Monday Meanderings -- 2 - 20 - 2023

I feel like a one-eyed cat!  Thursday last I had the cataracts removed from my right eye and a new lens implanted.  It went really well, including me getting a small inspiration for a new wall hanging. I love how well I can see things in the distance. But now I have no close up vision in that eye.  I've bought a pair of readers that helps a lot however, I still can only use one eye to read. (I can also read by bringing the Kindle or iPhone up to my nose and reading with my left eye and shutting my right eye.) I go in Wed. to have my left eye done.  I had originally planned to go in the following week because I really wanted to go to the Mid Atlantic Quilt Show.  I realized it would be really irritating to spend 2 weeks with mismatched eyes. So no quilt show for me this year but I will have far superior vision. 

Even with the surgery I was able to get most of what I wanted to get done in the studio -- some before and some after the surgery. Let's look at how I did on my goals. 

2/13/2023

✅Make last 3 blocks of UFO challenge quilt — finished the blocks and the top! 

✅Make a walker bag — One done and ready to give to the guild.

✅Finish making binding for Spider Web Quilt  — Binding made but quilt not ready for it.

✅Right eye gets a new lens!  Probably won’t get any more sewing done until next week — surgery done! I was back to a bit of sewing on Saturday and Sunday. 

Not bad!  Here's the pic of the UFO challenge piece for February. I'm always "planning" to get tops done and every once in a while I surprise myself and get more done. Darn, didn't happen this time.  

This was made using the Lazy Angle ruler.  Most of these pieces were cut out years ago. I started sewing them together during the October retreat.  I only had 3 more to cut and sew before sewing the top together. I am sure I'll need to put a bright border on this one but I haven't decided what I'll use for it.

Here's this week's goals.  Again, there aren't that many of them because of surgery and a get together of friends in DC on Saturday.  

2/20/2023

Pick an easy quilt using my stash & AccuQuilt Go dies — cut it out

Begin sewing Melodic Mystery together

Work on hand embroidery🤞🏼if I can see it well enough 

Left eye gets a new lens! 

I am typing this with my left eye closed and the readers on.  If there are mistakes -- I'm blaming the eye for them! 

Sunday I spent some time reviewing some boxes of fabric and quilt blocks I've been storing for a friend.  She needs to decide what she wants me to do with them and then I'll donate some of the fabric to my guild's charity group and use some to finish some blocks into quilts.  

As I was going through a lot of fabric and blocks, this one really struck me.  It is a hand sewn flower garden block.  This isn't English Paper Piecing this is just sewn together.  Check the next picture of the back. 

On the left side there's a needle and thread with several stitches ready to be pulled through.  I doubt the quilter realized she would never get back to this project.  

Which brings me to a question for you.  Do you have plans for your stash and projects if something happens to you?  I have a plan although my daughter might not be thrilled with it.  She can take what she wants and then pass on the rest to the charity committee at my local guild. I used to say my friend Sharon and my daughter could go through the mess studio and take what they want and spread what is left to charity groups.  But Sharon doesn't live all that close anymore.  But she is still welcome to check it out.  

That's it for me today. The eyes are feeling strained (or is it the head?) I'm linking up with the following parties. 

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday

To Do Tuesday6 

I hope you can take some time to surf the web to see what quilters are working on these days. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 6 - 25 - 2018

Today I'm sharing an antique quilt I've been working on for a customer.  Thank you Marlene for allowing me to share this one and to work on it. 

This was made by Laura Catherine Boozer Walke who lived from 1857 to 1946 in Marengo County Alabama. She is Marlene's great grandmother. It is beautifully hand pieced.  Surprisingly enough it doesn't have a lot of holes or tears.  I only saw one little hole.  It has seen a lot of staining and spotting.  It's been soaked twice and many of the really bad spots have come out.  I'm going to recommend that once it is finished she soak it again. 

Most of the fabric is from the 30's.  I've worked with these types of fabrics both original and reproductions.  Darn, I still like them.  (Said the gal with a shoebox full of 30's reproduction fabrics from the 1990s. Must make something with them.) Marlene chose Ginger Heart as the quilting design combined with a beige thread.  It shows off the design on the backing quite nicely but is subtle on the front.  

I am going to have a challenge putting the binding on.  I'm assuming that I can't just trim off the excess fabric in a straight line before I put on the binding. I'm sure that would jeopardize the hand piecing.  My best suggestion is to cut beyond the quilt, put the binding on the front and try to roll up the excess into the binding.  Sharon and I had a discussion about that yesterday.  What do you think?  Anyone have any better ideas?  

It's hard to see but quite a few of the fabrics were pieced so they could be used.  Within the oval are two seamed fabrics on both sides of the bottom point.  I also saw one within the colored fabrics but I couldn't find it when I was taking the pictures. All I need to do is make the label and bind it.  It's being bound in the same bright blue as the backing that you can see in the top picture. (You can click on most of the pictures to get a bigger view.)  

Getting this top quilted was part of my weekly goal from last week. So, yep checked that off the list!  (Hum, because I import my goals list it has changed the font size. It looks the same as I type (and paste) the copy but looking at the preview it is smaller.  Sorry folks! I like Verdana type as it is clean looking and reasonable size for me to read.) 

June 18, 2018

Finish 3 more pillowcases√

Finish Civil War Quilt binding √

Begin design process for secret project √

Start putting Beachside Bungalow together Oops!  Ran out of fabric so I'm waiting for more of the background fabric so I can cut the triangles.

Start quilting another quilt √ and finished the quilting

And this week I've got a full plate of what I want to get done ... time will tell if I get any of it done! 

June 25, 2018

Bind customer quilt

Add inner border to Jamestown Landing

Begin making string border for Jamestown Landing

Work on red, white and blue heart quilt

Sash and sew together stripe blocks

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Start sewing Beachside Bungalow (Celebrate) together

I've got my week full of sewing projects.  The one I really want to finish is the binding on the antique quilt.  And, yep, I'm hand stitching it to the back.  Eek! 

I'm linking up with my regular parties: Oh Scrap, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Moving It Forward and Design Wall Monday.  Join me in cruisin' through the quilting blogs on the internet. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie

Two Really OLD UFOs Finished!

Yes,yesterday I put the last stitches in two very OLD UFOs.  I think some the fabric dates to the 1940s but most is probably from the 1950s up to the 1970s.  And, no, these are not my UFOs.  The blocks were made by my friend Patrick's grandmother.  When he and his wife started helping his mom and dad clear out their house they brought the boxes of fabric and partially made quilts and blocks to me to see what I could do with them.  Here's what I have done with the little 9 patch blocks. 

I used the long arm to make little designs in the white snowballs on the red bordered one.  And I used my trusty Bernina to do straight line quilting on the green bordered one.  I prefer the feel of the green one as it seems to be "sturdier"?  I probably used a different batting as I was using leftover batting. 

I've used this layout for 9 patches before and I love it.  It was fun working with these little blocks -- the prints are interesting.  Here they are bagged and ready to give to Patrick and Stacey.  I am so proud of them for actually arranging to have quilts made from these leftover blocks.  I may be stitching on their collection for years but as a quilter with my own collection of UFOs I'm happy to see someone finishing these projects.  I think next up is a wedding ring quilt.  The rings are made.  I hope to appliqué them to a backing fabric and then quilt it. I may not be providing the fastest service but I am steadily working on them. 

Have you thought about what will be happening to your UFOs and fabric stash when you aren't around to sew any more?  I've made a plan that should work.  But I am also trying really hard to finish some of my UFOs.  I haven't gotten to the point of actually getting rid of ones I don't really like but I am working on finishing the oldest ones.  Who knows how I'll do this year! 


I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?  I'm hoping to spend some time this evening perusing these links to see what strikes my fancy.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 2 - 8 - 2016

Hear's what's on the design wall today. (Well, after I took this quilt off and put this one up!) 

This is the other section of an antique quilt I was hired to finish.  As you can see it wasn't made with a lot of precision but surprisingly the first one I did turned out nicely.  You can see it here. (I forgot to take a picture of it after it was finished. What?) I'm using this green as the blue I wanted to use was badly faded.  No way was I going to be able to get enough fabric to make these borders from that fabric. I have some pink for the back -- all of this fabric came from the family.  A lot of it is 36" wide so I'll have to do some piecing. 

Here's my thoughts on the borders.  It is a pretty narrow quilt 34" or so wide by about 60" long.  I am thinking of using 4 or 5" borders on the sides and 3" or so on the top and bottom to make it a bit wider.  Any strong reason why I shouldn't use different size borders?  I'd love to get these borders added and then get it on Ruthie to long arm.  I think I'll use the Baptist fan design again since it is a traditional pattern and did a great job with the other quilt.  

Here's some heart eye candy.  I was at a sewing day a week ago and Dorothy was working on these hearts. (Design is from Designs by JuJu.) She used her embroidery software to put all of them in one design and then used only white thread.  At the end she slipped a piece of felt under the hoop and stitched the final outside edge.  She then cut them out and added hangers. 

I didn't do all that well on my goals last week.  Or maybe I had too many goals!  I did enjoy a great book last week -- The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George.  It had languished on my Kindle app for too long before I decided I really needed to get it read before it was due back.  If you are a book lover you'll enjoy all the literary references.  

February 1, 2016

Finish quilting 2 customer quilts (one from last week and a new one.) √one done; one started loading

Put borders on two antique 9 patches Um, no, didn’t happen

Pick the next OMG√

Quilt one of my quilts√ Yea!

Clean off cutting table √ somewhat at least I have room to work

Cut out next charity challenge quilt√ started 

I've got several days this week that I can't devote to my quilting so my goals list includes some of those. 

February 8, 2016

Finish quilting customer quilt

Add borders to antique lap quilt

Put borders on 2 antique 9 patches

Work on QOV quilts with guild

Bake for tea group at my house

I'm linking up with Monday Makings and Main Crush Monday. 

Happy Quilting All!