August PHD Report

The big thing that sticks in my mind for August is just how hot it was all month.  Normally we get those triple digit temps for a couple of weeks. It was pretty much the whole month, with just a few days of temps dipping into the 90's. It was a good month for sewing, it was too hot to do much else.  No finishes last month, but there was still enough progress to do an August PHD report to link up with Ms. P Designs.  

No finishes, but there was a new project started last month. It was a project I planned to start this year.  It's a quilt along that won't finish till next year, so it doesn't have to get done this year.  I've done pretty well at limiting the squirrels this year. This is my first new start since January.  

Celtic Solstice, the 2013 Bonnie Hunter Mystery, has been on and off to my to do list since June of this year.  There was finally some progress on this UFO in late August.  It's my last unassembled BH mystery. All the 4-patch chain blocks are finished. Now to work on the piece heavy main block.  That's going to go pretty slowly.   

The next quilt to go out for long arm quilting is Squared Away (2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler).  This is another quilt for one of My Girl's college buddies. The plan was to pull a backing from the stash, but nothing I pulled worked.  So we decided to take advantage of a sale and buy an extra wide backing.  The plan is to get this to the long arm quilter before I leave to visit My Girl later this month. 

Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter) has moved from a set of blocks to a finished quilt top this month. I'm really happy with how it turned out.  The pieced border was definitely worth doing.  Now it goes into the to be quilted closet. 

Work on the teal blocks for my version of Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) continued in August. Just 4 blocks to go and I'll be ready to sash the 3" finished blocks into 7" finished blocks for quilt assembly.  

The quilting has been slow going on Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker).  I picked a denser quilting motif, so of course it's going to take more time. It's going to be worth it, I really like how it's turning out.  Based on where I'm at, this going to be a September/October finish. 

All the blocks for the 2026 Guild BOM have been made. Only the blocks through September are shown in the photo since that's all the guild has seen.  I'm working on the quilt assembly instructions, with plans to start that in late September after the October block is shown to the guild.  I need to get this quilt to finished quilt top so I can move on to next year's BOM and have that ready to go for the December meeting.   

  

Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs) is the new project started this month.  The August blocks are all finished.  This is my 11th Meadow Mist Designs' mystery sew along. I've enjoyed all of them.  The sew along doesn't end until next April, so I'm looking forward to several months of clues.   

August was a good month. No finishes, but one project reached finished quilt top stage and another one is ready to prep for quilting.  A new project was added, but it was a planned one.  

All the work this month means there's a good chance for at least 2 more finishes before the end of the year.  I'll take that!    

To Do List for the Week of 9/1/2026

August seemed to go both fast and slow. The high temperatures did make the month drag a bit.  I'm ready for autumn temps, but I'm not ready for it to be September.  If this year is like past years, I'll blink and it will be December!  

The last week of August was a productive one. My to do list was pretty short, which is probably why I got so much done on each item.  

To Do List for 8/25/26

1. Glowing Hearts: Continue quilting ✔

2. Squared Away: Decide on backing ✔

3. Celtic Solstice: Work on incomplete blocks ✔

4. Wild and Goosey: Continue making teal blocks ✔

I'm hoping to do as well with this week's list, though it is a bit longer.  

To Do List for 9/1/2026

1. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Continue quilting

Last week I finished the second block and got halfway with the block 3.  I've found a few tips that have made the progress go faster. Fingers crossed I can get most of the next row done this week. 

2. Squared Away (Soscrappy): Press, cut and prep backing 

My Girl picked out the backing fabric. I chose an extra wide backing fabric.  It's nice not to have any seams, but I will admit, it's not fun to man handle from a pressing and cutting perspective.  But I'll be glad to have it ready to go.  

3. Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter): Continue working on blocks

All the 4-patch chain blocks are finished and I got started on the main block.  I've cut all the pieces needed for the chevron components and started piecing those.  I have enough of the other block components to make 5 of the main blocks.  After a bit of review and some calculations, a cutting list has been created. I'm hoping to get the rest of the pieces cut this week so all I'll have to do is sew the blocks.    

4.  2026 Guild BOM: Finish assembly instructions, start cutting finishing pieces

I need to wait till after the September guild meeting before I start the quilt assembly, but it's not too early to finish up the instructions and cut my pieces. I have a trip planned to see My Girl later in the month, this would be a good "kit" to take with me and work on during my visit.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) Continue making teal blocks

I know the RSC color is purple, but I only need a four more teal blocks and I'll be finished with those. Once those are done, I'll switch over to finishing up the purple ones.  

It's a pretty doable list.  We'll see how far I can get in a week.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

Something Old and Something Older

Last week it was something old and something new.  This week the old was finished and I restarted an even older UFO.  Is there some point where an old UFO becomes like a new project?  If there is, I haven't found it yet.  

Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter), the old project, is now a finished quilt top. I'm glad the pieced border got added, it does make a nice frame for the rest of the quilt.  Plus it used up all those already cut up fabric pieces and finished blocks.  

This joins the "to be quilted" pile.  There are 14 of those hanging in the closet. I'm not sure when this one will get quilted. There are 5 quilts that need to be quilted first as those are graduation gifts for next year.  My Girl did find out intended graduation dates.  May of next year is the earliest, but December of next year is the more likely date for all of them. So I have time.   

There are still a few left overs from Good Fortune.

The green/neutral HSTs will probably become windmill blocks. Not sure what I'm going to do with the neutral strips.  I'll have to play around with those at some point in the future. Maybe a baby quilt for donation via the guild?  We'll see.  

The something older is the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt I started back in 2013, Celtic Solstice. The last time I worked on it was in February of 2014.  It's aged for 12 years, it's definitely time to pull out all the pieces and move this along to finished quilt top.  

The 4-patch chain blocks were the easiest to tackle first.  I only needed to make 8 more for the layout I've decided on. The last 4-patch chain is almost finished.  The main blocks are going to be much more involved. Lots of piecing required for the component parts.  It will probably take me all month and then some to get those blocks all finished.  

Linking up with Patchwork & Quilts, along with Sew & Tell Monday. 

Stitching Stuff: Week 35 of 2026

 

Its still hot and dry here.  At least there were no triple digit temps this week. It's amazing how much cooler 10 degrees lower feels even when the temps are still in the mid to high 90s.  I suppose it's a conditioning thing.  Even with the slightly lower temps, my sewing room is still my preferred hang out spot.  Which means it's not been hard to work in all my stitching time. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Aug = 29/29 days
• 15 minute days/2026 = 237/241 days
• Success rate = 98.34%

So far August has been a good month on the stitching front.  Hard to believe it's almost September. Hopefully that month brings some cooler temps and a reason to be tempted to get out of the house and not sew for a day or two.  

With all the time in the house due to the heat, we started another decluttering project. I need to get back to cleaning out the attic, but that would be life threating in this heat. So we started in on the cabinets in the laundry room. They haven't been cleaned out since we moved in 20 years ago. The two upper cabinents have been emptied, sorted and now we have one completely empty cabinet. I started on the "junk" drawers later in the week.  

We apparently have quite the collection of lanyards and extension cords.  I found 7 cords in the drawer, two of them were still in their packaging. Thankfully, My Girl is in need of a couple of extension cords.  So those will find a new home. Haven't decided what to do with the lanyard collection just yet.  

Have you spent all your in door time stitching or have a few not fun chores snuck in there too?  

   

To Do List for the Week of 8/25/26

This is the last to do list for August.  Next Tuesday we'll be starting September.  I'm hoping that means at least a cool down for us.  But it does feel like the end of the year goes faster than the first of the year does. It will be the holidays before I'm ready that's for sure. 

The one thing about this August, it's been so hot that the only place you want to be is home. So I've been spending a lot of time in my sewing room. That shows up in my progress on last week's to do list.  

To Do List for 8/18/2026

1.  Glowing Hearts: Continue quilting ✔

2.  Squared Away: Cut fabrics for backing - no progress

3.  Good Fortune: Work on pieced border ✔

4.  Marigold Mystery: Work on August blocks ✔

5.  Wild and Goosey: Work on teal blocks ✔

It was a good week on the progress front. So good that Good Fortune and Marigold Mystery will drop off the to do list for this week.  Marigold Mystery will be back in a couple of weeks when the next clue comes out.  Good Fortune probably won't be back on the list till next year when it's turn to be quilted comes around.  So this week's list is a bit shorter than it has been. 

To Do List for 8/25/2026

1. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Continue quilting

One block is quilted and the second is half finished.  It does go faster with the blocks on the ends of the row. It's just easier to maneuver the quilt. Hopefully my speed will pick up as I go. Otherwise this one is going to take a couple of months to quilt.  

2. Squared Away (Soscrappy): Decide on backing

My plan was to use stash fabrics for the backing.  This quilt is intended as a gift for one of My Girl's college buddies.  She wasn't really thrilled with the options I could pull together from the stash.  The quilt shop has a 5th Saturday sale this weekend, so I'm going to check out the wide fabric selection and see if there is anything that will work for it and the other quilts that are going to be gifts.  

3. Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter): Work on incomplete blocks

Celtic Solstice was the first Bonnie Hunter mystery I sewed along with.  That was back in 2013.  Now it's my last BH quilt that hasn't been finished to at least quilt top stage.  I pulled out all the block components that were made and counted how many more I needed to make to finish my version.  The plan is to cut the fabrics needed and get started making those subunits.  

4. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making teal blocks

First thing is to cut a few more teal triangles.  I still have a decent pile, but there is very little variety in what's left.  I'll search my scrap bins to see what's there that can be added.  There's not that many blocks left to make, so I won't need to cut much.  

That's my list for the week. It's shorter than it has been.  Hopefully that means I make more progress on each project.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.