Monday Meandering 5 - 29 - 2023

This week zoomed by with a lot of studio time and way less reading than some weeks.  I guess if I read I don't get as much stitching done.  The book has to really draw me in and the one I was reading earlier in the week didn't. The next one up did. Have you read any of Sherry Thomas's Lady Sherlock mysteries.  I just finished #7 and it did grab me and kept me. I've enjoyed all of them -- some as audio books and some as ebooks. Evidently it didn't cut into my stitching time all that badly as I got all my goals done! Whoop,!Whoop! Let's take a look. 

5/22/23

✅Mail two packages of blocks out -- sent out Friday and I bought a pair of shoes.

✅Finish fusing & trimming tee shirts for a quilt -- all done.

✅Put border on APQ UFO for May -- mitered and sewn on in two different colors, fancy! I also need to quilt it but haven't decided what how to yet.

✅✅Trim and bind 2 quilts -- Finished both of them.

Here's Sheep in Boots -- quilted and bound. (Too bad I never think about getting a label on before I sew the binding on!) 

And an up close view. . .

I used Ginger Flower for the quilting design and So Fine thread.  This will be going to a local hospital's NICU via my local guild, Virginia Star Quilters. 

Here's what I'll be doing this week. 

5/29/23

Hem a couple of pairs of pants

Make 2 Flower Song Blocks 

Finish 3 RSC blocks 

Put border on grapes quilt

Doesn't seem like all that much to me so I might work on some other things. You won't see much about the t shirt quilt again until late June or possibly July.  I've got a plan to get one part completed every month until the whole quilt is done. Here's part of one of the tee shirts already trimmed and stabilized. The hard part is coming -- figuring out where each shirt is to be placed and what fabric I'll add to it. 

Yep, you might have guessed, this is a a triathalon tee shirt. My son used to do a lot of running and biking. Please don't tell him I'm working on his quilt. (Yea, I know you don't really know him and I am hoping none of the family actually reads my blog!) 

I finished everything on my Goals List early Sunday afternoon. So, I decided I would try a block I'd been wanting to make for a while.  This is called String Bean and is 12.5" x 15.5" unfinished. It uses mostly 2.5" strips.  I have a slew of them and I thought this might help me get rid use them. Here's a link to Pat Sloan's pattern in case you have lots of strips too. This log cabin variation is very easy especially if you have a lot of precut strips or you've got leftover jelly rolls. 

My plan is to use a solid or reads-like solid in the center and then surround it with a colors drawn from multi-color fabrics that I'll also use. I was surprised to find this very nice hand dyed fabric in a scrap basket. It was a pretty big scrap and I have no idea why I would have thrown it in the basket instead of my hand dye box. I'm hoping to use lighter, spring colors while using up some of my smaller pieces of solids. The hand dyed pink fit right in with my plan. Time will tell whether I succeed. 

That's about it for this post. Here's my list of Linky Parties I'll be linking with:

Oh Scrap

Design Wall Monday 

Monday Musing 

To Do Tuesday

Take some time this week to visit these parties and join in.  You never know what great idea you'll see on quilter's blogs. 

I hope to publish my next Mysteries and Sew Alongs on Thursday, June 1. Check back if you are looking for a new sew along or mystery to do. 

I was so surprised to see my Peace Lily bloom.  I first noticed it before we went to the beach and I was so disappointed that I would miss its full bloom. I was wrong. It took several weeks to get to this point.  And, I suspect it will continue with this display for several more weeks.  My surprise at the bloom is because the plant is quite old and I can't remember it ever blooming before. Heck, I bet we've moved it at least 4 times.  A couple of years ago I separated it into two pots.  The second one looks anemic but this one has been quite nice and now the added bonus of two blooms. Do you have house plants?  I'm not much of a gardener but I do keep up with several house plants. 

It's time for me to finish this off and get on with my latest novel.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 3 - 7 - 202

What a busy week this has been for me.  I shouldn't have been surprised since I gave myself 7 items on my to do list which is way more than the 4 or 5 I usually give myself.  The best news from my point of view is I actually made some progress on all of the goals.  Shocking, but I was highly motivated this week.  

2/28/2022

✅Make more red Spider blocks, Ombre blocks  

✅Bind Grape quilt -- you can go here to see the finished quilt

✅Cut pieces for “cupcake” blocks — Some are done more to do

✅Finish sewing Looking Glass quilt together - done, make backing fabric — in process 

✅Work on SAHRR - a little done but this is going to the back burner for now

✅Start on March’s UFO Challenge Quilt - Easy Breezy blocks to top 

✅Making backing for the little dog quilt, load and quilt 

I pulled out the Easy Breezy blocks. I had 35 done and want to lay them out in a 6 x 7 grid.  So first up is make 7 more blocks. 

I decided to see how a churn dash block will look with my SAHRR feathered star.  I like my sample block so eventually I'll get enough made to make another full border. But I have too many things to do that have deadlines to finish it now. Hopefully I won't bury it again. 

The little dog quilt has been quilted.  Eventually I'll trim and bind it but not this week. 

Here's what's up this coming week

3/7/2022

Quilt customer quilt

Quilt and bind Marine Looking Glass 

Make labels & sleeves for 3 quilts going to the Faithful Circle Quilters show

Make 7 more Easy Breezy blocks; make blocks for FCQ Equilter this month

Make March block from Sherri McConnell’s BOM

I finally took a picture of the two wide back fabrics I bought at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt show.  The white will be used to piece with. (I never put white on the back of a quilt.  Do you?) The fun rainbow circles is going to be used on 2 rainbow scrap challenge tops and one top I made in rainbow colors.  I don't know when I'll get to them but hopefully at least one this month. 

When I was watering my plants this month I noticed one lone flower on my Christmas Cactus.  What a surprise.  It bloomed profusely between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I figured it was done for awhile. When I took this picture I notice one other very early bud and 3 even earlier buds. I may have a beautiful display in a few weeks.  Maybe I should have taken this photo from a different angle so you can see how big this bloom is. 

I'll try to remember to take more pictures if it decides to give me more blooms. As much as I like to keep up my indoors plant I don't do much outdoors. I'd like to but the heat of our summers just takes too much out of me. (Or at least that's my excuse!) 

I'm ready to call it a night.  So, please remember to go to one of these Linky parties to access a lot of wonderful quilt blogs.  It so fun to surf the web to see what people are up to. 

Oh Scrap

Monday Making

Design Wall Monday

To Do Tuesday 

One last bit of info. I finally used up my first spool of thread this year.  Since I switched to using a cone of thread for most of my piecing I haven't been using as many spools.  Thanks to needing navy blue thread for the Marine Looking Glass border I was able to use a large spool up. Whoop! 

Have quilting all!  Bonnie (ready to go read a book and get some sleep.) 

On a Roll!

This is at least the third Friday in a row I've posted a finish to the blog.  Whoot! Whoot!

A while ago I bought a collection of purple fabrics through Sew It's for Sale. A groups.io group that is dedicated to selling and buying sewing "stuff."  I've bought thread, patterns, and fabric from individuals who are selling their "stuff." I bought a couple of collections from one gal over the years.  Now I keep trying to use the purple fabric, in particular.  Here's one I've recently finished. 

The "purple fabric" I bought was actually pink with the purple rocking horses.  It was in strips so I cut several to add to the yellow and purple solid I had on hand. 

Pattern: My variation on MaryQuilts' quilt Quick Strippie.

Quilt Design: Ginger Heart by Apricot Moon.    

Thread: White Omni by Superior Threads.

Aren't the azalea peeking out gorgeous?  It's one bush that blooms in both light and dark pink. 

Although I don't remember doing it I probably show it every spring because it is just so beautiful!

I have enough of the baby fabric to make another strippie.  The fabric on the right is one I purchased from Marshall Dry Goods.  You can read about the fabric here. I've been really happy with it.  Eventually I will buy more from them but mostly go withs.  

While I was snapping the quilt pictures there was a robin that was really irritated with me.  Here he is on our neighbor's fence. He was hopping around and chirping at me.  I'm guessing she? has a nest in the backyard somewhere.  (Truth be told, I didn't even go all the way down the stairs from the deck!) Hum, I wonder if she is the one that ate all the berries off the holly tree in the winter?

Today I'm off to a friend's house and attend guild meeting.  We're learning how to use the Deb Tucker's Studio 180 LeMoyne star ruler.  I've already made one but I figure when I have access to a certified teacher I'll learn some cool tips on how to make it perfectly.

I'm linking up to my regular parties: Midweek Makers, Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, and Beauties Pageant. Wow!  That should keep us busy for a while won't it?  Hope everyone can visit a few more blogs this weekend! 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie