Monday Meanderings 4 -- 27 -- 2026

Our lovely, warm spring has turned back to cold weather.  The rain we had last night didn't do much as the whole greater DC area is in a serious drought.  Hopefully we'll get some heavier rain this week. Cold weather makes me want to stay in and stitch. So I've been been doing that quite successfully.  First last week's goals.

4/20/26

✅Make 4 more Dash blocks — 3 finished, 2 more cut out. 

✅Decide whether to trim flying geese blocks or just make one more and do it — new block made, blocks made into top, borders added!

✅Start new project with 10” squares — one block made.

✅Make some more “flutter” blocks — several more made and more cut out. 

✅Quilt one of my tops — Baby quilt quilted. 

I've been busy sewing.  I figured out I needed 5 more Dash blocks.  I cut out all but one, although the fabrics have been picked.  It took me more time to pick fabrics then to make the blocks.  Here are two of the new blocks.  Hopefully I'll get this to top stage in May. 

I've finished the flying geese top this week.  It was the April UFO challenge.  I finally decided to replace one block that was a half inch smaller than all the others.  I figured it would be faster to make a new block rather than trim all of the other blocks.  All the blocks got sewn together and then I checked for an another piece of batik that I could get a border out of it.  I have a nice collection of batiks but I don't tend to buy big pieces. Luckily I had one that enhanced the top.  I put smaller borders on top and bottom. And larger borders on the sides to make it slightly wider.    

The super flying geese finish at 8 x 16".  The colors are much prettier than this photo.  It will be going to the to-be-quilted closet soon. I need to find a backing for this one. On the other hand I'm happy to have found a use for these very old blocks.  

I chose a baby top to quilt this week.  I have quite a few more tops to quilt for the guild and one for my daughter. I figured a fast easy one gave me an easy finish -- sans binding. The quilting design is Criss Cross Applesauce by My Creative Stitches. It gives really good definition. I used a red So Fine on it. 

I haven't really started a new top in quite a while.  So I decided I would use Preeti Harris's pattern, Veronica. It uses a layer cake and I had one I thought might work. Except, it wouldn't -- it had fairly large animals on it.  They would have been cut apart and they wouldn't look good.  So I took a look at my small collection of precuts and found the perfect layer cake.  I've tried one block but I'm not going to show it yet.  But take a look at these beautiful batiks from Riley Blake Designs I am using.  These are going to look wonderful. I don't think I will be using all of them as I don't want a huge quilt. I'll have some squares to play with later. You can check out Pretti's pattern on her blog. I can say it is a really cool pattern. I'm excited to work on it.  

This is concert week which means I've got a major time commitments to singing, not sewing. Nevertheless here is what I hope to work on this week. 

4/27/26

Finish 3 more dash blocks, start trimming to correct size

Quilt a top 

Make some more batik blocks 

Make binding and bind Bear quilt 

Enjoy singing two concerts and one tech rehearsal 

I've been able to stitch every day this week. 

Week ending 4/26/26:  116 days of 2026.

  116 stitching days out of 116 days. 100%

I'm keeping this post short.  Don't forget to check out some of these Linky parties to see what other quilters are working on. 

Stitching Time 

Oh Scrap

Quilting Patchwork Applique 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Table Scraps Challenge -- Finished

I'm tickled to have my July table runner challenge done.  Here's the front.

If you are participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge you know that July was a second chance at blue.  I'm pretty sure one month was suppose to be lighter blues and the other was darker.  Um... both of mine are dark blue.  Check out my previous blue table "runner" here. I started out making that one as a table runner and ended up with a wall hanging for our beach house. 

My goal this month was to use some string piecing.  Needless to say I didn't make much of a dent in any of my scraps.  But I do like the finished project. 

After the top was done I wanted to find a blue for the back.  Except, blues are a problem area for me.  I don't really have a whole lot of blues I like or the ones I like I really didn't want to cut into.  Visualize riffling through a stack of fabric or a box of fat quarters.  And, now visualize my glee when I found the perfect fabric for the backing. Only one problem.  The fabric had never been washed and I worried about bleeding. And I was right. 

I have no idea how many times I rinsed the fabric -- maybe 10 or so.  But eventually the water ran clear.  I ran it through the drier and continued onto finishing the runner.  

This fabric is a batik I purchased from one of our trips to the Caribbean.  I'm pretty sure I purchased this fabric in the Bahamas probably 20 years ago.  I had about just enough to use it as the backing of this table runner. I trimmed off some of the border on the short edges so it would fit.

My quilting was done from the front but really doesn't ruin the lobsters and turtles. 

Remember the discussion above -- that I don't have a great selection of blues?  I could find nothing to use for a binding. So I trimmed the piece so that there was an even amount of fabric in the front and back.  Then I flipped the front fabric up and trimmed a half inch off the back and batting. 

Next I ironed a 1/4" seam around the top and folded it over the backing. It was totally finished after the hand stitching.  Weird, I know.  But that's what I did.  I doubt it is all that obvious.  Bonus -- I can use both sides of the runner. 

Here's a different view. (These railings lead to the basement where my studio is.)  You can enlarge these photos.  I did outline quilting around the stars.  And lines on the strings.  The center string section I used a wavy line (actually one of the stitches on my Bernina.) 

I'm happy to have a navy blue runner to use since my other one is going to be hanging on the wall at the beach house once we visit again! 

Friday is a busy time for linky parties.  I'm linking up with a lot of them. Quilt Fabrication, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, Beauties Pageant, Table Scraps Linky Party, and Scrap Happy Saturday. Phew!  That's a lot of linky parties.  But I love to see what everyone is working on. Ok, not everyone but a lot of people participate so I do see a lot of projects! I hope you spend some time surfing too. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 
 

Monday Meandering 9 - 2 - 2019

Yep, I skipped another blog post.  Not much to say then except I came through my surgery with flying colors. (Whatever does that really mean?)  Don't worry -- it was a fairly simple surgery to get rid of unused parts. (GAH doesn't that sound weird...!) Now, one and a half weeks out I'm doing pretty well.  Biggest issue is I don't have much stamina.  So, I can work in the studio but I'm worn out for the rest of the day.  Sigh.  I miss my energy. 

My big goal post-surgery was to hand sew the binding on "With a Little Help from My Friends."  I had finished quilting it and had sewn the binding on the front side of the quilt pre-surgery.  What I failed to realize was it was batik front and back.  Needless to say sewing down the binding went really slowly.  I usually tried to do two lengths of thread each day - I wanted it completely done on August 31.  And, yes, I succeeded!  

As some may realize, I am terrible at naming my quilts.  This time the name popped into my head before I'd even finished it. I participated in batik strip swap many years ago at a FCQ retreat.  (So long ago that we've had the retreat in two different locations which tells me at least 8 years, maybe 10 years ago.) 

This was quilted with "Pipeline" a great design to add texture.  Click on most pictures and they will enlarge.  I used So Fine thread in purple. (Sorry don't know the number off hand.) 

In the top picture, the bush at the bottom right is our butterfly bush.  Unfortunately it is an invasive species so we make sure it doesn't spread too much.  But I really enjoy watching all the butterflies who flitter around it.  Here's another picture of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.  I'm amazed I was able to get such a good photo of it.  This is a female -- see the blue at the bottom of her wings?  You can see the other pic of a female here. Either I've gotten a lot better at taking pictures, or, more likely, the butterfly is so busy she doesn't realize she's doing such a great job of posing. If you look closely you can see her wings are tattered and torn a bit.  Look at the right one -- follow from the two yellow spots near the leaf.  There's a bit missing -- it probably was another yellow dot.  

Once again, I'm not posting goals.  I'm slowly getting things done but the key word is slowly.  I did succeed in putting another kit together for the October retreat.  Still need to finish the other one I'm working on. Beyond that I think I've got two other quilts in progress I can work on which should be enough for a 3 night retreat.  

I'm linking up with the following parties: Oh Scrap, Monday Makings, Moving It Forward and What I Made Monday. Take a few minutes to see what folks are up to now. 

That's it for me today.  I'm off to a hand stitching group where we do all sorts of handwork.  I'll be knitting on a sweater that I haven't worked on for weeks.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

OMG May Goal

For some reason I didn't realize that there was a linky party over at Red Letter Quilts every month for the One Monthly Goal announcement.  I've been announcing next month's goal in the same blog post for the ending of the month. I figured it out this week. So, here's another little post about my next OMG.  Hum, maybe I wasn't eligible for the previous months.  That's ok as I really like getting the UFO I pick done each month. 

I'm working on a batik rail fence variation.  I've been busily sewing together all of the "rails" I got at a retreat swap.  They are now sewn in pairs.  Tomorrow or Friday I hope to get them into "4s" so I can then figure out how much sashing I'm going to need.  Here's what I do know -- I want a bigger quilt.  I figured out I was going to end up with 14 12" blocks of rails.  Hum, a 2 x 7 set? Or 3 x 4 with a few left over?   I don't think so!  

Today I made enough rails to be able to make 3 more blocks.  Except, really 17?  That is definitely not going to work.  Tomorrow I will count all the blocks I have and decide whether I really need more or not.  I will probably want to make 3 more blocks. (I may not have remembered the right number so it could be more or less!)   Twenty blocks would be great as a 4 x 5 set.  Then just add sashing and border/s and I'll have a nice size quilt.  

 

I'm linking up with Red Letter Quilts, Let's Bee Social, and Needle and Thread Thursday.   Take some time to see what folks are doing in their studio.  Mine needs a good straightening as I've been grabbing all sorts of batiks to try to finish my blocks.  I refolded the batiks I wasn't going to use and put them back on the shelf.  I still have a pile of reds out from several weeks ago.  

I'm curious how you store your bits and drabs of scraps.  I do try to keep cutting strips and squares.  But I frequently have bigger pieces that I just don't know what to do with.  Think of the excess fabric backing from trimmed quilts.  I'm considering starting a plastic box for each major color. (The boxes can be stored under my stacks of fabric on the bookshelves and I actually have the boxes. stored They are half full or less with bigger odd pieces.  What's your plan for odd ball size fabrics?  I could sure use some help! 

Happy Quilting All! 

Faithful Circle Quilters 2016 Quilt Show

The Maryland weather has been beautiful this week.  I arrived in Columbia with plenty of time to deliver my small collection of items I want to sell at the Peddler's Table way before they planned to quit for the night on Wednesday.  

If you live anywhere near Columbia, you should make an effort to come see over 300 quilts hung for the biennial quilt show put on by Faithful Circle Quilters.  It will be open from 10 to 4 on Saturday, April 16th at the First Presbyterian Church of Howard County at routes 108 and 29.  Watch for the signs directing you to the show. 

Here's a peak at some of the quilts on display:

Building Friendships by Beth Bohac 

These rail fence blocks were exchanged at a retreat.  I like how the black sashing sets off the blocks.  I know I have a collection of these blocks. So, why I haven't I put these together in a pretty quilt like this? I love the lime green and tangerine borders.  This quilt just moved these blocks up a notch or two on my to do list.  Hum, retreat is next month.  This would definitely be an easy quilt to make during that.  

Aunt Grace: Simple Sampler By Debbie Jensen

I was really taken with this quilt.  I have a lot of 30's fabric.  But the part that really pricked my imagination is all of the appliqué blocks were preprinted.  Somewhere I have a Baltimore album preprint, hopefully of blocks, and this would be a great jumping off point to use my blocks.  So, another idea to add to my to do list. 

Scrap Quilt I couldn't read the name on the tag and didn't take a close up of the tag. 

I thought this was a wonderful way to use up a lot of small squares.  If you save your scraps and cut into various size squares, this might be the way to put them to use.  Do you participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge?  I say I do but I've never made more than 4 or 5 blocks.  But couldn't you just see a quilt like this with each block was made of one color from the scrap challenge?  Am I talking myself into another quilt I need want to make? Here's a close up of this one. Ah yes, this is actually a 9 patch made from 9 patches.  Too clever. 

That's it from me tonight.  I'm linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? and Fabric Frenzy Friday from Fort Worth Fabric Studio.  I hope to post more pictures from this show during the next week or two.  

Happy Quilting All! 

New Fabric Wow!

While on our weekend in Maryland I hit a quilt store and a yarn store.  Today I'll share the fabric purchases I made at Cotton Seed Glory.  The pinks are an attempt at Double Pink as described by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com.  I want to make her mystery quilt Double Delight.  Of course, I'm not doing it as a mystery.  I want to make it a bit smaller -- like wallhanging size.  So I figured I could wait til the end and then figure out what I needed from there.  So this is the beginning.  Bonnie used cheddar, indigos and shirting.  I'm going to be making some changes but I do like that cheddar. Do I have any cheddar?  Probably not but I'll look before I shop!  The burgundy in the background is the sashing for the million brick quilt. (So named by me!)  I haven't decided how big to make that but at least I have enough of the sashing to make it huge should I want to.  (Probably don't want to!) 

I also bought some darker batiks to go with a group I am working with.  These will blend right in with my planned quilt.  It is basically a big nine patch gone funky.  I am using a pattern from McCall's Quilting Feb. 2009.  It has beading on it and is suppose to look "beachy." I don't need the beads but I may actually put some embellishments on after I get the quilt done. That is my priority for February.  

Here are all the fabrics I plan to use on this quilt.  Yummy.  I haven't made a whole quilt from batiks yet but I'm looking forward to working with these.  They will be a joy to work on as winter continues. 

HELP

I have been so frustrated uploading my pictures today.  Maybe some of you bloggers would know the answer to this question.  I uploaded the picture of the 4 turquoise fabrics at least three times today because as I manipulated all the photos I lost that one.  My question is there a way to get this photo back without reloading it?  I know they go somewhere.  The question is where and how can I get it back.  

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie