them all out and show all of what I am making for the RSC.  

First up a single block each month.  This is called Bright Block by Ravenna87.  (I'm sorry to admit I have no idea where I got this from.) It's not very exciting yet but wait til I get some sashing and the flying geese border.  It is really cute. 

Next up is a Propeller Block.  I used one that Jan at The Colorful Fabricholic gave directions for.  And, if you click on Newer Posts at the bottom of the post it will take you to her next post where she shows several ways you can lay out the block.  I started the first two months by making 4 of the blocks but for some unknown reason I went to 3 for March. I may go back to making 4 blocks just so I have lots of blocks to play with when I'm ready to make a quilt or 3. By the way, that top left block is actually a dark green with light green swirls in it. It may not make it to any of the final quilts.

My last set of blocks is based on Stash Statement by Kelly Young.  You can see the pattern I'm using here. It's been a lot of fun to make these blocks -- I'm making them oversized and then trimming to the size needed. 

In these pictures I'm trying to get an idea on the color of background fabric I want to use.  I will probably make the quilt smaller than the one Kelly features.  I like the fabric on the left but I don't have enough.  The fabric on the right is too dull for these pretties.  And below is a definite NO! in my mind.  I may have a hard time using that fabric for anything. 

One of these days I'll take the blocks to a quilt store and audition fabric for the backing. I could actually being making the rows each month and be well on the way to a finish by the end of the year. 

Before I lose my opportunity to link up to the One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts here's my goal for April.  

You may be asking yourself what I'm going to be working on -- Pillow Shams. Not my favorite activity but our bed and Sea Glass will look so much better with turquoise pillow shams instead of boring white pillow cases.  My plan is to set Ruthie to quilting designs on the center rectangle and then finish off the shams. I'm tired of all the white in the bedroom so I'm pretty darn sure I will finish these this month with no problems!  

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts' April Goal Setting Linky Party and SOScrappy's Scrap Happy Saturday.  (Hum, interesting how my pillow shams work right in with the Aqua at RSC this month.)  I'm ready to finish my goals for this week so I'm heading down to the studio.  I need to sew! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Goal Setting

It's time for the February goal for the One Monthly Goal blog. Heck, it's past time. I'm barely getting it posted in time. 

I'm going to have two goals for this month.  

First one up is my Calendar quilt from Country Piecemakers guild in Powhatan, Va. 

All of the calendar challenge quilts will be hung at the Mid Atlantic Quilt show at the end of February.  My deadline is to have it done in 3 days so I can turn it over at the CP meeting on Saturday.  Looking at this picture I've decided the window is too small. And, some of the presents need to be changed.  The tree is hand appliquéd and the other elements are ready to be appliquéd.  Hopefully by the end of today I'll have the quilt batted and backed.  I plan to do a little stitch in the ditch around the elements.  And then it will be on to decorating it. 

My next goal for this month is to quilt and bind my heart table runner from last year. 

Maybe I'll have it done before Valentine's Day.  If not at least it would be done and ready for next year. 

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts February Goal Setting post and Midweek Makers.  Spend some time looking at what people are working on these days. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

One Monthly Goal January 2019

It's taken me a bit of time to figure out what I wanted to work on for my January goal.  After much thought and knowing I should get UFOs knocked off my list here's what I'm aiming to finish this month: 

Make all the blocks for my rebuilt log cabin twin size quilt. 

I currently have 32 blocks finished. 

Maximum blocks would be 63; minimum would be 54. I haven't decided how big this quilt needs to be to fit on one of the twin beds in the guest bedroom. Currently there's a quilt on the bed that is 72 x 90 1/2 that is an ok size although slightly big in both directions.  My blocks are going to be about 10" finished so I need to make some decisions. Or, maybe I'll trim the blocks a a bit smaller to make them fit better. Time will tell. PS These blocks haven't been rebuilt yet.  Stay tuned!

Personally, I'd love to get the blocks sewn together but I don't really see that happening this month.   

Christmas was a quilter's delight as both of my kids got me quilt related presents.  One gave me Stash Statement by Kelly Young.  I've been wanting that book since it was first published.  The other got me a bounty of fabrics.  Here's the first group of fat quarters.  Yummy colors and I've already picked a pattern and have started cutting at least for a sample block. First up the colors that have been selected for this project. 

And here's a picture of the pattern: 

It comes from the book Simply Fat Quarters by It's Sew Emma Patterns.  There are several additional patterns I'm considering for later.  But, first I need to get this one made and a couple of UFOs moved on to finished top stage. 

Back up and look at those gorgeous fabrics again.  The beige background is what I plan to use for my background in the block.  Notice the darker beige in the center --- I was thinking I might use that for the center square of each block.... but I'm not sure. Its a different color beige with a black stripe.  I have two other fabrics to try out. Heck, I have a big stash I can ponder to find the right color! I won't make my decision until after I get several of the block sections made. Hum, would it work to vary the center square in each block?  What do you think? 

Here's the small number of fat quarters that did not make the cut.  Still beautiful but I liked the way the top group played together. 

Time to get sewing or maybe cutting first and then sewing. 

I'm linking up with Elm Creek Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Have a Whoop, Whoop! and Finished or Not Friday. I'll check back with Sarah later to see if Can I Have a Whoop, Whoop! is posted.  Take some time to see what's going on in the Internet quilting world.  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Monday Meandering and OMG Finish 12 - 31 - 2019

The last post of 2018! 

And the best thing about this post is I've succeeded on my One Monthly Goal for December finish quilting Jamestown Landing.  Yeehaw! Here are the pics as I quilted my Jamestown Landing. I had finished the first two rows when I took this picture.  I used Melody, one of my favorite quilting designs. And, I have now named my turquoise version of Jamestown Landing "Sea Glass."  Thanks to Nancy at Wyoming Breezes for suggesting the quilt looked like sea glass.  

All the quilting is done and it's coming off the frame. 

Friday I made the binding and Saturday I stitched it on by machine. And, amazingly enough I also made and attached the label before I stitched the binding.   Sometimes the whole binding is sewn by machine but this time I'm hand stitching the second side.  About half is done and the last part will be done by the end of News Years Eve! I'm sure I will be successful.  I was tickled to find this cute binding fabric in my stash.  

Here's how I did with my goals, this last week of 2018. 

December 24, 2018

Finish Theo’s ornament √

Quilt my Jamestown Landing √

Watch a few grands if needed √

Work on black and white log cabin (UFO) √

Make binding for Jamestown Landing √

Now, what will I work on in 2019.  Well, here's what I'm planning on working on the first week! 

December 31, 2018

Finish sewing the binding on Sea Glass 

Continue making log cabin blocks

Start cutting out kits for the in house retreat

…. don’t know what else I’ll do but surely other stuff will get done

Sew the airplane friendship star blocks into at least one quilt top

I'm linking up with my normal Monday linky parties: Oh Scrap and Monday Making. I'll check to see if Main Crush Monday and Moving It Forward are posted too.  I'm adding What I Made Monday over at Pretty Piney. And, lest I forget, Elm Street Quilts December Finish blog!  

Happy New Year!  Bonnie