Monday Meanderings 1 - 8 - 2024

 

 Happy New Year

2024

Now we are a week into 2024 I'm back at my blog.  I decided to take a one week blogging break.  It turned out that I got a bunch of things done in the studio. I cleaned up some of the horizontal surfaces. A new Accucut Big came into the studio and some sewing was completed.  

Here's the results of my goals dated January 1, 2024.

1/1/24

✅Bind small quilt or 2 — 1 quilt bound.

✅Wash, dry and fold some fabric — one load done.

✅Finalize UFO list & quilts I’d like to make in 2024 — still need quilts-to-make list.

✅✅✅Make 3 or 4 walker bag kits — made many kits to take to guild. 

Here's what I hope to do this week.  I can't figure out if these are enough items or whether more should be added.  I generally try to pick goals that I can actually complete during the week. Hopefully all of these will get done.  

1/8/24

Finish 3 yard quilt top

Make backing for and quilt small strippy quilt

Start on UFO appliqué block 

Bind 30 Something quilt and strippy

Iron one or two backing fabrics

Wash, dry and fold the last of the red fabrics

The washing, drying, and folding of fabric took a hiatus for most of this past week. I think all I have left can be washed in one load. One of things I've been doing with each load is throwing in some Color Catchers™ and Color Grabbers™. I've used Color Catchers™ for years and find they do absorb color from the wash water.  For these loads I've been throwing in lots of them.  

Here are the results from my last fabric load that was reds and one piece of purple. I tend to reuse the sheets but most of these were new for this wash.  The small ones are Color Grabbers™ and the larger ones are Color Catchers™. From what I remember the prices are similar.  I prefer the Color Catchers as they are bigger and I assume they will absorb more color.   Do you use any form of color controller when you wash your fabrics or your quilts?  I've gotten in the habit of washing all fabrics when they come into the house.  That way I don't worry about shrinkage nor bleeding. 

I've been using Shout Color Catcher™ for years. I tried Carbona Color Grabber ™ when I saw it recently at my local grocery store. 

This is the little strippy quilt I made. The dark strip is actually a teal that blends with the cat and dog fabrics. Whoops! Just noticed the cats are smaller than the dogs. Except for the teal strip the rest of the fabrics came from fabrics I've been washing for my local quilt guild.  Hopefully I'll have it quilted and bound by the next meeting. If you'd like some basic instructions for a strippy quilt check out Mary Quilts.  Here's a direct link to her Quick Strippie pattern.  I've made several over the years but generally divvy up my fabric based on how much I have of each.  You might guess that I had very little of the teal for the above top! I actually like how Mary's examples have the cute print fabric do the majority of the work. Unfortunately I had very little of the dog and the cat fabric so I used the bright yellow to make it big enough to give to one of the charities.

And, for my last photo of this post -- here's a pic of all the spools I emptied in 2023. Honestly, this was a pretty sparse year for me. Lowest year: 7.  Highest year: 30.  This year's 12 isn't great.  I do know I have at least 3 almost empty long arm cones.  Hopefully 2024 will see more spools used up. The average since I started keeping track (2012) is 19.25. Do you keep count of the cones and spools you use? 

I'm  joining in with Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch for 2024.  Visit her blog Life in Pieces to see how she did and other folks also trying for at least 15 minutes a day. Here are my first week results. 

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

Boy that makes me look so successful!  And, considering I did sew every day I guess I was successful!  Since I try to blog on Sunday evening I'm showing my week from Mondays to Sundays.  My goal is to be successful 80% of the time.  We'll see how I do on this new endeavor. 

I'm linking up with my regular Linky Parties.  I hope to do a bit of internet surfing this week.  I've been so focused on my sewing I just haven't been reading other blogs for the last week or two.  Join me surfing the internet with these Linky parties. 

Oh Scrap

Stitching Stuff at Life in Pieces

Design Wall Monday

Sew and Tell 

 

Here's hoping we all have a great 2024.  Think of all the quilts we can make this year.  And for those of us working on UFOs -- won't it be fabulous to move some along and maybe finish some?  

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Goals and a Few Finishes

We had a great Christmas but not the celebration we thought we were having.  Christmas Eve day our son called to tell us his wife had come down with Covid. He wasn't feeling all that great and also worried about the kids.  But the gist of the conversation was they couldn't host Christmas for us or his in-laws.  We all enjoy the opportunity to catch up with everyone while having room for the 17 of us to fit in the house or play in the yard.  Bummer.  Our daughter and her husband came up with a meal at their house really fast.  (Hum, what does it say about me when I'm concerned about the meal?) We were trying to figure out if a 6 lb. turkey breast would feed 7. They came up with a meal before we could figure that out! 

I thought I'd share some of the presents I made and ones I received after I do the normal goals post.  As you can see below I did pretty well on the goals. 

12/18/23

✅Sing at Mall and a private gig — done until mid January

Quilt a small quilt — the back is loaded ... but no sewing done

✅Wrap presents — finished with a day to spare!

✅Attend guild dinner  — Had a wonderful time — so much fun

✅Make more placemats — turned in 6! 

✅Wash, dry and fold some more fabric — 3 of 4 boxes done and returned, 1 to go

The gals who plan our quilt guild holiday party go all out. It was a beautiful scene and we had a lot of fun. 

So far this week I have been taking things easy. I did think about skipping goals but decided to go ahead and make a list.  I may not get them done but that's ok.

12/26/23

Quilt a small quilt or two 

Clean up several horizontal surfaces in studio 

Pick something fun and easy and make a quilt top

Finish Dec. Clue for Malted Mystery

Relax, read, and have fun 

Since some of the Christmas presents I made have been given away I'm including photos of two of my grands in their presents.  Remember the goals to embroider two sweatshirts?  Several months ago Urban Threads had a sale on some designs just right for sweatshirts.  I sent emails to both grands and asked them to pick the design they would like.  Sophie, the oldest, picked out several and asked me to surprise them.  Argh! How to make that decision as they were very different. I finally chose the first one listed. And, luckily they really liked it -- thought it was cool.  (I liked it because it had only 4 thread colors and only 4 thread changes. Yipee!) 

Natalie chose one after some prodding from her mom.  And, evidently totally forgot about it. (She mentioned that to me Christmas Day which was nice that it was a surprise.) Unfortunately I bought the wrong size sweatshirt and didn't realize it until after I'd embroidered it.  That went to my good friend's granddaughter who was tickled to get it.  This design used 8 colors and 11 color changes.  What was neat about both of them is I didn't have to buy any threads -- I used what I have. 

It's been quite a while since I last did any embroidery.  There was a learning curve to remember (or look up) how to do things but I think there might be some more embroidering in my future. 

Hubby got me two great Christmas presents.  One was a new sweatshirt. I relate to this pile of books.  Needless to say it hit the wash and I started wearing it right away.  

My other present hubby made for me after I sent him the idea.  Have you been using wooden blocks to help make your blocks/seams lie flatter?  I had the opportunity to use some at two of the retreats this year and decided I liked the bigger size rather than smaller ones.  I heard a lot of cutting, sanding and such from his workshop but didn't know what he was working on although I was hoping. I was really happy to see this 10" block. If you don't know about using wood blocks they started out in tailoring as clampers.  Someone decided it might work well to make quilt seams lie flat and they were right.  I always use steam with my iron as it doesn't seem to do well without it. Now I steam my units and/or my finished block and pop this wood block on it. It seems to pull out the heat and moisture leaving a very flat seam. 

I used this while working on some Happy Blocks and some of the blocks for Malted Mystery.  I was very happy with the results.  I chose a 10" block because I have the 9" (fin) Accuquilt Cube so I tend to make a lot of 9.5" unfinished blocks. 

Part of what's left of this week I need to decide on which UFOs I'll put on the APQ 2024 challenge. I might also list the quilts and other items I've finished this year.  I have decided I'm going back to keeping fabric usage and purchases again.  I've done it for many years and for some reason decided I didn't want to this year.  I wish I had so I'm going back to keeping that info. I'm not sure what new projects I'll start but might I admit to having a dresser drawer full of fabric and some patterns I pulled to use together.  I need to stop pulling and start using that fabric.  I keep planning quilts but haven't work on new ones since before October.  I also plan to participate in the 15 minutes of sewing every day at Life in Pieces. Although I do tend to sew every day, I am going to include time spent cutting fabrics, or cleaning up the cutting table and the like.  It all goes into the mix and counts toward sewing time. 

That's enough for today.  Here's some different blogs that I'll be linking with.  

Midweek Makers

Wednesday Wait Loss

Im hoping to spend some time surfing the Internet.  I really don't need more ideas, but it is fun to see what is going on with quilters around the world. 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Merry Christmas

 Here's wishing everyone a 

Merry Christmas. 

These reindeer looked cute at the Mall last week.  But, I bet the real reindeer are relaxing after their long journey yesterday!

I'll be back tomorrow (or maybe Wednesday) with my normal post.  In the meantime I'm getting ready to go to a Christmas Day that is different than planned but it's going to be fun for sure.

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

Monday Meandering 12 - 18 - 2023

Have you checked out a book today with a two week check out period?  I haven't yet but I know what the due date will be: Jan 1, 2024.  Yes, we are 2 weeks from next year!  That doesn't mean I am completely ready for Christmas, a week away; but I think my plans will get me to the big day with little problems. Let's go straight to the goals lists.  First last week's list. 

12/11/23

✅Quilt and bind small quilt — no binding yet.

✅Sing with carol group - done. 

✅Quilt customer top - done and returned. 

Finish ornament(s?) — I stitched a little on the one left to finish.

✅Wash, dry and fold some fabric — several batches were done but I agreed to take two more boxes. And returned a box. 

✅Make more placemats — at least 2 were done.

Make more happy blocks — oops. Didn’t get anymore done.

Not a bad week. Mostly this week was spent quilting.  First up was finishing up one of my small quilts.  It's pretty wild.  

I don't remember where I got this fabric from. I think it must be from a group of fabrics I purchased used from a quilter.  I think I used a built in stipple to quilt it. As soon as it was off the frame I put on Nancy's quilt. 

She made one similar to this one using some of the same fabrics with the cute alphabet.  She chose Squiggle Wiggle for the quilting design.  It adds to the fun of the animals.  I forgot to take a pic of the full quilt.  If I'm lucky she'll bring it to the quilt guild meeting this week so I'll get a picture of the finished quilt. 

Next up are pics of some of the placemats I've made recently. These will be turned in at the meeting also. First up is one I made from a new pattern -- Easy Mitered Placemats by Karen Montgomery of The Quilt Company. It worked really well and is easy so more will be coming. (There is a specific ruler to make it really easy but I was able to figure it out using my Olfa ruler.) 

And I finally made the companion to the snowman mat shown here. Here's the penguin.  Darn he is cute.  Maybe I should make two for my youngest grands? 

And, now, here's what I hope to do this week. (Some I better do or they won't be ready for gifting next Monday!)

12/18/23

Sing at Mall and a private gig Friday

Make more placemats

Attend guild dinner 

Wrap presents 

Wash, dry and fold some more fabric

Quilt a small quilt 

Yep, a smaller group of Spotsylvanians are still singing this week.  Much of the music will come from our show but we'll also being doing some sing alongs at each gig. 

I'm still trying to get more of my own tops done. I went wild buying fabric in November so it's time to use it.  Most likely I can get a small one done but preparing for Christmas comes first. I've been so focused on getting things done in my studio I haven't been reading quite as much.  Yep, I'm still getting a half hour in every day though.  I've read 608 days in a row according to my Kindle. And, wait there's more! I've read every week for 282 weeks! Let's see what that is in years? It's 5.4 years. Yep, I am a dedicated reader! 

Here are the Linky parties links. Go check them out!  

Oh Scrap

Stitching Stuff at Life in Pieces

Design Wall Monday

Sew and Tell

I'll be surfing the Web a bit over the next few days.  But Christmas prep has to take priority. And, I've been thinking about what I'll be doing in 2024.  I know I'm going to try the 15 Minutes Stitching every day. I'm debating whether I'll continue the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I enjoy making the blocks especially if I pick an easy one. I'll be thinking about what else I want to do during 2024.  What are you planning on doing? 

Happy Quilting All! Bonnie 

 

Monday Meanderings 12 - 11 - 2023

What a week!  I normally write my blog Sunday evenings although I date it with Monday's date. Today I'm way behind and it's nearly noon 5:00 pm on Monday as I type.  It was concert weekend.  Set up and tech rehearsal was Friday night. We dragged in nearly 6 hours after we left the house. Pat and I generally help with getting equipment from our rehearsal location to our concert space.  That amounts to a lot of the extra time. Rehearsal went well. We tried to rest up on Saturday and Sunday to save energy for the concert.  I can now show you one of the things I've been working on in secret. (I know, you wouldn't have told anyone.) 

The surprise act for the show was "Sister Act" from White Christmas, the 1954 holiday movie starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen.  The set up in the movie was Bing and Danny took the place of sisters Rosemary and Vera-Ellen for one show. (I forget why the girls couldn't go on.) Here's a link to their version. And, here's the link to Bing and Danny's version. 

I was asked to make some aprons that could stand in as dresses.  I hit my back closet and happened to have some slinky turquoise fabric. (Best part is I picked it up at the guild's free table!) I realized the slinky fabric would just fall straight down. So the closet coughed up a decent piece of netting that I could put under the aprons. After a full day of sewing I had two of these done.

Our director was able to borrow some feather fans. One of the wives found some outrageous hats at a thrift shop. Voila! Here's one of our "Sisters." 

And how about seeing both of them? 

And a candid of a group of sopranos.  I'm the one with the silver hair....

I imagine parts of the show will show up on Facebook and YouTube eventually --  Look for Spotsylvanians 2023 Concert.  

Moving right along -- Here's last week's goals. 

12/4/23

✅Bind Christmas present - done!  

✅Sew on ornaments ✅✅✅3 of 4 are done…Wow!

Make more placemats — didn’t do anything on this. 

Quilt small quilt — the backing is loaded, the batting is seamed, next load top & quilt.

✅Wash, dry and fold some fabrics — 1 box done; 1 to go (see pictures below).

✅Concert Weekend: ✅ Fri rehearsal,  ✅ Sat nite and  ✅ Sunday afternoon show 

Yea, except not a lot of sewing got done. I've got a lot going this week too although most of it isn't really time consuming. Here's this week's list... 

12/11/23

Quilt and, maybe, bind small quilt 

Sing with carol group

Quilt customer top

Finish last ornament 

Wash, dry, and fold some fabric

Make more placemats

Make more happy blocks 

Regarding those boxes of fabric here's what I've already done. You can't really see the size of the box, but it's generally called a banker's box.

One box of low volume fabric that's been washed and folded. It was fun to see what fabric was in the box.  Most pieces were less than 1 yard or fat quarters.  Surprisingly most pieces had a square cut out of them.  There were a lot of what looked to me to be 30s fabrics.  Many of the fabrics were small animals with a little geometric figure.  Most were blue and cream.  They'll be great as a background. 

My next box is reds and pinks.  Here's what it currently looks like on the guest room bed. 

In the front are the pieces I've already washed and folded.  The background is a jumble of fabric.  I try to open each piece all the way and trim any longer threads hanging off.  I've been throwing in several Color Catchers and Color Grabbers with each load.  Before throwing the washed fabrics in the drier the loose threads get trimmed again.  I'm trying to prevent a lot of extra wrinkles.  After drying I try to get the warm fabric smoothed out on the counter so I can fold it once it is cooler.  

It'll be fun to see what charity quilts we can make with all of this new-to-us fabric. 

If you're doing presents this Christmas are you ready?  We have been making donations in the name of some family members and asking the same in return. But we still give our kids and grands presents.  I'm slowly finding gifts and getting them purchased.  Hopefully everything will be in hand by the end of the week. Then there is the wrapping!  Sigh... It's time to get back to work on present finding. 

I'm linking up with the following Linky parties this week. Hope you have time to check some of the blogs out.  

Oh Scrap

Stitching Stuff at Life in Pieces

Design Wall Monday

Monday Musing

I'm hoping I get a lot more stitching time this week. 

Happy Quilting All!  Bonnie