Design Wall Monday - Dec. 22

We were basically NOT home all weekend, so there isn't much of anything to report.  At least not on the sewing front.  I've fallen way behind in reading blogs and commenting.  But we did get to see both daughters' families over the past couple days.  I'll spare you any photos of deer hunting grandsons or wrestling granddaughters. 

On Friday, the 5th clue for Bonnie Hunter's mystery was posted.

It was an easy clue - directing us to use the Clue #1 units in basically an Ohio Star block.  Added to the Clue #1 units were 4 matching purple squares, and a neutral center square.  These are 6" finished blocks and I'm guessing the rest of the units will make alternate blocks and maybe sashing or borders.  Or there could be more units.  It's a mystery after all.

A week ago I showed a kit that I wanted to make as a reward if I got some things done on the list that were priorities.  Well, I totally forgot about the January mini quilt in that Spools series. I believe this one will move to the head of the line of new projects - but only if I get some other things done this week.  We are not doing our family Christmas until the 29th, so I'll have this week to finish up a couple of Christmas gifts.  Hope I get them done in time.  

The other project that is close to a finish is the snowman 3-yard quilt.  All of the rows are assembled now, so I just have 2 narrow borders to add.  

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog

RSC25 - Week #51

Only 1 more week and 2025 will be in the rear view mirror!  I'm hoping that my scrap bins yield lots more quilts in 2026.  I'm also hoping those scrap bins are more empty by this time next year instead of overflowing. 

I have extra scraps to play with this week after receiving a box of FUN from blogging friend Nann.  She had sorted out a few bags of scraps in colors that she knows I love to play with, like red, white, and blue.  Naturally I had to dig right in.

The red, white, and blue bag didn't just contain scraps - it also contained some small blocks.  I'm guessing these were left over from some of Nann's projects or maybe even came from one of the estate sales she has been to. The 2 blocks similar to Snails Trail are already paired up with some batting and backing to make mug rugs as they are the perfect size.  That darling churn dash block inspired me to make more using one of those strips of red star fabric. The flying geese are tucked in with other QOV bits and pieces that will probably end up part of a sampler quilt. 

It didn't take long to cut pieces from her scraps for 4 more churn dash blocks that will finish at 6".  These are now sewn and in the stack of blocks for future Quilts of Valor.  

A real treasure was tucked into the bag - most of a jelly roll with a RWB nautical theme.  So many possibilities for these strips!!  The prints include crab, lobster, octopus, compass - such a neat jelly roll.  I'm giving some thought about what to make with these.

I've "webbed this first section of the String Stars quilt.  My original plan had been to just use the cool colors, but now I'm thinking if I use all colors then it can be much bigger.  That means this will definitely continue into 2026 because I don't have any warm color blocks made yet.

Let's go see what else is happening with scraps this week . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

Wrapping up another week

Yesterday we had horrible high winds - 60 mph plus.  The howling wind woke me up about 4:30, and I just couldn't get back to sleep. So I finally got out of bed at 5:30.  I should have just made some coffee and gone down to the basement to sew, where the wind noises would have been minimal.  But instead I sat down at my computer in my PJs, and tried to catch up with blog comments and some genealogy research.  The coffee didn't happen until about 6:30.

I did make use of that extra early morning time to finish the binding on the Cat Tails table runner.  This will be a gift for my daughter's neighbor.  I used a deep aqua on the back, and green for binding.  It's a simple 60 degree runner pattern using a border print.  I have more of this left and have a plan for something for myself.  That will have to wait for the new year.

Next up yesterday was some sewing time to work on a couple of on-going projects.  Only 1 row remains to be sewn for the snowman 3-yard quilt, and then the borders can be added.  Maybe that will all happen today.  

I also finished sewing the Clue #4 units that were cut out for the Bonnie Hunter mystery.  I've only made 9 sets so far for this clue.  Clue #5 should be posted this morning.  

This and that

 Wednesday turned out to be a non-sewing day except for a little handwork on binding.  By the time I did a little Christmas shopping, a lot of grocery shopping, baked a batch of cookies, and some laundry there just wasn't time to spend at the sewing machine.  But it was nice to check off a couple more things from the To Do list. 

Quilters are just the most generous people!  Imagine my surprise yesterday when the postman rang my doorbell instead of just leaving our mail in the mailbox across the street.  He had a box that was much too big for that mailbox.  My blogging friend Nann shared a wonderful "curated" box of goodies with me. (https://withstringsattached.blogspot.com/)  She knows my style so well, and has fabrics sorted into bags even.  Plus, as a retired librarian, she recommends on her blog the best books to read.  And she even tucked in a book she had recently found in a used book sale.  It's actually out of print, so an old copy is a really lucky discovery.  I can read it and pass it along to another avid reader when I'm done.

One of the little bags contained a stack of lavender 30s reproduction squares and 3 lavender snowmen squares.  The snowmen just made me smile immediately, and I'm picturing these making a really cute pillow or placemats.  

Midweek already

Happy birthday to my younger daughter today!!

I couldn't resist sharing an "old" birthday photo.  This was birthday #1 in 1984.  Notice the Christmas tree behind her - IN the playpen?  This kid was walking at 9 months, and climbing everything, so a friend suggested putting the tree and presents inside the playpen to protect them from baby hands.  That only slowed her down for about a day because she pushed a chair over and climbed right in.  And yes, I'm happy to say that she's an adventurous adult.  Happy birthday Laura!!  Hope the husband and kids spoil you at least a little bit today. 

The binding is finished on last year's Saturday Sampler.  A month from now we'll be starting the new Saturday Sampler program at The Pin Cushion.  When we did the big Show n Tell I saw lots of other gals had added a border.  So, I also added a medium width border to my flimsy before having it quilted, and I think it really finishes it nicely.  

The backing is a subtle floral, and I used the lighter of the tan fabrics from the quilt for binding. I love how it was quilted too - also done at The Pin Cushion.  

The pattern is Stranded On the Prairie by Mariah Knight, a talented local pattern designer and long arm quilter.  The design is an interpretation of stranded knitting designs.  We received 1 row pattern each month.  https://knightontheprairie.com/

There is more binding to do before the New Year arrives. 

Feel the Churn is the UFO wall hanging that I embellished with leftover pieces from a big quilt.  I can't bear to throw away scraps that are large enough to use for something else.

And the Cat Tails runner is quilted, with the binding ready to hand stitch.  This fabric just makes me smile every time I look at it.  The green binding should pick up on the stems and leaves of the flowers at the base of that fence the cats are sitting on.   

Tuesday To Do

Hmmm . . . no items to check off the To Do list as finished.  It was a busy weekend, with not much time spent sewing.  Monday was also a non-sewing day.  But I did a lot of THINKING about sewing.  LOL

The Sew Vintage Christmas party was Saturday afternoon, and just as enjoyable as anticipated.  That is one of my favorite groups of people.  We each made a small stocking (about 6" high) and filled them with a small gift.  The stockings got a number and we drew numbers to determine which one we received.

Other than some cutting of binding strips for a wall hanging, Sunday was a totally lost day in terms of sewing.  There was an afternoon Jackrabbit women's basketball game.  We've missed 3 home games this year already due to weather, so it was good that we made it to this one finally.  Jackrabbit won over Ball State by 19 points!!  Go Jacks!!

Interesting items were in last week's Countdown to Christmas box. The most interesting things were the wooden quilt block charcutier board, and the bias type tool kit.  Sew-in labels, a pouch pattern, and a collection of quilt related wrapping paper were also pretty nifty.

Hopefully I'll get some good sewing time this morning, because this afternoon I'm going to get a root canal.  Dental visits are high anxiety events for me, even when it's just for a cleaning.  So the root canal will definitely raise my blood pressure. 

Design Wall Monday - December 15

There are 2 small Christmas gifts I want to work on this week, especially since I'm facing a deadline.  No photos to share until after Christmas. Shhhh . . . it's a secret.

The pieces are all cut for one of those secret gifts.

There is one Christmas gift that I can show - at least the fabric.  This adorable cat fabric is destined to be 2 projects.  The first project is a table runner to be gifted by my daughter to her neighbor.  The top is done and it shouldn't take me long to quilt and bind it.  The second project will probably wait for the new year and is for ME - a tote bag.  

Progress continues on the snowman themed 3-yard quilt.  More rows are ready to add, and I can FEEL the finish coming soon.

Plugging along on the Bonnie Hunter mystery . . . clue #4 is easier than I thought it would be.  Half rectangles can be tricky, but she had some really excellent cutting instructions for these, and they came out perfectly even without using her specialty ruler.  A few more Clue #2 units are cut as well.  There are also some additional string blocks in the works.  These will all make great Leaders/Enders as I work on those Christmas gift projects. 

Two new kits for mini quilts are coming up on my To Do list. This one is going to be my reward for checking some things off my list this week.  The temptation to just dive in is great  however!  But I'm trying to hold off until the gift items are finished.  

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

https://songbirddesigns.blog