Monday Meanderings -- June 29, 2026

I hope all of you are safe and healthy after all this bad weather that has been spreading across the US over the last few weeks. Local weather people keep saying we (the greater DC area) were going to get heavy rain.  We all need it. But, as usual the clouds seemed to split over our area and go north and south. We did get some heavy rain this week but it was no where near enough. I'm sharing our 9 day forecast via Apple's weather app on my iPhone. It'll change every day, or so it seems every week.  I'm just hoping the days with 100 as the high actually changes to lower temps before the days arrive. I'm not holding my breath on that happening though.  And this doesn't show the humidity going sky high also.  It's going to be humid too. My basement studio sounds really good this week. **The weather has changed overnight! We'll have 2days of 100+ temps, and rain only on Monday. I expect it will continue to change everyday. Sigh. At least 7/4 is "suppose" to be dry instead of rain! 

Here's what I accomplished this week. 

6/22/26 

✅Start quilting Fall Blocks (June ufo challenge project)— first part done. 

✅✅Finish two more Veronica blocks✔️✔️ and 4 additional ones cut out. 

✅Keep checking project boxes or zippered pouches to free them up for other projects — one emptied. 

✅Work on Snowman #2 — worked a couple of hours on this one. 

✅Knit a beanie — finished one and started another. 

✅Start table runner for retreat — cut out, some sewing done. 

The only pictures I got of worked-on projects were of the table runner I am making for retreat. We rent a house in northwest Virginia and I will be leaving it at the house for future renters. The pattern is Heart Strings designed by Tricia Lynn Maloney for Villa Rosa Designs.  It is a very versatile pattern. It is 16" x 60".  The table I'm making it for is 15" x 60" and it's been easy to make the change so it will fit.  There are 5 blocks like this in the runner.  It took me longer to cut out the fabrics than the time spent sewing.

Here's an upclose picture of the fabrics I chose.  All of these came from my stash. The blue with white will be the backing and binding.  I hope to finish it Tuesday. I'll be quilting it with stars of some sort. 

And this week I'll be working on these goals: 

6/29/26

Finish sewing table runner together

Quilt another section of June UFO project 

Work on Snowman #2 

Start clearing out “stuff” to prep for new carpet in bedrooms 

Sew more Veronica blocks

Make more string blocks 

Enjoy 4th Of July party in neighborhood

The only non-quilting item on the list is clearing things out of closets and dresser tops.  We have been doing some updating of our house. Before the new carpet comes in the master bedroom and bathroom will be painted.  Here's a pic of one of the new counter tops in the bathroom. We got rid of the previous counter tops -- builder's grade that was turning yellow.  We have two sinks/cabinets in our bathroom. So two new sinks and quartz countertops have been installed. Plus we also replaced the granite (that was pitted and rough) in the kitchen with a similar looking quartz.  

It is going to be interesting getting everything moved out of the guest room closet -- it's packed floor to ceiling.  Hopefully some of the stuff will be given away.  But I do need to start working on it now! 

I've changed my mind about making more new kits to worked on at retreat.  Currently I have 2 kits ready to go.  But I'll need a lot more projects. I've gone through some of my project bags and found several that I could work on at retreat. Here's a pic of the string blocks I've been working on. These blocks are finished and ready to sew together.  I have another group that are sewn but not trimmed. And I need to get 7 more made, preferably before retreat.  I've pulled several other project that are partially done to finish up at retreat. 

Another week with 100% of 15 minute stitching! Whoopee! 

Week ending 6/28/26:  179 days of 2026.

  179 stitching days out of 179 days. 100%

And, here is the last quilt Sharon quilted on Ruthie when she was here.  

The blocks were made by quilters from Faithful Circle Quilters who signed up for this swap. They all had a yardage of the same fabric that had to be used in each block. Sharon chose the setting with the stars and added the border. Here are a few close ups. 

 

I believe Sharon said these were done during covid.  I'm sorry I don't remember which block was hers.  Sharon chose Bright Lights edge to edge by My Creative Stitches. She chose a dark green So Fine thread from Superior threads. She reports that she's got the binding on it. I think she said it's all sewn down by hand. 

Remember to visit these Linky parties to see what quilters are working on all over the world. 

Stitching Time 

Oh Scrap

Quilting Patchwork Applique 

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musings

Because I've enjoyed seeing pictures of flowers that several bloggers share I decided to include a coupe of our flowers. First, I will admit we aren't big gardeners.  But lilies are pretty easy to grow.  So I'm sharing a couple pics of ours.  I have learned I can cut them and bring them in the house. But, they don't usually last long, except Cala Lilies. We don't have any in the yard but I hope to add some this year. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meanderings 12 - 23 - 2024

The year is winding down.  Library e books that I'm checking out now are due next year.  In fact, I've already read a couple and returned them before the year has turned.  Keeping up with book due dates really helps me get used to 2025.  I am getting more reading in now that singing activities have been finished.  

I had a great week working on goals.  In fact I added one mainly because I wanted to motivate myself to actually do it. Here's the revised list. 

12/16/24

✅1 Concert — done.

✅Make a table runner — finished and given to my friend.

✅✅✅✅Finish grands’ ornaments — finished and wrapped. Photos will be shared after Christmas.

✅Make a bunch of mini cupcakes for the Va Star Guild’s holiday party — done and eaten. 

✅Wrap presents — half done. I’ll be at it again Mon or Tue. 

✅Added — sew backings together — one sewn together. The other is ironed and waiting for me to sew it together. 

Here's the table runner I made for a friend. She's a china painter and has given me several lovely pieces over the years. I didn't start working on this early enough so I had a late night the day before I gave it to her.  It was hard to photograph the whole thing so this isn't the best overall pic. We sing in the neighborhood chorus together so I thought the note fabric was appropriate. 

And a close up of one of the Ohio stars.

I didn't take any pictures of the mini cupcakes -- mainly because they looked badly. I carefully measured the right amount of batter into the cupcake papers. They came out of the oven fine.  The next day I frosted them using Duncan Hines chocolate frosting. It tastes like my own homemade frosting so I was making life a little easier. I had gathered some candy canes to crush and sprinkle on the top. After I finished them I decided to stash them in the refrigerator to encourage them to set up. OOPS! The frosting got soggy and the crushed candy canes melted. No wonder there were a lot of them left over.  They tasted fine at home but they still looked a mess.  And to think I have another 24 of them in the freezer I'm planning on frosting for the kids to have on Christmas.  Anyone have experience solving the melting frosting issue?  I think I'll put some cocoa and/or powder sugar in the frosting to see if I can make it a little stiffer. Hopefully it will frost easily still. And it won't be going into the refrigerator. 

Here's the plans goals for this week....

12/23/24

Bind bow tie quilt

Finish wrapping the presents 

Enjoy the family together on Christmas

Put borders on fall quilt

Quilt and bind pinwheel quilt 

Pick 12 projects for the UFO Challenge

I actually worked on more projects than listed on my goals last week.  Here are some of them. 

First up I made a mug caddy as a gift for quilt guild gift exchange.  I made a cute mug caddy using a pattern I got along with the mug caddy.  I chose to alter it so it wasn't as thick as the one I had. It was a bit of a challenge but in the end it turned out well. Here's my photo of it. Being clever, I wrapped it in the fat quarter I used for this backdrop.  The recipient seemed to like it too.  I got a wonderful cross body purse. It is a size I use and will hold a more than what I can fit into mine. Win! 

I am trying to get a few more quilts finished this year so I loaded another one and got it quilted on Saturday.  Here's the photo early in the quilting process.  I call this one the old bowtie top as the beginning of it was a bunch of bowtie blocks I made years ago.  I picked a fun bright backing for it. I found a blue fabric to use as binding.  (It was leftover from a backing for another quilt I've done this fall. Bonus!) 

I'll be binding it this week. The quilting design is called Fast and Easy Swirls.  And, yes it is both. I've been using it a lot recently. 

15 Minutes of Stitching -- I was diligent this week and made sure I stitched every day.  Considering everything I got done I must have spent a lot more than 15 minutes a day! Here are the stats.

W/ending 12/22 — 357 days in to 2024. 

• 15 minute days/week Dec = 7/7
• 15 minute days/2024 = 346/357 days
• Success rate = 96.92%

I plan on continuing this during 2025.  I like that it motivates me to stitch nearly every day. I've only missed 11 days all year. Not bad!  I do tend to spend a lot more than 15 minutes but sometimes it really is only that short amount of time. 

I'm linking with my normal parties.  I hope you can spend some time surfing the web.  It's a lot of fun seeing what folks are working on. Maybe you'll find a perfect project for you to start in 2025! Here are the links: Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Design Wall Monday, and Monday Musings. 

I leave you with this little saying that I've hung on my bulletin board right by the sewing machine. My friend gave it to me as a small Christmas present or reminder? 

She knows me well.  If only I won't buy fabric for a while.... 

Here's wishing all a wonderful holiday season.  I'm looking forward to new quilting projects and finishing up some old ones in 2025. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Last Table Scraps Challenge Runner

Do you ever wait to the very last minute to finish a project?  You know, the one you are sewing binding on on Christmas Eve?  Well that was me this week when I decided I was going to make an October runner in bright and light greens.  I knew I wanted to use an Accuquilt die.  I knew I wasn't going to make it huge. I even had a fabric I liked for the back (and actually used on the front too.) 

On the left is what I first came up with. I cut out rectangles and played with them. I finally came up with what is shown below. Thursday I threw it on Ruthie and quilted two rows on it. That night I hand stitched the binding to the back. Today it was time for pictures...but it has been pouring rain nearly the whole day.  I decided I'd take pictures in the "sun" room sans sun.  And, surprise! It worked pretty well. 

And the back. Oops, that color is so wrong!  The back is the same fabric as between the turquoise strips.

I'm not planning on making any more table runners this year.  I think the Rainbow Scrap Challenge leaves the last two months without a color so quilters can sew their blocks into tops and tops into quilts.  I still have one block on my RSC friendship stars to sew.  And then, it's on to sewing a top. 

Last week a couple of friends went with me to Material Girls Quilt Boutique in La Plata, Maryland.  I was picking up my Bernina after her spa treatment.  After shopping and a nice lunch we were ready to take the leisurely country drive back to our neighborhood. (About 70 minutes or so away.)  We were surprised to see the Scarecrow Festival in La Plata.  On various streets there were displays.  I snapped pictures of two of them. 

The silly scarecrow.

And the scary. 

It might have been fun to drive up and down the streets to see more but it was time to head home. 

This past Monday I was lucky enough to catch the peak of fall foliage in our neighborhood.  Doesn't this just say fall is here?

I haven't driven by this scene since Monday, but I suspect it is no longer this pretty.  Other trees are looking mostly dull yellow for the most part. Is fall still showing beautiful colors where you live? 

Here are links to my favorite late week parties: 

Midweek Makers

Needle and Thread Thursdays

Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?

Finished or Not Friday

Beauties Pageant

Table Scraps Challenge October Linky Party

That's enough for now!  I'm ready to sew a label on a quilt and have another finish.  I probably won't show it until next Friday.  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

September Table Scraps Challenge -- DONE!

Orange is the color for September Rainbow Scrap Challenge and the Table Scraps Runner/Topper Challenge.  I decided I would try to make a table runner using my 4.5" tumbler die.  It's a great size to use scraps.  (In fact, the quilt that has been waiting for the long arm to be repaired is a tumbler using some of my doggy fabric. Inside info -- the parts came and I finished that little quilt.) 

I started cutting one piece from all the orange scraps that would fit on the die. Um, that wasn't enough.  So I started looking at the few leftover charm packets I have.   I finally found enough although I did have to cut into some of my yardage.  Isn't it great? Yea orange! 

My oranges go from very light peach to dark rust and from gold to bright orange.  When this was all done I realized my stack of orange fabrics needs some additions.  (But that is for another day.) The inspiration for this was a table runner Sherri, who writes about quilting at A Quilting Life, showed recently on an AccuQuilt Live event.  Shortly afterwards she wrote a whole post about making tumbler table runners.  So anyone who wants to make one check this blog post.

I found an old piece of Halloween fabric to use as the back.  I had to piece the it so it would fit. The plan was to do free motion stipple on my domestic machine.  My first try the tension was off even though I tested it.  Ugh.  Rip, rip, rip.  My second try it started out ok but my free motion skills are totally rusted.  And the tension whacked out.  More ripping.  Eventually I decided that if I ever wanted to finish this I needed to try something else. So I set up the walking foot and did the "organic" lines.  It worked pretty well.  

It's almost October and I'm wondering what color we'll be working with and what type of runner I can make next.  

Here's one last look at it. 

Up next will be to trim and bind the doggy tumbler quilt.  Then, I need to quilt a new quilt that's sitting on Ruthie.  And I have great hope to quilt 2 quilts before I head off on Thursday for retreat.  If I succeed I'll pass them off to a friend from Maryland who attends the retreat and she'll pass them on to the guild.  Lots to do in very few days. (Good thing I've already kitted up a couple of quilts.) 

Here are the linky parties to check out: 

Needle and Thread Thursdays

Can I Have a Whoop, Whoop? 

Finished or Not Friday

Beauties Pageant 

Table Scraps Runner/Topper Challenge Linky Party

Scrap Happy Saturday 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

A Friday Finish: Aqua Table Scraps Challenge

I'm late getting this posted as I finished it over last weekend.  It's always nice to have a finish -- even if it is small.

Without further ado here's my finished August Table Scraps Challenge runner.

I decided to use my Accuquilt Go Cutter and the 9" Cube.  I picked a pattern I liked, picked the fabrics and got on it.  I really like aqua, teal, turquoise the whole realm of blue greens.  Surprisingly I don't have all that much fabric in those colors.  Hum, I wonder if I use them a lot?  Could be. 

The block design is called Louisiana. It's basically 4 flying geese with 4 rectangles.  I chose to put these on point as I had just purchased a die called Setting Triangles - 9" Finished.  It's actually a design that will cut the setting triangles on the side and the smaller ones on both sides at the top and bottom.  Since I have the 9" cube it seemed like a reasonable add on for me. 

Did you noticed the floor? We've had a portion of our back deck turned into a 3 seasons room. (Or maybe I should call it a sun room.)  We've had wonderful weather for the past few days -- low humidity and temps below 80.  So much nicer than the high humidity and 95+ degrees.  The window and door in the great room open on to the sun room.  We've opened both and the windows in the new room.  It is wonderful with a nice breeze circulating.  We still need some electrical work done (and inspected) and to have the floor installed. And then add some furniture -- which luckily we already own!  

Back to the table runner....

Hum, I'd agree that the table runner is flat out best! (Of course, all the table runners I've made this year are flat out best!) 

Here's a peek at the backing too. As usual all of this fabric came from stash. It feels so good to use stash especially a few pieces I really like.  I'll enjoy seeing this runner on my table. 

Late but happy to share my August Table Runner with everyone. 

I'm linking up with a bunch of blogs today. Please take some time to visit these Linky Parties to find links to lots of great blogs. Here's the list: Midweek Makers,  Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday, and Beauties Pageant. Hopefully I'll remember to link up Saturday to SOScrappy for the weekly RSC party.  

Enjoy your weekend!  I need to keep cutting pieces to make kits for the upcoming retreat. (Less than 3 weeks now!) 

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 
 

Table Scraps Challenge -- Purple

It's the day before the last Saturday in June.  Do you know what that means?  Yep, time to share my Table Scraps Challenge piece for purple June.   Once again I decided to do a table runner AND to use Accuquilt dies that I've hardly used.   

Here are the dies I decided to use. These were part of a companion set for my 9" Cube.  These dies are no longer available in either of the current cube companion sets.  But you can get different sized Drunkard's Path dies if you have a Accucut cutter.  Mine are 5" cut, finished at 4.5". 

I made the blocks and then tried to decide how I would put them together. This arrangement was chosen. It was fun turning the quarter circles around trying to find a pleasing design.  I decided to add the corner triangles to get a different look for the border. Although this design is not in the book, I did get a lot of inspiration from John Kubiniec's book, A New Spin on Drunkard's Path.

As usual, I quilted this on my Bernina 635 with a walking foot.  I used a magenta colored Mettler PolySheen top thread with a Mettler cotton in the bobbin. 

I pulled a piece of fabric I've had for years (and years!) for the backing. I was happy to use it and I like the way it compliments the front. Oh yes, all fabric was from stash! 

We are only 6 months through the year long Table Scraps Challenge. I'm having a lot of fun making these small quilts and enjoying trying things I doubt I'd try on a larger quilt.  I wonder what our next color is going to be.  

Here's my list of linky parties for the weekend: Midweek Makers, Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop,  Finished or Not Friday, Beauties Pageant, Scrap Happy Saturday, and The Table Scraps Runner/Topper Challenge.  Wow. That's a lot of linky parties.  Enjoy seeing what is happening with quilters across the Internet. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

A bit of technical info -- I find that my photos look great after I edit them in my Photos on my Mac.  But once I finish and publish my post they get darker.  Today I made an effort to really lighten and brighten my photos.  I'll evaluate this attempt after I post my blog.  Maybe they will have just the right lightness to make them look great.