More Independence -- Area Transit

 Our son has gained more independence.  Last week he rode the area transit curb to curb service bus.  He is so proud of himself.  He said it was like being in the big limo he rode in at a special dance.

Selfie -- photo evidence to me that he was on the bus.  I was a nervous nilly.  He rode the bus from school to bowling practice.  (Yes, our school is too small to transport kids to bowling!!! -- It was "social" practice, (bowling before kids are allowed to officially start practice one month before bowling season begins.) Hopefully when bowling starts in November the school will provide some sort of transportation.  

His pick-up time window was 3:05 to 3:35.  The bus picked him up at 3:34!!!!!

He said the bus was "high tech" with a clock, date, and video surveillance camera.  This is the time he was finally loaded, learned how to use his bus pass, buckled in, and answered all the important questions.

He said he had a panoramic view.

This is just his first ride.  I haven't taught him how to arrange his own rides yet.  That will happen hopefully before the holidays season.  I'm going to have him arrange a bowling thing on one day after school.  The bus will not come in our driveway.  Our driveway is 800 feet long for where he would have to wait on the bus.  Waiting in the snow/rain for 30 minutes might not be the best.  But I'm pretty sure we'll start with me taking him to the bowling alley and then running my errands.  I will leave him there (he knows almost all of the family empoyees there).  Then he can catch the bus home and just walk up the driveway.

Old Town is on the Frame

 I'm excited that I got some longarm quilting time in this weekend. Old Town is on the longarm frame.

Old Town is the 2025 mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter.

And just like that, the quilting was done before I knew it.  It was easy to trim and is nice and square.  I always like to add a little border around a pieced border.  The binding fabric will be the same as the outer border.  Also in the bag is the sashing fabric for my darting birds QA and some batting for that mini quilt that needs pieced together.  Moving right along.

I'm linking up to Oh Scrap!

Random Blue Blocks -- Slow Sunday Stitching

I can't believe I'm doing this.  I started hand quilting on my Random Blue Blocks crib-sized quilt.  

I'm in the parking lot waiting for the kid to finish corn hole practice.  He will be participating in a regional tournament on 10/18.  Don't worry.  I'll find other places to wait and stitch.

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching here.

 

 

RSC25 Darks

I pulled out my Darting Birds project and cut some of my Thimbleberries scraps.   I was excited to use fabric I won from  Rouge Quilter, Janet.  She blogs The Rouge Quilter. 

I started this project 9/28/25.  These are 4.5" (finished) blocks for a Kathleen Tracy Mini QA on facebook.

I'm linking up at Angela's blog, SoScrappy, for the RSC25 here.

 

Scattered Stars Is a Finish

I had these blocks sitting around in a baggie to make some sample Scattered Stars blocks.  I'm not that thrilled with the color scheme.  I think it would look really nice in red, white, and blue scraps for a quilt. 

I put them together and quilted them with the Circle Lord giant template board called Bubbles.  A nice little dot fabric left over from Random Ohio Stars was ready for the binding.  The backing fabric is the same as the border fabric.

This is finish #3 in my Ravelry Fall UFO Club 2025 here.

I love thrifting.  The little stand that we had between our chairs was wobbly and too small.  It makes a perfect stand for my plants.  I got this at a storage unit sale for $2.  Below is the table topper I had on the stand before this one.  You can see it is way too small.  The new one will serve it well.

This is my third Ravelry UFO Fall 2025 Finish.  See what the group is doing 

Here's my Fall 2025 Ravelry UFO Club Projects:

1.  Old Town -- needs longarm quilted

2.   Rail Fence 3.5" RSC block -- 900 blocks needed/need arranged

3.  Piccadilly Circle -- Need a few more circle blocks

4.  Kite Girl -- Need one more block and sashing

5.  Folk Art Birds -- Need more birds and alternate blocks

6.  Bear Claw Mini -- Needs finished hand quilting and binding (very close to being done)

7.  Maroon Sampler -- Needs two more blocks

8.  Bit Con double sized quilt -- Needs more rows of strips sewn together

9.  Pineapple Table Runner -- Needs blocks put together with setting triangles

10.  Four Patch Fun -- Bonnie Hunter leader/ender -- Continue making blocks

11.  Blue Embroidery Quilt -- Needs longarm quilted

12.  HST -- Needs more blocks made and sewn into rows

13.  Tree of Life -- Needs more blocks

14.  Scarborough Fair -- Needs more blocks made

15.  Unity Quilt (Bonnie Hunter 2020) -- Needs blocks for the sides to be wider

16.  Card Trick -- Needs a quilt back made

17.  Acorn Harvest -- Quilt top needs assembled

18.  Sail Away crib quilt -- Blocks need sewn

19.  Fall Table Topper -- Completed 10/3/25

20.  Scattered Stars -- Completed 10/10/25

21.  Fireflies Wall Hanging -- Blocks need appliqued

22.  Shirting Blocks -- Need sashing and sewn together

23.  Pinwheels -- Blocks need sewn together with sashing

24.  Bright 9-patches -- Need an alternative block cut

25.  Random Blue Blocks -- Needs a quilt back

26.  Dicey -- Blocks need sewn together with sashing and cornerstones

27.  Rainbow Ribbons -- need blocks completed and sewn together

28.  Kathleen Tracey Fall SAL -- Need more pieces cut

29.  Blue Orphan Block Table Topper -- Needs a quilt back

30.  Summit Stitches 2025 Quilt Along at Humble Stitches (25" square project)

Thimbleberries Fall Mini Quilt Sew Along 2025 -- Darting Birds by Kathleen Tracy

The end of September I cut the little pieces for this mini QA.  I was excited to use fabric I won from  Rouge Quilter, Janet.  She blogs The Rouge Quilter.    The dark pieces are cut.  I still needed to cut neutrals and maroons.

I started this project 9/28/25.  It looked so neatly organized near my sewing machine... But then I sewed a few other projects.  They were a hot mess and piles no more.

I took these pieces to school with me yesterday after cutting the marroons and neutrals.  I threw everything in the bag along with my cut up picnic table cloth.

I started making blocks on this nice little table in the intervention classroom.

They look better all nice and organized.  Before I knew it, I had all the blocks arranged with the fabric combinations I liked.  Now I have nine blocks ready to sew!  I rolled up the little cut up picnic table block holders (mobile design wall) and put them neatly back in my school bag.  It's fun to move this project along.

Next I took it home and sewed this fun little 4.5" (finished) block.

...and yes, I'm playing with those dark Thimbleberry fabrics for the RSC25 to post on Saturday.

Homecoming 2025 -- Senior Year

 Our son and his longtime girlfriend seriously enjoyed their fall homecoming this year.

He's also "famous" in town.  Here's his bowling banner hanging on the main street.

On the Frame -- Scattered Stars Table Topper

Time to get my quilting done on this project.  I don't know the name of this pattern, but I found a photo of it on Pinterest.  I'm calling it Scattered Stars.  I made these few blocks after I saw the image on Pinterest and couldn't figure out where the blocks were.  I wanted to draw up a pattern for future use and see if it would work with my Accuquilt dies.  It would look great with red/white/blue scraps.

I'm qulting it with the Circle Lord giant template board called Bubbles.

Pinwheel Progress

 I slapped some vintage blue around these pinwheel blocks.  I can now see why this project came to a halt go many years ago.  One of the pinwheels are spinning the wrong way.  Shhh.  Don't call the quilt police.  I'm totally fine with it now.  Onward...

It's about 27" square.

Bear Claw Finish -- Slow Sunday Stitching

 I'm excited to share my first try at hand quilting.  The orphan bear claw block is now a table topper.

It measures 15" square.  

I have never used these little clips for binding.  I LOVE them.  I started stitching in the living room while watching Survivor.  Reality shows of this type are my thing!

The next day I took the project to school with me.  This is a 6th grade room.  I used to hate doing a binding by hand.  Now that I have been working on my skills with various hand-stitched projects promoted by this slow-stitching group I've am re-visiting it.  I have actually started enjoying not only the stitching, but also the neat finish that a hand-stitched binding has. 

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching here.

 

I'm also linking up at the Fall 2025 UFO Club on Ravelry.  

This is my second 4th quarter finish.

I enjoyed this project so much I am starting another mini.  I found a Random Blue Block sampler in July.  I used 12 blocks in a 3x4 setting earlier this week.  I put a border around this block and it will be the project I keep in my truck.  I love to stitch while I wait on the kid...

This mini is about 20" square.  (And no, I didn't put my toe in the photo on purpose for size reference.)

Here's my Fall 2025 Ravelry UFO Club Projects:

1.  Old Town -- needs longarm quilted

2.   Rail Fence 3.5" RSC block -- 900 blocks needed/need arranged

3.  Piccadilly Circle -- Need a few more circle blocks

4.  Kite Girl -- Need one more block and sashing

5.  Folk Art Birds -- Need more birds and alternate blocks

6.  Bear Claw Mini -- Needs finished hand quilting and binding (very close to being done)

7.  Maroon Sampler -- Needs two more blocks

8.  Bit Con double sized quilt -- Needs more rows of strips sewn together

9.  Pineapple Table Runner -- Needs blocks put together with setting triangles

10.  Four Patch Fun -- Bonnie Hunter leader/ender -- Continue making blocks

11.  Blue Embroidery Quilt -- Needs longarm quilted

12.  HST -- Needs more blocks made and sewn into rows

13.  Tree of Life -- Needs more blocks

14.  Scarborough Fair -- Needs more blocks made

15.  Unity Quilt (Bonnie Hunter 2020) -- Needs blocks for the sides to be wider

16.  Card Trick -- Needs a quilt back made

17.  Acorn Harvest -- Quilt top needs assembled

18.  Sail Away crib quilt -- Blocks need sewn

19.  Fall Table Topper -- Complete! in this post 10/3

20.  Scattered Stars -- Needs quilted

21.  Fireflies Wall Hanging -- Blocks need appliqued

22.  Shirting Blocks -- Need sashing and sewn together

23.  Pinwheels -- Blocks need sewn together with sashing

24.  Bright 9-patches -- Need an alternative block cut

25.  Random Blue Blocks -- Needs a quilt back

26.  Dicey -- Blocks need sewn together with sashing and cornerstones

27.  Rainbow Ribbons -- need blocks completed and sewn together

28.  Kathleen Tracey Fall SAL -- Need more pieces cut

29.  Blue Orphan Block Table Topper -- Needs a quilt back

30.  Summit Stitches 2025 Quilt Along at Humble Stitches (25" square project)

Orphan Block Table Topper -- A Friday Finish

My son and I found this set of blocks back in July when we were cleaning the quilt room.  It is now a fall table topper.

The blocks were left behind by a quilter that had passed on.  She left a lot of things for me.  I backed it with this blue floral fabric that was also hers.  I quilted it using the Circle Lord giant template board called Bubbles.

I shared my finish with The Ravelry group for Fall Quarter Finishes here.

This is my first 4th quarter finish.

Here's my Fall 2025 Ravelry UFO Club Projects:

1.  Old Town -- needs longarm quilted

2.   Rail Fence 3.5" RSC block -- 900 blocks needed/need arranged

3.  Piccadilly Circle -- Need a few more circle blocks

4.  Kite Girl -- Need one more block and sashing

5.  Folk Art Birds -- Need more birds and alternate blocks

6.  Bear Claw Mini -- Needs finished hand quilting and binding (very close to being done)

7.  Maroon Sampler -- Needs two more blocks

8.  Bit Con double sized quilt -- Needs more rows of strips sewn together

9.  Pineapple Table Runner -- Needs blocks put together with setting triangles

10.  Four Patch Fun -- Bonnie Hunter leader/ender -- Continue making blocks

11.  Blue Embroidery Quilt -- Needs longarm quilted

12.  HST -- Needs more blocks made and sewn into rows

13.  Tree of Life -- Needs more blocks

14.  Scarborough Fair -- Needs more blocks made

15.  Unity Quilt (Bonnie Hunter 2020) -- Needs blocks for the sides to be wider

16.  Card Trick -- Needs a quilt back made

17.  Acorn Harvest -- Quilt top needs assembled

18.  Sail Away crib quilt -- Blocks need sewn

19.  Fall Table Topper -- Complete! in this post 10/3

20.  Scattered Stars -- Needs quilted

21.  Fireflies Wall Hanging -- Blocks need appliqued

22.  Shirting Blocks -- Need sashing and sewn together

23.  Pinwheels -- Blocks need sewn together with sashing

24.  Bright 9-patches -- Need an alternative block cut

25.  Random Blue Blocks -- Needs a quilt back

26.  Dicey -- Blocks need sewn together with sashing and cornerstones

27.  Rainbow Ribbons -- need blocks completed and sewn together

28.  Kathleen Tracey Fall SAL -- Need more pieces cut

29.  Blue Orphan Block Table Topper -- Needs a quilt back

30.  Summit Stitches 2025 Quilt Along at Humble Stitches (25" square project)

Random Blue Blocks Progress

I made it a point to get in thirty minutes of sewing last night.  I put together this set of random blue blocks:

It will be a charity crib quilt.  I could have probably done better with arranging the two with the royal blue backgrounds.  I'm going to leave it as is.  Now I'll have to search the blue bins to find the right backing so that I can add it to the to-be-longarmed pile.  Hopefully since it's small it will be quilted before the cold weather comes and stops me from quilting in the unheated quilt room.