Stitching Stuff: Week 51 of 2024

 

This post is a bit late today, holiday prep has been the first priority and with all that was going on yesterday, I didn't even remember to get a post ready.  I did get my 15 minutes in yesterday just before bed, but just barely.

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Dec = 21/21 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 356/356 days
• Success rate = 100%

It's been a busy few days, with some early mornings and late nights. I was tempted to just let yesterday's stitching time slide, but Grad Girl was not having that. She pointed out there are just 10 more days in the year, I can stick it out that long.  It's nice to have supportive family, except when you just really want to go to bed! But of course once I drug out all the stitching stuff, I enjoyed it and stayed up way too late talking to Grad Girl. 

The great fabric closet reorganization has been on hold for the last month or so. At least I've done well at keeping the sewing room mostly cleaned up. So I don't have any sewing room photos to share. But I do have one curtesy of Grad Girl of Queenie's reaction to stopping at Buc-ee's Friday night. 

I can relate to her expression.  Buc-ee's are definitely another level in terms of places to stop for gas, bio-breaks and snacks.  

Hoping all your holiday prep is going well and wishing safe travels to you and your family as everyone travels to their holiday destination.  If you've managed to fit in any stitching time, link up and share below.  

To Do List for the Week of 12/17/2024

Where did the last week go?  My last To Do List post was last Wednesday, so maybe that's why I'm feeling like the week just evaporated?  It has been a busy week and it certainly seems like I've not gotten much done. 

To Do List 12/10/2024

1.  String Lights: Finish binding ✔

2.  Guild BOM: Make January Block for 2025 BOM ✔

3.  Old Town: Work on clues 1, 2, start 3 and 4 ✔

4.  Wild and Goosey: Make red blocks ✔

5.  Summer Scrap Quilt: Continue as leaders and enders ✔

The two things I needed to get done, got done, String Lights and the first block of the month for the guild. I made a bit of progress on everything else. Definitely not as much as I would have liked on Old Town, but I at least got one set of HSTs made for clue 4. 

There are no "have to finish" things on this week's list. The holiday activities will start to fill in the days towards the end of the week, so I'm just hoping for progress on a few fronts this next week.  

To Do List for 12/17/2024

1.  Old Town (Bonnie Hunter): Work on clues 1, 2, 3, 4 and start 5

I'm almost finished with clue 1, but haven't gotten very far with the other clues.  The next 2 weeks will be busy with holiday stuff. What gets done, gets done.  I'll just play catch up in January, which seems to be my modus operandi for these mysteries.  

2.  Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Make more red blocks

Since I just work on a couple at a time and those easily fit into my sewing rhythm, I'll keep those in rotation this week. 

3.  Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leaders and enders. 

I'm working on 2-patches for the next set of 10 blue 4-patches.  So I should get a few of those done while working on Old Town. 

4.  Embroidered Medallion: Take a few stitches

This is my travel/family visiting project.  I'm sure it will see some action as we get closer to the holiday.  I'm hoping I can finish the orange butterfly.

I still have gifts to wrap and a bit of shopping left to do before the holiday. Grad Girl's room needs a quick going over before she shows up. So still lots to do before the holiday.  Some days I may just get my 15 minutes of stitching time in and that's OK.  I'll have some time after the holiday to play catch up in the sewing room.  

Good luck with all your stitching and holiday plans.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday. 

The Finial Finish for the Year

I missed posting last Monday.  There really wasn't much to post and with Mom here, it was hard to get both the photos and the computer time to put something together.  So at least you know, I usually put my posts together in real time.  

One thing I did find time to do during Mom's visit, was finish the binding for String Lights (Meadow Mist Designs). 

I started this quilt in May of last year. It was part of the blog hop to support Cheryl's book "Just Two Charm Pack Quilts'. I've participated in Cheryl's annual mysteries for the last nine years and really like her designs.  The fabric is from a kit I purchased in 2013. I've always loved these Timeless Treasures Tonga batik fabrics, but never knew what to do with them. I think they really shine in this quilt. 

The original quilt doesn't use any borders, but Grad Girl thought the quilt needed some.  The quilt is in Texas now.  Grad Girl is gifting it to the Post Doctorial fellow in the group.  He's leaving at the end of December and taking a new position in Germany.  He's been a great resource and provided a lot of moral support for Grad Girl these last 3 years. 

Trudy quilted wavy lines down the "strings".

 

That worked well, especially since that makes it look like the chains are in solution.  That statement may have you scratching your head, but bear with me.  Of course since this is going to a chemist, the name of the quilt has to match the discipline. Right? The group makes and studies polymers, so after a review of the terminology associated with the field, we agreed on: 

Step Growth polymerization produces dimers (2 molecules), trimers (3 molecules), tetramers (4 molecules) and so on.  These smaller molecular chains combine to from the longer polymer chains, thus the term "step growth". The different "chain" lengths of the strings running across the quilt are suggestive of that polymer process, so that's the name we went with. (What can I say, we are nerds to the core it seems).

Step Growth is finish #6 for 2024.  That's double what I've been finishing the three years. So it's definitely been a good year, even if I didn't match my record of seven finishes in a year.  Maybe that will happen next year?

Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 50 of 2024

 

When I typed the title for the post, I had to check the calendar.  Yes there are only 2 weeks and 2 days left in 2024!  December always seems to pass at the speed of light.  It was a challenging week on the finding time to stitch front with my mom being here for a few days. But I managed to eek out my 15 minutes somewhere during the day. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Dec = 14/14 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 349/349 days
• Success rate = 100%

I've learned how to sneak in those 15 minutes each day even when I'm busy.  Can I keep it up for 2 more weeks?  Not sure, but I'm certainly going to try. 

No sewing room organization this week. Mom can't do stairs, so I didn't want to be where she couldn't hang out.  So I stayed downstairs and worked on the binding for String Lights while she was here.  

I've reached the time of year where the holiday prep is almost overwhelming.  This picture of Grad Girl's kitty reminded me that one should take some time to just chill and enjoy the season. 

How are you doing with your holiday prep, stitching and chilling? 

1. maggie f 2. Julie in GA 3. Karen

4. DonnaleeQ 5. Frédérique 6. Quilting Gail

7. Bonnie in Va 8. Amanda 9. Andrée at Quilting & Learning

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Week 131 Photo Challenge: Shoe(s)

It's been a while since our last photo challenge post.  At first we struggled with the photos for this one. 

 

We drew this card the Friday before Thanksgiving. With all the prep for the trip to Texas and Thanksgiving dinner, none of us really took the time to focus on getting a photo.  Since then we've had deaths in the family, business trips, end of the semester.  It's just been a busy time.  

I had a hard time getting creative with this particular challenge. When I reviewed my photos, I decided this one was the most interesting. 

Kate: Closet Jumble

I don't have the best shoe storage system in my closet, they are mostly just jumbled up pairs.  So I won't win any awards for organization. But when I look at what's in various layers, it does tell a story. My loafers that were worn pretty much daily are buried, but my gym shoes are on top.  Speaks a lot to how my life has changed the last couple of years.  The texture and stark whiteness of the athletic shoes made this photo the most interesting of the bunch I took. 

My Guy is the odd one out this week. He went in a completely different direction. 

My Guy: Hot Shoe 4

His portfolio for this week also included brake shoes, but I agreed that the camera hot shoe was the best pick for this week.  This is My Guy's first SLR, an Olympus OM-1.  It's a film camera that he used a lot for his astronomy classes in college. He bought it used, but it was his primary camera for years. He didn't switch to digital until a couple of years after I did.  Now, it would be hard to find a place to process the film.  

Grad Girl's subject is more typical, but she was definitely more creative with the setting. 

Grad Girl: My Just Chilling Boots

Grad Girl likes to wear boots when the weather gets cooler.  In Texas, that didn't happen till the week of Thanksgiving. One of the many reasons she's not a fan of fall in Texas. We were hanging out in a coffee shop in Brenham when she took this photo. That's pretty much standard operating procedure on any trip, find a coffee shop, take the books and chill for a bit. 

I had the honor of drawing this week's challenge card.

My Guy asked "What does that mean?" I'm not sure, I guess it's whatever we decide it means. That's how we seem to roll each week with these photo challenges.