Monday Meanderings 9 - 8 - 2025

As of Sunday we are 250 days into 2025. Wow -- this year is flying.  We've enjoyed the cooler weather but we sure could use some rain.  We got some rain but not enough. Hopefully we'll get more over the next month or so.  I did make some good progress this month.  Here are last week's goals. 

9/1/25

✅Put borders on Soho 3yd quilt from July retreat — done! 

✅Quilt another top — quilted a small baby quilt. 

✅Cut a top for October retreat — started cutting more Economy blocks 

√Clear off right side of design wall — some things have been removed but not all.

✅Begin cutting fabric for Magnificent Mystery Quilt from Meadow Mist Designs — the first two fabrics are done. (Minus one 2.5” square. I’ll do it tomorrow or the next day.)

This is Soho, a Fabric Cafe 3 yard quilt.  I changed it a little as I didn't have a yard of beige.  So I used one fabric for the half square triangles. I bought another fabric for the borders which I did with only one fabric rather than an inner and outer border. I'll probably use some of the beige border fabric for the backing.  

For the next quilt kit I chose to use the September UFO Challenge project.  Several years ago I made an economy block quilt and cut some extra pieces for it. This week I cut the background fabrics for all the pieces I had already cut out.  Then I pulled a bunch of additional fabrics so I could make a bigger quilt. First the finished blocks. (Yep, just 2!) 

Here are the cut pieces and a bunch of fabrics that still need to be cut. I'm using dies from my 9" Accuquilt Cube. Any cube will allow you to make an Economy block using dies # 1, 3, and 4. The triangle die for the light fabric uses a too much fabric so I'm considering figuring out the correct size and cutting them myself.  I'll keep you informed if it works.  

I did make some progress on clearing off the side of my design wall.  I forgot to take a before picture so I found one from awhile ago.  Here are the two ... 

   So, argh -- I wish I had more control of my photos!  Anyway, the left is a while ago and the right is showing I've made some progress. I moved several orphan blocks and some excess papers.  Obviously there is some more work to do. With perseverance I should be able to remove and put all of this stuff away. (Or throw it away.) 

I did get a start on cutting out the Magnificent Mystery quilt. Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs starts her mystery quilt in the summer. She gives cutting directions for the entire quilt early on. If you cut it all at the beginning it makes it easier to make each clue as all that is needed is sewing.  I've enjoyed that part so I do all the cutting at the beginning. I will continue working on the cutting this coming week. 

Here's my plan for this week. 

9/8/25

Load and start quilting Ombré quilt

Make RSC blocks in light blue and light green and more 9 patch blocks

Cut out more Sept UFO challenge- Economy blocks

Continue cutting out the Magnificent Mystery quilt

Bind baby quilt 

I had another 100% sewing week. 

W/ending 9/7/25. 250 days of 2025

• 15 minute days Sept = 7/7
• 15 minute days/2025 = 250/250 days
• Success rate = 100%

I hope you can spend some time checking out some of the Linky parties -- don't you want to get some new ideas? (Ok, so I get way too many ideas every week and have enough of my own ideas but I still get excited about what I see each week.) 

Life in Pieces

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

I'll leave you with this wonderful picture I took while walking this week. Yep that's hubby with Sunny. I stopped to get the picture. 

We didn't get the rain but we got this huge rainbow.  For a short while there was a double on the left hand side but that picture wasn't very good.  

Happy quilting all -- Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 7 - 14 - 2025

Monday evening we got rained on...and on... and -- you get the idea. We had gone to the county board of supervisor meeting in support of our community's request for some help.  We didn't have to stay all that long as the Chairman kindly moved our speaker up nearer the beginning. And, he also recessed the meeting so that we could leave rather than sitting through the whole meeting. Except unbeknownst to us it had started raining. 

It was coming down in sheets. Although we hadn't parked all that far away we waited it out. But, we still got wet! 

Here's last week's goals list with some check marks. 

7/7/25

✅Load and quilt customer’s quilt — Done

✅Cut sashing for child quilt and sew — all cut but no sewing done

✅Make FCQ EQuilter blocks — One made, several more in process

Pull fabric for a baby quilt — nothing done — couldn’t find the pattern! 

Put some fabric away/ clean up a bit — a very little was done and even more fabric actually was spread around! 😳

I was happy to get a queen sized quilt top quilted this weekend for a customer. I need to check with her to see if she minds if I share it here.  But it really was a nice quilt and she picked a great design for the quilting. 

Here's the June/July quilt block for the current FCQ Equilter.  I made one block to make sure I knew what I was doing.  I have several more ready to put together.  Which I hope to get to this coming week. 

My local guild likes to give out SWAG when we have booths at community events or are selling raffle tickets at various fairs.  This year we were given the opportunity to make some swag from kits.  Here are the three I put together.  They gave us everything including floss, needle and precut pieces.  I did the orange one all by hand but I also did a buttonhole stitch around the outside edge.  So for the other two I did a machine buttonhole stitch which took a lot less time.  I'm not sure who would want these cuties but hopefully some one will think they are cute. 

Here's what I hope to get done this week.

7/14/25

Make more FCQ Equilters blocks

Put some fabric away/ clean up a bit lot

Make more string blocks and trim to size

Load and quilt one of my quilts 

Cut more Happy Blocks 

For some reason my sewing space looks like a whirlwind went through it.  It's driving me crazy. I am not by nature a neat person but this mess has finally gotten to me so hopefully I'll be able to put things away. 🤞🏼

I've been making string blocks off and on for the last several weeks.  I need to count how many, trim what I have and start ripping the newsprint off the back.  Hopefully I've gotten closer to the needed amount.  I figure it is time to list it as a to do! 

Here is my start on another Happy Blocks top.  The finished blocks are left overs that I want to put to use. I've cut some more and gathered fabric to cut the inside squares but need to figure out the go with fabrics. It may go with me to retreat but maybe not. I've already got 5 or 6 precut tops although it's a 5 day retreat and may not be enough. I am hoping to make this a neutral baby quilt rather one with pink in it. I have a friend who is a NICU nurse and said most dads of boys don't want  any pink on their boy's quilt.  I try to make some quilts without pink on them a few times a year.  Notice I don't call them boy quilts.  My thought is girl babies might be happy to have dinosaurs and soccer balls too. 

I've also maintained my 15 minutes to stitch each day.

W/ending 7/13/25. 194 days of 2025

• 15 minute days/July = 13/13
• 15 minute days/2024 = 194/194 days
• Success rate = 100%

For years I kept statistics on fabric coming in and going out each month.  One year I decided not to and I was disappointed because I didn't know whether I was bringing in more fabric than I used. So, I've started keeping track of fabric coming in and going out this year.  But I've decided to do it quarterly. So here is the 2nd quarter 2025 fabric usage stats. (Hum, I noticed that the 1st quarter I showed each month's numbers separately rather than the whole quarter as below. It would be much easier if I did each month separately.  I'll try it for 3rd quarter...) 

2025	Fabric In Quarter	Fabric In Year to date	Fabric Out  Quarter	Fabric Out Year to Date	Total In or Out Year
2nd Quarter	27.00	46.50	26.375	71.250	24.7

I did bring in more fabric than I used but honestly it wasn't even an extra yard. I have a couple more backings available that I hope to use this quarter and I may break down and buy some more fabric specifically for backings especially since I'll probably make several more tops at retreat. 

One of these days I need to update my tops waiting-to-be-quilted list.  I've been finishing quilts a lot recently.  I have one waiting for binding and I hope to get at least one maybe two quilted this month still. 

Here's the info on Linky Parties.  Check some out this week. 

Life In Pieces

Oh Scrap 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings 

I hope every one is staying cool and safe this summer.  There's just so much going on. The weather here is hot and muggy with thunderstorms forecasted for every day this week. Eek!  I'm quite happy to stay in my cool basement studio and hopefully be able to sew.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie

 

Monday Meanderings 1 - 13 - 2025

Surprisingly we still have snow on the ground. It's been pretty cold over the last week.  The greater DC area often has weather ups and downs during the winter.  In fact we've hardly had snow for the last 3 years. I was surprised that temps stayed so cold for nearly a week.  I suspect most of the snow will be gone by next weekend because each day is going to be warmer than freezing.  There is a chance of more snow next Sunday. Hopefully nothing will come of it! 

I was pretty distracted this week so I didn't pay as much attention to my sewing as I usually do. (I also had several books that came in and I wanted to read...) Here's how I did on my goals.

1/5/25

✅Layout the 3.5” rail blocks — most of the rail rows are sewn together 

Load and quilt a top - didn’t happen 

✅Continue cleaning cutting table — minor progress made 

✅Make 2 E quilter blocks for me — done 

Start a new top — looked but nothing concrete happened

For the last several years I've been making rail blocks using 1.5" by 3.5" strips. Evidently, I passed the number I needed years ago. I had put these blocks on my UFO challenge list this year and the number was pulled for January.  I wasn't really excited about it but I did have a folder with some ideas of how to lay them out.  My first layout just didn't look good to me. I went back to the folder and decided to emulate Nann's version.  Here's Nann's post showing her version.  Hum, looking this over I notice that all the color in each of her blocks was the same color. If red, the outside rails appear the same color while the inside rail is a different red.  I didn't focus on the center rail and often used all sorts of different fabrics.  Here's what mine looks like now. 

So all the rows have 12 blocks except the blue that has 13.  I'll be removing a block from each of the blue rows and sewing the purples together this week. I hope to get the background fabric cut and sewn to finish it to a top. 

Here's a strip of fabric I might be using for a small border.  It's a leftover from a backing fabric. I hope I have enough fabric left to put at least a 2.5" border around the top. 

And, I made two additional blocks that I call the FCQ Equilter blocks (for lack of knowing the real name.) Hum, the center pink is the original block I made.  The top and bottom are the new ones.  The bottom one seems a little too dark.  I'm looking forward to receiving more blocks from the Equilters. 

And now my goals for this week . . . 

1/13/25

Finish 3.5 rail blocks to top stage 

Load and quilt a top

Cut out and begin sewing new top

Find something else to work on that strikes my fancy

I was at a loss as to what to put on my new goals list.  I'm not sure what I'll choose to add to my goals. I'll probably continue cleaning up the cutting table. Part of that cleaning up is cutting scraps into various sizes with my Accuquilt dies.  Eventually I'll need to figure out what I should do with these various sizes! 

15 Minutes of Stitching 

W/ending 1/12/25. 12 days of January

• 15 minute days/Jan = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 12/2 days
• Success rate = 100%

I like that 100% success rate.  We'll see how long that lasts. 

I'm linking up with the following parties: 

Stitching Stuff

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday 

Monday Musing

Hopefully this week I'll remember to link up the other two blogs on Monday rather than later in the week! Have fun doing some surfing this week! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

August 2024 Mysteries and Sew Alongs

While I was researching mysteries and quilt alongs I found a You Tube video from Quilted Forest for their Summer Mystery Quilt 2024.  There are weekly videos that are all available now. While watching the 6 videos for this year’s Summer Mystery, I realized they’ve been doing them at various times of the year since 2021. So there are a lot from which to choose. You can screen shot the directions for each section or take notes. (That’s what she said on the video!) But it would be easier if you join the Quilted Forest Friends Facebook Page and download the directions from the Files. I really liked this year’s Summer Mystery.  The video sample was done in Halloween fabrics. Too cute! And I loved the fact that she appeared to make the entire clue in the time the video played. Of course, I realize it would take us way longer to do each clue. Take a look and see if the quilt strikes your fancy. You can find the videos by typing in ‘Quilted Forest Mystery Quilt Summer 2024” in the You Tube search box, then choose Clue 1.  Make sure it says Summer Mystery 2024.  

You can also take a look at their other offerings. They have quite a few other mysteries along with series on using 2.5" strips and one on 5" squares.  I watched their latest one on 2.5" strips and wanted to share it. Here's a link to it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quMc-xutLK4.   If for some reason that doesn't come up just type in Quilted Forest Tutorials and look for the one called Simple Block Using Partial Seam and 2.5" Strips. I'm pretty sure I'm going to try one of these soon.  

The Fat Quarter Shop recently announced the Home Town Holiday Sampler Quilt and Stitch Along. This starts in September. It uses Lori Holt’s instructions called Home Town Holiday Sampler that is available as a downloadable pattern. I’m not sure it the cross stitch version is included. https://blog.fatquartershop.com/announcing-home-town-holiday-sampler-quilt-and-stitch-along/ $

Star of Wonder Mystery Quilt and Cross Stitch Along started at the Fat Quarter Shop at the beginning of July. Here’s the link to the blog post about the Stitch Along: https://blog.fatquartershop.com/stitch-and-sew-star-of-wonder-with-us/. And here’s the link to the downloadable directions: https://www.fatquartershop.com/sew-alongs/star-of-wonder?sscid=71k8_tdnex.  The last instructions were posted on July 30. Do you want to see a picture of Sara's?  She blogs at My Sewing Room and shared a wonderful version that's almost done.  You can see it here.  I may have to give this one a try. What's nice about the Fat Quarter Shop is they have a lot of free patterns and mysteries and sew alongs.  From what I've noticed they leave them up on their site for a long time. 

Hopefully you will find a project that will tickle your fancy.  My head is spinning with ideas to use the block shared by Quilted Forest. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 11 - 13 - 2023

Another week has flown by.  Maybe it was because we came down to our beach house Friday after our last rehearsal. We went to the owners' meeting. Did a bit of work around the house. We drive home early Monday to make our regular Monday night rehearsal. There are two concerts this week on Tuesday and Thursday with our neighborhood group. Our second round of concerts will be the second weekend of December. It'll be a busy week with not a whole lot of sewing going on. I hope to squeeze in some during the mornings.  I did a great job on my goals last week before I left. YEA! 

11/6/23

✅Finish the Flower Song blocks -- 3 blocks finished.

✅Add sashing to Christmas present quilt -- ready for borders. 

✅Sew rest of ombré log cabin rows together -- done. 

✅Make 5 more Christmas tree skirts for mini trees -- done and turned in. 

✅Sew on ornaments -- I generally sew on them at a Monday stitching group. I brought them on our weekend away and made even more progress. I can see the end in sight for one of them. And the other three aren't that far behind. 

Here's the finished Ombre Log Cabin top. Except, wow! I didn't expect it to be so wide!  It's just about hitting the floor on both sides. Eek.  I'm not sure what I plan about that.  I'm considering taking out one diagonal column to make it about 14" shorter.  I do know I'm not really going to be doing much on it over the next few weeks.  Any opinions?  I don't mind ripping 2 seams -- I don't imagine it will take all that long.  It would also give me enough blocks to make pillow shams.  Decisions, decisions! 

 

11/13/23

Sing two concerts

Make some placemats for guild and attend guild meeting

Finish turquoise RSC blocks 

Layout and begin sewing Flower Song quilt

Stitch out a sample embroidery before starting some sweatshirts 

I'm sure that is way more than I can accomplish this week.  But I just might surprise myself.  And, I do like to move lots of projects ahead each week. 

Off list I made a couple of maple leaf blocks with the Accuquilt die. I need to add some other colors but here's what I have so far.  

I started by making three of the same burgundy fabric. I've added dark brown and orange.  I have a purple fabric picked out.  I need to figure out some more colors to use.  I also found an old block that I think might be interesting to add to this group.

It's about an inch smaller so I would have to add a small border to it. But I like the idea of the on point setting. (Oh no!  Not another one right after my Ombre Log Cabin!) This is going to be about 40" square quilt to hang over the fireplace.  I have a lot of seasonal quilts that size that get highlighted there.  I don't have a fall one I actually like so this one will become my fall quilt.  So what do you think?  Should I add the paper pieced block as the center? I probably need 7 more to finish off this round.  And then I'll decide how many more I need after that.  

I'm keeping this one short. We'll be up early in the morning to drive back home.  Then on to our normal Monday night rehearsal.  It's a busy week.  Hope you can spend some time checking out some blogs from these Linky parties. I'll try to get the other three links done on Monday morning. But it might be afternoon before I succeed. 

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings 

Show and Tell Monday 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie